[00:00:00] Dana Stanley: Welcome back, Melissa to the Laid Back Magic Way podcast. You’re becoming a recurring theme on the podcast, but I had to have you on because we were chatting about the timing of Halloween this year and how it falls in Disney World, and you said we are quickly approaching the halfway to Halloween, mark.

[00:00:18] Dana Stanley: So I thought it would be cool to not necessarily talk about Halloween, which I have dubbed you the Halloween Queen, and I know that you have all of the information in your brain when it comes to, especially magic kingdom’s. Not so scary Halloween party, but more so just fall in general, because even though it’s only April, it is quickly approaching and Disney world’s fall slash Halloween.

[00:00:41] Dana Stanley: Is almost end of summer. It’s really August through October, which if you’re planning on going now, like that’s when you’re thinking about it. Talking about is right now. So I think that when people picture fall, or sometimes people are like, oh my gosh, can we just enjoy summer?

[00:00:58] Dana Stanley: Like I don’t wanna think about fall yet, which I totally like. I am a hundred percent in that boat. But we all know that Disney World planning, you have to be thinking about these things well in advance. And people kind of picture like fall’s gonna be like chill and I can wear a sweatshirt and I’m gonna be wearing all the cute brown corduroy things.

[00:01:19] Dana Stanley: And what would you say is more of like the reality after going to Disney World in those months of what it actually looks and feels like to you?

[00:01:28] Melissa: Yeah, thanks for having me. And always happy to talk about Halloween and fall and Disney ’cause it’s my favorite season. And the reality , is it does start , generally speaking, mid August. , So you’re talking August 15th ish. typically even earlier there have been years where it started as early as the fourth or the fifth.

[00:01:45] Melissa: But last year it started, I believe the first party was the 15th, so I’m expecting the first party to be the 14th. when it starts in the middle of summer it’s hot. And the reality is it’s still hot in September and it’s still hot in October. You might get some cool evenings, but generally speaking, most of the fall.

[00:02:02] Melissa: Spooky season. Halloween season it’s pretty hot. 

[00:02:06] Dana Stanley: and humid too.

[00:02:07] Melissa: too. Yeah. I mean, I joke that we’ve gone, we tend to go in the summer. , We go in July. We’ve gone in August. , I personally loved August, of course, for Halloween, but August is way more humid than July, and then September is even more humid.

[00:02:21] Melissa: it’s just,

[00:02:21] Dana Stanley: Yeah. August, I remember one trip ’cause our anniversary is in August and we went, a few years ago and it was, I remember taking a shower in the middle of the day and walking to Epcot and my hair just never dried. I was like, oh, it’s perfect. I’ll just air dry it. ’cause it’s gonna, you know, it’s gonna get frizzy.

[00:02:38] Dana Stanley: No, it just stayed damp and that was just, it wasn’t horrible like. July and August are definitely the hottest. I think if you look at like the average temperatures and then October is just kind of, you might get like a cool morning or like a cool evening, but it’s very rainy too, and that’s something to keep in mind is that, and what I want everyone to keep in mind is the Halloween season overlaps like perfectly with the rainy hurricane season. talking specifically about the Halloween party, so just if we’re talking about this and nobody knows, there is a Halloween party called Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party in Magic Kingdom. And you just said the first party you think is gonna be on the 14th, is that what?

[00:03:28] Dana Stanley: August 14th? Something something around there.

[00:03:32] Melissa: yeah, it should be the 14th. We’ll know

[00:03:35] Dana Stanley: all the way. Right. And when do tickets usually come out? Like May.

[00:03:39] Melissa: they typically do halfway to Halloween, which, we were talking about, which is technically April. But last year, and I believe the year before, it was like early to mid-May that the tickets went on sale. They actually did halfway to Halloween, post Halloween, post May the fourth, and all of that.

[00:03:55] Melissa: , It just seemed like they had a lot of content. Meaning Disney had a lot of stuff to review. , So last year, I don’t remember the exact date, but I wanna say around like 13th is when they came out.

[00:04:05] Dana Stanley: Okay. That’s good to know. And if someone wants a Halloween party ticket, do you feel like it’s dependent on, like,, I’m thinking about like how serious do you have to grab those tickets? Like Would you say the closer to Halloween are the harder ones to get versus like August?

