MNSSHP 2015 - Be Prepared For Chaos

[wdwcoltsfan]

We will be at the party on 10/27..can't wait! This will be our second MNSSHP and we loved the first one! Hope our friends we are attending with love it as much as we did!

We were there last night for a sold out party and it didn't seem any busier than previous years. Rides had very short waits. We went through most of the candy lines and received handfuls of candy. We had a full bag and over half was chocolate.

We were walking towards Frontierland about 8:15 and thought we might catch the first parade, but we stopped on the hub because we could sit in the second row. First time I have been that close on the hub. Watched fireworks from the bridge across from Tom Sawyer with an awesome view and walked up as they were starting.

It was not the nightmare I thought it might be. It was awesome!

I think the problem comes when people want to see the characters and do all of the other stuff. There just isn't enough time.

 

[jhaig]

Many reports over on the official MNSSHP about no park announcements, guests with no wristbands, and ridiculous crowds. I thought it was getting better...

 

[McGreezy]

We got back from our trip and did the party on Oct 29th -- will never do it again. Couldn't even move. Ride waits varied, but it was just too busy to justify the extra expense. We were asked to verify our bands once, but not anymore after that. Magic Kingdom on Friday the 30th was enough to make us never want to return as well. Insanity. Two HOURS just to get to the parking lot after the fireworks. Nutso.

 

[Dis703]

So what is everyone's take on the crowds for this year's parties in general? Has it been extra busy and has it been busy enough to prevent you from wanting to attend another hard ticket event like MNSSHP?

We did the party on 10/27 and it was sold out. This was my first experience with MNSSHP, but second with a ticketed event. I did MVMCP a couple years ago. Honestly, it was fabulous! We got in at 3:45 and we stayed until well past midnight. We rode about 10 different rides almost all with 5-10 minute waits except for 7DMT which had a 30 minute wait. We did a bunch of trick or treating and they were giving out handfuls of candy at each station. We got a perfect front row spot for the second parade 5 minutes before it started and there was tons of room in front of the castle for Celebrate the Magic and Hallowishes. We did the midnight Hocus Pocus show and we were pretty close to the castle for that as well and we got there maybe 15 minutes before it started.

We did a bunch of photopass pics and magic shots, with little to no wait, but we were not interested in seeing any of the characters. Those lines seemed a little long at times.

We flew down just for one night just to do the Halloween party and I was worried reading some of the reports and knowing it was sold out. But we got way more done than I had hoped for and had an absolutely fabulous time. We are already talking about doing it again next year if the same cheap flights pop up.

 

[Travis B]

Just like PP we did the party on 10/27 as well and really liked it. The park was not empty but I could feel that there were less people than the previous, non-party MK day. We had light rain on and off so I was concerned/stressed but once we were able to watch the first parade in the Liberty Square area. We made friends with some others who were waiting and staked our own little area with minimal last-minute intruders. We watched CTM and HalloWishes from the Wishes FP+ area which was not at all crowded - it was amazing. HalloWishes is my official new favorite nighttime show at Disney and I am convinced they MUST open the previously rumored villains-themed fifth gate. If only they would listen (and pay me to consult..).

Earlier in the evening we had caught an abbreviated (due to weather) Hocus Pocus performance, and by this point I was satisfied with the evening as we had hit all the major things I had wanted to. We decided to skip the second parade and as were heading out of Tomorrowland after doing some rides, we noticed the the very front area by the castle was basically empty as everyone was watching the parade by the street. We were able to get in the area only two or three rows back, and the fates aligned and it was dry enough for the 12 am Hocus Pocus performance to be the full show. The CMs wrangling the crowd were so cute and excited, and everyone in the crowd was as well. The show was FABULOUS, and it was so fun to be in such an excited audience, and up so close to the performance. We didn't trick or treat or do characters so I can't comment on that. Despite the crappy weather we had a really great time and I would consider ponying up the $$ to do the event again. I was worried after reports I had read, but after a shaky start our night ended fabulously and I really felt the Disney magic.

 

[Spacepest]

Just got back from a Florida trip.

We did the last party, Sunday Nov. 1, and it was a sold out party. We had an awesome time, but due to the reports of crowding, we stayed away from Main Street as much as possible. We arrived at 4 pm and stayed until close. Character meet and greets had a long line, which we didn't bother to do any. However, all the rides had short waits...the two rides that had the longest waits were the 7 Dwarves ride and the Haunted Mansion, with their waits topping out at a whopping 30 minutes during the party (before the party, waits were 60 minutes for HM, 7D between 70-90 minutes!). Walkways were busy with people, but ride waits were short. However, between 4-7pm the park was jammed with day guests and party people, and the crowd noticeable diminished once the party started.

