Guest Blogger: Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
Hi guys, it’s Alex here again! In case you don’t remember me from my previous blog posts from earlier this year on Disneyland Paris, you can check them out here and here. I’m so happy to be talking to you again about my recent trip to Walt Disney World.
So, a little background info about me: I FREAKING LOVE HALLOWEEN! Seriously though, it’s by far the best holiday around, AND I was born in October, so it’s kind-of a win-win situation to me to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. This was my second time going to MNSSHP and I had such a blast.
I was traveling with my parents and was lucky enough to find out that a good friend of mine was also traveling to Disney at the same time. Naturally, we made plans to get together for MNSSHP. She and her siblings had dinner reservations at Jungle Navigation Skipper Canteen so I got to Magic Kingdom a bit on the early side, which meant taking some fun photos in front of Cinderella’s Castle in my Halloween party dress.
I have a confession to make…I have been to Disney so many times, I have lost count (I lost count somewhere after 15). And in all of those trips, I have never before been on Astro Orbiter. It had kind of turned into my unicorn of sorts. When I was little, the lines were always so long and when mom argues “wait in line for Astro Orbiter or go on Space Mountain again” for me the choice was simple: Space Mountain. So, when I mentioned to my friends that I have never before been on it, we all decided to take a nice high flying trip over Tomorrowland. My inner 8-year-old self was so happy, as well as my 34-year-old self.
After making one of my Disney dreams come true, we all found our trick-or-treat bags and started off towards Adventureland. One thing that was different this year, compared to my last MNSSHP experience, was the addition of Halloween overlays on certain attractions. One of them being an all time Alex favorite, Pirates of the Caribbean. I am warning you now, if you do not want to know what happens please feel free to skip ahead.
For those still reading, in the queue they added cast members to interact with you while waiting in line. Everyone kept telling us to beware of Gun Powder Pete, and while you’re on the ride, he’s right on top of the bridge, interacting with the entire boat. Sadly, I didn’t capture any of this on camera as I was honestly enjoying myself so much, it didn’t even occur to me to take out my phone to snap a quick photo. Sorry blog followers.
After Adventureland, we headed towards Frontierland where we quickly rode Big Thunder Mountain and found seats for the first parade of the night.
While waiting for the parade to start I just had to get one of the MNSSHP dessert exclusives. I am a big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas fan so I went with the Jack Skellington cake pop while my friend went with the Zero waffle sundae.
I was lucky enough to be in the company of someone who used to work for Disney and has great insight into MNSSHP. She told me to always watch the first parade in Frontierland where it starts and keep your back towards Liberty Square. For one thing, once the parade ends for you, the rest of the people are still watching it, which means shorter wait times at the rides. Secondly, by staying on the side closer to Liberty Square, you can make a swift exit towards Haunted Mansion, an OBVIOUS MNSSHP must.
The parade itself never lets me down. As my friend who worked there said to me, “ It is hands-down the best thing that Disney puts on”. She’s not wrong. I still get goosebumps thinking about the gravediggers scraping their shovels.
Post Haunted Mansion and parade fun, we started making our way towards the castle for the HalloWishes fireworks. As per my friends suggestion, we were a little bit farther away from the castle, closer to Main Street. Since HalloWishes has a panoramic fireworks display, in order to get the full effect, one should stay a little farther back. And I not only love Halloween but I also have a deep love of Disney villains; I am so happy when watching this show. It really is my happy place.
We walked our way towards Tomorrowland once more and got to ride the second Halloween overlay attraction, Space Mountain. This one was my favorite of the entire night. They turned every, and yes I do mean EVERY SINGLE LIGHT off in the ride and turned up some fun dance type music. Somehow having no lights on in the ride made it seem so much faster.
We kept on trick or treating throughout the night and made it from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland while viewing the third Halloween overlay attraction, The Tea Cups. None of us were all that excited by a fog machine and some black lights enough to want to wait in line for that one but it seemed cute!
At this point my friend’s siblings bowed out and it was just us from there on out. We made our way back down towards Cinderella’s Castle and had a split moment of “Should I do the same and go home and sleep”? The answer to that was a hard no for me. My friend Laurel and I stayed on Main Street to catch the second parade of the night. And much like everyone has ever said to me, stay for the later parade its always less crowded. They weren’t wrong. We got spots right up in the front!
After the parade ended it was super close to midnight and we were both super sleepy but we pushed on and watched the midnight show of Hocus Pocus Villains Spectacular. With it being the 25th anniversary of the film, how could you NOT watch their show? I know I keep saying this but honestly it was so much fun. It brought together one of my childhood favorites with my other loves of Disney and Halloween.
Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for my next post all about Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival!
Alex
magically lirio 
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