Last week while we were at Walt Disney World we went to "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party", and as a precursor to the parade a guy walked down the route, telling an abbreviated version of the story. He was very good, very animated, creating a very spooky atmosphere.

Just after he finished, there was an announcement;

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. Please don't be afraid, but there have been sightings of The Headless Horseman in the area. And as you all know, Halloween celebrations are when The Headless Horseman rides!"

Then the lights suddenly went out, there was a piercing whinny, and there he was at the top of Main Street. The Headless Horseman on his pitch black steed.

He stood up in his stirrups, his horse reared and he waved his flaming pumpkin around the horrible yawning space where his head should have been. Then like a bolt of dark lightening he was off, riding like the wind down the street with sparks of living flame flashing from his horse's hooves.

In a sea of flashbulbs he was gone, as if the cameras lights had brought the very dawn with them.

His ride lasted mere seconds, but the memory will live forever.....

OK, so maybe I embellished the ride of the Headless Horseman a little bit, but not by much, I promise. It was very effective and I’m really pleased I saw him. Actually I was very impressed by Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party as a whole, we loved it. It wasn’t too crowded (although this was over a week ago - I guess on the Big Night itself it might be pretty unbearable), there was still a great atmosphere but the lines were more than acceptable. I think the most we queued for anything was about twenty minutes. That was for the Haunted Mansion, which was made even more atmospheric by having the queuing area covered in a heavy dry ice fog.

Halloween isn’t celebrated at all where I live (northern England), so it was a delight to see the huge inflatable pumpkins and characters throughout the park and the different lighting effects along Main Street. All the buildings were shining with oranges and greens, with silhouettes of witches flying along them.

Trick or treat was something equally new to us. It was the first time I’d ever said those words in my life! I’d heard complaints of people not getting enough free candy at the trick or treat stands. All I can say is that two English adults who only visited a few of the many T-or-T stations got more than enough to last us for a few days! I’m sure some dedicated kids in cute costumes could make themselves seriously ill…

The parade was long and pretty good, especially the Haunted Mansion float. It had Chip & Dale in their ghost-sheet costumes, and featured lots of gravediggers and ballroom dancers dancing alongside. The only slightly disappointing section was that Mickey, Minnie etc were all dressed in cowboy outfits. I was hoping for something more in keeping with the Halloween theme - Franken-Goofy, Mickey the Scarecrow etc.

One of the highlights of the night was the fireworks display. I’ve already said how impressed I was with the Wishes show. Well this was like an extension of that. Not only were the fireworks impeccably timed with the (suitably spooky) music and the explosions formed into recognizable shapes, but they were launched from all around Main Street as well as from behind the castle. We were later told that they were set off from special railway carriages, which meant that there were simultaneous explosions high in the sky in a ring all around us. It was magnificent.

All in all it was a great night. We got there for opening at 7pm and left around twenty minutes to midnight. I’d thoroughly recommend this to anyone going to WDW at this time of year.

Now I guess we’d better start planning a trip to Mickey’s Christmas Party!