Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party 2024

wdwmagic

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Nowhere on the app does it say that Tiana's will be open at the party.
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Touchdown

Well-Known Member
I like ending my last night at MK but there is a party that night and I'm not going to it. I'd have to change my trip dates in order to go to MK on my last park night and I cannot change my trip dates as I am driving and the trip is sandwiched between my dad's birthday and a wedding.
This is why my rule is my last day I shall only attend MK or Epcot, have a wonderful pre party (lightly attended) morning at MK, book a early dinner reservation at a WS resturant and hop over around 1pm and end at Epcot.
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Meanwhile, the amount you need to spend at HHN to actually enjoy yourself makes the MNSSHP ticket prices look like pocket change.
I don't think you've looked at the actual prices... the most expensive HHN ticket is almost 80 dollars less than the equivalent MNSSHP. You'll be paying premium prices for anything in either park when it comes to food or drink so I'm not sure how you figure DIsney is cheaper.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
I don't think you've looked at the actual prices... the most expensive HHN ticket is almost 80 dollars less than the equivalent MNSSHP. You'll be paying premium prices for anything in either park when it comes to food or drink so I'm not sure how you figure DIsney is cheaper.
Express is necessary in my experience to see everything in one evening. Whereas for MNSSHP, I get my ticket and can do everything I want.

So HHN in August would be $1100 for my family of four. MNSSHP the same night (8/30) is $500.
 

wutisgood

Well-Known Member
People always compare Disney to universal while not recognizing that they are often selling different products or have value that depends on the person.

Horror nights can be a good value for someone who wants to get in a do some houses and a lot of the rides for cheaper than a day ticket. It has value being that every house is new ever year for a good planner who can barely get to every house in a night. It can be a good deal for multi night tickets for people who either go early or stay late to take advantage of shorter lines (increasingly harder to do).

It can also be horrendous deal for someone who thinks they can show up at the gate reasonably before opening like a Disney day and stay late with the goal to get every house done. They pack the event to the gills to sell express and make the lines miserable on purpose. If you needed to do every house and weren't planning on a multi night ticket already that value goes away fast if you need multiple nights are feel forced to buy express. It is also not a place at all to take kids.

The Disney party has the issue of wider dynamic pricing. Going early vs later with the $199 dates changes the value proposition where universal tops out at much less. But with Disney over the other parks you get free candy and a guarantee on lower waits without having to still pay more to get around crowds like at universal. But there also are not 10 new attractions every year so apart from the fireworks/parade/stage show (which are usually repeats) you are mostly paying for lower waits and meet and greets if you care about them at all.

Now the third option is on paper the best deal at sea world. for around $50 you get access to the park and some of their best rides as well as 5 houses. For someone who just wants low cost to get in and likelihood they can do everything this is the best deal. Keep in mind though some of those sea world houses are going to be repeats (They may still be expanding the event too) for my 85-100 earlier in the season I get double the houses and all new at universal. On that front if you can make them all universal is actually a better deal.

So overall the value argument depends on what you can make of the event. On paper its sea world then universal then Disney to just get in the door most nights, but that just doesn't account for value and what it means to you.
 

wutisgood

Well-Known Member
Express is necessary in my experience to see everything in one evening. Whereas for MNSSHP, I get my ticket and can do everything I want.

So HHN in August would be $1100 for my family of four. MNSSHP the same night (8/30) is $500.
This is what I am talking about when it comes to value and what you want to do. You could easily see the show and do a few houses and prioritize most of the rides with reasonable waits at horror nights and do still more "new" things than at magic kingdom without express, but people who go to horror nights tend to want to do all the houses and people at Disney value the same rides as a key part of what they are paying for less lines to do.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
This is what I am talking about when it comes to value and what you want to do. You could easily see the show and do a few houses and prioritize most of the rides with reasonable waits at horror nights and do still more "new" things than at magic kingdom without express, but people who go to horror nights tend to want to do all the houses and people at Disney value the same rides as a key part of what they are paying for less lines to do.
It’s how they are marketed. HHN markets the haunts. MNSSHP markets the special entertainment, characters, and rides with short waits.

I enjoy that MNSSHP provides some of the simplicity I miss from WDW in the ‘90s…being able to just wander into a ride line without worrying about Genie or Lightning Lanes feels luxurious in 2024. Meanwhile at HHN, I could stand in long lines and be annoyed that others paid for shorter waits for the houses or I could pay extra to join them. I like that I don’t need to make that choice at MNSSHP. If I have to pay for an extra ticket anyway, I don’t want to then need to pay even more for the best experience. The party ticket should be enough for the A+ experience.

