Should my family visit during the Halloween Party season or before?

Should we visit during Mickey's Halloween party or before?

  • Go to the party!

    Votes: 3 37.5%
  • Skip the party season

    Votes: 5 62.5%

  • Total voters
    8

AuntieKels

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Our family is 2 adults, a 4yo and 1yo. We are morning people and often leave the parks by 7 or 8pm. Is it worth it to get Mickey's Halloween Party tickets if we will be heading out an hour or two after it starts? Should we plan a trip the week before parties start so we aren't limited on leaving the parks early for party goers?

Facts: we visit Disneyland once a year for 5 days staying on property. Never been to a party and never done any nighttime shows since kids.
 
I wouldn't pay for Halloween party tickets for only a couple of hours unless there's some element of the party that's really important to you. I also wouldn't plan my dates around avoiding the parties though. If you're going for 5 days you'll likely only have 1-2 parties in your dates, so if those dates work for you otherwise (weather-wise and schedule-wise), I would just work around the parties. We always go in October and just hop to DCA before the party. I haven't seen the massive crowds in DCA on party nights that some people report, just a slight increase.
 
I definitely wouldn't pay for a party for just an hour or two.

I also wouldn't necessarily go the week before the parties start? I'd just pick the week you want to go and leave when the party starts.
 


October seems to be super busy. I would recommend going in mid to late September to see the park decorated for Halloween but wouldn’t spend the extra $$ on Halloween Party tickets. You can stay in the parks till the party starts at 6:00 then either hop or call it an earlier than usual day!
 
No its not worth paying the extra money but only going for an hour or two. October is crowded but it's my favorite time of the year to go. Also it can be a bit cooler than September which is often very hot.
 
I also would not buy MHP tickets if you're only going to be there for an hour or two. That's not enough time to really do much and you'll miss out on most of the party exclusive entertainment.

On the other hand, I wouldn't skip going during the "party season" just because there are parties. As others have said, you're likely to only encounter one or two parties, depending on when you go and which days of the week you plan to be there. DLR during HalloweenTime is a lot of fun. Haunted Mansion and Space have their Hallowen overlays, along with more modest overlays at Luigi's and Maters. There are lots of decorations and specialty treats. The biggest drawback is that DL nighttime entertainment (firework and F!) are usually limited to the weekends, so you'll need to include a Sat or Sun if you wanted to see either of those (normally Fri also have nighttime entertainment, but once MHPs start, there is no nighttime entertainment for non-MHP guests).

If you go before the MHP start, you only have a limited amount of time to enjoy HallowenTime (it starts on 9/7 and the first party is on 9/19). The first weekend is likely to be pretty busy as guests go to DLR to see all of the new HalloweenTime offerings. The weekdays might not be to bad (assuming no ticket deals or other special offerings). If you wanted to avoid MHP, then I would try to go after the first weekend is finished, but before the first party.
 


I agree not to get tickets to MHP if you are only going for a couple hours. If you can make it to the parade time and firework time, then maybe you can think of getting the tickets. The Halloween shows are pretty cool! The fireworks are my favorite fireworks of the ones they have!

If you decide not to get tickets, you still get to see all the decorations and you can stay in DL until the party starts. You can also go to DCA! They have a lot of Halloween decorations and Cars Land looks even more awesome during this time!

-Kriss :tink:
 

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