"Official" 2018 Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party - A Spooktacular Celebration!

[Dean1953]

Dean,

Thank you for taking a moment to share your thoughts with us.

When we receive comments such as yours, they are shared with various members of our organization. The input we receive from our Guests lets us know what we are doing right and what we can do better. We appreciate your observations and will share them at the appropriate levels.


Thanks,
Chanel

Merchandise.Guest.Services@disneyparks.com


This is the reply that I got several days ago from Disney concerning merchandise shortages. In the meantime, i’ve gotten two responses from lost and found about my missing sunglasses. I don’t expect to hear from Disney merchandise again, which tells me they don’t intend to change anything that led to the merchandise shortages. So much for Disney being a company that really listens to its customers for input.

 

[dachsie]

Dean,

Thank you for taking a moment to share your thoughts with us.

When we receive comments such as yours, they are shared with various members of our organization. The input we receive from our Guests lets us know what we are doing right and what we can do better. We appreciate your observations and will share them at the appropriate levels.


Thanks,
Chanel

Merchandise.Guest.Services@disneyparks.com


This is the reply that I got several days ago from Disney concerning merchandise shortages. In the meantime, i’ve gotten two responses from lost and found about my missing sunglasses. I don’t expect to hear from Disney merchandise again, which tells me they don’t intend to change anything that led to the merchandise shortages. So much for Disney being a company that really listens to its customers for input.

This is who you need to send the complaints to if you want to see action: George.kalogridis@disney.com

 

[Dean1953]

Thanks! I just copied the original email that I sent and pasted it to a new email to George Kalogridis. Hopefully, it does something, if not for the Christmas party, than for next year’s MNNSHP.
It took an hour for someone from his office to call. Unfortunately, I was driving and, when driving, I don’t answer calls. I’ll call them back Sunday or Monday, at the latest. That’s some email listing that you have!

 

[mcgrawfan]

@Haley R , @bcwife76 , @mcgrawfan , @MouseMolly , @paopiru , @Dean1953, @PPFlight75

I am SO SORRY I missed the tail end of the party planning and all the reports. I knew my schedule was going to be tight but then I got sick and ugh!!! It just got worse. The same thing happened last year though I was able to keep up just not this year and I'm embarrassed and so deeply sorry to have dropped the ball on you. I sincerely thank you for your birthday wishes, thoughtfulness and understanding. Major Kudos to everyone helping on the Itinerary Thread especially @OhioStateBuckeye !!!
.

No worries. I read enough reports I had things down! We had a pretty good party! Low lines! Met Stitch and Moana!

 

[dachsie]

Thanks! I just copied the original email that I sent and pasted it to a new email to George Kalogridis. Hopefully, it does something, if not for the Christmas party, than for next year’s MNNSHP.
It took an hour for someone from his office to call. Unfortunately, I was driving and, when driving, I don’t answer calls. I’ll call them back Sunday or Monday, at the latest. That’s some email listing that you have!

I have found that if I really want answers and not the pat email, that seems to do the trick. However, I only use it if its really something bothersome, like the parking fee issue. I think this one qualifies too.

 

[FoxC63]

This is who you need to send the complaints to if you want to see action: George.kalogridis@disney.com

I think I'll be using this too, thanks for posting!

 

[bcwife76]

I need to come back and read some posts but just wanted to add mine in:

We did the Oct 25th party, it was our first MNSSHP AND our FIRST time at MK (we are Disneyland vets). Being able to get in at 2pm because we are DVC was a huge advantage for us since we didn't know the park well! We rode so many rides,we thought the decorations were amazing,we hit several trick or treat stations starting about 9pm and had NO line ups. We didn't hit all the TorT stations but we got a TON of candy regardless!! We loved the atmosphere, we didn't find the party/park crowded at all....we did BOG for dinner and thought it was a huge disappointment, esp for the price The next day we had lunch at Morimoto and dinner at Sanaa and enjoyed those meals immensely. I'm sure I have many more thoughts but we just got back last night (sailed on the last HOTHS Fantasy cruise after WDW) and I'm still a little groggy from the time change lol!!! We enjoyed the halloween party so much, so glad we did it. Hopefully we will be back again sometime and will hope to do the party at Disneyland in the next year or two

