"Official" 2019 Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party - A Frightfully Festive Celebration

[lostprincess_danie]

Got our tickets for 10/24. Going with DH, SIL and future BIL. Will be first time for SIL and BIL. Third for myself and DH. The last party we attended was in 2015. DH does not keep up with Disney news or info like I do and has been raving about empty parks and walk-on rides to my SIL and BIL. Not sure how to break it to them that this is not going to be like parties of olde.

 

[tangledmermaid]

I am freaking out a little about costumes now and would appreciate a little help and advice from someone who has been before as this is our one and only ever MNSSHP. I have spent a long time piecing together an 'Ariel walks on land' costume that is technically layered I suppose - a shirt under a corset with a skirt - I am also wearing a wig, of course. Would this be considered 'layered'? Now I am worrying am I actually okay to wear a wig? I can't see anything specific that says one way or the other.

I am also currently in the process of piecing together my boyfriend's Hades costume - a grey shirt with a black toga. Is this going to be a good idea or should we scrap the Hades idea? I will of course make sure that it does not drag on the ground but he suggested 'they wouldn't allow anything loose on the rides' and now I am worried and a bit sad I suggested to him that we could just take the toga off for rides but I don't know.. I don't feel like Disney would trust us to do that and if it wasn't allowed at all then they would make us leave it outside of the parks.

Your advice would be really appreciated as I have practically spent my entire day sourcing all of the bits I need for Hades and am feeling a little deflated

Thanks x

 

[LSK]

We went to a party 4 years ago and it was the highlight of our trip, I have tried to set expectations with my family that it will be more crowded this time. I understand the concept of zig when others zag, but am curious how you manage this at MNSSHP. Do you look at wait times? Or, do you just go to a different area of the park until you find fewer crowds? I want to zig, help me zig!

Our focus this party is really on the rides and the parade. Last time, I was able to snag a fantastic spot for the 1st parade 30 minutes before it started...how long before parade start should I grab a spot this year?

A big thank you to everyone who has posted. This thread is very helpful!

 

[georgina]

I am freaking out a little about costumes now and would appreciate a little help and advice from someone who has been before as this is our one and only ever MNSSHP. I have spent a long time piecing together an 'Ariel walks on land' costume that is technically layered I suppose - a shirt under a corset with a skirt - I am also wearing a wig, of course. Would this be considered 'layered'? Now I am worrying am I actually okay to wear a wig? I can't see anything specific that says one way or the other.

I am also currently in the process of piecing together my boyfriend's Hades costume - a grey shirt with a black toga. Is this going to be a good idea or should we scrap the Hades idea? I will of course make sure that it does not drag on the ground but he suggested 'they wouldn't allow anything loose on the rides' and now I am worried and a bit sad I suggested to him that we could just take the toga off for rides but I don't know.. I don't feel like Disney would trust us to do that and if it wasn't allowed at all then they would make us leave it outside of the parks.

Your advice would be really appreciated as I have practically spent my entire day sourcing all of the bits I need for Hades and am feeling a little deflated

Thanks x

Your costume sounds fine to me from what I saw at Thursday's party. Some of them were quite elaborate. I definitely saw wigs on women, and men. I was surprised to see a full Jafar costume with a long cape as I didn't think they were allowed, perhaps they put it on after entering? I did not see it on rides however, but I only rode a few that party.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We went to a party 4 years ago and it was the highlight of our trip, I have tried to set expectations with my family that it will be more crowded this time. I understand the concept of zig when others zag, but am curious how you manage this at MNSSHP. Do you look at wait times? Or, do you just go to a different area of the park until you find fewer crowds? I want to zig, help me zig!

Our focus this party is really on the rides and the parade. Last time, I was able to snag a fantastic spot for the 1st parade 30 minutes before it started...how long before parade start should I grab a spot this year?

A big thank you to everyone who has posted. This thread is very helpful!

Depends on what you want to do of course... but my advice.... start in the Adventureland side of the park.

