Blue Bayou before Halloween Party starts

[deltadinah]

We are going to DL on a Halloween Party night but are not staying for the Party. It starts at 6 pm. Will we be allowed to book a dinner res for 5:30?

 

[skiingfast]

Maybe, you need to call Disney Dining (714) 781-3463 and find out. When you dine late and finish when the party has started you will be escorted to the park exit. So it's possible, ask for the latest reservation to extend your time in the DL.

 

[Girimama33]

I have no idea, but I hope not. It wouldn't be fair to the people paying for the party...even though once you got out of BB, you wouldn't be able to do anything without a wristband. They would probably just usher you out of the park.
You should call the dining # and ask them.

 

[chrissiecutie]

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to?? If you can make ressie's for a character breakfast before the park is open, why can't you have a reservation for BB when the park is still officially open??

On that same note, has anyone who is actually attending the party, eaten at BB before the party starts? I was thinking that a 7pm reservation might be a good way to avoid the masses coming & going on party night. Any thoughts??

 

[skiingfast]

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to?? If you can make ressie's for a character breakfast before the park is open, why can't you have a reservation for BB when the park is still officially open??

On that same note, has anyone who is actually attending the party, eaten at BB before the party starts? I was thinking that a 7pm reservation might be a good way to avoid the masses coming & going on party night. Any thoughts??

Normally restaraunts close before the parks closes. This way diners don't have to be rushed to get out before maintenance begins.

On Halloween nights some places stay open into the party, because party guests have to eat. However will they let a regular guest sit down at 5:30, I don't know, but Disney Dining can answer that. I do know they will escort guests to the exit if they dine into the party, but are not party guests.

If you are going to the party don't get a 7pm reservation and sit around eating during the party. It's much better to leave the party open for party things. Eat before hand. Or make a 5pm or 5:30 reservation to eat while the park is super busy and be done before the party starts at 7pm.

 

[chrissiecutie]

If you are going to the party don't get a 7pm reservation and sit around eating during the party. It's much better to leave the party open for party things. Eat before hand. Or make a 5pm or 5:30 reservation to eat while the park is super busy and be done before the party starts at 7pm.

Well, I certainly don't want to "waste" valuable party time eating! My thoughts were that by making a reservation for the 7pm hour, I could avoid some of the crowds. I've heard that the "transition" time from when the park closes to non-party goers & when the party officially starts can be a bit crazy. So I was just thinking that by eating during this time, I could avoid it. And we have to eat, right?

My plan is to enter early, I believe my party tix say 3pm. We will do some rides before the party officially starts. Then perhaps trick or treat & stake out fireworks & parade spots later on. We will stay until they kick us out! So we should hopefully have some time to ride a few rides again before leaving.

Will we really miss out on anything by eating around 7pm? What should I be doing during this time frame instead- grabbing parade/fireworks spots?? Trick or treating??

We will have 2 more days in DLR after the party. So I'm not concerned with doing it all....just want to do the things that are unique to the party.

 

[Disney Dreams]

...Will we really miss out on anything by eating around 7pm? What should I be doing during this time frame instead- grabbing parade/fireworks spots?? Trick or treating??

We will have 2 more days in DLR after the party. So I'm not concerned with doing it all....just want to do the things that are unique to the party.

You should be doing anything you want. There's not really a "have to" for the party. Why do you want to go to the party? Those are the things that you should make sure you get done. I would guess, eating at the Blue Bayou is not one of the reasons you are paying a significant amount of money for party tickets. If I am correct, then why spend party time doing something that is not one of the reasons you bought the tickets? If I'm wrong and eating at the Blue Bayou is one of the reasons you paid extra for the party tickets, then, yes, you should spend party time eating there. However, I would question why this would be one of your reasons for buying the tickets since you can eat at the Blue Bayou during normal park hours without buying a special event ticket.

Spend the party time doing whatever it is that made you decide you wanted to spend the money to be there.

HTH,
Dreams

 

[skiingfast]

Will we really miss out on anything by eating around 7pm? What should I be doing during this time frame instead- grabbing parade/fireworks spots?? Trick or treating??

Yes. The party also has exclusive Characters Meet and Greets and food, along with the shows, treats. So you do want to do party stuff during the party.

You are right it's a little chaotic at 7pm when you party will start. But you don't want to spend an hour eating during the party. That chaos sorts itself out quickly after the party starts. However it's also chaotic from 5pm to 7pm before the party starts.

This is why you should enter at 4 and do some rides, use FPs too since they don't work after 7. Sitting down for a meal between 5 and 7 will let you avoid an hour of chaos. It's really crowded then you may as well be sipping soda waiting for your entree.

Once the party starts you have time for rides, characters and candy. People will wait an hour for the first parade, and then keep thier spots, or at least crowd into the street to wait, for the fireworks. The late parade is much easier to view, but it's hard to find a good firework spot after the first parade if you aren't already there.

