“Official” 2018 Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party – Strategy and Itinerary Thread

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I love reading people's party reports so I'll copy/paste my party summary from the main thread. I know a lot of people in this thread ask about characters so I looked at my photopass photos to determine the exact character times! Ask if you have any questions!

Thank you so much for posting, it's extremely helpful! :thanks:
 
Here’s my review: I as I expected, the Wed party was jam packed. Entered at 3:30 and got our 3 fp rides in. Ate dinner at Casey’s- the Mac n cheese hot dog was inedible. Bun was dry, mac n cheese looked like it was a week old. We didn’t get much done at the party- only rode HM and POC after the party started. Did a little tot, enough to fill one bag. We got the HM magic shots, picked up the Oogie Boogie popcorn bucket and parked at Cosmic Rays until time to see the fireworks, show and ended with the parade. We did luck out on the fireworks and show- 30 minutes before fireworks we found a spot up in front of the stage ( too close for great fireworks, but easily moved up after them to a perfect view of the show. We headed straight for the train station and sat on the center stairs with no problem. I don’t regret doing it for my grandson, but I’m back to never again until they reduce the number of tickets sold. It’s entirely too crowded.
 


That’s odd, it was so packed I checked the app and it showed sold out. I hope t was, if that crowd wasn’t a sell out, I never want to see one that is.
I was there 10/11 as well and kept checking the calender to see if it had sold out. I never saw it listed as sold out but yeah, my to do list was small and we still didn’t finish all of it. Just getting around feels far more exhausting than a normal park day for some reason. The well documented crowds are real. Our night from 7-11 pm went as follows:
Jungle Cruise ToT 6:45 pm
Pirates of the Caribbean 7:00 pm
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder
Sleepy Hollow Zero sundae
Hocus Pocus show 8:35 pm
Barnstormer
Philharmagic trick or treating
Haunted Mansion (broke down while we were in line and ate up 35 minutes)
Small World
Casey’s mobile ordering

That’s it. No M&Gs. No parade. The two ToT lines were very short so not a lot of time spent there. We had FPs before the party which helped it not feel like a total loss. 7DMT was at 40 minutes and PP was 35 all night. Getting around just took forever. We had planned to stay until midnight but at some point fighting to get anything done gets old and my son was over it. Few notes:

They were putting wristbands on at entry, right after the turnstiles. Made for a bit of a log jam but they were working hard to keep it moving

Entered, bands, bags and through bypass by 4:00 pm. Loved the bypass; got the party started right away even if things did come to a grinding halt around 7 pm.

Saw people without bands buying Poison Apple bucket at 4:20 pm. Maybe this isn’t a party exclusive?

Cheshire Cafe was closed at 4:30 pm just a heads up.

Tiki room stops running well before party time; line for Moana looked insane. I’m sure everyone else knew this but for some reason I though tiki room ran until 6 pm. Duh.

Egg roll cart closes right at 6 pm but they now have Reuben egg rolls as well as cheeseburger egg rolls. Both are good!

We got in line for pirates at 6:51 pm and the CM was telling 2 non wrist band holders to go in the non-Halloween line. Do they honor FPs until 7 pm for non Halloween party guests? I was very confused by this.

Rides aren’t walk on by any stretch. More feels like having a FP for every ride in that they move past but still chew up 10-15 minutes of wait time.

Crowds in the hub for Hocus Pocus and parade were no joke. We caught the second showing at 8:35 pm. We were getting stepped on and run over to the point that we bailed and missed the parade. Such a bummer.

It’s very odd how out of sight they keep (most of) the meet & greets. I only noticed the Moana sign. I also saw Aladdin and Jasmine in Adventureland but I’ve seen them there without the party so not exactly rare.

Loved all the lighting and fog. Heard music throughout the park here and there but wish it would have been consistent.

The zero sundae is excellent! Great quality and taste. None of the other Halloween treats were of much interest to us. Lines for food were crazy everywhere all night; mobile ordering at Casey’s saved us but man that food is awful. Edit: oh we also had the jack skellington push pop which was fun to look at but tasted fake and overly sweet.

It was blazing hot. Not Disney’s fault of course but not what I expected in mid October.

