Spooky Showdown: Mickey's Halloween Party vs. Halloween Horror Nights

Hey y’all! It’s spooky season and all over the world there are attractions to entice everyone from candy-craving kiddies to adventurous adults! Corn mazes, hay rides, haunted houses, trunk r treats, and so much more await those looking for thrills and chills, and the big theme parks are no stranger to the money-making opportunities to be had. My wife and I spent our big trip this year going to Orlando, FL to experience all the fall festivities at Universal Studios and Walt Disney World (and if we’d thought about it, we would have done Busch Gardens too, but maybe next time). I was most excited for the themed mazes at Halloween Horror Nights, but my wife was much more enticed by Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. After doing both, I’m here to give you the head-to-head battle of the best and crown a winner, from my experience. The categories are: Attractions, Character Interactions, Shows, Food, Rides, Crowds, Environment, and Prices.

Attractions: UNIVERSAL

While the big draw for Disney is the trick-or-treating all around Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Universal’s whole premise is the mazes stationed throughout the park. This year, there wereÂ ten mazes to choose from including Blumhouse (Happy Death Day, First Purge), Poltergeist, and Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers. We were able to walk through four of them- Scary Tales, Slaughter Sinema, Trick ‘r Treat, and the most popular of the year Stranger Things. Not taking into account the lines and crowds, I really enjoyed the houses. They relied way too much on strobes and smoke, sending my senses into overdrive, but the concepts worked overall. There were some good gags, including “spray vomit”, and some great jump scares but if they had focused on the unique possibilities only Universal can pull off (like Stranger Things which was amazing), I would have enjoyed them more. It was still a much bigger draw than Disney, so they get the point.

Character interactions: DRAW

Universal has something known as “scare zones” that guests have to cross through to get around the park with assorted themes like Vamp ’85, Chucky, Harvest, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space. If I’m being honest, these were more fun than the houses because the scares were more unexpected and there were no lines. I wouldn’t go to the park just for the Scare Zones, but they were a great way to keep the Halloween spirit alive between attractions. On the Disney side, you get all your favorite characters like Mickey & Pals, Pooh, and movie favorites all out en masse to have interactions with guests. This is huge for people looking to meet villains like Jafar, who are not normally on display during normal park hours. Also, most of the characters are dressed in Halloween costumes, so that adds an extra element of fun. I give this category a draw because both are equally enjoyable, depending on your preference, and both make your trip more fulfilling between big-ticket items on your to-do list.

Shows: DISNEY

Alright, so here’s where Universal falls flat pretty bad. They have one show that plays throughout the night and It was extremely misleading. “Academy of Villains: Cyberpunk” should just be called “Cyberpunk” because there is no academy and no villains. The show is essentially a post-apocalyptic dance off where the humans are trying to overthrow their AI oppressors by shutting down their power. Granted, most of the dancing was awesome and there were some really sweet effects, but that was balanced out by blinding strobes and smoke (see a pattern?). Also, they tried WAY too hard to make it an interactive show when the dancing stood on its own.

Meanwhile, at the happiest place of Earth, We are treated to three- THREE- awesome shows. We get the nightly fireworks, which are always stunning and this is no different other than the Halloween theme. Then, there’s the Boo-to-You Parade which was a great fun time where all the best scary attractions of the park are on the move: Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Villains, and seasonal attractions like the Headless Horseman. It’s incredible. And finally, the best of all: The Hocus Pocus Villain Spectacular which IS named properly. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hocus Pocus, the show revolves around the Sanderson sisters making a spell to make the best Halloween party ever. With the help of Maleficent, Oogie Boogie, and Dr. Facilier, Winifred leads a 30-minute musical show on the steps of Cinderella’s castle that was a hella good time. Factor in the Monsters Inc. dance party, and Disney takes this one by a LANDSLIDE.

Food: DISNEY

Both Halloween Horror Nights and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party have their specialties for guests to enjoy throughout the park, but Disney focuses more on treats while Universal is all about the boos… er, I mean booze. The drinks at HHN include colored beer and cocktails, as well as Stranger Things inspired drinks like Waffles and Syrup (um… eww?). They have pop-up eateries but nothing so enticing that you would go out of your way unless you were especially hungry. They are more focused on getting you drunk (and trust me… there were a LOT of drunken party goers by the end of the night) and even say on their website to eat at Universal Citywalk before coming, to avoid eating in the park. Disney, on the other hand, focused on what makes Halloween great… CANDY! Everything is chocolate and covered apples and sweets, and since they have so many custom bake shops they go all out with the special goodies, sold exclusively at Mickey’s NSSHP. We had a Cake Pop and a specialty caramel apple, which suited us much better than a meal would. For the novelty and focus on the inner child, Disney takes this one as well.

