crowds at MNSSHP - comparison to MVMCP?

[kermit116]

How bad are crowds at MNSSHP? Considering the (average) crowds, is the event is worthwhile for a group of adult hardcore Disney fans?

Since we're all adults, we probably won't be all that interested in the candy stations. What are are interested in are the following:

1. Interaction with Disney characters you don't normally see (like Maleficent & the Evil Queen)
2. Ability to get on rides more quickly than average
3. Halloween parade
4. Special fireworks

The only reason I ask is that we attended MVMCP this past December, and I was disappointed by the crowds! It was my understanding that since this was a hard ticket event, part of the "selling point" was that the ticket sales would be more limited and the crowds would be less. The night we went turned out to be a sold out night (it was also the night after the Xmas parade taping, so I'm guessing crowds were up for that).

I had (foolishly) waited to ride some rides until that night thinking most lines would be on average 15-20 minutes. Oh how wrong I was. At 10:45pm, the line for Peter Pan was at least 50 minutes, all of Fantasyland was packed shoulder-to-shoulder, Space Mountain was a 35 minute wait, and the Haunted Mansion was also about a 35 minute wait. I'm sure part of the bottlenecking can be attributed to the Fantasyland expansion, but the crowds at MVMCP were the worst we had during our entire trip!

While the parade was nice, and the fireworks were pretty, I was disappointed by the lack of character interaction. We only saw a few characters posted near Toon Town, and the line was at least 30 people long at 9pm. Also, there weren't really any additional decorations beyond Main Street, so it really didn't have as much of a holiday feel.

Overall, I didn't think MVMCP was worth the money, mostly because of the frustration of the crowds, but also because the some of the purported "extras" were a bit disappointing. Perhaps we just were at MVMCP on a bad night, but if we had a similar experience at MNSSHP I'd be disappointed.

I'm a huge Disney fan, and I of course I enjoyed my trip overall, so I hope I won't come across as too picky because the criticisms here. I'm definitely not someone who would allow one mediocre experience to ruin my entire trip. Basically, I'm just looking for an honest assessment of crowds, especially from those who have attended both parties. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney was selling more tickets to hard ticket events to make more money in the bad economy.

 

[threvester]

It really depends on when you go..Sept parties are a lot less crowded than parties closer to Halloween..We have been the last 3 Septembers and there was literally no wait for almost anything except for a few rides in Fantasyland..dont really know how good the parades are because that is the BEST time to hit the rides..Hope this helps a little

 

[kermit116]

It really depends on when you go..Sept parties are a lot less crowded than parties closer to Halloween..We have been the last 3 Septembers and there was literally no wait for almost anything except for a few rides in Fantasyland..dont really know how good the parades are because that is the BEST time to hit the rides..Hope this helps a little

That is helpful because we are still trying to decide on dates for our trip - thank you.

 

[figment_jii]

We've been to MNSSHP a couple of different times. In all cases (we were there usually the last week of September or the first two weeks of October) and the parites were not sold out, and the crowds seemed fairly manageable.

At the start of the party the lines are longer for the rides and trick or treat stations, but as the night wears on, both lines decrease. By the end of the evening, many of the rides were near walk-on (including Peter Pan), but my guess is it varies from party to party. We went to MVMCP and it did seem much more crowded.

As for the shows, parades, and fireworks, those were our favorite part of the party. The Boo-To-You Parade was a lot of fun to watch. We usually watched it both times it runs during the party. As long as the weather has been dry, the Headless Horseman rides just before the parade starts.

HalloWishes is my favorite fireworks show at WDW. It's really good and well worth watching.

For reference, we went to WDW this Christmas and went to one MVMCP. It was fun, but not enough to want to go back for second party in that same trip. On the other hand, we generally go to two MNSSHP during our trips.

 

[Chellymouse]

DH and I are also die-hards and we wound up going to MNSSHP 3 times this past trip! Absolutely amazing! (and we did wind up doing a little trick or treating too) Rides were walk-on and the parade and fireworks are the best we've ever seen down there. Meeting the Villians is a bit of a challenge and takes a little planning, but we did manage to meet all 7 villians. Also got to see the Evil Queen from Snow White as the old hag, met all 7 dwarfs and all of the "normal" characters had their Halloween costumes on. Overall, we loved it and will certainly be going back! Oh, we were there 10/14-10/23

 

[baler31]

The parties of Halloween week are more like what you experienced for MVMCP. We go every year for MNSSHP and I will say this was the most crowded year we have been. We have been during all times and it is a trade off. Late Sept and Early Oct. will have far fewer crowds but the heat can be unbearable, especially if you are doing costumes. Late Oct. is usually great for weather but the crowds are significantly higher.

We went to two parties the week of Halloween one was sold out the other was not. The parties were still quite frankly "packed" Our main focus is on meeting characters and the lines for all of those were very long. We did manage to meet all of the villians, Dwafs and other special or costumed characters. We saw the parade and fireworks at each. You need a plan of what you want to do and even then I must say this year was a bit frustrating.

The best part is the characters that you so rarely see, we love meeting the character and this is a much better party for that than MVMCP. Hallowishes and the parade IMO are also better. If you stick with the earlier parties you will be much happier just be prepared for much hotter weather.