The 2025 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party season is about half over, and now all remaining dates through October 31st are sold out. This is not at all surprising, but we’re nevertheless going to cover the sell out and, much more importantly, what this could mean for the 2026 MNSSHP.
If you’re new to the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party scene, the hard ticket event has sold out every single night for each of the 3 previous years. If you count Boo Bash, every single spook season event has completely sold out from 2021 through 2024. Now with the 2025 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party sold out, you can make that each of the last 5 years.
This is the ‘new normal’ for Walt Disney World events, even after revenge travel and elevated pent-up demand spending have run their course. It’s not unique to MNSSHP, either. Most special events sell better now despite most also suffering from staleness and higher prices.
This is quite the reversal from pre-COVID. Back in 2019, Walt Disney World offered the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Pass. This was essentially an Annual Pass for the Halloween Party that allowed access to 35 nights–every party night in August, September, October, and November except for Halloween itself for $299.
This was literally a last-minute offering that rolled out the day of the first MNSSHP, as Walt Disney World scrambled to buoy ticket sales for August and September due to a lack of demand. Even setting aside 2019, it used to be common for many Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party nights to not sell out. There were several years a decade or more ago when most parties didn’t sell out!
Fast forward to 2025, and the final date of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween that previously had availability (September 30th) is now sold out as of September 24, 2025.
For those keeping score at home, October 31, 2025 was the first date of this year’s MNSSHP to sell out, and that happened in record time despite record prices. The All Hallow’s Eve date of MNSSHP sold out sometime around midday on May 22–less than one full day after general public sales began, which is the first time ever that any date has sold out on the day general public sales opened.
The next date to sell out was August 19th, which sold out on July 13th. This was one of the lowest-priced dates for MNSSHP, and those less expensive dates all sold out by early August. Opening night was next to sell out, which occurred on August 1st. Once the first night rolled around, there was a “run” on tickets with many more nights in August and September, and even some in October, selling out.
There have been a couple of misconceptions about 2025 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party ticket sales. The first was that ticket sales have been slower as compared to last year. This is partially true, but only if you don’t adjust for tickets going on sale later this year and the event starting later. When measured from the time of sales starting, it’s pretty comparable year-over-year.
The second and more significant one is that, for the first time in the last 3 years, one night of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party did not sell out! Although unavailable for a couple of days, August 24th tickets reopened for same-day sales and, from what we saw online, were available through the start of the party.
A lot of sites that track MNSSHP missed this since tickets were sold out at one point, but reopened over the weekend when few were paying attention. And honestly, it’s unclear whether or not August 24th did end up selling out organically with same-day sales, or if Walt Disney World just cut off sales once the event started.
Regardless, even having availability up to 2 days before the event is unprecedented in recent years, and suggests that maybe demand is finally starting to die down–even just a bit–for these pricey hard ticket events. So on balance, these dueling misconceptions essentially cancel each other out. All things considered, demand was slightly softer for the 2025 Mickey’s Not Scary Halloween Party than last year or the year before.
Last year, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party sold out for the season by September 24th. Before October even started, there was nothing left. Coincidentally (?), the 2025 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party has sold out on the exact same date–September 24, 2025. That’s arguably ahead of last year if we’re benchmarking from the time ticket sales started, although I’d say that’s more meaningful for events in August than at this point.
In 2023, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was sold out by September 30th. The 2022 event sold out the earliest ever, with all dates gone by September 11th. Notably, that was the return of MNSSHP for the first time since 2019, so there was pent-up demand for the event. There was also pent-up demand more broadly, as that was the height of “revenge travel” at Walt Disney World.
Before that, Disney After Hours Boo Bash sold out by August 26, 2021. However, it’s worth pointing out that was an After Hours event at its heart, and had significantly lower capacity as a result. (Also worth noting that it occurred during a period of high cancellations for Walt Disney World, and ticket sales reopened on several occasions–it’s possible there were tickets available sporadically after August 26th.)