Hard to explain exactly what I mean when I say zig when others zag... that's sort of an amorphous term of course. I think fundamentally what it means to me is that if I find myself either somewhere or doing something that isn't really working or that's not fun... pull the plug and move on. Sometimes that's gut instinct vs some strategic calculation. I find I make a lot of it up as I go!

On Friday... come first parade time... we hadn't scoped out a spot but wanted something front row. Well... nothing was available anywhere Frontierland/Hub (of course) so I rolled the dice and headed back up Main Street towards the entrance. Way out of my way and lots of extra walking. But I was rewarded with a front row spot with just a few minutes to spare. Granted... that was a super risky move. But I think the point is just try to stay flexible and don't be afraid to move/make quick adjustments if needed.

Good attitudes and a spirit of adventure don't hurt either.

 

[mckennarose]

We went to a party 4 years ago and it was the highlight of our trip, I have tried to set expectations with my family that it will be more crowded this time. I understand the concept of zig when others zag, but am curious how you manage this at MNSSHP. Do you look at wait times? Or, do you just go to a different area of the park until you find fewer crowds? I want to zig, help me zig!

Our focus this party is really on the rides and the parade. Last time, I was able to snag a fantastic spot for the 1st parade 30 minutes before it started...how long before parade start should I grab a spot this year?

A big thank you to everyone who has posted. This thread is very helpful!

I think a lot depends on how many are in your group, which determines how easily you'll get around quickly. We went with an extended group last week of 18 family members AND (which I didn't expect) some of their friends who were staying for a dance event. We literally were a part of a group of 25 people! But, DH and I decided beforehand that we were doing our own thing and were off by ourselves most of the night. We would never have been able to maneuver with a group that large and I'm sure they realized it because a lot of them splintered off during the night.

For us zigging when others zag means more of a "don't follow the herd mentality" and have a lot of flexibility. It amazes me that if a group stops in front of you near a ride or for any show or parade, the people behind them stop and camp right there too. We go around and find a better spot. If a ride has a super long wait, we move on rather than follow the herd in. We were able to walk up to the first Hocus Pocus show about 30 seconds before it started and we were right up front. We came in near the Plaza garden and rather than stopping in the back, we kept going forward into the free spaces until we got a good view. For the parade, we did the first parade and were walking near LTT and decided to stop on the steps, which for me was good since I'm short. This was probably around 10 minutes before parade time. For the fireworks, we met up with the large group while we were exiting Adventure land after the first parade right near the bridge and all headed toward the hub. They stopped way before the hub and started to camp, DH and I moved up more for a better view.

The ToT lines look deceptively long, but they move very quickly. We're not deterred by longer looking lines for those. Ride lines can be hard to judge sometimes because you can't see how much of the queue is being used. HM was a 30 minute wait and we were on in 10 last Thursday. We do look at wait times as we're passing, but we try not to needlessly go back and forth around the park. We just find other things to do, which isn't hard with the ToT lines or stopping the the hub to catch part of the HP show or just stopping for a few minutes for a drink and people watch. Someone mentioned in a previous post somewhere about the costumes changing and getting more elaborate closer to Halloween. This is absolutely true! This was our second party this season and there were FAR more full costumes. We had a blast at one point just stopping for a dole whip and people watching. People are really creative!

Good attitudes and a spirit of adventure don't hurt either.

This times 1000! As much as we try to plan, you do have to expect that not everything will go exactly as you want it to. Being flexible is key, IMO, and a good attitude is the most important thing.

 

[mckennarose]

I forgot that I wanted to mention that mobile ordering was super glitchy at the party. We ordered from Casey's and it took several times to go through. We weren't the only ones, judging by the comments while we were waiting for our order to be ready in the restaurant.
Mobile order saves a lot of time, but it's frustrating when it's not working well. Keep trying if you get the message "we can't complete your order at this time"!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Plaza Garden Viewing Dessert Party had a funny vibe last Friday. I concede I've been to way too many of these things, so I find myself nit-picking them more and more. I'm not really into the food/desserts. Repetition is sometimes not a good thing when it comes to Disney offerings... so my somewhat cynical tone will be n/a for many/most guests.

