To everyone’s surprise, I’ve made it onto Part 2 of my Summer 2025 Disney World Trip Report. After part 1 covered a 4-park day and an attempt to see Disney Starlight, this post focuses on a single rainy day at Magic Kingdom, the bad-weather Lightning Lane trick we love, and some brief coverage of our visit to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party!

Greeting the Day

After missing out on the Disney Starlight parade due to rain last night, we were set for rain to arrive a few hours into the morning today, too. The forecast was looking okay for our visit to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party tonight, but I was pessimistic based on past experience.

As part of encouraging Zoe to take a ton of steps around Disney World, I always try to calibrate myself with a run in the morning. This makes my legs get tired faster later in the day, and it helps me to have some empathy if Zoe starts to tire. We were at Contemporary, and I opted to do my 6 miles on the treadmill. Even from the Garden Wing, it’s a short walk to the Main Tower and the fitness center on the third floor.

My note for the run is “I swear those treadmills had a built in grade, but probably just tired legs from yesterday.” I checked with my iPhone and the treadmills were indeed level, but I know I’ve felt this way at Contemporary before. Probably not a coincidence—we usually stay at Contemporary only if we’ll have long days at Magic Kingdom.

Contemporary has a Disney-designated running route that I ran the next morning before we headed out on our 7 Night Caribbean Cruise aboard the Disney Treasure. It came in at about 0.86 miles for me, and I quite enjoyed it.

After a quick shower it was time to head to Magic Kingdom. The setup for today was pretty straightforward. Magic Kingdom was open from 8AM to 6PM, with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party afterward. The three of us had tickets to the party, and we were visiting with Grandma and Grandpa during regular park hours.

Party days are famous for short waits during regular park hours at Magic Kingdom. Most guests don’t want to spend the day in a park that will be closing early and thus going without its nighttime parade and fireworks. Party days also mean an early start—7:30AM Early Entry or 8AM regular open—that most guests don’t want to deal with.

Even expecting low crowds, I opted to buy Lightning Lane Multi Pass for this day. If it were just the three of us I’d probably have skipped it. But the goal when Grandma and Grandpa are around is for Zoe to get to ride plenty of rides with them, and I thought Multi Pass was worth helping that happen. If there happen to be short waits, we can also re-ride some of Zoe’s favorites easily.

Emily, Zoe, and I walked over from Contemporary (10 minutes or so) and were in the park at 8:20AM. Yes—we skipped rope drop. Because it would have been at 7:30AM. And we were up late the night before and planning to be up late tonight. Walking in, the scene was beautiful—Florida weather so loves misdirection…

By the time we got to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, the posted wait was 35 minutes. With Grandma and Grandpa still en route and this one of two popular rides not on Multi Pass (TRON and Mine Train are both Lightning Lane Single Pass options), we decided to wait in line. The wait wound up being only 23 minutes, and our day started fabulously.

Magic Kingdom is such a joy sometimes.

We still hadn’t eaten breakfast, but we have a go-to morning treat at Magic Kingdom—waffles at Sleepy Hollow, which also happens to serve cold brew coffee. We mobile ordered, grabbed our waffles (and cold brew), and walked a bit to the seating over at Liberty Square Market.

After breakfast at 9:18AM we headed to Haunted Mansion where the posted wait was “13” minutes. Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror use 13 minutes for anything under 15 minutes, and we boarded after only a 7-minute wait in standby. We actually had this booked on Lightning Lane Multi Pass but figured we’d just as well try and fit it in a second time (via Lightning Lane) later.

When we exited Haunted Mansion, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was posting a wait of only 15 minutes. I didn’t expect it to stay this way, but I thought if we could get over there I’d be spared trying to nab it on Multi Pass later. The wait got up to 25 minutes by the time we got there and then 30 minutes while we were in line, but we wound up waiting only 20 minutes, boarding at 10:04AM.

Here Comes The Rain

After that 15-minute ride and herding our party, we made it to shelter just before the first downpour of the day started. Luckily, we were able to make it to Country Bear Musical Jamboree without getting too wet, although the show wasn’t starting for another 12 minutes. Maybe not what it used to be, but still a fun show.

Any time you have a day to spend at Magic Kingdom, the most important thing (I think), is just to be doing something. There’s always something to do—even in a downpour—and if you’re checking some boxes, you’re making it easy to plan the rest of your day.

After the rain lightened a bit, we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, where our Lightning Lane didn’t do much to offset the posted 10-minute wait. By 11:20AM the rain had basically stopped, but Jungle Cruise was still closed for weather. Possible that lightning was still nearby.

My Favorite Bad Weather Trick

Despite how it may feel so far, this uninteresting, rain-burdened day at Magic Kingdom actually did produce something worth talking about—stacking Multiple Experience passes.