Rides: UNIVERSAL

So, I might get some crap about this one, but hear me out. Disney has way more rides open for their nightly open hours than Universal, with only six. However, Universal’s is more on theme and gave people more options than just mazes. See, Disney doesn’t have the original extras of haunted houses that the competition does, so they keep many of their rides open, including big ones like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight, Splash Mountain, and Seven Dwarve’s Mine Cart. The only ones that are at all scary (or catered to Halloween) are Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, and the Tea Cups (which were surprisingly fun with the lighting and music change). The rest are just open to give people something to do between the awesome shows. Universal, however, only keeps the rides that are more suited for the occasion open (plus Fast and Furious because it’s a big new thing). Men in Black, Transformers, Mummy, and Harry Potter were all open to give a different kind of rush for those needing a break from getting jump scares. This also gave us a chance to get these rides out-of-the-way while lines were relatively shorter than for the mazes or during the day. Saved us lots of time with we went back to the park a couple of days later and let us enjoy more of the little daytime shows. We got three rides in the time it took to get through the Stranger Things line, so Universal gets the point for rides.

Crowds: DISNEY

And that brings me to the Crowds/Lines. Oh. My. Disney. Sure, Disney had it’s fair share of lines and crowding and busyness, but Universal Studios was next level insane. Getting in the door was hard enough, but the lines for the mazes and for drinks and for rides and for shows… it was just too much. We got our ticket for Wednesday night, which is *supposedly* the slower night during the school year, but apparently we planned our trip in the midst of fall breaks across the country and during a European holiday as well. Meant the park was sold out and the waits were easily twice as long as normal. My wife had a game plan to get through 7-8 mazes and 4-5 rides. We only got 4 mazes and 3 rides. It was a huge disappointment. Also, the estimated wait times are total BS. We got in certain lines because the wait said 25 minutes and we ended up standing in line for over twice that long. We probably spent 3 1/2 to 4 hours in lines for a total of 15 minutes of actual maze, tops. I see why people would invest in express passes (more on that later) because the amount of waiting versus the actual pay off was not worth it at all. Disney was about what is to be expected and all ran smoothly, so obviously they take this category as well.

Environment: DISNEY

Best part about Mickey’s Halloween Party? You get to dress up in your Halloween costume!Â With certain restrictions in place, all park goers can come dressed as their favorite Disney characters (or non-Disney, but why would you?) to really get the most out of the experience. My wife and I went as Peggy Carter and WWII Captain America, which got a lot of positive feedback and was a lot of fun (aside from being hot as Hades in that leather jacket). Seeing all the cute kids trick or treating and adults dressed for the event as well made us feel accepted and comfortable in costume, much like a comic convention, only Disney-fied. The park is decorated beautifully with Mickey pumpkins and little touches of fall. Universal gives you some of that as well, but leans much more towards the creep factor by using their dÃ©cor as advertising for their mazes. If Disney is a suburban street of trick-or-treaters, then Universal is the frat house down the block no one let’s their kids near because the music is too loud and the party is sure to get out of control. I feel like an old-timer saying this, but Halloween Horror Nights was just too much like a college party or a concert for me to enjoy it. Also, the lack of Universal Monsters integrated into the event was disappointing as it is kinda their thing.

Prices: DRAW*

Disney is more expensive to go to, on the whole, with tickets ranging about $20 more on a given night than Universal. Online pricing differs based on when you go, and at the gate is always full price (Universal charges way more at the gate, btw). However, given parking for the Universal resort is $22, it pretty much evens out. Food, souvenirs, etc are all pretty comparable. *I will say this though: Express Pass at Universal should not be as essential as it is. The cost of express is more than the price of admission in most cases, but it is a near guarantee that you will be able to go to every maze and ride in one night, if you do things right. I would not want to spend an extra $80 per person to skip the line, but as hellacious as the lines were? They are damn near a necessity.Â This was almost enough for me to sway this category in favor of Disney, but since I didn’t spend any more on this particular trip at Universal, it’s a draw. But in hindsight, I would have buckled down and gotten the Express Pass had I known it would be THAT bad on a weekday night.

FINAL VERDICT

And the winner is… MICKEY! It really all depends on what you like to do, but for us Disney had the much more enjoyable Halloween event of 2018. Sure, it wasn’t scary and was all about being family friendly, but I’d argue that was the best part. The parades, shows, and character moments were all magical and the fact everyone, adults included, could trick-or-treat across Magic Kingdom was a throwback to childhood that Walt would be proud of. No one gets special attention because they pay extra and it is just a grand fun time. If you want real horror and an adult environment, Halloween Horror Nights is the way to go, but Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was a better experience all around than Universal could have ever hoped to be.

Author Profile

Robert Anderegg

Robert joined Comic Crusaders in 2016 as contributor, but has been an active online voice through social media for almost ten years. His hobbies include reading and collecting comics, attending theme parks, making music, and driving his wife insane. Deadpool and Nightcrawler are his two favorite superheroes, and while his preference is Marvel, he dabbles in every major and indie label in the comics community. He graduated from UTPB in 2013 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and is currently seeking employment in that field. A southern boy at heart, he currently resides in the Midwest.