Anyways... I found the CMs at check-in and in the dessert area rather glum. There was certainly no excitement or welcoming feel this time.

The Tomorrowland Terrace recently got new chairs/tables, if I'm not mistaken. We were seated in the upper terrace area and they had tables JAMMED in there. It was really hard to navigate to our table smack dab in the middle without bumping other people or asking them to scoot their chairs in. The terrace wasn't all that packed with people... but the tables were definitely packed. Not a great experience.

We moved over to the Plaza Garden at 10pm. It was on the fuller side of full... but still places to find a spot with no issue. Most everyone was sitting down. The front 5 feet or so of the entire garden was reserved for ECVs, as it was back in August.

We opted for a spot in the middle/back section. Not against the rail... but not quite in the middle either.

Life was good at the start. Everyone still sitting. Great view.




All right... so I think.... I can just stay seated here the whole time and enjoy....



And then 30 seconds into the show... BAM.... everyone decides to stand....







It's funny to watch crowd behavior.... a few boos and hisses as people stood up.... causing more people to stand up... causing more boos/hisses.

In the end we all stood - which should be the expectation. It had me wishing I had been a bit earlier so I could have had my preferred back row/lean spot.

But oh well.

Second time watching the show - fireworks and projections were spectacular. I miss a song or lines that I find myself humming later... but I guess that's just not what Disney wants to produce right now.

Happy to answer any questions about the dessert party experience.

 

[mckennarose]

Just adding some pics from our party 10/10, which was a sold out party.

Time stamp: 4:20pm

Bypass time stamp 4:23pm

Parade spot from in front of LTT. Timestamp 9:17pm. WAY more crowded that what @GADisneyDad14 posted from the following night from almost directly across the street!

Jack is a little blurry, but we had a clear view of him. We were up on the curb and I was standing behind a garbage can so no one could stand in front of me, lol! Petite people tip! The Jack puppet still fascinates me! I didn't realize until that night that there are TWO people working him!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Parade spot from in front of LTT. Timestamp 9:17pm. WAY more crowded that what @GADisneyDad14 posted from the following night from almost directly across the street!

For clarification, my pic was all the way up Main Street sort of between City Hall and the Emporium - so, the end of the parade line so to speak. That part of the park where you pic is was way too crowded, so we bolted up Main Street!

 

[mckennarose]

For clarification, my pic was all the way up Main Street sort of between City Hall and the Emporium - so, the end of the parade line so to speak. That part of the park where you pic is was way too crowded, so we bolted up Main Street!

Thanks! I misunderstood where you were and too lazy to look up the pics, lol!

 

[Cluelyss]

Attended the sold out October 10th party. We’ve attended many sell out parties and had a plan, so all in all had a good night. Here’s what we accomplished (which was almost everything we had planned!)

Entered the park just after 4, picked up our SOTMK cards and headed down the bypass for our starter bag of candy and pictures. Used our SDMT FP then hubby took the kids on Dumbo while I shopped in Big Top. Rode Little Mermaid and got drinks at Gastons, placed a mobile order at Peco Bills from the tavern. Tried out our new SOTMK card then picked up dinner around 6. Experienced the glitchy app, MDE was still instructing me to pick up my order when we left WDW on Saturday, but somehow it got prepared LOL

After dinner I’d hoped to jump on the Jungle Cruise, but I assumed (incorrectly) that it ran until 7. It does not. So we hit “regular” Pirates instead (we saw the live actors last year and during VAH and had no interest in seeing them again). When we exited it was just 7 and we got our chocolate coins as we left. We then split up to collect the hitchhiking ghost trio (I mobile ordered the sipper and encountered very short lines for the other 2. Note: it was reported upthread that the Splash popcorn stand had the bucket at other parties, but it was not open our night. And the LS stand would not sell them prior to 7. I asked). We had all 3 in hand by 730 and the plan was to hit HM next, but the wait was 55 minutes so we backtracked to BTMRR. That entire area in Liberty Square was a crowded mess all night, and the construction walls there don’t help.

