Spooky Season has officially begun here at Walt Disney World. On August 11th, we were at the first night of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and had a spooktacular time. We trick or treated all night long, watched haunting entertainment, and tried party-exclusive treats. Today I want to share everything we did on the first night and whether this event is worth the extra money.

I have a tradition that I like to uphold each time I attend the Halloween party. I always start the night watching the Cadaver Dans Barbershop Quartet in Frontierland. Their first set of the night is at 7:15 PM, and it’s the perfect way to kick off the evening.

After singing along to haunting melodies, we ran over to Pirates of the Caribbean. There was only a 10-minute wait, but honestly, it was a walk on. Sadly this year, the attraction has no overlay. In years past, they used to have actors throughout the ride interacting with guests. When we returned to land, we ran into a new offering, the Rusty Cutlass. This is a pirate band that performs swashbuckling songs. They even held a little ceremony at the end to swear in those watching that wanted to become a pirate. Of course, I stepped right up and took the pirate oath. They perform all night intermittently from 7:15 PM to 11:50 PM.

Next up, we went to Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe, but on the way there, I stopped at a few trick-or-treat locations. We ordered the party-exclusive food items here: the Cajun Burger, Bucket of Bones, and the Candy Corn Milkshake. The only food item I could eat was the Bucket of Bones. These were bone-in piggy wings fried with fresh jalapenos tossed in a Coca-Cola cherry barbecue sauce. This is a new item, and it was delicious. I love Coca-Cola cherry and barbecue sauce; the two mixed were perfect. The cherry aspect cooled down the spice and added some sweetness to the dish.

Now that we were stuffed with food and full of energy, we ran to grab a spot for the 9:15 PM Mickey’s “Boo-To-You” Halloween Parade. We got the perfect spot. We were on the left side of Cinderella Castle (facing the castle) and stood facing the bridge that leads guests into Liberty Square. Here we got to see the parade straight on, which was terrific.

After the parade, we had about 20 minutes until Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks, so we shuffled over a few feet to get a centered spot. This fireworks show happens once a night at 10:15 PM. As we briefly waited, we started talking about our game plan, which involved staying in the exact spot for the next Hocus Pocus Villian Spelltacular showing at 10:45 PM. This was perfect. We got to see all of the show-stopping entertainment back to back.

When all the shows were over and we finished singing “I Put a Spell on You,” we started trick or treating. Ryno wanted to fill his bag as much as he could. So we ran over to Tomorrowland and started walking through treat trails. Craig and I broke off at one point to ride the Mad Tea Party because this attraction had a spooky overlay.

Of course, through the night, I stopped at the allergy-friendly trick-or-treat spot in Liberty Square to ensure I brought home enough candy. Unfortunately, none of us got enough candy by the night’s end, so I guess we have to come back, right?

We ended our night in the spookiest way possible. We rode the Haunted Mansion at midnight. We ran into the line at 11:59 PM and were the last riders of the night. Although this ride gives me the creeps, being the last ones on the attraction was fun.

Overall we had a fantastic night at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. We didn’t get to do everything, but we all agreed that it was nearly impossible to do it all. The best thing you could do is come to the party with a game plan. This year, our priorities were to watch the entertainment, trick or treat, and have a fun night. This year was the best Halloween party experience I’ve ever had, so my answer is that this party is worth the money, especially if you focus on entertainment.

If you want to watch the vlog of our fun spooky night at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, check out the video below!

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