"Official" 2018 Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party - A Spooktacular Celebration!

[rastuso]

Here now! We were in line 3:25 and let through starting at 3:48. Wristbands by 3:50 and husband darted to J&S line while I took kids through bypass. We met him over there around 4:10 and we’re about 25 people behind. They came out 4:31 and we were done at 4:55! Still hard to tell crowd levels as we’ve been ride hopping!

Are they always coming out that early now? That's the perfect plan. As nobody has wristbands before 4 ish, so hopefully they don't let folks in line without them, with the promise they will get them later.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

FWIW, I just pulled up the mobile ordering on the app and the first item on the menu is the Munster Burger, so they must have recently added it as an option:

 

[Dean1953]

Are they always coming out that early now? That's the perfect plan. As nobody has wristbands before 4 ish, so hopefully they don't let folks in line without them, with the promise they will get them later.

I’ve heard that DVC members that enter between 2 and 4 receive their wristbands when entering.

 

[MelOhioDis]

Here now! We were in line 3:25 and let through starting at 3:48. Wristbands by 3:50 and husband darted to J&S line while I took kids through bypass. We met him over there around 4:10 and we’re about 25 people behind. They came out 4:31 and we were done at 4:55! Still hard to tell crowd levels as we’ve been ride hopping!

Thank you so much for reporting this! That’s my plan too! Hope you have a great time

 

[WonderWoman28]

Are they always coming out that early now? That's the perfect plan. As nobody has wristbands before 4 ish, so hopefully they don't let folks in line without them, with the promise they will get them later.

They definitely checked my husbands band as he was getting in line then checked ours around 415.

 

[WonderWoman28]

They definitely checked my husbands band as he was getting in line then checked ours around 415.

Also, I think the last 3 party nights they came out at 4:30 so hopefully it’s staying that way!

 

[Sakigt]

FWIW, I just pulled up the mobile ordering on the app and the first item on the menu is the Munster Burger, so they must have recently added it as an option:

View attachment 355898

Yeah I was getting conflicting info. Official Disney stuff said it was.

 

[Mikey15]

We're hitting Halloween too. Really wish they were doing Nov 1st this year, but alas, no. I'm hoping it clears out decently later, as locals leave. But, I could only sell the trip to my wife with a MNSSHP and MVMCP combo.

J

I was expecting (hoping?) for a Nov 1 or 2 option when we went to book them too. Oh well, hopefully “I went to the Halloween Party on Halloween” can be a story to tell.

Most rides shouldn’t be bad waits (seems like it’s the character lines that are worse), and we scored pre-7pm FPs for all three mountains at the 30 day window, so the worst thing to worry about for us is getting a projection/fireworks spot.

 

[billyjobobb]

I feel like Disney just needs to move Jack and Sally over to a regular character meet and greet and drop it from the party only classification.

 

[WonderWoman28]

So this was my first ever Halloween party. I’ve read tons of posts here so I felt prepared. I was definitely a little disappointed we didn’t get to do more party exclusive things. The streets felt jam packed (but I have nothing to compare it to party wise) and I was so overwhelmed (even being “prepared”). It was myself, DH, DD (9), DS (4), DD(2), and my sister who is in her 30s. We were dressed as the incredibles (not original as I’ve learbed) and my sister was Edna Mode. Here’s a run down of our night, not sure why it’s so long!

We’re staying at POP and had a plan to be at the bus stop by 3 at the latest.

We left our room at 2:40, arrived to the POP bus stop 2:45 with a “next arrival” bus time of 2:55. It arrived at 2:58 with I think 1-2 people standing so it was a perfectly relaxing ride.

We were through bag check and in line by 3:25 with about 10-12 people ahead of us. It was pretty hot at this point but then a little storm cloud moved over and it sprinkled a bit. Not enough to soak you but enough to cool you off, so that was lovely.

They started letting people through at 3:48. At this point DH went first and we followed behind. After scanning in he found a cast member standing alone closest to bridge leading into MK and went right to her then took off for J&S. We had all of our wristbands on by 3:50 and were headed to the bypass.

We stopped at a merch cart on the way and got T-shirt’s and a pin. Then headed through the bypass and did a quick frames photopass with just the kids.