After BTMRR (posted 20 minute wait, pretty accurate) we did the Evil Queen MS then headed to Tomorrowland to say hi to a friend working at PM and rode Buzz. Then it was time to check in for the dessert party. (They DO have new tables and chairs @GADisneyDad14 - it was the first thing DH noticed!). Treats were good, but my youngest was fading fast, and I was worried he wouldn’t make it till the second parade so we decided to hit the garden early and catch what we could of the first parade from there. As has been mentioned, this is not an ideal spot to watch, but you can see the tops of the floats and enjoy the music, so it’s okay if you’ve seen the parade before or will be seeing it again later in the night.

After the parade passed we settled in against the back rail to wait for the fireworks (and chatted with a very sweet Dis’er seated beside us!). The kids spread out in the grass and we took a few pics with the PhotoPass photographer in the garden. I had deliberately avoided all videos of the new show, as I’d heard it was better in person, as was glad I’d waited. It was cute enough, the projections were beautiful and Jack was awesome! We had no problem seeing him from the garden, even the kids. The music choices were .... interesting .... and didn’t scream “Halloween” to me the way Hallowishes did, but my son has been singing the final song for days (side note, if anyone knows what that song is called or who sings it and it if it’s available for download anywhere PLEASE let me know! “Trick or Treat” maybe?? I’ve searched to no avail). Anyway, it was no Hallowishes (which was my favorite fireworks show EVER) but it was nicely done and I’m sure it will grow on me the way HEA has.

After the fireworks my son had gotten his second wind so we decided we were going to push on. We checked HM again on our way to Frontierland to grab a parade spot, and it was down to 30 minutes so we hopped in line. We walked off at 11 and I was super nervous about what kind of a parade spot we’d be stuck with, but we lucked into a front row spot in front of Diamond Horseshoe between two families. There was enough room for my son to sit, my daughter sat behind him, I stood behind her and hubby stood behind me. Worked out perfectly and we got some great character interaction there. DD and DH hit the TOT station inside while we waited, and they loaded him up with the Snickers Crispers (his favorite!). I was so happy DS stuck it out because the gravediggers are sooooo amazing and I was glad I got to see them up close!!! We abandoned the midnight HP show and decided to leave right after the parade, but unfortunately we waoo slow and got stuck by the parade trying to cross Main Street to exit, so in hindsight we should have just headed to the hub for the show. But all in all, a great night and we still ended up with a full bag of candy between the 4 of us despite only hitting 3 TOT spots! The only things we didn’t accomplish in my plan were the gravediggers M&G (ok since we did it last year), the new HM hearse MS and the HP show, so not bad for a sellout night!

Here are a few pics from the evening:

 

[Rory607]

Just adding some pics from our party 10/10, which was a sold out party.
View attachment 443968
Time stamp: 4:20pm
View attachment 443972
Bypass time stamp 4:23pm
View attachment 443975
Parade spot from in front of LTT. Timestamp 9:17pm. WAY more crowded that what @GADisneyDad14 posted from the following night from almost directly across the street!
View attachment 443981
Jack is a little blurry, but we had a clear view of him. We were up on the curb and I was standing behind a garbage can so no one could stand in front of me, lol! Petite people tip! The Jack puppet still fascinates me! I didn't realize until that night that there are TWO people working him!

We attended the 10/10 party, too. This was our first-ever party, so I’ve been following this thread for tips. Watching the parade from Frontierland was one of the big ones I’m glad we used. We were right across the street from LTT, and when I zoomed in on your pic I can see my DS So weird!

But anyway, we staked out that spot about 30 minutes before the parade and the kids were right up at the rope. They loved the parade. My DS slept through the fireworks, but my DD absolutely loved them. But we never saw Hallowishes, so we had nothing to compare it to. Overall, we enjoyed the party. I prepared everyone for crowds, so no one was surprised. Thank you to everyone for this thread and all the helpful advice!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Funny to think about... Just 11 MNSSHP's left.

