Halloween on the High Seas

Hit the high seas for a spooktacular voyage packed with plenty of haunted tricks and sweet treats to celebrate the Halloween season. Every year, Disney Cruise Line offers special sailings to commemorate Halloween at sea. These sailings are appropriately labeled as Halloween on the High Seas and offer hot and cold running thrills and chills. I had previously experienced Halloween on the High Seas in October of 2022 and our family loved it so much that we came back for a second round!

What is Halloween on the High Seas?

Halloween on the High Seas cruises are special-themed sailings departing late September through Halloween or October 31st. You can experience these happy haunts on all of the ships in the fleet and on most itineraries. These sailings are packed with frightful fun to celebrate. Offerings include:

• Mickey's Mouse-querade Party

• Themed Character Meet and Greets

• Halloween Activities

• Exclusive Merchandise and Treats

Specifically, on your cruise, a certain day (usually a day at sea if applicable) is designated as a "Halloween Day" when most of these activities will take place and all the characters will be dressed in their Halloween best. Note that Halloween activities and offerings are subject to change and vary by ship and itinerary. For example, the Disney Wish has an adults-only dance party with Oogie Boogie exclusive to that ship. Likewise, some sailings might offer more opportunities to meet and greet with specialty characters.

Fast Fact: If Halloween (aka October 31st) falls in the middle of your sailing, it will still be a themed sailing, and the decorations will come down after you disembark!

A Frightfully Fun Atmosphere

Each ship in the Disney fleet gets decked out in boo-tiful decor with its host of devilish delights and frights to bolster the festive atmosphere. As you step aboard Disney Cruise Line and into the atrium, you are surrounded by garlands of colorful leaves strewn along the balconies, Mickey-shaped pumpkins scattered about, and of course, to your left sits the main attraction, the ship's signature Pumpkin Tree. The pumpkin trees are said to keep the spirit of Halloween each with a unique face and shape.

Awakening of the Pumpkin Tree

To kick off the voyage, there is a special ceremony called the Awakening of the Pumpkin Tree where the ship's pumpkin tree comes to life. Taking place in the ship's atrium, usually on the first night between 1st and 2nd seating of dinner, the tree's caretaker (who bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain caretaker from the Haunted Mansion) steps forward from the shadows to tell the story of the pumpkin tree and how to awaken it. Accompanied by special effects including lighting and music, the Awakening of the Pumpkin Tree is a charming 30-minute show to get you into the Halloween spirit. Be sure to arrive early to grab a spot in the atrium on Deck 3, Midship in front of the tree. You can also view the show from the balconies overlooking the atrium on Deck 4 and Deck 5.

Mickey's Mouse-querade Party

Don your Halloween best and join Mickey and his crew on the open decks for a ghoulishly fun costume dance party. This is the main event on any Halloween sailing and I highly recommend it. This is a great way to see your favorite characters in their frightful fits especially if you don't want to wait in long lines to meet them. This is about a 45-minute deck party that includes Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Chip and Dale. They are dressed in their Halloween costumes and ready to tear up the dance floor. The deck party has each character take their turn on stage dancing and grooving to a song assigned to them. What I love about my experiences both on the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy is while one character is center stage, the others make their way into the audience and dance amongst Guests, rotating around the pool deck. These types of character interactions are what make Disney Cruise Line so special.

Mickey's Mouse-querade Party takes place opposite your dining time and costumes are allowed and encouraged for Guests of all ages! Generally, most Guests put their costumes on either an hour or two before 6:00 pm, but plenty wear themed outfits or costumes during the day if they want a specific photo with characters. Although Disney Cruise Line does not have costume guidelines explicitly posted on their website, your best guidance is following the guidelines Walt Disney World Resort uses for their After-Hours events such as Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. You can learn more about those guidelines here.