We won’t plan any special trips around MNSSHP in the future, not exactly worth it for us :)
 
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We are going to the party on Tuesday the 30th. I am expecting very large crowds. Trying to have realistic expectations so we can still have a good time. I have made a touring plan based on advice from this board and other online resources. My question is, does anyone on here go regularly on busy nights, like Halloween, and have any advice on how to have fun in spite of the crowds? I will have a husband on an ECV, a baby in a stroller and a 12 and 13 year old in tow. We have done the party once before, about 4 years ago. We have other times planned at MK. Just wondering about getting around. Should we use the train? (and just park the ECV?) Is there a place we can just stay most of the night like Adventureland that isn't too crazy crowded? Would like to see the parade and fireworks, but don't care about the castle show, kids will want to trick or treat and we are going to try to let the baby meet Moana first thing. Thanks for any advice on how to not let the crazy crowds ruin our night!!
 


I was there 10/11 as well and kept checking the calender to see if it had sold out. I never saw it listed as sold out but yeah, my to do list was small and we still didn’t finish all of it. Just getting around feels far more exhausting than a normal park day for some reason. The well documented crowds are real. Our night from 7-11 pm went as follows:
Jungle Cruise ToT 6:45 pm
Pirates of the Caribbean 7:00 pm
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder
Sleepy Hollow Zero sundae
Hocus Pocus show 8:35 pm
Barnstormer
Philharmagic trick or treating
Haunted Mansion (broke down while we were in line and ate up 35 minutes)
Small World
Casey’s mobile ordering

That’s it. No M&Gs. No parade. The two ToT lines were very short so not a lot of time spent there. We had FPs before the party which helped it not feel like a total loss. 7DMT was at 40 minutes and PP was 35 all night. Getting around just took forever. We had planned to stay until midnight but at some point fighting to get anything done gets old and my son was over it. Few notes:

They were putting wristbands on at entry, right after the turnstiles. Made for a bit of a log jam but they were working hard to keep it moving

Entered, bands, bags and through bypass by 4:00 pm. Loved the bypass; got the party started right away even if things did come to a grinding halt around 7 pm.

Saw people without bands buying Poison Apple bucket at 4:20 pm. Maybe this isn’t a party exclusive?

Cheshire Cafe was closed at 4:30 pm just a heads up.

Tiki room stops running well before party time; line for Moana looked insane. I’m sure everyone else knew this but for some reason I though tiki room ran until 6 pm. Duh.

Egg roll cart closes right at 6 pm but they now have Reuben egg rolls as well as cheeseburger egg rolls. Both are good!

We got in line for pirates at 6:51 pm and the CM was telling 2 non wrist band holders to go in the non-Halloween line. Do they honor FPs until 7 pm for non Halloween party guests? I was very confused by this.

Rides aren’t walk on by any stretch. More feels like having a FP for every ride in that they move past but still chew up 10-15 minutes of wait time.

Crowds in the hub for Hocus Pocus and parade were no joke. We caught the second showing at 8:35 pm. We were getting stepped on and run over to the point that we bailed and missed the parade. Such a bummer.

It’s very odd how out of sight they keep (most of) the meet & greets. I only noticed the Moana sign. I also saw Aladdin and Jasmine in Adventureland but I’ve seen them there without the party so not exactly rare.

Loved all the lighting and fog. Heard music throughout the park here and there but wish it would have been consistent.

The zero sundae is excellent! Great quality and taste. None of the other Halloween treats were of much interest to us. Lines for food were crazy everywhere all night; mobile ordering at Casey’s saved us but man that food is awful. Edit: oh we also had the jack skellington push pop which was fun to look at but tasted fake and overly sweet.

It was blazing hot. Not Disney’s fault of course but not what I expected in mid October.

We won’t plan any special trips around MNSSHP in the future, not exactly worth it for us :)
Poison apple bucket is not exclusive, but I am surprised to hear about POC. FPs end at 6 and non party guests are not supposed to have access to rides between 6 and 7.
 
