MNSSHP with a 2.5 year old?

[bookqueen15]

Would Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party be worth it with a 2.5 year old? I've never been to it before but we have annual pass this year for Disney for the first time (I live about an hour from Orlando). I have a work meeting in Orlando on Friday September 30th until about 3 pm and was planning for my family to come with me so we could go to a park that night and will stay the weekend through Sunday, going to the parks again on Saturday and Sunday before coming home.

My DD is obsessed with Magic Kingdom. I was thinking we would go there that evening but just saw that it's a party night. Would the extra cost be worth it? If she naps that day she could stay up late no problem but if she doesn't nap, then it would probably be a disaster, at least it would right now but maybe not in 3.5 months? I feel like all the fun party activities might be lost on her at this age and she'll just want to ride her favorite rides. Are most of the rides in Fantasyland open during the party?

Our other option that night is Epcot, since Hollywood Studios closes at 7 pm due to extra magic hours until 9:30 pm that night. We won't be staying on property, since my meeting is at a nearby off property hotel and we will likely stay there. But Food and Wine will be going on a Epcot then and it might be too crazy in the evening to be there with DD? 

[pinkpeony6210]

My girls were 3 & 5 when we went last year. We relaxed by the pool all day, then headed to MK at 4:00, so that we could take advantage of the our three FP. After we were done eating dinner, we rode 7d with very little wait, went trick or treating, and secured a spot for the first parade. After the parade, my girls were tired. We rode very few rides before the fireworks started. My littlest passed out, and didn't flinch during them. We left right after.

We have another October trip booked, and have decided to skip the party this year. I didn't feel like we got to take advantage of everything the party had to offer ( except for the parade), especially for the price. DH and I both agreed that we'd wait until the girls got older, and they can stay up later.

[Deleted]

My kid can't hang past 8pm. So it's a big NOPE for me ( tried it last year, will not try it again for a long time).

If you live an hour from Orlando I would skip the party and go to AK. The new night time stuff looks fun and if you get there at 4 you can have a ( relatively) stress-free time with 3 FPs, dinner and the shows without having to worry about the extra $$$ you are paying to be there.

[dcrunnergirl52]

I'd skipi the party. MK has so much to offer, and at 2.5, that's more than enough. Plus, there's no guaranteeing that she'll be able to last until the evening, so I'd hate to spend the money and have a cranky, toddler mess on my hands.

[cbwm1]

We regretted every penny we spent on the party.

The lines to ToT were obscene, no one told us all the food places were closed so we were starving, fighting for a spot for the parade was ridiculous.

We're going mid-December this year and we're not spending $250 to go to the Christmas party based on how much we disliked the Halloween party

[curbsideprophet]

I would either go to MK til 7 or go over AK.

[ilikedonuts]

It's one of the top 3 things favorite things according to my kids (ages 2.5 and 4.5). Halloween is their favorite holiday. They can hang as late as we want them to though.

They love the parade (have the entire soundtrack memorized because they ask for it in the car) and the fireworks are amazing and my favorite to experience in the park.

[bookqueen15]

Jun 13, 2016 13:28:25 GMT -5 pinkpeony6210 said:

My girls were 3 & 5 when we went last year. We relaxed by the pool all day, then headed to MK at 4:00, so that we could take advantage of the our three FP. After we were done eating dinner, we rode 7d with very little wait, went trick or treating, and secured a spot for the first parade. After the parade, my girls were tired. We rode very few rides before the fireworks started. My littlest passed out, and didn't flinch during them. We left right after.

We have another October trip booked, and have decided to skip the party this year. I didn't feel like we got to take advantage of everything the party had to offer ( except for the parade), especially for the price. DH and I both agreed that we'd wait until the girls got older, and they can stay up later.

Thanks for your perspective, I was thinking that we might not be able to experience everything the party offered due to her age. My DD will fall asleep in her stroller though if she's tired enough and has pretty much every time we've been to Disney this spring. My plan was to get there by 4 pm and we would ride her favorite rides before dinner and the parade.

[bookqueen15]

Jun 13, 2016 13:40:12 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

My kid can't hang past 8pm. So it's a big NOPE for me ( tried it last year, will not try it again for a long time).

If you live an hour from Orlando I would skip the party and go to AK. The new night time stuff looks fun and if you get there at 4 you can have a ( relatively) stress-free time with 3 FPs, dinner and the shows without having to worry about the extra $$$ you are paying to be there.

My DD doesn't fall asleep well in hotels at all so my plan was to keep her out as late as she could handle and then she will fall asleep in the car on the drive back to hotel (she transfers easily once asleep). She has stayed up until 10 pm just fine a few times recently, but only with at least a 2 hour late afternoon nap. 

We could do AK I guess, it's my least favorite park and I'm not used to thinking of it as an evening option. 

[bookqueen15]

Jun 13, 2016 15:08:54 GMT -5 dcrunnergirl52 said:

I'd skipi the party. MK has so much to offer, and at 2.5, that's more than enough. Plus, there's no guaranteeing that she'll be able to last until the evening, so I'd hate to spend the money and have a cranky, toddler mess on my hands.

Good point. I agree that what MK has to offer is more than enough and I was looking forward to spending the afternoon/evening there but we can't since it's a party night. I wish we could get there earlier in the day and then leaving at 7 pm would be fine.

[bookqueen15]

Jun 13, 2016 15:47:45 GMT -5 cbwm1 said:

We regretted every penny we spent on the party.

The lines to ToT were obscene, no one told us all the food places were closed so we were starving, fighting for a spot for the parade was ridiculous.

We're going mid-December this year and we're not spending $250 to go to the Christmas party based on how much we disliked the Halloween party

This is exactly what I needed to hear, thank you! I was optimistically thinking it might not be as crowded since it wouldn't be October yet and maybe less people would go that night but that's probably doubtful. 

[bookqueen15]

Thanks everyone for your feedback! I am leaning toward skipping the party now. Still not sure where we'll go that day...I'll think about AK but we're really not big fans of that park at all. I've been wanting to check out Hollywood Studios because we didn't make there this spring and I haven't been there in over 10 years. Maybe I'll to book an on property hotel for the weekend if I can find a good deal and we could just go there that afternoon/evening. We'll go to Magic Kingdom on Saturday and maybe Sunday too since my DD really loves it and it's my favorite park too.

[cbwm1]

Jun 13, 2016 17:18:12 GMT -5 bookqueen15 said:

Jun 13, 2016 15:47:45 GMT -5 cbwm1 said:

We regretted every penny we spent on the party.

The lines to ToT were obscene, no one told us all the food places were closed so we were starving, fighting for a spot for the parade was ridiculous.

We're going mid-December this year and we're not spending $250 to go to the Christmas party based on how much we disliked the Halloween party

This is exactly what I needed to hear, thank you! I was optimistically thinking it might not be as crowded since it wouldn't be October yet and maybe less people would go that night but that's probably doubtful. 

To be fair, we went on 10/29. lol

But, even if we had gone when it was less crowded, we still wouldn't have liked it.