Trick or Treating

Before the party, you have a chance to Trick or Treat in your costumes on the open decks. Disney Cruise Line sets up a treat trail for guests, providing them with a sturdy bag and boatloads (HA!) of candy. Trick or Treating begins about 30 minutes before the party which gives you plenty of time to take a lap around the trail. There are about five or six candy stations to walk through and if they still have candy left, you can do the trail again. Candy includes an array of options from Twix and Milkyway to Skittles and Starbursts. They also have Allergy-Free options, just ask the crew member at each station. The crew members are generous so you will get a hearty handful of candy at each stop!

Our experience on the Disney Fantasy in 2022 was more pleasurable than our recent experience on the Disney Dream for this activity. In 2022, the trail sprawled throughout Deck 11, creating a larger loop that kept people moving. Everyone easily circled numerous times, and we came home with tons of candy. On the other hand, with our recent trip, the treat trail was entirely contained in Cabanas, the buffet restaurant on Deck 11, Aft, and we experienced traffic jams, standing for minutes at a time. Our sailing was quite windy, so I am not sure if this was a Disney Dream thing or a weather thing, but it just goes to show how Halloween activities can vary from ship to ship and sailing to sailing.

Another thing I will point out is the difference in capacity between the two sailings. In October 2022, on the Disney Fantasy, it was by no means a full sailing and adults outnumbered the kids. In October 2023, on the Disney Dream, it was a full sailing (sold out I believe) and even the crew commented on the excessive number of kids on board. This greatly impacted how we experienced Halloween activities. This time around, we did not meet as many characters, especially themed ones, because the lines were crazy long. On the other hand, the adult spaces did not feel cramped. For big events like the Awakening of the Pumpkin Tree, for a good view, you needed to show up 15+ minutes in advance whereas on our previous Halloween cruise, 15 minutes was plenty. It was a great reminder that every sailing is different, and how managing expectations is important. Many factors like ship capacity, weather, and itinerary influence how your cruise will go. Both Halloween on the High Seas sailings felt drastically different but still were loads of fun.

Halloween Isn't Just For Kids

On the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, the dedicated space for adults becomes the ultimate hangout for the dark side. Here, the mood is set with spooky lighting and tables piled high with Halloween candy. Honestly, it made us chuckle because we could have skipped the Trick or Treating entirely and pillaged the adult area instead! The event started with Halloween-related trivia as the host transitioned into the adults-only costume contest.

Yes! An adults-only costume contest so pack your best costume and wear it with pride! There were four different categories for the contest: Most Disney, Most Original, Funniest, and Best Group. Beforehand, as you walked through the adult-only area, there were crew members from the entertainment team scouting candidates for each category. If they think your costume is in the running, they will hand you a card with a category on it. Unsuspectingly, we were making our way to Evolution for the event and were chosen by a crew member for Best Group! Once our category was called, we made our way onto the stage with the other candidates, and going down the line the host gave us the floor to say a little bit about our costumes. Voting was based on audience participation and each winner received a coveted rubber medal. To our surprise, we won Best Group! Who knew there were so many The Emperors' New Groove fans?

After the costume contest, the dance floor opened up and the venue turned into a scary good time. For adults, this is a must-do regardless of if you dress up or not.

Special Character Meet and Greets

Mickey and Friends also partake in the festivities as you can catch them wearing their Halloween costumes throughout the voyage. You will have multiple opportunities to meet the characters in their exclusive Halloween costumes. It is a guarantee that on "Halloween Day" all the characters will be dressed up, however for the remaining days of the voyage they could be wearing their traditional nautical outfits or other appropriately themed garb like for Pirate Night. For example, in October 2022, the characters only dressed up for Halloween Day however, on this sailing in October 2023, I found several meet times outside the dedicated day where they were wearing their costumes.