Due to the storms, several rides were down. Due to the low crowds in the park, some of these rides still had very good availability on Lightning Lane Multi Pass. This meant some rides that were currently down were offering Lightning Lane return times around 15 minutes in the future. So, I grabbed a few of these.

Then, the 15 minutes pass, and the ride is still down because of the weather! At that point, the Lightning Lane for that ride converts to a “Select Experiences” (aka “Multiple Experiences”) pass that can be used to access the Lightning Lane at any one of several rides at any time today.

Notably, TRON and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train are never a part of the “Select Experiences” pass since they’re Single Pass Lightning Lanes. Beyond that, the “Select Experiences” pass tends to be confined to the Lightning Lane tier of the original booking, but restrictions can vary beyond that, so just check the specific terms of the pass in the app when you get it. (For example, I believe that over at Hollywood Studios you’ll only get a Select Experiences that includes Slinky Dog Dash if you had Slinky Dog Dash originally booked. It won’t be included if another Tier 1 ride is closed during your slot.)

Most importantly—a Select Experiences pass does not count for one of your three Lightning Lane Multi Pass slots! You can book three Lightning Lane Multi Pass times and have any number of these passes at the same time. By 12:35PM I had four Select Experience passes, which pretty much meant I wouldn’t need to think about Lightning Lanes the rest of the day. Even if I had more bookings to make, I wouldn’t need to stress about specific times because of the flexibility these passes gave me.

Finally, it’s worth noting this works when rides are down for reasons other than weather too. When we were last in Disneyland (California), Grizzly River Run was inexplicably “temporarily closed” all day and I built a stack of Lightning Lanes to allow Zoe to just re-ride Goofy Sky School all night long.

Afternoon At Magic Kingdom

Amidst that storm of Lightning Lane planning, we managed to get a few rides in, plus lunch. Emily and I rode Space Mountain (posted 30 minutes, 7 via Lightning Lane). Zoe is a tad short for Space Mountain at Disney World but actually was able to ride Space Mountain at Disneyland at our last visit. It was…not a favorite.

The Grandparents and Zoe took a ride on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (which is a favorite), before we all hopped on Peter Pan’s Flight (posted 45 minutes, 6 via Lightning Lane).

We wound up grabbing lunch at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe. It’s a spot that we all like, but it did have the downside of requiring the grandparents to put in some extra steps. I usually try and plan lunch geographically, but the three of us had just eaten at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe the night before. Plus, Pecos Bill has the perk of having tasty dole whip nearby for dessert:

After lunch, we visited Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. This was an expressly geographic decision—once the Tiki Room was done, we’d have nothing left on this side of the park that we definitely had to do. Then after a visit to “it’s a small world” (almost a walk-on), it was 2PM and we finally bought Zoe a balloon.

At this point we were loaded with Lightning Lanes and had the chance to just ride things in the northwest corner of the park basically as much as we wanted. The details aren’t really notable at this point, so I’ll just say we use Lightning Lanes to have no wait on: Tomorrowland Speedway, Under the Sea, Barnstormer, Dumbo, the Carrousel (no Lightning Lane), and a second ride on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. After watching PhilharMagic, it was time to get Zoe costumed up and to say bye to Grandma and Grandpa.

Our Rainy Night at Mickey’s N0t So Scary Halloween Party

Reminder: We have a Complete Guide to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party here.

Over the years, we’ve had several party nights marred by light drizzles. These can be particularly frustrating because the forecast might constantly say it’ll be only 30 more minutes, when actually it lasts all night. This night was clearly shaping up to be such a night, but we did our best to not let it impact us too much.

Zoe went with a Stormtrooper getup. Now, I’m pretty sure Zoe’s only familiarity with Stormtroopers is actually from Galaxy’s Edge, but I guess something about them was appealing. Emily made most of the costume, with the mask being a hand-me-down from the 90s! A reminder—while costumes are encouraged for guests of all ages, only guests 13 and under can wear masks, and the masks must allow them to see.

There are several places for guests already in the park to get their party wristbands, but we were splitting from the grandparents at the park entrance, so it made sense for us to just leave and re-enter. This also positioned us well to stroll the party’s welcome chute backstage off Main Street, where we got our candy bags and saw Cruella bantering with guests.

On party nights (Not So Scary or Very Merry), the park closes to day guests at 6PM. It opens to party guests at 4PM and the party starts at 7PM. This means party evening break into 3 parts:

4PM to 6PM — Day and party guests in park together, regular operations
6PM to 7PM — Park closed to day guests, party guests in park, some rides / restaurants closed
7PM Onward — Party time!

If you care about the major character greetings—Jack and Sally being the big one—you might want to get in line for these as early as 4PM (after getting your wristband). Otherwise, the time from 4PM to 7PM is basically free time.

The time between 6PM and 7PM is specifically worth noting. During this time, ride waits are typically not available in the app even though most rides remain open. Rides with overlays—Space Mountain being most notable—may close for some of this time. I believe most restaurants that are staying open for the party just stay open during this period, but they don’t start serving party items until close to 7PM.