[00:04:21] Melissa: there’s going to be a couple that if you’re serious about going, you wanna purchase the day they come out, or within, I’d say the first week. There have been times, especially like when it first came back post. Closures, where those times it’s sold out more quickly. But generally speaking, if you want Halloween or Halloween weekend, ’cause Halloween is, I believe it’s Saturday this year, or Friday, I forget which.

[00:04:40] Melissa: , The first and second party, like the first couple of parties will sell out, and then the closer to Halloween particularly Halloween and the night before, will sell out as well. . Last year they didn’t sell out immediately. So you do have a short window. But I would say if those are of interest, those say four or five parties, I would get those when they come out.

[00:05:00] Dana Stanley: If you wanna go right at the beginning or right at the end, you should jump on it. in your experience, ’cause I know you’ve gone to the Halloween parties a lot. I have not been to one and one of the things I, not that I worry about, but one of the things that I kind of talk myself out of it is because it’s raining a lot, there is a pretty good chance it’s going to rain sometime during.

[00:05:25] Dana Stanley: Your party. So in your experience, ’cause I think you’ve had like two like rainy parties, can you talk about what actually happens if like thing, like if you don’t get to see fireworks or you don’t get to see the parade if there’s bad weather?

[00:05:41] Melissa: Yeah, so I’ve had two. One was with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party, and then I did have a rainy experience with the Christmas party. , So I’ll talk briefly about both of those. , it is rainy season, like you mentioned. . The probability is very high. , Unless it’s dangerous, they’re really not going to cancel the party.

[00:05:57] Melissa: things like fireworks parade, those things can shift. We actually had a lot of fun. when it rained for Mickey’s not so scary Halloween party. Gosh, this is back in 2017, so going way back. But it was fun. Like the kids were in a stroller. I remember, like we were just, we had the rain cover on.

[00:06:13] Melissa: We would push them to the end of the ride. We’d run in. People had scattered, we walked on everything. , It was just fun. It was raining, but on and off. , The biggest challenge was all of a sudden they said that the parade was happening and we hadn’t grabbed the spot because it wasn’t the actual time for the parade.

[00:06:29] Melissa: So we were further back. So those are the things you have to be mindful of. We were able to still trick or treat at most places. unless the rides were outside outdoor rides, like mind train or things like that, we were able to go on most of the rides. So that was good.

[00:06:43] Melissa: , Adversely we had last December we went to solely to go to Mickey’s very merry Christmas party. And unfortunately it was raining buckets. It was thundering lightning. Very

[00:06:54] Dana Stanley: Which is crazy for December I was gonna say that, that’s just crazy that it was December. ’cause I remember that trip ’cause I was following out on Instagram and it was just like, would not stop raining.

[00:07:05] Melissa: It was terrible. It was terrible. It was unsafe, truly. it was lightning. It was thunder. we sat around for, oh my gosh, like and a half. , The party officially starts at seven. We had , went indoors around six, stayed till seven 30 ’cause we were waiting on direction, right? Like, what’s gonna happen?

[00:07:21] Melissa: Is it going to be canceled? while the park, it wasn’t officially canceled, that. Time because of the situation, it was flooding everywhere. They did offer refunds, so we were able to get either a gift card or a refund, given the situation. But then for that trip we were at Wilderness Lodge.

[00:07:39] Melissa: So we had firework view room and we saw the fireworks go off. So , the park itself did not close. And my understanding was people who showed up later for the party, they did get to experience. Some things, but there was no parade. There was only fireworks. , Stage show You could get cookies and hot cocoa in that regard ’cause it was a Christmas party.

[00:07:57] Melissa: So similarly, if it was the Halloween party, there would likely be no parade. Likely be fewer character meets no hocus pocus show. , Possibly a limited fireworks. Just ’cause my understanding , is they have to shoot them off. They can’t keep. The fireworks, like in the barrels or whatever. , Yeah. So you’ll have limited options if it’s a really bad storm.

[00:08:16] Dana Stanley: And I know, I mean they obviously, they can’t give refunds for just Rain because they would never be making any money and everyone would be getting a refund. ’cause the odds are so high. We were there once for 4th of July fireworks, and it was pouring buckets and we were all just huddled in, into marland.

[00:08:34] Dana Stanley: It was absolutely miserable. I wanted to leave. Colton didn’t wanna leave and finally, ‘ cause it was lightning , and everything, so like they, they couldn’t set them off. Eventually I convinced Colton like, we’re just gonna. Book it to the bus, like this is just miserable. And when we were on the bus, we saw fireworks and I will never ever live that down.