DH called as we were exiting the bypass saying he was about 20 people behind and they were already having people move up and some were making a stink about “line cutters”. We made it to him by about 4:10 and there were other people ahead of us who had the same “send one person” idea, since it started filling out in front of us. Still, we were probably 25 ish people behind. They came out right at 4:30 and we were done by 4:55. I was thrilled to have gotten done so early and the interaction was amazing. They were so chatty, and my kids are huge fans so it was awesome and worth the heat.

At this point our original plan would have been to get in line for Moana. But it was so hot I couldn’t imagine waiting in another line. At this point we had a quick potty break then went onto my oldest favorite - Splash Mountain. We got over there around 510 with a posted 10 minute wait, it was more like 20 minutes and was posted 35 by the time we walked out.

We headed to jungle cruise for a 5:20 fastpass. We arrived around 5:50 with a 35 minute posted wait. Once we exited they had already closed the line for the night.

We headed to Casey’s corner for a quick snack since my oldest wanted corn dog nuggets. We arrived around 6:15 and had gotten 2 orders of corn dog nuggets with fries, and an order of loaded fries. With the intention of eating at cosmic rays later for the burger!

Our plan was to head to tomorrow land from here, the speedway had a 10 minute wait at this point. As we were headed over DH noticed oogie boogie was out on the popcorn cart in the hub right before the TL bridge. It was 6:45 when he asked if they were starting to sell them. The cast member told him yes and they were the only cart selling early.

To keep the kids entertained while he headed to the cart, we said we’d head to the people mover to cool off then we’d all go to the speedway. Well, the people mover had a line into the stroller parking, there was a ToT line already forming, and by the time we curved over by the speedway the time had jumped to 60 minutes. It was honestly overwhelming being in TL at this point. And it wasn’t even 7 yet.

We kept moving forward to keep the kids entertained and ended up at Dumbo. We were on the ride at 7 with a 15 minute posted time but it seemed less. By the time we got off DH had met us over there and had gotten 2 OB popcorn buckets. Even though we agreed on just 1 for travel purposes he claims he was so excited he had to get 2.

We headed to Big Top to check out the merch. My sister wanted the Hocus Pocus pin and spirit jersey and I wanted the mug. All 3 were sold out (I knew prior that the first 2 were out). We were so bummed. She ended up with some pins. I got a HP ornament and some pins.

We headed over to barnstormer around 7:15 with a 15 min wait. At this point the sun was going down so it was cooling off. But this area was wall to wall people. Sooo crowded. Thankfully my kids were content to see Mini, Goofy, Donald and Daisy from afar since they came back out right as we were exiting barnstormer.

In the flow of people we ended up heading towards Gaston’s. I honestly had no idea what to do at this point since it was just so crowded everywhere so we went with it. Took a potty break and grabbed a snack (OB meringue and coffee) from Gaston’s at 7:40. This was the only place all night we found to be not crazy. The Belle and Gaston line didn’t look too bad but we didn’t want to wait since our plan was to head towards the hub to get a spot for the 8:35 HP show.

We honestly were too afraid to veer and kept going with the flow of people towards Liberty Square. We stopped at Sleepy Hallow for snacks (Jack push pop, zero sundae, and fruit waffle). The 7:40 show was ended as we were eating. We waited until the bulk of the crowd left and snuck in to steak out a spot around 8:10. We got a perfect one just off the bridge from Sleepy Hallow that had a great view of the stage from the left but also had a small spot on the curb of the hub to view the parade.

The kids loved the show and the view wasn’t perfect but it was pretty darn good. Especially when the family a head of us left 5 minutes in. Then we just turned for the parade. Thankfully my DH stood on the curb during the show since people tried stealing out parade spot after it ended. For the parade my oldest DD and DS sat on the curb. My sister and myself with youngest DD sat behind them. And the stroller and DH were behind us. It was perfect and we had a great view of both.

After the parade I had every intention to keep going. I’m the planner of the trip and I always worry if everyone is having fun. So I thought we hadn’t done enough and needed to keep going. I was feeling slightly woozy and nauseous at this point and my younger 2 seemed a little restless. I took both DDs to the bathroom between liberty square and adventure land and when I came out my DH declared we would head out. I kind of gave him a look and he knew what I was thinking. He said - everyone had fun, we met Jack and Sally, I got my popcorn buckets, we rode some rides we wanted to do, and had a great view for the show and parade. It’s ok, we can go.