As we’ve explained elsewhere, there are a lot of reasons for MNSSHP selling out faster than before. While some critics assume it’s diehard Disney fans eating up the same stale event year after year, we view this as lazy and largely incorrect analysis. Bigger drivers are almost certainly locals who have dropped Annual Passes (but want an occasional Disney fix) and tourists opting for MNSSHP tickets instead of 1-day Magic Kingdom park tickets. This means that, at least to some extent, guests are trading day visits to Magic Kingdom for party time.
This is reflected in attendance patterns, and it’s fairly well-established that the popularity of the party is divorced from overall crowd levels. I’ve visited Magic Kingdom on multiple occasions in August and September 2025, and the park has been dead on non-party days but busy on 11 pm closing nights–pretty consistent with 2022-2024. The Slowest 3 Weeks at Walt Disney World in 2025 just happened, and Magic Kingdom was not immune to those lower crowd levels.
Further reinforcing all of this is that Magic Kingdom’s mix-in window from 4 pm to 6 pm has been busier than ever. This is due to fewer guests having both MNSSHP and day tickets, with locals and other purchasers of party tickets trying to maximize their park time. See Best & Worst 2025 Dates in Magic Kingdom for more insight.
What’s Next for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party in 2026?
For this section of the post, we’re going to operate under the assumption that Walt Disney World leadership would like to capitalize on the popularity of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and use that to increase revenue in 2026.
The underlying premises are fairly well-established. Walt Disney World likes to find ways to increase revenue, as evidenced by quarterly earnings calls and price increases. There’s unsatisfied demand for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, as evidenced by sell outs. There aren’t a lot of other avenues for revenue growth until 2027, especially if there’s an economic downturn next year, so Disney has to seize clear-cut opportunities wherever available.
The most obvious, and least interesting, change for 2026 will be price increases. This happens every year, and it’s barely worth discussing on a basic level, to the extent that it probably means a greater distribution of dates at the higher end of the spectrum. This will amount to effective price increases of 5-10%, which happened for 2023, 2024, and 2025.
The more interesting angle is the potential for resetting the price ceiling again with the 2026 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Despite October 31st seeing a massive increase to $229, it sold out faster than ever. As we wrote prior to sales even starting, Walt Disney World could probably price the last couple of nights at $299 and still sell them out. It’s all a matter of optics, and whether that much of an increase is worth the negative headlines.
In general, there appears to be more runway for price increases in October than there is August or September. Relative to event dates, the first two months sold out slower than October 2025; this is again despite October having higher prices. This is likely due to October being by far the busiest month of the 3, and the actual heart of Halloween season. Suffice to say, there’s probably room for most–if not all–other October dates to be priced above $200. Price increases feels like a pretty safe bet.
A bolder bet is that Walt Disney World will host 40+ Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party nights in 2026 for the first time ever.
There were 38 parties last year–and there are also 38 parties this year. Prior to that, the number of parties had increased by 1-2 per year for several years. The reason the number of parties did not increase in 2025 is because Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party started a full week later than last year. This is not normal. It’s common for MNSSHP to start earlier and earlier, but I don’t recall a time when the start date was pushed back prior to 2025.
In all likelihood, this decision was driven by the delayed Disney Starlight Night Parade, and giving that a longer runway of uninterrupted performance dates before Party Season starts. That new nighttime parade needed as many performance dates as possible as a release valve on demand and crowds before Party Season starts, and causes Magic Kingdom to close early multiple nights per week. Obviously, this scenario won’t repeat in 2026.
The 2026 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party could break the 40 night barrier simply be adding that early August week back to the schedule, starting the event on August 7, 2026. If that happens, and nothing else changes, that’s an easy 40-41 parties.
Walt Disney World kept the same number of parties per month this year, and accomplished the week later start by adding two Sunday night parties in the second half of August. Those dates still managed to sell well and didn’t cause crazy crowding on non-party dates, so it seems likely that Walt Disney World will revisit that playbook for 2026.
