Halloween party

[michelle1]

I have been to the Halloween party at WDW but will be going to one in DL in late September. Are most of the rides open during the party? if anyone has been to both can you tell me if there is much difference between WDW party and DL?

 

[MagicMomma1]

Have never been to WDW so I can't speak to the differences between the two Halloween parties. One thing I've repeatedly read though is that DL's Halloween parade (although fun and enjoyable) doesn't hold a candle to WDW's Halloween parade. It's much shorter, less elaborate, and doesn't boast a Headless Horseman clattering down Main St. Also, at DL the HM becomes the Jack Skellington-themed Haunted Mansion Holiday at from Halloweentime until the Christmas season ends.

DH and I have been to Mickeys Halloween Party for the past two years with our two young DS's. The vast majority of the park remains open for the event. However, Toontown is completely closed. The Main St. vehicles, Mark Twain riverboat, and sailing ship Columbia are not in operation. Tarzan's Treehouse, Casey Jr.'s Circus Train, and the Storybookland Canal Boats are closed too. We feel this is all small potatoes though and doesn't affect our enjoyment of the park whatsoever.

A few retail locations and several of the food carts and eateries are closed (and what is open is swamped). It's fun to snack on the special Halloween treats during the party but I'd recommend eating dinner (maybe in DD?) prior to the party.

Just a few things from our experience: Disney does an awesome job creating a fun Halloween atmosphere in the park for the party with great decorations, fog, different lighting effects. The music loop becomes a little repetitive by the night's end but really helps set the mood. The Halloween Screams fireworks are SPECTACULAR. Getting a decent seat with an unobstructed view ensures you won't miss the special Halloween effects that play across the facade of the castle during the display. And we've never found the Market House too busy to grab a hot cider or cocoa beforehand to enjoy with the show! Not all of the trick-or-treat trails are marked on the map they give you, so be on the look-out for those if candy is your objective but don't waste valuable party time waiting in long lines for treats. The longest lines seem to be anyplace the kiddies congregate and the trails farther out in the park are empty at the outset. A last piece of advice--if you want pics of Mickey & Minnie in their Halloween finery, determine asap where they will be then get in line 20-30 min. prior to the start of the party. Then you can be out and done as soon as it begins and not spending time waiting in what quickly becomes a VERY long line.

 

[All American]

DL's Halloween party (although fun and enjoyable) doesn't hold a candle to WDW's Halloween parade. It's much shorter, less elaborate, and doesn't boast a Headless Horseman clattering down Main St.

*THAT* times 1 Billion.

Other than that the parties are very similar and each one is just as fun as the other. I loved them both, and I am a VERY loyal WDW gal. Some of the things I really appreciated about the party at DL was the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay. That theme -- the Jack Skellington/Nightmare Before Christmas -- carries over to the Hallowishes fireworks. Generally, the music is the same, but Jack narrates the show, and Zero makes a special appearance. I LOVED that!!!!

Other than that, the parties on both coasts are equally fantastic. Lots of yummy treats, cool costumes, and fun decorations. Now, if we could just get some specific dates, we could really start planning....

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Parade isn't as good. The Fireworks, though kinda the same show, features Jack Skellington as Master of Scaremonies in DL...which I think was much better. Plus Zero flies in the show.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i wish this year they would add a headless horsemen part to the dl parade (one of my fav Halloween cartoons and I wish they had some thing there this year.

also my son came up with a new ride for fantasy land a head less horsemen ride lol (he sent in the request to)

 

[KateDrake]

I agree with all these posts, for the most part they are pretty similar. The biggest difference I noticed were the crowds. At WDW, I felt like while we didn't have the park to ourselves, there were a lot fewer people, and the waits were very small. I can't remember standing in a single candy line, and the longest line was for Peter Pan at about 15 minutes.
But at Disneyland, all the locals come, and it gets nuts! I felt like the park was more full at 9 p.m. by Rivers of America than it is on a summer day. The lines for candy were so long, we basically gave up on Trick or Treating and tried to do rides, but the lines were super long and it was just hard to move from one area to the other.
The other thing I noticed, and this isn't really a complaint, just an observation, is that at WDW, EVERYONE dresses up, which I think is more fun. At Disneyland, we were some of the only adults in costume. I thought that was a little more fun at WDW, just because I loved looking at what everyone was wearing!

 

[figment_jii]

While some of the elements between the two parties are fairly similar, to me the parties felt very different. Both were a lot of fun and I can't wait to go again (to both).