[00:08:53] Dana Stanley: He still brings it up. And we only had one kid at the time, so this is probably like a decade ago. all that to say, Disney will wait it out, like they will wait. As long as they possibly can. And then, because there’s also a second parade too, so I know a lot of my friends, they went to a Halloween party and the first parade got canceled.

[00:09:13] Dana Stanley: Or maybe it was like a shortened version of the parade, but then the second one was full. So it does pay to be very patient in those scenarios. Expect the worst and that, you know, even if you have little kids, just try to have it in your head that it is going to be. A long night. Like I wouldn’t necessarily, if I were going, I would picture it of like, we might have to watch the second parade or we might not see fireworks.

[00:09:37] Dana Stanley: It’s just gonna be a late night. And then hopefully that doesn’t happen and you get lucky and it doesn’t rain at all. 

[00:09:43] Dana Stanley: and that’s another thing to think about, just fall in general. And we’re gonna , touch on this a little bit more. But that fall season does fall so heavily with the hurricanes and just thinking about not just delays with the party, but like your flights being delayed or potentially the parks closing, which is what happened to us two Octobers ago.

[00:10:05] Dana Stanley: and we ended up being in Disney like 10 days or something, which sounds. Amazing. But it wasn’t when you’re not expecting to be there. It was like, I am so ready to go home. I have seen everything I could possibly see at the boardwalk , from that trip. , But it is just something to just mentally prepare for.

[00:10:25] Dana Stanley: ’cause people don’t really think about that season. I think they picture maybe more of like, I don’t know. At least for me, I always pictured hurricanes. Not during those months. I don’t know why, but that is technically the hurricane season. I think I always pictured it like later. I don’t know. so that’s just something to keep in mind.

[00:10:45] Dana Stanley: And then I wanted to talk to you again. We’re talking about the timing of like how Halloween is really August, September, and October. Have you been to a party in like all of those variations?

[00:10:57] Melissa: What do you think?

[00:10:59] Dana Stanley: Yeah,

[00:10:59] Melissa: course I have,

[00:11:01] Dana Stanley: Of course she has.

[00:11:02] Dana Stanley: For someone that, for someone that’s never been like, do you have a preference or like, are there lower crowds at one versus the other?

[00:11:11] Dana Stanley: Or like weather-wise, is there one that you prefer over the other?

[00:11:15] Melissa: yes and no. I think there’s a couple of things to consider. generally they’re selling the tickets in full regardless. So the crowds are kind of the crowds. I do think that in summer, so in August and also early September, you’re going to get lower crowds regardless, like across the board.

[00:11:32] Melissa: So you might have especially getting into the park. So with your ticketed entry, you could get in at four, so that four to 6, 6 30 timeframe where you can still have regular crowd levels.

[00:11:43] Dana Stanley: the regular like

[00:11:44] Melissa: Yeah, non-party goers, you still have those guests there. , So in those months, I think that timeframe is a bit more easy to manage.

[00:11:51] Melissa: , Whereas in October especially because you’ll get, two weeks of fall break for a lot of the southern states. So those crowds will be higher. , So the party itself, I think you’re going to see similar crowds regardless. , It’s more of those other timeframes where you’ll, or those crossover timeframes where the crowds will a adjust a bit.

[00:12:10] Melissa: So for August and September, I think those are more ideal if you look at crowd levels. But if you’re looking at weather, when we’ve gone two or three times now in August, we’ve not done costumes. We do, we stick to, themed t-shirts and shorts. , We did do costumes in October, which was a little bit more manageable, but it still was really warm.

[00:12:29] Melissa: , It did get cooler as the night went on. So I would say from a weather perspective, October is more ideal. , Versus August for sure, and even into September. , But even we went late September one trip and it was still very humid. , So I would just plan, I always say it is really fun and I see people dress up and I give them full credit, but I, I am not one to fully dress up, although I would love to one year.

[00:12:55] Melissa: one day, one year I’ll get to Oggie Boogie and I’ll dress up. That’s my plan, which is in

[00:12:59] Dana Stanley: Oh, that’s a good idea. Yeah. The weather is so much

[00:13:02] Melissa: yeah, exactly. so I, it, it’s kind of like a. A more general answer, I guess, because you’re either choosing lower crowds and more humidity or potentially cooler nights, but you’re still gonna have humidity in October,

[00:13:15] Dana Stanley: And there could be a hurricane.