We opted to wait about 30 minutes for Astro Orbiter. Astro Orbiter is a tricky ride for us because it doesn’t have a Lightning Lane, and we rarely feel its complicated, time-consuming load system (involving an elevator) is worth our time early in the morning. But Zoe loves it, so we were fine using some of our free time for it.

I should have taken a picture, but it was pretty cool to see a storm ominously approaching from Astro Orbiter. After another ride on the carrousel, we wound up waiting out the downpour under the roof of Sir Mickey’s. Once it lightened a tad, we headed over to Pinocchio’s Village Haus, which was completely packed with people wisely using the rain time to eat some dinner. Emily went with the Phantasmal Fried Pumpkin Ravioli, while Zoe and I ordered off the regular menu.

But for the rain, our standard approach to dinner at Not So Scary would be a mix of party-exclusive snacks, with the option of grabbing a quick hot dog (or veggie dog) at Casey’s around the entertainment. This keeps us moving and enjoying the party instead of spending precious party time seated in a restaurant.

After dinner, it was 7:30PM and we were worried we’d get rained out on both the Boo-To-You Parade and the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular. Always grab an event guide (pictured) to confirm times for your event, but here’s what the schedule looked like for our visit…

The parade is at 8:15PM and 11:15PM, and the 8:15PM was the only one we were considering. For parties before September 27, the first showing of the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular is 9:05PM, with subsequent showings at 10:35PM and 12AM. After September 27 a 7:35PM show is added, which wouldn’t have helped this night anyway.

The Not-So-Spooky Spectacular fireworks / projection show is once a night at 10PM, but less likely to be cancelled than the other two.

To be clear, it isn’t as if these are the only things going on. But they are the centerpiece of the evening. Everything else might be good appetizers, but really the entrée comprises these three pieces of entertainment.

Finishing dinner around 7:30PM, we opted to just stay in the area waiting on the parade, scheduled for 8:15PM. There are a few trick-or-treat options around, and Zoe spent some time at the two dance parties in Tomorrowland.

There was one big win this evening—Zoe absolutely loved the “overlay” of Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. Rather than having set showtimes, the Laugh Floor just runs continuously as guests trick-or-treat through it, with the comedians cracking jokes about the costumes. Having been rained on much of the day, you can’t really fault a kid for finding a simple indoor activity to enjoy.

Sometime around 8:15PM the announcements started to come that the Boo-To-You parade was delayed, but—somewhat miraculously—it managed to run after about a 45 minute delay, arriving in the hub at 9:15PM.

It’s worth noting how much this 45-minute delay cuts away at your evening. Emily and Zoe were able to at least have some fun nearby—Tomorrowland is well-positioned if you need to hustle over to view the parade, and it’s host to two dance parties, trick-or-treating, and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor—but we couldn’t get in any lines for characters or rides while also hoping to catch the parade.

While the parade was in something of a “B” mode—the ground performers mostly just walked, rather than dancing etc.—we were pretty satisfied that it ran at all, especially as we’d been rained out of Starlight the night before.

We’re big fans of the Boo-To-You parade. The song is super catchy, and it’s a fun mix of cool floats and rarely-seen characters (though villains are becoming more prevalent these days).

I assume the 9:05PM Villain Spelltacular got cancelled along the way, and I at least saw some reports that the 10:35PM show ran in its B mode, which just has the characters coming out, waving “hey”, and the firework finale being discharged.

After the parade, we spent some time in Emporium and along Main Street. Zoe has at least grown to be able to watch firework shows from a distance, but we still tend to just find an easy spot along Main Street. It’s worth reminding you that the Jack Skellington puppet that bookends the show is really cool, so you may want to jockey for a spot near the stage. From any vantage, the show is a fun, must-see part of the evening.

Since we had plans tomorrow, we were pretty much locked into an early exit. A guest with a longer evening—and thus more flexibility—or a more ride-focused agenda might have gotten more out of the evening than we did.

Overall this is one of those nights that it’s hard to call a win, but at least avoided all disappointment. We got to see two of the three major pieces of entertainment, and Zoe’s newfound love for Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor was a precious surprise.

What I take away most from this night is how much—for us, personally—Not-So-Scary relies on vibes. The rain didn’t directly interrupt much—the Villain Spelltacular being our major loss for the night—but we were unable to really coolly navigate the event. We would have liked to have had the time to walk around between entertainment, stopping for Photopass photos, trick or treat stops, streetmosphere, and the rare character with a short line at our leisure. Instead, we spent the bulk of our night boxed into Tomorrowland and the hub, hoping for the parade and firework show. We managed to salvage a good time, but I wouldn’t blame people who cried disappointment at the end of this one.

All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered

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Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.

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Don't forget to master your Disney World Lightning Lane Guide and Strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, Epcot Lightning Lane Strategy, Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, and Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Strategy.

Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.

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