Adding more August dates also introduces the opportunity for more of the least expensive dates. In theory, Walt Disney World could keep the starting price the same as 2025, just increase the October ceiling, and market more of the “cheapest” dates. (Disneyland has done this with $104 ticket days.) That would be a win-win for guests and the company, increasing revenue while also nudging those with flexible travel dates to August for (essentially) half-priced tickets as contrasted with October.
Along with significantly higher prices, Walt Disney World has lowered the attendance cap for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, which is part of the reason more dates sell out. If you last experienced MNSSHP in October 2019 when this problem peaked, you should notice the difference in the 2022-2025 crowds. (See “Is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Too Crowded?” for more on how bad October 2019 was.)
This is no guarantee that Walt Disney World will stick with the lower attendance cap for the 2026 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. They could determine that, on balance, guest satisfaction is higher if the events don’t sell out as easily. (Obviously, guest satisfaction is higher among attendees with a lower cap, but that doesn’t account for guests who get shut out and are disappointed. You are an outlier by reading this blog; many Walt Disney World guests don’t start thinking about or planning for Halloween until October.)
So that’s one potential change for 2026–a higher attendance cap to reduce sold out dates. This strikes me as unlikely to happen. Walt Disney World has hit the goldilocks zone for crowds–not too light or too heavy–at both MNSSHP and MVMCP. This doesn’t mean there’s zero congestion or lines–you’ll still encounter both, especially for rare characters and in front of Cinderella Castle between the parade and fireworks, but there’s no solving for that.
Another wildcard is bringing back more upcharges within the 2026 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Walt Disney World has been really slow to restore a lot of ‘Enchanting Extras’ for reasons unknown, but 2026 might be the turning point on that if there’s otherwise a slowdown. Bringing back the Cruella’s Halloween Hide-a-Way at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant or adding another premium parade viewing package would be one way to accomplish this.
An even more outlandish idea might be pulling a page from the Christmas playbook and introducing a more adult-oriented party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Something that is so scary (or is slightly scary) and could slot between MNSSHP and Halloween Horror Nights at Universal on the scariness spectrum. There’s definitely an audience for this, and Disney could look to events held in Paris or Hong Kong for inspiration.
I’m skeptical of this happening for a number of reasons, but it’s at least worth discussing as a “just for fun” possibility. Having done Halloween at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland back when they had this more adult vibe, I would love to see this. Among other impediments, messaging would be a huge one. (Don’t want another Alien Encounter scenario!)
The bigger issue, though, is that only October could realistically sustain a second Halloween event at Walt Disney World. Maybe they could do one night per week from mid-August through late September, but that’s a big maybe. Such a party would probably take multiple seasons to break even, and risks a repeat of Jollywood Nights’ inaugural season.
Although Walt Disney World has pushed forward with Jollywood Nights, I can’t help but wonder whether that’s due to recouping upfront sunk costs. That if they could make the original decision with the knowledge they have today, maybe they’d opt against ever doing Jollywood Nights in the first place.
If anything, a summer-time hard ticket event from May through July at Magic Kingdom is probably the more surefire, bankable concept. Perhaps the real solution here is bringing back Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom for those months, as opposed to another party during Halloween at DHS that could cannibalize attendance from MNSSHP and create confusion among guests.
Personally, I’d love to see a summer-time special event return to Magic Kingdom. It’s been nearly two decades since the failed Pirates & Princesses Party, which was actually a ton of fun. That was also poorly timed right during the Great Recession, and although we’re under no delusions that it’ll return, it could be a huge hit in 2025, especially with the resurgence of pirates! The more recent Villains After Hours is definitely the smarter bet, especially with Villains Land on the horizon.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you attended Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World in the last few years? What did you think of the ‘sold out’ crowds? Think it was worth the high ticket price? Any changes you expect in 2026? Think Walt Disney World will add a second Halloween party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios or a summer event at Magic Kingdom? Agree or disagree with our analysis? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
