Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has two iconic meet-and-greets at the Town Square Theatre: Jack & Sally and Mickey & Minnie, making the theatre lines among the longest queues guests can encounter during a party.
So, what can you do if you want to meet these in-demand duos without missing out on the other party’s festivities?
Can you fit it all in?
My answer is yes, but timing is everything!
Jack & Sally are rarely seen at Walt Disney World, making their meet-and-greet extremely popular among guests. It’s common for their wait times to be 1.5 hours or more. Given that the party activities (shows, parades, trick-or-treat stations, etc.) run from 7:00pm to midnight, I don’t recommend standing in line during those precious five hours.
What I suggest is entering the park on your party night as early as possible using your party ticket. This year (as with previous years), WDW allows guests with party tickets to enter Magic Kingdom at 4:00pm. Upon entering, a Cast Member will place a Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party band around your wrist to signify that you’re a party guest. Once your band is on, my recommendation is to proceed directly to the Town Square Theater and get in line to meet Jack & Sally. This line will likely be the longest you’re in for the night, BUT you’ll have met them and be back out in the park before the party festivities officially begin.
The line for meeting Jack & Sally opens to party guests at 4:00pm, and they begin meeting guests shortly afterward (you have to have a party band on to get into this line). I’ll admit, starting your night in a line is not fun, BUT as mentioned above by meeting these two characters first, you’ll be out in the park for the full five hours while all the other party activities are happening.
In comparison, guests who meet Mickey before 7:00pm will meet him in his usual Mickey the Magician outfit, and Minnie is not with him. Once the party begins, Minnie joins Mickey, and they begin wearing their Halloween outfits. So, given that the duo won’t meet you before 7:00pm, it’s not worth getting in line early.
My experience is that the wait times for Mickey & Minnie tend to be longest in the first half of the night and then get shorter as the night goes on. This year I managed to meet Mickey & Minnie when the posted wait time was 15 minutes, and in reality, it was even quicker. I suggest leaving this meet-and-greet until later in the evening and popping back up to Town Square Theatre when it shows a short wait. I also advise against waiting until the very end of your night, as you wouldn’t want to risk losing track of time and missing out on seeing them. So, somewhere in the second half of the party, but not the very last thing you do, there should be a short wait to meet these two characters in their Halloween attire.
This year I chose a Sally bound for the party, and it led to a fantastic experience when I met Jack & Sally.
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*I added the ears to the bound because I was in a theme park
Wearing my Sally bound enhanced the meet-and-greet, giving the characters something to react to and a topic of conversation for us to discuss. Jack proudly boasted how Sally is the best seamstress in Halloween Town, and Sally was excited to see that my overalls had pockets; something she wants to add to her next dress.
So, with the right timing and a spooktacular bound, your night at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party can include meeting iconic duos and enjoying all of the frightfully fun festivities in between!
Happy Bounding!
~Kelly the Character Bounder
Starting the day with a delicious breakfast and an adorable bound is one of my favorite ways to begin any day at Walt Disney World. Rather than being in the parks for rope drop, character dining allows for a slower start to the day, where you’re not dealing with crowds of guests rushing to get on a ride, but instead, you get dedicated time with some of your favorite Disney friends.
Today, we’re looking at one of my favorite character breakfasts in WDW – ‘Ohana.
Hands down, it is one of the hardest breakfast reservations to secure at WDW. Availability can diminish within minutes of the booking window opening, and numerous guests have found that if it’s not the first dining reservation they try to snag when their window opens, they may miss out on it altogether.
So, what makes this restaurant so popular?
Is it the food, the atmosphere, or the characters? My answer is that it’s a mix of all three!
Your meal is served family-style, making it convenient for everyone. No need to carry your plates back from a buffet or worry about missing out on seeing a character.
Their iconic POG juice (a mix of passion fruit, orange, and guava juices) is something I crave; I often ask for it in a large glass so the Cast Member doesn’t have to keep refilling it every few minutes.
There are a scrumptious fruit platter and a pan of breakfast favorites, including waffles, ham, bacon, sausages, eggs, and potato wedges. But, for me, the star is the pineapple-coconut bread! It seems to be the food item that I think of first when talking about dining here, and something that I always look forward to having.
Located on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, the setting offers views of the Seven Seas Lagoon, has tiki and tropical theming throughout the dining room, and plays music to match.
Adding to the atmosphere and overall experience are the Disney Cast Members you interact with throughout the meal. Be it the host, server, or Photopass attendant, Cast Members are worth mentioning for continuing to elevate a good experience into a great one.
Generally speaking (but never guaranteed), the four characters you meet during your meal are Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto, which to me makes it an all-star line-up! All four of these characters offer fantastic interactions with guests.
If there’s a member of your group who isn’t a huge fan of Lilo and Stitch (which I don’t understand, but accept that some people don’t like them as much as I do), there are still two classic characters to interact with.
As mentioned at the start of the blog, I feel breakfast is best when I can pair it with an adorable bound, and ‘Ohana offered two opportunities that came to mind for bounds.
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Since I couldn’t decide between which bound to wear, it meant I HAD to eat there twice 😉
“Ohana means family,” and breakfast at ‘Ohana is the perfect place to create magical memories with the people we love. Whether you’re sharing pineapple-coconut bread or bounding with Stitch, it’s one of the Disney experiences that leaves me with a full stomach and a full heart.
Happy bounding!
~Kelly the Character Bounder
I want to share an update on what’s been happening at TheCB.Co.
In the past year, there have been fluctuations in trade agreements, shipping costs, tariffs, and an unpredictable global economy, creating challenges for many small businesses. Increased costs have risen to a point where they’re too high for me to absorb and too much to pass on to my fellow bounders.
It’s not feasible to keep the shop open.
The store portion of the website is closing, BUT all other elements of the site will remain active.
TheCB.Co’s story is far from over; we’re just at the part where the path shifts, the plot takes an unexpected turn, and a new chapter begins.
I’m choosing to embrace this moment of change by switching from The Character Bounding Company to the Character Bounder.
There will be new blogs and social media posts, and I’m still going to be at the different meet-ups in the parks.
For me, there’s a joy in being inspired by characters. Bounding is something I love doing, and that constant remains; it’s never going to change.
Sometimes our dreams grow and reshape into something different from what we first envisioned, and that’s ok.
As I look ahead, I hope you join me on this next chapter of TheCB.Co’s story. The focus will be on me — a self-proclaimed Disney nerd who loves to bound and believes there’s magic around us.
So, be inspired by a character, then go out and write your next chapter.
Happy Bounding!
~Kelly the Character Bounder
