Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Questions

[3"Mouse"keteers]

Wow! This is an exciting thread! I am going in September, and I am excited to see all that candy (most of which I don't know, which makes it even more exciting!)

Is there much Hershey's chocolate? Cause I hate the stuff, you can't even give it away in the UK!

You can give it to me! I never turn down chocolate!

 

[VBsHustla]

We'll also be attending our first MNSSHP this year (probably September 15) and are wondering if we should plan to go twice during our stay, so this thread is great!

-Jen

 

[Terk-1]

My main focus for the party is to see the parade, fireworks & do as many meet & greets as possible, especially with those hard to find characters.

 

[PaulaSB12]

I am heading to WDW at the end of September for a solo trip and plan on attending MNSSHP for the first time and have some questions.

1. Is the party less crowded during the week (say on a Tuesday or Thursday) than it is on a Friday night?

2. Is it better to get a ticket on May 1st or can I wait a little while to purchase?

3. Are there alot of characters available for meet & greets? Where are most of the characters stationed?

4. Should I plan to book an early ADR inside the park on the day of a party?

5. Is this party worth doing twice in one trip?

6. Where is the best place to view the parade & fireworks?

7. Are there alot of rare characters out for meet & greet?

8. Is it worth trick or treating if you are a solo adult?

1 Cant answer that I like the Friday parties
2 Usually pre book the tickets anyway so you know that you have them
5 I am going to do 2 in one trip as well its twice the fun
8 I had never been trick or treating as a child so as an adult I finally got some done its great fun and well work it if you are a solo adult!

 

[amyhutchison]

I went at the exact same time last year and it was great!

The parks were not too crowded, we tend to use the fast-pass but almost never had to wait for anything! The only time we had to wait was in Fantasy Land and never more that 20-30 min.

We got our party tickets about 3 weeks before our arrival.

There were tons of character available, especially along the trail in the Queen of Hearts rose garden and around Mickey's house.

We booked an ADR in at Cinderella's Royal Table but I think that if I were to do it again I would have gone to another park during the day and dined there, then made my way to MK.

It was loads of fun and the fireworks were fantastic, but I think that once in one trip is enough, for my husband and I anyway, kids may think otherwise.

We watched the parade from the bridge by Splash mountain, and I think it is the ultimate place to watch! Just get there early b/c that is where it starts from. Best view and as soon as it ends you can walk right on to splash mtn with no line! We watched the fireworks from the front of the castle, definitely need to get there early.

We saw a lot of Alice in Wonderland Character that we had rarely seen before that that was a big one for us, the parade was chock full of rarities.

The candy given out when trick o treating was kind of blah but the experience was fun nonetheless.

Hope this helped!

 

[Luv2Diz]

1. Is the party less crowded during the week (say on a Tuesday or Thursday) than it is on a Friday night? We went on both a Tuesday and Friday night in early September last year and didn't notice much difference in the size of the crowds.

2. Is it better to get a ticket on May 1st or can I wait a little while to purchase? We bought the tickets for the Tuesday party about a week in advance (when weather reports were that the weather would be good that day). We bought our Friday night tickets in the park the day before that party.

3. Are there alot of characters available for meet & greets? Where are most of the characters stationed? Yes! We loved seeing Snow White and the Dwarves. Also the villains. It is fun to see the characters dressed up in their Halloween costumes. You will find them throughout the park.

4. Should I plan to book an early ADR inside the park on the day of a party?
Yes - you don't want to waste party time having dinner.

5. Is this party worth doing twice in one trip?
I am as frugal as they come, but we enjoyed the first party so much it was worth going again for the 2nd party. Everything about it is fun. The parade, the music piped throughout the park, the characters in their costumes, the trick-or-treating, Hallowishes. I went with my 2 adult children and we all had a great time. For me, this party was truly the epitomy of being able to be a kid again. I am 40+ years removed from trick or treating and never thought I would be doing that again. It was great to just be a kid again for the duration of the party. Even the cast members seemed to be having a great time at the party. It was Disney magic at it's finest!

6. Where is the best place to view the parade & fireworks? We enjoyed watching the parade in Frontierland. At one point, Woody came up to my daughter, put his hand on her shoulder, and proceeded to stand there and bob his head to the music and watch the parade with us. He stood there for at least 5 minutes! Fireworks are best to watch from near the castle.

7. Are there alot of rare characters out for meet & greet?Yes, Snow White and the Dwarves and also the Villains.

8. Is it worth trick or treating if you are a solo adult? I would go for it. I enjoyed it even more than I expected.

We can't wait to go again this September. It's a great party.

Don't forget to look for the music CD in the Magic Kingdom gift shops that contains music from the Boo To You parade and Hallowishes. I am so glad I bought it. We played it for a full 2 months after we got home. And we'll be playing it again this coming Halloween season! Absolutely catchy music!

 

[rdearth]

1. Is the party less crowded during the week (say on a Tuesday or Thursday) than it is on a Friday night?
We went last year on a Tuesday in September (21st I think) and will be doing it again this year on a Tuesday. We had no noticeable lines on any rides -- especially important for the kiddie rides like Dumbo and Peter Pan. We rode many multiple times, so crowds were definitely not an issue.

