Having second thoughts on going to MNSSHP - It's the price

[dkrauss]

Its definitely a conundrum! The cost is high...........but what you get is unique in terms of the parade, characters, and the Trick or Treating!!!! My wife and I (both 50+) did the Halloween party back in 2014. It was sooooooooooo much fun. We got our picture taken with the 7 Dwarves.......we dressed up (when that was ok for adults). The trick or treating was the best...........tons of candy (I know not good for ya........but this was once in a lifetime...or maybe not ). Its a tough call tho...............we're going with my brother and his family to WDW in November...........I've been saving for 6 months......for 6 tickets to the MVMCP..........$575! But this is special for my niece and nephew......they're first visit.

In the end will your grand daughter miss it...........I don't really believe so............but would it be special.......most definitly. Is it worth going broke over..............NO WAY!

No matter what you do have a wonderful trip!

Doug

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

It is by far my favorite thing to do at Disney. For me it saves us money but only because we are there for the weekend. That ticket is cheaper than the $100 for a full day, we rarely make it to a park before noon anyway. So for night owls like us, absolutely.

 

[Accident]

It is by far my favorite thing to do at Disney. For me it saves us money but only because we are there for the weekend. That ticket is cheaper than the $100 for a full day, we rarely make it to a park before noon anyway. So for night owls like us, absolutely.

Are you aware that the party prices went up this year? most of the dates is about $100 or more to attend. Is your answer the same in this case?

 

[dkrauss]

It is by far my favorite thing to do at Disney. For me it saves us money but only because we are there for the weekend. That ticket is cheaper than the $100 for a full day, we rarely make it to a park before noon anyway. So for night owls like us, absolutely.

This is actually a really good point..................you can use the Party as a ticket to the MK. In fact my brother is only buying 6 days worth of tickets on our 7 day trip because of the party ticket.

Doug

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

Are you aware that the party prices went up this year? most of the dates is about $100 or more to attend.

Yep - I'm aware, I have tickets for one of the more expensive dates 09/23. It was $85 a ticket, still cheaper than the one day price of $105.

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

This is actually a really good point..................you can use the Party as a ticket to the MK. In fact my brother is only buying 6 days worth of tickets on our 7 day trip because of the party ticket.

Yea to go from 6 days to 7 days it would be much cheaper than the party ticket but if you want to go to the party anyway it nets it out a tiny bit.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

This is our first time for the event. We will decide after whether it's worth it. I'd say if money if tight then the kids won't care.

 

[Missyrose]

we dressed up (when that was ok for adults)

Adults can still wear costumes to the Halloween party.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

We've decided not to go this year even though 2 of our trips hit during MNSSHP. It's more the over-selling of tickets than the price for us. We went last year on what was supposed to be a "low attendance" night & it ended up selling out the last day. We had to wait 1 hour to get a good spot for the parade & we waited 45 mins to have a front & center spot for the fireworks (I enjoy the projections). The lines for the candy were super long but I will admit they moved pretty fast. We only had time to ride a couple of rides & that was it. We did not do M&Gs. We talked about it afterwards and felt like we paid a lot to stand around and wait to see things we paid to see. It did not used to be that way.

We will go again, but probably once every few years.

 

[Geordietyke]

We took our daughters in 2012 then aged 7 & 8 and we all had a ball. We went on Halloween night itself and the park wasn't as rammed as I had imagined it would be. The lines for candy went fast, we rode tons of rides and had front row view for the parade and show. The longest wait was to meet the 7 dwarfs (an hour) but it needed to be done! My girls stayed up past midnight with no problems and we had fun dressing up as black cats. It was expensive (esp as we'd already bought 14 day Disney tickets) but thought we should experience it at least once. Coming from the UK, it's a very expensive trip for us as we stay between 18-21 nights and only manage to visit every 5 years or so. Prices have shot up in the past 4 years so not sure if we'd pay for it again for next year's trip but I'd not say no if OH wanted to do it again

 

[toddinboston]

my family's done the MNSSHP twice, 2008 and 2012. for the record, we all had a great time...my kids loved the costumes and candy and i loved walking on to the rides all evening long...that being said, i had to look up what tickets cost us in 2012 because the prices I'm currently reading about seem...criminal. sure enough, we went on a tuesday night in mid october 2012 and the DVC member price per ticket was $55... the 2016 DVC price for the same night is now $82...that's a 10.5% annual price increase...I wish the S&P could deliver a 10.5% annual ROR, I'd be rich...
to answer the OP's question, at $55 the party was worth it...at current price$$, no way...

