10 Must-Have Tips for Your First Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Planning on going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom for the first time? Here are some tips you need to know!

As much reading as I had done (and YouTube videos I had watched) before the party, there were still some tips I learned while I was there that I wished I had known before I went.

So I’m sharing my wisdom with you in the hopes that you don’t make some of the same mistakes we did (especially when it comes to a rainy night!).

1. Don’t Pack Your Day Before the Party (Or After the Party)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (which from here on out, we’ll call MNSSHP because I don’t want to keep typing all that) happens at Magic Kingdom on select nights from 7:00 pm to midnight. (Remember, it’s a separately ticketed event!)

So plan a little rest time during the day! You don’t want to be rope dropping and going all day and then STILL go to the Halloween Party.

On our party day we slept in and then spent some time swimming at our resort. It’s a perfect excuse to enjoy a pool day!

Also, don’t plan too much the day after the party, especially if you’re traveling with younger children! Plan a rest day or at least a later start for a park day the next day.

We planned our full “rest day” to be the day after MNSSHP, and it worked perfectly. We slept in, did a little shopping a Disney Springs, and then enjoyed a character meal at our resort that night.

2. Don’t Stress About Costumes

Yes, you can wear a Halloween costume to MNSSHP. But you also don’t need to stress about it! Learn from my experience!

A couple months before our party, I thought it would be fun to make family costumes, and we decided on The Emperor’s New Groove. I order materials. I crafted together headpieces. I stressed about my lack of crafting skills.

And then the day of the party came, and we decided not to wear our costumes because it was so rainy.

To be honest, I kind of wish I just hadn’t stressed about them in first place.

I mean, if you love costumes, go for it!

But if you aren’t usually a costume person, don’t stress about it! In the end, I was glad I went in just a pair of shorts and a Halloween t-shirt. It was more comfortable and less of a hassle in the rain and on the rides.

3. Make Sure You Arrive Early

While MNSSHP doesn’t officially kick off until 7:00, you can actually get into the park starting at 4:00!

Take advantage of this time! It’s a great time to get on some rides or go ahead and get in line for a character if it’s really important for you to meet someone rare (Jack and Sally are by far the most popular and often have 2+ hour waits).

While we could have used our early time a little more wisely (we didn’t show up until around 4:30 and then probably spent a bit too much time on Main Street), we were still able to get on some of the popular rides with minimal waits like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (30 minute wait) and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (10 minute wait).

The rain was definitely in our favor here because many day guests had already cleared out of the park. But even on a normal weather day, day guest crowds at Magic Kingdom tend to be lower on party days!

4. If It’s Raining, Go To The First Parade

This was the BIGGEST mistake we made at MNSSHP.

We planned to go to the second parade, and since the first parade was happening in the rain, I assumed the second parade would go off too.

I was wrong.

The second parade was cancelled due to weather, and to be honest I was more than a little heartbroken about it. The Boo to You Parade had been THE thing I was looking forward to the most.

So, if there is any hint of bad weather, make sure you go to the first parade.

5. The Second Parade Is Less Crowded

On the other hand, if the weather is nice and normal, go to the second parade!

After the first parade and fireworks are over, many people start clearing out of the park. So the second parade is MUCH less crowded! You’ll much more easily be able to find a great parade viewing spot without people blocking you.

6. Plan Your Food

There are a lot of specialty food options at MNSSHP! So make a plan before you go!

You won’t be able to hit all the options, and some food items are definitely better than others. I recommend researching before you go. There are lots of vloggers and bloggers who review the food items early in the Halloween season. So find someone you trust and decide what you might like to try.

Also consider the rest of your family. If you have a lot of people to please, try to find a food location with lots of options!

I got exactly one special party item: the Fried Pumpkin Ravioli at Pinocchio Haus. And it was really good!

And I’m really glad we chose this restaurant because Gerrit and I were both able to get special items, while our daughter was able to get a regular pizza off the menu.

Also know that not all restaurants stay open during the party, so plan accordingly!

7. Plan When To Meet Characters

Meeting the special Halloween characters is one of the most popular things to do at MNSSHP.

To be honest, meeting characters just isn’t really that important to us. For me, it’s fun when it happens, but I’m not going to stand in a forever long line just to meet someone.

Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas are BY FAR the most popular characters to meet at the party. You can get in line for them starting at 4:00, and the line will quickly jump to over an hour or two.

My recommendation: Meet them early or late. As in, either spend your non-party early entry time in that line or get in line later in the night when it has shortened.

Pooh and Friends are also a really popular meet & greet, and this is one that I would save for later in the night (if you can hang past 11:00) for a shorter line.

8. Trick or Treat at the End of the Night

At the very beginning of the party I was astounded by how long some of the trick or treating lines were!

But let me back up…throughout Magic Kingdom during MNSSHP, there are treat trails where you can trick or treat. When you enter the party you’ll be given a treat bag, and you can use this bag to collect candy all night.

And it’s not just a little bit of candy.

At every single trail, Cast Members fill your bag with FULL scoops of candy!

These trails are popular, and some of them are more popular than others because they have characters. In 2026, Princess Fairytale Hall has The Evil Queen and Maleficent inside the treat trail and The Diamond Horseshoe has the Hitchhiking Ghosts from Haunted Mansion. So these lines get ESPECIALLY long.

If you can, wait until the end of the night to hit up the treat trails. There are a few reasons for this:

• You won’t have to lug full bags of candy all over the place with you (and risk having it melt in the heat or rain).
• The lines are MUCH MUCH shorter.
• Toward the end of the night, Cast Members are even more generous with candy portions!

We did a couple of treat trails at the end of the night on our way out, but I actually wish we had set aside time for one or two more because they were basically no wait!

9. Everything Is a Shorter Wait Later in the Night

Along with the treat trails, everything else is also a shorter wait later in the night!

By 11:00, almost everything (except Peter Pan and TRON) was almost a walk-on! We even walked onto Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (again, I think the rain might have played a factor here).

So in addition to planning time for treat trails, plan to get on a ride or two in your last 30 minutes or so of the night.

Also, know the magic “walk-on” wait times! If Seven Dwarfs Mine Train shows 7 minutes, that means it’s a walk-on. And the same thing is true at Haunted Mansion if it shows 13 minutes.

10. Remember: You Can’t Do Everything!

Including the early time you can get into the park, your time at Magic Kingdom for MNSSHP is eight hours. And while that may seem like a lot, when you factor in rides and candy and food and parades and stage shows and fireworks and characters, it’s impossible to get everything done.

Make a plan before you go of what your priorities are! Pick a couple of rides and a couple of special party events that are most important for you, and then view everything else as a bonus!

I feel like we did A LOT at the party (multiple rides, a few treat trails, fireworks, and the Sanderson Sister (modified for rain) stage show) and there was still SO MUCH that we didn’t do.

We had a fun time despite some disappointments (like the parade), and you definitely will too! But these tips will help you make the most of your party time!

What’s Next?

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