To Immerse Or Not To Immerse? The Allure Of A Disney Halloween Party

I’ve always wanted to do Disney on Halloween. My family has gone in the fall, when you see the gorgeous pumpkin decorations and the flowers changing to match the appropriate colors. Even so, it’d be cool to don a costume, walk past Cinderella’s castle at night, and see the shows. I’ve never worn a costume at Disney and now I’m too old to determine what is practical or fun, since only kids can don the getup during the regular season. (Blame a Miami lawyer who thought sneaking a gun into DIsney was a good idea.)

Between Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party, I’d like to see the latter more often than the former. Not to rag on Halloween Horror Nights, because it makes people happy and I’m not raining on anyone’s parade. It looks pretty cool. And I’m watching some of the trailers because these concepts are creative. There are some pretty interesting backstories for the humans, and the strange monsters that haunt Universal.

The thing is that Halloween Horror Nights blurs the line between reality and fiction. That immersion makes me nervous, because the trope All Part of the Show makes me worry that a real tragedy may happen. You may see someone’s tongue get ripped out and that niggling voice tells you, “But what if someone really did sneak into the theme park and kill a person for real?” It doesn’t help that the makeup looks super real, and you worry about why that fake blood is a deep red.

Disney draws the line between fantasy and reality. You never get that niggling doubt that someone is being hurt for real, at least in their live shows. When the Sanderson sisters return for Halloween, they can’t actually suck the lives out of any of the children that are watching excitedly in the audience. Dr. Facilier can’t turn anyone into a frog because they shake his hand; not the least which being that he’s singing on a platform far from the audience, and anyone dancing around him is fellow cast members with kites and butterfly nets.

What’s more, Disney ensures that if a real emergency happens, then they get on the ball and handle it immediately. There’s a reason why people rarely die at Disney, and when they do it tends to be on rides or if someone breaks the rules. You’re always watched, and it’s the one time where it actually isn’t a bad thing because you can ensure that someone has your back.

I’d rather not immerse in something dangerous, but know that the show is just smoke and mirrors. After all, the magic is Disney is we can always turn off the television, enthralled by the story.