Grrr....I see what you did there, Disney

[Betty Rohrer]

if you do ADR so you are there after park closing make sure to use the bathroom esp kids before you leave as you will not be allowed even with small kids as you walk out of park until you clear the gate

 

[canadiandisneynut]

I only suggested customer service because they gave us a free hopper ticket for an inconvenience on a previous trip

 

[LBIJim]

if you do ADR so you are there after park closing make sure to use the bathroom esp kids before you leave as you will not be allowed even with small kids as you walk out of park until you clear the gate

True, but don't fret if you forgot to use the restaurant bathrooms. Restrooms are right outside the MK gates. Most people can probably hold it for that long.

I'd like to see people without party wristbands cattle-prodded out of the park. Preferably blindfolded, lest they get a glimpse of the forbidden sights.

 

[baler31]

I think what people forget is that years ago before the parties were even offered MK typically closed most nights at 7 pm that time of year. Usually, a few nights were 9pm and then they offered Enights for a fee. OP, you can get so much done during the day of parties that I would take it over being open later any time.

 

[ConnieB]

On our upcoming trip, we have 5 days planned in the parks- a visit to each with MK twice. However, this year, 4 of our 5 days are MVMCP nights. I feel like we're either forced to purchase tickets to the party (been there, done that) or buy park hoppers to avoid losing time in the parks. Both are well over $300 for our family of 5. : (

So what time do we absolutely have to be out of the park if we're not going to the party? What is the latest dinner reservation we could make?

Thanks!

Do you typically go from rope drop to close? If not, then maybe consider doing rope drop to 7pm (and you can set up a dinner reservation for 7pm so you don't "waste" time eating until you'd have to leave anyway.....they'll escort you from the restaurant to the exit when you finish eating. And the 1 day that isn't a party night, do MK to closing.

Thankfully Disney publishes the party nights 8 months in advance so at least you can switch dates if you'd like.....Star Wars Weekends are 9 weeks away and we still don't know what guests are going to be there which weeks. Doesn't phase me much because we'll be there all 5 weekends, but it would be nice to know so we can start planning FP for the weekends we won't be doing all 3 days at SWW. Same thing with Candlelight Processional narrators....some years it is only about two months out before we know who will be speaking which dates....and I would love to know ahead of time since I have to make the dining reservations six months in advance...but without knowing who will be speaking....since the speakers are the main draw, not the overpriced dinner, it would really help to know earlier in the year.

 

[mummabear]

Do you typically go from rope drop to close? If not, then maybe consider doing rope drop to 7pm (and you can set up a dinner reservation for 7pm so you don't "waste" time eating until you'd have to leave anyway.....they'll escort you from the restaurant to the exit when you finish eating. And the 1 day that isn't a party night, do MK to closing.

Thankfully Disney publishes the party nights 8 months in advance so at least you can switch dates if you'd like.....Star Wars Weekends are 9 weeks away and we still don't know what guests are going to be there which weeks. Doesn't phase me much because we'll be there all 5 weekends, but it would be nice to know so we can start planning FP for the weekends we won't be doing all 3 days at SWW. Same thing with Candlelight Processional narrators....some years it is only about two months out before we know who will be speaking which dates....and I would love to know ahead of time since I have to make the dining reservations six months in advance...but without knowing who will be speaking....since the speakers are the main draw, not the overpriced dinner, it would really help to know earlier in the year.

Yes but for those of us coming internationally we often book flights 8-12 months out.

 

[disney2014plan]

Ok, so you are having 2 days in MK? You've already said that there is 1 day which is not a party day, so make that the MK day. Again with the second, rope drop until 7pm with a meal booked at 6:45pm will give you a decent time in the park. You know that you will have a great time, whatever.

 

[minniemous]

I really do wonder if they have that many days as a result of demand? I went in October of 2013 and really wanted go to MNSSHP. We ended up not really loving it and felt we would never attend a party again. We Went back the next year in November. There were so many Christmas Parties that we found ourselves contemplating going to the party simply because the scheduling was crazy! After we booked our trip and our ADR's they added an added an additional night that MK was closing for a private party of some kind. (We should have requested the free hopper for that night given it really messed with our plans and ADRs).

We really grappled with it. We were saving money with not purchasing the park hopper but with all the parties it really was forcing our hand to either go to a party or purchase the park hopper. I know people love the parties and they are very popular but as far as I know they were not all sold out.

I know some people say.. no big deal go another night. However the number of parties creates havoc with the other non-party days because there are so few non-party days that MK is JAMMED on those days. We found ourselves going to the parks on party days and then leaving because the alternative would be worse. The period we were there I believe there was a party November 10th, 13, 14, 16, private party 17th. I think that is excessive. That was our experience it may not be an inconvenience to people who love the party nights.

 

[Gracie09]

Yes but for those of us coming internationally we often book flights 8-12 months out.

Many people coming from other parts of the us also book 8-12 months out.

Op go to the park early. By 7 you will see just about everything you wanted. Have a nice dinner and swim for a few hours.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

My suggestion would be to leave the park around 7 and do some monorail resort hopping with a dinner reservation to coincide with the Christmas fireworks. You could do Ohana, Narcoosee's, Cali Grill. We had an Ohana reservation one night during Hallowishes that was unplanned. It was really nice though to enjoy the different fireworks without being in the park crowds. You will be able to get a lot done at MK during the day because party days usually have low crowds before the party. And then you can still make the most of your evening and see some fireworks. Just a thought!

