*UPDATE* Due to COVID-19, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is cancelled for 2020.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) is special event hosted at Magic Kingdom every Halloween season. With parties in August, September, October and November, the separate admission event (“hard ticket”) decks out the Magic Kingdom for a Disney take on Halloween.
Stella and I attended MNSSHP in 2016 and 2019. We love this seasonal event and so far agree it is the best of the “hard ticket” events we’ve attended at Walt Disney World. For about $85 – $150/adults (depending on the night), the party isn’t cheap. But with the added price comes special character meet and greets, shows and attraction overlays.
Our review will analyze the 2019 party, our experience, party offerings and our thoughts.
Party Details
With parties (normally) taking place on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays during the Halloween season, we last attended a party on Friday, August 23, 2019. Although Halloween celebrations traditionally start in September, Walt Disney World pushed Halloween celebrations to mid- August. Although August does not feel like time to celebrate Halloween, we jumped on the opportunity to attend due enjoying our previous experience in 2016.
Tickets for the August parties are cheaper than September or October, ranging between $85/adult for Tuesday nights to $89/adult for Friday nights when purchased in advance from Walt Disney World’s website. Tickets will be $10 more when purchased day of, although there is no discount for the October 31st party.
Walt Disney World passholders and military members can get a discount. As a member of the military, I purchased our tickets for $67/adult (from Shades of Green) for the Friday August 23rd party. With 25% off the ticket (and no tax), it was a great deal.
The party is from 7PM to Midnight. Guests with MNSSHP tickets can start entering Magic Kingdom starting at 3PM. To save money, we recommend booking the party for a day where you don’t have theme park tickets. Otherwise, you will be spending money on two sets of tickets for one day. Guests without MNSSHP tickets begin to exit Magic Kingdom around 6PM.
During the party, the following are event exclusives available to all party guests:
- Boo-to-You Halloween Parade: Parade is performed twice nightly down Main Street, USA
- Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular: Based on the popular movie, the show is performed four times at the Cinderella Castle forecourt stage
- Characters in Halloween Costumes: Meet characters like Mickey Mouse dressed in their favorite Halloween costumes for photos and autographs around the park
- Disney’s Not So Spooky Spectacular: Firework show hosted by Jack Skellington in front of Cinderella Castle
- Trick-or-Treating: Certain areas of the park host areas to collect candy with no limit
- Ride Overlays: Pirates of the Caribbean, Mad Tea Party and Space Mountain join the Halloween fun with Halloween additions (Monsters, Inc. Laugh Factory will experience an overlay this year)
Other enhancements include dance parties for children with various Disney characters and 30+ PhotoPass magic shots. Walt Disney World continues to blow us away with its awesome magic shots (like the one above). We spent lots of time looking for photographers and taking fun photos.
In front of the Haunted Mansion, actors recreate the characters from inside the mansion and include some fun interactions. We saw the world famous butler at the last party!
Attractions also have short lines and Fast Passes are suspended during the party. However, we wouldn’t recommend spending valuable party time on attractions as they can be experienced any time outside the party. We did ride Pirates of the Caribbean due to its Halloween overlay (more on that later).
The party is full of different things to do. The hardest part is fitting everything in from 7PM to Midnight. We did, but you gotta hustle. Anyway, lets get into our 2019 party experience.
2019 Party Experience
After spending the day in Magic Kingdom, we arrived at the party right at 7PM dressed as Princess Ariel and Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid (We dressed as Pocahontas and John Smith in 2016). Lines into the park weren’t long.
We received our wrist band and trick-or-treat bag before being led to the first trick-or-treat area behind the right side of Main Street, USA. In 2016, it was pouring as we entered so we were enjoying the clear weather.
Instead of meeting characters right away (the Seven Dwarfs) like we did in 2016, we opted for the Photo Pass magic shots. Our plan was to take photos and see the park before the first Boo-to-You parade around 9:15PM. Main Street and the central hub were crawling with photographers with short lines. We ended up taking a bunch of different photos.
From there, we saw Princess Ariel and Prince Eric were available for a meet and great. Since we were dressed up like them, we had to take a photo. The line was short (about 20 minutes) and the two actors were funny and personable as they talked to us and took pictures.
After meeting Princess Ariel and Prince Eric, we grabbed a snack and found a spot on Main Street, USA for the parade. The parade opens in Frontierland but viewing feels like Halloween from Main Street with the lights and Halloween decorations.
