It may seem odd to post information and memories of this event now, when it is only July, but you will find it useful when I regale you with my MNSSHP stories.
The main reason for posting this now is because the tickets are on sale now! Halloween night is ALWAYS a sell out, and you will find many other nights, especially the weekends, sell out as well. This is what is known as a hard ticket event at Disney World. The party takes place at the Magic Kingdom on select nights in October. Even if you have park hopper tickets, season passes, annual passes, multi-day park tickets, you will need to purchase a ticket for this event. No other ticket or pass will get you in except the Halloween party pass. The event runs about $37 for adults (which in Disney terms is anyone over 9 years old), and about $30 for children between 3 and 9. If you wait until the day of the event and purchase at the gate, the price goes up to $42 for adults and $35 for children. Remember, some nights do sell out so this may not even be an option for you.
The Magic Kingdom closes early on the days of the party and is transformed into a not too spooky but definitely Halloweeny fantasy land. As you arrive at the Magic Kingdom, you will be given a trick or treat bag so you can collect the many goodies that await you, but the goodies here are not just in the form of sugary delicious treats.
One of the best events during the party, and it is so good it happens twice during the evening, is the Boo To You parade. If you show up about 10 minutes early in front of the Liberty Bell, you can hear Mr. Knickerbocker retell the story of the Headless Horseman. By the time the story has been told, the Headless Horseman rides down the parade route, basically clearing the way for dozens of Halloween themed floats and characters, all of whom are wearing their Halloween costumes.
During the evening, you can take a Halloween riverboat ride, where you will be treated to story tellers telling Halloween favorites, strolling musicians, and again a character or two in Halloween costume. This is a run ride and nothing like what you experience at other times at the park.
There are mask making stations for the children, face painting, fortune tellers, and a complimentary family photo of your little ghouls dressed for the event. And do dress for the event – you will not be out of place, as grown ups and children alike dress for the festivities.
Instead of Tinkerbell ringing in the fireworks, a Halloween edition of Fantasy in the Sky is introduced by a witch on her broomstick. You will also find Halloween storytellers at various points throughout the park.
There are conflicting reports on Halloween candy during the party. We have been every year for the past 10 years, and we have never walked away feeling we didn’t get enough candy. Towards the end of the evening, most of the treat stations are literally putting fistfulls of candy into your bag. At last year’s party, we had our 3 year old in a stroller (which they provided for free the night of the party!), and while in line for our photo, Disney castmembers were taking turns trying to get as many pieces of candy into the stroller as they could from varying distances. Some of the candy is not “awesome” candy – we did get a number of jaw breakers last year – but there is always chocolate and other good candies. You will find in Toontown, the treat stations are all very close together and you can collect not only quite a bit of candy, but quite a few character photos, as many of the characters are out and about.
Oh, and one more thing – if you can, as soon as you have your tickets in hand, call and get Advanced Dining Reservations for Liberty Tree Tavern. I will tell you all about the restaurant in another post, but it is one of our favorites, and if you make your ADR just before the party starts or early in the evening, you can step right out of the restaurant after having an all you can eat meal surrounded by Disney characters in Halloween costumes, and get an awesome spot for the parade and the Headless Horseman.
Most of the attractions are open during this event. It’s a definite must for our family.