I was kind of glad he said it. My sister is very go with the flow so she was fine and my oldest declared she had a lot of fun, so I felt better leaving. We stopped at the headless horsemen photopass out front with 1 family a head of us. It was 10 at this point. We made a slow treck to the bus stopping near the water to pack up our stroller and things. The Hallowishes started as we were loading on the bus so we got to see some. And thankfully our bus had plenty of seats. We were back in our room before 11.

We never made it to cosmic rays which explains why I felt so sick. I really only had a few corn dog nuggets and some of the fruit waffle. We didn’t do any ToT lines and I had asked my oldest if she wanted to do some while we were waiting between the show and parade and it was a hard “no I’m good”. So I was thankful for that. J&S were our only meet and we only had a few party exclusive treats.

I’m not sure I’ll go again. Maybe some day if just DH and I take our dream solo trip. I’m sure we could have gotten more done in the last 2 hours but we did 6 hours with 3 kids and no one lost their crap so that’s a win for us.

 

[TeaForTulips]

Back to the resort from tonight's party.

We were in line for Jack and Sally just after 2:30 (not DVC, just used our park hopper entrance). We were the third family back. I have noted that still by 3:45 there were maybe only about 12 families in line? We tagged teamed wristbands at PhilharMagic just before 4. The line there was longer than the line I left behind at Jack and Sally's. By the time I returned from getting a wristband, the ropes were full! The line slowly but surely expanded.

About 4:15 they checked bands.

I obviously was too paranoid based on early reports and did not need to get there that early this afternoon, but no regrets. The meet and greet were fantastic. Even for such a short meeting, they are so fun and just a delight.

I haven't been to a party in years, but this one felt packed. I know that's redundant from what everyone has been saying.

The first Hocus Pocus show was ridonkulous with people. Amazing show, though. Don't miss it.

Based on that horrible view (due to the crowd, we weren't far from the stage), the kiddos did not want to do the first parade and wanted to watch the fireworks away from the masses. We hunkered down by the newly painted space rocks near Tomorrowland about 10:00. It was not the perfect view, but again, no regrets. The side view was still gorgeous and we didn't have to deal with the hoards of people. No one stood in front of the kids.

I heard a few grumbles about rides breaking down from people around me. For us, Space Mountain shut down after we were in line for a while. This was a little before 9:20 everyone had to walk back out. Earlier before official party time but after 4 pm, we also got "stuck" on Carousel of Progress where it was the Fourth of July at least 4 times and we weren't allowed to leave. I love that ride, but everyone was done.

I don't think I have too much more helpful things to add. We did not accomplish everything by far. We did not intend to meet more characters, but we did intend to ride more rides. It took much longer than what I gathered to just get places. It was shoulder to shoulder crowds everywhere we went. I usually do better with time on a busy MK day. This was nuts.

We used a Speedway FP+ right after J&S meet. It was posted 15.
People Mover we waited about 5 minutes.
Splash Mountain was posted 15, we waited for 10.
BTMRR was posted 15, but was a walk on.
Pirates were posted 25, we waited for 10.
Carpets were posted 5, but was a walk on.
Space was posted 25, we waited for about 15 before having to leave. I was just thankful it didn't break down while we were in the ride.
Teacups were posted 5, but we waited for 15.
Buzz posted for 15, we waited for 10.

Almost everything was posted 15 or less except Haunted Mansion, Space, Pirates, and 7 Dwarves when I looked which were all consistently over 20 minutes at least.

We got a curb seat on Main Street across from Casey's about 10:35 and watched the last parade.

Oh, and P.S. the Hades Nachos were awesome.

Edit: We did also ToT a few times. At one point, they skipped one of my kiddos and I didn't realize it until we stepped away. They were emptying a new box of candy in at that moment. So I stepped back with her and everyone thought we were cutting the line. A CM even asked me to go back to the end of the line. If looks could kill.

Luckily, the CM giving the candy out remembered her. Even only going through maybe 4 ToT lines, we have more candy than needed by far. I do agree with reports about waiting until later to ToT, however. The early lines were loooong.