[00:13:16] Melissa: and there could be a hurricane.

[00:13:18] Melissa: I had a hurricane in October too, so

[00:13:21] Melissa: I don’t know if

[00:13:21] Dana Stanley: I don’t know what it was it, I guess it was early. Yeah. So if we’re touching on like. My favorite time of year in quote fall. It’s definitely that, like first week of October or the last week of October. Which makes sense. ’cause you were saying that the fall break is like kind of sandwiched in the middle.

[00:13:40] Dana Stanley: we have actually gone to Disney, like flown down on Halloween.

[00:13:44] Dana Stanley: because we didn’t really care about missing like. True Halloween and we, that wasn’t our goal on that trip. And I just remember the, I think we’ve done this a few times because the flights are very inexpensive, usually on Halloween, and then that first.

[00:13:59] Dana Stanley: You have to be careful because you kind of get into Jersey week, which is ironic because I’m from New Jersey. , But there are school conferences the first week of November, I wanna say like that, Thursday and Friday. , So just a heads up for anyone listening, if your dates are starting to trickle into that first week of November to just keep an eye on those crowd calendars.

[00:14:19] Dana Stanley: But typically if you’re looking at like a couple days before. Halloween and if you’re going home, when people from New Jersey are going down, it’s really nice. The crowds are really nice. The weather is , usually knock on wood, pretty good. , But we did get stuck in that hurricane. It was like, I wanna say October 4th or something.

[00:14:40] Dana Stanley: , And you can never. Prepare for that. Unfortunately. I wish we had a crystal ball when it came to, 

[00:14:45] Dana Stanley: The weather, but when it comes to the party, obviously I know that you’re a fan. , What do you like for people that aren’t familiar with it or have never been like, what do you like about it?

[00:14:56] Dana Stanley: What makes you keep going back and that you think is worth it? Besides that, I know that you just really like Halloween.

[00:15:01] Melissa: I do like Halloween, so there’s that. , But I will say, even my family who, it’s always funny. People always are like, oh, you must love horror movies. I’m like, I don’t. I just, I love the vibe. I love the fun Halloween, right? , So for me, the parade, it’s hands down, the best parade in Disney.

[00:15:15] Melissa: The booty parade is just so much fun. It’s just unlike anything of. Else. , I’m also a huge fan of the Haunted Mansion and that there’s haunted mansion featured in the parade. They’ll have, Madam Liotta, they’ll have the bride Constance, they’ll have the grave diggers. So there’s a lot of fun stuff happening.

[00:15:31] Melissa: , They also have a hocus Pocus show, which is super fun. , Even , the fireworks, I’m not a huge fireworks fan, but this particular fireworks, hosted if you would, by Jack Skellington. So like, he’s featured I love Nightmare Before Christmas.

[00:15:44] Dana Stanley: And he seems very cool, like the way that he’s almost like a puppet.

[00:15:49] Melissa: Yeah. If you’ve, if anyone has seen the Hollywood Knights, it’s kind of that similar puppet.

[00:15:54] Melissa: , There’s a nightmare before Christmas thing along. It seems like it’s similar, you’re not as close, so it’s kinda hard to tell. But from my perspective, it’s. Similar to that. , The trick or treating is fun. , We don’t necessarily prioritize it, but it is fun to go around and get candy, and all of the unique characters you get a lot more villains which I love.

[00:16:12] Melissa: Anytime there’s extra villains , is a plus to me. And they’ve added even more villains in recent years, which is fun. I think overall just the vibe it’s just so fun. There’s nothing better than a lit like a Mickey Pumpkin. Sliding up and all of these fun, unique character meets coming out and just creating a, just a fun Halloween ambiance.

[00:16:30] Melissa: I love it.

[00:16:33] Dana Stanley: What does it usually look like? If you’re going to the party, what do you do that day before you go into it? What’s your approach that way?

[00:16:41] Melissa: so typically I use the morning as a rest day. that’s been our general plan for years. We plan to stay till close. So you’re talking 7:00 PM at least. If it’s, you can get in at four, so you’re talking at least 4:00 PM to midnight. Even when our kids were younger.

[00:16:55] Melissa: , So we typically used it as a rest day. , Especially given, like we mentioned, it is the warmer months. It is humid. So it is, I’ll say we like to have a slower morning, maybe a character meal or at the very least pool time. , But you don’t wanna do too much pool time ’cause that’s tiring as well.

