All of this 
is making me nervous as well. Weâve never done MNSSHP or attended the parks in the fall even. My DD 8th birthday is on Halloween so therefore we purchased (albeit reluctantly, based on the reports of it being the most busy party) tickets for her to trick or treat on that day. Where we live, there is never actual trick or treating on Halloween⌠itâs always the night before, so sheâs never had the ability to do it on her actual birthday. So what better way to celebrate than by trick or treating at the MK, right?! 
If thereâs ANYTHING going for that date itâs that the $299 unlimited MNSSHP passes donât include Halloween, but Iâm trying very hard to completely eliminate any expectations that it will be a magical birthday experience. 
I donât normally experience crowd anxiety, but these picturesâŚ
!
Iâm with you on this
Iâm not sorry that I went to MNSSHP. It didnât ruin my trip. I had a good time even though it was crowded, I got stuck in some long lines and the Cosmic Rays staff failed to make good food & keep things clean under the weight of the crowd rush. (Seemed like they only had 1/2 the normal staff, many lanes were closed).
Iâve been to Disney during busy times and Iâve had a good experience. It is a different experience, no doubt, but not necessarily a bad experience. Just need to be emotionally prepared for crowds and have a plan nailed down a lot better, and do things when everyone has the energy to pull it off.
I thought going into MNSSHP that it would be a loose and easy restricted body count ticketed event like TSL-EMM. It was not. It was a crowded and it was confusing at times, it was dark, and there were lines everywhere and the line duration were very unpredictable, and it eventually got late and kids get tough close to midnight, especially when the kids are early risers, etc etc etc.
My family doesnât feel like the vacation was ruined because of that night. They had a good time. If it was free, I would go again (just with a better touring plan in hand, nothing planned for the next morning, no Lotso burger). But now that I know what it was like, Iâd keep the $380 in my pocket and not burn 1/2 of the next day recovering.
I agree with you about HS we went on Tuesday and liked Toystory land but would of loved it if they had thought more about the heat and built in a little more A/C into that area. Also there still is not enough ridesâŚ
I went for the first time last October 11, witha group of friends. I had a nice time. I like my friends. I like MK. I loved SM. Hallowishes was fun, but uncomfortable with people stepping on one another. On aThursday. It was just too crowded. We could have had a nice time playing board games after a day at Disney. Also they made us use the FP line at Magic Kingdom. That was a huge disappointment. The best line and my favorite part of the ride.
Iâd have to think long and hard about doing it again and wouldnât unless someone else really wanted to go.
I did one last year. We were focused on rides and then seeing the fireworks. No characters or trick or treating. It rained on and off and our plan was thrown completely off the rails. We still had a decent time, but it was crowded and the weather definitely threw a wrench in wait times. We managed to do Tomorrowland Speedway, Astro Orbitor, Buzz, People Mover, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, and Splash. We saw the fireworks from Liberty Square which was not our plan, but we were stuck in line with everyone else that wanted to hit Big Thunder and Splash while the weather allowed.
I had a plan, but the plan was designed for 2017 attendance levels and was non-functional for the 2019 crowds. Plan went off the rails immediately when the wait for the Seven Dwarfs ended up being 2 hours (waited 5:35 to 7:40), and then went out the window once the first parade was rain delayed-- It was difficult to adjust on the fly because the posted wait times on attractions were very hit or miss. Sometimes the waits were half the posted time, other times they were double.
Those are AWESOME!!! My DD is going to be Sully, My friend Mike & Iâm Boo (just because I have the hair for pig tails, lol) We are hoping my friendâs DD has off, she will be a 2319 if she does.
Hey, quick question. When youâre at the Halloween Party does Disney keep the app updated on character / ride wait times?
Just an alternative perspective: (ETA alternative perspective for anyone whoâs feeling worried about buying tickets! 
)
We have APs, and I was against going to the party because we didnât benefit from getting to arrive at 4pm, so the per-hour rate of the party is actually much higher for passholders, and that irritated me. Plus, we went to the last party for MVMCP last December, and I didnât think we got our moneyâs worth for that, so I was ready to be one-and-done on parties.
But, I love Halloween, and I had a good idea for DS6âs costume, and we happened to be in the area and didnât think weâd ever be there for Halloween parties again, so we bought the tickets for the Aug 16 party. We thought it was awesome and everyone (me, DH, DS6, DS5) all proclaimed at different times how much fun it was.
Key factor: we managed our expectations and primed everyone for our priority activities. That means: we had watched Hocus Pocus last fall, so the kids recognized the witches. We watched youtube videos of the parade and Hallowishes from the past, so theyâd know what to expect and they were psyched for the headless horseman, gravediggers, and others. We told the kids repeatedly that our priorities were the special events (Hocus Pocus, parade, fireworks) and the rides/candy were secondary, since we have APs and can get candy at the grocery store. Theyâre not big on character meets right now, so that saved us time in lines.
We arrived around 5:30-6 pm and yes, it was crowded, but nothing like MVMCP last Dec. In all, we were able to: get pictures on Main St vehicles, get pictures from different locations, spend about 30 min at the Descendants dance party (priority for DS6), ride Mad Tea Party, ride PoC (and interact with CMs on the ride, which was fun), see Monsterâs Inc Laugh Factory segment, see Hocus Pocus show, front row view of parade in Frontierland, obstructed view of fireworks/projections (btw, kids did not complain at all, and DS5, who tends to be a crank, turned to us at the end of it and said, âthat.was.awesome!!â), and collected 10lbs of candy, besides whatever candy we ate during the party.
Along the way, lots of CMs interacted with the kids because of their costumes, and we had fun. It probably doesnât seem like we did a lot, but weâd all agree we had fun, and we thought it was worth it, and we would love to experience that night in the same way again. No regrets.
So, manage your expectations, and remember, having fun as a family/ friends is what youâre there for, right?
thank you for a wonderful perspective. yep this is what I intend to do for entire trip.
Thanks! Was getting nervous taking the family with all of the crowded reports lately.
At this point I canât do anything about it. I already bought the tickets so stressing about it isnât going to help anything. Weâll do what we can do, see what we can see and just see where it goes. Itâs one of three days weâll have in the MK so itâs basically a surprise bonus for the kids anyway.
For our kids, I thought it was important that we have their buy-in on prioritizing the special events (since like all kids, they love candy and rides!). Letting them see the videos and telling them that this is a special event, and we were there to see the special things, seemed to help them from missing the rides too much during that night. I also see the planning as part of the overall fun and like for the kids to share in that by talking about what they most want to see or do. Depending on the ages and interests of your kids, it might be nice to let them know about the party now, so they know what to expect on that night.
Either way, have fun and good luck getting âBoo to youâ out of your head the next day/week/month/year! 
Iâve gotten their buy in and helped them have a part in the planning. The reason Iâm saving this one is because my oldest saw a DFB video about it and asked if we were doing it and I told her ânoâ because it was expensive. Since then, weâve changed out mind but now we wonât tell them what weâre doing until we leave for the event.
Iâm not going to bother much with a TP for this one. Weâll probably steer clear from a lot of the candy stuff because we can get candy any time. But weâll ride some things and see who we can meet and it should be ok.
Absolutely! That would be great
Just ride wait times on the app. We saw 7DMT go down to 20 minutes just at the end of the fireworks but by the time we ran over there it was back up to 50 minutes.
Thanks.
Saw a video from the 8/23 party on Friday night and it was dead.
I think the early parties are insane from all the folks that feel the need to be at the first plus all the vloggers and media folks made the first party a zoo.