Review: Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party 2017

The first Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has come and gone starting off the Halloween season early. The party truly is an amazing experience, even if it can be a little overwhelming for your first time. Sadly, the weather did not cooperate with rain showers and humidity hampering some experiences, but the mist added to the spooky ambiance.

The focus for the party this year seemed to be the characters. Characters like Prince Eric and Moana were added, but classic Halloween Party characters like Jack Skellington, Sally, Jane Porter, the Seven Dwarfs were still available for meet and greets. My one complain about the characters was line-management. The Halloween Party features so many characters that are rare, but with the lines it is impossible to see them all. The Cast Members at the Tarzan and Friends meet and greet were very good at keeping the line moving while still allowing guests to have time to interact with each character. By the end of the night, we were only able to meet Tarzan, Jane, Terk, Donald and Daisy Duck, and Mickey Mouse. It was the first night for the party and many of the Cast Members had never worked this event before, so I hope the lines become more manageable for others in the next few weeks. I do want to give a quick shout out to the Cast Members at the Tarzan meet and greet. They were so well organized and even had a “Rain Shelter Spot” if it started raining. It helped us end on a high note!

Before I talk about the shows, I want to say that this party truly is for everyone. I attended with my Mom, my 20 year old sister, and my 16 year old brother and each one of them had an amazing time. My brother loved all of the shows and my sister was thrilled by a talking Mickey Mouse. If you think anyone in your party wouldn’t have a good time, there is something for everyone at this special event. The first show of the night is the Boo-To-You Parade that travels through Frontierland down to Main Strea USA. The Zootopia Party Patrol lifted everyone’s spirits despite the weather, and helped get the energy high for the Boo-To-You Parade. The 9:15 parade was packed, but there was plenty of space at the very end of Main Street USA around 10 minutes before the parade made it to the end.

By the time the parade finished, it was time for the fireworks. I recommend doing the first parade and staying for the fireworks as it reduced walking time. The fireworks dazzled with the noticeable difference of projections on the castle. Magic Kingdom’s daily fireworks, Happily Ever After, utilize the castle for projections from movies, but the Happy Hallowishes show only projected simple designs. As a short person who often can’t see projections on the castle, I was perfectly happy with a good soundtrack and 180 degree fireworks. There is only one showing of Happy Hallowishes, but it is a must do!

I have never been a fan of Hocus Pocus, but the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular did a good job of incorporating the cult-classic characters with popular Disney Villains. Dr. Facilier is such a great villain, so I was very excited to see him get his own song in the show. We opted to do the midnight showing and got a great spot right in front of the stage without waiting more than 10 minutes for show time. There was a rain delay as Cast Members had to mop the stage, but that allowed my sister and I to meet Mickey Mouse and still make it in time for the show.

Overall, the first Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party was a great experience and I hope to do it again next year. I heard some non-party guests complaining about Disney starting Halloween celebrations too early and that Halloween should only be in October, but I disagree. I’ve never been able to go to Walt Disney World in October, but have always dreamed of going to the Halloween Party. By extending the event schedule, I finally got to attend and I’m so glad I did.

Tips:

1. There is way too much to do. You will never get it all done, so make a game plan and find out everyone’s must-dos. Being my first Halloween Party, I wanted to see the parade, fireworks, and stage show while also meeting a few characters. The line for Jack Skellington and Sally was backed up for over 2 hours the entire party, so I opted to skip that line and meet Tarzan, Jane, and Terk which ended up being just as amazing. You can arrive at the park as early as 4:00 pm and characters like Jack and Sally will start greeting guests around 5:00 pm, but the wait time will never go down. If you have your heart set on meeting them, arrive at 4:00 pm and use the pre-party time to stand in line.
2. If you don’t care about characters, skip the lines. Meeting characters like Donald, Daisy, Minnie, and Goofy in their Halloween costumes were much shorter than others, so getting a photo with them is best.
3. Trick or Treat later in the night. Cast Members will practically fill your bag at the end of the night to avoid packing up all the left over candy.

Will you be attending Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party this year? Let us know in the comments below or join the conversation on Facebook.