Boo Bash appearing to be a COMPLETE LETDOWN shortly after opening.

[auntlynne]

.

 

[chris benton]

I'm guessing the O.P. is just trying to divert people from buying tickets so their date has a chance to be less crowded.

 

[Violet Parr]

No, it is not a Halloween party by Disney standards. It was never sold as a party. It is a plussed up After Hours event. That is what Disney advertised & that is what we’re getting. Many people have happily paid for & attended AH vents for years. We aren’t upset about the price point & know what we’re getting for the price.

Anyone who continues to expect a Halloween party is only setting themselves up for disappointment.

I agree with not having unreasonable expectations since it was billed as an AH event and that's what people are getting. That said, I don't think you can say "it was never sold as a party" when the name has a word that means "party" in the title. It's the Boo **BASH.*** Bash means party. If they had called it "Spooky After Hours" or "Ghostly After Hours," then I think perhaps there would be less disappointment.

I'm not remotely expecting MNSSHP, and honestly don't want that this year. We're still in pandemic mode and on optics alone, a giant Halloween party looks bad AND had the potential of getting canceled. This was a safe bet for Disney.

Something I think MANY MANY MANY people are forgetting to take into consideration in terms of what the *value* of the party is in relation to the cost is that Disney spending is absolutely emotional spending. Our family, for example, has locked down hard and stayed pretty well quarantined for most of this pandemic. We lost someone. Our kids, who were always homeschooled, have struggled emotionally. We had no Halloween last year, even though it's a huge deal in our family. Do I think the Boo Bash is a great $ value on paper? Nope. Would I pay more than I did for Boo Bash on Halloween night? Yup. I'm splurging to get just a smidge of much-needed Halloween joy. Do I care if there is event-specific merch? Nope. Do I want my kids to get to trick or treat at WDW on Halloween night while Boo to You plays in the background? Yup. Disney is selling this party to families exactly like mine.

Anyone who thinks Disney prices things based on what they are worth on paper misses the boat on Disney. They know we are spending emotionally. NOTHING about Disney is EVER a good investment, including DVC (sorry, but any financial planner will tell you there are better places to put your money.) If you reach a breaking point with how much you will spend on Disney and find your dollars are better spent elsewhere, then congratulations. You have made it out of the cult. I personally am fully aware every time I see the Partners statue that I'm in a cult and a caricature of Walt is my personal L. Ron Hubbard.

 

[Heather07438]

I'm guessing the O.P. is just trying to divert people from buying tickets so their date has a chance to be less crowded.

My date in Sept is already sold out I think I saw a hurricane in the forecast for Sept 17th though lol

 

[cgattis]

The only assumption I am making is that, given the price AND the description given by Disney, there should have been more theming and at least similarity to MNSSHP as a HALLOWEEN themed event (I mean, the name IS Boo Bash, afterall). And that given that price, there is far less of that than with the other Halloween event that lasted longer, costed less, and offered more.

Yeah, I’m thinking if Disney didn’t want comparisons to MNSSHP, then they should’ve just called it After Hours and not pretended to theme it at all. Just like the old E-Ride nights. I mean, MNSSHP was my fave Disney “extra,” so i can understand for some (many? Most?) it would be hard to NOT want that same level of immersion at almost twice the price.

 

[Sarahslay]

WOW. Not even remotely on scale with MNSSHP.
No music, no special lighting, just extreme blah that I've seen so far watching multiple lives. Hopefully something gets better throughout the evening.
SO glad I didn't spend the money.

It's an AH event, not a party. Goodness, it looked fun to me, and I liked the non-party crowds too. There are the people that like the mayhem of the parties, and the people that like the chill of an AH event, and you are obviously the former.

 

[havoc315]

Yeah, I’m thinking if Disney didn’t want comparisons to MNSSHP, then they should’ve just called it After Hours and not pretended to theme it at all. Just like the old E-Ride nights. I mean, MNSSHP was my fave Disney “extra,” so i can understand for some (many? Most?) it would be hard to NOT want that same level of immersion at almost twice the price.

Well, let's see..... It's an after hours event with some Halloween theming, including trick or treating, Halloween inspired cavalcades, Halloween inspired deserts, halloween photo passes, music and lighting.
So maybe they should have conveyed that it's an After Hours event with Halloween theming, but not MNSSHP..

So... I guess, they should be careful -- They should call it an "After Hours" event, not a party.
And to avoid any confusion, they certainly shouldn't call it "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween"..
In fact, maybe to avoid any confusion, exclude "Scary," exclude "Halloween" -- And to avoid over-promising on the Halloween theme... also avoid explicitly calling it Halloween..

So how to convey that it's an After Hours... not a party ... with some Halloween theming.... but it's not "MNSSH" ... hmmm, maybe call it a Bash After Hours instead of a Party! And to convey that it's just a bit of Halloween theming, add something like "BOO"......
Perfect, a Boo Bash After Hours!

 

[Philsfan77]

genuinely curious on the reasoning from people who say MNSSHP won’t return?

Special fireworks have already been added to the Christmas after hours. So now we are missing meet and greets and a stage show basically. I’m guessing when they return for normal park days, they will return to the events as well.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Watered down version of things that they use to do very well, and it seems to have sucked. Shocking.. not really though

 

[Philsfan77]

Does anyone really think MNSSHP is coming back after this? Disney just proved it can charge double the price for half the time and less then half the experiences. I get that this is less people, but it is also less overhead. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Disney's profit margins on these Halloween & Christmas AH events was way higher then the parties. And if that's the case, I don't ever see them bringing them back.