Parade: As many have said, WDW's Boo-To-You parade is much more elaborate than DL's Cavalcade. Prior to the WDW parade, the Headless Horseman rides the parade route. It's really cool! I love the Haunted Mansion sequence in Boo-To-You (the dancers with the shovels are amazing). The DL cavalcade is cute, with lots of characters in costume.
WDW

DLR

Fireworks: In this case, both shows are really good. DL's Halloween Screams has Zero flying (in place of Tinkerbell or Dumbo), but he's really neat. Jack Skellington is the host, so if you're a Nightmare fan, that should be a treat. I don't think anyone flies during WDW's HalloWishes, but they make really cool use of the castle and "surround fireworks". Some of the music is the same between the two shows.
WDW

DLR

Trick-or-Treating: WDW has treat stations with one big treat trail. DL has almost entirely treat trails (multiple treat stations along the path). In both cases, the trick-or-treating is pretty popular first thing at the party and tends to be more manageable by the second half. The treats themselves seemed pretty similar.
DLR (WDW was pretty similar):

Dance Parties: WDW and DLR both have character dance parties, which can be fun if you like to do that. I think they're nearly in the same places: Tomorrowland and Frontierland.

Castle Forecourt Show: WDW has a Villains Mix n Mingle show on the castle forecourt stage. Afterwards the villains come down and do photo ops with guests. It's a great chance to get photos with Maleficent, Jafar, and other villains. DLR doesn't have anything quite like this, although I did see some villains at the character meet and greets near Small World.

Character Meet and Greets: Both parties have a lot of character meet and greets. You'll find some "rare" characters out (e.g., the seven dwarfs). I have to say that Jack Sparrow has a much cooler location at DLR; in front of the Columbia with the "fog" coming off of the Rivers of America.
DLR:

Rides: At both parks, most of the big rides are open during the party. DLR has Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. None of the rides at WDW have a Halloween overlay.

Food: In both parks not all of the food venues remain open during the party. If you want to eat, I'd grab dinner before the party starts! Be sure to check out any special Halloween-themed items. Last year, they had Mickey and Donald pumpkin cups (both parks) and a Nightmare popcorn/sandwich container.
DLR:

This is a link to Allears website for DLR's Mickey's Halloween Party:http://allears.net/dlr/tp/dl/mhp.htm

And the link to Allears website for WDW's MNSSHP: http://allears.net/tp/mk/mnssh.htm

 

[fairycat]

I agree with all these posts, for the most part they are pretty similar. The biggest difference I noticed were the crowds. At WDW, I felt like while we didn't have the park to ourselves, there were a lot fewer people, and the waits were very small. I can't remember standing in a single candy line, and the longest line was for Peter Pan at about 15 minutes.
But at Disneyland, all the locals come, and it gets nuts! I felt like the park was more full at 9 p.m. by Rivers of America than it is on a summer day. The lines for candy were so long, we basically gave up on Trick or Treating and tried to do rides, but the lines were super long and it was just hard to move from one area to the other.
The other thing I noticed, and this isn't really a complaint, just an observation, is that at WDW, EVERYONE dresses up, which I think is more fun. At Disneyland, we were some of the only adults in costume. I thought that was a little more fun at WDW, just because I loved looking at what everyone was wearing!

Maybe it was the nights you went, but we have found lots of adults were dressed up. I also learned that it seemed everyone headed the same direction, at the ToT. We found that if we headed towards Small World instead of New Orleans Square, we hit shorter lines for everything. We always seem to hit Pizza Planet for dinner (one of the only times we ever really eat there), and end at Haunted Mansion, which never has a line at the end of the night, unlike the crazy lines at the start of the ToT. For us, simply adjusting our plans for the event to avoid lines, has gotten us on everything we wanted to do pretty easily. I will miss not doing the event this year, we did it 2008, 2010, and 2011.

 

[chrissiecutie]

We are considering a trip in late Sept/early Oct and I would LOVE to take DS to the Halloween Party. We've never been!

From this post & thread, I've learned that there's a special parade, fireworks & trick or treating. Is there anything I've missed??

Also, how does all this work? Does the park shut down at a specific time and then only those who paid for the party are allowed to stay in? And what's the usual schedule of the events? Meaning does it start with the parade at a certain time and then trick or treating and end with fireworks? Or do you just do whatever....and I'm guessing that most the rides are open during this time, but not all the restaurants??