 

[angyl15]

We went to our first mnsshp on the 28th. Just leaving my notes in case they help someone next year. We were in Clearwater the 25th-28th for a family get together. (We are from Chicago). We left clearwater about 11:30 on sunday, with a stop for coffee we got to the polynesian about 1pm. I had already checked into the app and it said our room was not ready but we went to the great hall anyway to check. They were able to give us a different room, so we were very excited - Pogo, Pogo (I think?) room 3109. We love the DVCs and have stayed in a few. We had a studio for the 5 of us (me, DH, DS10, DS8 and DD4). The room was perfect for one night, but we would need a 1 bedroom for much longer - we really like to have a kitchen for quick meals. Having 2 bathroom areas was great, but it would have been even better to have a toilet in both, but it was nice to have the 2 areas while getting ready. We napped for about an hour and a half - room got very dark and was pretty quiet except for a car alarm that went off. Even though we had a view of the parking lot, the kids were psyched to be able to see the monorail go by our room.

Left for the party about 3:20 - took the resort monorail and were in the park with our bands by 3:45. We took the bypass to get our treat bags and first treats and headed to space mountain. We had a 3:10 fastpass and by the time we got there it was 4:20, but we were still able to babyswap and go on. Not too many people in costume at that time, but that changed as the evening went on. Had 2 more fastpasses for haunted mansion and big thunder mountain. Grabbed a quick dinner at pecos bills and headed off to meet Moana. We got in line about 7:05 and she came out about 7:10, but by 7:40 the line stopped moving completely. From one of the cast members, it sounded like a child had a bathroom accident while meeting Moana. Had to wait another 20 min to have 3 people come and clean it up - I think had that not happened, the wait would have been about 30 min. We rode the magic carpets, winnie the pooh, it's a small world, dumbo, the speedway, special effects tea cups and space mountain all with little to no wait. Some rides they asked us if we wanted to stay on and ride again! Rode the 7 dwarves with a 30 min wait (posted was 40). Saw the hocus pocus show and fireworks we watched from fantasyland. We tried the hades nachos (good but would not probably get again) and the maleficant ice cream cone - my boys loved that...kind of like a lime dole whip. We ended up with about 10-15 pounds of candy...one very full reusable shopping bag. Even those we never really waited, just walked through a line....country bear seemed to have the best candy and 2 stops - lots of Dove candies there

All in all, we had a fantastic time and would go back again in a heartbeat. It did not seem overly crowded to us at all - but we went in with low expectations so maybe we were mentally prepared? The nap was key for our family and doing it in a trip where we were only there for 2 days. Next time I would love to see the parade and maybe a better spot for fireworks. My family had a great time dressing in costume and seeing others. I was happy to see only one or two questionable costumes. My favorite of the night was princess Belle with a belt made of tacos hehe.

 

[Ponderer]

All in all, we had a fantastic time and would go back again in a heartbeat. It did not seem overly crowded to us at all - but we went in with low expectations so maybe we were mentally prepared? The nap was key for our family and doing it in a trip where we were only there for 2 days. Next time I would love to see the parade and maybe a better spot for fireworks. My family had a great time dressing in costume and seeing others. I was happy to see only one or two questionable costumes. My favorite of the night was princess Belle with a belt made of tacos hehe.

I don't think it was just low expectations - the party on the 28th, which was our first, was an absolute blast. We weren't big about character meet and greets (though we were thrilled to do Elvis Stitch with a 15 minute wait). The only ride we saw that had an a appreciable wait time was HM at 30 minutes, and even that was pretty close to a straight-through walk-on. Pirates was a walk-on. We were zonked for rides by the time we passed by SDMT at around 9:40 (we didn't realize we both had major bugs descending), but the listed wait at that point was 15 minutes. Trick or treating, everything we wanted to do was easy and fast, and it was just a magical evening.

