This year I had the opportunity to attend Disney Halloween parties on both coasts. After flying in to Orlando and heading straight for the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on September 23, I returned home to attend Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland on September 30.
While I had a great time at both events, I thought I’d break down each party into different categories and assess which park had the best party. We’ll start with one of the biggest reasons people attend these parties…
Treats
If you’ve ever been to a Disney Halloween party you know there is hardly a lack of candy up for grabs. With that in mind I had no problem completely filling my goodie bag and then some at each party. However one thing Disneyland offered that Magic Kingdom didn’t was “healthier” options. I don’t so much care about the health aspect, but it was nice to be able to get carrots, apple slices, graham cracker cookie, or chips instead of just more chocolate. Whether I felt like eating a snack at the event or at home later, it was great to have something else other than candy to munch on.
On top of that Disneyland also offered a Passholder exclusive treat — a surprisingly delicious Rice Krispie treat covered in frosting and a Mickey’s Halloween Party logo. While I certainly appreciated the party-exclusive Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom card I received at Not-So-Scary, it didn’t taste nearly as good.
Winner: Disneyland
Entertainment
When the Disneyland Resort’s Halloween parties were still in Disney California Adventure, Disneyland introduced a new fireworks show for fall called Halloween Screams. Once the parties moved across the esplanade the fireworks became a party exclusive to much fan protest. Over time people stop caring so much about the exclusivity (much like the Court of Angels, but I digress) yet the fireworks remain as a slightly altered version of Happy Hallowishes from Magic Kingdom. The two shows are so similar that it’s not worth arguing over a winner here.
The real discrepancy comes in the parade category. While Mickey’s Costume Cavalcade is fun, even the word “cavalcade” implies the lower scale of this parade when compared to Magic Kingdom’s Boo To You. It seems weird for me to say since I’m not even a big parade person to begin with, but Boo To You is not only my favorite parade, it may be my favorite thing about Mickey’s Not-So-Scary overall. The Haunted Mansion section is always a treat and seeing the sparks fly off of the grave diggers’ shovels (even on rain-soaked concrete) never fails to impress.
Winner: Magic Kingdom
Decorations/Atmosphere
An underrated aspect of the Halloween parties is the special decorations and access to parts of the park you don’t always see. For example, the Diamond Horseshoe in Magic Kingdom is used a fraction of the time its West Coast cousin is, so it was nice to get a look inside even if it was made-over to a Villains dance club (to be fair, the street art inspired paintings in the Horseshoe were actually really cool). Even non-exclusive areas like Main Street get a cool new look for the parties thanks to lighting effects and music.
In Disneyland my favorites included a creeped out Village Haus and a super eerie walkway across from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Even for a park I’ve been in hundreds of times, the lighting and special effects they add for the parties give it an entirely different feel and makes the hard ticket worth it.
Winner: Disneyland
Crowds
Before I get into this category, I’d like to take a minute to applaud the attendees of both parks who rocked some of the best costumes I’ve seen this side of Comic-Con. Special shout-outs to the group of young men who dressed as Walt Disney World’s purple signage.
As for the amount of crowds, maybe everyone in Disneyland was just on to my plan, but every treat trail I waited in moved incredibly slow. Additionally the special entertainment was jammed early and often. That being said, the wait times for attractions were very manageable, but it seemed like Disneyland’s local-heavy demographics struck again.
Magic Kingdom, on the other hand, was like a ghost town. Not only were there short waits for many attractions (including 10 minutes for Peter Pan and only 30 for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train), but the treat trails and entertainment were easily accessible. I’d argue that the strong showers at the beginning of the evening helped, but the crowds remained light throughout and who is really going to skip a hard-ticket event because of rain in Florida?
Winner: Magic Kingdom
Meet and Greets
I have to admit that I didn’t really pay much attention to the meet in greets in either park during the events. I did notice some villains in Town Square in Disneyland as well as a special Agent P location inside of Innoventions.
As for Magic Kingdom the only meet and greet that really caught my eye (not that there weren’t others around) was Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eyeore dressed in Halloween costumes greeting guests near The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction. As a huge Pooh Bear fan this was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen and I regret having to choose my first ride on Mine Train over getting to take a picture with the group.
Winner: Magic Kingdom
And the winner is….
Magic Kingdom: Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
It was super close, but ultimately I have to give it the East Coast. As great as Disneyland looks all dressed up for Halloween — including the special overlays MK lacks —there is a lot to be said for the light-crowds during Not-So-Scary combined with the sheer awesomeness of the Boo To You parade.
If you have the chance I highly recommend the Halloween parties on either coast as they are consistently one of the best hard-ticket events Disney offers.