While we were at WDW this past month we attended the first Mickey Not So Scary Halloween Party for this year.

We attended on September 13th.  We have gone once in the past to this party and had a great time.  Normally they have a special parade and shows just for party goers and throughout the night there is trick or treating.  You can do the rides and do special autograph signings with the characters in their  special Halloween costumes for that night.  The park closes early for regular guests and only those with Halloween tickets get to stay for the party.

When we first attended many years ago the park was not that crowded and our oldest was young so I remember trick or treating, riding rides and getting to get pictures and autographs that night.  Our oldest partied at the dance floor stage til midnight and she crashed on the way back to our hotel room on property.  The above photo and one below are ones of the stage area from this year’s Halloween party where the dancing and such took place.    We didn’t stay too long this year at the stage area but we did stay in that area for a few minutes.

This time there were way too many people attending when we went which was the first night of the party.  We took the bus to the party from our hotel and it was crowded.  It took way too long for a bus to come for us and then took forever to unload and load everyone since there were a few people with scooters too.  By the time we got to the Magic Kingdom  for the party,  it was already going to start and we had not had a chance to eat dinner yet.   That in itself set our evening back to begin with.  There were not many counter service places open for dinner and then we had to take time to eat.  We ended up eating at Pinocchio Village Haus which was good and our first stop for the trick or treating that night.

Don’t get me wrong the party is a great event to go to but this time for us it just wasn’t as good as we remembered it from the past.  The crowds made it so we had to choose what to do.  We focused on the trick or treating, did a few rides and watched the parade and show.  




The Halloween parade starts off with the headless horseman riding out before the start of the parade.    He came so fast we almost missed him and he comes about a minute or so before the parade actaully starts.   I imagine if you don’t know that happens you might miss him altogether if you are videotaping or wanting to take pictures.  I did miss my picture of him but my husband did get a picture of him this time.

The lines were way too long for the character meet and greets so fortunately for us my kids did not mind.  We did get a photo and autograph time with both the Shadowman and Queen of Hearts at the end of the show later in the evening but that was way too rushed and too many folks too.  We only had time to stand in line for two of the villains because they really cut the time short with them even though there was still an hour left in the party.

I was a bit disappointed that was the case but the crowds were just too much.   

The cast members seemed not as informed about some of the things such as the fact that there are special Halloween party pins that you can purchase that night. We had to seek out a Cast Member manager to find out details because several Cast members we talked to told us they did not think there were any pins this year and one just said to check out some of the stores.   This could have been because it was the first night of the Not So Scary Halloween Party for this season.

I am not sure if the first one of the year is more crowded and maybe one of the later ones would be better to attend crowd-wise. Perhaps it just has become more attended than it has been before. I think that is what made it not as special for me this time around when I consider the price of attendance versus what we got to do. Still, the Not So Scary Halloween Party is a fun event regardless.

Filed under: Disney-Related, Home by Barbara
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