2. Is it better to get a ticket on May 1st or can I wait a little while to purchase? I don't think our Tuesday night sold out, but we did buy the tickets early anyway.

3. Are there alot of characters available for meet & greets? Where are most of the characters stationed? If you find a map of past Halloween parties online, you can see where most of the characters will be. At least it didn't change from 2007 to 2008, so I doubt it will change much for 2009.

4. Should I plan to book an early ADR inside the park on the day of a party? You can get in the park at 4 pm. We set an ADR for Tony's at something like 5. It worked out perfectly for us. And it was fun to be in costume while we ate. At that point most of the guests are in normal attire, so if you're costumed you really get the attention. Even during the event CMs really give you extra fun attention for wearing a costume. Last year we were Woody, Jessie, Boo and Merryweather.

5. Is this party worth doing twice in one trip? I would prefer to do it just once. It kind of keeps it special and is definitely something to look forward to the next time you go. You can definitely get everything in in one trip including many, many rides.

6. Where is the best place to view the parade & fireworks? Since it's not very crowded, you can be just about anywhere and get a pretty decent spot at just about any time. Of course, if you're height challenged you might want to camp out in the park area in front of the castle. There are also villain shows in front of the castle, so if I remember right, you could watch that and then wait for the parade soon after.

7. Are there alot of rare characters out for meet & greet? Yes. Even if you won't necessarily be dancing, many of them will be in those areas at different times.

8. Is it worth trick or treating if you are a solo adult? The trick or treating is basically a quick line. At the end of the line a CM drops some candy into your bag. They clearly don't care if you're a solo adult or a group of kids or rowdy teenagers. In fact, many times I got candy for the others in my party that were on a ride at the time. A few CMs seemed to kind of frown on a person going through a second time, but no one ever actually said anything. Of course, when you're dressed like Woody, you kind of stand out.

 

[rdearth]

Wow, Terk-1, you practically took the words right out of my mouth!

I did have a couple more to ask tho!

1. Is it possible to do EVERYTHING in the time allotted? I only plan on doing this once probably for years and years and I want to get it all! We are going on Sept 15th which is a Tuesday nite. The only thing I really don't need to do is the dance parties, but everything else I have to do. I may only need to ride PoTC and HM. But I even want to do the face painting and ToTing! Yes, I'm 34. Why do you ask?

2. What are people planning on wearing this year?

1. It depends on what everything is, but I think you shouldn't have any trouble if you limit yourself like you said -- no dancing and limited rides. I would definitely get to the park at 4 pm though, or eat off-site and get to the park around 4:30-5. That way you can possibly knock out a couple of the rides and get familiar with the Halloween set-up.

We had no trouble doing tons and tons of fun stuff with hardly any wait, but we didn't do the dance party or the villain show at the castle.

2. We haven't decided what to wear this year, but I highly, highly recommend dressing up as something and preferably a Disney character of some kind if possible. The positive attention you get from other guests (especially kids) and CMs is almost worth the price of the ticket. My mom was Merryweather the Blue Fairy from Snow White. Sure she looked funny on the bus over to the World, but the little girls sitting next to her were in heaven. One even asked for a wish. As Woody, I had many CMs asking me questions and high praise as I went through Frontier Land.

Whatever you decide to be, I would make sure you bone up on your character's phrases and back story. You will definitely be called out on it from a CM one way or another, so be prepared.

 

[eeoconne]

Love the picture of all the candy and Halloween Bag. Did you buy the cute bag or was it something they gave to you??

We are going in October and can't wait to do this event.
I loved hearing all the responses to the questions. It helped out a lot.

 

[matt&jakesmom]

Love the positive feedback. We went back in 2001 and loved it. So excited to find out that our trip this year that we can actually attend the 1st party on Sept. 4. My DS loves the dwarfs especially Grumpy. He will almost be a teenager and lately Grumpy fits him to a tee. We are very excited to go.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

We went last year and had a great time. We were over by the haunted mansion and the haunted mansion ghosts were out there and we got some picks. Snow White and the 7 dwarfs was a sight as well.

 

[missesdisney]

Haven't been for over 2 years but going this year and a few more things to add (we went to MVMCP last two years instead).

1. You can use your party ticket to get into MK after I think 4pm without using a regular entry day ticket.
2. If you get the map with times in advance (MK guest services will give it to you if you ask for it - or find it on the DIS), you can plan out what you will be doing for each of the shows, etc. to do more.
3. When we last went, the candy lines were nuts early on - and I hated how they changed them so the candy 'trail' was also where the characters were. We wanted characters not necessarily candy - we can get candy anywhere and it's not really anything special. We waited a long time to get into the alice in wonderland trail to see the Walrus and same in Adventureland to see Tarzan/Jane.
4. Be wherever you want to start AT 7pm - keeping in mind that they will funnel you into the park all one way (probably through Tomorrowland) when the park is closing for regular guests. If you want Tarzan - be in that line before 7pm which means getting in the gates no later than 6:20 or so to wind all the way right and then through tomorrowland and back to adventureland. If you want alice trail be in toontown before 7. This will speed up your whole night.
5. We have at all parties always gone to the first parade. I know it's not recommended but our son was young and we wanted to make sure he saw it. We did the villians much later and if you stay after they do pictures only (no autographs). You can ask in advance who goes where. There are villians who you don't normally see so this is cool to do. The later in the night the less crowded.

