1st scheduled MNSSHP Fiasco

[Tbella]

I am so excited over the early start of MNSSHP as we will be in Disney at that time.
However, I am a bit anxious about attending the first party on Sept. 2nd, which is the only party available the week we are there. I have read that the first MNSSHP last year was a fiasco because it was understaffed and disorganized. Do you think Disney learns from their mistakes and will make sure that this years 1st party goes smoothly?

 

[KaSe]

They've been doing this for so many years, you'd think they'd have it running as precise as a Swiss watch by now regardless of the date. Was there a reason for the issues last year? Did they end up with a record number of people on the first night or something?

 

[JimmyV]

Do you think Disney learns from their mistakes and will make sure that this years 1st party goes smoothly?

Recently, I think that Disney expects guests to learn from past experiences and adjust their expectations accordingly. So if you choose to go on the first night, expect madness but hope for improvement.

 

[JJZMgailey]

I always feel like so much of that is subjective because some folks might *think* that an event is understaffed and/or disorganized, but that's really just their opinion and not necessarily what's really going on. When I think about everything they're dealing with at the same time like day Guests needing to exit the Park, Guests arriving for the Party needing to get their bracelets, etc., it's a lot. One thing I've learned over the years is that they're experts with crowd control.

I bet that first party will be a real busy one with people still on their summer vacations trying to attend. So many schools throughout the country don't start back up until after Labor Day.

 

[Tbella]

They've been doing this for so many years, you'd think they'd have it running as precise as a Swiss watch by now regardless of the date. Was there a reason for the issues last year? Did they end up with a record number of people on the first night or something?

I'm not quite sure but would love to hear the experiences of party goers who were there and thoughts about what went wrong.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

The first party last year was a mess. I've been to probably 10+ Christmas and Halloween parties and I don't know why, but it was awful.

There was no announcement over the loud speaker that the party was starting and people needed to get out.

The party ended up selling out sometime that day.

There were so many people without wristbands I couldn't have counted them if I'd wanted. No, this is not a case of 'I was waiting for the parade and I saw a family without bands'. I first noticed all the people without bands while waiting for our first character. It was very easy to notice, we're talking short sleeve shirts so no way were the bands hiding. After noticing that I made a point to look the rest of the night and it was very obvious droves of people did not have bands. Before you accuse me of not being able to recognize sold out party crowds, I've been to at least 5 sold out parties, even the day after Halloween the same year and the crowds were no where near these levels.

If that isn't proof enough that something out of the ordinary happened, when I returned home I called guest services to complain. As soon as they heard I'd attended the first party, before I even said another word they offered to refund my tickets and admitted that the first party had been out of control.

I don't have an explanation for why this happened. There wasn't any historical precedence with any other first parties. Most likely it won't happen again. But who really knows.

 

[Tbella]

Thanks for the explanation OhioStateBuckeye. It's obvious from the guest service reply to you that Disney new they goofed up so fingers crossed this first party will go smoother.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Typically the first parties of the year have some confusion because of relocations of meet n greets. Staff just doesn't seem to know what's going on at the early parties. I remember 2 years ago we attended the 2nd party and there was definitely still a learning curve as to where the characters were. I spent a very long time looking for the old hag for example. I went to where she was for the first party and she wasn't there. Asked several cast members and they had no idea. After about an hour of asking, found out she had been moved to the dance party at the Diamond Horseshoe. It was very frustrating.

I'm sure it will be fine just mentally prepare for some frustration.

 

[JimmyV]

I always feel like so much of that is subjective because some folks might *think* that an event is understaffed and/or disorganized, but that's really just their opinion and not necessarily what's really going on.

While that is likely true for many things, the reports from last year's opening night party were so consistent that it is difficult to write them off as subjective misinterpretations. See OhioStateBuckey's report above. That is just one of a long list of posts saying the same thing.

I bet that first party will be a real busy one with people still on their summer vacations trying to attend. So many schools throughout the country don't start back up until after Labor Day.

Given that this is a capped hard ticket event, there is no reason why the first night should be any different than any other sold out night. The reasons that you posit are all good reasons why the first night party should be sold out. But they offer no explanation as to why the first night should be more crowded or disorganized than any other sold out night.

 

[michelepa]

I am concerned about the same issue. We are going to the first party this year and I've read that the first party last year was a disaster due to overcrowding.

It is clear from all the reports that Disney did not have crowd control well in hand that first party night. In fact, many DISers have posted that there appeared to be no CM's sweeping the park to get rid of the crowds that did no have special wrist bands. Reports noted that not many people were leaving voluntarily and this caused all kinds of issues leading to Disney refunding many MNNSHP guests their party ticket fee. These were not subjective complaints but a true issue that Disney acknowledged and addressed with refunds. I'm already concerned about Sept 2nd., especially with all these posters stating they were able to make late dinning ressies with no party ticket ~ is this the beginning of another perfect storm?

Question still is ~will it be any different this year? Why was it like that last year? It's not like the party is new. CM's should be well versed in sweeping the parks so what was the problem?

My hope is that since Disney is a business and doesn't like to give these refunds that the bottom dollar problem will led them to be more vigilant this first party and non party guests will be removed asap. I don't think it will be any busier than the other parties especially because in general the parks are less crowded that time of year because many schools are already back in session~that's why I choose to go down at that time of year with my kids who don't start back until after labor day no matter when labor is.

Good luck to us first party people!

