Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party features many unique and fun special entertainment options and one of the top offerings every year is the Boo To You parade. Offered twice per night, the parade starts in Frontierland, runs through Liberty Square, and finishes up down Main Street U.S.A. I’m going to outline some tips and tricks as well as pictures so you can have the best possible experience when viewing the parade.
Times
The Boo To You parade runs twice per evening, starting in Frontierland at 8:15 and 10:30pm. All things created equal, I would strongly suggest the 10:30pm parade as crowds will be lighter. Hallowishes, the nighttime firework spectacular, is at 9:30pm and many people exit the park afterwards.
If you can’t stay for the later showing of the parade you, allow at least 60 minutes to lock down your spot. It’s not uncommon for guests who enter the park at 7pm (even though you can enter at 4pm) to immediately find a spot on Main Street U.S.A. If you’re like us and want to do some character hunting, then your best bet is to use the 7 – 9pm hours to get your pictures and wait for the 10:30pm parade.
In addition to just locking down your seats for the parade, there is a special visit from the headless horseman that takes place approximately 15 minutes prior to parade start, so get there early!
Location
The parade starts in Frontierland near Splash Mountain, runs through Liberty Square, and continues through the Hub, finishing up in Town Square after going down Main Street U.S.A. The dotted line shows the parade route:
As with any parade, the further away you sit from Main Street U.S.A. the lighter the crowds will be. I’ve watched the parade a couple of times so far this year in both Frontierland and Town Square, and the lightest crowds you will experience will be in Frontierland at the 10:30pm parade. The heaviest crowds are in the Hub right in front of Cinderella’s Castle. With the nighttime entertainment so close in times, (8:30 parade, 9:15 Celebrate the Magic, and 9:30 Hallowishes) the Hub proves to be a very busy spot throughout the evening.
One other thing to consider is that Phineas and Ferb hold a dance party on Main Street U.S.A. and Town Square. I haven’t seen if the same dance party is held in Frontierland as it was raining when I watched from that location. If your children (or you!) like Phineas and Ferb I would suggest the Main Street U.S.A. area as you get to go out into the street and dance with them to some fun Halloween songs!
Pictures!
Ok, time for some pictures! If you want to be surprised by the characters and floats, now would be a good time to read some of our other articles, but if you want to get a sneak peek of what you can expect…keep scrolling!
The parade is led by the headless horseman.
Then the Creepa Crew with Phineas and Ferb dance down the street, stopping on Main Street U.S.A. and in Town Square to invite guests into the street to dance along.
An assortment of characters then lead Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy for the first float of the parade.
Captain Hook has taken Wendy hostage and Peter Pan fights him off.
Keeping with the “Captain” theme, Captain Jack Sparrow is up next. Barbosa joins him as well as some flag dancers.
To me, the Haunted Mansion portion of the parade is the highlight. The Caretaker is chased by gravediggers while a float of tombstones, joined by Madame Leota, follows.
Dancing ghosts then lead the three Hitchhiking Ghosts down the parade route.
The parade then transitions into a fun atmosphere as the Halloween Harvest Hoedown makes it’s way through. I personally didn’t care for this part of the parade as it didn’t make much sense to me, but I’m sure some guests will love it!
This years new addition to the parade is Vanellope and Wreck-It-Ralph!
Goofy is up next with his assortment of candies. Make sure you keep your eyes, and nose, open as this float passes by!
The hyenas from the Lion King transition the parade back towards the villains as “It’s Good to Be Bad” is played by a group of musical skeletons.
Villains then dance through the street as the final float approaches.
Jafar, Maleficent, and the Evil Queen can be found on the last float of the parade.
I loved the parade and would highly recommend it to everyone attending the party! Our friends at WDWMagic.com have a full video of the parade:
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[…] We chose to watch the second “Boo to You” parade as that gave us more time to character hunt and the crowds were lighter on Main Street U.S.A. The parade begins in Frontierland (just like Festival of Fantasy) and runs to Main Street U.S.A. The start times for the parades are 8:15 and 10:30pm. Check out a review of the parade and tons of pictures here. […]
[…] There is just something about the Headless Horseman riding in front of the Boo To You parade that lets you know it’s Halloween. He rides the route about 15 minutes before the parade, so make sure you get there early! I would highly suggest the second parade at 10:30pm. Check out our full review of the parade here, including location and timing tips. […]