You can do all of it in one night if you plan ahead. Eating time should be long before the party - we eat before we even go - usually something quick. This is also the only day we rest during the day to make sure we can all make it up that late!

 

[matt&jakesmom]

Haven't been for over 2 years but going this year and a few more things to add (we went to MVMCP last two years instead).

1. You can use your party ticket to get into MK after I think 4pm without using a regular entry day ticket.
2. If you get the map with times in advance (MK guest services will give it to you if you ask for it - or find it on the DIS), you can plan out what you will be doing for each of the shows, etc. to do more.
3. When we last went, the candy lines were nuts early on - and I hated how they changed them so the candy 'trail' was also where the characters were. We wanted characters not necessarily candy - we can get candy anywhere and it's not really anything special. We waited a long time to get into the alice in wonderland trail to see the Walrus and same in Adventureland to see Tarzan/Jane.
4. Be wherever you want to start AT 7pm - keeping in mind that they will funnel you into the park all one way (probably through Tomorrowland) when the park is closing for regular guests. If you want Tarzan - be in that line before 7pm which means getting in the gates no later than 6:20 or so to wind all the way right and then through tomorrowland and back to adventureland. If you want alice trail be in toontown before 7. This will speed up your whole night.
5. We have at all parties always gone to the first parade. I know it's not recommended but our son was young and we wanted to make sure he saw it. We did the villians much later and if you stay after they do pictures only (no autographs). You can ask in advance who goes where. There are villians who you don't normally see so this is cool to do. The later in the night the less crowded.

You can do all of it in one night if you plan ahead. Eating time should be long before the party - we eat before we even go - usually something quick. This is also the only day we rest during the day to make sure we can all make it up that late!

Thanks for the info. We are going to the 1st party on 9/4 and was thinking of starting in Toontown for Mickey and work our way back. I really do want to see Tarzan because so rare. How were the lines for Mickey and Snow White when you went?

 

[aja319se]

This may seem silly but with space mountain being down for refurb during Oct. do you think it will impact MNSSHP at all?

 

[matt&jakesmom]

This may seem silly but with space mountain being down for refurb during Oct. do you think it will impact MNSSHP at all?

The only impact I see is that it's one less ride to try and schedule in. JMO

 

[marinapj]

Do most people wear costumes to this party?

 

[lklasing]

4. Be wherever you want to start AT 7pm - keeping in mind that they will funnel you into the park all one way (probably through Tomorrowland) when the park is closing for regular guests. If you want Tarzan - be in that line before 7pm which means getting in the gates no later than 6:20 or so to wind all the way right and then through tomorrowland and back to adventureland. If you want alice trail be in toontown before 7. This will speed up your whole night.

Maria - can you explain this a little more to me? I've been to the now-defunct P&PP and to MVMCP but never to MNSSHP. What do you mean about them funneling people one way? When we went to both the other parties, we were able to go wherever we wanted whenever we wanted. We don't really do the party so much as ride the rides as much as we can. Will we be able to go wherever we want or is it literally a one-way only thing during the party? I just can't imagine how that would work.

I'd love to hear more!

Thanks.

Leslie

 

[beattyfamily]

Haven't been for over 2 years but going this year and a few more things to add (we went to MVMCP last two years instead).


4. Be wherever you want to start AT 7pm - keeping in mind that they will funnel you into the park all one way (probably through Tomorrowland) when the park is closing for regular guests. If you want Tarzan - be in that line before 7pm which means getting in the gates no later than 6:20 or so to wind all the way right and then through tomorrowland and back to adventureland. If you want alice trail be in toontown before 7. This will speed up your whole night.

Since you haven't gone in a couple of years, I guess you don't know that they no longer herd (or funnel) you into one Land while they clear the park.

The procedure for closing the park changed in 2006. They no longer close for an hour to clear it out and they no longer herd.

It remains open but they have CMs everywhere directing those without wristbands toward the exit.

 

[fairytale]

We absolutely loved MNSSHP and will be definatley booking again for this year when we return in October.

We ate at LTT and in hide sight wish we had'nt. Our ADR was for 4.30pm but they were running about 40 minutes late, no idea why as MK that night was very quiet, but you can feel the atmosphere outside and we were all just desperate to get outside and start enjoying the night. My thoughts for this year is to eat either at our resort or make use of the CS.

Just another quick point to note, my DS6 has a really severe peanut allergy and nearly every sweet given out at the trick or treat stalls included peanuts. We are over careful to ensuring he never eats anything which could bring him harm, but I thought I would just point this out as little hands love to start peeling off wrappers and enjoying the treats as soon as they can.

 

[anonymousegirl]

This thread is getting me all excited about my first MNSSHP. I am already looking for a great costume!