We got alot done. Between fastpasses booked between 4-7pm, and the short party line rides, we did every open ride in the park except for Splash Mountain (and we chose not to do that because we didn't want to spend the night wet) plus managed to see the first parade, fireworks, and one of the villains shows in front of the castle, as well as squeeze in some trick or treating to get some candy.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I didnt want to comment on my experience until I got home. I have gone to the party last year.

Dh and I were only going to eat at BOG. I think Oct. 21st. Our adr was for 6:35. By the time we finished eating it was around 8 pm. I use a wheelchair like a walker most of the time.

There was no one to escort us out contrary to what others have posted. No one asked if we had a wristband or not. It was dark at this point.

You could clearly see many people did not have wristbands on and were in the park at 8 pm. We were walking out on the L side and many of those without wristbands were congregating in the dark watching the castle show.

All I kept thinking was if I actually paid for this party I would be upset with all those who were there without wristbands.

Oh and we walked right past a group of 4 cast members and not one of them said anything to the non wristband party people who were clearly sitting down watching the show.

We are actually thinking of going to MVMCP and I hope we dont have this same experience.

 

[skylynx]

We went to the party on Halloween night. We knew it would be a zoo, and so had no objectives to be met, such as having to go on a certain ride, or have our picture with a certain character, etc. That made it less likely we'd be disappointed, and we did have fun, and enjoyed short wait times on regular rides, and an eventual 7 Dwarfs photo after three visits to the line.

In my opinion, there's not enough "special" to be worth the high cost of the "special event" ticket. Although the Hallowishes fireworks were spectacular, I thought the parade was kind of short, and only a couple floats were Halloween-specific (I don't count a Halloween banner hung on Peter Pan's pirate ship as a specialty Halloween float parade entry). The headless horseman at the start of the parade was actually the best part for me. Most special experiences like photo ops and character meet and greets had ridiculously long lines. You wouldn't have to struggle to have spent the bulk of your Halloween Party time on the line for a photo with the Dwarfs and queuing up in advance so you had a chance of seeing the parade not six people deep. For the first hour or so of the party, the lines for a handful of sponsor-provided everyday candy stretched a long ways. They did move quickly, but we weren't tempted to wait in any of them for a Snickers bar.

During the transition to the party (between 5-7pm) there was a brief taste of the "old days" when there used to be genuine slow times at Disney parks when you could happily scamper from ride to ride getting on nearly everything with little to no waits. We were relieved at least there was no line at the Peoplemover. On our last few visits, not during prime time, there were still lines at Peoplemover midday. You KNOW it's a bad day when there's a line to get on the Peoplemover!

We thought it would be fun to have our picture taken with the 7 Dwarfs and their buckets of jewels once we saw them set up for photos. The first time we checked the line the estimated wait was two hours. What? That's an awfully big chunk of our paid "party time" standing on one line. We left and came back after the first parade. Because we didn't get in line early for the parade, we got what we expected with a swarm of people to have to see over, who all started standing on benches and planters and putting their kids on their shoulders as soon as it began and that was ok, because we'd already decided to watch the later parade instead. So we saw the tops of the taller floats go by. Back to the line for the 7 Dwarfs picture. It's now "only" an hour, but we didn't want to risk being in line when the fireworks went off. After the fireworks, we went back once more, and this time the wait was a half hour, which by then we were ok to spend because we'd seen and done most everything we could do. If you were able to stay awake for the last parade, you could get a decent spot to watch even minutes before it began, which we did.

This was a Disney bucket list item for us, but I wouldn't spend the money again because I think there are just too many tickets sold to allow you to really feel like you are in a special event. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party used to be truly special as in addition to a lot of party exclusives that you couldn't do or see during regular park hours, there was space to breathe between people and little or no lines for anything, and no six-deeps at the parade even last minute. I doubt it is like that anymore because somewhere along the way, Disney discovered people would keep buying higher and higher priced tickets to special events anyway, even if they were packed to the gills. And then pay for "special experiences" like dessert parties at their special event.

I've read other people's reviews who didn't think the lines for the special Halloween stuff was bad, and I wish I'd known who they were, because I would have followed them around! All in all, we did enjoy the party, but could not make a case for it being worth the premium. We visited without our kids, though, so we're not factoring in the pleasure kids may have despite the crowds that parents would determine legitimized the cost.

 

[Misha72683]

We went to the 10/25 party. It was our first party (obviously) and in fact was our very first glimpse of the Magic Kingdom. We had a 7 p.m BOG and were done about 8:30. We enjoyed it. We went on a few rides and there was no wait, though we weren't after anything particular sought after. We found there was no wait for the Trick or Treat lines and got a ton of candy. Trick or treating was important to my 4 year-old as we were going to be skipping traditional Halloween. We fluked into a good spot for the second parade, which was awesome. We didn't find it overly crowded, except when trying to get across the hub right after the fireworks, but we didn't have anything to compare to it. We all had a great expreience and would happily do it again.