(Maybe I'm naive, but I hadn't counted on a major part of the fun would be seeing all the imaginative costumes around the park. My favorite was a guy dressed up as a broom and his wife dressed up as the Sorcerer's Apprentice. It took a minute, and it was like, BRILLIANT.)

 

[Robin Burks]

I thought I would chime in with my party report. Just a little background information: I went to Disneyland last year for Halloween and did the party there. It was amazing. So the bar was already set really high when I went to the party at Magic Kingdom this year on October 30.

We arrived around 4:30 p.m. and had to stand in line to get our wristbands. I was really surprised because when you do the party at Disneyland you get the wristband right at the gate when you scan your ticket. It seemed a little weird that they would separate that at MK, but I'm sure they have their reasons. I was dressed as punk Merida, so my first priority was meeting Merida. That was awesome. We rode Barnstormer and Haunted Mansion and then walked around a little bit, noting all the trick or treat stations.

It was crowded, but I thought that some of that crowd would go away when the party officially started. I was wrong. It got even worse! I went to the Halloween party at Disneyland last year and everything was walk on. That was definitely not the case at Magic Kingdom. We only managed to ride Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. Fortunately, our priorities were not rides, but one character (Stitch), the Hocus Pocus show and the parade.

The first big difference I noticed between California and Florida was that Florida only seems to decorate Main Street for Halloween. That was a bit of a letdown. I expected more spooky lights and special effects throughout the park, but there was only a little bit of fog here and there. The treat trails were also super stingy with the candy (although it seemed the handfuls got bigger as the night progressed). We did manage to get to eat the Hades Nachos, which were better than I expected. The caramel pretzel was also really yummy. But we mostly just roamed around and trick or treated until the Hocus Pocus show.

We arrived for the Hocus Pocus show about 15 minutes before it started and it was pretty much difficult to see at that point. We heard it and it sounded good, though. However, we somehow managed the perfect spot for the parade: the gravediggers were AWESOME! That was probably my favorite part. Instead of hanging around for the fireworks, though, we got in line to meet Stitch and that is still one of my favorite character interactions of this particular visit.

We missed the fireworks for Stitch, but they weren't really a priority (we had just seen the Hollywood Studios Star Wars show and had a dessert party scheduled for Happily Ever After later in the week). The party was still fun, but definitely did not compare at all to the Disneyland event. I don't think I'd pay to do it again, although now I want to go back to Disneyland for Halloween there. I would suggest that people who love Halloween like I do (I mean, it IS my birthday) go to California instead if they want to see Disney in all its Halloween glory.

What I found most ironic is that we went to the Magic Kingdom on November 1st and the park was a lot less crowded on a full park day than it was during the party. That sort of takes away from the whole "exclusive" thing they market it as, doesn't it?

Also, we saw so many people at the party who were just miserable. Moms screaming at their kids, kids crying (and looking really tired) and dads who just looked like they wanted to be anywhere else. I mean, the party was just okay for us, but we still had a smile on our face the whole time. BECAUSE WE'RE AT DISNEY WORLD. I just don't understand how anyone can go to Disney World and ever be like that! LOL

 

[Haley R]

I thought I would chime in with my party report. Just a little background information: I went to Disneyland last year for Halloween and did the party there. It was amazing. So the bar was already set really high when I went to the party at Magic Kingdom this year on October 30.

We arrived around 4:30 p.m. and had to stand in line to get our wristbands. I was really surprised because when you do the party at Disneyland you get the wristband right at the gate when you scan your ticket. It seemed a little weird that they would separate that at MK, but I'm sure they have their reasons. I was dressed as punk Merida, so my first priority was meeting Merida. That was awesome. We rode Barnstormer and Haunted Mansion and then walked around a little bit, noting all the trick or treat stations.

