I'm so, so sorry you had this horribly disappointing experience!! I would have been livid. My girls were all very into princess everything so I am sure I would have taken them if they were still little (they're 20, 20, and 22). I was reading your post and shaking my head thinking WOW. I can't imagine spending that kind of money for such a lackluster experience when you were hoping for the "something really special" they made it out to be.We did not have a blast. As usual, they oversold the event. There were long lines for all character meet and greets, photo ops, and even the historic princess gown exhibition well past midnight.
The meet and greets were ridiculous… 2 hour plus wait to meet Cinderella. The line stretched all the way from where the princesses normally meet past Rancho De Zocolo. The cast members were so unorganized…. You’d be standing in line and then all of a sudden they’d say “oh this character is going on break…. She’ll be back in 30 minutes.” Instead of how it usually works where they cut the line in advance. Or, like with Rapunzel, they cut the line, tell you to come back in an hour, so we went and got in line for Sofia, who then went on break, and then they decided to open up the Rapunzel line 40 minutes early. We arrived to where Princess Leia was going to meet at 8pm and were told by 5 cast members they weren’t allowing the line to form until 8:30. Turns out, that wasn’t the case and the line was forming to the side of space mountain. I actually think the people lining up early were off duty cast members, because over and over we heard cast members exclaiming about how it had been 20 years since Leia has been at Disneyland and how excited they were. So by the time we figured out there actually was a line, it was 8:20, and they were telling us based on where we were we wouldn’t see Leia until at least 10pm.
They were not character staffed for this event given the amount of tickets they sold…. If rapunzel goes on break, great. Bring out Rapunzel #2. Every meet and greet seemed to have its own rules based on who was working, and quite frankly some of the CMs were down right rude and unhelpful. My daughter asked nicely when they thought the Rapunzel line would reopen, and she was rudely told “we don’t know. Come back later.” She’s 11. You speak to a child like that??? At Disneyland?
Oh and basically no one was signing autographs…. $129 a ticket and no autographs? Please. We only got Pocohantas’ signature.
The show at rivers of America was great and the performers were amazing.
I won’t ever buy an after dark ticket event again…. I would rather pay double and have a guarantee Disney would sell less tickets. Everything but the rides were total mob scenes.
These are not exclusive events. Just another way for Disney to squeeze every last dime out of people hoping for a magical experience . It’s total crap. The only one we’ll ever do again is the OBB because of the treat trails and the parade.
They’ll be getting a strongly worded email from me tomorrow. It won’t help, but it’ll make me feel better. I bought these tickets against my better judgment- I needed a big gift for my younger daughter for Christmas because the older one got a brand new Trek bike. I should’ve listened to my gut and passed. Taking her to the Napa Rose breakfast and the BBB would’ve been a better experience.
I'm so, so sorry you had this horribly disappointing experience!! I would have been livid. My girls were all very into princess everything so I am sure I would have taken them if they were still little (they're 20, 20, and 22). I was reading your post and shaking my head thinking WOW. I can't imagine spending that kind of money for such a lackluster experience when you were hoping for the "something really special" they made it out to be.
Sorry to hear about the bad things, but glad to know you got to experience some good things, too. Also glad that you will be sending in detailed feedback about this event, especially about your experience at CO. Disney can and should do better....
I will be emailing feedback about this and how many things were handled. I wish I had better things to say.
This has not deterred me from doing other After Dark events, as I do enjoy them usually but also want to give an honest perspective.
Sorry to hear about the bad things, but glad to know you got to experience some good things, too. Also glad that you will be sending in detailed feedback about this event, especially about your experience at CO. Disney can and should do better.
Yes, constructive feedback is so important! We even send in comments on the good things, so Disney can know what is working, not just what isn't. Your information will be very helpful to management.I feel fortunate this was my first truly poor experience overall and why feedback is important. Yes it might feel like it falls on deaf ears because there isn't immediate resolution or results we can "see" , but without giving specific examples of shortcomings , and this applies to all areas of life , it is impossible to make any improvements...
I'm so sorry to hear this! You'd think after all the after-dark events they've done they would figure out basic things like having more than one of each character on hand for photos and meet and greets. You can wait way less than 2 hours to meet princesses during the day.We did not have a blast. As usual, they oversold the event. There were long lines for all character meet and greets, photo ops, and even the historic princess gown exhibition well past midnight.
