Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween 2023 Super Thread

[Mrjoshua]

Anybody see what characters have been out near Carthay recently? I've been trying to watch on the DL app when I remember, but it SEEMS to vary from one party to the next. Hans, Hook, Smee, Snow White's Witch, Queen of Hearts are the ones that I've seen or heard about so far. Any others that anyone knows about?

 

[Cluelyss]

Anybody see what characters have been out near Carthay recently? I've been trying to watch on the DL app when I remember, but it SEEMS to vary from one party to the next. Hans, Hook, Smee, Snow White's Witch, Queen of Hearts are the ones that I've seen or heard about so far. Any others that anyone knows about?

I’ve also seen pictures posted of the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John, but have never seen them listed on the app (I’ve been watching on OBB nights too!)

 

[Mrjoshua]

So far, tonight shows Mickey, Prince John, Sheriff of Nottingham, Hans, and Snow White's Witch. Mickey is the biggest surprise of the group... Especially since he's also across the park with the Kingdom gang.

 

[merfsko]

Follow Up Question on characters at Carthay Circle... what have their lines been like? I know they rotate out, but I would still really like to try to meet Hans.

 

[durantigger]

Thank you to all those who are sharing their party reports!
Has anyone met Lotso and can give some feedback on his line? If I meet one character, it'll be him, but my family has very low line tolerance.

We went 10/3. Lotso was in front of TSMM, and we waited less than 10 minutes at about 8:45.

 

[woodys_girl]

We went 10/3. Lotso was in front of TSMM, and we waited less than 10 minutes at about 8:45.

Thank you! I hope I can be so lucky.

 

[Mrjoshua]

Watching the app tonight... So far, I'm only seeing Hans at Carthay Circle. I would imagine that the app has not been properly updated, but who knows.

 

[emchen]

First-person report: I'm staying at the GCH and just tried for OBB tix at 5:00 am in the lobby. The front desk people said they didn't get any tickets this year. (There was also signage, which I didn't see until after I had asked...)

10/07-10/08 Sat - Sunday. This sign was at both GCH and DH front desks. At GCH the concierge behind the desk stated, “…in the past, they would give us a batch every year but didn’t this year for whatever reason. They didn’t tell us why.”

So ditto @Jacchus, only to add, same sign at DLH.

 

[AmishGuy91]

Watching the app tonight... So far, I'm only seeing Hans at Carthay Circle. I would imagine that the app has not been properly updated, but who knows.

Hans, Hag, Hook, and Queen of Hearts have been rotating tonight.

 

[AndrewC]

View attachment 800233
10/07-10/08 Sat - Sunday. This sign was at both GCH and DH front desks. At GCH the concierge behind the desk stated, “…in the past, they would give us a batch every year but didn’t this year for whatever reason. They didn’t tell us why.”

So ditto @Jacchus, only to add, same sign at DLH.

They didn’t get a bucket of tickets this year because they were all sitting on 3rd party reseller sites for $400-$800

I’ve got to believe Disney “oversold” by not canceling the tickets that went out the door during the screw up, which is fine, some legit people got tickets then too and it would have been horrible for them to get them yanked back.

I’m also curious if earlier parties had soul crushing crowds because maybe those initial first parties had the most reseller demand/target and were oversold more.

Tonight’s party felt exactly like ~2019 and 2021. Lines were incredibly manageable. Most wait times were ~5 to ~20 minutes long. RSR was the longest of the night and my party of three waited ~35 minutes. Villains Grove was ~5 min wait at 7:50pm… by the time we exited the grove the line was actually shorter. My friends were able to do four or five treat trails that all were five minute waits or less. Felt incredibly manageable tonight!

Dessert party had a pretty “sad” turnout with maybe 30 tables or something, and I don’t know if they were all full to be honest. I showed up “late” for check in at 9:30 on the dot and there was ONE party in front of me, I feel like other years it was a line.

That said, I noticed two locations of tables, one outside of Little Mermaid and one outside of Sky Cellars… I checked in at Sky Cellars and they found my name instantly and seated me… but I’m curious, are they both the same or is one for plaid groups? (I noticed at least two groups walking around with a plaid tonight). Both locations just had a sign that said “dessert party.”

Absolutely great night and really hope Tuesday is more of the same since I have a fairly large (6 person) group that will be doing the party. I’m also going to test out the “I need one more ticket” deal with the Disneyland Hotel. When I checked in they asked their manager and seemed to indicate there was a possibility, they told me to check back the day before the party (so tomorrow) and ask again because then they’ll know the capacity of the party. I have an extra ticket for a last minute addition to my group… but it was purchased by someone else and given to me when they couldn’t attend. I’m a little worried that ticket is risky… just because that name doesn’t match anyone in our group and it’s a male name when my last minute addition is a woman. Should be fine to go, but I’m super stressed out and if spending ~$180 tomorrow gets me a ticket in her name (or my name), it’s probably worth it as a stress reducer.