 

[ArmyVet80]

Have you thought about what you would do if you do not go to the party? There is a camp fire at most (if not all) resorts you can make s'mores and then do a movie under the stars. My DW and I have been to both the Halloween party and Christmas Party. We really like the Halloween party will be attending it again this year (I believe our 4th in a row).

Only you can decide on if it is right for you though. If you are working within a specific budget then I would skip it and find something else to do with your time. Since it is the 1st trip the kids may get overloaded. We are taking my niece (9 y/o) and nephew (4 y/o) this in Sept. We put my niece in charge of the costumes and she picked some great ones.

The pros of going to MNSSHP:
1. Different parade
2. Different fireworks
3. Trick or treating
4. Being able to dress up in costumes
5. Park is less crowded even if it sells out

Cons of going to MNSSHP:
1. Price/Extra cost for an already expensive vacation/holiday.

 

[Anne5555]

We skipped it our first two trips...our children are not night owls and my daughter does not like scary costumes. We might try it next year.

 

[Davey Jones II]

We always do the Party on the last day of our trip, and we don't schedule any other park visits for that day. So we are paying for our party tickets but saving some money because we didn't pay for a regular park day. We use that day to sleep in (since we'll be up late at the Party), pack and get some rest and relaxation. If your flight home the next day is not too early, you can stay late at the Party.

The Boo to You parade is unique to the Party, and it is terrific. Most rides are a walk-on all night, so you can catch up on any rides you missed, or do your faves again. Yes, the Party is worth it, unlike many of Disney's hard ticket events.

 

[billnye97]

I might be in the minority here but we are going to Magic Kingdom on one of the MNSSHP days but we are going to the park during the day. We have a 3 1/2 year old and there is no way she would be able to stay up to Midnight nor would I want her to. We are going to go during the day and when we have to leave at 7 it is perfect because she goes to bed at 8. I really don't think she is going to miss out on anything to big compared to being there for the day. I get she won't be able to Trick or Treat or see the parade but to me it is not worth it.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

We have gone every year for the past 10 years and it has been absolutely amazing! The trick or treating is lame, but the bags are cool and we mainly go for the fireworks, parades and low crowds oh and the opportunity to dress up is so much fun, the best part is meeting characters in costume, getting photos with characters not in their normal outfits is awesome!!! This is our first year NOT going to MNSSHP and that's because we are there at the same time you are and then heading out on the DCL for Halloween on the High Seas and we figure that will be enough for us this year As the price increases, we may start only hitting it up every few years until it's just the husband and I left at home and go back to doing it again! LOL!

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Another way I would consider doing MNSSHP or MVMCP is if we were doing a Universal Trip and then I would gladly pay for a part ticket for everyone, because that is cheaper than a 1 day park ticket and it's more fun that way When already buying a package it in no way is cheaper, because the more days you add on, the cheaper it gets!

 

[Missyrose]

We went last year on what was supposed to be a "low attendance" night & it ended up selling out the last day.

Couple of quick things for folks reading along. There were WAY more sellouts last year than Disney had ever had. Also, that list of lowest-attended dates is based strictly off wait times, so it's not a great indicator of how crowded a party will be (though I do love the site that publishes that list very much!)

 

[MakiraMarlena]

the shows and parades are not the same ones you will see elsewhere. It's also a different atmosphere than a regular night in the park. But it is understandable if you don't consider it affordable.

 

[mindeola]

What about just taking your granddaughter and let th parents go heave a romantic dinner somewhere?