Boy do they oversell this Halloween party!!!

[wilbret]

I went to the MNSSHP on Sept 14 this year. This night, the party was sold out. While I thought it felt busier than the two parties we went to in 2017, I was able to do everything with little to no waiting. I do not doubt anyone who says they found long lines everywhere but I think part of that can be planned around. I don't look down at anyone who doesn't make a plan, but all over the DIS boards, there are reports of what to/not to do and how it can positively impact your experience.

For families with children that can't stay up late, I truly feel sorry for you because the 10pm-1:00am party time is where it's at.
After the 10:15 fireworks, it feels as if 2/3 of the crowd leaves the park. Also, if you find a TOT line that is extremely short (after 10pm, I found most were), just go through it again and again and again! No reason to search all over the park to do 5 TOT lines when you can go through the same line 5x and get the same amount of candy in much less time. I did Buzz Lightyear X3 and was able to stay on without getting off, PP x2 , HM, Splash x2, Peoplemover, Pooh x2, Pirates, Under the Sea and 7DMT (got in line at 11:45). I saw the fireworks in the first row up against the fence in the hub grass with a 20 minute wait and sat for both parades from Frontierland with 15 minute waits. Got more candy than I knew what to do with. Also, if you are able to stay late, don't rush out of the park. There will be transportation available to you and use the 12:30-1:00am time to get great pictures in the hub and Main Street.

I didn't do any of the meet and greets except for the grave diggers which are usually "hidden" away and have a short line.

I say all this because I would like people who are planning on attending MNSSHP to know it's not all gloom and doom. There are people who are having success and a wonderful time at the party.

You are right, it's not all doom and gloom, but do we know if they cap crowds the same level every night? If your night sold out, what was different for others? Weather affects crowds, even if it's sold out. Too hot, and people leave early or come late. Raining? Same thing. I think this forum is full of savvy planners, and we've gone to this party every year on pretty much the same night, every year. (it's school fall break where we live) This year was clearly the worst. I think it's good advice for people on the fence to consider saving the $$. If they know the crowds will be crazy, and they choose to go, that's also cool. There really shouldn't be hour+ long waits after the party starts. I've never seen that before on anything except 7 dwarfs mine train.

We were able to ride everything we wanted to ride by getting there at 4pm, but it's not practical to think than everyone is planning like us or able to move like us.
We did these: Buzz, people mover, space mountain, carousel of progress, little mermaid, monsters inc, 7 dwarfs, thunder mountain, haunted mansion (barely), pirates, partial parade, partial fireworks.
We had to skip parade, fireworks, villians just to catch rides we wanted. We normally do 7 dwarfs at least 2x at the very end of the night, but it seems like everyone else has the same plan.
The kids wanted to do Sorcerer's, so we used that as a filler. We didn't do the Space Mountain HW overlay because the wait was absurd. The line literally stretched to the Astro Orbiter at one point. Pirates overlay made the lines longer, but it was pretty lame and didn't merit the longer wait.

We stopped for a snack, and had a bite to eat. We managed, but people should know this isn't the old days where the crowds are always light and lines are walk-on.

Crowd level during the same day was 2/10. You'd have to decide if you really wanted to see the parade and fireworks more than anything, and not expect the rides to be a focal point.

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

We are going to the party tonight as 1st timers with an open mind. Personally I have found that what I see people complain about on social media (ie: noisy rooms at Pop & horrible food at Trex) is fine for my family. I will report back 2mrw!

 

[mixmastertoy]

the Christmas parties are even worse!

 

[elemeht]

We went on this past weekend and they definitely don't get the wait times for rides right. We were also told 5-10 minutes, but we glanced at the SDMT line and it said 40 minutes so we passed. Space Mtn was broken down when we tried and we never made it back to that side of the park so I'm not sure about the wait time. And the lines for characters were laughable we just took pictures from afar.

That being said we had a blast because we went for the parade and the shows. We got to the parade about 10 minutes early and found a place to sit right against the ropes. Same for the fireworks, we watched from the bridge to tomorrowland and had a seat for the whole show. We stood for the Hocus Pocus show but we planned on doing that. We went through 6 or 7 of the treat stations and waited at the most for 5 minutes. We walked away with 8lbs of candy.

One other point on the rides though, we went to the park during the day before the party and the crowds were super low and we walked on most of the rides... Longest we waited was 15 minutes for splash mtn. but again we didn't even try Mine Train.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We went last Friday in August. Was average for a party we thought. We closed the party down and the time flew. Wait times were higher we thought too.

 

[toddinboston]

major bummer to read these horror stories...we did the Halloween party in 2008 and 2012...both times were mid-week parties in mid October...both times were great fun with walk on rides all night... I'm shocked Disney would oversell these events, it's so unlike them...

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

I think it might be because I go so often, but I did the 10/2 party and wasn’t bothered by crowds at all? Maybe I’m used to it? I was up by the castle for back to back fireworks, HP show, parade, HP show and we had a curb seat and the crowd wasn’t bad at all. We were in starbucks at 10p and there were maybe 5 other guests inside with us. I think it’s absolutely worth it, because I have an AP, go all the time, and like the change of pace. I think you lose the worth if this is your only trip of the year and your time is short.

I think whether it rains during the night affects it as well. That was the first party I went to without rain. Rain makes everything hectic.

