We’re less than a month away from the start of spooky season in Disney World, and while that feels far too early for many people, we’re looking forward to seeing all the Halloween decorations again!

August also means the start of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, which is really what will kick off the season. This year, the exclusive, ticketed, after-hours event takes place on select nights from August 7th through October 31st, and we’re looking forward to it just as much as you are. If you’re on the fence about going, though, we get it. It’s a lot of extra money to spend, and you really only get five hours in the park. Is it worth it? Let’s break down what you can REALLY do in five hours at the party.

Arrive Early

While the party itself doesn’t start until 7 PM, party guests can enter the park as early as 4 PM, giving you THREE extra hours of park time. This is key to making sure you can accomplish everything you want to, because even though everyone’s priorities are different, achieving all you want to in five hours is almost always incredibly stressful. Adding those three extra hours brings you up to eight hours, though it’s important to note that party-exclusive offerings won’t become available until the party starts.

If merchandise is high on your list, we recommend getting in line at The Emporium right when you enter the park, especially if you’re looking at any limited-edition merchandise that may sell out soon. Last year, there were multiple party-exclusive pins, but the majority of them sold out in the first few hours each night.

If merchandise isn’t high on your list, but you and/or your group have dressed up, we also recommend taking the daylight time to take photos. Yes, the park will be far from empty, but as night falls, the lighting won’t be as opportune to grab those great photos. Take half an hour to take whatever photos you’d like around the park, and know you’re set for your social media posts.

Additionally, it can be a good idea to start riding a few attractions that aren’t at super high waits. Not everything is open during the party, but the majority of rides are, so don’t get in line for anything that you know is about to drop drastically in a few hours.

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Hit The Food First

The party-exclusive eats and drinks won’t become available until 7 PM, but many of these spots close earlier in the night than you may expect, or they’ve run out of their party offerings in the past. With that in mind, we suggest making food one of the FIRST things you do during your party night.

Mobile order wait times have also gotten very long in prior years, especially around the middle of the party, so it’s great to place those mobile orders in advance to be prepared. The last thing you want is to be really looking forward to an offering, only to find that it has sold out, or the spot closed an hour before the party ends (yes, that’s happened to us). On the flip side, we don’t recommend prioritizing hitting the candy stations at any particular time of the night, because they WILL be around from 7 PM to 12 AM.

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Special Ride Overlays

Rides that have special overlays for the season are going to be slightly more sought after than others, just because they are indeed party-exclusive. If riding rides with lower waits is a big priority for you, we recommend putting these at the top of your list, since they’re only around this time of year.

However, we recommend you wait until the regular park guests are DEFINITELY out of the ride lines before you really start looking at how far those wait times are going to drop (we suggest no earlier than 8 PM). Otherwise, some of the longer lines may be that way due to regular park guests having gotten in line right at 6 PM, before non-party guests have to leave the park. Disney’s rule is that if you’re in line before the park closes (in this case, again, that’s 6 PM for non-party guests), you can stay in line, and that will affect party wait times for about the first hour.

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Meet and Greets

Another big draw of the party is the fact that you can meet tons of your favorite Disney characters that you don’t often get to see in the parks, such as Jack Skellington and Sally, as well as the Hundred Acre Woods gang in their Halloween costumes. If these are important to you, we also recommend prioritizing these closer to when the party starts at 7 PM. 

Their lines are known for getting quite long, and the characters also aren’t around as often later on into the night. The last thing you want is to save a meet and greet for last, only to find that it’s already closed.

Now, it’s important to note that everyone’s priorities at the party are going to be different, and that’s why there are so many offerings available! Those traveling with young kids may want to focus on meet and greets and the dance parties, whereas a couple traveling together may instead choose to focus on the special eats and the shows available. There’s no wrong way to do the party, but we do strongly suggest doing research on the offerings ahead of time, so you know what’s most important to you.

We’ll be live from the party on opening night this year to bring you ALL the news and updates, so be sure to stay tuned to DFB!

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Are you planning to head to the party this year? Tell us in the comments!