 

[Haley R]

Back to the resort from tonight's party.

We were in line for Jack and Sally just after 2:30 (not DVC, just used our park hopper entrance). We were the third family back. I have noted that still by 3:45 there were maybe only about 12 families in line? We tagged teamed wristbands at PhilharMagic just before 4. The line there was longer than the line I left behind at Jack and Sally's. By the time I returned from getting a wristband, the ropes were full! The line slowly but surely expanded.

About 4:15 they checked bands.

I obviously was too paranoid based on early reports and did not need to get there that early this afternoon, but no regrets. The meet and greet were fantastic. Even for such a short meeting, they are so fun and just a delight.

I haven't been to a party in years, but this one felt packed. I know that's redundant from what everyone has been saying.

The first Hocus Pocus show was ridonkulous with people. Amazing show, though. Don't miss it.

Based on that horrible view (due to the crowd, we weren't far from the stage), the kiddos did not want to do the first parade and wanted to watch the fireworks away from the masses. We hunkered down by the newly painted space rocks near Tomorrowland about 10:00. It was not the perfect view, but again, no regrets. The side view was still gorgeous and we didn't have to deal with the hoards of people. No one stood in front of the kids.

I heard a few grumbles about rides breaking down from people around me. For us, Space Mountain shut down after we were in line for a while. This was a little before 9:20 everyone had to walk back out. Earlier before official party time but after 4 pm, we also got "stuck" on Carousel of Progress where it was the Fourth of July at least 4 times and we weren't allowed to leave. I love that ride, but everyone was done.

I don't think I have too much more helpful things to add. We did not accomplish everything by far. We did not intend to meet more characters, but we did intend to ride more rides. It took much longer than what I gathered to just get places. It was shoulder to shoulder crowds everywhere we went. I usually do better with time on a busy MK day. This was nuts.

We used a Speedway FP+ right after J&S meet. It was posted 15.
People Mover we waited about 5 minutes.
Splash Mountain was posted 15, we waited for 10.
BTMRR was posted 15, but was a walk on.
Pirates were posted 25, we waited for 10.
Carpets were posted 5, but was a walk on.
Space was posted 25, we waited for about 15 before having to leave. I was just thankful it didn't break down while we were in the ride.
Teacups were posted 5, but we waited for 15.
Buzz posted for 15, we waited for 10.

Almost everything was posted 15 or less except Haunted Mansion, Space, Pirates, and 7 Dwarves when I looked which were all consistently over 20 minutes at least.

We got a curb seat on Main Street across from Casey's about 10:35 and watched the last parade.

Oh, and P.S. the Hades Nachos were awesome.

Edit: We did also ToT a few times. At one point, they skipped one of my kiddos and I didn't realize it until we stepped away. They were emptying a new box of candy in at that moment. So I stepped back with her and everyone thought we were cutting the line. A CM even asked me to go back to the end of the line. If looks could kill.

Luckily, the CM giving the candy out remembered her. Even only going through maybe 4 ToT lines, we have more candy than needed by far. I do agree with reports about waiting until later to ToT, however. The early lines were loooong.

I’m a little surprised that a Thursday party was so busy.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We went tonight as well. We've gone ten of the last 14 years, including Halloween night a couple of times. Never, ever have I seen crowds like tonight. We arrived at 2:30, had a late lunch at LTT and got our wristbands about 5 I think. Candy lines, particularly the one at Carousel of Progress were insane. Ride lines weren't awful but definitely much longer than in years past. The human traffic was frustrating. We skipped the parade since we've seen it and we saw the fireworks behind the castle because honestly the front was so awful we just couldn't deal with it and again, we've seen it so many times. Dh remarked that we paid for a "special " event that no longer feels special. Sad to say this will be our last party. We had a good run with this event but it's just not worth it anymore.

 

[rastuso]

I’m a little surprised that a Thursday party was so busy.

It sold out.

 

[rastuso]

I was expecting (hoping?) for a Nov 1 or 2 option when we went to book them too. Oh well, hopefully “I went to the Halloween Party on Halloween” can be a story to tell.

Most rides shouldn’t be bad waits (seems like it’s the character lines that are worse), and we scored pre-7pm FPs for all three mountains at the 30 day window, so the worst thing to worry about for us is getting a projection/fireworks spot.