TIA!

 

[figment_jii]

We are considering a trip in late Sept/early Oct and I would LOVE to take DS to the Halloween Party. We've never been!

From this post & thread, I've learned that there's a special parade, fireworks & trick or treating. Is there anything I've missed??

Also, how does all this work? Does the park shut down at a specific time and then only those who paid for the party are allowed to stay in? And what's the usual schedule of the events? Meaning does it start with the parade at a certain time and then trick or treating and end with fireworks? Or do you just do whatever....and I'm guessing that most the rides are open during this time, but not all the restaurants??

TIA!

Party goes purchase a special ("hard ticket") that has historically let them into DL at 4 pm (the party starts at 6 or 7 pm, depending on the night). When you enter they'll put a wrist band on you and that's your "ticket" to the party. When DL closes and the party starts, they funnel everyone not wearing a wrist band out of the park.

Trick-or-Treating starts with the party, but the Cavalcade and fireworks don't run until later in the evening. The Cavalcade goes twice a night with fireworks in the middle. (Fireworks are around 9:30 pm.)

You can find lots of useful information on Allears.net website:
http://allears.net/dlr/tp/dl/mhp.htm

 

[chrissiecutie]

Party goes purchase a special ("hard ticket") that has historically let them into DL at 4 pm (the party starts at 6 or 7 pm, depending on the night). When you enter they'll put a wrist band on you and that's your "ticket" to the party. When DL closes and the party starts, they funnel everyone not wearing a wrist band out of the park.

Trick-or-Treating starts with the party, but the Cavalcade and fireworks don't run until later in the evening. The Cavalcade goes twice a night with fireworks in the middle. (Fireworks are around 9:30 pm.)

You can find lots of useful information on Allears.net website:
http://allears.net/dlr/tp/dl/mhp.htm

Thank You!

So I'm assuming that on party nights, the park would close earlier to all those who don't have the ticket/wristband?

Also....would I need to purchase a park ticket in addition to the party ticket? Meaning if I have a 3 day PH, would the Halloween party count as one of my days? Or would I still have 3 full days left on my PH??

 

[chrissiecutie]

Thank You!

So I'm assuming that on party nights, the park would close earlier to all those who don't have the ticket/wristband?

Also....would I need to purchase a park ticket in addition to the party ticket? Meaning if I have a 3 day PH, would the Halloween party count as one of my days? Or would I still have 3 full days left on my PH??

LOL...oh man! I SO should have clicked your link before replying! Allears says that a park ticket is NOT required. Good news!!!

One other question though....my cousin has AP's and will probably be going to the Halloween party. Can she purchase tickets for my family as well??

 

[JadeDarkstar]

if you are going with her i think yes she can buy them for you withher ap but im not 100% sure

 

[chrissiecutie]

if you are going with her i think yes she can buy them for you withher ap but im not 100% sure

Yes...I'm hoping it will work that we can all go together! The allears site did say that AP's can buy up to 8 tickets. BUT are those for AP holders only??

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i think one ap holder can buy up to 8 tickets for fam and friends i am not ap holder wish i was but i think thats what it means

 

[I'm mikey]

In past years, DVC owners, AP and disney visa card holders could pre-purchase up to 8 halloween
party tickets before they went on sale to the general public. you could call
disney and order the tickets over the phone and disney would mail the party tickets to you.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

So if we were already in the parks on one of these days and had tickets to attend the party, do we have to leave and then come back in through the approriate turnstile to get the wristband/bag/map? It's not something you can get first thing in the morning?

I am positive we will taking a break to make sure the all the kids make it through the party, but I just like to know all our options.

 

[BlueBayou]

We did this last year - and I don't think we would do it again. It wasn't bad - it just wasn't a must do for us. We got a TON of candy - but that was about it.

 

[Hunnypaw]

We go every year we can... we stay at the GCV to get ready after spending the day in the park. We have fun going everytime. We really like DW's version as well, DL is nice too, but it can be crowded compared to DW's. I guess it is the day/night you go that determines that as well. We will be there (DLs) this year as well!

 

[chrissiecutie]

We go every year we can... we stay at the GCV to get ready after spending the day in the park. We have fun going everytime. We really like DW's version as well, DL is nice too, but it can be crowded compared to DW's. I guess it is the day/night you go that determines that as well. We will be there (DLs) this year as well!

So how would one determine what the best night is?

I'm assuming the 1st & last party nights are out. But how's the 2nd night for example?