Is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Worth the Cost? (2024)
Adults finally allowed to waltz through main street in costumes, buckets full of candy for you and the kiddos, and a spooky midnight ambiance throughout the magic kingdom. All of these experiences are part of what makes Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween event rise in popularity. Since its debut in the early 2000s, each year the event starts earlier and sees thousands more guests. With the increase in guests and popularity, then comes increases in prices. After seeing the price tag after watching all the ads, you may be wondering: Is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween worth the cost?
After attending the event and witnessing the changes over the past four years, I can officially advise whether or not Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is worth the cost for you. Let’s get into it.
Price and Overview
To start our exploration of whether Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is Worth the Cost, we have to ask two questions. What is it and how much is it? Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is a separately ticketed event at Walt Disney World Florida. This event takes place on select nights throughout the fall from 7 pm to 12 am and celebrates the Halloween season in the most magical way. The park closes down for daytime visitors and allows families, couples, and friends to enjoy the parks after dark. As the sun sets, party-goers will be able to dress in costume, trick or treat throughout the park, indulge in exclusive treats, meet rare characters, and be completely immersed in the Disney Halloween spirit.
Prices change depending on the proximity to Halloween. During the beginning of the season, August 9th to September 30th, ticket prices range from $119 to $149 plus tax. Then as the month of October rolls around, prices increase and range from $169 to $199 plus tax.
Costumes
The main event of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is costume wearing. You might wonder what the big deal about costumes is. Let me tell you, wearing a costume at Disney World is a very big deal. You may not know that adults are prohibited from wearing costumes at the Disney World park during regular parts of the year. Usually, only children are permitted to wear costumes and character dresses. This is because Disney does not want guests to confuse dressed-up adults with their cast members, in case anyone gets out of hand or doesn’t act in the Disney way. However, during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party, this rule is exempt. This is the one and only opportunity adults get to dress up in the park.
Not only is this good for adults young at heart, but this is also great for families and couples. When else do you get the chance to dress as the Incredibles family with you and your children and pose with your favorite characters? When else do you get to dress as a couple of pirates and brave the seven seas on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride? Lastly, I ask, when do you get to dress as Cinderella and pose in front of your very own giant castle?
Trick or Treating
Along with the rare opportunity to dress in costume and live your dreams in the park, you get an unlimited amount of candy. Cast members provide you with bags for you to grab handfuls of candy at each trick-or-treat station throughout the park. However, you can bring your own bag and go back and forth as much as you want. For candy lovers and Halloween lovers, it is a great opportunity to fill your buckets and relive the excitement of trick-or-treating with your kids. Especially now that neighborhood trick-or-treating has been on a steady decline in the past few years.
Food
When considering if Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is worth the cost, you also have to consider the special food options. Disney World is famous for its food. There is an entire park simply for tasting food from around the world, fan clubs just for Disney park food, and even a Disney Plus show about Disney Food. People come from all over the world to try a taste of Disney World’s award-winning non-basic theme park food. Above this, everyone in America knows that fall flavors are the best flavors throughout the year. If you or your family are foodies and pumpkin spice lovers, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party has exclusive treats to satisfy your taste buds.
This year, Disney World confirmed the return of the favorite bowl of bones, a platter of bone in wings tossed in cherry coca-cola barbecue sauce, topped with jalapenos and the terrifyin’ twice spiced chicken sandwich. You can also find special French vanilla and pumpkin spice cold brew at Joffrey’s, Minnie-shaped pumpkin cheesecakes, candy-corn milkshakes, and so much more!
These treats are only available during this event and quite often are switched out as the years pass. If you see something on the menu that you would love to have dance on your tastebuds, a ticket to this year’s event might be worth it for you.
Performances and Entertainment
Next, you want to think about special Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween performances and entertainment. During the year, Disney World repeats the same Happily Ever After castle show, mid-day parade, and brings out the same generic characters such as Mickey, his friends, Captain Jack Sparrow, etc. If you are a big fan of meeting characters and taking pictures, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is one of the best times to do so. During this event, you will see dozens of rare characters.
Not only do you see Mickey and his friends in cute Halloween costumes, you will find the ultra-rare sighting of Jack Skellington and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. You can also find the entire hundred-acre woods characters hosting meet and greets in their costumes, Stitch in his Elvis costume, Jasmine and Genie, all of the seven dwarfs, and so much more. Meeting characters is one of the highlights of the event and a great photo opportunity for anyone looking to meet rare characters and brag to their friends about it. After you’ve met everyone, you can watch the ominous headless horseman ride down Main Street with a flaming pumpkin in his hand to signify the start of the parade.
Then there are the performances. During Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween, the castle ignites in poison greens, dark blues, and blood reds during the Not-So-Spooky-Spectacular. This spooky and exciting show celebrates Disney Villains, the Hocus Pocus witches, and Jack Skellington, the pumpkin King. This castle show is a big change from the dreamy and cute normal show. It takes the spookiness to the next level and uses projections and fireworks to let party-goers feel the excitement of Halloween in all its greatness.
Crowd Level Differences
If you are still wondering if Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is worth the cost, it might come down to the difference between the event and regular park admission. If you aren’t interested in food or dressing up and simply want to visit the park after hours, there are quite a few differences during this event. Each time I visited Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween, I found wait times for every ride to be under 40 minutes. This alone is worth every penny. Over the past few years, Disney theme parks have seen wait times of over 3 hours for rides such as Rise of the Resistance and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Though these rides are great, it is hardly ever worth the 3-hour wait. Even if it isn’t the most popular ride, it is still common to see wait times of 75 minutes and up.
This problem is non-existent during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween. Unless you are visiting on Halloween weekend, which I’d advise against, your wait times will likely be less than 40 minutes for all of your favorite attractions. What is even better is the walking space. As a frequent visitor to Disney, I have seen elbow-to-elbow crowd levels all throughout the park, making it impossible to walk through and enjoy. Because this event is a separate ticket and only sells to capacity, Disney keeps the number of guests allowed reasonable, which makes for space to walk and enjoy the entire event.
So, is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Worth the Cost?
Is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Worth the Cost? I would say yes, but only under certain conditions. Those conditions would be the age of your party and the dates you visit. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is a phenomenal event for Halloween lovers, costume lovers, candy lovers, treat lovers, for everyone really. There is a plethora of limited edition treats, spectacular and exciting shows, and rare character meet-ups. It is perfect for fans of Disney, fans of Halloween, and fans of low crowds.
Though the event is only 6 hours long, the event is like buying an admission ticket with a lighting lane for every ride for the cost of only admission. Because of the low crowds, you will be getting more of a Disney experience than you would going on a regular day. Above all, you won’t be suffering in the hot Florida sun, as most of the event is after the sun sets.
Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween is worth it as long as the members of your family are old enough to stay up that late into the night and as long as you don’t visit during the week of or the week before Halloween when prices and crowds skyrocket. Otherwise, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween is a lovely event and a great way to spend time with the kids, family, and loved ones during the Halloween season.
Need help budgeting your Disney World trip? Check out How Much a Disney Trip Really Costs.
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