We attended the rainfest on the 14th (and no, I don't blame Disney for the rain) and while we had an okay time, it wasn't what I expected, or had experienced last year (we were there on 9/15 when it also rained-but not as much) I was very disappointed in Disney's handling of the rain delays, and cancellations. The skies opened up before the first parade and I knew there wasn't any way they would be running it. And they didn't (I don't blame them-it was torential at that time.)
We ended up under a roofed area in AL for about 45 min, or longer, while the majority of the storm went through. We finally decided to make a break for it and did stumble across the face painting in AL. There wasn't anyone in line, so my DD8, DSis, and myself had ours done. Then we headed over towards HM. Well, that area was so packed that there was no way we were going to wait in that line while getting rained on. We headed over to FL, and noticed SW didn't have much of a line. The CM at the entrance said that the ride was down, and he didn't know when it would be up. We decided to wait anyway (under cover) and it started just as we got in line. That was our first ride of the night.
As we left SW, we headed over to Cinderella's carriage to see if they were taking PP yet. Nope, even though it wasn't raining at the time, and the CM there couldn't understand why he wasn't given the "go ahead" yet, they weren't taking any. We waited in line with about 20 other families (just in case) and while waiting, the time for the fireworks came. As it had started to sprinkle again, they announced that the fireworks would be delayed (This was the ONLY announcement we heard all evening). After about 15-20 min. waiting we decided to move on and see if we could, at least, get some candy.
We headed over to TT to visit the Treat Trail (I really wanted to see some unique characters) but when we arrived at TT it really started coming down again and there were no characters there. It was then that I saw Disney management taking away "the cards" costumes from the CM (I guess they didn't want them to get ruined) and leave the CMs out in the pouring rain handing out wet candy (If they had provided umbrellas for the CM, the costumes and the candy would have stayed realitively dry.) As we exited the (limited) treat trail, the Grim Grinning Ghost fireworks started! Without an announcment of any kind! We wanted to be near the castle so we could fully enjoy them but there was no way we were going to be able to get there before they ended. We ended up standing under the rocket in TL (that shoots out moisture every few mins.) while watching the FW and trying to stay as dry as possible. The FW were a HUGE disappoint that night and when I was talking to a CM a few days later who worked MNSSHP she mentioned that they didn't even shoot off the periffials (sp?). I thought they seemed less impressive.
Then we headed to Buzz to ride. Luckily the line was short. However, while on the ride it broke down and we sat in the same spot for about 15 min., or so. When we exited Buzz, my DSis (she didn't ride) was sitting by the stroller area and said she was waiting for security to arrive because she had witnessed someone stealing a stroller (they actually took out someone's backpack from the stroller and then took the non-Disney stroller!). DD and I headed over to a nearby candy stop and got a PP taken with Goofy (only 1 of 2 the entire night). When we returned, DSis was still waiting and my DM told me that she asked a CM when the parade was going to go and she said it was going right now. So DD and I hurried over to Main St. and saw the last part of the parade. We missed the start (I don't even know if Headless was there), the pirates, and the grave diggers.
By now, we were ready to head out, but DSis was still waiting for security to show up (She waited over an hour). DD was looking a little disappointed, so the 2 of us headed over to get a treat (rootbeer floats at Aunt Gravaties-2 snack credits), stopped at a candy spot (twice) and then we headed over towards the castle since I wanted to get some PP taken with the castle behind us. We were able to do this. (That made a grand total of 2 PP for the night). As we passed the castle, the Villains thingy was going on, but we needed to meet up with the rest of my family, who were now waiting for Security to talk to them at Guest Relations.
When we got there (about 30 min. after they arrived) they were still waiting in line. My DM was waiting outside and showed me the card they had been handing out about getting a free one day admission, within a year, to MK. She also mentioned that they were quite a few people in Guest Relations, asking for, and receiving full refunds.
I really debated about whether we should do this or not, but I was outvoted by the other members in my family. Since we weren't sure if we were going to be back within the one year deadline, and since we really get to do the things we expected to do, we got a refund. My DM had paid for 3 of the tix, and I had paid for DD and myself.
After DSis finished with Security we headed out. This year there wasn't a Snickers Trough where you helped yourself, but there was a Kissables station in the front with CM handing out a bag each. I did ask for an additional bag (I love Kissables) but the CM said only one per guest.
This surprised me after the disppointing night we just had.
I delayed posting about our experiences, that night, since I didn't want to subject myself to any flames. I still love Disney, but after 2 years of rainy MNSSHP, we won't be going back. I agreed to ask for a refund since there were several things I wanted to do that night, and weren't able to do. They were:
Ride rides-only rode 2 and one broke down while we were on it.
Watch GGG fireworks-Since Disney failed to make an announcment that the fireworks would be starting, we weren't able to watch the fw from a good viewing area.
See the Headless Horseman and the Boo to You parade.-we only were able to see part of it, again since Disney failed to make an announcement of it starting.
Get as many PP taken as possible (I'm in a CD sharing group) only got 2. They were the only 2 I saw all night.
Get lots of candy-we did get a fair amout of candy (5 trick or treaters) however, the selection wasn't as good as last year and about 1/2 of the candy was too wet too eat.
It was because of the reasons mentioned above, and Disney's failure to let us know the revised schedules, that I asked for a refund. They gave it willingly, by the way.
Please, don't flame me, as this was my experience. Yours may have been different. Oh, and by the way, my DSis spent at least 1 1/2 hrs. reporting the stolen stroller. For this they gave us 3 group FP
for the next day to use at Epcot. Since Epcot wasn't busy, we only ended up using 2.