How to Plan Your Night at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Halloween has arrived at the Walt Disney World Resort! This year’s Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in the Magic Kingdom runs select nights from August 12-October 31, 2022, and each party is packed with exclusive entertainment, character meet and greets, sweets and treats, merchandise, and more.

Disney just released the full entertainment schedule for this year’s Halloween festivities, so you can start creating your game plan for your night in Magic Kingdom Park. With so much happening in the Park on party nights, crafting your itinerary can feel overwhelming. But don’t worry; we’ve got all the tips you need to make the most of your visit to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party this year at this Disney Park.

RELATED: What to Know About Choosing a Costume for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Event Details

Tickets for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party range from $109-179 per adult based on the date of your visit. Weeknights and dates earlier in the season will be less expensive than weekends and dates closer to Halloween (though Halloween night is already sold out.)

There are a lot of new and returning features at this year’s event, including Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular Fireworks, Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular stage show, attraction overlays, trick-or-treating, and more. We’ve covered it all in our complete Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party guide, which you can read here.

And with that, here is our go-to itinerary for experiencing all that this iconic Halloween event has to offer….

RELATED: Halloween vs. Christmas: When Should You Go to Walt Disney World?

Arriving at the Magic Kingdom

Your ticket to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party gets you into the Park at 4:00 p.m. Since the Halloween party does not kick off until 7:00 p.m., you can stretch the value of you ticket by entering the Park a couple of hours earlier.

We recommend arriving right at 4:00 p.m. to give you plenty of time to take photos of you in your Halloween costume with Disney PhotoPass photographers and ride some of your favorite attractions before the festivities begin.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is packed with so many things to do that we would not suggest tying up your time during the event with a lengthy meal. If you do want to dine at one of the Park’s table service restaurants, though, doing so before the party begins would be the way to go.

Character Meet and Greets

By 7:00 p.m. when the party begins, we recommend getting in line for the character meet and greet that is your top must-do of the night. In the past, some of the most popular character meetings at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party have been Jack Skellington and Sally or all seven of the dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

Check the party map when you arrive at the Park or the My Disney Experience app to see which character you plan to prioritize for 7:00 p.m. If you get in line at or just before 7:00 p.m., you should be off to a great start in terms of having time to do everything on your list at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

RELATED: Our Favorite New Food Items for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Trick-or-Treating and Snacks

Trick-or-Treating is one of the most exciting parts of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, especially for adults who get to dress up and join in on the fun! Thankfully trick-or-treating and snacking around the Park are some of the most flexible activities at this special event, so you can easily fill in visits to treat locations or stops to snack whenever the mood strikes throughout the evening.

If you meet your favorite characters first, you should have plenty of time to trick-or-treat and try some snacks before the evening’s scheduled entertainment. You can also give yourself more time by grabbing a snack to have while you watch one of the shows at the party! We love picking up a treat to enjoy while watching the Cadaver Dans.

Cadaver Dans and Dance Parties

Speaking of the Cadaver Dans, this memorable barbershop quartet takes on a spooky vibe for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and their sets are easily the most underrated entertainment at this Magic Kingdom event. The Cadaver Dans perform throughout the event at 7:00 p.m., 7:45 p.m., 8:30 p.m., 9:50 p.m., and 10:30 p.m.

There are two character dance parties at this year’s Halloween event that run the entire course of the party from 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. The dance parties include the Storybook Circus Disney Junior Jam featuring Doc McStuffins, Fancy Nancy, Vampirina, and more, and the Monsterous Scream-O-Ween Dance Ball featuring Mike Wazowski and Sulley from Monsters, Inc. (2001) in Tomorrowland.

Since the character dance parties take place throughout the event, we recommend fitting in a visit to them whenever you are not tied down to more limited entertainment like the parade or fireworks.

Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular Fireworks

Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular Fireworks kick off at 10:15 p.m., much like Disney Enchantment, the best view of the fireworks will be in front of Cinderella Castle, in the hub, and down Main Street, U.S.A. Behind the castle in Fantasyland, you will lose the projections, but can still experience all of the fireworks themselves while enjoying the show from a very last-minute spot if you do not feel up for waiting it out on Main Street.

Wherever you choose to watch the fireworks from, we recommend seeing Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular before the parade (with the exception of nights where it could rain later.)

Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade

This iconic parade kicks off with the Headless Horseman and an appearance by Max Goof cosplaying as Powerline at 9:15 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade begins in Frontierland and runs through Liberty Square, in front of Cinderella Castle, down Main Street, U.S.A., and ending in Town Square.

The first parade is typically much more crowded than the second one, so we recommend waiting and catching it at 11:15 p.m. The only exception to this tip? See both if the parade is a priority and you want to see it twice (we can’t blame you as it features Disney villains, Haunted Mansion ballroom dancers, gravediggers, and favorite characters like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto, all dressed up in their Halloween costumes. And, if the weather looks like it will turn for the second parade, you may want to change your plans and see the first one.

Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular

One of the most popular events at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular stage show which takes place in front of Cinderella Castle multiple times throughout the evening. One performance takes place at midnight, and this is the one we recommend seeing. We know it would be a late night in the theme park, but we’ll explain.

Since the party ends at 12:00 a.m., if you wait until then to see the show when the party is over, you will not be missing out on any other Halloween experiences around the Park. Seeing the last show would save you the most time and help keep the rest of your night open in case plans change.

The show stars the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus (1993) alongside Disney villains like Oogie Boogie, Lady Tremaine, Dr. Facilier, and more runs at 8:35 p.m., 10:45 p.m., and 12:00 a.m., with a 7:40 p.m. performance for party dates in October only.

As the first Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party since 2019, this year’s event is highly anticipated and a number of party dates have already sold out. So far, Halloween night is sold out, and only limited dates in August remain. If you still need tickets, be sure to order yours asap on DisneyWorld.com.

We hope this itinerary helps you make the most of everything there is to do at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party this year. Have a magical time and happy Halloween!