The meet and greets were ridiculous… 2 hour plus wait to meet Cinderella. The line stretched all the way from where the princesses normally meet past Rancho De Zocolo. The cast members were so unorganized…. You’d be standing in line and then all of a sudden they’d say “oh this character is going on break…. She’ll be back in 30 minutes.” Instead of how it usually works where they cut the line in advance. Or, like with Rapunzel, they cut the line, tell you to come back in an hour, so we went and got in line for Sofia, who then went on break, and then they decided to open up the Rapunzel line 40 minutes early. We arrived to where Princess Leia was going to meet at 8pm and were told by 5 cast members they weren’t allowing the line to form until 8:30. Turns out, that wasn’t the case and the line was forming to the side of space mountain. I actually think the people lining up early were off duty cast members, because over and over we heard cast members exclaiming about how it had been 20 years since Leia has been at Disneyland and how excited they were. So by the time we figured out there actually was a line, it was 8:20, and they were telling us based on where we were we wouldn’t see Leia until at least 10pm.
They were not character staffed for this event given the amount of tickets they sold…. If rapunzel goes on break, great. Bring out Rapunzel #2. Every meet and greet seemed to have its own rules based on who was working, and quite frankly some of the CMs were down right rude and unhelpful. My daughter asked nicely when they thought the Rapunzel line would reopen, and she was rudely told “we don’t know. Come back later.” She’s 11. You speak to a child like that??? At Disneyland?
Oh and basically no one was signing autographs…. $129 a ticket and no autographs? Please. We only got Pocohantas’ signature.
The show at rivers of America was great and the performers were amazing.
I won’t ever buy an after dark ticket event again…. I would rather pay double and have a guarantee Disney would sell less tickets. Everything but the rides were total mob scenes.
These are not exclusive events. Just another way for Disney to squeeze every last dime out of people hoping for a magical experience . It’s total crap. The only one we’ll ever do again is the OBB because of the treat trails and the parade.
They’ll be getting an email from me tomorrow. It won’t help, but it’ll make me feel better. I bought these tickets against my better judgment- I needed a big gift for my younger daughter for Christmas because the older one got a brand new Trek bike. I should’ve listened to my gut and passed. Taking her to the Napa Rose breakfast and the BBB would’ve been a better experience.
Oh, no! They really dropped the ball on that Tea experience! I'm glad there were other aspects of the evening that were fun, but it's too bad most of it wasn't. I think it's good you're writing, they need to hear that feedback.I've gone to many Disneyland after Dark events I've loved including Star Wars NIte last year and Grad Nite Reunion last year. I was at Princess Nite as well and left by 10:45pm to give you an idea.
So let's start with what I DID enjoy.
The performance at River of America was done very well ! the [performers , music , all very enjoyable and fun.
Great show!
Giselle cavalcade down Main Street was really cute and fun. I've only watched Enchanted a few times but really loved this addition.
Live band playing outside Cage Orleans. Really helped set the mood and even had some of the Jazz band interact with some little girl dressed as Tiana ,it was very cute and the music was a nice touch for ambiance.
The food at Galactic Grill - Lavender Lemonade and Spicy sweet chicken tenders tossed in sauce with cabbage slaw and pineapple were both DELICIOUS. I almost didn't get this because I had the Tea Service at Cafe Orleans booked for 905pm..let's just say I'm glad I had this food to hold me over..
I did a photo op that was setup like Be Our Guest table with menu and all , I was originally going to disneybound as Anastasia with the dress and outfit from "Once upon a December" , but ended up doing a Belle one instead so it fit !
I got some cute pics I love !
I got so many compliments on my WDW 50th anniiversary tiara many called a crown , I actually felt beautiful !
Waling back to my hotel even had a random person comment how lovely I looked , I wanted to cry because I had such an overall poor experience and that one gentle comment was so sweet.
Now the bad..bad..and more bad.
Late start - I too agree even as an adult this was a poor choice. Given also how cold it was , made it even worse.
Cafe Orleans Tea DISASTER. If anyone has followed me in the past I have always spoken incredibly highly of the former Afternoon Tea at the former Steakhouse 55. I did all the seasonal tea services and still to this day am heartbroken it is gone. So randomly when I found out Cafe Orleans was doing a tea service for this event I was ECSTATIC. The menu sounded great too , I was excited ! Given my continued poor experiences at Cafe Orleans during normal operating hours , and I mean I've given this place a chance over four times in the last six months , I should have known better.
First off it wasn't clear where to check in if you had reservations vs checking for walk ups. They were taking walk ups which I think was their first mistake. The first seating was at 8pm , my reservation was for 905pm and it was clear many people were just using this time to stay indoors if they were lucky to be sat inside. I checked in at 8:50pm and wasn't seated until almost 9:25pm. Repeatedly had others with reservation times AFTER me seated ahead of me with no rhyme or reason as they were seated at the same table size I was. I tried to get assistance several times only to be told "Well we are just waiting for the table to open up", and silly me I waited.