It was crowded, but I thought that some of that crowd would go away when the party officially started. I was wrong. It got even worse! I went to the Halloween party at Disneyland last year and everything was walk on. That was definitely not the case at Magic Kingdom. We only managed to ride Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. Fortunately, our priorities were not rides, but one character (Stitch), the Hocus Pocus show and the parade.

The first big difference I noticed between California and Florida was that Florida only seems to decorate Main Street for Halloween. That was a bit of a letdown. I expected more spooky lights and special effects throughout the park, but there was only a little bit of fog here and there. The treat trails were also super stingy with the candy (although it seemed the handfuls got bigger as the night progressed). We did manage to get to eat the Hades Nachos, which were better than I expected. The caramel pretzel was also really yummy. But we mostly just roamed around and trick or treated until the Hocus Pocus show.

We arrived for the Hocus Pocus show about 15 minutes before it started and it was pretty much difficult to see at that point. We heard it and it sounded good, though. However, we somehow managed the perfect spot for the parade: the gravediggers were AWESOME! That was probably my favorite part. Instead of hanging around for the fireworks, though, we got in line to meet Stitch and that is still one of my favorite character interactions of this particular visit.

We missed the fireworks for Stitch, but they weren't really a priority (we had just seen the Hollywood Studios Star Wars show and had a dessert party scheduled for Happily Ever After later in the week). The party was still fun, but definitely did not compare at all to the Disneyland event. I don't think I'd pay to do it again, although now I want to go back to Disneyland for Halloween there. I would suggest that people who love Halloween like I do (I mean, it IS my birthday) go to California instead if they want to see Disney in all its Halloween glory.

What I found most ironic is that we went to the Magic Kingdom on November 1st and the park was a lot less crowded on a full park day than it was during the party. That sort of takes away from the whole "exclusive" thing they market it as, doesn't it?

Also, we saw so many people at the party who were just miserable. Moms screaming at their kids, kids crying (and looking really tired) and dads who just looked like they wanted to be anywhere else. I mean, the party was just okay for us, but we still had a smile on our face the whole time. BECAUSE WE'RE AT DISNEY WORLD. I just don't understand how anyone can go to Disney World and ever be like that! LOL

We saw the screaming and crying kids our entire trip. It definitely can affect your mood.

 

[Dean1953]

Between yesterday and today, I called the number left on my voicemail by the Disney customer representative at least 30 times and either got a busy signal or no one answered. I’ll keep trying.

 

[dachsie]

Between yesterday and today, I called the number left on my voicemail by the Disney customer representative at least 30 times and either got a busy signal or no one answered. I’ll keep trying.

Send an email telling them you are trying to return their call with your previous email in the text

 

[Cluelyss]

Now that we've been back for a week (hard to believe!) wanted to make sure I posted my party comments...hopefully it will help someone next year.

We attended the October 31st party, and while sold out, it was quite manageable! We accomplished all but 2 things on our itinerary, 1 omitted by choice. Here was our night:

We arrive at MK just before 4. They had already started letting party guests in, so we had about a 2 minute wait to get through the tapstyles and get our wristbands. We then headed to pick up or SOTMK cards, took pictures on Main Street then headed to the bypass for photos and our starter bag of candy. Since we dumped out by TT, I went ahead and checked in for the dessert party (it was a bit before 4:30, but there was already a CM at the podium). We did have a bit of an issue with check in as she didn't "see us" on the parade viewing list until after I mentioned it. She then checked her list again, and low and behold, there we were. We got our lanyards, marked for parade viewing, and she told us to come back for desserts any time after 8:15.

We rode SDMT (with FP) at 4:45 and BTMRR (with FP) at 5:15 then checked into our 5:25 ADR at Skipper Canteen. We arrived at 5:30 and were seated immediately, done by 6:30. After than we headed to Pirates (people were already lining up for the party overlay version, so we walked right on to the "regular" ride) then grabbed apple cider slushes and headed to Liberty Square just as the party officially started.

