Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 2023 (2024)

I attended my first Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) when I was 10 years old. I don’t remember much about it except that I enjoyed it and I dressed up as Kim Possible while carrying a plush Rufus around all night. So when my sister (Aubree) and I decided we were running the Wine&Dine RunDisney Weekend in 2023, which is only a day or two after the last night of MNSSHP, I knew it would be a fun edition if we could add an extra day to our trip and attend the party. My sister and I are both big Halloween fans. I love everything Halloween, especially when it’s cute Halloween themed things - and if it’s Disney Halloween, all the better. With a little strategic planning, changing of hotel plans, and pixie dust, tickets were secured for this halloween spectacular at Walt Disney World.

You might be wondering what makes Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween different from any other night at Disney World? While there are lots of things that make this event special (read all about it on the official Disney website here), here is why we chose to attend:

Attend in Costume

During normal park hours, adult guests cannot wear costumes (they can only Disneybound) however during specific special events, costumes are allowed! I have always loved Halloween, dressing up, and coming up with unique costumes. The idea of being able to go to Magic Kingdom in an elaborate costume - sign me up!

For someone who is not fashion forward, I love to dress up in elaborate outfits (for the right occasion) - it is so fun to be creative and come up with all kinds of fun outfit ideas. & if I was having a bad day during my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, then I would think about costume ideas for this event.

One of my favorite princesses is Rapunzel. I love her story, I love all the supporting characters, I love how they stuck with the classic story but also gave it new flair - I just love it. Prior to starting my costume planning, I had seen so many Disney creators doing costume mashups like an Aurora Darth Vader or a Rapunzel Jedi… and I thought how cool would it be to do some kind of Rapunzel mashup? Since it was Halloween, the season of all things spooky, I decided to be a cottagecore Rapunzel Witch.

My costume wasn’t perfect but I absolutely loved how it turned out. From the poofy purple dress, to the corset, to my ghosty backpack buddy, to the little Pascal I had on my shoulder, I loved how this costume came together and that I was able to be Punzie for the night! I actually got to meet Rapunzel in this look and she loved my outfit too 😍- core Disney Magic moment.

Aubree went as a modern day Princess Jasmine. There is a creator, Rope Drop Design who makes the cutest pieces of clothing using the vintage Disney bed sheets we all loved as kids. Aubree paired this dress with one of my gold hair pieces (for my Megara look later on in the weekend) and she very much gave cute, simple, modern-day Jasmine vibes. We both dressed as princesses, but just very different vibes of princess - which was fun and perfect that we were both excited about what we were wearing and comfortable in what we chose.

I will say, some people go ALL out for this event and I love it. It’s exciting seeing how creative people are and all the different things they come up with to bring their favorite Disney characters to life. BUT, I know that sometimes the idea of having to come up with something can be overwhelming to people, so just know that if you don’t want to dress up, you don’t have to. There were plenty of people just in normal clothes and you will have just as much fun in that as you will in costume.

No matter what you’re wearing, it’s always a magical & spooktacular night at Disney.

*Last note, even though we were in warm Florida, once the sun went down it got chilly. I had luckily packed a mylar blanket for Aubree and one of my jackets for myself. But we were shocked (and we shouldn’t have been) by just how chilly it got in the evening. So dress warmly or bring layers if you’re attending this event towards the end of October.

Less People

One of the really special things about this After Hours Party is that only guests with a MNSSHP wristband were allowed in the park after a certain time. While I don’t know the exact number, the park is generally a little bit less crowded than usual during these special events and because it’s open late you have more time to enjoy things (hopefully with less of a crowd). It didn’t feel empty by any means but the park definitely seemed a little calmer and there were certain rides that we were able to get on faster than normal. Especially as the evening went on and younger kids had to be put to bed, Magic Kingdom cleared out and we were walking onto a lot of rides.

I go to Disney World knowing and preparing myself for crowds but I really loved that this event was a ticket event only and made the parks *slightly* less crowded than normal. Don’t get me wrong, it was not like we had the parks to ourselves or anything, but it definitely felt a little less stuffed in there than normal. As the night went on, ride lines were a lot shorter than usual (though we did miss out on a few characters because of super long lines). Overall, the amount of people wouldn’t make or break my decision to attend this event (Disney is always crowded) but it was a nice bonus to the evening.

Photo Opportunities

I love to take photos to commemorate important experiences. Because we love the photos we get for our RunDisney races, we usually purchase a Photopass Package. When we do this, we make the most of what we’re paying for and stop for as many Photopass photographers as we want throughout our entire Disney trip.

For MNSSHP this was especially special. All around the park during the party there are characters in unique Halloween costumes and special photo spots like Mickey in his magicians costume or photos with special effects like the Headless Horseman. With characters, you can usually just ask a cast member to take a photo with your phone, but the ones with special effects have to be done with a photopass camera so they can add that *Disney Magic*.

We love purchasing Photopass for runDisney race weekends but I have to admit, if I was just going to the parks, I probably would not shell out the money. It is really expensive and we shutter everytime we pay for it… but for the amazing running photos we get, it’s well worth it.

Moral of this is that although I really loved the photos we were able to get with our Photopass perks, if we hadn’t already paid for it for our races, I would have passed. But if you really love or want decent photos of your family to print off, then this might be a worthwhile add-on for you.

Special Parades & Performances

One of my favorite parts of the evening was the Boo To You Parade and the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular. Nobody quite does parades like the Magic Kingdom in Disney World. They are over the top in the best way. With all your favorite Disney characters, mini-performances as the parade passes through, music, dancing, AND Halloween themed - you really can’t go wrong. I really loved that we got to see a lot of the villains that usually aren’t out quite as much.