[00:17:09] Melissa: And then I like to do a meal before, if I haven’t done a character meal for breakfast, say, I like to do a meal before entering the park. So we’re entering and we’re ready to go. , Maybe do some rides before the party officially starts. , And then, just enjoy some of the snacks. There’s also some great, always some great theme snacks and treats at the party.

[00:17:27] Dana Stanley: So I know that you’ve gone to the parties like when your kids were really little, but now they’re getting a bit older.

[00:17:33] Dana Stanley: Has it changed kind of how you approach the party now that they’re getting a little older and can hang?

[00:17:38] Melissa: It definitely has. I’m seeing now that I know I was talking about always having a rest day. , One of the last parties we went to, we tried going to the park beforehand so that we weren’t dealing with the mad rush of everyone getting in. And it worked out really well for us. We were able to get tons of rides done with Lightning Lane passed before the

[00:17:56] Dana Stanley: Do you remember what time you got there? Did you get there at four or even a little bit before

[00:18:00] Melissa: no before. , So we had a ticket for the day. , Took advantage of some of those lower crowds. I wanna say we got there sometime between 12 and one. , We did, certainly didn’t spend the whole day, although I have worked with clients and had friends that went in the morning, took a nice chunk of a break and then went, so that is an option as well.

[00:18:17] Melissa: , We tend to sleep in, so that’s just not our vibe. But we went like midday, 12, one o’clock. , And it worked out pretty well for us. They were able to hang, we then had a meal in the park as opposed to outside the park and then entering. , ‘Cause one thing that does it can be a challenge is everyone’s trying to get it at four o’clock, right?

[00:18:34] Melissa: So if you can get in early, you’ll avoid, that massive crowd that kind of collects outside the park. And you can get all of your stuff and pick it up when you’re in the park. So that’s nice. , Whether it be your maps, your bracelet, whatever they’re the trick or treat bag et cetera that they’re giving you.

[00:18:49] Melissa: So that in itself is nice. So you can avoid that med rush of entering or if you do, if you decide, you know what, I don’t wanna have a ticketed day, you can certainly enter a little bit later. I’d

[00:19:00] Dana Stanley: Yeah, I almost think that’s what I would do. I feel like I’d either use a day ticket and get there a little bit early. So if you have a day ticket, ‘ cause people will start lining up. Before four, but if they don’t have a day ticket, they just keep you there. But if you got there at like three and had a day ticket, you can just get right in.

[00:19:20] Dana Stanley: So that’s just something to keep in mind. Not necessarily saying that you should. I’m just saying like, ’cause sometimes if you’re there five days, the cost of just getting a six day maybe isn’t that much more.

[00:19:32] Dana Stanley: and then also, so this is just something to keep in mind for anyone listening. If you’re thinking, we’re not doing the Halloween party, and I don’t care about Halloween, so this doesn’t apply to me, it does because especially as you get even closer to October, the parties really ramp up like you’re looking at every other night. Magic Kingdom is closing early for everybody. If you don’t have a party ticket at six and the park ticket is gonna cost just as much as if it was open until 10:00 PM and they will nicely kick you out. I hate to say kick you out, but you’re gonna need a wristband to get on any rides. You’re gonna need a wristband to get any treats like they’re looking.

[00:20:11] Dana Stanley: I use this to my advantage. So if you look at wait time, data, and this is just my experiences because I always use the Halloween parties and the Christmas parties. To visit Magic Kingdom on the day that it’s closing early because the weights are like 30 to 40% less. there are like certain days of the week, like a Sunday is really nice, I’ve noticed.

[00:20:35] Dana Stanley: , I think Sunday is just like a good day in Magic Kingdom. Anyway. Because most people are holding out until Monday. But if most people see that it’s closing at six and it totally makes sense, why would you want to spend just as much if you could have to leave at six versus 10? They think they’re getting four extra hours.

[00:20:52] Dana Stanley: So those days are busier. it’s also nights that you’re not going to have traditional fireworks, like you’re not gonna be able, obviously, at six. It’s not even dark usually, so there’s not gonna be any fireworks that night. So. If you are a little bit ninja and can I, you know, obviously I love like sketching, quote, sketching trips, but if you’re sketching out your trip and there’s a way for you to visit Magic Kingdom as like a ride heavy day on a party day.