We did the HHG magic shot with about 2 groups in front of us then headed to the Hatbox Ghost magic shot. The line here was a bit longer but moved relatively quickly (my photos are time stamped 7:27) then we headed to HM. The wait time was posted at 25 minutes but we were on at 7:45. We then headed to meet the gravediggers (only 3-4 groups ahead of us) - photos time stamped 8:04 - then made our way over to the dessert party. Even though we had our lanyards already, we still had to wait in another line to actually get into the party and it was 8:25 before we were seated at a table. We enjoyed desserts until 9 then made our way back to the podium to get escorted to the flagpole. This was actually pretty cool, as they took us both there and back through the now-closed bypass, so we had zero crowds to deal with. Made us feel like VIPs LOL.

We got to the flagpole about 9:05, in time to see the HH ride, which had been my goal. We had an AMAZING view right down Main Street. There were about a dozen people that ducked under the rope into our reserved area right as the HH was about to pass, but the CMs were quick to clear them out immediately following his ride. And they continued to patrol the area until parade time, which was nice to see.

At this point, my plans called for taking DS to meet Mickey while we waited for the rest of the parade to arrive, but he decided he'd rather stay and watch the Zootopia Party Patrol instead, so this was the one agenda item we missed intentionally. We had an AMAZING view of Boo to You, then were escorted back to the terrace, where CMs were stationed to walk us over to the garden. There was plenty of room in the viewing area when we arrived at 9:55 and I got my favorite spot (back left along the railing). Hallowishes was amazing, as always, and we headed to Tomorrowland as soon as they were over.

We checked on the Elvis Stitch line, was told it was 30 minutes, and the kids opted to ride Space Mountain instead. They LOVED the Halloween overlay. The wait time read 10 minutes at 10:40, but they weren't off until 11:05. We then checked on the Stitch line again (at 11:10) after some TOT in Tomorrowland and it only looked about 15-20 minutes deep, so we decided to wait. He took a quick break with 2 groups ahead of us, and our M&G pics are time stamped 11:35. We then headed to Fantasyland for TOT and to ride the Tea Cups with the Halloween overlay. Unfortunately, the ride was temporarily closed while they dealt with a code V issue, so we opted not to wait. (This was the only thing on our agenda we didn't accomplish.) We hit the TOT station at Pinnochio's (they topped off all our bags!), grabbed a few magic shots by the Fantasyland wall, then went to grab a spot for the 12:00 Hocus Pocus show and were able to get a spot only a few rows back from the stage.

We took our time leaving the park, got a few more magic shots on Main Street, left around 12:40 and were back at the Poly by 12:50. All in all, it was an amazing night!! The park seemed fairly empty for a sell out and we saw TONS of people leaving after the first parade. The weather was perfect too...a little warm when we arrived but cooled off considerably once the sun went down, clear with a slight breeze. I was pleasantly surprised we had such success on Halloween night, and being there ON Halloween was such a treat (even cooler was that when we went back the next day, all of the Halloween decorations had been magically replaced by Christmas decor!!!!)

Thanks to everyone for all of their reports - it's been such a fun journey following along with all of you! And now the countdown to 2019 begins!! (we're already talking about next year's costumes here....anyone else?!??!)

 

[Cluelyss]

A few pics from our party

 

[Cluelyss]

Also, these were the 2 magic shots taken by the Fantasyland wall...I don’t remember seeing them posted previously? They were a pleasant surprise when they showed up in MM!

 

[monique5]

A few pics from our party

Love the photos and costumes! Sad that we will not see you guys this year.

 

[Cluelyss]

Love the photos and costumes! Sad that we will not see you guys this year.

I’m sad too

 

[Haley R]

Also, these were the 2 magic shots taken by the Fantasyland wall...I don’t remember seeing them posted previously? They were a pleasant surprise when they showed up in MM!
View attachment 364255

View attachment 364256

Those are really cool. I haven’t seen those before!

 

[Cluelyss]

Those are really cool. I haven’t seen those before!

Thanks! I had no idea what they were doing until the photos showed up!