I thought I would chime in with my party report. Just a little background information: I went to
Disneyland last year for Halloween and did the party there. It was amazing. So the bar was already set really high when I went to the party at Magic Kingdom this year on October 30.
We arrived around 4:30 p.m. and had to stand in line to get our wristbands. I was really surprised because when you do the party at Disneyland you get the wristband right at the gate when you scan your ticket. It seemed a little weird that they would separate that at MK, but I'm sure they have their reasons. I was dressed as punk Merida, so my first priority was meeting Merida. That was awesome. We rode Barnstormer and Haunted Mansion and then walked around a little bit, noting all the trick or treat stations.
It was crowded, but I thought that some of that crowd would go away when the party officially started. I was wrong. It got even worse! I went to the Halloween party at Disneyland last year and everything was walk on. That was definitely not the case at Magic Kingdom. We only managed to ride Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. Fortunately, our priorities were not rides, but one character (Stitch), the Hocus Pocus show and the parade.
The first big difference I noticed between California and Florida was that Florida only seems to decorate Main Street for Halloween. That was a bit of a letdown. I expected more spooky lights and special effects throughout the park, but there was only a little bit of fog here and there. The treat trails were also super stingy with the candy (although it seemed the handfuls got bigger as the night progressed). We did manage to get to eat the Hades Nachos, which were better than I expected. The caramel pretzel was also really yummy. But we mostly just roamed around and trick or treated until the Hocus Pocus show.
We arrived for the Hocus Pocus show about 15 minutes before it started and it was pretty much difficult to see at that point. We heard it and it sounded good, though. However, we somehow managed the perfect spot for the parade: the gravediggers were AWESOME! That was probably my favorite part. Instead of hanging around for the fireworks, though, we got in line to meet Stitch and that is still one of my favorite character interactions of this particular visit.
We missed the fireworks for Stitch, but they weren't really a priority (we had just seen the Hollywood Studios Star Wars show and had a dessert party scheduled for Happily Ever After later in the week). The party was still fun, but definitely did not compare at all to the Disneyland event. I don't think I'd pay to do it again, although now I want to go back to Disneyland for Halloween there. I would suggest that people who love Halloween like I do (I mean, it IS my birthday) go to California instead if they want to see Disney in all its Halloween glory.
What I found most ironic is that we went to the Magic Kingdom on November 1st and the park was a lot less crowded on a full park day than it was during the party. That sort of takes away from the whole "exclusive" thing they market it as, doesn't it?
Also, we saw so many people at the party who were just miserable. Moms screaming at their kids, kids crying (and looking really tired) and dads who just looked like they wanted to be anywhere else. I mean, the party was just okay for us, but we still had a smile on our face the whole time. BECAUSE WE'RE AT DISNEY WORLD. I just don't understand how anyone can go to Disney World and ever be like that! LOL