Mickey’s Halloween Party 2018

A few  weeks ago we were lucky enough to attend Mickey’s Halloween Party for our 4th year in a row. It’s typically our only trip of the year we make to Disneyland so we definitely look forward to it. We originally started going because the tickets were so cheap- back in 2015 we paid just $68 per ticket. But since then the prices have gone up drastically…. so now we just go because we love it! The lines for the rides are so short- it’s like having a Fast Pass for basically everything. Plus the Frightfully Fun Parade(led by the Headless Horseman) is awesome! Throw in all the fun Halloween decor and you’ve got yourself a fun night! Here’s a little recap of our trip:

 

We attended the party on a Friday night so we were able to enter the parks at 4pm. The actual Party start time is 7pm on Fridays and it goes until midnight, but your ticket allows you to enter the park 3 hours before the party begins. We like to get there early to take advantage of all the park time we can get!

Right after scanning our tickets at the gate, we were given our Special Event wristbands. They start checking for wristbands as the Party start time approaches and if you don’t have a wristband you have to exit the park. So it’s definitely important to make sure those wristbands are secure!

Our first stop was to the Market House on Main Street for some coffee and some snacks. Cooper got a cute Mickey Mouse shortbread cookie. We were fueled up and ready to go!

Our first priority is RIDES! Not everyone would agree with this- there are all sorts of reasons people like to attend Mickey’s Halloween Party. Some people are really into the dressing up in costume thing, some go for the trick-or-treating,  some people go for the special parade and/or the special fireworks show, and some go for the special character meet and greets. Others go because of the short ride waits. We are definitely these people! Our second priority is the Frightfully Fun Parade. We don’t even bother Trick-or-Treating. We have candy at home, so why waste park time on that?

Needless to say we immediately made a beeline for Pirates of the Caribbean, followed by Jungle Cruise. Then we rode the Indiana Jones ride- it was Cooper’s first time! He loved it! The lines were so quick- we typically had a wait time of less than 10 minutes.

We squeezed in as many rides as we could before it was time for our dinner reservation. Then we checked in at the Blue Bayou reservation desk. We had reserved the Parade Viewing dining package which means that after dinner you are given a ticket that grants you entry into a roped off area to watch the parade. To me, this is a great value because I DO NOT want to camp out 2 hours ahead of time just to watch a parade. To me that would be a huge waste of precious park time! So I figure since we’re going to want to eat anyway, why not pay a little more for a dinner that gets you parade viewing?

I love eating at Blue Bayou. It has the best ambiance of almost any restaurant. Plus you get to sit down at an actual table rather than grab a quick service meal and hope to find someplace to sit while you eat. Definitely worth it in my book! To have a comfortable spot to sit down and rest while you enjoy your meal is definitely a necessity.

The Parade Package is a prix fixe menu and you get to choose an appetizer, entree, and dessert. The food was good- not the best meal I’ve had in my life, but the ambiance makes up for it. My dessert was really cool looking:

It was a blood-orange bunt cake, topped with this glazed doughnut sphere type thing. It was swerved on a glowing disc which made it look really neat! The taste was kind of blah though- the best part was the little cookie it came with.

After dinner our server gave each of us a big bag a candy(I guess this is to make up for the trick-or-treating that you miss while dining), a cool light up necklace, and our tickets to access the parade viewing area.

We left the Blue Bayou and went straight to the parade. We had a perfect view of everything and only had to get there 15 minutes before the parade start time. The Headless Horseman starts everything off. Click the video to watch:

 

 

Cooper really likes that part! The horse is so beautiful too! Right after that the Frightfully fun parade starts. The floats are great, the music is awesome, and the characters are all of your favorite villains! Plus they have a Haunted Mansion float with the Hitchhiking Ghosts, the ballroom dancers, and gravediggers! We are huge Haunted Mansion fans so for us that is definitely the highlight of the parade.

Here are some videos of the parade: First video is of the Stilt Walkers, Second video is of the Ballroom Dancers, Third video is of the Gravediggers.

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We decided to skip the fireworks following the parade so we could take advantage of the super short lines. We walked right onto Star Tours and Space Mountain with no lines at all(and we even got a peek of the fireworks walking onto Space Mountain).

Space Mountain is extra scary with the Ghost Galaxy overlay. I still get freaked out by that ride! I was terrified of it as a kid, and now I’m terrified of it when I ride it with my kid! But he loves it 🙂

We saved the Haunted Mansion for our last ride of the night. It’s fun to see the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. This was the longest line we waited in all night and we didn’t even wait 20 minutes.

We did a little souvenir shopping, took some pictures, and left the park at 10:45pm. There’s no way Cooper would have made it to midnight. We changed him into his pajamas before we left the parking lot, and he fell asleep on the way home 🙂

We had an awesome time and we can’t wait to go again next year!!

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If you haven’t been to Mickey’s Halloween Party I definitely think you should go! It’s a great event- for kids and adults. But be aware that you will need to buy your tickets early. The party only takes place on certain dates starting in mid September and ending on Halloween night. There were 15 party nights this year and they all sold out well before October was even here! We bought our tickets through the Disney Visa pre-sale in June! Same goes for the Parade Package dining at Blue Bayou. Book that as soon as your booking window opens(60 days prior) because that will sell out too. So definitely plan ahead!

We don’t usually dress up in costume- because honestly it’s just usually too hot! “Fall” in Southern California is just extended Summer for the most part. Even though we don’t dress up, we still wear Halloween stuff.  I always get Cooper a new Halloween Disney shirt. I also buy a new Halloween shirt for myself and usually a new set of Minnie ears too!

 Coopers shirt is from the Disney store. You can find it here.

My shirt is from an Etsy shop called BlueBonnet Bella”s. Click here to check out here shop.

My ears are from an Etsy shop called Ears to Magic Boutique. These were by a long shot the most comfortable Minnie Ears I’ve ever worn and they are so cute! Click here to see her shop.

We had such a great time and we are excited to go back again next year! Thanks for reading- hope you are enjoying your Halloween season so far. I love this time of year!