When I finally was seated , the place setting was cute with a princess crown tea light but other than that..I had a basic white coffee mug you could find in any diner. Yet looking around most other tables had actual tea cups , rimmed with silver. I felt like I wasn't even wanted there at this point. I was greeted by my server who took my order ( basically just asked if regular or plant based) and I ordered a mint julep in addition. They were already out of TWO of the teas ! That was very disappointing to me..an hour in ?? I settled on the Twinnings Garden Berry green tea as I've had it before.
Imagine my suprise when they just handed me the tea bag package.
Oh..so..I'm brewing my own tea..? Well guess my expectation to be like the Afternoon Tea service was my fault..
When the plate came it was just dropped off , before I even got the tea pot with hot water mind you or my mint julep , with no explanation what item was which , again I felt absolutely no sense of interest. I got the teapot soon after and was offered honey..which were HEINZ PACKETS. Oh and no teaspoon for tea as well so had to use a knife.
It only got worse. The plate I had was AWFUL. Stale bread on the short rib , maybe a 1/4 forkful of meat from that , the crab salad smelled fishy and one bite and I knew not to eat more , there was some layered nutella type dessert that just tasted terrible , the only thing I even finished was the chicken salad on mini croissant and even that had no flavor and tasted off. My server tried to ignore I was a MK holder so had to insist on my discount.
I'm not proud to say this is the second time in my life of 45 years I left no tip. I wasn't even thanked for coming in , it was appalling. I saw others treated so much better and it truly made me feel like because I was alone I wasn't worthy. Never ever ever will I return to Cafe Orleans. I don't understand why they also had no heaters or at least offering blankets to those of us seated outside.
As I was leaving I was taking photos of Princess Minnie and Princess Daisy from the flagpole area , I was in line at first for a photo looking down main street at the hub but stepped away towards the railing to take other photos instead. One lady asked if I was in line and replied I wasn't as I was more interested in taking other photos and she snapped at me about being grumpy..I'm not sure what sparked that at all and went on to say "Don't try me." , That is when I took my leave and walked back to my hotel.
I will be emailing feedback about this and how many things were handled. I wish I had better things to say.
This has not deterred me from doing other After Dark events, as I do enjoy them usually but also want to give an honest perspective.
I'm so sorry to hear this! You'd think after all the after-dark events they've done they would figure out basic things like having more than one of each character on hand for photos and meet and greets. You can wait way less than 2 hours to meet princesses during the day.
Did your daughter like it, or was it just disappointing all around?
That's too bad. I watched a livestream and I didn't even see many people dressed up. i was going to be Briar Rose but will have to save that for Halloween.It was just disappointing all around. She was happy she met Rapunzel, but we’ve experienced more magic on just a regular day at Disneyland. There was nothing magical about the night. So disappointing.
Great pictures and I love your dress! That tiara is wonderful. Was any of the tea party food good?
Thank you! Wish I got a better pic from behind as it ties in the back tooGreat pictures and I love your dress! That tiara is wonderful. Was any of the tea party food good?
That's too bad. I watched a livestream and I didn't even see many people dressed up. i was going to be Briar Rose but will have to save that for Halloween.
Astylla, you look amazing!!!! I'm so sad that you were treated poorly when you obviously love Disney and went to a lot of effort to participate in what should have been a really fun event.Thank you! Wish I got a better pic from behind as it ties in the back too
Sadly no..not one thing was good at all.
I know of others who went and enjoyed it which makes me happy but to me it felt very thrown together and not good at all.
Those chicken tenders though were awesome ! So Galactic Grill I know you can do better.
Offer these daily guys lol.
It seems kind of silly at a PRINCESS NIGHT that you could get in trouble for posing for pictures as PRINCESSES, especially when no one can get near a CM princess without a long, long, long wait. But I'm sure it was just some security people trying to "go by the book." I seriously doubt anyone is going to get kicked out for posing for pictures at a themed night like that, but probably some people take their jobs and the bit of authority that comes with it a tad too seriously, or they're the sort that try to follow things to the letter.But here's the thing - I've gone to a number of Halloween parties at Disneyland and DCA and as you can tell, we go ALL OUT for costuming and never once, have we gotten in trouble. People ask for pictures with or of us...yes, it's against Disney's policies but we don't really want to be the ladies who say no - especially to children - so sure, we'll stop and chat and take pictures with people...no problem. Except for Tuesday...we were told twice that if security saw us taking pictures with anyone we could get kicked out. We absolutely cannot be the only ones who were stopped and asked for pictures - there were some AMAZING costumes walking around the park that night - but did anyone else feel just, unwanted by Disney? I get it...I get it...liability and of course there are bad people out there...but here's the thing Disney...if you allow costumes people will dress EXTREMELY well and people will want to take pictures with or of them. It's just going to happen.