MNSSHP.... Is it worth it?

[thelittlemermaid]

Just saw that tickets have went on sale and added it up and it will cost my family $202. Is it worth it for that price?

Not sure if DH is going to be all that happy once I tell him the price of the tickets for the party. This was one of the main reasons we picked the dates that we did so we could attend, but not sure if it would be worth it for 5 hours.

Please help!

 

[momandkidslovedisney]

I went last year with my DD, DS and DMom. It was our second time going and it was by far our FAVORITE day of the entire trip. We really enjoy it. I am not a huge halloween person, but I love the way Disney does Halloween. The parade is fantastic! I really wanted to by the music CD, but they were all sold out the day were attended the party. It really is a fun time, especially if the weather cooperates!!

 

[HayGan]

We enjoyed it but if you are on a tight budget I would skip it. We received tons of candy and the atmosphere was fun. Hallowishes was really nice as well. However, it is a ton of money for a few hours. Plus, it makes for a very long day especially for little ones. When we have done the parties in the past, we always just relax during the day and enter MK around 4pm (which you can do with you party pass.) You can get a ton of riding done during the party (if that is important to your group.)

If it is something your really want to do and it is out of your budget, is there something you would be willing to give up to pay for it such as a character meal, Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, tour, etc.?

 

[DVCTiff]

"Worth it" is totally relative. We've gone a couple of times with and without kids, and we LOVE it. Has always been worth it for us. The parade alone is worth it to us.

 

[thelittlemermaid]

Thanks all!

No this would not be a budget buster for us, just I was bad and told DH what the costs of tickets were for last year. Guess he figured they would be the same price for this year also. LOL!!! Bad DH for thinking that Disney wouldn't raise the price.

Guess this is something DH and I will have to talk about. I was only going to get a 5 day ticket {we are staying 7 days and use one day off for a water park and the another day for MNSSHP} , but with the promo going on we got 2 days free and knowing my DH he won't want to waste those two free days. LOL!!!

Something that has me concerned is about my daughter and her little brother. She has Down Syndrome and if she eats alot of candy, she's very good at sneaking , she's bouncing off the walls for a few days and barely sleeps more then 2 hours at night. Something we don't need to happen at Disney. Her little brother can make it to a certain time and then he's gone.
I'm wondering if it would be best to wait and try to attend on another trip when the littlest is a little older and able to enjoy it.

What to do, what to do....... LOL!!!

Thanks again!

 

[DVCTiff]

Well, the candy issue is a whole other concern altogether. The kids will get a lot of candy. You'll have to decide if playing candy police for the rest of the trip is worth it. I have to candy police myself and it's almost impossible. When I get candy I don't like, I'm so excited!

But getting dressed up and seeing everyone else dressed up is so much fun.

I know you'll have a great trip either way!

 

[crisi]

We can easily afford it, but thought it was a lousy value - and that was back when tickets were a LOT cheaper. We seem to be the exception though.

We found the lines for the rides we wanted to be on longer than they'd been earlier in the day.

The night ran too late for our little kids, who were at the "outgrown the nap" stage, but too young to understand "sleep now, stay up later."

The parade was really cute. Its a lot of money for the parade.

Fireworks were ok, but had been better when we saw them a few years before from the Grand Floridian - just a better view from there.

We did end up with a lot of candy, I could have bought that much candy for $10 - but I wouldn't have, my kids get too much candy. Most of the candy got thrown out.

The lines for the bigger rides were nothing - lots of little kids. And now that I have two kids who would ride the Mountains until midnight, it might be a better deal, and we considered it last year. Then I choked on the price.

 

[dizkids]

I think its definitely worth it. The Hallowishes fireworks are the best!! You must be in front of the castle though to get the full effect. The parade is awesome too. It gets you singing and tapping. The lines will depend on what day you pick. I did Halloween night one year but it was 2005 and had not gained as much in popularity and we walked on every line. I was also there one year on Nov.2nd in 2007which was another sold out and yes the lines had grown but not terrible.