 

[twodogs]

We attended the party last night, and these were the lowest crowds I have ever seen at a Disney OBB (or WDW MNSSHP) by a lot. We walked into VG with no line at 9pm, many rides were very short waits (GOTG was only 15 minutes after the first parade but before the second parade). Treat lines were long in some areas early, but we just walked up and watched the character (Ernesto, for example) and didn’t do the the treat trail portion. Later, treat lines were much shorter. The line for the Sanderson Sister’s was about 90 minutes about 7pm. We didn’t do that one. Rides later in the evening were walk-on or about 5 minutes (TSMM, Incredicoaster). Webslingers was down every time we checked; not sure if it came back up or not at some point). MO for food was booking about 30-60 minutes out almost everywhere when we placed our orders at about 5pm, so that is something to watch for (but some of the stands were closed or closed early; some churro stations ran out of water by later in the evening).

They were selling Dessert Party tickets on the spot over by Jumpin’ Jellyfish, so that was not sold out.

We used the PPH entrance and exit, and there as not anyone else there either time (checked in for the party at 5:30pm as we had PHs for the day, so we went back for a rest during the mix-in). We walked out PPH entrance right at 11pm and it was still open. When we hopped from DL to DCA at around 3:30pm to get back to PPH, the lines to get in the gates with a party ticket were about 50 people or more deep. The two gates for day tickets were wide open, so we just used our day tickets to get in, and then got our wrist bands and bags with our party tickets via the PPH entrance at 5:30pm.

I really feel like last night was very low crowds compared to prior parties we have attended. This was a wonderful surprise because I was expecting chaos based on reports of earlier parties this year. No idea why the attendance was so different (there were signs at the entrance saying the party was sold out for the night). The day crowds (we arrived Friday early evening and went to the parks that night, Saturday and Sunday) were absolutely insane (we go this weekend every year, so we know it will be very crowded, and this was a mob scene at times!). G+ sold out both Saturday and Sunday. We did great with all the usual G+ tips and tricks, but it would have been completely miserable otherwise (as evidenced by a lady who was cursing out a stranger for “cutting the line” for MO at Corn Dog Castle…). I would never go this weekend if I was not confident in my G+ game, doing EE and taking a mid day sanity break!

 

[pineapplepalms]

We were also there this past weekend. We are not early morning people so Genie+ sold out before we even got to the parks on Sat/Sun, but that was fine for our plans this time since we were more focused on the Halloween experience than rides. We did the 10/8 OBB and had so much fun! The tips and experiences here really helped us have a great night, so thank you to everyone for sharing.

Things that worked well:
- Watched the first parade from near Little Mermaid (got first row arriving about half hour in advance), got to see the Headless Horseman.
- Went straight to Villains Grove after the parade and had no wait. By the time we came out, the line stretched all the way to the plane near Soarin. We LOVED Villains Grove. We love light/projection experiences like that and go to the Descanso Gardens Enchanted event every year, so it’s right up our alley.
- Did the Judge Doom treat trail right after Villains Grove, and the line was short and he did his full show with the dip. I thought the kids might be scared but they loved it.
- If a treat trail line was really long, we went back to it later (San Fransokyo was super long earlier in the night and very short later on).
- We did the Magic Key stuff and Sid treat trail around 9pm and lines were short.
- We did the last Mickey’s Trick or Treat show of the night and it wasn’t crowded. OB treat trail next door had no wait when we did that right after.

Things that didn’t work well:
- Waited 20+ minutes at the beginning of the party to get into the room selling OBB merch. Turns out I could’ve just bought the spirit jersey from a kiosk with no wait (not sure if they have the pins though, didn’t check). Would much rather have had that time to do Villains Grove a second time.
- Award Wieners had a long line for mobile order pickup around 5:30. Ideally we would’ve gotten dinner earlier, but the kids didn’t want to leave the pool and we got into the park later than anticipated.

We got sooo much candy/snacks. The kids loved the treat trails and the party in general. Would definitely do it again!

 

[EEva]

I know this post is winding down as we get closer to the end of October, but wanted to add a few experiences we had on Thursday, October 12.

Crowds were about what I expected, thanks to this thread. Lots of people, but lines moved fast. Didn't really ride many rides, but times seemed very short on the app.

We were waaay more tired at the end of the night than a normal park night. I believe this is because we sat so little. Either standing/walking in treat trails or walking to the next treat trail. We didn't want to "waste time" resting.

I LOVED Villains Grove! It was unlike anything else I've experienced at Disney. I wish we would have had the stamina to do it again at the end of the night, as it was pretty crowded. The crowds made it hard to get the full effect of the projections on the ground. The music and sound effects add so much.