[00:21:19] Dana Stanley: And then do something else. Leave at, you know, four or five o’clock as all the party people are starting to come in, go to a different park, or go out to dinner or just have an early bedtime. You are missing the fireworks, but maybe you could go see the fireworks on a different night and not have to like be there all day.

[00:21:36] Dana Stanley: So that’s usually what we do is try to almost do like one and a half days in Magic Kingdom and use that second day of maybe we go in for dinner. So we’re not like kind of fighting against the crowds or have a light dinner and then splurge for a dessert party. ‘ cause something to keep in mind too is if you do wanna see happily ever after, during, I mean again, this is like August to December, really, it’s like it’s a really good chunk of time.

[00:22:01] Dana Stanley: ’cause this isn’t just Halloween, it’s Christmas too. I will splurge for a dessert party because the firework nights, because they’re split in half, gets really crowded. Like it’s. Almost feels a little unsafe sometimes, like as a mom, and I’m thinking of this when I had like a newborn, I had my in-laws with me, so it was helpful having just extra hands with my kids.

[00:22:22] Dana Stanley: But it was just, you’re kind of going upstream against people that are. Determined to get a good spot for fireworks and you’re just cramming on the people because now there’s half as many opportunities for them to see them. So just something to keep in mind if you are torn between maybe getting a park hop in your fall or winter trip, I would lean a little bit more towards, yes, you should get it.

[00:22:51] Dana Stanley: So if you’re someone like me and maybe the Halloween party doesn’t really interest you yet, what are some things for people that don’t wanna splurge for the party ticket, but maybe want a touch of that fall Halloween vibe?

[00:23:05] Melissa: Yeah, there’s a lot of fun things to do outside of the party, of course, all of the decor, right? So you’re in Magic Kingdom specifically and all of the Mickey Pumpkins and things like that. , So that in and of itself is fun. , Outside of that one of my favorite things to do is Hollywood and Vine.

[00:23:21] Melissa: So they have seasonal, mini, seasonal character meal and you can certainly do a Fantas package and get preferred seating for that. So that’s a fun meal to do. , They’ll all be in their Halloween attire. , So you get , a taste of Halloween, and a meal all in one, maybe even preferred seating.

[00:23:37] Dana Stanley: And there’s really no disadvantage, if you’re going to eat at Hollywood and Vine anyway, book the Fantasma package, obviously if you’re going to see Fantas. ’cause it’s just, there’s no, it’s just extra free. VIP seating and you could get there five minutes before Fantas and not have to 

[00:23:54] Melissa: Yeah, for sure. 

[00:23:55] Dana Stanley: Is that, when the characters, ’cause I know they do like seasonal, like we were there in the summer and they have like a tropical beach kind of vibe. Is that breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Or is it just breakfast? I’m like

[00:24:07] Melissa: it’s a hundred percent lunch and dinner. I believe it’s now breakfast. They used to do Disney Junior at breakfast, but I’m fairly certain that they moved too mini seasonal for all three meals. but certainly lunch and dinner for sure. , There could be, times where they switch off for breakfast, but generally speaking, it’s mini seasonal,

[00:24:26] Dana Stanley: Yeah, it’s like Hollywood and Vine isn’t my favorite, but when it comes to Hollywood Studios, there’s just not a lot and it’s kind of a pain to like, if you wanted to leave and come back to eat somewhere, quote better, it’s not worth it.

[00:24:40] Melissa: right? 

[00:24:41] Dana Stanley: So I actually might end up there again this summer just because it’s the only character 

[00:24:47] Melissa: Yeah. . And it’s seasonal, so especially in Halloween, it’s fun. You, they’ll be in their costumes. , And then beyond that, like there’s always tons of treats. There are party treats that are specific that you can’t get. , But one of my favorite treats to get outside of the parks even is the Han and Mansion beignets at, .

[00:25:02] Melissa: Quarterly’s French Quarter. They’re so good. They’re like cookies and cream with drizzled marshmallow on them. They’re delicious and worth the hike. , You can get the boat right from Disney Springs there. There’s also lots of treats at Disney Springs where you can, uh, enjoy just some Halloween fun.

[00:25:16] Melissa: And then if you’re there closer to Halloween, they will have for the month of August, there’ll be Pluto’s pumpkin pursuit at Epcot. So it’s more of like a scavenger hunt. All the pumpkins are painted, so that’s fun. 

[00:25:28] Dana Stanley: My girls love the scavenger hunts.

