Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is a separate-admission Halloween-themed event held annually during the months of September and October at the Magic Kingdom theme park of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando, and at Disneyland Paris Resort outside Paris, France. The party began as a response to the Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios Florida. Disney's event caters to a traditional family atmosphere, whereas Universal's has more of a "fright-centered" event with their monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, Jason, etc.)
The event encourages guests to dress up in Halloween costumes and celebrate the season with themed events throughout the park. Normal rules prohibit guests over the age of nine years from dressing in costume; however, this rule is waived for the party, although anyone dressed as a Disney character is prohibited from signing autographs or posing for pictures with other guests so as not to be confused with regular cast members (the Disney term for employees) in those roles.
Walt Disney World
Trick-or-treating
Unlike regular hours, the events include trick-or-treating throughout the Magic Kingdom, featuring an Alice in Wonderland-themed trail on the bridge between Storybook Circus and Tomorrowland titled "Alice and Mad Hatter's Treat Party." In previous years, the candy has been sponsored by Nestlé but in recent years Mars' M&M's and Snickers have been there as well. The assortment includes a mixture of those brands and others, including the in-park "Goofy's Candy Company" brand. There are several other trick or treating opportunities indicated by special lighted balloons that are pointed out in the park map.
Stage shows, meet and greets, and parties
Originally, a stage show and meet-and-greet with animated Disney Villains led by Dr. Facilier titled The Disney Villains Mix and Mingle, was held at the Cinderella Castle Forecourt Stage. After the show, the villains disperse to different areas of the park for meet and greet opportunities. The show ended in 2014. The following year, a new stage show titled Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular debuted in the same venue with the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, as well as appearances from other Disney Villains including Dr. Facilier (Keith David), Oogie Boogie (Ken Page), and Maleficent (Susanne Blakeslee).[1][2]
Other meet-and-greet opportunities exist during the party, including two Disney Character dance parties, one in Liberty Square in the Diamond Horseshoe with the Disney villains (including Cinderella's step family, Frollo, Cruella De Vil, and other random villains) and "Monsters Inc Dance party", held in Tomorrowland at the Rockettower Plaza stage near Carousel of Progress . All the other characters are available at their regular locations, such as the Princesses from their respective film on Main Street at the Town Square Theater. Many rare characters are also available for meet and greets including The Seven Dwarfs, Tarzan and Jane, and Phineas and Ferb. Because many kids dressed as either pirates or princesses at these events, Walt Disney World created a new hard-ticket event called Mickey's Pirate and Princess Party in 2007. It was discontinued for 2009 due to low ticket sales. In 2013, Jack Skellington and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas were introduced. A new dinner was added in 2014 at Cinderella Castle called the Villainous Soiree. It is a character meal featuring many villains and currently is the only place to meet and greet Maleficent and the Evil Queen.
Mickey's Boo To You Halloween Parade
As with Disney-themed parks, a parade and a fireworks show are the centerpieces of the event. The holiday-themed parade, entitled "Mickey's Boo To You Halloween Parade," features a pre-parade ride by the Headless Horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The parade, which runs in place of SpectroMagic, or The Main Street Electrical Parade, features various Disney characters (Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and their friends) in Halloween costumes and a live-action version of the three hitchhiking ghosts from the Haunted Mansion attraction. The villains are also in the parade with a unit of their own. Besides the Haunted Mansion dancers, Hitchhiking Ghosts, the hoedown dancers, and the barn unit, the parade and soundtrack were changed in 2005.
Happy HalloWishes
The fireworks show that is shown in lieu of the regular show, Wishes, is titled Happy HalloWishes: A Grim Grinning Ghosts' Spooktacular in the Sky, which is based on the Haunted Mansion and features Halloween-related music from the Disney library of animated films. Prior to the show's debut in 2005, a revival of the classic fireworks show, Fantasy in the Sky, was shown along with a three-minute holiday-themed finale featuring the voices of cackling witches. The soundtrack for both the fireworks and parade are available on an in-park CD as of 2008 titled "Magic Kingdom Event Party Music", which also includes music from Mickey's Pirate and Princess Party.
Disneyland Paris
For the first time ever, a Not-So-Scary Halloween Party took place outside the USA in 2008. In October 2008, Disneyland Paris hosted "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party" (translated in French in "La Fête Pas-Si-Trouille of Adventureland"); these evenings offered access to several attractions, different shows especially created (Merlin and the Witch Academy, The Halloween Magician), and a Disco Party. Streetmospheres and Meet'n'Greet with Disney Characters gave the Park a special and spooky atmosphere.
For the second year, Disneyland Paris hosted once again four of these family-centered events on October 9, 16, 23, and 27, 2009. The first rumors announced a wider area than the previous year (including Adventureland, Fantasyland and Frontierland), and a new Villain Show could take place on the Central Hub Stage.
The idea of these events remains to bring more families to the park during their annual Halloween events with a separate ticket like their annual "Soirée Halloween Disney" ("Disney's Halloween Party"), which has been run on All Hallow's Eve since 1997, and is darker in tone than those in the USA and Tokyo Disneyland, but not as scary than the Hong Kong Disneyland events.
References
- ↑ Snetiker, Marc (May 27, 2015). "'Hocus Pocus' stage show will haunt Disney World this Halloween". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ↑ Bevil, Dewayne (September 10, 2015). "Don't miss: Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
External links
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