I didn't think you could get FPs on other media and use them for the Party any more.

 

[pangyal]

We were there last night (October 4). Rather than leaving a review, I'm going to paste the email I sent to Guest Services the moment we returned to our room after the party last night:

----

We have been attending the MNSSHP for many years now. It has been one of the things we look forward to all year and begin to get excited about planning for it far earlier than would be reasonable each time .

However, this year was an absolutely awful disappointment. The crowds that we encountered were extreme. We have been to exclusively sold-out parties every year, but the number of tickets that must have been sold for this year’s parties must have been least 30% higher than previous years. Please remember that families with children who wilt earlier on can usually squeeze it out until about 10pm at the latest. That gave us three hours to work with.

To wit:

-It took about 15 minutes to complete each trick or treat line (we gave up after two). The line at the train station took 18 minutes to get through at 8pm.

-The lines for the rides that were not Pooh or Under the Sea remained above 30 minutes for the duration of the party, when they were not down completely (we were very much looking forward to the Space Mountain overlay, but were unable to ride it, since it went down and had not yet come back up when we left around 10pm). Therefore, we were able to ride a grand total of two rides during the entire party (Pirates and Big Thunder).

-The lines for every character were 45-60 minutes long, per the CMs. I understand that characters are very popular (I’m not referring to the Moana/ Jack&Sally/Lotso/ Dwarves, as they are always high, as expected), but even the Storybook Circus crew were sitting over 60 minutes throughout the evening. Therefore, we were not able to meet any special characters.

-The lines for the Magic shots were at least 20 groups deep, at every location, throughout the entire night. The CMs estimated a half hour wait for each one. Therefore, we did not have a chance to get any of the Magic Shots we had looked forward to, except for the Headless Horseman (whom we have gotten every year).

-The parade crowd in Frontierland was five rows deep 45 minutes prior to the parade. I have NEVER seen this before. It is usually pretty easy to find a spot in Frontierland about 30 minutes before, with a good view. Not so this year.

To compare- last year, we accomplished the following in the exact same amount of time with a sold-out party (we always leave just before the fireworks, with our nine year-old who is NOT a night owl):

-Went through every single trick or treat line in the park, some twice. The average wait was two minutes at each station.

-Met Belle/Gaston, Jack Sparrow, and Ariel/Eric.

-Got at least three Photopass shots.

-Saw the parade with a front row seat in Frontierland obtained 15 minutes prior to start.

-Rode nine rides.

My point is, the event is very clearly oversold this year, and it is extremely disappointing. Everybody was grumbling about the crowds, and it was so congested throughout the entire party that simply moving from one place to another was very difficult- this also slowed our progress considerably.

In the end, we were left with next to nothing that we really “did” at this party tonight, because it was so incredibly crowded. I am a sucker for any Disney upcharge event and have purchased multiple tickets to various types of these, including multiple EMMs, Christmas parties, Halloween parties, pirate cruises, dessert parties…and never have I been so disappointed with how the over-monetization of an event has been so clear and so detrimental to our enjoyment.

I do apologize for the lengthy and possibly pointlessly detailed email, but I think it’s important to pass on real-world experiences that result from increasing ticket sales to these events. In the end, the guests suffer, and nobody is happy except for those that can stay until midnight and take advantage of an emptier party once all of the families have to leave to take their kiddos to bed- families who paid just as much for their tickets and are getting so, so much less this year than any other.

Please reconsider the number of tickets you are selling to this event. It has been something we always looked forward to, but I honestly cannot say that we would consider doing it again unless the ticket sales were slowed and reduced back to a more comfortable level. We have been at Disney during extremely high-crowd times, and I would rank this party up there with Spring Break. Considering that the tagline for this party is along the lines of “enjoying reduced wait times for attractions”, I would say that at this point, that completely misses the mark.

 

[Haley R]

We were there last night (October 4). Rather than leaving a review, I'm going to paste the email I sent to Guest Services the moment we returned to our room after the party last night:

----

We have been attending the MNSSHP for many years now. It has been one of the things we look forward to all year and begin to get excited about planning for it far earlier than would be reasonable each time .

