It’s the most wonderful time of year! No no no, not Christmas. November 1st is when I start riding that train. No, I’m talking about Halloween. I’ve always been partial to Halloween. Probably from my goth phase when I was growing up. Black nail polish, molded vampire fangs, silver rings on every finger of my hand. Yeah, those were the days. And I’m not even talking about Halloween season. I looked like that in the middle of spring. My mom is probably reading this nodding, remembering those crazy times. My wife is probably shaking her head, wondering wtf I did before I met her. Jokes on her, she married me! Haha!
Ok, so, Halloween time is full of a bunch of fun. And for us theme park fanatics, there’s a few cool options to celebrate the spookiest time of year. Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando is up there for the wife and I. Lots of memories of going almost every year we were together. Buuuut the kids probably wouldn’t dig it too much. Probably won’t sleep too much either, what with the fear of the clowns eating them and whatnot. So last year we went ahead and splurged on Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
Yes, last year. I’ve been lazy, what else is new.
The thing with Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, or, MNSSHP, as I HATE to see it shortened as, is that no matter if you’re an annual passholder or not, you still have to pay extra to enter. $75 ish from the beginning of the season to $115 if you go closer to Halloween on peak nights. A few benefits: the park is open and most of the rides are as well, along with free candy for trick or treaters, which, hot dog, there’s a bunch of. Also, you get to experience a few really cool treats for the Party in the form of parades, shows, etc.. It just… ugh, it really stinks having to pay. Sorry, #passholeproblems. Still though, the event and uniqueness of the activities make it worth it, especially if you love the season.
Sometimes you’ll get lucky though. If you can pick a night that isn’t so busy, you’ll have the whole of Magic Kingdom ridiculously empty compared to normal, which is usually elbow to elbow with tourists. But, if you’re like us and magically pick a random day out of the whole calendar and it turns out to be a sold out night, then you’re in for a busy time. Still though, it doesn’t get as crazy as the day crowd even if it’s sold out so that’s good.
The atmosphere is great for MNINSSSHP. It runs from mid-late August, which is why you may hear me celebrating the coming of fall earlier than most, and usually goes until November 1st. So if you go a little later in the season, you might get lucky and get a brisk, fall night, where the temperature can drop all the way down to the high 70’s!! Oh man, that’s like, sweater weather down here, it’s amazing.
The best part for me is the decorations. I love Christmas time in the parks, but the fall decorations in Magic Kingdom always get me. The pumpkins, fall colors, hay stacks, scarecrows, I cannot wait for this time of year just for the feels of seeing all the decor. Here’s an Instagram post of mine from last year showing off the goodness.
The next best part? The Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular Show! This is one of my favorite productions throughout Disney. I’m always rooting for the good guy, but I can’t deny how drawn I am to the villain’s song in movies. Ever since I was young I loved listening to the villain sing out their dastardly plans, it always stood out as the best part of the movie for me. I guess it made the happy Disney cartoon seem more darker than it was. Bad guys carrying a tune and making it sound so cool while doing so is still a highlight.
What? My top 3 villain songs? Aw thanks for asking! Let me see.. 3) Oogie Boogie’s Song from my favorite Disney movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. So much great music from that movie, nothing tops it for me. He’s the freaking Boogie Man for crying out loud. But in terms of villain songs, Mr. Oogie Boogie got beat. 2) The Mob Song (wow, that video is rough) from Beauty and the Beast. The song has Gaston rallying up a town to go kill, decapitate, and mount the movie’s hero on a wall. How dark is that?! I always loved the mood of it too. I remember replaying it a lot as a kid. But it couldn’t beat number one! 1) Be Prepared from The Lion King. Yes, there are many great villain songs, but only one Jeremy Irons. And it’s not only him, it’s the premise of the song too. Another rallying song, but now the villain is plotting to kill not only his brother, but his nephew, and then betray those who helped him do it in order to become the new king. C’mon, how twisted is that?! I love this song so much, I used it to audition for musicals in High School and it made me cooler! ….Actually that’s a lie, I was in musical theater, there’s only so much cool I could be.
What’s your favorite Disney villain song? I’m legit asking! Be sure to answer somewhere, preferably in a comment below.
Anyway, this Hocus Pocus show focuses on villains and it’s hosted by the Sanderson Sisters!
Oh man, I can’t believe I’ve been going on and on about MININSHNIP and haven’t mentioned the Sanderson Sisters. Hocus Pocus is our go to, number one Halloween movie in the house. And I absolutely adore that they have them front and center during the Party.
