Review: 2019 Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is so much fun, you can forgive Disney for starting it in the middle of August. Believe me, this would not be allowed anywhere with a neighborhood association.

We went to the party on opening night, a mid-August scorcher that was luckily free from summer thunderstorms.

Even with the heat, it isn’t hard to get in the spirit. Everywhere you look, the park is decked out in pumpkins and autumn leaves, and people of all ages are in costume, some of them quite elaborate.

While you can soak up the autumn atmosphere at the Magic Kingdom anytime, there are a lot of things you can only experience at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party:

• Characters in costume. Meet Jack Skellington and Sally, as well as other Disney favorites dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Donald and Daisy Duck masquerade as Cinderella and Prince Charming, and Winnie the Pooh and friends look like they’re putting on a party for Christopher Robin. Lines can be long, so if meeting characters in costume is a priority, keep that in mind.
• The Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular Show brings the Sanderson Sisters and a gathering of “frightful friends” to the castle stage. This is one of our favorite stage shows at the Magic Kingdom—energetic and fun, with terrific performers. It’s a can’t miss attraction at the party.
• Boo-to-You Halloween parade. The Incredibles, the Spectral Bride from the Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear join the fun this year. The parade runs twice each night, and it’s another thing you won’t want to miss.
• The brand-new Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks show really lives up to its name. It deftly weaves together projection technology with pyrotechnics. And the cherry on top is the appearance of Jack Skellington to tell the story of all the spooky things that can happen on Halloween.
• The Cadaver Dans. The Dapper Dans a cappella group normally performs on Main Street, but during the Halloween Party they take on a ghostly pallor and move to Frontierland. Catch them early in the evening before you get swept up in the parade and fireworks.
• If rides are your thing, you’ll find special holiday effects at Pirates of the Caribbean, where live actors join the story, and Space Mountain, which runs completely in the dark with a rock-and-roll soundtrack.
• The Haunted Mansion is the perfect attraction for Halloween, but Disney “pluses” it for the Halloween party by adding ghostly, wise-cracking characters to the front lawn to interact with visitors.
• Trick-or-treating. There are candy stations all over the park, and we see people leaving with seriously large bags. This year, in addition to the other stations, there’s a new walk-through experience at the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. Get your candy bag topped off on your way in, and then you can sit an enjoy Buddy Boil joking with (and sometimes at the expense of) audience members. And yes, you can get another handful of candy on the way out. If stand-up comedy isn’t your jam, you don’t have to stay to listen to Buddy; you can just keep walking through to the other side. One tip, especially while it’s still so hot: Do your trick-or-treating later in the night, when the lines are shorter, the chocolate less likely to melt, and the cast members more generous with their handfuls.
• Event-specific food and merchandise. There is always something to buy, whether it’s savory and sweet snacks or event t-shirts and pins.

There is so much to do, we recommend prioritizing. You won’t be able to meet all the characters, go on all the rides, and catch all of the entertainment, so decide what’s most important to you and plan accordingly.

There’s one more thing that might be new this year: Crowds. In past years, the number of tickets sold for any given party was capped. We don’t know the total number of tickets available, but it was a far smaller crowd than a typical day at the Magic Kingdom.

This year, Disney has started selling a Not-So-Scary Halloween Pass. For $299 plus tax, you can attend the party on any (or all!) of 35 nights, excluding Halloween night. It remains to be seen what this will do to crowds, so you might want to brace yourself. We found opening night to be very crowded, even at the 11:15 p.m. parade and midnight show, which are typically less crowded. Time will tell if this holds true for subsequent nights.