Mickey's Halloween Party. Is it worth it?

[bumbershoot]

The only exclusive things during the party that you couldn't do on any other day is the trick-or-treating, fireworks, villian characters who aren't normally out, fog on the river, etc.

You can trick or treat at home. And you'll probably get better candy.

Everything else, yes.

And riding the rides in a spookier, different, sort of environment. If you can focus on those things and NOT on the trick or treating (if your family can't eat the corn syrup candy they have, it's useless to get a ton!), then it can be worth it. Plus, the ToT lines are HUGE time-suckers.

 

[GatorChris]

Just read that there will be 17 Halloween hard-ticket parties this fall, and the ticket prices will be in the $80s. Wow! Seems pricey. I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts are about this party.

One of my beefs at WDW was when we'd go in early December, there'd be a party 4 nights each week. That means the ticket a regular person would buy would only be good until 6pm and they wouldn't get to take advantage of any night time shows. It also made the other 3 nights nuts at the MK. So I'm not a big fan of this idea of paying more for getting virtually the same. But....maybe you think different. Are these worth it in any way?

 

[VandVsmama]

We have never been to the Halloween party because of the cost. From what I've read, the DL Halloween parties draw tons of locals. We are going to DL in early October and will be skipping the Halloween party and switching over to DCA in the evening.

 

[bcwife76]

We have never been to the Halloween party because of the cost. From what I've read, the DL Halloween parties draw tons of locals. We are going to DL in early October and will be skipping the Halloween party and switching over to DCA in the evening.

This is us too. We'll be there Oct 1-3, have already bought our park hoppers and cannot justifying spending another $77 EACH for this party. We will go to DL first thing in the morning on the party day (which for us is the Friday) and then move over to DCA early afternoon.

 

[JessieD]

We are going for the first time this year. Our selling point was our 5 year old being able to trick or treat in the parks. We will be there 26-31 with the 26 & 31 being travel days. So, he won't have the option of trick or treating at home. We will do a character breakfast then the party on the 27th, then park hop 28-30th.

 

[nicolispicoli]

I really liked it when we went, the kids had a great time. They got tons of candy/treats and they looked adorable (All three dressed as Mike, Sully and Boo). I love Halloween, so the ambience was fantastic, the fog on the river was especially great. The fireworks show was great too, but at the time, I would have rather watched Remember every single night.

I want to be honest about the cons and this was back when the tickets were at least 20 dollars cheaper per person. The trick or treat lines were long, but moved quickly. The lines for the rarely seen out villians were very long, too long for us. The ride lines weren't as short as I thought they would be either.

Overall, I felt like it was a good value with our AP discounts, I think around $50 at the time a couple years back. I suppose it just depends on how many people you have in your family, how many days you'll be there, etc.

 

[Spacepest]

We've done the parties before. The tickets allow you to get in around 3 or 4pm depending on the day, so we just sleep in and plan a late day where we stay up late at the party. We didn't even bother wasting a regular ticket on a party day or go to the park before that. We also found the parties to be way less crowded than the normal daytime October hours, because Halloweentime keeps bringing in more local crowds. We just avoid the weekend (Friday) parties because those are the most crowded, with extremely long lines for characters and candy. Weekday parties the kids get tired and peter out and leave about halfway through the event.

The tickets used to be a great deal because they were $20-30 than a regular day ticket, and if you showed up by 4pm and stayed until party close it was almost like a full day of park time.

 

[Sherry E]

Same subject/basic question; different thread (from just a few day ago) -- http://www.disboards.com/threads/mickeys-halloween-party-is-it-worth-it.3429515/

 

[Doctor Who]

I think it's a great time. My kids are older 17, 18 and they love it. We go every other year. We go during UEA weekend and the crowds aren't overwhelming. We walk on to almost every attraction. The fireworks are the best I've seen. We all love the trick or treating we scream out "Treat Trail" and get in line. We don't do character meet ups. We never watched the little parade thing. We would buy a cool shirt Zombie or Superman or Scary pumpkin and buy the party earhat and that would be our costume. We are going this year and $77.00 is steep but I still think it's worth it.

 

[maltdizzy]

It's a poor value at full price, even more so if you have tickets for the parks that same day. At that point you are really only paying for access after 6 or 7 PM (depending on day).

We are going this year, but we are starting 3 days with MHP...that means for our $77 each we will get in the turnstile at 3 or 4PM on day 1 (party tickets get you in 3 hours before party) and make a full night of the party...then following up with two-day tickets for days 2 and 3. But the whole MHP is purely a treat...a luxury expense...because of it's hour/dollar price.

