Oversold parties . Thoughts on trying again

[Alison S]

We went on a Tuesday in November last year. It was supposedly one of the least busy parties of the year. It was still absolutely busy (much busier than the park had been during the day). More popular rides had 20-40 minute waits (SDMT, PP, BTMR). I'm sure lots of other rides were walk on.

If we go again this year, I'd also choose a Tuesday. Then I would choose a few of the less popular rides to wait for around the parade & fireworks times. We wasted a lot of time in line for the rides my DS wanted to go on (he was happy, so I guess it wasn't really a waste!).

 

[SillySallySews]

Almost every MNSSHP I’ve been to has been sold out but we’ve always had a great time. Nothing was really a walk on, but 10-15 minutes was about as long as we waited for any ride except PP and SDMT. We waited in longer lines for candy than some rides. We always go on a Sunday or Tuesday. If someone wants a true empty feeling park and walk on experience, I’d pay for the after hours or early morning events instead of a holiday party.

 

[Kingoglow]

I am also a Halloween baby; cheers to you!
Don't let a crowd at MK ruin your celebration. It is always crowded at MK. MNSSHPs are less so.

Go and enjoy yourself.

 

[L_MD]

I hope you get a non-crowded party, but I went last year on a Thursday (October 25 I think) and it was pretty darn crowded. No rides were walk-ons and there were some areas that were close to scary impassable with just huge mobs of people. It was so hard to get from Point A to Point B that I ended up not doing a lot of what I wanted to do. I had fun with what I was able to do, but for me I won't be attending a Halloween Party again.

If you DO go, just be aware and lower your expectations. You'll still have fun, but don't go in thinking you'll be able to do everything.

 

[JH50]

As far as expectations for ride times go, I think it's important to keep in mind that ride times can still be high, even if crowds are low, if they aren't running the rides at maximum capacity. I saw a Touring Plans video on this for general park operations a while back.

 

[monkyby87]

The After Hours events, like the Villains and regular DAH, are marketed pretty heavily on there being low wait times. That's really the main draw of those. The parties like MNSHHP and MVMCP are NOT marketed towards low wait times. The real purpose of those is to experience special holiday theming in the parks. That's really what you are paying for. Low wait times used to be a big draw and a bit of an unadvertised perk, but that hasn't been the case for a while now. If you go to those parties for the decorations and theming, you can have a good time. But if you go just wanting low wait times, it would be a waste of money.

 

[Christine]

I'm going to my first-ever "party" and from reading these boards, sound like it will be a mob scene. I'm doing the 11/8 MVMCP (Friday night, first party of the season). It's my only option and the rest of the large group I'm with really wanted to do it. Uuugggghhhh.

 

[BingoJoe]

We did the Halloween party last year and it just wasn't worth the ticket price, no point going on any rides because of massive queues so it was just the parades and fireworks. They were good but not worth the price more than once.

 

[Disneylover99]

Did After Hours Villians and it was fantastic! Wonderfully empty park with walk on rides. Did Mickeys Christmas Party last year and it was jammed packed . No rides were walk on and lines for cookies and drinks were huge. Not impressed with that party way too crowded. Halloween is my birthday and thinking of giving it one more shot . Mid October Halloween party Friday night. Are the big parties always that packed?

If you weren’t impressed with the crowds at the Christmas party, you probably won’t enjoy a Friday night Halloween party in mid October. I recommend you skip it.

 

[ashmac8]

Yep. We did mvmcp on a Tuesday in Nov in 2017. Never again. We did all the research and had a general plan. Met Moana, saw the parade and fireworks, maybe 2 rides. It was a mob scene. Eggnog line moved fast but was about 200 people deep.

For the price tag, it just wasn’t worth it for us.

I’m honestly a party hater at this point because they schedule them 4 days/ week, so good luck seeing happily ever after on one of the non party days in a literal sea of humanity.

Think I need to re-think the time of year we go.

I sound like such a Scrooge!

Bah!

im with you on this. Did our first party ever the week after thanksgiving 2017. I was stunned how packed it was. As a result we are not even bothering with the halloween party when we are in disney next month.