We are going to the party on Tuesday the 30th. I am expecting very large crowds. Trying to have realistic expectations so we can still have a good time. I have made a touring plan based on advice from this board and other online resources. My question is, does anyone on here go regularly on busy nights, like Halloween, and have any advice on how to have fun in spite of the crowds? I will have a husband on an ECV, a baby in a stroller and a 12 and 13 year old in tow. We have done the party once before, about 4 years ago. We have other times planned at MK. Just wondering about getting around. Should we use the train? (and just park the ECV?) Is there a place we can just stay most of the night like Adventureland that isn't too crazy crowded? Would like to see the parade and fireworks, but don't care about the castle show, kids will want to trick or treat and we are going to try to let the baby meet Moana first thing. Thanks for any advice on how to not let the crazy crowds ruin our night!!
I’d stay around Adventureland / Frontierland. You can see the parade quite well near Peco Bills and will get an ok view of the fireworks from the bridge there as well (no projections though, but far less crowding). There are several characters and TOT trails in that area as well - you could easily fill your night without feeling overly crowded. Just don’t venture as far as Liberty Square - that area was insane the night i was there, and I’ve heard others say the same at other parties. If you stay between Crystal Palace and Country Bears you’ll be fine!
 
Poison apple bucket is not exclusive, but I am surprised to hear about POC. FPs end at 6 and non party guests are not supposed to have access to rides between 6 and 7.
Totally confused here too. Two people without bands got in line in front of us at 6:50 pm and the CM guided them towards a separate line. I asked the CM why there were two lines and she said one Halloween line and one non Halloween line. Too weird. Oh well!
 
I went back and edited my itineraries. They will probably end up changing another million times before we go lol
 
So I know @FoxC63 is no longer accepting itineraries....but hoping someone might be willing to take a look and give me some feedback. I've messed around with our party plans so many times I'm no longer seeing straight!! We will be 2 adults, 2 children on Halloween night. We've done many parties (most sold out) so know what to expect in terms of crowds and have met pretty much every party exclusive character (except the ones on this list). We booked the dessert party when it still included parade viewing. Let me know if there are any glaring issues I'm missing please!!

Arrive MK around 3:30, enter via DVC entrance
Get pictures on Main Street with the balloons (we are dressing in UP! costumes)
Pick up SOTMK card, go through bypass for starter bag of candy and pictures
4:30 Check in for dessert party credentials at TT
Ride SDMT (4:05-5:05 FP+)
Ride BTMRR (5:05-6:00 FP+)
5:20 ADR at Skipper Canteen
Immediately after dinner (hopefully 6:30ish) line up for Aladdin and Abu (DH to take kids on Magic Carpets or POC while waiting)
7:00-7:15 Aladdin & Abu M&G
Immediately line back up for Jasmine & Genie (DH to take kids to TOT stations at JC, POC while waiting)
7:45-8:00 Jasmine & Genie M&G
8:00 Head to gazebo for Gravediggers M&G (I know they took a break at 8:15 in their old location, so we'll be hauling butt assuming they still break at the same time. I'm hoping I'm overestimating the Aladdin M&G wait times and we'll be done with both before 8)
8:30 Check in for dessert party (does anyone know if we can get in any earlier than this? I hate that this part of our night is so rushed!)
8:30-9:00 desserts (load up our collapsible tupperware with extras for the parade!)
9:05 Escort to flagpole for Boo to You (we really want to see the HH ride)
9:15 Headless Horseman passes flagple
DH or I will take DS to meet Mickey while we wait for the parade to arrive
9:30-9:50 Boo to You from the flagpole
9:50 Escort to garden for Hallowishes
10:15-10:30 Hallowishes
10:30-11:00 Head into either Tomorrowland or Fantasyland for TOT and Space Mountain w/ overlay or Tea Cups w/ overlay - this will be a game time decision. I think most of my family would prefer Space, but if the wait is obnoxious we'll head to Fantasyland instead.
11:05-11:50 Liberty Square for Hatbox Ghost magic shot and ride HM. (Bonus if we can catch the HH ride again)
12:00 Catch the midnight Hocus Pocus show from somewhere on our way out. We've seen it before, so don't need to be super close.
Flaming pumpkin magic shot on Main Street and HH magic shot at Train Station on our way out.
 
So I know @FoxC63 is no longer accepting itineraries....but hoping someone might be willing to take a look and give me some feedback. I've messed around with our party plans so many times I'm no longer seeing straight!! We will be 2 adults, 2 children on Halloween night. We've done many parties (most sold out) so know what to expect in terms of crowds and have met pretty much every party exclusive character (except the ones on this list). We booked the dessert party when it still included parade viewing. Let me know if there are any glaring issues I'm missing please!!

