Sure, Halloween is eight months away, and we’ve still got Easter and the whole of summer to look forward to, but it’s never too early to start planning for what’s known as one of the biggest and best Halloween events around!
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) is Walt Disney World Resort in Florida’s annual Halloween event. On select nights from August to November, Magic Kingdom park opens after hours for a seasonal spectacular filled with parades, celebrations and plenty of spell-bounding entertainment. Unlike other Halloween events in Orlando such as Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party tones down the fear level and puts all the emphasis on fun!
To help you get the best experience possible, we’ve created this extensive guide that tells you everything you need to know about the event, along with some top tips and what shows to prioritise.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party 2020 Dates
This year, the event will take place from 7pm to 12am on the following nights:
August:
13th, 18th, 21st, 25th, 28th
September:
1st, 4th, 7th 11th, 13th, 15th, 18, 20th, 22nd, 25th, 27th, 29th
October:
1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16, 18th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th, 31st
November:
1st
Prices range from £69 to £135 for adults, and £65 to £130 for children depending on which night you visit. As it’s a Halloween Event, the prices peak on October 31.
Also, bear in mind that the event will definitely sell out, so we recommend booking your Mickey’s Not So Scary tickets online in advance. Not only will this guarantee you a ticket, but you will also save money as prices are higher on the gate.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Schedule
During the 5-hour event, Magic Kingdom is packed with Halloween themed shows, attractions and parties. With the vastness of the park itself combined with such a broad line-up, it can be a real challenging trying to fit everything in, likewise, knowing how best to spend your time. This next section should give you all the information you need to plan your time effectively.
Let’s begin with the biggest attractions of them all, the live shows.
Shows
The Halloween shows are the heart and soul of Mickey’s No So Scary Halloween Party. These events happen every night – and they ooze the spooky spirit that the party is all about! There are two parades, a music performance, and of course the spectacular fireworks display that crowns a night of mischief and magic.
In our honest opinion, if you’re only going for one night, these shows should be your priority. While there’s plenty else going on, these events are what MNSSHP is all about, and it would be a real shame to miss out. Most of the shows (except the fireworks) happen more than once each evening, so you should be able to fit them into your schedule one way or another.
Mickey’s “Boo-To-You” Halloween Parade – 9:15 p.m. & 11:15 p.m
The biggest parade at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary is Mickey’s “Boo-To-You” Halloween Parade. This spectacle of extravagance is led by the fearsome Headless Horsemen, who is joined with a host of your favourite Disney Characters in tow! The floats are fantastic, the costumes are stunning – and all in all this parade shouldn’t be missed. The 15-minute parade starts in the frontier and ends up on Main Street, U.S.A. It happens twice nightly, at 9:15pm and 11:15pm.
We recommend getting a spot at least 15 minutes before the parade is scheduled to start, but if you want the best view (especially for the 9:15pm show), you’ll want to get there 45-minutes early. The finale on Main Street, U.S.A is undoubtedly the best place to see it, however, getting a good spot there demands you get there an hour in advance. But if you have time, it’s definitely worth it.
It’s worth noting that the 11:15pm show is much less crowded making it easier to get a front row seat, so if you and the kids are happy to stay up we recommend seeing this show. Plus, it’s an amazing way to end your night.
Disney’s Not So Spooky Spectacular – 10:15 p.m
The crowning moment of the party is the fireworks display. With Cinderella’s Castle as its centrepiece, the show dazzles with an incredible light show and spooky projections on the castle’s front. Again, this show should be high priority if you’ve paid your good money to visit and you’re only there for one night!
The fireworks kick off at 10:15pm, but since it’s not so important where you stand, don’t worry about getting there too early. Just head towards Cinderella’s Castle around 10pm and you should get a good enough spot.
Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular – 7:40 p.m., 8:33 p.m., 10:45 p.m. & 12 a.m
For a performance that truly embraces the Halloween spirit, the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular can’t be beaten! Starring the Sanderson Sister from the 1993 Disney film, Hocus Pocus, the show is a 20-minute long force of dance, visual effects and spell-binding special effects. Because of its high-tech and genuinely funny story line, the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular is one of, if not the most widely popular shows in the whole event.
