Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together is a tough ticket particular occasion that happens after Magic Kingdom closes for the day on choose nights in Fall 2024. This publish covers what’s new and totally different in the course of the 2024 MNSSHP, with our evaluation as to the great and dangerous of varied modifications, additions and subtractions.
The very first thing it is advisable know is that not a lot modifications from yr to yr. In the event you’re planning on attending the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together and final did it 5 years in the past, it’s nonetheless going to about 90% the identical. In actual fact, it’s possible you’ll not discover any modifications in any way, as a bunch of the variations are pretty minor and simple to overlook…otherwise you merely might have forgotten specifics as a result of passage of time.
However, there are “loads” of modifications for the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together–at the very least, loads relative to regular years when next-to-nothing is totally different. Compounding issues is that a number of of those seemingly insignificant shifts have a huge impact on technique and the way it’s best to method the occasion. That’s the place this publish comes into play–so you understand what has modified (since a number of of this stuff are unadvertised and aren’t even listed on the map or within the app!) and learn how to plan accordingly…
Mainly, this publish is for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together veterans who wish to prioritize the issues which can be totally different for the 2024 occasion. Since you can’t probably meet each single character and see the entire leisure at MNSSHP in a single evening, such a prioritizing is paramount. You’re going to should make tough choices, since you merely can’t do all of them.
With that stated, for those who’re a first-timer attending the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together, this publish just isn’t your finest or singular useful resource. For every little thing it is advisable find out about this occasion–past what’s new–see our Final Information to the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together!
On that be aware, let’s flip to what’s new & modified on the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together…
Extra Villains – From the second the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together begins, you’ll be capable of spot your favourite sinister villains and ghoulish foes all through Magic Kingdom. Lots of them can be found for selfies or fast interactions.
This begins within the Essential Avenue bypass hall, which as soon as once more serves because the opening act of the occasion–and a option to separate celebration friends getting into the park from these exiting. On the finish of this path, you’ll discover Cruella de Vil.
It is a good addition, however truthfully, we really feel like Walt Disney World oversold the villains presence on the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together. Except for the subsequent entry, the entire different villain meet & greets aren’t new.
Villains Deal with Path – In the course of the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together, Princess Fairytale Corridor just isn’t a meet & greet location for the princesses, however as an alternative a deal with path. In the event you take a look at the MNSSHP map, there’s no distinction between this and the remainder of the trick-or-treating areas.
Genuinely, it’s an enhanced deal with path that options two villains, Maleficent and the Evil Queen. Every villain is positioned within the queue in entrance of a portrait of their story’s princess, as they mingle with friends and pose for selfies. There are two separate traces right here, so that you’ll wish to do that twice if you need up shut photographs with every of the villains.
This is a superb little shock plussing, particularly later within the night (anytime after the fireworks) when deal with path traces begin getting shorter. There’s no PhotoPass or perhaps a character attendant, however it’s best to have time for selfies and temporary interactions. Once more, that is very true later within the evening when the group is extra sparse–earlier you’ll want to maneuver by way of quicker so that you don’t maintain up the road.
It’s my understanding that this can be a take a look at for the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together, and I actually hope it goes effectively and is expanded upon in 2025. One enormous benefit Oogie Boogie Bash has is its immersive deal with trails with villains that improvise and work together with friends. That is nonetheless not even remotely on par with that, but it surely’s a step in the suitable course.
Mickey’s New Costume – Mickey Mouse has an all-new costume this yr, that includes a neon spider net design. Whereas this costume has been redesigned and look fairly good, it follows a well-recognized components and doesn’t actually reinvent the wheel. Mickey isn’t the one one to obtain a contemporary look–Minnie additionally received one.
Frustratingly, it’s nonetheless solely Mickey Mouse assembly in City Sq. Theater. This caught me without warning, as Walt Disney World made an enormous deal out of the brand new costumes and featured Mickey & Minnie collectively of their official publicity photographs. Accordingly, I anticipated Mickey and Minnie Mouse to lastly meet collectively once more. They don’t. Mickey greets friends at City Sq. Theater and Minnie continues to seem in Storybook Circus.
Seven Zero Dwarfs – Talking of Storybook Circus, we would as effectively bounce again there as a result of there are lots of modifications to those character meet & greets. The primary is that, after making their triumphant return final yr amidst a lot fanfare, we’re unhappy to report that the Seven Dwarfs would not have a meet & greet on the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together.
That’s proper, layoffs hit Disney’s dwarf division arduous, decreasing the headcount from seven to zero. Because it seems, considerations about automation changing labor are well-founded, as an abundance of Audio Animatronics dwarfs (greater than seven, even) can nonetheless be discovered at Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice.
