Day 13: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Friday (Sept 28) we had tickets to attend the Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. The party is from 7 pm until midnight.  Since we planned to stay whole time,we decided to stay home and rest up that morning.

During the day there were several rain showers and thunder storms. Thankfully it all seemed to blow over by dinner time.

Remnants of a Florida thunderstorm

We got to Magic Kingdom around 6 pm. There were already a bunch of people there in great costumes. (Magic Kingdom doesn't advertise this, but you can get into the park as early as 4 pm if you have a ticket to the Halloween Party.) This site has tons of information about the Halloween Party.

Great costumes: the characters from the film "Up"

Right away we decided that we would spend most of our time doing the Halloween party exclusive activities. To start out we spent some time walking around looking at costumes and trick-or-treating. Inside Diamond Horseshoe Saloon (Liberty Square), there was a dance party featuring Woody and Jessie from Toy Story. It was fun to watch kids dancing with the characters. At one point, a small child got  knocked over and started to cry. He ran to his mom for a brief hug. Woody came up behind the child to offer a hug, and upon seeing Woody, the child threw himself from his mother's embrace, and jumped into Woody's arms. Very cute, and a little sad for the kid's mom.

So crowded!

Around 9 pm, we made our way to the front of the castle for HalloWishes*. We also wanted to stake out spots for the second Boo-To-You parade.  Be warned, if you're looking for a seat during the parade you might have to start looking at least an hour before. People find their spot on the sidewalk and camp out**.

There is a great spot to watch the parade in front of the castle called "three-quarters". It's the line 3/4 of the way around the circle in front of the castle (the hub). It is right by the bridge into Liberty Square. Before the parades, they put up a rope to block of the parade route. The rope is not put up until maybe 20 minutes before the parade, so people don't know about the barrier. This means there is a front row spot for the parade that few people know about. You can sit or stand on the road at that line.  We often get the front row spot and sit down throughout the parade. It's a great view. When the grave diggers came by and scrapped their shovels across the ground, I was afraid I'd lose a toe if they got too close.
 

Waiting for PhilharMagic to start

We did ride a couple of rides during the party:

Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Mickey's Philharmagic, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain.

It was pretty crowded in the park because that night's party was sold out. However, Disney only sells a limited number of tickets for each party. Although it was sold out, the wait for the rides was around 20 minutes or less.



Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is a lot of fun. I would suggest going into the party with the goal of experiencing all of the special events. In my opinion, it's not worth it if you only plan to ride the rides.

*Also, you can see the fireworks from several spots in the park. You have a great view from Liberty Square and Fantasyland. Those spots will be extremely less crowded.

** It's often more crowded in front of the castle and on Main Street. If you're looking for a less crowded spot to watch the parade go to Liberty Square or Frontierland. Remember, the second parade is always less crowded. Most families watch the first parade, the fireworks and then leave.