Arrive MK around 3:30, enter via DVC entrance
Get pictures on Main Street with the balloons (we are dressing in UP! costumes)
Pick up SOTMK card, go through bypass for starter bag of candy and pictures
4:30 Check in for dessert party credentials at TT
Ride SDMT (4:05-5:05 FP+)
Ride BTMRR (5:05-6:00 FP+)
5:20 ADR at Skipper Canteen
Immediately after dinner (hopefully 6:30ish) line up for Aladdin and Abu (DH to take kids on Magic Carpets or POC while waiting)
7:00-7:15 Aladdin & Abu M&G
Immediately line back up for Jasmine & Genie (DH to take kids to TOT stations at JC, POC while waiting)
7:45-8:00 Jasmine & Genie M&G
8:00 Head to gazebo for Gravediggers M&G (I know they took a break at 8:15 in their old location, so we'll be hauling butt assuming they still break at the same time. I'm hoping I'm overestimating the Aladdin M&G wait times and we'll be done with both before 8)
8:30 Check in for dessert party (does anyone know if we can get in any earlier than this? I hate that this part of our night is so rushed!)
8:30-9:00 desserts (load up our collapsible tupperware with extras for the parade!)
9:05 Escort to flagpole for Boo to You (we really want to see the HH ride)
9:15 Headless Horseman passes flagple
DH or I will take DS to meet Mickey while we wait for the parade to arrive
9:30-9:50 Boo to You from the flagpole
9:50 Escort to garden for Hallowishes
10:15-10:30 Hallowishes
10:30-11:00 Head into either Tomorrowland or Fantasyland for TOT and Space Mountain w/ overlay or Tea Cups w/ overlay - this will be a game time decision. I think most of my family would prefer Space, but if the wait is obnoxious we'll head to Fantasyland instead.
11:05-11:50 Liberty Square for Hatbox Ghost magic shot and ride HM. (Bonus if we can catch the HH ride again)
12:00 Catch the midnight Hocus Pocus show from somewhere on our way out. We've seen it before, so don't need to be super close.
Flaming pumpkin magic shot on Main Street and HH magic shot at Train Station on our way out.


Seems like a good plan to me.
Love this: "8:30-9:00 desserts (load up our collapsible tupperware with extras for the parade!)"

Have you planned for all of the magic shots that you want?
 
Seems like a good plan to me.
Love this: "8:30-9:00 desserts (load up our collapsible tupperware with extras for the parade!)"

Have you planned for all of the magic shots that you want?
Thank you :)

The only MS we want are those last 2, we have all the others from prior years.
 
We went to the October 4th Party
Myself, MW, MC age 7
Here was what we were able to do

Entered park at 3:45
4:00 Meet Tinkerbelle
5:00 Halloween Snacks
6:00 Meet 7 Dwarfs
6:30 Meet Jafar
7:30 Hocus Pocus Stage Show
8:30 Parade
9:00 Meet Elvis Stitch
10:00 Trick or Treat
11:00 Dance Party Disney Jr.
11:30 Pirates Ride
12:00 Trick or Treat
(14 Pounds of Candy)


Super fun night.

All these things had no major lines
 
So I know @FoxC63 is no longer accepting itineraries...

I think your underestimating your M&G's. Remember you're attending a Sold Out Party and this year cannot be compared to the ones you've attended in the past. Disney is selling more tickets so that alone changes a lot. It looks solid.
 
I think your underestimating your M&G's. Remember you're attending a Sold Out Party and this year cannot be compared to the ones you've attended in the past. Disney is selling more tickets so that alone changes a lot. It looks solid.
Thanks. I’ve asked about wait times for the Aladdin characters in the main thread but no one’s answered. I’d hoped 45 minutes each would be enough but if not we can always cut the gravediggers and try to do them later. I am worried about how a 2018 sellout will look compared to prior years’ sellouts, though, for sure. That’s the main reason we’re keeping the dessert party.
 
Thanks. I’ve asked about wait times for the Aladdin characters in the main thread but no one’s answered. I’d hoped 45 minutes each would be enough but if not we can always cut the gravediggers and try to do them later. I am worried about how a 2018 sellout will look compared to prior years’ sellouts, though, for sure. That’s the main reason we’re keeping the dessert party.

I think what's surprised me were the waits for Lotso this year, 20-35 minutes that's a first! Giving 15 minutes per Aladdin group, I would think it would be more like 20-30 for them.
 
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