Hoping to go this year for the 4th time. Would plan the trip around MNSSHP : )

The next day should always be a pool day : )

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I hope so ~ I just purchased tix for us! Our date is 10/2! That'll be our 1st park day, the 1st is our travel day. Midnight ET is only 10pm for us so that should help and it'll be the at the start of our trip, if we waited till the end of our trip I think we'd have a harder time staying till the end of the party.

My mom loves Halloween ~ her B-day is the 7th so this'll be my gift to her!

 

[the who #3]

this is my most favorite day at mk out of the entire year. i will always pay to go to the halloween party.

the parade is the greatest one of all. and i love seeing everyone in costume. that is a true highlight. the rest of the year the disney characters and princess from bibbity are the ones who have the fun of dressing in costume. the boys and men usually will not do that unless it is halloween.

 

[pumpkinfish]

We go to MNSSHP just for the parade and fireworks. Last year we went to Food & Wine on a weekend and weren't able to make MNSSHP and went into withdrawal. The year before I believe we attended two parties.

We don't go for anything except the parades and Hallowishes. SO good! (Boo to you and you. Happy Halloween).

Ok...I told a little lie....DH and I do like to go around trick-or-treating and collecting candy . We DO dress up as well but not as extensive as a lot of people. We love getting an ADR at Tony's for early evening/late afternoon and watching the families coming in for the party.

 

[TheRatPack]

Where are you guys buying tickets now? I see they go on sale on May 1st....am I missing an early sale?

 

[All American]

We went in October, 2008. It will always be one of my favorite memories. I don't know if and when we'll ever go back (flights from Utah make Disney trips pretty cost prohibitive for us0. But if I could afford it, I'd fly my entire family (siblings, nieces, nephews, and inlaws) to Florida and have tickets for MNSSHP twice in a week.

When we went, the crowds were very managable. We walked on Pirates over and over. Towards the end of the evening, my husband, daughter, and brother rode the Aladdin ride without having to get off a couple of times. Pluto came and rode on the carousel (there was a little girl who got to go with him). I think the longest we waited was for Dumbo, about 15 minutes.

The parade was AWESOME, and I loved the fireworks. Our daughter still looks at the map from that night and loves the music from the evening. Then, there are the costumes. Unbelievable, especially the kid who went as Perry the Platypus.

Hands down, this is one of the best things I have ever done and would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[Shmily1]

Yes!! We've always done the MVMCP but decided last year to give the MNSSHP a try. It was awesome and totally worth it!! We all loved it--me and three prissy teen girls!

First, don't tell DH it's for 5 hours of fun--go in at 4 PM instead of 7PM and you will have 8 hours of fun!!

Secondly, tell him he knows how crowded MK will be on a normal day, but not so much at MNSSHP. He can get on more attractions quicker that way!

Third, tell him how much fun the children will be having and how it's a wonderful experience to get to trick or treat at MK! (Shhh... it's even way too fun for the grown ups too--and the prissy teens!!)

Have a great time!!!

 

[jessica52877]

I think it is worth it once. To get to watch the parade and fireworks is alot of fun. I also enjoy seeing all the people and characters dressed up. We'll usually sit on main street around 7 and watch the people come in.

The price just keeps going up, up and up and I really can't justify it! It is so much money for the few extras. The trick or treating doesn't even really interest DS6. He goes to a couple of stations and that is it.

 

[pperfectmom]

We are going to go for our second party this fall. We are on a low budget so are skipping park hoppers this time around. If you have that option, you can consider doing the same or not do the water parks at all. We would have been paying about the same for hopping as we will for the party. We aren't doing a park that day and will just go to DTD and then get into the MK around 4:00. If you can, try to go on a week night when the locals won't be there and it will be far less crowded. Also, I don't know how old your kids are, but the last time we went we had a 2 and 4 year old and they had no problem making it until the very end. If candy is an issue, just don't make a big deal out of the tric-or-treating. The characters, parade, fireworks, no lines for rides and just the atmosphere are worth it to me.

 

[aestapa]

We went one year the night after Halloween (it was a weekend...so they extended it), so everyone was still in the spirit. The place was crowded and the atmosphere was very Halloween and very fun. The parade is amazing!!

