DL on Halloween? Not going to the party.

[twitch]

Looks like our only other chance to go to DL during Halloweentime will be ON Halloween. We won’t be going to the party.

Any experience with crowds? Is it crowded? Or do those who don’t go to the party stay home for trick-or-treating? Should we just start at DL and then move over to DCA?

 

[gottalovepluto]

If you want to see DL that's your only choice, start w/ DL move to DCA. I'd expect higher crowds this year with the GOTG after dark announcement. Be there at rope drop. Get MaxPass. Get dining reservations if interested in TS, might give you a nice break from the crowds!

 

[Mrs. W]

Typically, we've found that when Halloween falls on a mid-weekday (so not Monday, Friday, or the weekend), crowds are reasonable at DL. We've been at Disneyland ON Halloween and did not go to the party, and the crowds were a non-issue. It's actually pretty light. Now, we've never hopped to DCA afterwards so I don't know what the crowds are like at DCA, particularly with the Halloween decor.

 

[twitch]

Typically, we've found that when Halloween falls on a mid-weekday (so not Monday, Friday, or the weekend), crowds are reasonable at DL. We've been at Disneyland ON Halloween and did not go to the party, and the crowds were a non-issue. It's actually pretty light. Now, we've never hopped to DCA afterwards so I don't know what the crowds are like at DCA, particularly with the Halloween decor.

Thanks! That’s encouraging. I hope you’re right.

What time can party people enter DL?

 

[Mrs. W]

Thanks! That’s encouraging. I hope you’re right.

What time can party people enter DL?

Party people can enter 3 hours before the official party start time, which varies. I believe since the Halloween night party falls on a Tuesday this year, the party will go from 6 - 11p.m., so guests can enter at 3 p.m. Now, new for this year is the ability for party guests to enter DL and/or DCA, which is a shrewd move by Disney. Regular DL guests have always complained about the increased crowds with the party guests being in the park before the actual party start time. Allowing the guests to essentially park hop will disperse the crowds a bit more.

 

[twitch]

OP here. Crowd levels were very manageable. We entered DL around 740, and killed a little time until it opened for regular guests. We enjoyed very low crowds in DL before crossing to DCA around 145. We stayed there (still pretty low crowds) until 5, when we left. We are two adults with MaxPass, which we used, even when it seemed like standby wasn’t bad at all. Lots of instant FPs available all day.

During our nine hours, we had 27 rides on 25 attractions.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

We were there for a total of 70 minutes yesterday and were amazed by how empty it was. At 1:00, we walked into Fantasy Faire and met the princesses with no wait, walked into Star Tours without ever stopping, and then did Buzz Lightyear also without stopping at any point - literal "walk ons"! Grabbed lunch and met Pluto with a three-minute wait on our way out. I wish we'd had longer because I haven't seen wide open spaces and walk-on rides like that in a loooooong time!