Emma Kate is just now at the age where she “gets” Halloween. She knows all about trick-or-treating, candy, and costumes. So as you can imagine, this kid was PUMPED when she heard we were going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party to go trick-or-treating at her favorite place–“the castle”, as she calls Magic Kingdom.
Being not quite 3 and with a bedtime of 7:45 that we stick to religiously, I was hesitant to keep her out for a party that didn’t start until 7:00, but I’m SO glad I did! We had a blast, and I wanted to share some of my best tips for bringing little ones (like toddlers or preschoolers) to Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party.
1.) Make sure they take a good nap that day, maybe even a late nap: Emma Kate has been on a nap strike at school, so when I picked her up the day of the party I was bummed when I heard she hadn’t napped, and knew it would make her cranky later. However, she thankfully took a late nap in the car on the way to Orlando, which I think helped her to stay up later!
2.) Bring distractions for the kids while waiting for the parade, shows and fireworks: The Boo to You parade, Sanderson Sisters stage show and Hallowishes fireworks are not to be missed, and are my favorite things about the party. But, they involve a little bit of waiting around if you want a good spot. Be sure to bring toys or distractions for the little ones. We were sure my phone was powered up so Emma Kate could play games on it before the fun started, and we had plenty of snacks for distractions as well.
3.) Arrive early: The party technically starts at 7:00, but you can usually get in as early as 4:00 and begin enjoying the park. We arrived early so that we could do a couple of “normal” things like rides before the party started. I didn’t want to waste party time doing things we could do on any visit to Magic Kingdom.
4.) Have a plan: When you get to the park, be sure to grab a special party brochure which will have a map of the park as well as where the treat stations are located, and times and locations for the shows, parade, and dance party. In order to fit it all in we had to make a plan of what time we were going to be where. I feel like if we hadn’t done that, we would have run around in circles and ended up missing things, like getting to dance with Boo, Mike, and Sulley!
5.) Remember, kids are more resilient than you think. We had a plan in place that when Emma Kate started to melt down, my mom was going to take her back to the resort. However, much to our amazement, she was a rock star and ended up staying out with us until after 11:30! She wasn’t fussy at all, and we even had a hard time getting her to fall asleep. Ok, so maybe that was the sugar talking, but she did so much better than I anticipated and it made me realize I just wasn’t giving her enough credit. I can’t believe I ever considered not taking her, she held up just fine, and now we have memories that will last forever.
Be sure to purchase your tickets to the party here. Some dates sell out, so don’t wait!
Disclosure: I was provided tickets to the party at no cost, however all opinions are my own, and I was not required to write this post.
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Can you describe what the Halloween party is like? I am a Disney newbie and am not familiar with it!
It’s a lot of fun! Check out this post from a few years ago, it’s more of an overview. Trick or treating, special parade and fireworks and stage shows, characters in Halloween costumes, etc. https://heatherslookingglass.com/mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party-2011/
How much fun is that! I’m so glad you all had a great time and she held up well during the party!
She did great!
Looks like fun. I’ve never been to the party, but we went to Disneyland a few years ago at Halloween time and loved the ambiance.
I have never done that one!
I love all of these tips! I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to go to Disney World!
We took mine for the first time right at 2 and I thought it was a great age.
Sounds like a great time! All of my babies have visited Disney as toddlers and have done great!
That’s awesome!
This looks like so much fun! We are planning Disney soon and these tips definitely transfer over! Thanks so much!
Anytime!
Having a plan is a must. We went to the one in California last year and had no clue what to expect.
Oh no! Hope it was still fun!
How fun and I’m so glad she made it through all the festivities too!
xo, Nicole
yes! I would have hated for her to miss them.