Some of our favorite villainous friends like Captain Hook, Smee, Grim Grinning Ghosts, Ursula, Cruella, Queen of Hearts, Pain & Panic, Oogie Boogie, the evil stepsisters, Gaston, Bowler Hat Guy (Meet the Robinsons), Jafar, Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, the Evil Queen, and more walked in the parade. And although I know they’re villains, I can’t help but think they deserve more than Halloween time to get some recognition for the roles they play in these iconic stories. It does make it even more special that we get to see them for only this event, but it always feels special to see your favorite characters, no matter what the event. For me, although I’m not obsessed with Disney Villians, I found it to be special & unique that we got to see them during this special event and it was a highlight. If you’re a villain lover, I highly recommend attending this event. But Disney, I’d love to see them more.

Though I loved the parade, my all-time favorite moment of the evening was the Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular. With music, singing, and dancing from your favorite Disney Villains like the Sanderson Sisters, Doctor Facilier, Oogie Boogie, and more, this theatrical performance had me very much in the spooky spirit. It felt as if we were at a Broadway show that was Disneyfied. Everything from the singing, the performance, the fireworks, was perfect and it made my spooky night complete. I know a lot of people (myself included) go to theme parks for the rides, but this is me telling you to not skip out on the performances aspect of the Halloween Party - it is over the top in the best way.

Ride Overlays & Shorter Lines

As I stated above, a big perk of attending MNSSHP is less people so shorter lines for rides. But the other cool bonus about attending the party is that some of the rides have spooky themes to them.

While this didn’t end up being quite as exciting as I thought it would be, we did end up getting to ride Space Mountain in the pitch-dark and that was unique, spooky, and eerily cool. You can tell by our ride photo that we were very confused as to why the ride was pitch black and we couldn’t see anything. It was a wild but fun sensation especially for me as Space Mountain is my favorite ride. If any other rides we rode had spooky overlays, we didn’t notice. I honestly wish this aspect was a little more prominent, but then again enjoying rides at Disney is never boring.

Specialty Food Items

I am a huge foodie. My trail name on the Appalachian Trail was Treats so of course I love to enjoy tasty bites. I was really excited for the special food items offered for MNSSHP and honestly they were a bit of letdown. I will say that I did not get to try too much. For money saving purposes and because I was more excited about the other Halloween activities, I didn’t try very many of the spooky themed foods. But the ones that I did try, fell a bit flat for me. If you’re a foodie, this is a fun perk, but read reviews about what to try before you go - I obviously did not read enough, and did not love what I chose. There’s always next time. I try not to call out specific places or specific food because even though I didn’t enjoy it doesn’t mean you won’t.

Treat Bags

In my opinion, this one is honestly a bit silly, but in the theme of Halloween and trick or treating, you get a special bag to collect candy throughout Magic Kingdom. All around the park there are special locations giving out candy. They do not skimp on the candy. We only went to 2 or 3 spots just for the experience and our bags were full. I wouldn’t go to the party just for this, but it is a fun addition.

I will say that if you’re into candy or you're a WDW local or a kiddo, I can see how the candy aspect would appeal more but as adults who were more there for the experience, this wasn’t a highlight for us.

*For those with dietary restrictions they do have other options - they will be marked on the park map

Like anything Disney does, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was well done. It was all the cute Halloween magic that a Disney adult could ask for. I really loved getting to immerse myself in a Halloween experience of Magic Kingdom as an adult. Magic Kingdom is in my top 2 favorite parks and getting to enjoy it during one of my favorite holidays was really special. I loved the special characters, the performances & parades, ride overlays and more. I don’t think I’ll need to attend every year as it was an expensive add on ($200 per ticket!). I’m only a slightly obsessed Disney adult, but I did really enjoy the party overall and hope to experience it again in the future!

If you’d like to read about Aubree & I’s Wine & Dine RunDisney Race Weekend visit my blog here. If you’d like to shop my entire Wine & Dine weekend wardrobe from my Rapunzel look to all my RunDisney costumes, you can shop here (*affiliate links).

Extra Tips for Planning your own Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Adventure:

• If you want to attend on a more popular night like actual Halloween, tickets do sell out for certain dates, so don’t delay when they go on sale.

• Pack layers, jackets, or a packable mylar blanket if you’re going October. I know it’s sunny Florida, but it can still get chilly in the evenings once the sun goes down.

• If you don’t have kiddos or want to enjoy some of the parades or shows after many kiddos have gone to bed, wait for the later showings/parades, they were crowded but a lot less crowded than the earlier ones

• Make a plan of what you want to do. Before each trip, whether we’re doing a special event or just a normal park day, Aubree & I always construct a list of Must Do’s and Want To Do’s. We make sure we get through the Must’s first (and we keep this list smaller) so then we know that even if we didn’t get to do everything on the list, that at least we got to do the ones we really wanted.

• If you want Photopass Package, purchase it before your trip or the price will go up. I can’t remember how much cheaper it is to buy ahead of time, but it is a noticeable chunk.

• Unless there is something special about a ride during MNSSHP or it’s a favorite, I would focus more on the things unique to the party, but also if rides are your favorite, then do you.

• If food is important to you, research what others have liked/disliked or you might not be as excited as you were.

• Have the best time! Whether you’re in costume or your favorite outfit, enjoy this night of Disney Spookiness.

To learn more official knowledge of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party visit the official Disney site here.