Last night was the first Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party event of the 2025 season, and we were in attendance to see what was new this year. Before the party began, the list of “new” things for 2025 was rather small, but there were additional, unannounced changes made to the party, including some small changes to Mickey’s Boo-To-You Halloween Parade. In this article, we’ll have a full look at the 2025 version of the parade, along with a list of things that we noticed were new!
Boo-To-You Halloween Parade 2025 | Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
The biggest change to the Boo-To-You Parade for 2025 was something that Disney didn’t announce until the day of the first Not-So-Scary Halloween Party event – the arrival of Mother Gothel from the Tangled movie. Another significant “change” that we noticed last night that wasn’t part of the parade was just how many guests, and families with young children, made it to the end of the party. With crowds some 3-5 rows deep for most of the parade route, we ended up watching from Town Square, where there was some space shortly before the parade began.
There were also some little changes and additions made to the parade, specifically toward the end of the parade. If you’d like to try and spot them yourself, check out our full parade video below! We’ll list the changes following the video.
Big Crowds
We’ll start with the change that is the most difficult to quantify, and that is the crowd level for the parade. Returning this year is the 8:15pm parade showtime, which was new last year. In the past, the first parade wasn’t until the 9pm hour, but Disney moved it earlier in the party to allow families with little ones a chance to watch some earlier entertainment.
The 8:15pm showtime was very popular last night, with crowds some 5+ rows deep in Frontierland when we stopped to watch. With just one party night in the books, it’s tough to draw sweeping conclusions about crowd levels, but the party did feel a bit more “sold out” than sold-out dates in 2024.
Turning back to the 8:15pm parade showtime, I think that there were quite a few guests who weren’t willing to brave the early showtime crowds, and their viewing was pushed to the 11:15pm showtime. There are a ton of factors at play here, but advice like “Frontierland is less crowded” or “wait to watch the 11:15pm parade” didn’t help us yesterday.
Mother Gothel Joins Boo To You Parade
Ok, the rest of the changes will be more concrete, starting with an all-new character to the party this year – Mother Gothel. If you’re unfamiliar, Mother Gothel is the main antagonist in Disney’s Tangled. She’s one of Disney’s more complex villains because she doesn’t rely on brute force or dark magic in the traditional sense – her weapon is manipulation.
Gothel is an aging woman who discovers that a magical golden flower can restore her youth. When the kingdom’s soldiers use the flower to heal the ailing queen, the magic transfers into Rapunzel’s hair. To preserve her beauty, Gothel kidnaps Rapunzel as a baby and raises her in a secluded tower, convincing her it’s for her safety.
Mother Gothel can actually be spotted earlier in the party. For guests who arrive before 8pm, you may spot Mother Gothel in the Main Street USA bypass, which acts as the “main entrance” to the party. After 8pm, Mother Gothel is only available to be seen in the Boo To You Parade.
In the parade, Mother Gothel rides in the finale Villains parade float. She replaces Jafar, who has been moved to a walking position ahead of the parade float.
All Four Country Bears Join the Parade
There were some changes to the Halloween Hoedown parade unit, including the removal of some characters and dancers. We’ll cover that in a moment. For now, it’s notable that all four of the Country Bear Musical Jamboree characters were in the 11:15pm version of the parade. The 8:15pm version of the parade was missing Romeo McGrowl, but there’s a good reason for that. We’ll explain why in an upcoming article, so be sure to check back on our Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party event page for the latest news and coverage!
Here’s a look at the 8:15pm parade, with just three of the bears, followed by a look at the 11:15pm parade with all four! In 2024, only Big Al and Wendel were in the parade. In 2023, all four Country Bears were present; it just took some time to get them dressed and ready with their updated costumes with the reimagining of the Country Bear Jamboree attraction.
Poultry Prancers Removed
As part of the changes to the parade, the poultry prancers (dancers dressed up as chickens) have been removed from the parade. They were not in the 8:15pm version of the parade or the 11:15pm version of the parade.
Here’s a look back at the removed characters, compared to a rather empty-looking street in front of Clara Cluck this year. It’s possible that the poultry prancers were a temporary addition in 2024 while the Country Bears updated their costuming.
Horace Horsecollar Removed
In addition to the removal of the poultry prancers, Horace Horsecollar was removed from the parade as well. Here’s a look back at Horace from 2023. Horace was also in the 2024 version of the parade, but not on the night that we viewed it.
I suppose that these character removals could be remedied by the time the parade rolls down Main Street USA at the next party, but we can only report what we saw last night.
Vibrant Update for Haunted Mansion Ballroom Dancers
This is a smaller change, for sure, but the Haunted Mansion ballroom dancers appear to have slightly more vibrant costumes than in years past. Not a redesign, just a refresh. Specifically, the male dancers appear to have more vibrant suits thanks to more blue tones. Here’s a look back at 2024, followed by a look at this year’s parade.
Gaston & Lady Tremaine Removed
With the arrival of Mother Gothel, there were actually quite a few changes to the villains finale segment of the parade. Both Gaston and Lady Tremaine were removed from the finale section. They both previously walked ahead of the finale float.
Jafar Now Walking
We’ve mentioned it a couple of times so far, but now we’ll highlight the fact that Jafar is walking ahead of the finale parade float. As previously mentioned, he was replaced this year by Mother Gothel. Here’s a look at Jafar riding on the float in previous years, and a look at him walking this year.
New Skeleton Dancers
Mother Gothel isn’t the only new addition to the Mickey’s Boo-To-You Halloween Parade. Along with the walking villains, there is a new skeleton dance crew that brings the high energy of the skeleton band down to the streets.
Missing Pirate
This final change could be temporary or permanent, but we noticed that a pirate was missing from the Pirates of the Caribbean parade float. Barbossa and Captain Jack Sparrow are present, but they’re missing a buccaneer. We’ll start with a look back at the pirate from last year, followed by a slightly lighter ship this year.
Boo to You Changes in 2025
Overall, the parade changes in 2025 were rather minimal, but still more than expected. The last major changes to the parade came back in 2023. If you’re missing Lady Tremaine and Gaston, both can be found in Fantasyland meet and greet opportunities. I’m somewhat neutral on Mother Gothel as a character, but I will give Disney credit for introducing a new character to the party, so we’ll call that a net positive. It was also nice to see the restoration of the Country Bears unit.
Overall, the Boo-To-You Parade remains a very strong offering at an event where entertainment is the highlight. The parade is even better for first-timers and is one of a number of must-do offerings during the event.
I wish I had some better advice in terms of how to watch the parade with lower crowds. We found a spot in Town Square in front of City Hall about 10-15 minutes before the 11:15pm parade arrived, which seemed to be the easiest way to watch the parade with the smallest time commitment.
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