We never got to see Ernesto de la Cruz. He was MIA every time we tried to see him. He was singing when we joined the line around 6:30, but gone by the time got near the front. And was never back the next three times we swung by. Can anyone who was there on the 12th confirm if they got to see him? I'm curious if he ever came back.

I got a survey about the party. It asked what I would like to see for future years with a lot of options. A Nightmare Before Christmas stage show was listed. How cool would that be?!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I got a survey about the party. It asked what I would like to see for future years with a lot of options. A Nightmare Before Christmas stage show was listed. How cool would that be?!

That would be my dream come true!

Glad you had fun though it’s a bummer about Ernesto. He was so cool and we were able to see him twice last month.

 

[jessishante]

We also went on 10/12 and had an amazing time. My kids are more focused on rides and trick or treating so we spent the night trying to ride everything multiple times.

We did try to make it over to the Incredicoaster during the first parade. Since this was our first time at DCA we got a little lost and ended up stumbling right into Villian’s Grove where there was absolutely no wait.

We also missed Ernesto and could see agitated people waiting in line every time we passed his spot.

The night was a complete success with us filling a giant backpack with candy, riding every ride at least once, and riding the Incredicoaster 4 times.

Wish we could go back again next year but we live on the east coast and it’s always been more affordable to go to MNSSHP at Magic Kingdom instead.

I will also add that we managed to get brunch reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen and we did really enjoy the food and the entire atmosphere.

 

[wabbott]

We also went on 10/12 and had an amazing time. My kids are more focused on rides and trick or treating so we spent the night trying to ride everything multiple times.

We did try to make it over to the Incredicoaster during the first parade. Since this was our first time at DCA we got a little lost and ended up stumbling right into Villian’s Grove where there was absolutely no wait.

We also missed Ernesto and could see agitated people waiting in line every time we passed his spot.

The night was a complete success with us filling a giant backpack with candy, riding every ride at least once, and riding the Incredicoaster 4 times.

Wish we could go back again next year but we live on the east coast and it’s always been more affordable to go to MNSSHP at Magic Kingdom instead.

I will also add that we managed to get brunch reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen and we did really enjoy the food and the entire atmosphere.

Is not the Incredicoaster the best ride on Planet Earth? The only thing that could make it better was if the music was Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride.

 

[AndrewC]

I got a survey about the party. It asked what I would like to see for future years with a lot of options. A Nightmare Before Christmas stage show was listed. How cool would that be?!

Any section in regards to how much of an S show this year was for their ticket sales?

I would love for them to go very extreme and tickets don’t show up in the app until 8am day of the event or something. That might help cut down the accessibility of resales if they can’t access the tickets to transfer until the day of… but honestly if people were paying $800+ per ticket, they probably would risk planning a trip and getting their secondary market tickets just a few hours before the event.

Something needs done, that’s for sure. I was also astonished to see “big names” like StubHub and stuff listing them. Shameful and those big name guys should ban anyone selling above face value, but of course that would kill their business. They’re not really for people that have to cancel an event, they’re for resellers.

 

[AndrewC]

Is not the Incredicoaster the best ride on Planet Earth? The only thing that could make it better was if the music was Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride.

Surprisingly it was down a lot in the last 5 or so days. Actually a lot of stuff was. Indy went down a number of times over the last week for 2+ hours each time. RSR was also down multiple times and both the coaster and guardians also were down at the same time.

It certainly felt weird compared to 2019 or before, and maybe even compared to 2021. Maybe deferred “serious” maintenance is catching up to them?

I also noticed both with Indy and RSR that after it came back up, within 30 or 45 minutes they went back down again for another hour or so…

 

[jessishante]

Is not the Incredicoaster the best ride on Planet Earth? The only thing that could make it better was if the music was Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride.

It is! We made sure to ride it twice during the day and twice at night and loved it every single time!

 

[jessishante]

Surprisingly it was down a lot in the last 5 or so days. Actually a lot of stuff was. Indy went down a number of times over the last week for 2+ hours each time. RSR was also down multiple times and both the coaster and guardians also were down at the same time.

It certainly felt weird compared to 2019 or before, and maybe even compared to 2021. Maybe deferred “serious” maintenance is catching up to them?

I also noticed both with Indy and RSR that after it came back up, within 30 or 45 minutes they went back down again for another hour or so…

I think we lucked out. We didn’t notice that it was down and the line was always short when we went.

However, I did notice that a few rides went down Monday when we were at Disneyland. Indiana was down most of the day and we finally got to get on around 4. The runaway railway was down a good chunk of the morning too. Our 2nd genie+ selection for the day was for the Matterhorn and it went down as well so we got to ride the Haunted Mansion twice with the multi-experience pass we got because of the issues with the Matterhorn and it let me book another slot with genie.