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Anyone who loves Disney and loves Halloween wants to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! But it can feel overwhelming to get everything done between the hours of 7pm-12am. We got to go to the party this year for the first time since 2009 and although we definitely didn't get it all done and made the biggest mistake you can make attending a Magic Kingdom party we still maximized our time in a great way and had so much fun! So here is my guide to getting the most out of your Halloween party ticket! What Is Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Let's start off with what exactly the party is before we jump into strategy. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is a separately ticketed event that happens in Magic Kingdom. It officially runs on select nights August through October from 7pm-12am. There is Trick or Treating in the park, rare character meets, special entertainment, merchandise and food! This is the only time that adults can come into the park in a full on costume. Ticket holders receive a wristband to show they are they are there for the party and the park closes to non party guests at 6pm. Crowds will be lower but not as low as they used to be and most attractions and rides are open. Timing Although the party doesn't officially start until 7pm, ticket holders are allowed to enter the park at 4pm and get their wristband at this time. Some offerings will also begin at 4pm like character meets and some trick or treat locations. I highly suggest arriving to Magic Kingdom well before 4pm and getting in line for your wristband. I arrived at about 3:30 and there was already a line at the gate. They started letting us in at 3:55 and by that time the line to get in was LONG! Now if you have an annual pass or a ticket for the park that day you can scan in and be in Magic Kingdom already and get your wrist band at Mickey's Philharmagic or in Tomorrowland by Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. I'll explain later why I chose to wait in the line outside the park to get my wristband. Priorities The most important thing to know when going to this party is what you and your families priorities are. You can't do it all, trust me I tried! For us it was meeting some rare characters, getting the special Magic Shot Photo Pass pictures, seeing all the entertainment and riding a couple of rides. Spoiler, we did not get all of this done, close, but not all! It's important to remember that there are things you can do anytime in Magic Kingdom and things you can ONLY do at the party. Although wait times for rides are shorter, most of them are the same ride you can always do so for us we didn't worry about riding a lot of rides. But if this is your Magic Kingdom day for your vacation, rides may be a priority for you. If so I suggest going in early and knocking out as many as you can! maybe pop drop Magic Kingdom and ride rides then go back to your resort and relax for a bit before heading back into the park at 4. It's goin to be a late night so don't underestimate that rest time! Characters Now we have come to the reason I showed up at 3:30 and waited outside. Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas start meeting guests at 4pm, this will be a 3-4 hour line later. I don't know about you but there isn't much I am willing to wait 3-4 hours for. BUT, I really wanted to do this meet as they are rare characters, I love Nightmare Before Christmas and had never met them. I got my wristband and then headed straight to Town Square Theater and had met them and was out of the building by 4:30! I will say this meet is worth the hype! I had an amazing interaction with Jack and Sally! I was dressed as a Ghost Host from Haunted Mansion and they talked to me as if I lived there the whole time. you get to take your time and really talk to them which is nice, but also why the line is longer. I wish they had tapered the other rare character meets and started some others earlier, it would have made things a little easier. The next one to start meeting were the 7 Dwarfs at Pete's Silly Side Show at 6:15. I went over to check out this line as soon as I was done with Jack and Sally and it had already formed but was not too long. This 4:30-5:30 time frame is a great time to ride a ride you want to cross off your list or get some food before the party starts. the area where the line formed was awesome because it snaked through the tented seating area that has outlets to charge your phone and, well, seats! I didn't officially get in line here until about 5:30 and I was done and out by 6:30, remember they didn't start meeting until 6:15. Next I went straight to the line for Elvis Stitch as this was a big one for my kids and I believe the only chance you have to meet this particular character. The King started meeting at 6:30 so this line was a little long by the time I got there. It was a posted wait time of 7- minutes but we only waited about 40 minutes. At this point it was about 7:15 so the party had officially started! All characters will be meeting at this point and this is all that are available during the party in addition to the three I've already listed: Mickey Mouse in his Halloween costume at Town Square Theater Max Goof at "pop up parties" throughout the park, confirmed at the Disney Junior party inside Cosmic Rays in Tomorrowland Rapunzel, Elena, Cinderella and Tiana in Fairytale Hall Alice, Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts and the Tweedles by the Tea Cups Anastasia and Drizella roaming through Fantasyland Belle and Gaston at Enchanted Tales with Belle Pooh, Eyeore, Piglet and Tigger in their Halloween costumes by Winnie the Pooh ride Ariel and Prince Eric by the Little Mermaid ride Minnie, Donald and Daisy in their Halloween Costumes in the play area of the Dumbo ride Pirate Goofy outside the Barnstormer Jack Sparrow next to Pirates of the Caribbean Aladdin, Abu, Jafar, Jasmine and Genie at the Agrabar Bazaar Country Bears roaming in Frontierland Madame Carlotta, Madame Renatta and Broome the Butler at the Haunted Mansion queue (I wish this wasn't so close to the entrance so you could enjoy it longer) Food & Merchandise If the specialty food and merchandise is a priority for you, get there early and do it early!! I really wanted the Nightmare Before Christmas Popcorn Bucket but waited till the end of the night to get it and missed out because there were none left. I'm sure this is the case for some of the other more popular merchandise as well. Make sure you utilize mobile order for your food so you aren't waiting in line to order, this is where our mistake happened. Not only did we wait in line to order but we waisted time eating dinner during the party instead of getting that out of the way beforehand. I knew this would happen for us because we were all coming straight from work and school and trying to pack it all in, if your on vacation for this party you should definitely plan better than we did! I'll be honest, we weren't really interested in any of the specialty food but did end up getting the Zombie fingers and it was a pleasant surprise. Almond cookies with a Key Lime ganache, they were actually pretty good! Here's a list of all the specialty food items offered for the party: Apple Fritter Milkshake at Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies MMMummy Treat Pastry, Witches Cold Brew Coffee and Queen of Hearts Slushy at the Cheshire Cat Terrifying' Twice Spiced Chicken Sandwich, The Snarling Meatball Sub, Zombie Finger Cookies, River Stix Elixer (Kiwi Lemonade) at Cosmic Rays Pain and Panic Brat, Pain and Panic Loaded Tots and the Buffalo Chicken Hand Pie from the Friar's Nook Tombstone Tart, Loaded Sweet Potato Fries from Golden Oak Outpost Black Velvet Whoopie Pie from Liberty Square Market Mickey Shaped Cinnamon Roll and Minnie Shaped Pumpkin Cheesecake from Main Street Bakery Cajun Burger, Bucket of Bones wings and Candy Corn Milkshake from Peco's Bills Apple Fritter Sundae and Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich from Plaza Ice Cream Parlor Char Sit Chicken Wings, Headless Horseman Cupcake (hard no for me, has flaming hot Cheeto dust on it) and the Cinnamon Funnel Cake from Sleepy Hollow Hades Cone from Storeybook Treats Tropical Graveyard Mango Mousse from Sunshine Tree Terrace Not So Poison Apple Churro, Jack Pop Brownie and Sally Cake Pop at the Churro Cart by Cinderella Castle Skull Brownie at the Outdoor Cart by Haunted Mansion As far as merchandise go, there are the usual suspects of shirts, spirit jerseys, plushes, ears, pins and such and you can find them in any of the retail locations open during the party. The Nightmare Before Christmas Popcorn Bucket is available at the popcorn cart in the hub, Cool Ship in Tomorrowland and the popcorn cart on Main Street. Entertainment Besides the character this was a huge priority for us! There are roaming pirates in Adventureland, Madame Carlotta and others at Haunted Mansion, the Boo to You parade, Sanderson Sisters stage show and Jack Skellington fireworks show!! Here are the show times for each of these: Disney's Not So Spooky Spectacular Fireworks: 10:15pm Hocus Pocus Villans Spectacular: August-September 8:35, 10:45 & 12am / October 7:40pm, 8:35pm, 9:50pm & 12am Boo To You Parade: 9:15 & 11:15 You can also catch the Cadaver Dans (Dapper Dans Halloween edition Frontierland between 7 and 10:30pm, The Disney Junior Dance Party (Max Goof dressed as Powerline and two other dancers actually performed the I2I dance here and it was awesome!) and Zoo-Beatz Bash in Tomorrowland all throughout the party and a Pirate Band in Adventureland throughout the party! As I said, the main entertainment was a big priority for us but we are not the type to plant in a spot and wait for an hour. We waited for the later showings of everything and that was definitely the way to go! We went and found a great spot right in the hub in front of Cinderella Castle at about 9:50 for the fireworks and had an almost perfect view! We just moved up a little closer after that was over and watched the Sanderson Sisters show at 10:45 and then found a curb right where we were and sat down to see the 11:15 Boo To You after that! It was perfect because we didn't have to fight for a spot for each thing or wait around as they went one right after the other! This is the way to go because we saved so much time going back and forth and had a great spot for all three! Bonus was I got a great spot to see a very special Dead Waltzer in the parade!! I can't speak for the earlier shows but it was not overly crowded or crazy like it is for nightly fireworks for any of these three shows! Rides Full disclosure, we only did two rides while at the party. This was just not a priority for us since we live here and can go ride pretty much whenever. All attractions are open during the party with the exception of Mickey's Philharmagic, Country Bear Jamboree, Carousel of Progress and the Enchanted