 

[Emagine]

We did the 18th, a Sunday night. It was sold out and was our first ever MNSSHP. I was nervous going to this after the reports because both of my kids are SN and we also have a Service Dog in tow. We spent the day at MK doing things like 7DMT etc that might have longer waits. Ate dinner at 4 at the Plaza. As soon as we got our wristbands we got off of Mainstreet. I had zero interest in being on Mainstreet for anything other than entering or exiting. We have enough issues with moving around with our family as it is. However, we found the areas off Mainstreet to be perfect for us. We could navigate with ease everywhere we went (outside of Mainstreet) We even joked how it looked dead to us. We did all the TOT areas in these zones, some more than ones. The trails a few times. Also on our must dos was the Haunted Magic Shots, easy to do with walk up and ready to go. We hit it just fine. We did the first parade and had front row in Frontierland at the posts. Plenty of space around us. We did Fireworks in a 360 from Fantasyland. Was beautiful and the boys actually enjoyed that much more than crowding in front of the Castle like we would on a normal night. We did more TOT, lots of rides with very little to no wait till the kids were done. They almost made it to midnight. We drove so we took the Monorail back and only had 1 wait as it was leaving as we got to the top of the ramp. Soon the next one came and we were on our way. Because we had been there all day we were near the front so we were close to the car. Took prob 20ish mins to get out.

They are asking to do it again and for sake of the things they enjoyed I would. For us the only Chaos was the parents screaming at their kids or each other.

 

[Joe'sgirl]

We attended the sold out 10/29 party. It had been 3 years since the last time I went with just one of my daughters. These boards definitely helped me learn about a lot of things so that I had some type of plan and expectation. We arrived around 5pm - walked right over to get bags checked and then in and given our bracelets. My oldest daughter and I went and got Sorcerer cards (more on that later) and then we all headed into Adventureland. We got on Pirates (20 min wait and I don't think it took that long). My memory is fuzzy if we did Splash Mtn next but we did head over that way and rode that, and Thunder Mtn - we didn't wait more than 20 mins for either. I ended up asking someone about characters because I had yet to see any and was told 7/7:15. This seemed odd given all I read on here was people lined up at like 5 but then again, I wasn't anywhere near Dwarfs or Jack and Sally. I don't know how anyone would know where to line up as there was NOTHING set up anywhere but again, I was not in a location with those 'popular' characters. We ended up deciding to get in line for Haunted mansion, I think it said 15 mins and it didn't take more than that. Best part of that was we exited and it was starting to get dark. We got right in line for the "Magic shot", I think we had 3 fams in front of us. We turned to look at the HM line and it was HUGE so we obviously 'planned' that all perfect. From that point we just sort of meandered her and there - my kids were not big on characters so I never ended up even trying to get them in line. We did end up in front of the castle a few times before the HP show and it was very crowded. The parade route was also packed over an hour before start time. My kids had no interest in sitting and waiting, they wanted to do rides and TOT so that is what we did. We managed to be right where the parade started about 10 mins in, we saw a few floats but from an odd angle and my kids really didn't care. 3 years before my daughter and I sat right on the curb on Main St and I loved it but unless you get a seat like that, its not really enjoyable from afar. The TOT lines are awful at the start - very long so someone told us to wait until later which is what we did. Given they hand out a handful, we didn't even need to do each and every stop and they still had a good amount of candy. We did wait in line for Jack Sparrow and thankfully got photos with him right before the 8pm parade. That was the only character shot and I had to tell my kids they were doing it for me (we waited about 15-20 mins). We watched the fireworks from the Fantasyland/Circus area. PRO - the big ones were right above us it seemed. CON - the castle fireworks and the big ones were not in alignment from our vantage so we had to turn left and right. My guess is that if we were standing on the other end of the park it would have looked more like the big ones were behind the castle ones. That being said they were huge and awesome and my kids loved it. My oldest daughter LOVED the whole Sorcerer card gig. I had zero clue what it was, I just read stuff here and thought you just went and got cool cards - had no idea it was interactive/like a game. I almost feel bad we didn't get them the day before as we were leaving the next morning so she only had the one night to enjoy it. We ended up leaving around 11 - I just could not imagine what it would be like to get out of there at the close and my 6 and 8 year old were tired so we took that as our cue. The line for the bus was huge but thankfully we only waited about 25-30 mins. Would I do the party again - probably not but only because my kids will be really old by the time we can afford to go back.