One special offering on the Halloween on the High Seas sailing is the chance to meet Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and Clarabelle dressed up as the Sanderson Sisters from Disney's Hocus Pocus. This meet and greet was added back in 2022. This was another popular meet and greet so make sure to get there early. Due to its popularity, there were several chances to meet the "Sanderson Sisters" during the cruise. There were also opportunities to meet Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck individually wearing their other spooky outfits. A Photopass photographer was present, and the character handlers were happy to assist in taking photos or videos when politely asked. To maximize the number of guests they can meet at one time, Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle do not do autographs, but the character attendants hand out cute autograph cards instead.

These sailings also give you the chance to meet rare characters like Jack and Sally from Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack and Sally are normally only available during special ticketed events at Walt Disney World, such as Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party with hours-long wait times. On this particular sailing, there were several times throughout the cruise to meet Jack and Sally. These are popular characters so make sure to get there early in case they need to cut the line off. What I love about Jack and Sally is the high-quality interactions you get. They spent the time conversing with each party, signing autographs, and occasionally letting out a howling scream sure to be heard from shore. A Photopass photographer was present, and the character handlers were happy to assist in autographs or taking photos/videos when politely asked. Jack and Sally can do autographs, and there is a special Nightmare Before Christmas backdrop. Check your DCL Navigator app for meeting times and locations.

Halloween Movie Screenings

The Halloween fun even extends into the theaters onboard. At the Buena Vista Theatre on Deck 4 and Deck 5, Forward, you can catch a spooky flick in between all the fun. Along with new movie releases, they will also show iconic Halloween films like Hocus Pocus and The Haunted Mansion (2023). During the designated Halloween Day, they will also be playing films like The Nightmare Before Christmas up on Funnel Vision. For our sailing in October 2022, they played Hocus Pocus 2 in the Walt Disney Theatre for our show time, and for our sailing in October 2023, they played The Haunted Mansion (2023).

Spooky Snacks

Enjoy unique Halloween-themed desserts, beverages, and trick-or-treating while on board. One of my favorite parts of a Disney cruise is the endless snacks and treats included with your cruise fare or at an additional cost. On "Halloween Day", Cove Cafe and Cabanas had desserts themed to Halloween, like an adorable Ghost Lemon Meringue. It was so cute; I did not want to eat it! While on the Fantasy, our server brought over a chocolate spider dome cake after dinner to celebrate the occasion. Later in the voyage, they did have an Anyone Can Cook! event that gave a live demonstration and sampling of how this dessert was made. For some reason, our dining room on the Disney Dream was not served this dessert, but they did have the cooking session on our last day at sea.

One bonus to a Halloween-themed sailing is potentially having access to exclusive popcorn buckets and sippers found at the Disney Parks. For example, on my recent sailing, Preludes was stocked with the Skeleton Mickey Popcorn Bucket and the Mayor's Car Popcorn Bucket from Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas. These have been highly sought-after items in the Disney Parks and sell out immediately upon release. On the Disney Wish, they even had the Minnie Mouse as Winifred Sanderson Sipper which could only be purchased at the Disneyland Resort. For me, the Skeleton Mickey Popcorn Bucket was something I had my eye on as a cute Halloween decoration, so I was overjoyed to see it on this recent sailing. I highly recommend purchasing any specialty buckets or sippers on the first night once the shops open. The ship has only so many in stock for each sailing and the Skeleton Mickey did sell out after the second day (especially once word got around). You can find these popcorn buckets and sippers for sale either by the Walt Disney Theatre or next to the movie theaters.

My Final Thoughts

After cruising two straight Halloweens in a row, I can say that Halloween on the High Seas is a sailing everyone should add to their bucket list. We are taking a break this year to sail on our first Alaskan cruise, but if not, I would have booked another Halloween sailing. The entertainment offered is unmatched and pricing for these sailings is generally no more expensive than a regular cruise. Also, who can pass up an opportunity to dress up as your favorite Disney character?

I love sailing in the fall months, despite the risk of hurricane season, as it is generally quieter, and the extreme heat has staved off. The atmosphere of Halloween is approaching, and with that, the beginning of the holiday season gives off an electric energy you can feel throughout the ship.

Have questions about Halloween on the High Seas? Comment below!