Joking apart, it stays to be seen whether or not the Seven Dwarfs will return for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together–nothing has been introduced someway. Our hope is that they’re again, as the opposite modifications again in Storybook Circus don’t justify the lack of the Seven Dwarfs.
And for what it’s value, we’re on the file saying that Walt Disney World ought to substitute the Seven Dwarfs with separate meet & greets. That, cool because it was, having the entire dwarves collectively wouldn’t be pretty much as good as a half-dozen or so separate meet & greets of their place. The issue is that this isn’t the commerce Disney has made.
Minnie and Associates Meet & Greet – To that time, the opposite meet & greets again in Storybook Circus have additionally been consolidated. In earlier years, you may meet Pumpkin Donald and Princess Daisy Duck, in addition to Witch Minnie Mouse in a single meet & greet–within the interactive queue for Dumbo. Separate from them, Pirate Goofy appeared outdoors Barnstormer in Storybook Circus.
For the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together, all of those characters have been consolidated inside Pete’s Foolish Sideshow the place the Seven Dwarfs used to satisfy. The one character receiving a brand new costume is Minnie Mouse, who remains to be a witch however has the brand new neon inexperienced coloration scheme. The backdrop is good and it’s cool to have one thing contemporary, I assume, however the tradeoff simply isn’t value it.
In a nutshell, there’s now one meet & greet again right here as an alternative of three, and the character rely has been lowered by 7. That’s a nasty change, in my ebook. There are fewer meet & greet characters on the 2024 MNSSHP, and that’s unlucky.
Hitchhiking Ghosts Materialize – On a constructive be aware, the Hitchhiking Ghosts now seem as a personality sighting in the course of the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together. These grim grinning ghosts might be discovered above the breezeway between Frontierland and Adventureland, adjoining to Nation Bear Musical Jamboree. The Hitchhiking Ghosts alternate with the Cadaver Dans throughout MNSSHP (7 pm to midnight).
Ezra, Phineas, and Gus are among the many most iconic characters within the Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom, so it’s superior to see these spectral spirits on the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together. The character sighting is lots of enjoyable, as they carry out pantomime and work together with friends whereas music performs.
Curiously, I used to be fairly shocked to listen to a sure music as a part of the Hitchhiking Ghosts’ set that I beforehand thought was outlawed within the frontier and throughout Walt Disney World. I’m not going to say the identify of stated music, because it looks like a reverse-Beetlejuice kinda state of affairs the place saying it will get it eliminated. So my lips are zipped…but when you understand, you understand. Oh, and this wasn’t the one time I heard it in the course of the evening–or throughout this week at Walt Disney World. Coincidence, or has Disney backed down on its verboten standing?
All Standby Traces – TRON Lightcycle Run and Tiana’s Bayou Journey are the 2 latest sights in Magic Kingdom, and each use digital queues (for now) throughout common operations. Final yr, solely TRON Lightcycle Run was open throughout MNSSHP, and it used a digital queue. For 2024, each supply standby traces (solely) throughout Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together.
Not-so-coincidentally, they’re additionally the 2 longest traces all through the celebration, and among the many solely wait instances which can be normally hover above half-hour all through your entire occasion. Nevertheless, I’d anticipate precise wait instances to be a lot decrease, assuming no breakdowns (massive assumption).
I didn’t do both TRON or Tiana’s in the course of the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together as a result of I’ve completed each a dozen-plus instances, and celebration time is restricted, so its distinctive leisure is my emphasis. However, I view this as a constructive change–not each celebration visitor has the identical priorities as me (which is an effective factor!), and if others wish to trip TRON Lightcycle Run or Tiana’s Bayou Journey on loop, they need to have that possibility.
New DescenDANCE Get together – Get able to let free and exhibit your finest villain DescenDANCE Get together, going down at Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland. This new rave is impressed by the Disney Authentic Film “Descendants: The Rise of Crimson” on Disney+, so belief me once I inform you this can be a date you don’t wish to be late for.
Really, don’t belief me. I copied and pasted the above from Disney’s press launch concerning the DescenDANCE Get together. I did see it myself, however I’ve no clue who any of those persons are or what they’re from. Properly, I assume I do know they’re from the Disney Authentic Film “Descendants: The Rise of Crimson” on Disney+, however I haven’t the slightest inkling as to what that’s about. Villains, dancing and teenage angst, in all probability? Regardless, I’ve no opinion on this.
Extra Merchandise – I’m probably not a merchandise individual, so I’m not one of the best individual to report on this (I mainly simply purchase Tervis cups and low mugs, save for Figment stuff), however I used to be pleasantly shocked by the variability, high quality, and intelligent designs of the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together merchandise.
