We live just 1/2 hour away from Disney, so we went for the Halloween party only one year. It was really great because my daughter is a night owl by nature so staying up wasn't a problem, and the park wasn't as crowded as during the day, so for us it was worth the $, but we hadn't just shelled out for the day too. My husband surprised us with a little mini vcation before Christmas this year and booked 4 days and 3 nights at the Disney resort & parks. It would have cost us another $180 to go to Mickey's Christmas party. We were really tempted, but then didn't bite and I am glad that we didn't. We planned our park visits around which park had "extended hours for resort guests". That particular week, Magic Kingdom closed at 7 for the party on Sunday & Tuesday, 8 on Monday, but 1:00 AM
for resort guests so thatis the day that we went to Magic Kingdom. I don't know if the fireworks and parade were going to be the same on Monday night or not because unfortunately my daughter broke her elbow an hour after arriving at the park that day and left in an ambulance and then took a cab back to the hotel. :*-(. My husband did go back later that evening to snap a couple pictures and buy me an ornament and said the park was so empty and we could have had a lot of fun not waiting in lines for hours! Maybe you could plan accordingly, and save the $ or put it towards a dinner in the castle....make reservations now though if that's what you want to do because they sell out early! Have fun, and stay safe!
PS: if you do splurge on the Halloween party, make sure to take and wear costumes, it is a Halloween party, and the kids can "trick or treat" at a bunch of locations in the park. The year that we went, my daughter picked our costumes and I made them...per her instruction "I am going to be Cinderella, Daddy is going to be Prince Charming because he has black hair and black shoes and M. is going to be the Fairy Godmother"...so we were! It definitely made the night more fun to be in costume, Disney costumes are not necessary, just what she was in to at the time!