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On Friday, September 1, 2017, I was able to attend Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party with my adult daughter. The weather forecast was iffy for the evening, but we threw ponchos in my bag and decide to make the most of it anyway.
I want to start off by saying that the Cast Members at the party were incredible! Almost all of them seemed to be in a great mood, even if they were stuck out in the rain. I have not experienced a collective group of such exceptional Cast Members since Star Wars Weekends. People were helpful, they tried to give as much information as possible, and there were plenty of genuine smiles. I’m sure Walt Disney would have been proud.
We arrived a little bit after 4:00. The actual party doesn’t start until 7:00, but guests can show up three hours in advance. The ticketing and wristband system was simple, and we made it right through. Once inside the Magic Kingdom, we were allowed in an area where the Trick or Treating started. My daughter is allergic to dairy, so a Cast Member explained the allergy friendly process to us. It’s simple, a teal bag is given, and tokens are handed out instead of candy. Tokens can then be exchanged for allergy friendly treats.
At 7:00 the park closed to other guests, and Cast Members politely asked those without wristbands to head out. The music changed to friendly Halloween themed songs, and the Trick or Treat stations opened. The lines for those were long at first, but they moved quickly. The stations were marked on the map, and there were inflatable markers that said “Treats”. They were easy to find.
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Possibly the only drawback of the evening as far as Cast Members were concerned was that they didn’t all seem to be looking for the teal bags. We realized early in the Trick or Treating process that we needed to just hold up the bag and ask if they had tokens. Not everyone did, but as the evening went on that got a little bit easier.
The lines for the rides were short, which was nice. We’re Annual Passholders and visit the parks often, so we didn’t have any must-dos. It was nice to be able to hit some favorites in the standby line, FastPass+ isn’t used during the party. We also saw the Cadaver Dans early in the evening. They performed in Frontierland, and they really seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Another fun aspect to the party was seeing the costumes that some guests wore. My personal favorite was the group that was dressed up as the Main Street Electrical Parade. They had a service dog with them, and he wore a costume that was similar to the float that announced the parade. If you were in that group, great job.
At 8:15 it was time for Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular. A few minutes into the show it started to pour, and the rest of the performance was canceled. The part that we saw was still a lot of fun. Like many of the other guests, we decided to seek shelter. For us, it came in the form of Space Mountain and its indoor queue. That was the longest line we waited in all night (out front it said 45 minutes, but we waited about 35) because lots of other people had the same idea. When we got off it was still raining, but not as hard, so we hit the park again.
For many people, part of the fun of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is the chance to see characters that you won’t normally find in the parks. If the weather had been better we might have decided to get in line for a few character pictures, but I didn’t really feel like waiting in those lines after having been caught in the rain. Some of the lines were still outdoors, although the actual character greetings were sheltered. I did enjoy walking around and seeing some of the extra characters, even if we didn’t stop for a picture.
The Boo-to-You Halloween Parade was supposed to take place at 9:15, but the time kept getting pushed back because of the rain. I’ll hand it to Walt Disney World, once there was a break in the weather the parade started. It was fun, although I was surprised by how creepy some of the characters were. The theme music was enough to drive me batty (Halloween pun intended). I joked to my daughter that I wanted to go ride It’s a Small World to get it out of my head. Overall, though, it’s a great parade.
Since the parade didn’t start until after 10:00, the 10:15 Happy HalloWishes Fireworks Show got moved back a few minutes as well. We weren’t directly in front of Cinderella Castle, we had a great view on the side near the entrance to Tomorrowland. Compared to the recent fireworks shows that Disney has added, HalloWishes seemed a bit on the simple side. That’s not a complaint, sometimes it’s nice when something isn’t over the top. It’s a beautiful show.
After the fireworks we decided to turn in the tokens for treats. It’s a very simple process. There are two Allergy-Friendly Centers where tokens can be turned in. One is in Town Square Theater and the other is in Heritage House. They’re marked on the map, and clearly marked outside of the buildings as well. There’s a list on the counter with what treats are available, and what each is free of (such as dairy-free or peanut-free). It didn’t matter how many tokens we had, the extremely friendly Cast Member took the bag and filled it up with dairy free snacks. It’s great to know that people with allergies can still enjoy Trick or Treating at the party.
We had one more welcome surprise at the end of the night. There was a short wait for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We got in line at about 11:45, and thought that was our last ride. When we got off the Cast Member at the ride’s entrance told us that we had one more minute if we wanted to get in line and ride again. We gladly did.
Overall, I was impressed with Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party this year. It’s great for all ages. Things could have been canceled because of the weather, but Disney did their best to make sure that the entertainment would still take place. As I mentioned earlier, the Cast Members were wonderful. It’s a fun atmosphere, and I highly recommend it. If your dates are flexible, though, check the forecast and buy your ticket as late as possible. Our enjoyable evening would have been even better without the rain.