Like the other shows, the first showtime tends to be the busiest, while the midnight show is most accessible. We recommend getting in front of Cinderella’s Castle at least 15-30 minutes before it starts, maybe a little more if you’re going to the earlier shows. It’ll also make things more fun if you’ve seen Hocus Pocus, but it isn’t required to enjoy the show.
Cadaver Dans Barbershop Quartet – Unscheduled
While it’s not an officially scheduled show, this singing performance pops up throughout the night and is definitely worth seeing. The undead alter egos of Disney’s Dapper Dans, the Cadaver Dans Quartet can be found in Frontierland at various unscheduled times.
Dance Parties
In true Mickey fashion, the dance parties put a completely new spin on Halloween festivities. Kids (and grown-ups) can dance along with their favourite Disney characters in three different locations throughout the park. Unlike the shows, these run all night, so you can jump in and boogie whenever you get the urge. The only thing frightening about these parties are likely to be dad’s dance moves!
There are three dance parties at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party:
Monstrous Scream-O-Ween Ball – Hosted by Mike Wazowski and Sulley, this meeting of monsters is particularly merry! Head to Tomorrowland for this not-so-scary ball.
Disney DescenDANCE Party – Comic Rays Starlight Cafe is the venue for this Descendants-inspired dance party. As well as dancing, you can snap a photo with Mel and the Villain Kids.
Storybook Circus Disney Junior Jam – Even the littlest ones get a chance to show some moves! Get them down to the storybook circus and they’ll be dancing all the way to their bedtime.
Trick or Treating
Of course, a major part of any Halloween event are the treats! And Mickey’s Halloween Party has them in abundance. Grab a trick-or-treat bag from the park entrance (or bring your own), and visit any of the park’s treat locations to gorge yourself silly on free treats. You’ll mainly find chocolate, with some chewy sweets like skittles and starburst too.
There are a total of fourteen Trick or Treat locations throughout the park, which you can find on your event map. The lines for the free stuff move pretty quickly, so don’t be too put off by queues. As well as free sweets, snacks and chocolates, there are additional (and delicious) Halloween treats for sale, including cupcakes and milkshakes.
While free chocolate and sweets are always great, and they’re bound to please your little one, we don’t recommend making it a priority. There’s so much to take in during the night, snacking on skittles won’t be quite as memorable as seeing the firework display or meeting Mickey.
Character Meet & Greets
For kids, meeting their favourite Disney character(s) will be a moment to remember. Those memories alone can make the whole experience worth it. At Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, there are plenty of chances to greet the heroes and villains they love – dressed in their best Halloween garb of course!
Most of the Characters stick to specific locations throughout the entirety of the night, aside from those taking part in the shows and parades. Queues for photos can get quite long, especially for the most in-demand Characters (we’ve heard stories of guests waiting for 3 hours to meet Jack and Sally). If there is a character your kids absolutely must see, take note of their location and get there as early as you can, we’ve seen some characters start posing as early as 4:30pm.
Let’s have a look at where certain characters typically appear…
Main Street, U.S.A (Town Square Theater)
- Mickey Mouse
- Jack Skellington and Sally
Fantasyland
- Seven Dwarfs
- Queen of Hearts, Alice, Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle-Dum, Mad Hatter
- Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger
- Ariel and Eric
- Belle and Gaston
- Minnie Mouse
- Daisy Duck
- Goofy
- Donald Duck
- Cruella DeVil
- Anastasia and Drizella
- Cinderella and Elena
- Rapunzel and Tiana
Tomorrowland
- Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear a.k.a. Lotso
- Stitch
Adventureland
- Tarzan, Jane and Terk
- Moana
- Captain Jack Sparrow
- Aladdin & Abu alternate with Genie & Jasmine
- Jafar
Some kids will want to prioritise meeting a character over say – watching the parade or fireworks. While this is fine, these are both a one-off spectacle and truly unique to this event, whereas you can meet with Disney characters all year round. Of course, they won’t be dressed up in their best Halloween garb, but it’s worth thinking about when prioritising your time at the event.