And the show! They host this amazing show that is performed twice a night. In it, you’ll see numerous villains from various Disney movies. Mr. Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas), Dr. Facilier (The Princess and the Frog), Jafar (Aladdin), and so many more. Most of them perform their song and it all comes together at the end with “I Put a Spell on You” by the Sanderson Sisters. It’s really a sight to see if you’re a fan of the music and characters. Above is my video I recorded of the final minute or so of the show. (BTW, I’d appreciate a sub for my freshly made channel, winkwink)
And of course, if you want to see the show in its entirety, it’s available on numerous channels on YouTube. Here’s one from TPMvids that is good quality if you’d like to check it out.
Last, and certainly not least, the candy! Now, I’m not sure what happened, maybe it was an off night and we just had bad luck, but usually the candy the kids get from this is INSANE. The first time we took them to MININSSHIP, we had the bottom basket of the stroller and numerous bags bursting at the seams with candy. This year (2018) was much different.
Might have been the night we went, like I said, but we got far less than before. And I noticed on the /r/WaltDisneyWorld reddit page that people were getting so much candy it covered their entire hotel room bed! Bottom line, kids had fun and it was great and the candy is just icing on the cake, but your mileage may vary with how much you get compared to others.
The Boo-To-You Halloween Parade is a great thing to watch as well. It is kicked off by the Headless Horseman himself riding his horse through the parade route. THAT’S a sight to see, it’s so cool.
The few years I’ve gone to this little shindig I always try to get a good picture of the Horseman. This is the best I could do, considering it’s always crazy and hard to find a good spot.
The parade is fun to watch with a few cool floats and performances. I don’t have the hardware to get great video of anything, but luckily my buddy* Tim Tracker hooks us** up with awesome videos of the theme parks. If you’re a fan of Disney park stuff (or Universal), he’s one of the best covering a lot of everything here. Give him a sub here on his channel, a like, all that stuff YouTubers dig. As far as the parade goes (and the fireworks), check out his video of it right here. He also covers the insanely tasty looking dessert party Disney has available to book. (*: He’s not really my buddy, we only saw him once and he took a picture with the kids. **: By us, I mean the internet, not me personally.)
BTW, that Not-So-Scary Dessert Party.. Yeah, it looks amazing and I would love to do that with the wife. Buuuuuuut at $85 per person ($50 for 10 and under, all in addition to the ticket to get in), I can’t say we’ll be doing that any time soon. Looks awesome though, check it out in Tim’s video.
The firework show is another thing you should probably make time for. I love the music that goes with all the castle projections, it really completes the night the best way Disney can do. Again, Tim’s video above shows some highlights of it.
The wife reminded me of a few tips pertaining to the entertainment that really worked for us when we went. The show, the parade, and the fireworks will all be on mostly everyone’s list to hit. Most of the time, everyone tries to go to the first of everything. So do your best to plan to watch the second show and the second parade. I think we had it planned to where we caught the second show and right after we were right there for the fireworks when they started shortly after. Be smart! Plan ahead and anticipate crazy crowds full of people who don’t give one piece of candy corn about your enjoyment. Trust me, they’re everywhere.
A tip from me? Make sure you plan a trip to The Haunted Mansion. It’s already one of my favorite rides in Magic Kingdom (tied with Pirates of the Caribbean), but it just looks so awesome for Not-So-Scary.
Another tip is to be on the lookout for exclusive merch you can only get if you go to the event. There’s a ton of stuff that is only available if you go, so look around and see if something tickles your fancy. Unfortunately, I’m weak and collect way too much crap, and Magicbands are one of them. I grabbed the one exclusive to Not-So-Scary for 2018 and it’s still one of my favorite designs.
Another thing is the exclusive card for Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom. It changes every year, like in 2018 it featured Orange Bird. Even if you don’t play the Sorcerer’s game (which you should!), it’s a cool freebie to collect.
Not much else to MINISHIP. It’s a grand ol’ time with the kids, or for kids at heart. Lots of candy if you’re lucky, or at least a good amount when you’re not lucky. Fun shows, great atmosphere, sweet parade. It’s worth going at least once if you’ve never been! We would go every year if there was some sort of discounted ticket or something for passholders. But having to pay full price for it makes it a little harder for us to plan and go. Truth be told though, as much as I said I didn’t want to go this year, I’m totally wanting to now thanks to writing this up. Thanks! /s
