Is MNSSHP worth it?

[KAT7199]

I priced MNSSHP for myself, my husband and our 4 year old daughter. It came to just under $200.00! OUCH
I told my husband the cost and he said that "you have to draw the line somewhere." I agree totally.

Is it really worth $200 for the three of us? She normally goes to bed at the latest 8:30pm. I don't know if spending the additional $200 for party tickets is worth taking the chance of having an extremely cranky child since she no longer naps during the day.

Has anyone been to MNSSHP with young ones? Would it be something that can be skipped until she is a little older (say 6 or 7)?

The way I see it is that the $200 can be an extra day at a hotel...or potentially a down payment on our next vacation

Thanks!

 

[LSUfan4444]

It is a great time and if we can plan a visit while the parties are going on, we will go. So much so that we try our best to go when the parties are going on. We took our two year old and we did not do any parks the day of the party. Usually, at home our daughter goes to bed at 8 pm and she made it happily until after 11 pm and when she got tired, we just put her in the stroller and she slept fine. This year, she is 4 1/2 and we are taking her to both the Halloween and Christmas party.

However, without knowing your budget and what you would have to give up to buy the tickets, it is impossible to answer whether it is worth it for you or not.

Yes, it can be skipped and no I would not choose one party night over a week of hoppers, but if you can find $200 somewhere else in the budget that works for you I am sure you all would enjoy it very much.

 

[kristainohio]

I will tell you our experience with it last year. Background: we have two daughters aged 6 and 3 (last year at the Halloween party they were 5.5 and 2.5) They go to bed around seven each night. We decided to go ahead and do the Halloween party knowing it might not be successful.

That day we put them down for a nap at three and let them sleep past 5 (very late naps for them normally!) At 6 we headed over. They absolutely loved it!! The candy really helped keep them awake that night. We left around 11 and let them sleep in the next day. They are very excited to go back this year.

 

[KAT7199]

There really is no budget per se, as this is all going my Disney Visa for Disney Dollars, but we don't want to over do it. Right now our vacation is costing us almost 4K (airfare, hotel & upgraded dining plan). This of course is not factoring in tipping, souvenirs, OOP for food outside of dining plan. We still have to purchase the Memory Maker and rent a stroller as well.

As far as naps...my daughter does not nap at all at home! I've tried getting her to nap at home on the weekends because she naps at school during the week but has not napped at home for about a year and a half. We don't give her candy of any sort so we couldn't use that to pep her up.

 

[AmyB2006]

Well, worth is in the eye of the beholder. I can see for your DH why it wouldn't be. Men tend to be very analytic in their thinking, and monetarily he probably thinks it's too much to spend for 4 hours. Mine is the exact same way LOL.

However, the MNSSHP is awesome, IMO. To me, it's totally worth it. We have a blast. But otoh, the MVMCP, I don't think is worth the extra cost at all. But plenty of people do. So, again, it's all in how you look at it.

If you think it's something you'd fun at and that the kids would enjoy, try it once, see how it goes.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Cutting back on souvenirs and bringing your own stroller (which arilines allow for free) would save you at least half of the cost of tickets right there, but this is why nobody can answer whether or not it is worth it.

The party is great. If you have a stroller, most kids can sleep in a comfortable stroller if they get tired. I don't know many people who have regretted taking their kids to the party.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[burberryplaid]

I love MNSSHP and think it is worth it for us, but based on what you said maybe not for your party at this time unless you know for sure your daughter is going to last to get through what you want to accomplish.

 

[DisneyFive]

This is our opinion, but I would say it's a must do, to try it at least once.

I had to pony up for 5 of us last year, so it was a costly evening. Was it worth it? Definitely.

I wasn't so sure at first, I mean it kind of felt like any other night at MK, but then as the night went on and it got dark, the shows in front of the castle started, the special fireworks... it really felt unique and pretty awesome. (we spent limited time trick-or-treating, that wasn't our focus)

The real kicker is the parade. The headless horseman and the grave diggers are fantastic! and before the parade starts they get the kids out dancing in the streets.

Last year was our fourth year in a row to WDW, and we had put off MNSSHP the other years due to a number of reasons (had enough fun doing other things, cost, park schedule, etc...)

Very glad we went last year! You will have a blast without MNSSHP if you decide not to, but it's something to put on the list if you like.

Dan

P.S. We don't do park hoppers, but since MNSSHP is a separate hard ticket with 4pm park entrance, it was nice to visit a different park in the morning, then go back to the resort and get ready for the party, then head to MK.

 

[MomofKatie]

I'm going to say for your family, no. Your DD is usually sleeping by 8:30 and won't/can't nap, you don't allow her to have candy (a big part of the party for kids is trick or treating and snacking on the candy), and your DH sounds like he really doesn't want to stretch the budget to cover the extra cost.