 

[Ashmishgab]

We went to the 10/8 party and although sold out, we had a great time. Got there around 3(AP), only had 1 FP preplanned but was apple to ride Buzz,Dumbo, PP, tea cups, rand Winnie the Pooh all by 5:20ish. Also got out candy bag and wristband at monsters inc about 10 mins til 4. Got in line for Stitch about 5:35(hey, @LES91, we were one of the groups right ahead of you!), and like Les said, he came out at 6:45. Done before 7, rode buzz again, met Lotso, did a few tot stops were they gave out handfuls at a time! Stopped about 8 at Pecos to grab hades nachos. Went toward Main Street for parade as we had plaza garden party. I grabbed ya a second row spot right by the plaza garden while DH and DS checked in for dessert patty and got some desserts. They gave DH my band(this was a surprise), so I ran and got some snacks and carried them to our parade spot. First row were all sitting and made room for my 4 yr old, so great view getting there at 9:45-9:50. After parade, grabbed our firework spot and sat and relaxed until time(this was great, with a young one would happily do dessert party again for the rest time!). After, did more TOT, rode buzz AGAIN(son’s favorite), people watched, met Mickey. Got headless horseman shot in early out at 11:45(although turns out, we have another family’s photo). We did all that we really wanted and although seemed crowded at times, lines we were in moved fast and we had a great time!

9:45/9:50 for the first parade? I thought it started at 9:15? Is it later now?

 

[Mikey15]

9:45/9:50 for the first parade? I thought it started at 9:15? Is it later now?

By the time it gets to Main Street it'd bare minimum be after 9:30. "9:15" parade on 10/3 too but not even the Horseman rode past our spot beside Sleepy Hollow until ~9:20.

 

[lovethattink]

What happened to the candy? This was our 3rd party and it seems like the candy has gotten a lot more generic than I recall. Our first party I remember there being Peeps. The second party I remember some caramel apple Werther's. This party I remember receiving a ton of M&M's. Every stop seemed to be exactly the same.

All tot stops except 1 have the exact same candy.

I remember the parties of a long time ago having craft tables for kids to make crafts. Games like ring toss, knocking things over, etc set up near Splash Mt. Free photo of your family. Wider selection of candy.

Then back in 2015 we went to a bunch of parties and ds loved the candy trails which are gone.

We use to love meeting with the villains after their show. Once during a rained out show, we got to meet them all inside the castle. Amazing magical moment!!

The princess and princes use to meet together. Had a great memory of ds explaining SOTMK to Flynn and Rapunzel. Rapunzel got carried away and flung her hair, knocking over her plum pen.

And prices of the party were way cheaper.

Despite the changes over the years, it's still our favorite ticketed event! We are having a great time with the party pass. It's allowing us to go only for a few hours, instead of picking and choosing and cramming everything into one night. We still haven't done everything.

 

[Ashmishgab]

By the time it gets to Main Street it'd bare minimum be after 9:30. "9:15" parade on 10/3 too but not even the Horseman rode past our spot beside Sleepy Hollow until ~9:20.

So you got the good front row spot that close to the start of the parade? I’m sorry to badger you I’m just curious for us how to gauge what time we should stake out our spot for the first parade. I was thinking of trying to get one closer to the entrance of the park since we have Cruella’s booked that way we could just go in there after the parade. I thought I would have to sit and hold the spot like an hour in advance.

 

[Mikey15]

So you got the good front row spot that close to the start of the parade? I’m sorry to badger you I’m just curious for us how to gauge what time we should stake out our spot for the first parade. I was thinking of trying to get one closer to the entrance of the park since we have Cruella’s booked that way we could just go in there after the parade. I thought I would have to sit and hold the spot like an hour in advance.

I'm not Holly, so I don't know how early she was to get her front-row spot. Sounds like she waited at it while her family grabbed items from the dessert party.

 

[vinotinto]

We went to the Friday, Oct 11th party, which was sold out. This was our 3rd party and I thought it was less crowded than some of the parties in the past few years (more on this at the end of my post!).

I went prepared with just a handful of priorities: Boo to You Parade, New Fireworks from a non-crowded spot (even if it was further back), Space Mountain, Pirates, a little bit of ToT and a few Photopasses.

