A Guide to Halloween at Disney World
Halloween at Walt Disney World brings festive decorations, seasonal treats, and plenty of fun! Whether you plan to attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or simply want to enjoy the fall atmosphere across the parks, resorts, and Disney Springs, this guide covers everything happening during the Halloween Season at Disney World.
Of course, the big deal during Halloween is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We’ll touch on it below, but you need to know upfront that it’s an extra-ticketed event. This means you’ll have to pay extra to attend. It’s worth considering if you’re a fan of Halloween. Beyond the party, you’ll also find Halloween snacks, themed merchandise, and special activities at select locations. As we continue, we’ll break down what to expect for the season at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney Springs, and select resort hotels.
The resorts and Disney Springs tend to offer seasonal treats at select quick-service locations. You’ll also find a few Halloween activities as the holiday approaches. Regarding weather, the August through October season ranges from extremely hot to comfortable with a high chance of rain in the afternoons and evenings.
This guide provides an idea of what to expect during the Halloween season at Disney World. Please note that we will update it with 2026-specific details as they are announced. We’ve already updated our monthly guides for 2026 as much as possible. The following months fall in what’s considered the Halloween season:
Magic Kingdom at Halloween
Each year, portions of Magic Kingdom Park transform into an autumn holiday setting with orange, red, and golden bunting and bows adorning all the right places. Fall leaves create festive wreaths that are centered with plastic orange pumpkins in the shape of Mickey Mouse. They light up after dusk, adding that extra touch of magic that Disney is so well known for creating.
Halloween Decorations start to go up around the first to second week of August, with everything in place before the first Halloween party. The majority of Halloween decorations are on Main Street U.S.A., extending to the hub in front of Cinderella Castle. You’ll likely see a few seasonal decorations in other lands. Last year, we saw touches of Halloween added to Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Storybook Circus. As for the rest of the park, you won’t see too many signs of Halloween other than seasonal treats on select menus.
If you’re a fan of Halloween or just want to soak in the atmosphere of the Magic Kingdom, we recommend spending some dedicated time on Main Street U.S.A. during your visit. You might enjoy sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch of Town Square Theater, dipping in the Confectionery for a seasonal treat, or just lingering up and down the street a little longer to soak up things.
See our photo tour of Main Street Halloween decorations at Magic Kingdom in 2025.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party kicked off on August 15th this year. This is an exceptionally popular party that’s offered 2-3 nights a week through Halloween. If you’re considering attending a party during your travel dates, you’ll want to secure tickets as early as possible. It is common for most event dates to sell out as the party approaches.
The party features three major forms of exclusive entertainment: Mickey’s Boo To You Halloween Parade, the Not So Spooky Fireworks Spectacular, and the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, a stage show featuring villains and the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus. All the entertainment options are not to be missed, but if we had to choose just one, we’d get a spot early on to see the parade. The Headless Horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow rides ahead of the parade. It’s quite a sight to see.
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is also an incredible place to meet rare characters, including Disney Villains. For example, you can see Cruella de Vil and Mother Gothel near the party’s entrance. At Princess Fairytale Hall, Maleficent and the Evil Queen take over for the princesses who are regularly on duty. But perhaps the most popular of them all is Jack Skellington and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. You’ll want to note, however, that many of those characters will have exceptionally long lines. See our list of characters who meet at the Halloween Party for specifics.
Guests of all ages can wear costumes to the Halloween party. You’ll just want to be aware of a few costume guidelines. You can read about those here on Disney’s site if you want to learn more.
Each Halloween Party begins at 7:00 p.m., and guests can enter the park as early as 4:00 p.m. If you plan to attend, we strongly recommend resting the day of so you can stay through the entirety of the party, which ends at midnight. We have been attending the party for well over a decade and put together a guide each year to help our readers plan. We’ve listed our 2025 guide below, along with the specialty food items that Disney’s announced for this year’s event. (We’ll replace this information for 2026-specific planning when more details are announced.)
Planning Guides:
Disney World Halloween Food Guides
Speaking of food, the Halloween season is a big deal when it comes to specialty snacks and treats. You can expect anything from candy to cupcakes across all four parks, the resort hotels, and Disney Springs. As Disney announces treats for each location, we put together a food guide so our readers will know what’s available.
Minnie’s Halloween Dine at Hollywood and Vine
Minnie’s Seasonal Dine is a year-long event that happens at Hollywood and Vine at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Each season, the character meal changes to represent the season, which means starting August 16, 2025, guests can participate in the Halloween Dine. Think Minnie and friends, only with their Halloween costumes! It’s a wonderful way to meet a few classic characters with that spooky feel!