Similarly, I think DAH are great if you are into what they provide. They are marketed a certain way and the deliver on what they claim to offer. Whether they are worth it is up to the individual.
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Express is necessary in my experience to see everything in one evening. Whereas for MNSSHP, I get my ticket and can do everything I want.

So HHN in August would be $1100 for my family of four. MNSSHP the same night (8/30) is $500.
Didn't need it when we were their at an early night in the past... if you go late like Halloween then yes you would need it... but if you did Halloween it would still be cheaper at HHN even with the express pass than it would at MNSSHP.
 

DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
For those of you who have been before, would it make sense to hang out in the hub area and see the 10pm fireworks, 10:40 villain show and then 11:15 parade? Or would there be too much wasted time in between?
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the_rich

Well-Known Member
For those of you who have been before, would it make sense to hang out in the hub area and see the 10pm fireworks, 10:40 villain show and then 11:15 parade? Or would there be too much wasted time in between? View attachment 784353
So what I did last year is got a spot right up against the castle for the 9:05 show at about 8ish. Watched the parade from there( not the best view, but you can see it). Then as soon as the show was over I moved back a little and got a seat on a ledge in front of the castle for the fireworks.
 

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
For those of you who have been before, would it make sense to hang out in the hub area and see the 10pm fireworks, 10:40 villain show and then 11:15 parade? Or would there be too much wasted time in between? View attachment 784353
They changed up the schedule this year, it used to be 8:30 Spelltacular, 9:15 BTY, and 10pm Fireworks. Which is what I would usually do. If you do the last parade in the hub, that’s pretty much the end of your night and I much prefer to ride at the end. I personally would find a hub spot for the 8:15 parade, pivot for the 9:05 Spelltacular, then fireworks. After fireworks is usually when I do Pirates, Tiana, BTMRR, HM, maybe PPF if I have time, then SDMT and rewatch the Spelltacular at midnight.
 

Zummi Gummi

Pioneering the Universe Within!
For those of you who have been before, would it make sense to hang out in the hub area and see the 10pm fireworks, 10:40 villain show and then 11:15 parade? Or would there be too much wasted time in between? View attachment 784353
I always do the 11:15 parade, followed by the midnight Hocus Pocus. Watching the last Hocus Pocus show gives the crowds time to thin out a bit, making for an expedited departure. If you don't mind watching the parade from Town Square you can almost always get a very good spot just a few minutes before the parade starts (and it doesn't make it to Town Square until about 11:30 anyway), so I use the time between the fireworks and that parade to collect some candy, usually from Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.
 

pdude81

Well-Known Member
For those of you who have been before, would it make sense to hang out in the hub area and see the 10pm fireworks, 10:40 villain show and then 11:15 parade? Or would there be too much wasted time in between? View attachment 784353
Certainly doable, but keep in mind that the Villain spectacular goes down frequently enough to pyro issues and a caredfully planned night can get wrecked easily. I say this anecdotally, but two years in a row we had the show stopped after just a few minutes when a cue got missed and they walked off stage. Having a show at midnight after the parade is a good last option though if you planned for something earlier. I just won't assume anymore that I can wait for that last show. My kid would kill me if we don't see Oogie's shenanigans.
 

Fido Chuckwagon

Well-Known Member
They don't close F&F specifically for HHN, never had until this year which is probably just a cost-cutting measure. They still operated it during HHN season.

Minions is a rather long experience in a tight space. Don't think any additional Sq. Ft. would have added to the experience.
To be fair to UOR, F&F is pretty spectacularly bad. Rode it for the first time with my family a few weeks ago and holy moly, that might legitimately be the worst amusement park attraction we've ever been on.
 

Fido Chuckwagon

Well-Known Member
In the post-COVID party nights, the sold out crowds look the same every sold-out event. It's not like some sold-out night has twice the number of people as another sold-out night.
Eh, I'd say it's pretty likely that the "sold out" parties last year had different capacities. Here's the thrill-data average wait times by party:

The "lowest wait times" party having 35 percent lower average waits than the "highest wait times" party seems like pretty strong circumstantial evidence to me that the capacity isn't the same each night, although I'd love an expert like @lentesta to weigh in if I'm missing something obvious here.

As for why? I don't think it needs to be a conspiracy. It's probably similar to the same thing they do/did with park reservations. They estimate how many tickets will sell, plan staffing appropriately, and that is the "sold out" metric. There's a reason why some parks are out of park reservations when it's not a crowd level 10/10 day.
 

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