 

[Wdwfan2016]

I did 2 Halloween parties in 2018. Both nights the party was busier than the Magic Kingdom was during the normal day. Lines for the popular rides averaged 45 min and up and character lines were out of control. An example of how busy it was we wanted a photopass picture on mains street between the pumpkins and at 12:30 AM (30 mins after the party ended) the line took us 35 minutes to get through.

 

[Shula]

I'm considering doing the Halloween party on September 2 when we are there. Any idea how the crowds might be for the Halloween party that early in the season?

I'll be there with my hubby and adult daughter. We will make the best of whatever situation we get. I have always wanted to go but we've never been there during Halloween season. I'm taking advantage of the timing in case we never get back. We're dropping my daughter off the next day for DCP so it's kind of our last hoorah with her for several months.
I'm mostly excited to dress up, which I never do for Halloween. We're skipping the meet and greets after hearing about those waits, probably skip trick or treating unless we see a rare short line then concentrate on the parade, fireworks and ride overlays.

 

[wendlle]

We attend in September and over the years have seen the parks go from being fairly quiet to packed.
The parties are no different. We never waited more than 15 mins for a ride but the character lines could be over 2 hours long and the first parade is like a zoo.

 

[missnic]

We attend in September and over the years have seen the parks go from being fairly quiet to packed.
The parties are no different. We never waited more than 15 mins for a ride but the character lines could be over 2 hours long and the first parade is like a zoo.

This. We've been going to Halloween parties for several years, usually always the first weekend in October. There was one year when there were almost no lines to meet the villains when they came off the stage. It was awesome. Then each year they got more and more packed, to the point where last year's party was busier than I have EVER seen the MK. Even outside the hub was shoulder to shoulder people. Unless this year's reviews see the crowd levels drop a bit, I think that was our last party. It's a shame because we LOVED it.

 

[wendlle]

We attend in September and over the years have seen the parks go from being fairly quiet to packed.
The parties are no different. We never waited more than 15 mins for a ride but the character lines could be over 2 hours long and the first parade is like a zoo.

We thought 2017 would be our last party, but decided to give it one more shot this year. Our eldest DD is 3.5 and really wants to go, because we're from Australia we don't have a "proper" Halloween so she's keen as to do it.

 

[TinkSassy]

I loved the MNSSHP the first time I went as it was fairly easy to do the party items and catch a few rides in between. Over the last 2 years I have done that again and MVMCP as well and I will think hard about doing the parties again - unless I hear WDW starts limiting the tickets down again. I have done EMM and loved that as the numbers were about right and want to try After Hours sometime. But the parties have lost something.

If you want to go for the parade, fireworks, stage show (don't miss this for Halloween if you go!), a few treats and maybe time for one character meet - then go (as they are spectacular parades and fireworks) but adjust the expectations the crowds are HEAVY

 

[stinkpickle]

It's no longer safe to expect low crowds and/or wait times during MNSSHP or MVMCP.

 

[SL6827]

I have always wanted to see the Christmas parade at Disney and I know that in order for me to do so I will have to attend a party. I will do that one day and the parade will be the main draw for myself. Hate to pay those prices but will do at least once for the parade.

 

[Llama mama]

Thank you everyone. I am going to pass on the Halloween party. I appreciate everyone’s thoughts .

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Did After Hours Villians and it was fantastic! Wonderfully empty park with walk on rides. Did Mickeys Christmas Party last year and it was jammed packed . No rides were walk on and lines for cookies and drinks were huge. Not impressed with that party way too crowded. Halloween is my birthday and thinking of giving it one more shot . Mid October Halloween party Friday night. Are the big parties always that packed?

We went on Halloween last year, and yes, it was busy. We had a blast! Did everything we wanted, saw the shows and got lots of candy as well as magic shots. Had 2 little ones with us, too. You can get in at 4, so you can fp a few rides up to starting time. We had SM from 3:20 - 4:20, 7DMT 4:20 to 5:20 and I forget the other one, I think BTMRR from 5:20-6:20. Jumped on Pirates and then dinner at 6:10 (Skippers) the party before this one. On this one, because we had the kids, we did a lot of autographs, but got rides in, too. Was not nearly as bad as we thought. Closed out the night at 12 am with the Hocus Pocus show, right in front of the castle.