At present, the Halloween Dine is only offered at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The buffet-style meal includes items like salads, chilled starters, chicken, carved beef tenderloin, seared salmon, pork loin, and a plant-based mushroom-farro risotto.
For more details, see our review of Minnie’s Halloween Dine.
Halloween Merchandise
Whether you want a t-shirt that glows in the dark or some of that new pastel ghostly line released in 2025, you’ll have plenty of options when it comes to Halloween merchandise. Please note that multiple Halloween collections are released in the months and weeks leading up to the Halloween season.
Halloween at the Walt Disney World Resort Hotels
Update: We went to photograph the Halloween pumpkin displays at the resorts in 2025, only to find that they were not publicly displayed this year. Cast members said they hoped the displays would return next year.
You likely won’t find too many Fall decorations around the resort hotels. That said, you will find a few seasonal activities incorporated. If you’re staying closer to Halloween, you might see a cast-member-created pumpkin display in your resort’s lobby. We’ve seen a couple of displays the past few years at Disney’s BoardWalk, Saratoga Springs, the Polynesian, and the Contemporary. In 2025, Bayview Gifts has a fun Halloween window display, featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse-shaped pumpkins. We’ve also seen touches of Halloween added to the floral display at Grand Floridian and other details here and there.
Disney’s Fort Wilderness hosts the Halloween Golf Cart Extravaganza each year. This is a golf cart parade that’s usually offered on the day before Halloween. Many of the campsites go all out with decorations. If you enjoy a long walk, you might take a stroll through the campground.
On Halloween, you will find trick-or-treating and other Halloween-inspired activities at most of the resorts. Please note that these items can vary from resort to resort, and we have not been to every single resort on Halloween to compare the differences. It’s also the case that these resort offerings could change from year to year.
As an example, we stayed at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort on Halloween a few years back, and they offered an incredible Halloween trail that started on the far end of Old Port Royale and continued to Caribbean Cay. You could also walk next door to Disney’s Riviera and participate in their Halloween festivities. We were beyond impressed at the Halloween offerings between the two resorts. So if you’re staying at a resort on Halloween, you’ll want to check the recreation schedule specific to Halloween. These types of schedules are different from the monthly calendars and are typically posted in the lobby a few days leading up to the holiday.
Guests staying at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin or the Swan Reserve might also enjoy participating in the resort’s numerous activities over Halloween weekend. Don’t miss the costume contest on select nights and trick-or-treating on Halloween!
Halloween at Disney Springs
I know it’s probably obvious, but Disney Springs is one of the best places to find merchandise in the entirety of Disney World. So if you’re looking for something specific, you’ll have a decent chance of finding it here.
New in 2025, Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar will become Jock Lindsey’s Halloween Bar, offering a spooky overlay with specialty menu items inspired by the season. We have a complete overview of Halloween menu items at Hangar Bar in 2025 here.
As far as food offerings not included in our foodie guide, the Candy Cauldron and Goofy’s Candy Company will have Halloween-themed treats. Goofy’s Candy Company is on the Marketplace side of Disney Springs, and Disney’s Candy Cauldron is on the West Side.
A few other offerings that will be available on select dates throughout the season: ZomBeatz Drummers, Squat Ghouls a cappella group, Skeleton Stiltwalkers, and Roving Pumpkin DJ.
Lastly, the Disney PhotoPass Studios will offer special Fall and Halloween-inspired backgrounds. If you have the Memory Maker, stop in for a professional photo shoot. Reservations are not required. We stopped by for a preview of the Mickey’s Pumpkin Patch backdrop.
See our 2025 Disney Springs Halloween Guide for complete details.
The Epcot Food and Wine Festival
The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is not necessarily related to Halloween, but it’s a huge deal that runs at the same time of year. This year’s festival dates are from August 28, 2025, through November 22, 2025. The big draw of the festival is all the food booths offering small plates and beverages throughout Epcot. Those who enjoy the culinary arts will likely want to plan a few stops while touring Epcot. The festival features a nightly concert series, scavenger hunts, merchandise, and additional activities. See our complete guide below for planning details.
Festival Guide:
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to enjoy or celebrate the Halloween season at Disney World outside of the Halloween Party.
More Planning
At Resorts Gal, we specialize in helping you plan the perfect Disney World vacation. Start with our Disney World Resorts Guide for an overview of every resort hotel, or explore our Disney World Dining Guide and Disney World Transportation Guide to plan where to eat and how to get around. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.
The Road Map to Magic
Unlock the magic of a perfectly planned Disney vacation—sign up for instant access. It’s completely free!
In the Comments
Have you ever visited Disney World over Halloween? Let us know in the comments below.