Last year, we went during our annual September trip. The crowds were light (but not much more so than the parks during the day). Not many people were dressed up, so the spirit just wasn't the same. (no pun intended) It felt more like just a day at the parks...that we had paid a lot more money for!

So, we are skipping it for this September trip, but if we had a chance to do it close to Halloween, we would go for it again.

 

[katied]

I love it. We went several years ago with DNiece and DNephew, when they were around 8 and 10. We all had a blast.

I was there again this past Oct. with DMIL and DS. DS was 18 months at the time, and he had so much fun. He loved being in costume, he loved the parade, the fireworks and everything. We got there at 4 pm, and I originally planned on leaving around 9 pm with the little one, but DMIL asked us to stay later, so we didn't actually leave until 11:30 pm (and DS stayed awake the whole time, smiling and laughing). Of course, we all slept in the next day.

I would go again. My personal favorite is MVMCP, but if I'm there in Oct, I also go to MNSSHP.

In terms of value, it is not a good value, but since we can afford a little splurge, it's worth it for us.

 

[cathie1327]

Thanks all!

No this would not be a budget buster for us, just I was bad and told DH what the costs of tickets were for last year. Guess he figured they would be the same price for this year also. LOL!!! Bad DH for thinking that Disney wouldn't raise the price.

Guess this is something DH and I will have to talk about. I was only going to get a 5 day ticket {we are staying 7 days and use one day off for a water park and the another day for MNSSHP} , but with the promo going on we got 2 days free and knowing my DH he won't want to waste those two free days. LOL!!!

Something that has me concerned is about my daughter and her little brother. She has Down Syndrome and if she eats alot of candy, she's very good at sneaking , she's bouncing off the walls for a few days and barely sleeps more then 2 hours at night. Something we don't need to happen at Disney. Her little brother can make it to a certain time and then he's gone.
I'm wondering if it would be best to wait and try to attend on another trip when the littlest is a little older and able to enjoy it.

What to do, what to do....... LOL!!!

Thanks again!

When it comes to the candy....you get it from "trick-or-treating stations" that really would be very easy to bypass. You have to go to the specific spot to get the candy, so if you are worried about the amount of candy, maybe just go to one or two trick or treat spots?

I think its definitely worth it. The Hallowishes fireworks are the best!! You must be in front of the castle though to get the full effect. The parade is awesome too. It gets you singing and tapping. The lines will depend on what day you pick. I did Halloween night one year but it was 2005 and had not gained as much in popularity and we walked on every line. I was also there one year on Nov.2nd in 2007which was another sold out and yes the lines had grown but not terrible.

Hoping to go this year for the 4th time. Would plan the trip around MNSSHP : )

The next day should always be a pool day : )

I second this and triple it (on behalf of DF ) We both agreed that the fireworks at the Halloween party were the best HANDS down of the entire trip. We went to all four parks and watched fireworks every night they were available, but these were our favorites.

The parade is sheer AWESOMENESS. You get to see a lot of characters out and about in the parade and a villians show that you don't normally see, and the villians come down to sign autographs and do pictures after the show. Characters like Tarzan and Turk, Clarabell, Hook and Mr. Smee together and Snow White + all seven dwarves are out and about, so if you are big on getting pictures with the characters, this is a great chance to get some rare ones!

Hope you have a great time no matter what you decide!

 

[the who #3]

i am going again this year! we have a collection of the framed halloween pins that can only be purchased at the party. at first i did not want to waste my time standing in line for the pins, but it is such a great collection that it has been worth it. we love them. you can get the individual pin that is made for that night only or you can buy the entire collection framed. these pins can not be purchased any other time. you have to be at the party!

the mnsshp parade is the best you can ever see. all characters are represented and you can tell that they are having fun also. the villans are terrific and the headless horseman is worth the whole price of admission. the horse is amazing. he is very well trained and handles the crowds without being spooked. i am sure they have more than one horse so that the same one does not have to run every parade.

as far as the candy goes, you would see a lot more of it in your own neighborhood on halloween. they give you maps to show where the trick-or-treating is and you can avoid those areas if need be. in fact they last 2 yrs. we didn't even see them, but we did not go in search of them either.

just another thing to love about wdw.