Hey Kaci,
Welcome to planDisney! Thanks for bringing such a great question our way. I am honored to be the panelist who gets to help you and your husband plan your very first visit to Walt Disney World! As a professional event planner, any time I'm in the Orlando or Los Angeles area for a conference I make sure to plan a Disney Parks visit. You’re visiting at the spookiest time of the year! Admittedly, Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday, but I have also visited during Halloween thanks to a work conference, and it was one of the best visits of my life! I’m happy to share my suggestions.
If your visit will be on dates late in October and not exactly on Halloween, consider purchasing tickets for
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. This special ticketed event is one of Magic Kingdom’s best. You’ll enjoy trick-or-treating throughout the park, see spooky sights and characters during
Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, and watch the night sky come alive during Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks show. You’ll get to meet characters in their fun Halloween costumes, enjoy special party-exclusive treats and more. This party happens on select nights in Magic Kingdom, and Halloween night is already sold out. So, if you’re interested and can make one of the other dates work, purchase your tickets as soon as possible! Note that if you will not be attending the Halloween party but plan to visit Magic Kingdom, it closes at 6:00 p.m. on party nights. It may be worthwhile to consider
Park Hopper tickets so that you can hop to another park in the evening.
If you will not be attending the Halloween party, there’s still so much to enjoy. You’ll experience the most beautiful fall décor and specially themed food and treats throughout all 4 parks and
Disney Springs. Additionally, many guests avoid Magic Kingdom altogether on party nights, so you may experience naturally shorter wait times if you go during the day. Just keep in mind that you will not get to experience nighttime entertainment like
Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away or
Happily Ever After. My solution for that is to head to Hollywood Studios to enjoy
Fantasmic instead. Or, if you’re up for a delicious meal, book a dinner reservation at
California Grill inside Disney’s Contemporary Resort or
‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. If you time it right, you can enjoy dinner while watching the Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks show right from your table or from California Grill’s balcony. Ask your host if you can request a table with a fireworks view. Cast Members may not always be able to accommodate this, but they’ll do what they can!
I hope this information was helpful, Kaci. If you need any additional help with planning, come on back to planDisney and let us know! Until then, TTFN… ta-ta for now!
Sakinah