Disney Has Gone Too Far: My Kids Weren’t Ready for ‘Halloween Kills’

Every family vacationing in Disney needs a break from the parks. Relaxing at the resort, hopping to other resorts, checking out new restaurants and shops – you get the picture. This week we loaded up the minivan and trekked over to Disney Springs – because no trip to Disney World is complete without a stop at Sosa Family Cigars. While undoubtedly a good time, after a few hours our little ones were ready to do something else. We hadn’t yet experienced Disney’s dine-in theater, and thought now, in the middle of our vacation, was a perfect time to sit inside a Disney exclusive movie theater for a few hours and watch a new Disney movie. A whole theater dedicated to Disney movies? Yes, please!

Drawing from the success of Star Tours, the dine-in theater is more of a “multiple adventure” experience. As you walk up to the authentically-themed ticket window, an authentic-looking-teenager will ask you what movie you’d like to see. To get into the Halloween spirit, we thought it would be fun to check out Disney’s Halloween Kills.

I’ll admit – I was a little skeptical about the title, but I consider myself a “fun mom.” At home, we even keep the parental filter turned off on Disney+. Having seen some of the scarier content such as Vampirina and Spooky Buddies, I thought we were ready for anything, but parents be warned: this attraction pushes the limits of what is acceptable at a family destination.

Mickey Mouse is back on the big screen as Mickey Myers, a psychopathic killer bringing terror and chaos to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois. By now, we’re pretty accustomed to murder in Disney films – so I didn’t batt an eye at Mickey’s-Murder-Spree, which is rather pedestrian by Disney standards (some 34 people are stabbed, slashed, and impaled with a variety of objects ranging from light tubes and broken glass to axes and knives).

Despite its best efforts of being a family-friendly slasher, throughout some of the more violent scenes, you’ll want to cover the little one’s mouse-ears. I was both shocked and repulsed at the language used throughout the attraction. My youngest didn’t flinch as Mickey used an ax and electric saw to gruesomely slaughter a group of American hero firefighters, but I did notice him sobbing at the countless uses of extremely graphic audio. My little boy has been inconsolable since.

As a parent, I think it’s important to expose your children to the realities of death and violence, but 3 dozen uses of the f-word is where the real horror lies.

Hopefully you and your family can stick it out until the end though, as you wont want to miss a special end credits scene, teeing up Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.