WDW Halloween Question

[fronisgl]

For all you WDW fans, I need some help/advice. We are going in September and I was wondering if the Not So Scary Halloween Party is worth the extra money. Any input is greatly appreciated.

[gpp2001]

I haven't done it in a couple of years but think it is worth it - you get a ton of candy and there is practically no one in the park - the longest lines are for the candy! It's fun and the ticket might say that it starts at 7pm but they let us in at 5pm - we just had to get a wristband which you'll have to get anyways.

:sunshine:

[tjrj1988]

Went to the first party of the year in 09. Liked it alot. The special Wishes and Boo to You Parade as well as the character meet and greets(some not often seen characters too) were worth the price.

We found it really crowded however-probably because it was the first party of the year and on a Friday when the locals are more likely to come. So, if you can, try and pick a day where the locals are less likely to pull kiddos from school(mid week) and/or when a special event(like F!) pulls other guests to another park.

[SunshineGirl]

The MNSSHP parade and fireworks are both my very favorite of all of them! I agree that going on a week night is better than going during the week.

[Alice28]

I went in 2008 and LOVED IT. I'm not a huge Halloween fan either, but it's definitely worth the price. The atmosphere is fun and festive, the parade is amazing,and the fireworks are awesome! You do get lots of candy, and the night we went (a Tuesday night in late Sept) it wasn't crowded at all. Like PP said, the longest lines were for candy.

[cjnix32]

We've been four times, and it is one of my most absolute favorite things to do. LOVE LOVE LOVE the parade and the fireworks. You see characters you don't normally see..i.e. the old hag from Snow White, all the dwarves together, etc. It's just so much fun. The first three times we went, it rained. Once so much they actually gave us free tickets for another day at the Magic Kingdom! But we were there last September and we think that in all the times we have been to WDW, it was the most fun we have had at the Magic Kingdom. It's worth the money to us!

[shmily1]

We LOVE MVMCP and have done it many times. I was reading about the MNSSHP and it looked like fun so I booked it. I can't tell you how much fun we had there! I had a blast! I was with three 17 year old girls and they were just like the little kids. They had a blast at the dance parties, getting their faces painted, and trick or treating. I loved the decorations, the parade and music, and the general excitement the party has. I would do it again and again even if they upped it to $100 a ticket!

[fronisgl]

Thanks. Did you get face painting for free or was that extra? Was the candy amount reasonable or considered a lot? We have been trying to cut back on the candy intake:)

[shmily1]

The face painting is free and they have it set up in several areas. Even if there is a line, they are so fast at this painting it only take a few minutes each and they have several people painting at one station. There are about 6 or 8 designs to choose from and they are so cute!

Here are a couple pictures of the face painting. The first is DD getting hers done and then a close up of hers and part of mine. :blush:

http://images3a.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp733%3A4%3Evq%3D338%3B%3E7%3A3%3E%3A6 6%3EWSNRCG%3D33654%3B37%3C4347vq0mrjhttp://images3a.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp733%3A4%3Evq%3D338%3B%3E7%3A3%3E%3A6 6%3EWSNRCG%3D33654%3B37%3C3347vq0mrj

The candy can be a lot or a little depending on if you want to go through the trick or treat lines. We didn't trick or treat until right at the end (because we were at the dance parties and on the attractions) and went through only a portion of the lines. We had about 1/3 of a bag. They give you the bags when you get there and they are about 8 inches tall. It was good candy though. Being with three 17 year olds, they hadn't trick or treated in a while so they thought that was just funny that "adults" could trick or treat too.

[fronisgl]

When do they do the parade and fireworks? Is it at the end of the night? My DDs are 4 and 7 so they don't stay up late. Do they offer any free food with this event?

[SunshineGirl]

No free food. Just the trick or treat candy.

They do 2 parades, actually, and the fireworks in between them. I'm not sure exactly what times. But my girls were the same age as yours a few times when we went and it wasn't too bad. I want to say that they did the first parade around 8 and then fireworks at 9 and then the repeat of the parade again at 10? Something along those lines.

[shmily1]

You were so close!! Last year, it was 8:15 parade, 9:30 fireworks, and 10:30 parade. If you are going to watch the parade, make sure you are there atleast a few minutes ahead so you can see the headless horseman run through!

[Breeze88]

It is worth the money and the kids are all so cute dressed up for Halloween :love:

One of the things that we did the last time we went was to book dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern for around 4:00 (if you can eat that early). We then went and got our wrist bands and were set to go when the fun started, especially the trick or treating.

We had our grandson with us the last time we went and the number one thing we insisted on was that he take a nap in the afternoon. Even if your kids don't actuallly sleep, some down time is good if they are going to be up late. We like the parade, but the fireworks were spectacular!

[cjnix32]

Something else to note....you can get into the park at about 4:30 with just your party ticket. So if you have multi day tickets, you could spend a day at the hotel pool, relaxing before heading to the park before the party, and save that day on your park passes for another day!

[shmily1]

Agreed on the getting in early. For all the parties we've been to, we usually do DTD that day or hang out at the pool, have lunch, resort hop, then be in line about 3:45 for when they let us in at 4:00. The tickets say 7:00 since that is when the party starts, but so far, they've let us in at 4:00 every time. We start with the attractions we are busting to get to and then usually eat at Cosmic Rays so we don't spend too much time on food.

[couponqueen]

We've been once and loved it! I agree with everything said here. The only thing I'd consider is the age of your kids and/or what time you would think you'd want to leave. If you have little ones and want to be out of there by 9:00 to get them them to bed then I would say skip it. If you plan on staying the duration of the evening then go for it! There is a lot to do plus you can get on the rides pretty quickly.

[fronisgl]

My concern is my girls NEVER sleep in. It doesn't matter how late they go to bed they are up at 6:15. I'm afraid to keep them up too late because then the next day can be miserable:(

[Breeze88]

My concern is my girls NEVER sleep in. It doesn't matter how late they go to bed they are up at 6:15. I'm afraid to keep them up too late because then the next day can be miserable:(

If they won't nap then maybe you could plan on the day after to be a "just relax" day. We had to do things like that when our kids were small if we kept them out too late the night before. Our just relax days were usually breakfast at the hotel, going to the the pool while I got some laundry done, going to DTD for lunch and some shopping with the promise that if they behaved they could pick out something, and then some more swim time, dinner at the hotel, and an early bedtime to get ready for the next day.

This not only saved a day on our hoppers, but also gave everyone a chance to just slow down for a day.

[momof3lovebugs]

We did it 'unofficially' in 2010. We made adr's for Liberty Tree Tavern at 7pm-the only spot available and had a nice leisurely dinner. In between dinner and dessert, the parade happened and our server let us go watch it before she brought dessert. (dh stayed and ate more :rotfl:) and I was able to get some pretty decent photos of the parade.
After we were done, however, they did want to escort us right down to the front entrance. I told the CM that we wanted to shop on Main St and he was perfectly fine with just dropping us there. This enabled us to also catch the fireworks show, which was amazing.
We weren't able to get photos taken with any of the characters or trick or treat or go on rides b/c we had not paid the premium but I was personally happy with just seeing the parade and fireworks. I think it really depends on what you want to get out of the event, kwim? :D