Attractions
During the party, some regular Magic Kingdom Park rides and attractions open again – with a Halloween twist! You’ll find changes to lighting, music and story lines, so the rides provide new experiences even if you’ve ridden them 1000 times before.
One of the best things about the party is the reduced queue times. The same 2 hour queues at day time might only take 30 minutes! Just remember, if you’re intent on trying out a lot of rides it can easily cut into your event time. We recommend prioritising the parades and shows, since these are unique and can only be experienced during the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Event, and whatever time left on the other attractions.
Disney are yet to announce the attractions that will be open during Mickey’s Not So Scary 2020, but we expect it will be the same as those open for 2019, which were:
- Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- Swiss Family Treehouse
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Splash Mountain
- Haunted Mansion
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
- “It’s a small world”
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Mad Tea Party
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- The Barnstormer
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Space Mountain
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
Not included in your regular ticket: Cruella’s Halloween Hide-a-Way
An optional extra is the Cruella’s Halloween Hide-a-way event, which takes place concurrently to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. The ticket includes access to a buffet meal at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, plus a reserved viewing area for Mickey’s Boo-To-You Halloween Parade.
Tickets are a flat rate of $99 per person and require that you have a ticket for the main event. You can hop in and out of Cruella’s during the night, but obviously any time spent inside is time away from the main event. Again, we wouldn’t say this is priority if you’re only there for one night, but it’s definitely worth doing if you have two nights access.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Costumes
Our best piece of advice for anybody going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Event is to put some thought into your costume! Not only will it really get you into the Halloween Spirit, it makes the whole event spookier and more fun for everyone. Disney doesn’t often encourage costumed events, so you should absolutely make the most of it.
Of course, there are a few rules and regulations that you have to follow when you’re dressing up at Magic Kingdom. These vary for adults and children, so it’s important to give them a read through before you plan your costume.
Top Tips for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party 2020
Now that you know what’s happening, here are our top tips for getting the most out of the event.
Choose Your Night Wisely
Not everybody is aware that the event’s busyness – and the cost of entry – can vary dramatically from night to night. Don’t expect it to ever be empty, but there are definitely some nights which won’t be quite as frenetic. Of course, you might choose to visit the event at its busiest, since you’ll get the liveliest atmosphere. Whether you want a thinner crowd or a more vibrant night, it’s safe to plan your choice according to a couple of general rules.
Most of the time, weekends are busier than weekdays. In 2020, Halloween night itself (31st October) falls on a Saturday, so you can expect this to draw peak crowds. The further away you get from Halloween, the less crowded it is likely to be.
With that in mind, the event should always be less busy than a regular park day. Even on Halloween night, expect about 75% of the daytime capacity.
Get Your Wristband at 4pm
You’ve probably already gathered that at Walt Disney World, the early bird catches the worm. While the event doesn’t technically start until 7pm, you can get your wristband as early as 4pm. Other guests will be ushered out of Magic Kingdom around 6pm, but you can stay put and get a head start, especially with the Character meet & greets. As we mentioned earlier, on very busy days some of the Characters will start taking photos as early as 4:30pm, so it pays to get there as early as possible to ensure you’re at the front of the queue.
Plan in Advance
Because you only have 5 hours or so at the event, it’s worth having an idea of what you’re going to do – even if it’s rough. It’s not always possible, especially if you end up in an especially long line for a character meet & greet, but it could be the difference between watching the parade or the back of someone’s head!
A little tip that we’ve seen work at other special Disney events is to work your way from back to front. When the gates open everyone will naturally run to the first thing they see, however, going to the farthest attraction first and working your way back to the gates could mean you stand in far less queues.
Get Your Tickets in Advance
Remember, you’ll be saving money by getting your Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party tickets online before you travel. You can pick them up for the lowest online price here.
Hopefully you’re now armed with all the information and tips needed to make the most of your Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party experience. It’s worth referring back to this guide a couple of days before you travel to ensure you haven’t missed anything off your itinerary.
If you haven’t already, join our Destination Florida group for all the tips, tricks and information on everything Florida. It’s a great place to share your experiences and interact with fellow Florida-lovers.
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