D N N TRAVEL: Are Disney World’s after-hours parties worth it?

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Walt Disney World’s after-hours parties, like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, offer guests a unique opportunity to visit Disney World’s theme parks at night after they’ve closed to daytime guests. This means lower crowds, shorter wait times and experiences that are only available to party guests.

Disney after the daytime crowds leave sounds great, right?

The tougher challenge is that the after-hours perks come with a price that can be hard to justify on top of your other Disney vacation expenses, such as multi-day park tickets or even annual passes, since you will need specific event tickets that cost $100-$200 per person range, depending on the event.

Let’s take a closer look at some of Disney World’s most popular after-hours parties to see how they rank for crowds, exclusive experiences and included perks to help you answer the age-old question, “To party, or not to party.”

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

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Held each year at Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party usually kicks off in mid-August and runs on select nights through late October or early November. It may seem like a lot of tricks and treats when most of the country celebrates just one night of Halloween. However, the long run gives out-of-town guests ample opportunity to experience the event.

On event nights, Magic Kingdom closes early for daytime guests, typically by 6 p.m., and only those with a party ticket can stay for the evening’s festivities. Guests are encouraged to dress in costumes, and your favorite Disney characters dress up for the occasion, too.

Ticket cost

Tickets for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party cost between $109 and $199 plus tax for adults or $99 and $189 for kids ages 3-9. Discounts are available for Disney Vacation Club members and annual pass holders. Click here to purchase tickets.

Extra hours spent in the park

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party begins at 7 p.m. and ends at midnight, but guests with tickets to the party can enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4 p.m. This means even without a regular park ticket, you can spend up to eight hours in the park.

SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

Because the ticket prices can climb to nearly $200 on certain nights, skipping a regular daytime ticket and entering the park early for the Halloween party is one of the best money-saving strategies.

Regardless of your priorities for the night, the reduced crowds should give you ample time to see and do everything you want to do if you arrive around the 4 p.m. early entry time.

Wait times for rides

The wait times for rides are much shorter than average during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. For example, popular rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan’s Flight often have wait times between 60 and 90 minutes during the day but have waits around half that time (between 30 and 45 minutes) on party nights. Most other rides have wait times under 30 minutes.

Space Mountain lit up for Halloween at Disney World

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Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane are not available during the party, but you can use them between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. if maxing out rides is your top priority. You can also save time in line by getting in line during one of the nightly parades or the fireworks show.

Included snacks and drinks

There are no included snacks or drinks at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, but you can make out like a bandit with candy at the trick-or-treat stops.

All party guests receive a reusable trick-or-treat bag and an event map upon entering the park. There are trick-or-treat spots all over the Magic Kingdom, and you can easily fill your bag to the brim if you hit them all. Allergy-friendly treats are also available.

Halloween treat stands at Walt Disney World

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Though you will have to shell out extra for them, there are a number of specialty food and drink offerings that are exclusive to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. If you are there for the full length of the party, you are going to need to eat, and it’s fun trying out the meals, sweets and drinks that you can only get during the event.

Exclusive entertainment and experiences

You can meet rare characters like the Seven Dwarfs or Jack and Sally from “A Nightmare Before Christmas,” but the wait times can climb as high as three hours for the most popular characters, so be prepared to wait.

There is also live entertainment you can only experience during the event, including Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular! stage show and Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks show. The parade and the Hocus Pocus show are held multiple times nightly, so it’s easy to fit them into your schedule regardless of your other priorities for the night.

Rides, including Space Mountain and the Mad Tea Party, get fun Halloween overlays you can only experience during the event.

Is Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party worth it?

Worth it for characters and entertainment

If you are going for the exclusive meet-and-greets and entertainment offerings, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is definitely worth it, but those are also the reasons why you’ll need to determine your priorities and develop a strategy before your visit. If there are characters you just have to meet, you’ll want to line up as early as possible, which may mean forgoing rides or trick-or-treating.

Worth it for short wait times and ride overlays

If your goal is getting on as many rides as possible, Mickey’s-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is a good time to do that, as well. You may miss out on some of the Halloween-specific offerings, but you’ll still be surrounded by spooky settings and music as you hop from ride to ride.

Not worth it if you have young kids who go to bed early

The party is likely not worth it if you — or your little ones — need to leave and go to bed by 8 or 9 p.m., so take that into account. You’ll miss out on most of the Halloween-specific offerings, which negates going for a special event.

Not worth it if you aren’t into Halloween

At Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, everyone is dressed in costume, and you can get loads and loads of candy. If filling your trick-or-treat bag with Halloween treats isn’t your, well, bag, and you couldn’t care less about characters in costumes, you may want to skip this one.

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Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party takes place each holiday season on select nights from early November through late December. It’s the closest you’ll find to a winter wonderland in Central Florida, complete with a magical “snowfall” and a visit from Santa Claus at the end of the parade.

Related: Up all night: How Disney transforms the Magic Kingdom from Halloween to holiday overnight

During the event, the park is illuminated with holiday lights, and Christmas tunes fill the air. Because Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is a separately ticketed event, you’ll get to enjoy the sights and sounds of the season with lower crowd levels than you’ll experience during the day.