All Treats, No Tricks: Getting the Most out of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
Fall is back in full swing at Walt Disney World. And that means, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) is also back.
We have been attending MNSSHP for over ten years. We have yet to miss a year and we love that for us.
Because of our love of the party, we thought it would be fun to give you some of our best tips, tricks and insights on how to win Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and have a frightfully good time doing so.
You will be offered a party map when you get your wristband (yes, you must have a wristband which means you must purchase a ticket to the event). We highly recommend having your map with you because that is going to be your holy grail for the party.
Mickey’s Not So Scary is an extra ticketed event that you must purchase in advance. Buying a regular park ticket on the day of the party will not get you entry into the event.
The tickets can be pricey and we do recommend weighing the pros and cons for your party because if you are not able to be there for the majority of the night but that also depends on your parties priorities. Make sure you are weighing the pros and cons for your group.
As party veterans, we have our favorite and must-do things for the party but there is not right or wrong way to get your Not-So-Spooky on.
We aren’t ride people for extra ticketed events. We might head over to Pirates of the Caribbean for the overlay and a few spins on the People Mover but as an extra-ticketed event, we want to make the most of this once a year experience at Magic Kingdom and take advantage of the unique experiences only available for the party.
The party map will include everything you need to know including:
Show times including stage shows, fireworks and parade times
Speciality treats only available during the party and where to get them.
Character Meet and Greet Spots
Magic Shot locations
Trick-or-treat locations
The party doesn’t officially start until 7 pm but party guests can start to enter the park and recieve wristbands at 4pm.
There are a number of unique and rare characters that are only available during Mickey’s Not So Scary and/or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
Costumes are encouraged but be sure to follow the rules of the park in terms of costumes and accessories because they are in place for the party as well. No full length dresses for those over 14, no masks, no accessories resembling weapons. You can read more on that HERE. Also, be sure to bring your umbrella or poncho because… it’s Florida.
Be sure to check out our shop for the best in unique fall and Halloween inspired magical designs and our best selling not-so spooky rompers.
There are new characters this year available for meet and greets as well as some of your old faves. Some you are able to converse with and take up close photos but some are more of a wandering character a la Disneyland. New characters include Mirabel and Bruno who are available for a meet and greet over in Fairytale Garden behind the Castle towards Tomorrowland. Some popular villains including the Evil Queen and Cruella have been spotted out and about at random times and by far the characters we are most excited to see are the Hitchhiking Ghosts, new this year and they look amazing.
Mickey is available in Town Square and they are sporting new outfits this year and we love the green. Jack Skellington and Sally are back and he is, as always incredibly popular. If you are looking to get a photo with him we recommend lining up early, before the party; When we are looking for popular party characters, we usually line up around 4:30 or 5 to get that out of the way as early as possible. Other popular characters include Elvis Stitch, and Pooh and Friends in the usual meeting spot. It is important to note, it doesn’t appear the 7 dwarfs are out this year which is typically one of the longest lines.
Another popular one for us, and one we get almost every year are Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy who are available by standing in just one line. 4 in 1! We love that.
Characters are a huge get for us at the party. These characters are not available in these outfits any other time and it is highly worth it for to wait in these lines for these great interactions. It is one of our favorite and top priorities for every party. We recommend getting in line early or waiting until later int he night for the most sought after characters. We like to get a lot of these done early because we hit each parade and the fireworks and don’t want to be in a line for those.
One thing we like to do and recommend is getting in line for your most sought after character prior to party time because there is a good chance you can get that done before the party even starts. Then you can kind of meander by some of the other characters you want during the night to see when the line is shorter.
We do not recommend waiting until the very end of the party because some of these lines end early and it is important to note, characters who are in the parade are of course, not meeting during the parade.
The Boo to You Parade is one of, if not our favorite parades of the year and we will not miss that. In fact, we catch both showings. Typically, we find a decent spot to watch the first parade and then we make sure we get a primo spot for the second. If you have smaller kids or aren’t looking to stay for the whole party, we recommend finding your spot relatively early for the first parade, because the good spots go fast and early. The first parade is 8:15 and the second is 11:15.
Disney’s Not So Spooky Spectacular Fireworks are only shown one time and that is at 10 pm. And no one misses this fireworks show. If you want a good spot, you need to line up early.
The Hocus Pocus Villains Spelltacular is a returning fave and available several times per night. This is put on multiple times per night. 9:05, 10:40 and midnight. From September 29 through Halloween night there is an additional showing of this at 7;40 pm. This tends to be one of the most attended. We recommend the final showing of this if you are around because it’s cute and a good way to end the night.
As you wander the party, collect candy and catch an attraction or two be sure to stop in to listen to the Cadaver Dans in Frontierland and the Rusty Buckets in Adventureland as well as some humor and stories from Madame Renata.
Over in Tomorrowland there is a Descendance party that is new this year.
Another favorite of ours and a must-do (if you’ve ever seen out Instagram you know, we love a good Photo Pass and we hit up each and every Magic Shot available. You can see these locations represented on your party map. We are (and by we, I mean I am) super excited for the Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride photo op location which is located over by Storybook Circus. If you want to get this one, maybe stop by on your way to meet Minnie, Daisy, Donald and Goofy.
Looking for unique treats? We love to snag a good sweet treat as we wait for the parade or the fireworks show… or both. Calories still don’t count in Disney.
You can check out the entire lineup and sweets, treats and ghoulish eats on our It’s Really Not So Scary blog post.
So let’s do a quick rundown of our must-do’s:
Characters (know who you want prior to the party so you can plan)
Parade
Fireworks (Of course)
Magic Shots and Photo Pass
Snacks
Are you headed to the party? Head over to Instagram and let us know what you are most excited about!