 

[kelleybean]

On our upcoming trip, we have 5 days planned in the parks- a visit to each with MK twice. However, this year, 4 of our 5 days are MVMCP nights. I feel like we're either forced to purchase tickets to the party (been there, done that) or buy park hoppers to avoid losing time in the parks. Both are well over $300 for our family of 5. : (

So what time do we absolutely have to be out of the park if we're not going to the party? What is the latest dinner reservation we could make?

Thanks!

I know what you are saying ... when we had AP's the party nights drove us crazy! We did enjoy the lower crowds in the morning on the party days but missed the flexibility of being able to go at night. It's really genius of Disney - they essentially get to sell the park twice in a day. Now that we don't have AP's any more, we do enjoy the Halloween party (Christmas party was meh for us). Allows us to get our "Disney fix" in without buying a full day's ticket and with lower wait times for rides.

 

[lugnut33]

Ok, so you are having 2 days in MK? You've already said that there is 1 day which is not a party day, so make that the MK day. Again with the second, rope drop until 7pm with a meal booked at 6:45pm will give you a decent time in the park. You know that you will have a great time, whatever.

You do realize that day will be insanely crowded right?

 

[lugnut33]

One year we walked into Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor right at 7. It ended up being about 7:30 before we got out of it. We slowly made out way towards the exit of the park avoiding the sea of humanity entering the park. We didn't stop, we just took out time and it was almost 8 by the time we got out of there. We then had reservations to eat at Kona Kafe at 8:30, finished up and walked out to the beach to watch Hallowishes fireworks (I think 9:30??). Worked fine for us because the park was not very crowded all day.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

You do realize that day will be insanely crowded right?

That's my one concern with how Disney has scheduled these parties. We'll be there from Oct 1-11, so 10 nights. There will be 6 MNSHHP while we are there. Out of 4 nights on our trip a when there aren't parties at MK, two will be Saturdays with PM EMH, assuming they don't change the EMH schedule again. Those nights will be very crowded.

 

[disney2014plan]

You do realize that day will be insanely crowded right?

Gosh, I had no idea that what was wanted was a day that suits the OP, and is also not a crowded day. Good luck with that.

 

[fla4fun]

I'd like to see people without party wristbands cattle-prodded out of the park. Preferably blindfolded, lest they get a glimpse of the forbidden sights.

I miss the days when they completely cleared the park before allowing the party guests in. Yes, it made for fewer hours for the party itself, but the party experience was so much better overall since only party guests were in the park. No constant wristband checks (in fact, no wristbands period), and you got the same "rope drop" experience when you entered a totally empty park and hit your favorite ride with a zero line.

As to the OP, I would second the idea of booking your ADR at one of the monorail resorts and timing it to be done around the time of the party fireworks. That would be a great way to cap your day and not feel like you were really missing out on much. In fact, I would suggest booking something at CR, so you wouldn't even have to rely on transportation if it's overloaded at park close. You could stay until 7pm, walk to CR, have dinner, and then go out on the 4th floor deck to watch the fireworks. Then you can walk back to catch a bus to your resort as they will be running all during the party anyway.

 

[larryz]

It's pretty obvious that WDW finds the parties a money maker. Four nights each week: Sun, Tue, Thur and Fri.

 

[mom2rtk]

I miss the days when they completely cleared the park before allowing the party guests in. Yes, it made for fewer hours for the party itself, but the party experience was so much better overall since only party guests were in the park. No constant wristband checks (in fact, no wristbands period), and you got the same "rope drop" experience when you entered a totally empty park and hit your favorite ride with a zero line.

I'm not convinced the heavier crowds are because there are so many non-paying guests in the parks. I think Disney just can't resist selling more tickets.

 

[minniemous]

You do realize that day will be insanely crowded right?

Absolutely. MK is insanely crowded on those days between party nights.

Like I said we had parties November the 13th, 14, 16th, 17th. There was no way we were going to MK on the 15th! So we did several early nights at MK.

For people who say that you can do a dining reservation and be escorted out of MK after. I would say that it is not the best thing to do if you have young kids. It is not fun to come out of your restaurant and be escorted up main street and your son or daughter sees the festivities and you are deposited at the exit.

We have a couple choices.
-We have to go the party when we do not want to
-settle on going to MK on nights of a party and leave early
-go to MK on non party nights and deal with terrible crowds
-or purchase park hopper and hop to another park that will be crowded due to all the people leaving MK early.

We like going to MK and spending the entire day and night there. We were not able to do that even one day while on our November or October trip because the prospect of going to MK on one of the very few non-party nights was just not fun. So Disney essentially kicks a lot of people out of the park and sells that time to someone else.

I think they should at the very least offer a free park hopper on nights of the party automatically if you went to MK during that day of a party. That would be easy and fair. Still not sure I would want to hop to a very crowded park but at least it would be an option for people who normally do not purchase park hopper.

It is not the end of the world, we have enjoyed our trips. It is a real huge pain though!

 

[PoohsFan1]

I've gone on a Halloween party day and I do love the lower crowds as people either wait for party time or avoid MK with its shorter hours that day. I was surprised, though, how crowded it was trying to get out of the park right at 7. If you can get an ADR at 6:45, I think it's a great way to get every last drop of park time and avoid the exit crowd.

Thanks for mentioning about the crowd levels on party days. We are planning a trip for mid October and most of our dates are party days. We aren't planning on going to MNSSHP this time around since we have already done it twice (great party but want to save some cost) and DH would like to do our MK day on a party day because he thinks the park will much much lower during the day (not sure if I should tell him if he is right or not ). I will just have to make sure to schedule our dinner in the park for sometime before the 7 o'clock hour.