I’m attending 10/14 again, which is a sunday and much closer to Halloween. I’m expecting more crowds, I’ll report back.

 

[sam_rogers]

We went to the September 25th party and the rides and candy lines were OK, that being said there was a lot of people traffic! All of the pathways seemed busy. This was our 3rd party, and we've always done midweek parties and it was definitely the busiest I've seen it. I would rather do after hours than do another Halloween party.

 

[dlavender]

I think it might be because I go so often, but I did the 10/2 party and wasn’t bothered by crowds at all? Maybe I’m used to it? I was up by the castle for back to back fireworks, HP show, parade, HP show and we had a curb seat and the crowd wasn’t bad at all. We were in starbucks at 10p and there were maybe 5 other guests inside with us. I think it’s absolutely worth it, because I have an AP, go all the time, and like the change of pace. I think you lose the worth if this is your only trip of the year and your time is short.

I think whether it rains during the night affects it as well. That was the first party I went to without rain. Rain makes everything hectic.

I’m attending 10/14 again, which is a sunday and much closer to Halloween. I’m expecting more crowds, I’ll report back.

Did you ride any rides?

 

[Anabelletoronto]

the Christmas parties are even worse!

Can you give more feedback? We are considering just doing one night/day at Disney because we are staying about an hour away for a long weekend. Just wondering if it’s worth it?
Then I’m thinking - We haven’t been in a year - of course, it’s worth it.

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

Did you ride any rides?

I rode Space Mountain— Pretty cool! I usually don’t ride anything during parties. I enjoy the party specific events and snacks. Lots and lots of snacks. Lol.

My friend wants to ride more rides during our 10/14 party so I’ll be sure to update on that.

 

[Tempty]

Huh. Boyfriend and I went 10/4 and 10/5 (were originally going to just go 10/4 but I got very sick about an hour in so we had to leave)
10/4 the crowds were... fine? I wasn't expecting the park to be empty so maybe it was just less crowded than I thought it would be
10/5 the crowds were actually great, we went on 8 rides in 4 lands in about 3 hours whereas on a "normal" day it would probably have taken 9 hours, at least

 

[bwang123]

Here now. 55 mins space mountain. 35 mins for pirates. 40 mins for Big Thunder. 10+ mins for the “treat” stations. Crowds everywhere. Seriously? We may as well have come in July!

What is oversold? More crowds than you thought?

 

[stinkpickle]

Here now. 55 mins space mountain. 35 mins for pirates. 40 mins for Big Thunder. 10+ mins for the “treat” stations. Crowds everywhere. Seriously? We may as well have come in July!

Probably. The parties aren't known for walk-on rides anymore.

 

[Brownsfan]

I went to the Halloween Party on Sunday, Sept. 23 and felt it was more crowded than any of our regular park days (with 4 day hoppers we went to MK X2, HS X2, EPCOT X2 and AK X1) I'm glad I only paid $75 each for DH and I. I booked a bounce back for December 2019 and was originally planning on doing the Xmas Party but it would be at least $125 each for 7 people - no way is it worth that and since we'll be there over Xmas we can see most of the special things with a regular park ticket.

 

[chelseabun76]

I am worried about the Xmas party

Me too. I got the tickets as an complete splurge (aside from the already splurge of the trip and WL resort) to hopefully have a nice evening with special things for my mom and not insane crowds... I'll be a bit let down if it's just as busy as a regular busy day with wall to wall people. I'm not expecting no crowds, I know it will be busy. I was just hoping for not crazy busy. lol

 

[RachaelA]

We almost never ride rides. I think I’m just going to go into our party (which I know will sell out) with super low expectations. Jack/Sally, Elvis Stitch, parade, fireworks and a dance party.

 

[Yogibear15001]

We went for the first time on Sept 14, it was OK from 4:30 to 8 ish and we rode a bunch of stuff. It was so hot we didn't even eat any of the fun treats so I was mad at myself for that. By the time the parade was rolling around it was wall to wall people. I didn't want to do the parade by my adult daughter did and almost passed out in the heat with that many people. We left after we watched the beginning of the Hocus Pocus show, we were worn out. And she is young! But we still had a good time, came back the next day and rode all the other stuff we wanted by 1pm. It was definitely not what I expected with the board posts and it was supposed to be one of the less crowded nights! I love Halloween so the decorations were fun, but we kept seeing huge lines that turned out to be candy (I will go to Walmart thank you!) and character lines.

 

[gharter]

We almost never ride rides. I think I’m just going to go into our party (which I know will sell out) with super low expectations. Jack/Sally, Elvis Stitch, parade, fireworks and a dance party.

Going in with low expectations is a good thing.
You do know to get in line at least an hour to 90 minutes before the party starts if you want to see Jack and Sally. By the time the party starts, their line is usually 2 hours or more and doesn't die down.

 

[mixmastertoy]

Can you give more feedback? We are considering just doing one night/day at Disney because we are staying about an hour away for a long weekend. Just wondering if it’s worth it?
Then I’m thinking - We haven’t been in a year - of course, it’s worth it.

We still go but it is insanely busy. If you want to see the 7 Dwarfs the wait could be 90 minutes alone for that... if you want to do it for the rides alone they arent that bad but honestly I still plan a holiday trip every year. It honestly seems (Ive gone for 15 straight years) that each year gets busier.