Halloween at WDW - my daughter's upset about it. How is trick or treat at MK?

[Schmeck]

We were there on Halloween night two years ago as well, and this is what worked for us...

Get off Main Street as quickly as possible - go to Frontierland ASAP, and ride BTMRR and SplM. Continue around the back of the park, avoiding the photo and trick-or-treat areas as much as possible. Go on rides for a few hours - it seemed that we never had to wait in a line for more than 5 minutes, except for HM.

When the little ones start getting tired, and those families leave, then go trick-or-treating. The CMs were very generous with the candy later that evening. We ended up with four full bags. They hand out candy to the adults too, you know!

By the end of the night, the photo stops were begging people to have their portraits taken, LOL! And the ride lines were empty, and there was still plenty of candy available.

Don't miss the beginning of the parade - the headless horseman is SPOOKY! (and a friend of my husband's aunt and uncle) And the fireworks were great to watch from Frontierland.

My kids were actually dissappointed with Halloween last year, because no way could it compare to the way they do it at WDW!

(And if your kid needs more candy than what is available at MK, they give it out at the resort, and you could always bring some down with you!)

Schmeck

 

[kilee]

I forgot about the false firework starts. We have each of them on tape. I had my extended family w/ us-- 9 of them-- all newbies-- and it was our first time to the parks that trip. After they set of 2 or 3 then they just stopped-- they were all looking at me "like this is it-- this is why we staked out a spot??" It was kind of funny!!

 

[ontariodisneywoman]

We are going to MNSSHP for the first time this year also (adults only so the little one can have Halloween at home.. and of course the real reason, not miss any school).. We are there from Oct 25 until the 8th of Novemeber... what is the best day to go to the party? Is Halloween the best day or is every party about the same?
Thanks a bunch for any help!

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by ontariodisneywoman
We are going to MNSSHP for the first time this year also (adults only so the little one can have Halloween at home.. and of course the real reason, not miss any school).. We are there from Oct 25 until the 8th of Novemeber... what is the best day to go to the party? Is Halloween the best day or is every party about the same?
Thanks a bunch for any help!

Halloween night and that Friday night (Oct 29) will be the most crowded so if you want to avoid the bigger crowds, go on the Tues or Thurs.

 

[ontariodisneywoman]

Thank you for the information and the suggestions.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by skoi
We're going this year for the first time. I have a question. Someone mentioned getting a picture? What sort of picture? Also, what kind of candy do they give out? Is it worth it to wait in the lines?

Thanks,
Julie

Important Note: If you want to enjoy MNSSHP, avoid the "free" family portaits and hit the candy lines sparingly. We went with our 6 yr old and a soon to be 4 yr old last year, and the lines for the portraits looked agonizingly long. We went and rode Small World, Peter Pan and Splash Mountain, and noticed that a family we recognized from dinner was still in line after we had ridden all three!. The candy dispensing CMs are spread all over, so if there is a line for one, just skip it and go to another.

Another thing I would recommend is getting a PS at Liberty Tree or Crystal Palace the night you are going to MNSSHP, and get the PS right at the 90 day mark. Then when you are done with dinner, you head out into the magic of celebration.

Going twice is another good suggestion, if you can swing it. We all loved it! and it was worth staying up past our bedtimes (even tho we only stayed until maybe 9.

 

[KathyR]

We LOVE MNSSHP! We went 2 times last year and once the year before. This year we are going over X-mas, so we will miss it this year We have never had any issues with crowds, but then again, we have never gone on Halloween or on a Fri or Sat.

Anyway, I would suggest going Sun-Thurs (work/school nights). This way you don't get as many locals attending, so it is much more pleasant crowd wise. I would also not go on Halloween unless there is no other way to attend. Some of the resorts have a halloween party on halloween night, so that is another free option to celebrate the actual night of the holiday. I also suggest arriving very early. They have been letting partiers in at 4 PM instead of waiting until 7 PM (when the party starts) the last few years. If they do so again this year, it will be posted here on the DIS, so watch for it. Get your picture taken right at the start of the party (7PM). The line will be shortest at this time, and you will look your best at this time also. Then, go enjoy the rides, story tellers, fortune tellers, shows and games. During the first parade, begin your trick-or-treating. After this parade ends, the crowds thin out as alot of kids can't stay awake too late. They thin out even more after the fireworks. You then will have very small if any lines at the candy stations. Do NOT attend the first parade unless you know you will not make it for the 2nd. Take a nap during the day before the party to help your child be rested for the night. Our kids normally stay up until 10 PM and we have not had trouble staying up until 12 AM, but I know alot of people are early to bed early to rise. I am sure others will have great suggestions that have worked for them also

I know you will have a great time. My husband hates WDW, and he even enjoys the party

 

[Partridge4ever]

We were there on the Friday nite of Columbus Weekend last year. We only waited in 3 candy lines. The lines did move fast though. My kids got 1-2 pieces per line. I'd also suggest not waiting too late for the photo. We waited til around 11 pm to get our photo taken and the photographer herded us into position and snapped the pic w/one hand. He acted like we'd disturbed him. The lines for the characters were pretty incredible, too. It seemed like every time we got in line the character would leave to go on a break. Bad timing on our parts I guess because we've done the Christmas Party 3 times and have NO complaints. Oh, and after waiting through 2 sessions for Snow White and the Dwarves (people were trying to get autographs from all 8!!!), by the time we got our turn, they'd decided to make Snow White have her own line. In retrospect, it's pretty cool because it's my little Snow White w/the dwarves, but DD really wanted a photo w/Snow White, so that meant we had to wait in another line. Also, they quit letting people get in line for rides in Fantasyland at 11:30 or so.

Boy, this sounds whiney. All in all we had a good time, and I hope to go back this year but on a weeknite, armed w/a plan not to repeat my mistakes from last year. I wouldn't have wanted it to replace Halloween. Doesn't the Boardwalk do Trick or Treat? Also, with Halloween on a Sunday this year, Trick or Treat will be Sat. Oct. 30 in our town. And I bet the school activities will be Friday, won't they?