Do I need a touring plan strategy for MNSSHP?

[Ashleybritton]

If my goal is to ride rides, do a couple of photo pass pictures, trick or treat towards the end of the night and catch whatever I can of the parade and fireworks, do I need to have a plan? Basically I’m not interested in character meet and greets and I’m fine with trick or treating at the end of the night. Can I just wing it, or is that a mistake?

 

[Haley R]

I think you would be okay winging it especially if you want to do treat trails at the end because that’s when they’ll be the shortest. Try to get FPS starting at 3:30 so you can get on some rides before the party starts. If you care about the projections in the new firework show you’ll want to get a spot pretty early. The parade is easier to watch in Frontierland if you don’t care too much about watching it

 

[DWillowBay]

I don't think you need a touring plan, however, I suggest that you know what your priorities are. There's no way to everything, so I triage my top 3 things and add from there. For me it's usually one character, the Sanderson Sisters show / fireworks and some treat trails. Everything else is icing!

 

[Wild4Walt]

If you're not interested in character meet and greets then I don't think you'll need a touring plan. We skipped the meet and greets and were able to see the parade and fireworks, hit every ride we wanted and try a few specialities food/drink items with no problem.

 

[Unlimited N2O]

keep in mind there are multiple showings of the sanderson sister's (x3) and the parade (x2). Lines for rides tend to shorten during these times if you don't plan on watching every show. Also, some food items are sold during non-party hours as well. The Hades drink and the cupcake at the main street bakery you can order before 7, so don't spend party time in those lines. Constance's wedding cake is a popular item but is only during park hours. Confirm those via a touring guide.

 

[AuntJamelle]

We arrived at MNSSHP in time to enter park at 4PM - booked it for Space Mountain and used standby line (18 minute wait)

We had one FP for Peter Pan that started at 4:15PM and we made it over there in plenty of time. Did standby line for Winnie the Pooh with the longest wait of our trip at 20 minutes to get in the ride vehicle.

Then 6PM hit and every ride we wanted to try to do was closed. They said they would reopen at 7PM - the official party start time. Tried to find a popcorn cart to get one of the Halloween treats (per the map) - wasn't open yet - told 7PM. Tried for another popcorn cart to get a Mickey Jack o Lantern popcorn bucket - not selling them until 7PM. It was a little frustrating because I missed info on that gap in what you can do when I was planning.

We were able to do Splash Mountain via standby line - then picked out our parade spot around 8PM.

 

[bitty246]

Check out the big MNSSHP thread. There are reviews of parties thus far and lots of helpful tips. Based on the amount of parties selling out this year, it would be wise to have a couple of main priorities and then a couple of 2nd tier wants to accomplish. We went to the party on 09/22 which was sold out and it was very, very crowded. We also did not have character meets or t-o-t on our priority list. We basically focused on rides and entertainment (Boo to You Parade, Hocus Pocus show, Fireworks). We were able to do a ton of stuff entering the park right around 3:45 (party ticket only). Used 3 FP before 6:00pm. Got excellent spots for all the shows, but I knew exactly when to zig and zag.

If I had one word of advice, it would be to eat first or take advantage of mobile ordering (mixed success with this). The longest line we stood in was approx 35 min to get my mobile order from Columbia Harbour House. That was a mess!

Either way, the atmosphere and entertainment are amazing, as is the people watching. So many creative costumes! The best we saw was Ta Fiti from Moana. Gorgeous and so creative! Have fun and try not to stress.

 

[RememberWhoYouAre]

I'd have a general idea of what you want to do when. We don't do M&Gs either, but party nights always go by so fast for us. Make your 3 FPs starting around 3:15-3:30 ish. We try to FP haunted mansion because that line is long during the party. Second parade is always less crowded, so you may want to watch that one. There's a hocus pocus show at midnight, so that would be good to do then to save you time doing other things during the party.
With the special effects added to space mtn and pirates, those lines were long for us last year (space was 50 min). Might want to do those towards the end of the night when hopefully lines will be shorter. Trick or treat lines were actually pretty short for us last year and moved very quickly.
We're going in a couple weeks and we'll definitely be watching the new Halloween fireworks, and the parade.

 

[Carolyn Louise]

What is the wait time like at 7DMT during a sold out party? Is there any particular time when the line might be shorter, like during a parade/fireworks?

 

[mckennarose]

What is the wait time like at 7DMT during a sold out party? Is there any particular time when the line might be shorter, like during a parade/fireworks?

Check out the big MNSSHP thread. There are reviews of parties thus far and lots of helpful tips.

There's a huge thread with a lot of helpful information and suggestions on the MNSSHP here:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/o...ty-a-frightfully-festive-celebration.3729471/

 

[zakager]

I think it depends on the day of the week and if the party is sold out. I was there Friday Sept 27. It was so crowded by 7 and the lines were so long we only managed 3 rides, no fast passes after 6. The park was hard to navigate and there were so many people still at the park for the second parade. The crowds did not clear out. We choose to leave the park early during the second parade in order to try to miss the crowd at the bus stop. We had waited over an hour on Wednesday night when they had extra magic hours at night. We entered the magic kingdom park after noon that day and the crowds and ride lines were so much better than during the Halloween party. I felt like it was a 6 out of 10.

 

[sethschroeder]

Can't imagine not having a plan. Sure you can mix it up but unless you are at Disney every week you should have an idea of what you are going to do in what order.

Again you can always mix it up but have a basic plan.

 

[twinmom13]

We did the Christmas party last year with no plan and ended up standing around a lot while sleepy boys tried to decide what they wanted to do. We still had a great time, but could have done more if we had even a loose plan. Thus, for us, a basic plan is helpful, not so much because of the nature of the party but more to save ourselves from having to make decisions in the moment. We are going to MNSSHP in a couple weeks and I definitely have a plan this time. It is super flexible and may be abandoned entirely based on what is going on at the time, but at least we will have a default for where to go when. I am hoping it reduces stress and lets us just enjoy the moment.

 

[JCMCM]

YMMV, but we had good luck winging it at MNSSHP last year. We were interested in a couple photos, attractions, fireworks and seeing the second parade from the front row in Frontierland. We didn't do any character meet and greets and had no real interest in trick or treating, though we were "forced" to take handfuls of candy whenever cast members transporting what I assume were refills for the stations saw that we were empty handed. Personally, as the official planner for our family, one of the things that makes parties and after hours events "worth it" for me is that I don't feel compelled to plan everything to death. I love the more relaxed feel of those nights. That said, we're not in a "gotta maximize every moment" frame of mind and can easily go in with a general idea of what we'd like to do and then go with the flow. @DWillowBay 's suggestion of knowing your top 3 things is great. If that doesn't sound like fun to you and yours, you probably want a plan.

 

[mckennarose]

YMMV, but we had good luck winging it at MNSSHP last year. We were interested in a couple photos, attractions, fireworks and seeing the second parade from the front row in Frontierland. We didn't do any character meet and greets and had no real interest in trick or treating, though we were "forced" to take handfuls of candy whenever cast members transporting what I assume were refills for the stations saw that we were empty handed. Personally, as the official planner for our family, one of the things that makes parties and after hours events "worth it" for me is that I don't feel compelled to plan everything to death. I love the more relaxed feel of those nights

I miss those nights as well. Unfortunately, Disney is not only overselling the party this year, but additionally there is the unpredictability of the "party pass" people and enormous crowds along with in-park announcements asking people with the party pass to voluntarily leave due to over-crowding. Having a good idea of what you want to do is a must, and a loose plan of "to do's" a must. Come over to the MNSSHP thread to see the latest party updates and reports.