The parade starts with the Headless Horseman looking for his head before the main parade arrives. The parade is a can’t miss and includes great floats and characters. With two shows a night, the first one is more crowded but we prefer the first one so we can see the fireworks right after.
Once the parade ended, we headed to the central hub to grab a spot for the fireworks show, Disney’s Not So Spooky Spectacular. This show, new for 2019, replaced the beloved HalloWishes fireworks show. Hosted by Jack Skellington, he tells a not-so-scary tale of Mickey Mouse and his pals on a Halloween night.
Despite the endless references to The Nightmare Before Christmas, the show is good. The best part is jack Skellington himself. Rather than being a projection on the castle, Jack is a full sized puppet roaming on the castle forecourt stage. If you are standing right in front of the castle, you cannot see the puppeteer and Jack looks pretty real.
The show primary focus on Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Pluto lost in a haunted house. In the house, they meet dancing skeleton or dancing ghosts. The fireworks are cool, but the highlight is Jack Skellington.
After the show, we ran over to Pirates of the Caribbean. For the party, the queue and the attraction were advertised to include live actors. The line for the attraction was about 20 minutes. For live actors, they included one in the queue and three scattered in the attraction during the Puerto Dorado scene.
The actors added very little to the overall experience. At most, we saw them for just a few minutes before our boat passed. Some actors called out guests but most were just “there”. It was cool for a second but the novelty wore off quickly.
From pirates, we took some more photos and went to Main Street to meet Mickey Mouse. His line wasn’t long and we grabbed some quick photos.
The last item on our agenda was the Hocus Pocus show in front of Cinderella Castle. We loved the show in 2016 and were excited to see it again. With four different showtimes, we always view the last one. Crowds are lower and we can spend more time exploring the park before the final performance. Since the show starts right at midnight, it’s a prefect way to end the night.
At 11:45PM, we found a spot right in front of the castle for the show. Both of us were exhausted but determined to press on. At midnight, the show started.
For those unfamiliar with the show, it is about the Sanderson sisters trying to throw a Halloween party with help from Disney villains like Maleficent and Oogie Boogie. There is a lot of dancing and singing. The actors playing the Sanderson sisters killed it during our performance. The show is about twenty minutes and as soon as it ended, we made the long trek back home to our hotel.
Conclusion
We had a great time during the 2016 party and an even better time in 2019. For $67, the party was worth it. We were busy the whole time, took tons of photos and watched some fun shows. Magic Kingdom is fully decked in Halloween and the atmosphere truly evokes an outer-worldly supernatural mystic.
Main Street, USA is gorgeous with its Halloween decorations, especially the night time lights and and visual projections. The castle looks awesome and is the prefect backdrop for the firework and Hocus Pocus shows. The magic shots are outstanding and numerous. And seeing lots of Disney characters roaming the park is awesome.
We highly recommend visiting the party. As a separate hard ticket event, it can be pricey to pay for another ticket. To save money, purchase tickets on a day you don’t plan to visit the parks. With an entry time of 3PM, you can spend the morning relaxing before heading to the party in the afternoon.
Party tickets are cheaper earlier in the season, like August, and cheaper on Tuesdays vs Fridays. If Walt Disney World does reopen before August, the 2020 dates are listed below:
August: 13, 18, 21, 25 and 28
September: 1, 4, 7, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27 and 29
October: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31
November: 1
If you plan to visit Magic Kingdom on a party night, remember the park will close for non-party guests at 6PM. Nights without a party might be more crowded as guests try to take advantage of the longer operating hours since party nights make up a hefty amount of nights in September and October.
Adult guests can wear costumes, as long as they are not offensive and do not include weapons or masks. Candy is available and free for all party guests, but don’t waste your time trick-or-treating. You can buy a bag of candy for like $4 at home. Instead, use the party to experience all the seasonal and exclusive events, like the parade, fireworks and Hocus Pocus show.
Thoughts?
Thanks for reading our post! We love Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We highly recommend visiting, especially if you can visit on a Tuesday in August when tickets are cheap! The party offers tons to do and see and is one of Walt Disney World’s best hard ticket events.
For all your vacation planning needs, please read our Magic Kingdom One-Day Itinerary HERE or our review of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort HERE.
Have you been to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party? What was your favorite part? Did you wait two hours in the rain to take pictures with the Seven Dwarfs? Let us know in the comments below!
