As summer winds down and fall is looming closer, so too is the Halloween season. We’re both big fans of Halloween, as it’s technically when we first met (we’ve got a GREAT how we met story…but that’s for another time…). And as members of the Rebel Legion/501st costuming groups, clearly we have a love for dressing up every now and then. So when our most recent trip to Disney World coincided with some of the dates for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom, we couldn’t resist. Even though it was in September. In Florida. We’ve been to enough comic conventions that no matter the time of year, we’re ready to jump into a costume and stroll around in public!

Only, comic conventions are indoors. The Magic Kingdom, for the most part, is, outdoors. In September. In Florida. It. Was. HOT.  Still, we definitely recommend dressing up, it was so much fun to run around Disney in a costume. Chris desperately wanted to dress as, and meet, Gaston, so Angie played along with her take on Belle’s peasant dress from Once Upon A Time.

The Characters: 

We lucked into a night that didn’t have much rain, just a short little shower right as the party began at 7pm. Though your ticket gets you in at 4pm this year, once the park closes for regular guests at 6 there wasn’t much to do until 7…So we decided to queue for the Belle and Gaston meet and greet. We’ve heard on some nights they will arrive before the party starts, but since the rain brought a bit of lightning, it wasn’t safe for the characters to come out until about 7:15. But when they did arrive, oh, they were brilliant! Gaston was so excited to see “two of him” and Belle was so kind.. In fact, our photos turned out kind of disappointing because all 4 of us were enjoying the interaction so much! Disney’s characters are always such a pleasure to meet, but we felt like they went above and beyond at the party, especially for characters that aren’t normally together during the day at the park.

The Rides:

By going to a Halloween party in September, we never waited more than about 15 minutes for any ride, and rode pretty much everything we wanted. Our final ride list for the night was: Space Mountain(more on that in a bit), Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Pirates, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, and of course, Haunted Mansion.

Now about Space Mountain. For the party this year, the lights in Space Mountain are completely turned off. No tunnel lights, no starry night sky/shooting stars. Dark. Angie loved it. She worked at Space Mountain during her college program, so getting to experience it in a completely new way was absolutely amazing for her! Chris didn’t enjoy it as much, since it’s such a chaotic coaster to start with, not having any tiny glimpse of what was coming next made it seem even more jerky and bumpy than normal. But we both agree, the “new” soundtrack for the party is completely lost by the loud coaster noises, like the regular soundtrack it’s barely audible.

The Parade:

We really don’t care much for parades, but we did want to catch the Headless Horseman. A little bit before the parade, he rides down the route. And it is pretty amazing. No music, just the sound of horse hooves clanking down a dimly lit street. We happened to be between Frontier land and Liberty Square when we decided to wait for him, which added another nice touch with the appropriate scenery for a ghostly rider. That particular vantage point also gave us an easy escape route into Adventureland after we saw the Headless Horseman, so we weren’t stuck watching the rest of the parade.

The Fireworks:

Since Wishes was replaced, we’re kinda bitter when it comes to Magic Kingdom fireworks. So we were excited for Hallowishes, for no other reason than it’s not Happily Ever After. (Don’t get us wrong, Happily Ever After is nice, and the castle projections are amazing, but it just doesn’t pull at the heart strings like Wishes did.) But, for us, sitting around on Main Street to wait for fireworks just wasn’t in our plan for the party night. So instead we settled for a spot in Tomorrowland next to the Speedway. It’s actually a great place to watch the fireworks themselves, as long as you’re ok with them not being centered behind the castle, and missing the castle lighting effects. And, for the halloween party, you are RIGHT beside one of the perimeter fireworks launch locations.

Overall, we definitely had a great time at Mickey’s Not so Scary. We also tried some of the food that was exclusive to the party and got to trick-or-treat, and still left the party a bit before the event ended. So that’s quite a lot to pack in to 5 hours! Even if it was nearly 2 months before Halloween. In Florida. Because nothing says fall like sweating in 1000% humidity at 10pm during September. But still, totally worth it, if for nothing more than to avoid the daytime crowds. Some of the parties closer to Halloween are nearly just as crowded as a normal park day, but by going early we were able to experience Magic Kingdom without having as many people around. And Halloween extras or not, enjoying a relatively quiet Magic Kingdom is easily worth the price of the party ticket!