Also during the party some trick or treating are quick. A lot of people go to the most obvious candy stations and they get crowded. Try the ones in the back of Fantasyland, and Critter Country.

During the party and after the fireworks rides have mostly short waits. So they can be good to do during the party, but if you have other days don't make them a priority. Just remember that HM and Space will have larger waits this season, and during the parties the worst wait in the park, ride them earlier, earlier with FP, or on a different day.

 

[chrissiecutie]

Yes. The party also has exclusive Characters Meet and Greets and food, along with the shows, treats. So you do want to do party stuff during the party.

You are right it's a little chaotic at 7pm when you party will start. But you don't want to spend an hour eating during the party. That chaos sorts itself out quickly after the party starts. However it's also chaotic from 5pm to 7pm before the party starts.

This is why you should enter at 4 and do some rides, use FPs too since they don't work after 7. Sitting down for a meal between 5 and 7 will let you avoid an hour of chaos. It's really crowded then you may as well be sipping soda waiting for your entree.

Once the party starts you have time for rides, characters and candy. People will wait an hour for the first parade, and then keep thier spots, or at least crowd into the street to wait, for the fireworks. The late parade is much easier to view, but it's hard to find a good firework spot after the first parade if you aren't already there.

Also during the party some trick or treating are quick. A lot of people go to the most obvious candy stations and they get crowded. Try the ones in the back of Fantasyland, and Critter Country.

During the party and after the fireworks rides have mostly short waits. So they can be good to do during the party, but if you have other days don't make them a priority. Just remember that HM and Space will have larger waits this season, and during the parties the worst wait in the park, ride them earlier, earlier with FP, or on a different day.

This was basically my plan- to stay out of the streets during the most crowded of times. Seemed like a good idea to eat during that time frame since we have to eat anyways. And I just thought BB would be fun...we haven't eaten here before. But really, we can save it for another time during our trip.

Let me ask you this- if we plan on doing the fireworks show & the 2nd parade, what's the time frame on this? Meaning, what time does the fireworks show typically begin & then how long of a wait before the 2nd parade? What time is the 1st parade?

I have family from nearby in SoCal that will be joining us for the party. Not sure yet if they will want to leave before the party ends but we definitly want to try and do things that are unique to the party. So that means trick or treating, parade & fireworks. Character meet & greets aren't the main priority but we may try and hit up one, depending on time. We will want to do a few rides but we can do that before the party officially starts & then again in late evening once the crowd has thinned out a bit.

 

[isisisme]

Last year we sat down to dinner at Cafe Orleans the night of the Halloween Party about 30 mins before the party started. We finished dinner about 30mins into the party. It was perfect for us. We are planning to do the same thing this year but go to the Blue Bayou (it was closed last year). We did not miss anything, and the sun had set so you could see more of the awesome decorations and lighting effects.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

We went to a party on a Friday last year and we got the last reservation time at Cafe Orleans at 5:40. I did notice that they stopped taking walk ups around 6:20.

 

[skiingfast]

Let me ask you this- if we plan on doing the fireworks show & the 2nd parade, what's the time frame on this? Meaning, what time does the fireworks show typically begin & then how long of a wait before the 2nd parade? What time is the 1st parade?

I can't recall the time from the first parade to fireworks and then to Halloween. I think it's like 9pm, 10pm 10:30pm, or 9pm, 9:30pm, 10pm.

The main problems is during the first parade all the guests stay along Main Street and the Hub and fill in the parade route right and hub right after the parade ands and stay there until for the fireworks.

If the hub is looked at like a clock with the Castle at 12 and Main Street at 6, the parade comes from the Matterhorn at 1 and goes clockwise to 6. So you might go to the area as the first parade is going through and try to find a spot near the Adventureland to Frontierland entrances 7 to 9 oo clock. It is hard to do this because people stake out spots during these parties a lot more and a lot sooner than any other time of year.

Ideally you get a good spot for the first parade and that also works for the fireworks, or luck into a good spot for the fireworks and see the 2nd parade with near ease. The second parade is much less.

 

[DizMe]

Last year we sat down to dinner at Cafe Orleans the night of the Halloween Party about 30 mins before the party started. We finished dinner about 30mins into the party. It was perfect for us. We are planning to do the same thing this year but go to the Blue Bayou (it was closed last year). We did not miss anything, and the sun had set so you could see more of the awesome decorations and lighting effects.

We did this last year, too, and it was great!

The year before, we booked the last reservation time for Blue Bayou (which we prefer but since it was closed last year we did Cafe Orleans). They closed early due to the party and didn't technically offer dinner at all. But we had the latest lunch time--I don't remember what it was now, but I think it was close to 4?--and that worked great. That year, we went on a weeknight and the party begins an hour earlier than the weekend parties. I imagine that affects the dining times.

I don't really think you miss anything dining early like that. It's kind of hectic at first anyway and many people go back and change into costumes later on. We thought it was a perfect time to eat!