$85 versus $129 isn’t double the price no matter how much you want to believe it is, and no night comes close to it. You also need to be at about 65% of the Halloween party capacity to get that money back at the gate…no way you’re going to convince me they were even at 50% of a normal party capacity last night. So yea, it’s less overhead, but also way less people in the parks, way less revenue generated at the gate even with the price increase, and way fewer people buying goods/merchandise. I doubt the margins are drastic.

FACT: It is true about the price though. I paid $74 for both of my MNSSHP nights in 2019. Those same nights this year are $129. Not exactly half, but very close!

You conveniently took your discounted rate in 2019 (the same discounted rate for this event was $119) and bypassed that the price had increased in 2020 and those prices were released and tickets sold before covid hit with a low point or $85.
Pre any discounts based on 2020 pricing there is 52% increase in pricing. This is also the highest rate with halloween night difference ($150 versus $200) being 33% iincrease. No night gets close to double the price from last years pricing that was released to the pricing for this event. Even in your scenario of your discounted rate vs the non discounted rate for this event, you’re looking at a 75% increase. Definitely substantial there, but not double.

 

[Disneytrippin']

I wondered about that after watching a live feed yesterday. It seemed to really be lacking in energy and looked really two dimensional.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

How does one know anything about an event they are not attending in person?

I didn't attend the Civil War in Person. Yet I know quite a bit about it.

 

[Violet Parr]

I didn't attend the Civil War in Person. Yet I know quite a bit about it.

This is absurd.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I didn't attend the Civil War in Person. Yet I know quite a bit about it.

Ummm, not quite sure how to respond to that.

 

[FCDub]

I didn't attend the Civil War in Person. Yet I know quite a bit about it.

Uhhhh what

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

This is absurd.

The poster I was quoting said how could anyone know anything about an event they didn't attend in person.

Not only is my statement not absurd, it shows that people can know plenty of things about events they did not attend.
The fact is I knew plenty about Disney before I even went there the first time many many moons ago. I knew what to ride and when, where I wanted to eat, and even made touring plans before I even stepped foot on the property. And it worked. How could I have done that if you can't know anything unless you have attended? Similarly, the OP can know enough about the event to make a judgement she's glad she didn't spend the money. I am personally making no judgement about the event myself. Just showing that it is not necessary to attend an event to know quite a bit.

 

[Violet Parr]

The poster I was quoting said how could anyone know anything about an event they didn't attend in person.

Not only is my statement not absurd, it shows that people can know plenty of things about events they did not attend.
The fact is I knew plenty about Disney before I even went there the first time. There are plenty of ways to get information.

I should not engage this post, but I'm feeling self-indulgent.

The Civil War is an historical event that ended over 156 years ago and has since been written about by thousands of historians and analyzed by thousands more. There are countless first-hand accounts of it in recorded history and endless primary sources. (I feel actual embarrassment now for having engaged this absurdity.)

The Boo Bash is not a historical event. It's... I mean, I shouldn't have to explain this. It's a Disney event. One that has NO precedent whatsoever. We barely have a few dozen first hand accounts of the experience, which, as of last night, was the very first of its kind.

You can't give a first hand account of the Boo Bash, and until there are more Boo Bashes, and more first-hand accounts, your assessment isn't particularly useful.

 

[cgattis]

Well, let's see..... It's an after hours event with some Halloween theming, including trick or treating, Halloween inspired cavalcades, Halloween inspired deserts, halloween photo passes, music and lighting.
So maybe they should have conveyed that it's an After Hours event with Halloween theming, but not MNSSHP..

So... I guess, they should be careful -- They should call it an "After Hours" event, not a party.
And to avoid any confusion, they certainly shouldn't call it "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween"..
In fact, maybe to avoid any confusion, exclude "Scary," exclude "Halloween" -- And to avoid over-promising on the Halloween theme... also avoid explicitly calling it Halloween..

So how to convey that it's an After Hours... not a party ... with some Halloween theming.... but it's not "MNSSH" ... hmmm, maybe call it a Bash After Hours instead of a Party! And to convey that it's just a bit of Halloween theming, add something like "BOO"......
Perfect, a Boo Bash After Hours!

I really didn’t mean for my post to come across as snarky, but considering this response, I guess it must have. I’ll stay out of this one.

 

[Heather07438]

We attended 2 MNSSHP back in 2016/17 and MVMCP in 2019. Did not like MVMCP because it was so packed (among other things) and those tixx cost $500 for 4 of us. Party seasons also messed up the day guest experience where party days were short and non-party days were packed but had the only chance to view fireworks (and those fireworks were packed to the gills).

Maybe that is why we're a bit more receptive to the changes? Sure I'd like more offerings, especially special fireworks, but as is it works for us. We want to stay out late the last night of our trip, experience MK at night with low crowds, enjoy the Halloween vibe, and like not having our trip impacted by traditional party hours. The ticket wasn't cheap but this was our splurge this trip. I can't fault WDW for that; AH & EMM worked because by being on the splurgy side it was able to deliver on the low crowd aspect of the experience. This new model may not compare to 2015 but it may be a better balance post 2018. They can run these parties every night if need be to be able to deliver on the lower crowds. I'd be more disappointed paying extra for something that turned out a crowded mess, like MVMCP in Dec 2019.

 

[DavidNYC]

Right? And then there are those who come on and try to belittle the opinions of others who happen to reflect negatively about an event as if to make it seem like they aren't allowed to have opinions that are different or go against the grain.

I say if you didn't buy tickets, be glad you didn't! You will still have fun on your trip.

I think it's more belitting the opinions of people who started threads based on selected videos of just the first couple hours of the event rather than being there which is a completely different experience especially when you make blanket statements about what is happening throughout the park which - based now on reports from people who ARE there - just aren't true. It's fine to have an opinion that there should be more - but that's not what you said.