You will have a great time even without the party. Maybe in a few years when your DD is older and can stay up later, you can allow for the cost, but if it was me, I would skip it this time.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I'm going to say for your family, no. Your DD is usually sleeping by 8:30 and won't/can't nap, you don't allow her to have candy (a big part of the party for kids is trick or treating and snacking on the candy), and your DH sounds like he really doesn't want to stretch the budget to cover the extra cost.

You will have a great time even without the party. Maybe in a few years when your DD is older and can stay up later, you can allow for the cost, but if it was me, I would skip it this time.

I have to agree with this. It doesn't sound like it will be a good fit for your family this year. We've gone the past two years, when our youngest was 2 and 3. He fell asleep before the fireworks both years (and we went to two parties last year). It was "worth it" for us because we got to see the villain show and meet some rare characters before he fell asleep, and we have an older child who made it all the way through the party and had a blast. But it sounds like you would be disappointed in what you would get for your money, so it's probably best just to skip.

 

[PartOfYourWDWorld]

It is worth the cost, but if you don think your child will make it past 8:30, then skip it for now. It'll still be just as awesome a couple years from now.

 

[DisneyMooners2010]

DH and I went to MNSSHP in 2012 and will be returning with our 19mo DD this year. From our perspecitve it is worth the price. We don't go for the character interactions - low to non-existent ride wait times seal the deal for us. Last time DH was able to walk on to BTM several times in a row (I was preggo and sat out) and we were even able to walk on to Peter Pan. We are looking forward to that and also dressing up in family costumes.

DD's usual bedtime is 8pm so we will plan on arriving for the start of the party (after downtime in our resort in the afternoon), riding as many rides as possible, then watch the first parade and fireworks before heading to our resort. That should get us out of there around 10pm. We are planning a lazy start to the next day.

I should note that last time we went to a September party and it was pouring rain so there was only one parade and the headless horseman could not ride. We still had fun, plus we took home a ton of candy we gave to trick or treaters at home. Whether you go now or wait until she's older, you should definitely try to attend at some point!

 

[AmyB2006]

I just noticed you said you don't give her candy. Seeing that... I'd probably skip it if it were me. I was going to say don't worry about the time, because my DS was 3 the last time we went and he made it all the way till midnight and after. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing.

LOL, but trick or treating for candy is a big part of the event.

 

[Disneytam]

I have the same question as the OP except it is only my husband and myself that would be attending. We'll be going to Disney the end of Sept. and thought about attending the party but it seems like an awful lot of money for a parade and fireworks. Since were going in Sept. I'm not expecting large crowds during the day so the smaller crowds during the party shouldn't be that big of a deal and we don't do meet and great with the character's anymore since our son is grown and won't be with us for this trip. We are planning on eating dinner at the Poly one night that the party is going on and plan on watching the fireworks from the beach. Am I missing something? Sooo many people on these boards rave about this party, and I understand the draw with children, but two adults I just don't see it for the absurd cost.

 

[ckoshka]

We went last year when my kids were 4,6 and almost 2. My oldest two never nap anymore, but they do at Disney. They were already wiped out from the day before at Epcot and then a pool day in the morning so they crashed as soon as I made them rest on the bed with lights out. They all fell asleep even though they insisted they wouldn't nap.

That being said, my youngest fell asleep a few times that night in the stroller, as did my oldest while waiting for the parade, but then all 3 were bright eyed as soon as the excitement started. We loved it so much.

 

[AmyB2006]

I have the same question as the OP except it is only my husband and myself that would be attending. We'll be going to Disney the end of Sept. and thought about attending the party but it seems like an awful lot of money for a parade and fireworks. Since were going in Sept. I'm not expecting large crowds during the day so the smaller crowds during the party shouldn't be that big of a deal and we don't do meet and great with the character's anymore since our son is grown and won't be with us for this trip. We are planning on eating dinner at the Poly one night that the party is going on and plan on watching the fireworks from the beach. Am I missing something? Sooo many people on these boards rave about this party, and I understand the draw with children, but two adults I just don't see it for the absurd cost.

Personally I wouldn't do it as an adult with no kids. But they do allow adults to dress up if you want. Adults can collect candy. Halloween parade and fireworks. No lines. M&Gs.

If getting candy and M&Gs and those things don't interest you as an adult, I wouldn't waste the money either.

 

[katt789]

If the kids won't be up past 8:30, and you don't want to push her around in a stroller all night, I'd say skip it.

Personally, I do think MNSSHP is COMPLETELY worth it, and this year alone, a group of 4 of us is going and we're spending $260.00 EACH on party tickets (4 parties) we all think it's completely and totally worth it because:

-We can dress up in costume
-A TON of candy from trick or treating
-Special parade that is absolutely fantastic and my personal favourite of the year
-Same with the fireworks
-2 separate dance parties around the parks
-Special stage show with all the villains
-Villains are out for meet and greets
-Special & more rare characters (including jack & sally, and the princes) are out to meet
-Super, super short ride lines

It's worth it to us because of all those, and we'll be taking FULL advantage of those tickets, arriving right at 4pm, and staying right til midnight!