[00:25:31] Melissa: it’s fun. Even if you don’t get the map, it’s still a fun experience.

[00:25:35] Melissa: And then if you’re there closer to actually Halloween a lot of the hotels do trick or treating On Halloween, there’ll be the golf cart parade. There’s a Halloween parade at Fort Wilderness. Where you have to get there early. So if that’s something I would be mindful and get there early.

[00:25:48] Melissa: It’s super fun. I’ve seen videos of it on YouTube and things like that. , And it just always looks like a fun time. So there’s definitely a lot of Halloween stuff happening throughout the parks and the resorts that you can do if not going to a party

[00:25:59] Dana Stanley: And she has a ton of this stuff on her Instagram and like different carousels saved and like itineraries and things to do without a party ticket. All of the things , my Halloween queen. So she’s gonna be linked in this show notes to, if you’re not following her already, what is like your biggest tip for someone that.

[00:26:21] Dana Stanley: Is looking to go to the party for the first time. What should they definitely be maybe doing or not doing, going into a party.

[00:26:30] Melissa: You talk a lot about it in laid back magic. I talk a lot about it in general on my feeds. , Setting those intentions up front, using that 3 2 1 method. Knowing what you wanna do specifically for the party. Take a look at what’s offered. , Highlight a couple of things, make the time to do those.

[00:26:47] Melissa: , And then. Outside of that, I always try and prioritize the rides that don’t have overlays. ’cause there are some that do. Outside of the party. So you were saying like one and a half days, do a lot of the rides before the party or after, whenever you’re planning, you know that timeframe, but know what you’re going in, prioritize what you wanna do and have , a separate sketch for that party.

[00:27:07] Melissa: , If trick or treating ISS important to you, then prioritize that. , For us it’s the parade. Sometimes I watch it twice ’cause I love it so much. , So making sure that you’re where you need to be, at the appropriate times. I find with these parties you wind up spending a lot of time on Main Street because you have the Castle show.

[00:27:24] Melissa: You have the parade of course, then you’ll have the fireworks. You could spend up to two hours just sitting in that castle hub waiting for things. And then you realize I haven’t done X, Y, and Z rides because I was spent two hours on Main Street. So I think just knowing upfront what those important things are and , scheduling the time accordingly.

[00:27:45] Melissa: Knowing that you’re not gonna do the whole park, during a party. I think a lot of people try and do that. Oh, that’ll be my Magic Kingdom day. I highly recommend a second Magic Kingdom day. Just ’cause there’s so much outside of the party to do.

[00:27:56] Dana Stanley: Yeah, it’s like a park day, but super condensed. With twice as many things, so you have less time, because you have the snacks you have or trick or treating and snacks, characters, the ride overlays, then the parade, then the fireworks. It is literally impossible to do all of it. And then you have, if you have little kids in tow, just forget it.

[00:28:19] Dana Stanley: And I know we worked together on a guide inside Labor Bath Magic for specifically the party and like. The first two pages are essentially just reminding everyone that you have to pick what you want to focus on 

[00:28:31] Dana Stanley: before going into like the nitty gritty of where to watch things and like the timeline of when things are gonna be and stuff like that.

[00:28:38] Dana Stanley: So it’s always, always, the more that you can curate a party, I know the happier they’re gonna be for 

[00:28:47] Dana Stanley: sure. 

[00:28:47] Dana Stanley: I know I’m gonna have your Instagram linked below, but can you just remind everyone where to find you?

[00:28:54] Melissa: , So on Instagram it’s Happy Hans Plan Magic, and o to the Haunted Mansion, of course. , So I’m typically sharing, content over, um, on Instagram and direct links there to all of the other things that I do. So that would be the best place to find me.

[00:29:08] Dana Stanley: I can’t believe I haven’t told you this. I have a screenshot. I’m gonna send it to you right after this. we had both liked a picture. It was something on Instagram about Disney. We both liked it, but you know how it shows kind of mutual friends. It’ll say

[00:29:21] Dana Stanley: like, you know, co Colton liked this image.

[00:29:24] Dana Stanley: It said your name. It said the happy haunts plan magic, and. 999 others. And I was like, you have got to be kidding me. She’s the thousandth haunt. 

[00:29:36] Dana Stanley: It was so perfect. I, I can’t believe I haven’t thought of that until now. ’cause it was probably two months ago. Amazing. Well, You again for coming on the podcast

[00:29:47] Dana Stanley: and I will talk to you soon.