Need help for NOT going to the Halloween Party. So I put in at work to take off Sept 28 and 29. My thinking is drive down Sat morning. Go to the parks Sun and Monday. Drive back Tuesday. We plan to take our college age boys with us. There is a party on Monday night but I'm thinking we won't go. We'll already have to pay for the boys since they don't have APs. Plus their food!

The amount they can eat is scary! And we just took an Alaskan cruise in addition to spending a week at DLR this summer. So not sure I want to spend extra money on the party right now. Will DCA be full of people who won't be in DL for the party? I wanted to see the fall offerings at DLR since I never have before. It isn't easy for teachers to leave work in September but we are going to try this year! Any advice on touring in 2 days in the fall? One son hasn't seen Carsland yet. The other has been more recently. My goals are to see HMH (again) and Ghost Galaxy on Space.
Or do you really really think it is worth it to go to the party on Monday? And why? Just needing some fall help here. Thanks!
Well, the truth of the matter is that the fall/Halloween Time offerings are thin -- unless something new is going to be added in to surprise us all this year. The Halloween Carnival appears to not be returning -- but worse than that is the fact that some of the individual elements of the Carnival don't appear to be returning either (even in different locations), such as Pirates League, the Pumpkin Carvers and the Conjure a Villain tent (even though I'm sure that at least a couple of Villains will be out and about in the daytime, somewhere in DL).
We really don't know how much the 60th anniversary is going to impact the Halloween Time decorations on Main Street, or event the usual Halloween-themed window displays on Main Street. There are supposedly going to be "sparking" new Halloween/Diamond decorations somewhere, but I guarantee that those will not be all over
Disneyland, and they may be nothing more than sparkly pumpkins on the lampposts. Ordinarily, once you get past Main Street you have to go to Frontierland before you find more decorations, or to NOS for HMH, and even then the biggest concentration of Halloween décor in Frontierland was at the Carnival/Round-Up. Even if the Carnival s not open, I hope that there will still be some décor in that general area. Other than that, you have the Dia de los Muertos display and the Ray Bradbury Halloween Tree. And SMGG in Tomorrowland.
So, I guess my point is that, by removing more things from the daytime array of Halloween fun, the Halloween Party becomes more necessary to have a complete Halloween experience! Paint the Night is not a party exclusive, but you'll see the Cadaver Dans, Halloween Screams, some characters who are less common, etc. I don't think that the price of MHP should have gone up so much for what is being offered, but the MHP becomes more important and valuable when the daytime pickings get slimmer, unfortunately.
DCA does get more crowded with people who leave DL when the party begins, but DCA can handle extra people much better than DL, so I don't think it ever feels packed to the brim like DL can feel.
Curious how things work for people who are in the park on the days of the party but do not have tickets. Are attractions still open to people without the party tickets or no?
Yes -- you can ride Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy during the day without going to the party, but if you don't have an MHP ticket you'd have to leave the park when the party starts (at either 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.). Cast Members will begin diligently checking for wristbands.