 

[HopLow1968]

We chose our dates specifically so that there would be a halloween party. We've never been and are definitely excited about the party. But now that they've announced the dates, it turns out that 3 of our 5 days (5 day park hopper) have parties. That seems a bit excessive because now we're faced with the choice of paying to do multiple parties or losing significant time in Disneyland. This is the first I've complained about price because I knew admission was expensive. But when you have to save for months to pay the almost-$600 admission, only to be told that we'll need to cough up another $400 or lose time in disneyland - thats rough. We're decided to do 2 party nights, and we'll just spend the 3rd night in DCA instead.

 

[DizneyLover]

I was there last year with 3 of my grandsons. We loved it. I can't wait to take my other grandchildren there in the future. We used our MHP ticket to get into the park and this saved a day on our park hopper tickets. We went right at 3:00 pm on a weekday and was able to take advantage of the later park hours for the party. It was well woth it in our opinion.

 

[Girimama33]

I think it is good to do once...but I cannot justify the additional expense as an AP holder. All of the lines were long...including the rides. The candy is not anything special. Halloween Screams is a good show, but not worth the cost of admission.

 

[GeneralTso]

I think it's worth doing once. We did it, we won't again.

INSANE crowds. Same story with the Christmas party although I'm breaking my own rule and going again at WDW in November. My daughter and friend will be with us and they've never been. They're in their 20's so will go off and do their own thing.

I think of all the parks and all the holidays, Disneyland at Halloween is the most adorable. The decorations are the best. You can see all that without attending the party. For the special character meet and greets----get ready to stand in line for an hour. Not worth it.

 

[GatorChris]

We are going to DL in early October and will be skipping the Halloween party and switching over to DCA in the evening.

My problem with this is....so will everyone else. DCA will be a zoo for those wanting to extend their evening on a regular ticket.

I think it's worth doing once. We did it, we won't again.

INSANE crowds. Same story with the Christmas party although I'm breaking my own rule and going again at WDW in November. My daughter and friend will be with us and they've never been. They're in their 20's so will go off and do their own thing.

My thoughts exactly. We did the MVMCP at the MK in 2006. We returned at Christmas time in 08 and 12 and didn't do the party and probably never will. It's so expensive. But the flip side is going to the MK on the day there isn't a party....the same idea everyone else has. So it's crazy busy, and the fireworks nights feel like being there on a holiday. Jam packed. Thought we'd never get out of there when the fireworks ended. We had people actually stepping on our stroller it was so packed! The only reason we go back during that season is the guarantee of nearly all attractions up and running.

I just wonder if DL is the same way. Is it packed on the non-party days (especially for fireworks and F!)? Is DCA shoulder to shoulder on Halloween party nights. I'm just praying they don't ever introduce a hard-ticket Christmas party.

 

[Aust]

We went in 2012 and also when the party was in DCA in 2007. We'll be at DLR this year when the first party is on, but won't be buying tickets this year. For a few reasons - one is cost - the more expensive tickets plus the worse exchange rate with the Australian dollar currently means I'd be paying around AUD$400 for 4 people, after already paying for our 10 day passes (we'll be in the parks 6 1/2 days). It will be our last day so we will probably have had our fill of the rides by then. And while we quite enjoyed the party in 2012, I also found it really crowded, much more than I expected for a ticketed party, lines were long for the character meets and many rides, and yes the kids got lots of candy and the atmosphere was cool but not enough to convince me to pay the money again.

I'm not so worried about losing out on a park evening as we'd already planned to eat off site and do some shopping that night, but if there were more nights with parties during our stay, I'd be annoyed.

 

[Sherry E]

I merged the 2 "MHP - is it worth it/good or bad" threads together, as they are essentially about the same things.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

After reading many posts on the "is it worth it?" question, I find that a big factor in answering this very subjective question is "what are your expectations?" For those who expected an almost empty park or walk on rides, no line or very short line trick or treating (especially with some kind of special candy), and a party very close to MNSSHP at MK, the reviews overall are pretty negative. For those who love DL's Halloween atmosphere and don't expect the above listed things or for those who have no set expectations, the parties can be very fun and worth the cost of a ticket. For one or two people, giving the party a try is doable. But for those with families, especially larger families, the "worth it" factor is a serious consideration. A sold out party is not a low crowd event. Less crowded than a packed summer day? Yes. No crowds at all? No. We have a great time experiencing DL in costume and interacting with CMs and other guests. That makes the party worth the cost for us. Completely understand how other people's mileage can vary.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I have a specific question about the Party. We're considering going to the Party on Wednesday, Sept. 30 this year. Since it will be on a weekday, early during Halloween time, can we expect fairly short lines for the rides?

 

[Coach Green]

I have a specific question about the Party. We're considering going to the Party on Wednesday, Sept. 30 this year. Since it will be on a weekday, early during Halloween time, can we expect fairly short lines for the rides?

The lines will be way shorter. I went last year on a friday and they kick everyone out who didnt buy the special event ticket after 7pm. The wait times for all the rides were less than 15 mins except for the mansion and space moutain. They let you in the park 3 hrs prior to the event if you dont wanna pay for both tickets