 

[Disney Dynamite]

Here is a link to the thread from last year where a bunch of people share their experiences with the first party - http://disboards.com/threads/mnsshp-2015-be-prepared-for-chaos.3447861/

I was at the first party last year, and it was easily the worst experience I've ever had in Disney. I agree wholeheartedly with Webmaster Jackie, Disney is phenomenal with crowd control, so I don't know what the heck happened that night. It was nuts! There were so many people without wristbands. As OhioStateBuckeye mentioned, everyone was still in short sleeve shirts, so the wristbands weren't tucked under sleeves and hiding. No announcements were made, and I think we were checked for wristbands exactly one time. At the parade, we were surrounded by a group of people who were bragging they were allowed to stay at the party even without tickets.

We complained to Guest Services, and they offered us a one-day park hopper ticket for every Halloween ticket we'd purchased. They acknowledged that a lot of people had complained about the first party.

 

[KaSe]

The first party last year was a mess. I've been to probably 10+ Christmas and Halloween parties and I don't know why, but it was awful.

There was no announcement over the loud speaker that the party was starting and people needed to get out.

The party ended up selling out sometime that day.

There were so many people without wristbands I couldn't have counted them if I'd wanted. No, this is not a case of 'I was waiting for the parade and I saw a family without bands'. I first noticed all the people without bands while waiting for our first character. It was very easy to notice, we're talking short sleeve shirts so no way were the bands hiding. After noticing that I made a point to look the rest of the night and it was very obvious droves of people did not have bands. Before you accuse me of not being able to recognize sold out party crowds, I've been to at least 5 sold out parties, even the day after Halloween the same year and the crowds were no where near these levels.

If that isn't proof enough that something out of the ordinary happened, when I returned home I called guest services to complain. As soon as they heard I'd attended the first party, before I even said another word they offered to refund my tickets and admitted that the first party had been out of control.

I don't have an explanation for why this happened. There wasn't any historical precedence with any other first parties. Most likely it won't happen again. But who really knows.

Whoa! That sounds insane!!

 

[lovethattink]

I'm not quite sure but would love to hear the experiences of party goers who were there and thoughts about what went wrong.

What went wrong was not clearing out non-party guests. I think it happened due to the popularity of the Sanders Sisters. Non-party guests showed up at the hub for the show. Subsequent parties after that, the cm worked very hard at clearing out the park. For a different party, we had to show our wristbands at least a dozen times after 7pm. Got to the point we lifted our hand ever time we saw a cm, lol.

 

[JJZMgailey]

While that is likely true for many things, the reports from last year's opening night party were so consistent that it is difficult to write them off as subjective misinterpretations. See OhioStateBuckey's report above. That is just one of a long list of posts saying the same thing.

Yup - OhioStateBuckey's post gave lots of insight that I hadn't heard!

 

[CookieGVB]

The first party last year was a mess. I've been to probably 10+ Christmas and Halloween parties and I don't know why, but it was awful.

There was no announcement over the loud speaker that the party was starting and people needed to get out.

The party ended up selling out sometime that day.

There were so many people without wristbands I couldn't have counted them if I'd wanted. No, this is not a case of 'I was waiting for the parade and I saw a family without bands'. I first noticed all the people without bands while waiting for our first character. It was very easy to notice, we're talking short sleeve shirts so no way were the bands hiding. After noticing that I made a point to look the rest of the night and it was very obvious droves of people did not have bands. Before you accuse me of not being able to recognize sold out party crowds, I've been to at least 5 sold out parties, even the day after Halloween the same year and the crowds were no where near these levels.

If that isn't proof enough that something out of the ordinary happened, when I returned home I called guest services to complain. As soon as they heard I'd attended the first party, before I even said another word they offered to refund my tickets and admitted that the first party had been out of control.

I don't have an explanation for why this happened. There wasn't any historical precedence with any other first parties. Most likely it won't happen again. But who really knows.

Didn't they also invite a ton of media to the first party, so they could run out and type up rave reviews? I think that added to the mayhem as well.

 

[disney world dreamer]

my sister and i are going to the first party and honestly i'm not that concerned.
i've never been to a MNSSHP before so i have no prior experiences with it but we figure we'll just roll with the punches and still have a good time.

 

[TChrist05]

It is not always the first party that can be out of control. Two years ago we went to MVMCP in the beginning of December. We could see the party was crazy from the beginning. My DW is in a wheelchair so sometimes it is very difficult to get around when it is crowded. To say the least we could not get into a handicapped spot for the parade and it was just a tough night. Finally giving up we decided to head back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge around 10:00. Went to the bus and needed to wait on line to get back to AKL. Problem there is that the buses will on take 2 wheelchairs or scooters. We finally got to the Lodge around 11:30 and just felt everything was not manageable. Spoke to guest services the next morning and to my surprise the manager stated their had been many problems and complaints about the party--including the bus service. He then refunded $200. to us for the tickets and for Disney not living up to their standards. Nice touch but the previous night still frustrates us today. We did return for last years party and it was actually a very pleasant night. I guess it can be very hit or miss. We won't be going to this years due to the price increase--just cannot justify spending the money.

 

[lovethattink]

The first party has typically been the one we choose. Even when they fill to capacity they are still fun!

 

[justakrazymom]

We went to MNSSHP in 2012.. mid to late Sept..it was horrible.. people without bands, no one knowing where characters were.. we were so jazzed to go and ti was the biggest bummer.. I emailed guest relations and they didnt hesitate they offered us free ones for the next year when we had ressies.. that one was AMAZING

 

[owynn]

We were at the first MNNSHP party last year, and I thought it was just me thinking it was crazy. This was our first time with a child, and between the heat and the crowds, it was a crazy time. We still had fun, and I didn't know people were getting refunds. We are going back this year, but on Halloween itself. I'm hoping for a calmer time.