Here is what we did (times are approximate to about 5 minutes or so):
5:00 - Arrived at MK. Long line to enter through the MNSSHP entrance, so we entered through a regular line with our APs and headed straight to our ADR at Skipper's.

5:15-6:30 - Skipper' dinner. Pretty good as usual. This is our favorite MK restaurant by a long shot.

6:30 - Got our wristbands and the Mars starter bag at Pirate's Adventure between Adventureland and Frontierland. No wait.

6:45 - 6:55 - Monsters ToT and watched a set. This was a lot of fun and I wished we would have had time to go back and watch some more during the event. Smart of Disney to offer this. You can have a lot of people not crowding up the walkways.

7:00 - 7:35 - Space Mountain. Very cool. Kids LOVED this. I did get a little motion sickness from being tossed around in the dark.

7:45 - 8:00 - Hocus Pocus show. I arrived a little late and did not have a good viewing spot (too many people to be able to see what was happening on the stage). Note that the midnight HP show was taking place as we left and I could have had a great viewing spot, but fam was tired, so we did not view it.

8:00 - 8:20 - Haunted Mansion lantern and ghost carriage Photopass shots (just me, fam not interested!)

While I was at Hocus Pocus and doing the Photopass, fam did ToT at Carousel of Progress and then went to BTMRR, which had a 10-minute wait.

8:30 - Got a front row parade spot in Frontierland, for the 9:15 parade, near Liberty Square. There were plenty of front row spots, but Parade was my #1 priority, so I didn't want to wait until later. Cadaver Dans stopped to serenade someone waiting near me in a wheelchair. They then continued roving and moved deeper into Frontierland. I could hear them clearly, even if I could not see them. They are wonderful. DH brought beverages and we sat down to wait.

9:10 - Headless Horseman.

9:20 - 9:30 - Parade

9:35 - Bathroom break.

9:45 - Photopass with pumpkin in the grassy area in front of Casey's. Poor photographer had the hardest time getting people to not lean on the pumpkin and to stand to the right of it. / Grabbed a comfy parade spot in this area and sat down. We stayed seated the whole time.

10:15 - Fireworks from the grassy area in front of Casey's. Like others, I preferred Hallowishes, but these were still very enjoyable. We were too far to see any of Jack/puppet. I would not have even known about it if I hadn't read it here. Not sure if I missed anything important, but being able to stretch out and not be in the mass of humanity of the hub was worth it to me.

10:35 - 10:55 - Pirates. Basically no wait, we were just constantly moving through the queau. ToT

11:00 - 12:00 - Kids wanted to do rides, even though we have APs and have done them a million times. Sigh. We hit Haunted Mansion, BTMRR and Splash. It was hard to resist because both BTMRR and Splash only had a 5-minute wait and HM was advertised as 10-minutes, but we basically almost walked into stretching room. Carlotta wasn't out at this point. We also did more ToT.

12:00 - Walked through hub as last HP show was beginning. Could have had a great view, but fam was tired.

12:10 - Grabbed our SotMK cards from the two CMS standing in front of the SotMK stand in front of fire station. My DS left a little early and we asked him to pick up his card on the way out, but the parade was taking place, and he could not reach that area nor see any CMs with cards and saw the actual SotMK stand closed, so he left without his card. But, after the parade ends, you should be able to find the CMs standing in that spot again.

Buses back to CSR were great. They sent out 2 buses and we were able to squeeze into the second one, so we barely had any wait!

Final Thoughts
It may be that we had a realistic list of "must do's" or that the weather was great, so we didn't have any cancellations or delays that could affect our timing and pace, but we thought this was a GREAT party. Yeah, there were a lot of people, but I did not see the 5-6 row deep parade viewing crowds that I saw a few years ago. Yes, the hub is a madhouse, so I recommend to avoid it.

I think Disney made a really smart, positive change: Closing the park at 6pm. When we went a few years ago, the park closed at 7 (and I may recall the parade being at 8:35). There were people taking up parade spots a few years back that did not have wristbands. This year, everyone at the party had a wristband. They completely fixed it with closing the park at 6pm and putting up the barriers. Huge change for the positive.