Only a couple years in the past, each the Halloween and Christmas events had a restricted variety of very primary designs that appeared to purposefully shrink back from the identify of the occasion so that they might be offered throughout common hours, if vital. Not the case this yr, and I hope MVMCP follows go well with. (We nonetheless want a Tervis from that.)
Bruno Madrigal Meet & Greet – Sure, we’re going to speak about one other verboten matter: Bruno. For the primary time in the course of the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together, you’ll be able to meet the clairvoyant character from Encanto alongside Mirabel at their Casita in Fairytale Backyard throughout from Cosmic Ray’s on the fringe of Tomorrow(land).
Oogie Boogie Bash has had Bruno for the previous few years, and he’s an incredibly good face character for meet & greets. We’re not the largest followers of Encanto, however actually have loved assembly him on the occasion–he’s a enjoyable character with a sly character who’s nice for amusing interactions. Having simply met Bruno just a few days earlier than with solely a 5 minute (picture above), I elected in opposition to becoming a member of the quoted 45+ minute line throughout MNSSHP.
Since Encanto stays common and that is actually a new-for-2024 addition to MNSSHP, this can stay one of many highest demand meet & greets with common wait instances round 60 minutes all through the Get together Season. On the plus aspect, Bruno and Mirabel is among the meet & greets that begins earlier than Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together formally begins, so you’ll be able to meet them as early as (roughly) 6 pm. Simply beware that the road shall be lengthy even then.
Earlier Begin Time for Mickey’s Boo to You Parade – This yr, the fan-favorite Boo to You Parade takes place a full hour earlier, at 8:15 pm. That’s when it steps off, that means you may see it at 8:30 pm or later for those who’re on Essential Avenue. Based on Walt Disney World, that is excellent for these friends attending with little ones who wish to benefit from the spooky enjoyable earlier than it’s bedtime. Sometimes, the primary parade is at 9:15 pm and the second parade is at 11:15 pm.
It is a massively constructive change. Clearly, it’s nice information for households that already wrestle to make it midway by way of the occasion. I’ve seen so many strollers with sleeping children by the primary parade in earlier years. It’s additionally a doubtlessly massive win for photographers attending the earliest events–taking pictures in Frontierland would imply photographs simply after sundown. Even the considered Headless Horseman on Essential Avenue at nightfall made me salivate (sadly, he didn’t run in the course of the first parade once I first attended).
The sooner Boo to You Parade can also be an enormous win for park operations. Since 2018-2019, we’ve bemoaned the downright harmful crowds in entrance of Cinderella Fort between the primary Hocus Pocus and fireworks, since there are a number of stage reveals, Mickey’s Boo to You Parade, and the fireworks all basically offered again to again.
That’s not the case for the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together. This space remains to be congested between performances–we’re not suggesting in any other case. However spacing them out extra means fewer persons are camped out for the period, which helps mitigate the problem in a significant means. Kudos to Disney for lastly doing one thing about this (and killing two birds with one stone within the course of). Higher late than by no means.
Busier Second Parade – For years, one of many “secret hacks” of the occasion was watching the second Mickey’s Boo to You Parade. Persistence paid off, as crowds would usually be half the dimensions–maybe much less–in the course of the later displaying. That hasn’t been practically as pronounced lately, at the very least partially as a result of Disney has proactively shared the “secret” with in-park bulletins encouraging friends to do the later parade for simpler viewing.
With the transfer to the 8:15 pm efficiency of the primary Mickey’s Boo to You Parade, this distinction is gone totally. Though the sooner displaying is less complicated for households with babies, that is greater than offset by it being so early within the occasion and being much less handy for everybody else. Friends are nonetheless making their means by way of meet & greet traces, deal with trails, consuming dinner, and so forth–at 8:15 pm, leading to a much less busy first parade and a busier second. In actual fact, I’d go so far as to say that I discovered barely bigger crowds for the 11:15 pm parade.
Don’t anticipate this to final perpetually. Walt Disney World followers are creatures of behavior, and it takes a very long time for phrase to get out and habits to vary. Which means that most of the friends doing the 11:15 pm parade are nonetheless working beneath the outdated assumption that it’s far much less busy. That’ll change over time. In all probability not earlier than the tip of the 2024 MNSSHP season…however in 2025 or 2026 if these showtimes keep the identical.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever attended the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together? What did you consider the brand new additions and modifications? Upset that there wasn’t extra to the villains presence, or the lack of meet & greets? Which character meet & greets are your high priorities? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation of the modifications? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!