How crowded is a sold-out Halloween Party going to be?

ZoZo

ZoZo

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
So it looks like the Halloween parties are all sold out. How crowded are they likely to be? I'm interested mostly in ride lines, but am also interested in finding out how early we'd have to stake out a spot for the parade and fireworks.

I'm used to the WDW Halloween parties, some of which are crowded, but some of which aren't (rides virtually walk-ons).

TIA!
 
I went to the first MHP of the year, which was a sold out party. It was crowded, but it didn't feel that bad to me (the next day - Saturday - felt more crowded in the park). PtN was definitely less busy during MHP than on the surrounding nights. I saw curb spots still available on the Town Square end of Main Street about 30 minutes before the parade started. Truthfully I think it's because there are a good number of guests who aren't going to spend MHP time waiting for a parade they can see on a non-MHP night.

Fireworks is more of a mixed bag because of PtN. PtN runs right before fireworks, so you have to wait for PtN to pass by your viewing spot before you can get to your spot (unless you're aiming for a non-parade viewing location).

In terms of the attractions, most had fairly short lines during MHP except HMH, SMGG, and PP.
 
This will be the fifth year in a row that we attend a sold-out Mickey's Halloween Party. Our longest waits are typically on the more popular rides like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy, Matterhorn, Haunted Mansion. But even then, they are usually only about 10-20 minute waits. Note: If you wait to ride Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy until the latter part of the night, the lines will be much shorter because many people leave around 10:30 or so.

We don't stake out spots for the parade or fireworks so I'm not much help there.

Have a great time!
 
figment_jii said:
I went to the first MHP of the year, which was a sold out party. It was crowded, but it didn't feel that bad to me (the next day - Saturday - felt more crowded in the park). PtN was definitely less busy during MHP than on the surrounding nights. I saw curb spots still available on the Town Square end of Main Street about 30 minutes before the parade started. Truthfully I think it's because there are a good number of guests who aren't going to spend MHP time waiting for a parade they can see on a non-MHP night.

Fireworks is more of a mixed bag because of PtN. PtN runs right before fireworks, so you have to wait for PtN to pass by your viewing spot before you can get to your spot (unless you're aiming for a non-parade viewing location).

In terms of the attractions, most had fairly short lines during MHP except HMH, SMGG, and PP.
Click to expand...

Every time I think I got the acronyms down I read a post like this and feel like a total Disney rookie.
 


Thank you for the feedback! This really helps my strategy.
 
PAcpl said:
Every time I think I got the acronyms down I read a post like this and feel like a total Disney rookie.
Click to expand...
MHP = Mickey's Halloween Party
HMH = Haunted Mansion Holiday
SMGG = Space Mountain Ghost Galasy
PP = Peter Pan
PtN = Paint the Night
 
How long are the lines usually for HMH and SMGG after the parade? I am trying to see what all we can fit in that night :)
 


Line rides will not be long, except for the ones mentioned. Last night the few rides I did walk by were very empty. Character lines vary, most will be longer at the beginning but die off later, especially after fireworks, with the villains being the exception and consistently staying around an hour. Last night the hub and as far as I could see in both directions, was pretty full for Paint by 715. We ended up about 5 rows of people back on the outer ring of the hub near tomorrow land at this time but it was pretty decent for FW as well....still, over an hour for 5 rows back is crazy for an exclusive party. At this time the entire front of the hub facing castle, even on the non parade side, was completely full. Walkways felt decently crowded as well...
 
If you're mostly interested in rides and not characters, then I think you'll do fine. The only really long ride line when we were there on a sold out party night was Haunted Mansion which was 20-35 min. All other rides seemed to be under 20, with some being walkons (Splash, Pooh). To me, it FELT really crowded just because the walkways are so crowded. I think so many people are walking around going to trick or treating and characters that it felt like it was hard to move anywhere in the crowds. Walking from ride to ride will slow you down more than actually waiting in lines for the rides. Lines for some of the characters were ridiculous, in my opinion, for a hard ticketed event.

I liked the idea that somebody mentioned in another thread of putting trick or treat lines in some of the ride lines or at the end of a ride... to get a few more people off the sidewalks and into the rides, to spread out the crowds a bit! :)
 
riostoker said:
If you're mostly interested in rides and not characters, then I think you'll do fine. The only really long ride line when we were there on a sold out party night was Haunted Mansion which was 20-35 min. All other rides seemed to be under 20, with some being walkons (Splash, Pooh). To me, it FELT really crowded just because the walkways are so crowded. I think so many people are walking around going to trick or treating and characters that it felt like it was hard to move anywhere in the crowds. Walking from ride to ride will slow you down more than actually waiting in lines for the rides. Lines for some of the characters were ridiculous, in my opinion, for a hard ticketed event.

I liked the idea that somebody mentioned in another thread of putting trick or treat lines in some of the ride lines or at the end of a ride... to get a few more people off the sidewalks and into the rides, to spread out the crowds a bit! :)
Click to expand...

That's a relief! We're not interested in characters, so it sounds like we'll be fine. 16 days and counting!! :yay:
 
Another option is to watch the wait times in the Disneyland App during the next few MHP. There is a party on Wed (starts at 6:00 pm), Fri (starts at 7:00 pm) and next Monday. THat might also give you a sense of the range of wait times you might see.
 
It depends on what day you are going to a sold out MHP. If it's on a weekday (Monday or Wednesday) it won't be as crouded after the fierworks. Sme people leave becasue of they have to go to work or school the next day. I myself stay untill the very end of the party
 
So I previously said it was crowded, and it was, with most of the route pretty full over an hour before the parade during the party, but I went in last night, on a non party night, and wow, it was worse than the party two hours out from the parade. At 7 town square, Main Street and the hub were full...sure, they might condense down a bit and queen more people in closer to the parade but I was shocked! It seems like the decreased availability of normal nights due to the parties have made non party nights more crowded.
 
That kind of fits with what I saw for the first weekend with MHP. I think PtN was less busy on the first MHP night than on the night you went (I saw curb spots still available in Town Square about 30 minutes before the parade started), but the Thursday and Saturday night crowds were markedly busier. So it's an interesting conundrum...it sounds like seeing PtN during MHP is the best chance to see it with a minimal wait, but it still means giving up a fair amount of party time to see a parade that you could see on a non-party night.
 
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