However, this year was an absolutely awful disappointment. The crowds that we encountered were extreme. We have been to exclusively sold-out parties every year, but the number of tickets that must have been sold for this year’s parties must have been least 30% higher than previous years. Please remember that families with children who wilt earlier on can usually squeeze it out until about 10pm at the latest. That gave us three hours to work with.

To wit:

-It took about 15 minutes to complete each trick or treat line (we gave up after two). The line at the train station took 18 minutes to get through at 8pm.

-The lines for the rides that were not Pooh or Under the Sea remained above 30 minutes for the duration of the party, when they were not down completely (we were very much looking forward to the Space Mountain overlay, but were unable to ride it, since it went down and had not yet come back up when we left around 10pm). Therefore, we were able to ride a grand total of two rides during the entire party (Pirates and Big Thunder).

-The lines for every character were 45-60 minutes long, per the CMs. I understand that characters are very popular (I’m not referring to the Moana/ Jack&Sally/Lotso/ Dwarves, as they are always high, as expected), but even the Storybook Circus crew were sitting over 60 minutes throughout the evening. Therefore, we were not able to meet any special characters.

-The lines for the Magic shots were at least 20 groups deep, at every location, throughout the entire night. The CMs estimated a half hour wait for each one. Therefore, we did not have a chance to get any of the Magic Shots we had looked forward to, except for the Headless Horseman (whom we have gotten every year).

-The parade crowd in Frontierland was five rows deep 45 minutes prior to the parade. I have NEVER seen this before. It is usually pretty easy to find a spot in Frontierland about 30 minutes before, with a good view. Not so this year.

To compare- last year, we accomplished the following in the exact same amount of time with a sold-out party (we always leave just before the fireworks, with our nine year-old who is NOT a night owl):

-Went through every single trick or treat line in the park, some twice. The average wait was two minutes at each station.

-Met Belle/Gaston, Jack Sparrow, and Ariel/Eric.

-Got at least three Photopass shots.

-Saw the parade with a front row seat in Frontierland obtained 15 minutes prior to start.

-Rode nine rides.

My point is, the event is very clearly oversold this year, and it is extremely disappointing. Everybody was grumbling about the crowds, and it was so congested throughout the entire party that simply moving from one place to another was very difficult- this also slowed our progress considerably.

In the end, we were left with next to nothing that we really “did” at this party tonight, because it was so incredibly crowded. I am a sucker for any Disney upcharge event and have purchased multiple tickets to various types of these, including multiple EMMs, Christmas parties, Halloween parties, pirate cruises, dessert parties…and never have I been so disappointed with how the over-monetization of an event has been so clear and so detrimental to our enjoyment.

I do apologize for the lengthy and possibly pointlessly detailed email, but I think it’s important to pass on real-world experiences that result from increasing ticket sales to these events. In the end, the guests suffer, and nobody is happy except for those that can stay until midnight and take advantage of an emptier party once all of the families have to leave to take their kiddos to bed- families who paid just as much for their tickets and are getting so, so much less this year than any other.

Please reconsider the number of tickets you are selling to this event. It has been something we always looked forward to, but I honestly cannot say that we would consider doing it again unless the ticket sales were slowed and reduced back to a more comfortable level. We have been at Disney during extremely high-crowd times, and I would rank this party up there with Spring Break. Considering that the tagline for this party is along the lines of “enjoying reduced wait times for attractions”, I would say that at this point, that completely misses the mark.

I’m really sorry about your bad experience but I’m glad you let guest services know.

 

[Haley R]

It sold out.

Did it sell out just yesterday?

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

I’m sorry that last night’s party was such a flop for everyone. I can’t imagine that anyone would have fun when the crowds are that bad.

If we end up at a sold out night, is there any value in not arriving at 4pm, but instead arriving later, say 8:30pm-9pm and hoping that the crowds have started to thin out by then? Has anyone tried this?

 

[Mikey15]

I didn't think you could get FPs on other media and use them for the Party any more.

We did this the last two years so FPs and the FP lines cut off somewhere between 6&7pm when the ordinary park day ends (and the party begins!), so our latest FP is a BTMRR for use between 5:20 and 6:00.

We don’t have day tickets yet, just the MNSSHP, and the MDE app let us book the FPs for the party day only, so it still seems to be within their design parameters.