Tiki Room. These are Trick or Treat locations during the party. They did utilize a virtual queue for Tron: Lightcycle Run during the party that became available at 6pm. You did that the same way you do it at 7am or 1pm on a regular day by going into the My Disney Experience App, confirming your party and hiring the refresh button right at 6pm and then joining the queue. We did get into the virtual queue for Tron but decided we could do that anytime and decided to pass on it later. Our two rides were Pirates of the Caribbean because we love it and wanted to see all the roaming pirates outside and hear the pirate band. We loved the roaming pirates! Their interactions were so much fun and well worth the time! After Pirates we went to the Haunted Mansion because DUH you have to ride this during a Halloween party AND it's my favorite! Added bonus is that this is where you see Madame Carlotta or one of her friends in the graveyard before you head into the mansion. Magic Shots The Disney Photopass service had lots of fun Magic Shot locations throughout the park that I really wanted to do but alas, this was the one thing on my list that didn't happen. We just didn't have time to get to the locations and do everything else we wanted to do and ultimately it was just me that wanted these so we let this one go. My suggestion here if these are a must do for you and you don't care about being right up front for the fireworks and stage show would be to get a spot for those further down Main Street and knock some of them out before they start. I was wrongly told by a cast member that none of the Magic Shots were available before 7pm, come to find out most of them were available between 4-6pm and I could have knocked a bunch out in between character meets, so use that info wisely! Here is a list of all the Magic Shots: Mister Toad Frame by the Stitch meet (Available all the time not just the party) Sleepy Hollow Frame in the hub by Tomorrowland (Available all the time) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Swiss Family Treehouse (Available all the time) Huey, Dewey & Louie from Trick or Treat on Main Street Lonesome Ghosts on Main Street Poison Apple on Main Street Flaming Pumpkin in the hub Oogie Boogie on Main Street Mickey Jack-o-Lantern Prop by the pumpkins at the flagpole Hitchhiking Ghosts at Liberty Square by Hall of Presidents Headless Horseman Liberty Square by Hall of Presidents Skeleton Dance on Main Street (this is the one I could cry over missing!!) Haunted Mansion Caretaker Lantern at the entrance to Haunted Mansion Lock, Shock and Barrel from Nightmare Before Christmas on the Tomorrowland Bridge Magic Cauldron in front of Casey's Corner and the Plaza Restaurant Colorful Mickey Lights near Carousel of Progress Jack-o-Lantern back lights near Carousel of Progress Maleficent Dragon Green near Pinnochio Village Haus Maleficent Dragon Flames behind the Cinderella Castle Walls Trick or Treating This was literally last on our list for a priority while at the party. The boys did hit up three locations just because we were right there or waiting for something else and they could run over and do it quick. These don't take up a lot of time or anything as you walk through pretty quick. We just didn't feel like they needed a ton of candy seeing as how they usually get quite the haul throughout the halloween season. But if this is a priority for you I would suggest planning to hit them as you go around the park and not running back and forth, here are the locations: Main Street as you enter the party by Town Square Theater (super easy as you have to go right by it) Enchanted Tiki Room Tortuga Tavern Tom Sawyer Island Dock Country Bear Jamboree Columbia Harbor House Sleepy Hollow (allergy friendly) Mickey's Philharmagic Pinnochio Village Haus Gaston's Tavern Ariel's Grotto Monster's Inc Laugh Floor Carousel of Progress Entrance to Tron Cosmic Ray's Dates & Prices In case you are looking to attend a Halloween Party this year here are the dates the party tickets are offered and the pricing, bold dates are sold out: August: 11th, 15th, 18th, 22, 25, 29 prices range between $99-$149 September: 1, 4, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29 prices range from $109-$149 October: 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31 prices range from $139-$199 November: 1, prices are $189 for kids and $199 for adults Conclusion We had only ever been to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party one other time, 14 years ago on Sawyer's first birthday! So needless to say we were very excited to go this year. Hindsight being 20/20 I would have paid the extra money to go on a Saturday when we all could have been a little more rested. It was a mad dash for all of us to get there and we were all kind of tired before the party even started. We still had an amazing time and loved every second but I think we would have gotten more done and enjoyed it even more if we had been able to go on a day that wasn't so busy for us. We love Halloween and were so excite for this party! I'm really glad we got to do it this year and wish we could go again and again!!! I hope this helps you if you if you are planning to go to Mickey's Not So Scary and if not I hope it gave you a little taste of the party. I thank you all so much for being here today and reading along!! I hope you have a magical day! And here's a little throwback for you from the 2009 party!

Dancing To Disney

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