A special Halloween event is returning to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in 2021 — but it’s not quite Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
Instead of its traditional Halloween festivities, the park will host a new event called Disney After Hours Boo Bash. It will feature many of the same offerings — characters in Halloween costumes, treat stops, decorations, etc. — but is closer in scale to the shorter “After Hours” event that ran at Disney parks before the COVID-19 pandemic outside of the Halloween and Christmas seasons.
“The experience offers low wait times at more than 20 attractions from classics like the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain, to newer favorites like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train,” Disney World public relations manager Sarah Domenech wrote on the official Disney Parks blog. “It’s a ghostly good time for all!”
The event, which will require a separate ticket, will typically run from 9 p.m. to midnight on select nights from Aug. 10 to Oct. 31. Some nights in August and September will run from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
In contrast, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party events routinely lasted five hours. No word yet on whether Boo Bash ticket holders can enter Magic Kingdom earlier on event nights, as was the case with Mickey’s Not-So-Scary.
Disney notes that while costumes are welcome, guests will still be required to wear face masks at Boo Bash— though it’s possible the resort’s COVID-19 rules could change before the event begins.