Boo to You!

5 things you may not know about Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

After a two-year pandemic hiatus, Halloween girlies rejoice! Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is back. After experiencing it for the first time in August, there are some things I learned about the party to make your visit even less scary.

Tip #1: MK is a Ghost Town

There were two parties throughout my trip and we did the first one. While the second one was on Labor Day, we can confirm that Magic Kingdom was not crowded. Guests can get in as early as 4 p.m. on the day of the party, so those who didn’t have tickets to the party that night seemed to avoid Magic Kingdom since they would be kicked out early anyway. We'd recommend arriving early to the party so you can ride some e-ticket attractions. Or if want a less crowded half-day in Magic Kingdom, you should go on party days.

Tip #2: The Bats Have Names

This was admittedly new information to me. At one of the candy trail stops, a mom yelled to her toddler, “Don’t forget to ask the Cast Member what she named her bat!”She was referring to the purple felt bat in the pocket of her costume. I was noticeably confused but the CM replied “Betsy! It’s what I named my Webkinz bat back in the day.” Firstly, iconic. Secondly, this kept happening throughout the night, so there must be some significance here.

Tip #3: The Second Parade is Dead

Little ones have trouble staying up late, and as such, the Second Boo-You-Parade is much much lighter with crowds than the first. The parade runs at 9:15 p.m. and 11:15 p.m., with the fireworks in the middle at 10:15 p.m. We went trick-or-treating and rode some rides for the majority of the party, then rode Space Mountain during the fireworks and picked a nice spot on Main Street for the second parade. We got there around 10:30, and sat outside of Town Square Exposition Hall so we could dip out as soon as the parade ended.

Tip #4: Double the Trouble

Some candy trail spots will actually have a second stop on the way out. For us, this happened at Country Bear Jamboree and Mickey’s Philharmagic. Each candy location has the exact same candy, so don’t go out of your way to wait in long lines or feel like you have to hit every single one. If the Cast Members are feeling generous, or really like your costumes, you’ll get big scoops anyway.

Tip #5: Less-Ride Focused

The Mad Tea Party and Space Mountain are the only rides with Halloween twists. There are no longer live actors on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise does not have a Halloween version of “Jingle Cruise,” like it does during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (although that would be totally cool). There is definitely more of an emphasis on the meet-and-greets, so the benefit to attractions is simply that there are fewer people around to ride them. We hit Pirates, Big Thunder, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear as walk-ons. There is also an additional Tron Virtual Queue that opens at 6 p.m., giving you another chance to get a boarding group.