1. Trick-or-treat requests.

Our little guy quickly learned how to nicely request “no peanuts” at each trick-or-treat station.

Trick-or-treat locations are located throughout the park. Each “location” is actually a “trail” of several stations. Each station has regular Halloween candy–fun-size Milky Ways, Twix, Snickers, etc. If you have a child with a peanut allergy like we do, you can have your children nicely request, “No peanuts, please” at each location and Cast Members will happily dig through the treats to provide the children with peanut-free candy. Be forewarned that if you do not ask, you will get A LOT of candy with peanuts because those bins are filled with a lot of Snickers, Peanut Chews, Peanut M&Ms and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups.

You can also request sugar-free candy. My husband asked for it at two stations and they gave him a hard sugar-free candy. Healthier treat options are also available at each station. Those options vary but can include Cheese-Its, apple chips, Goldfish, carrots, apples and chocolate-covered Craisins (my husband’s FAVORITE treat of the night).

2. Character photos.

Pirate Donald at Rancho Del Zocalo during Mickey’s Halloween Party.

Usually, my family isn’t big on waiting in (long) lines for character photos, but this year, we went for it and got some great shots with the characters in some very unique locations. Some of the lines can be crazy long, while others, like the photo location inside Rancho Del Zocalo was very short and getting pics with Goofy and Donald dressed as pirates was priceless. Because the characters at the party are so unique, be sure to ask at each location which other characters will be available, so that you don’t miss your favorite. For example, we also took photos at the Mark Twain/Columbia dock with Peter Pan, Wendy and Captain Hook and the Host at the dock told us that later in the evening Jack Sparrow would come out to take photos as well.

3. Short waits for a lot of attractions.
In my opinion, the short lines at a lot of the attractions is one of the best things about Mickey’s Halloween Party. Most people (as you can see in this photo of New Orleans Square) are trick-or-treating or out enjoying the Halloween parade or fireworks, and not a lot of people are riding the rides. If going on rides if your main goal of attending Mickey’s Halloween Party, hit the rides FIRST! Trust me. You will be glad you did.

Guests in New Orleans Square during Mickey’s Halloween Party.

My family went on Splash Mountain TWICE without having to get off and there was NO line at all. The same could be said for a lot of the attractions (except for the newly reopened Alice in Wonderland and special Halloween attractions Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy). If your family is looking for an opportunity to go to Disneyland and just ride attractions, this is a pretty good time to go. Just be forewarned that around parade and firework time we found it impossible (literally) to go from the west side of the park (New Orleans Square, Frontierland, etc.) to the east side of the park (Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, etc.), so it is important to plan accordingly.

There was NO line for Splash Mountain during Mickey’s Halloween Party, and my family got to go on TWICE!

You haven’t lived until you’ve tried the fried pickles at Carnation Cafe on Main Street.

4. Eat dinner before the party. 
Admission to Mickey’s Halloween Party allows guests to enter Disneyland before the party actually starts. If you will be eating dinner at the park, be certain to do so before the party starts, as all restaurants are not open during the party and your time for the Halloween festivities is so limited, you don’t want to be eating during the party. All that being said, it is important to note that the restaurants are VERY busy at dinner time with the day guests grabbing a meal before leaving the park and the Mickey’s Halloween Party guests trying to have dinner before the party starts, so you may want to plan accordingly with extra snacks or a really early dinner.

5. Don’t forget your annual pass (if you have one).
Although there are no special annual pass treats this year (2015), you can still use your pass for discounts on food and merchandise during the party. 

Disclaimer: I received complimentary admission to Mickey’s Halloween Party, as I do from time to time, in order to provide readers with the most current Disneyland Resort coverage. (We also buy annual passes, as well.) All opinions stated in this blog post are my own and were not influenced by the Disneyland Resort. They never are.