A Guide to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

The Walt Disney World Resort knows how to celebrate a holiday and Halloween-time is no exception. One special event only available during the Halloween season is Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. Celebrate the frightfully fun season in your favorite costume with a special Halloween-time fireworks show, parade, stage shows, dance parties, trick-or-treating throughout the Magic Kingdom and more! This special event takes place on select nights from mid-August until October 31st.

Know Before You Go

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party will take place on 38 select nights from August 9th through October 31st, and ticket prices vary by date. Prices range from $119-$199 per guest ages 10 and up and $109-$189 for guests ages 3-9, excluding tax. If you're an Annual Passholder or Disney Vacation Club Member, you can save $10 per ticket on select event nights.

It's very important to know before arriving at the Magic Kingdom that this is a separately ticketed event which means that your general admission ticket does not include admission to this party. Each party night the Magic Kingdom will close at 6pm to day guests and the party officially takes place from 7pm to midnight. However, party ticket holders will be admitted to Magic Kingdom park as early as 4pm. That means party ticket holders get even more time to enjoy the park before the official party begins. It's also important to know that your MNSSHP ticket does not require an additional theme park ticket or park pass reservation to attend. 

If you are planning to attend Mickey's No-So-Scary Halloween Party in future years, you'll want to remember that tickets typically go on sale in May and party dates will sell out as you get closer to Halloween. As of this posting, all of the August 2024 dates have sold out, as well as several in early September and the last two parties in October. In 2023, all MNSSHP dates were sold out by August 10th. 

Although you are allowed to wear a costume to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, both kids and adults will need to adhere to the costume policy. Make sure your costume is family friendly and won't cause any safety issues (think long capes, sharp objects, prop weapons, etc.) 

Now, let's review what you can expect at the event.

Trick-or-Treating Throughout the Park

When you enter the Magic Kingdom, you'll be given a wristband to distinguish yourself from day guests. There will be a few check-points when Cast Members will verify that you are there for the party so be prepared to display your wristband at various points of the night before the party officially begins at 7pm. After you get your wristband, you can go pick up your trick-or-treat bag and start gathering complimentary candy like M&M's, Snickers and Skittles. If you or someone in your party has a food allergy, you can pick up a teal-colored treat bag from a Cast Member and then get tokens at each trick-or-treat location to redeem at the Allergy-Friendly Centers for special treats. How cool is it to get to say that you went trick-or-treating in the Magic Kingdom?! It's such a neat experience. 

Specialty Food & Beverage

In addition to trick-or-treating, there is also specialty food and beverages that are available throughout the park for purchase. Each year, we do our best to try a few of the Halloween food offerings. This year we tried the new Worms ‘n Dirt Churro from the Churro Cart near Cinderella Castle. It was a churro rolled in cookies and cream dust and topped with marshmallow and sour gummy candy. It was pretty good but not sure it's better than a traditional churro. 

Worms 'n Dirt Churros

We also tried the Queen of Hearts Slushy from the Cheshire Cafe. This treat is also available during regular park hours so you can grab it even if you're not going to the party. It was a frozen cherry slushy drizzled with black cherry purée and topped with whipped cream and a crown-shaped chocolate piece.

Queen of Hearts Slushy

From Sleepy Hollow Refreshments, we tried some of the new party offerings; the Hand-dipped Corn Dog with spicy violet mustard and spicy cheese-flavored snacks and the Dulce de Leche, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Sauce Funnel Cake: Topped with dulce de leche ice cream, SNICKERS Bar Pieces, and whipped cream. The funnel cake was really good! The Dulce de Leche ice cream was perfect with the funnel cake and other toppings. The corn dog was just a little lacking in flavor unless you got a bite with the spicy cheese-flavored snacks. 

Character Greetings

Characters also get into the spirit dressed in their Halloween costumes for meet and greets! You'll find character greetings throughout the park during the party including some rare characters like Jack Skellington and Sally, and Bruno from Encanto. The lines for characters can get pretty long so don't be surprised if you see a two hour wait for some of the more popular characters, like Jack and Sally. Either line up before the party starts or get in line during one of the parades or fireworks if you want a potentially shorter wait. (The parade and fireworks are must-see entertainment so I wouldn't recommend skipping those if you're a first time party goer.) I love seeing the characters in their Halloween costumes! It makes for a super cute and unique photo opportunity. 

Vampire Mickey Mouse in Town Square Theater

Jack Skellington and Sally in Town Square Theater

Pirate Goofy in Storybook Circus

Boo-tiful Photos

Disney PhotoPass photographers have special Halloween props and Magic Shots. You can also step into spooky scenes from classic not-so-scary Disney Halloween stories with frightfully fun interactive photo frames. The PhotoPass photographers and photo frames can be found throughout the park. 

Hitchhiking Ghosts Magic Shot

Headless Horseman Magic Shot

Sleepy Hollow interactive photo frame

Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular Prop

Not-So-Scary Entertainment

Entertainment is where MNSSHP really shines! There is a stage show, parade, fireworks, two dance parties and two bands/singing sensations. The Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular stage show has several viewings throughout the night so you can decide which time works best for your schedule or see the show twice if you really feel inclined! The show features the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, with special appearances from some other Disney villains, and is located on the Castle Forecourt Stage. If you're a night owl, you may want to consider seeing the midnight show as that will give you the most time to enjoy the rest of the party before seeing the final performance of the evening. 

Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular

Mickey's "Boo-To-You" Parade offers two viewings, one at 8:15pm and one at 11:15pm. The parade is my favorite parade in all of Walt Disney World and is a major must-see! It's so good that I like to watch both showings of the parade. There are a ton of great floats, costumed characters, and my absolute favorite, the gravediggers from the Haunted Mansion. The music is also super catchy. You'll find yourself singing "Boo-To-You" for days afterwards!

Before the start of the parades, the Headless Horseman rides down the parade route for a spooktacular appearance. It's so neat to see him ride down Main Street and sets the stage for a truly awesome parade. Right before the parade starts is perhaps my favorite, new-ish addition to MNSSHP. It's Max Goof dressed as Powerline! He does a little pre-show dance party along the Main Street U.S.A. portion of the parade route to the song "Stand Out" and "I2I" from A Goofy Movie and it is the most amazing thing I've ever seen! He has a full cast of dancers with him who perform the "perfect cast" dance move (if you know, you know!) and they also encourage the crowd to get up and dance with them. It was so much fun! I absolutely love Powerline and his songs so this was a highlight of the party for me. I hope this stays a constant at the party in years to come as it's a huge hit in my book!

Powerline Max and dancers

Another must-see event entertainment is Disney's Not-So-Spooky Spectacular. The spectacular includes fireworks, projections and lasers on Cinderella Castle. Although I prefer viewing the fireworks from Main Street, viewing locations are available throughout the park and are often less crowded in the park's other lands. 

Disney's Not-So-Spooky Spectacular

You'll find the Cadaver Dans Barbershop Quartet in Frontierland. They're a spookier version of the Dapper Dans that are a must-see. Over in Adventureland, you'll find the Rusty Cutlass pirate band playing swashbuckling songs. The two dance parties are the Disney Junior Jam in Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café and the Descendance Party over on Rockettower Plaza Stage. 

The Cadaver Dans in Frontierland

Event Merchandise

You can purchase event keepsakes at Star Traders and the Emporium. You'll find items like event specific spirit jerseys, ornaments and more. If you collect popcorn buckets or sippers, you won't want to miss the new Minnie Mouse: Hocus Pocus Halloween Dress-up Sipper or the Halloween Mickey Pumpkin Bucket. We purchased the popcorn bucket which was $26 for the bucket and popcorn. It's super cute and lights up! The special event merchandise can sell out quick, especially at the first party, so if this is a priority for you, make sure to line up early. We saw guests lining up an hour before the party to get their popcorn bucket and sipper but I'm happy to report we didn't purchase ours until around 11pm. 

Halloween Mickey Pumpkin Bucket

Halloween Twists on Attractions

The characters aren't the only ones to get into the spooky spirit. Several attractions have a Halloween-twist during the party. Space Mountain and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor in Tomorrowland, and the Mad Tea Party in Fantasyland are all given bewitching surprises to celebrate Halloween. 

There are many more attractions available during the party including TRON Lightcycle / Run and Tiana's Bayou Adventure. During the party, both of these attractions offer standby lines so there's no need to join a virtual queue. 

Tips & Tricks

There is so much to do at the party that it's impossible to see and do everything in one night. Here are some tips and tricks to help you in your planning:

• Plan out your night before you arrive and prioritize what is the most important to you. 
• If meeting characters is a priority for you, make sure to line up early for Jack Skellington and Sally as their lines can get really long. Just like prioritizing the most important activities during the party, you'll want to prioritize which characters you want to meet as there just won't be enough time to visit them all. 
• Wait until the end of the night to do your trick-or-treating. The lines are much shorter and the Cast Members give out much larger scoopfuls of candy. 
• If you want to ride TRON and Tiana's Bayou Adventure, get in the standby line at 6pm. They'll start letting party guests in line and you may just be able to ride both attractions with minimal wait times.
• The second parade is usually less crowded so if you only want to see the parade once, try waiting until the 11:15pm parade. If you are worried about not making it to the second parade, then make sure you grab a spot early for the first viewing as spots along the curb around the castle and Main Street will fill up early. 
• If you're looking for a less crowded spot for the parade, go to Frontierland. The parade starts there so you won't have to wait as long as those people watching from Main Street U.S.A. 
• Try to arrive a little before 4pm as the turnstiles can be busy when party ticket holders are allowed in.

Planning a Walt Disney World vacation during the Halloween season? We are here to help! Contact your Kingdom Konsultant travel professional or submit a request form for a free quote today. Make sure to check out our Planning for Walt Disney World Vacations page for more posts. 

We Want to Hear From You

Have you attended Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party before? And if not, is attending this special event on your must-do list? Let us know in the comments.

Ashley Lehman

Ashley has been a Disney Parks fan from an early age and loves anything vintage Disney. You can email Ashley at ashley@kingdomkonsultant.com.