Tips about Kids, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Souvenirs
For my cousin's upcoming trip, I put together a booklet of coloring pages. She can color them and then have the characters sign the colored pages. It's inexpensive and you can find coloring pages online of almost all the characters now. I also added a packet of the "Puzzlers" section from old Disney Adventures magazines. These are great boredom-busters when waiting. Dania
Last week, Jill Murtha mentioned double-checking your Mr. Potato Head arms before purchasing to make sure they fit. Another tip when purchasing the Mr./Mrs. Potato Heads is to put pieces inside the potatoes before you put them in the box. You pay for whatever you can fit in the box, so you might as well get your money's worth. You can get quite a few extra pieces this way. - Elaine Frazee
This is something that my kids, ages 4 and 6, love to do. Whenever we are in the car going somewhere and they start to quarrel, we start a game. I start describing a Disney character and then they have to guess it. For example, "She wears a pretty blue dress and has blonde hair" -- Cinderella. Then the person who guesses it will be the next to give the clues. This worked on the plane this year to our favorite vacation place, Walt Disney World, and also when we were waiting in line or for a show to start. The whole family (there were 13 of us) all got into guessing and trying to think of the hardest character. You will be amazed at how many the kids really know. - Wooster Plumbs
I'm a kid myself, so trust me on this one. When you wait in those LONG, LONG lines, it's nice to have something to do, especially if you are young. I'm older, so I'm a little more patient, but if you're small, like 5, it'd be easier with something to do. Books aren't always best... a little too bulky. Coloring books and crayons? OK, but the crayons are hard to keep track of. I have an easy one: mini-pads of paper (white lined or plain) available pretty much everywhere, and a multi-colored pen. They are easy to keep around (keep them in your pocket!) and very entertaining to draw with. They are also very cheap. Now they make them with kittens and puppies on them, so it's even better. It's pretty handy around lunch, too, with waiting for your food and all. - Caitie
I just read over the section on postcards and remembered a crazy idea I had with them. On one trip to Disney World, a friend asked me to get Mickey's autograph. Not wanting to come back with a piece of paper, I bought several different postcards of Mickey. I waited in line to meet the Mouse and when I got to him, I asked if he would give me his autograph on the postcard. He took the postcard, looked at it for a brief second, and then gave me a thumbs up and signed the postcard. It's a great way to add a little magic to the postcard. I would suggest mailing autographed postcards to kids and family members as well. - Skip Broome
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If you buy one of those Mr. Potato Head toys where you can fill the box up with whatever parts you want from the bins, double-check that the "arms" fit into the arm holes. Our 7-year-old recently purchased a Mr. Potato Head at Once Upon A Toy at Disney Springs, and after we got back to the hotel room we found that the pegs in the arms were too small for the arm holes so the arms wouldn't stay in their sockets! Luckily we were able to exchange them for a new pair of arms at a different toy store at Disney's Hollywood Studios. When we were exchanging them, we noticed that the bin of arms varied a lot in the size of the pegs -- some were bigger and fit fine, while many others were too small and didn't fit. So, a word of advice: check to make sure that your Mr. Potato Head parts fit into the potato before purchasing them! - Jill Murtha
We just returned from a great trip at Walt Disney World. It was the first time with our 2-year-old and our second time since 1995. We highly recommend using the Baby Care Center for anyone who has little ones. We were very excited to find a cool, comfortable place to change diapers. They have padded changing tables with a disposable sheet on each table for sanitary purposes. In addition, there was a water cooler where you could refill your water bottle. They also have private nursing rooms for breastfeeding moms and a separate TV room where older kids can wait while baby is changed and fed. There is a bathroom there, too, for older kids and adults. They also have some sundries, such as diapers and formula, available for purchase. The Magic Kingdom one is located next to the First Aid area, between Casey's and the Crystal Palace. They are all on the Disney maps for each park. - The Tietjes
MNSSHP - We recently attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World and loved it. Staying at the Polynesian for two weeks, we saw nightly fireworks over the castle, but I must say the night of the party they were the best. We planned poorly and were caught just outside Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (on the platform for viewing those riding) when the fireworks show began. WOW! What a view! Although the fireworks appear to be behind the castle, they are actually somewhere over behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We had a great view and at one point we were completely surrounded by brilliant circles of color. We were in the center of the ring of fireworks. If you don't care about the castle in front of your fireworks I advise a trip to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to be in the center of it all. AMAZING! - dollydawne
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MNSSHP - The fireworks were really incredible with ghosties on the castle -- I would definitely recommend sitting towards Tomorrowland for a better view. There were even 360 degrees of fireworks around us for the finale! - Jen
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MNSSHP - There are usually limited edition pins to purchase, sometimes for annual passholder too. - Dawn Shumaker
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MNSSHP - I would recommend bringing a small flashlight as the programs are hard to read at night. - Patti Carlin
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MNSSHP - I suggest visitors with children prepare those children to enjoy the activities OTHER THAN the trick-or-treating. After all, one could buy a great deal of candy with the money spent for the party tickets and there are many rides and activities to enjoy beyond waiting in line for small bits of candy. We had prepared our 5-year-old this way, and he had no problem passing up the candy lines in favor of the dance parties, storytelling, rides, etc. - Cheryl Dunn Bychek
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MNSSHP - One of the best times we shared at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party was just sitting and watching. We missed the first parade, so we made our way back down Main Street to wait for the second. The little park in the middle was empty, so we just sat down facing up Main Street. The stream of dressed up people leaving the park was wonderful. We got to see Ursula, the Flintstone family and lots of pirates and princesses. The best part was this little fire hydrant that quietly roamed the street squirting passersby. It was GREAT. - Georgette from New Jersey
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