Halloween at DL

[VictoriaAndMatt]

Is there a place to stake out a spot for the fireworks where you can be seated and still have a great view, even if you have to camp out early? I don't mind sitting and doing some people watching at all, especially if I don't have to sit on the cement to do so. When we waited in front of the castle last May, I almost had a "help, I've fallen and can't get up moment" after sitting on the cement curb for so long.

We got a bench last night. We headed over at about 7:20. Our bench was on the right side of the hub, and the right side. Our view was blocked by some trees, but it was good enough for us. If you got the benches on the left side of the right side of the hub the view would have been great. They were already gone though, and there are also benches in front of the castle that were gone by 6:30.

 

[barefootmomma]

I think a lot of locals don't make PS - thus a lot of walk-ups. Works out great for those of us who do make PS So glad I made a few for our trip I'm wondering how busy the parks will be for Halloween time M-Th though I'm thinking F-Sun will still be the busiest due to local traffic for Halloween.

Very true. The only time I've ever made a PS is for a character meal. Otherwise, we're walk-ups all the way because we never decide on what to eat until we're hungry.

 

[barefootmomma]

One more question, if we go the TOT party, and if we are there earlier in the day, and if we manage to snag some Fastpasses, would we be able to use them the night of the party? At WDW, FP lines were not open during the party. Or would Fastpasses even be necessary? Not sure how many tickets they sell to the TOT party at DL or how heavy crowds are.

The crowds in DCA for the party weren't bad at all, I'll be curious to see how they change now that it's being held in Disneyland. Hopefully not too drastically. With people being spread out doing other activities as well, I imagine that ride lines will be fairly quick even if there is a decent amount of people.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

Space mountain closed temporarily.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

SMGG back open. 25 min wait. HMH definitely has some new changes that add to the theming even more. Love the change in the stretching room. I don't want to give anything away. One thing was missing, and made me unhappy... No gingerbread smells. The gingerbread centerpiece was very cool though.

 

[tdashgirl]

No gingerbread smell??? BOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[funatdisney]

Thanks VictoriaAndMatt for the crowd updates. I am going tomorrow and I know it will be bad, but it is nice to know how bad. We are leaving at 6am to arrive at the gates at 8am in the morning. I know that it is Magic Morning hours, but it is still good to go on a Sunday morning right when they open. In my experience. it doesn't really get bad until 11am. Although. the first weekend of Halloween Time is always bad. We only want to ride HMH and SMGG. The rest of the time I will take pictures and enjoy my DH company

 

[katrina88]

How are the crowds usually the second weekend of Halloween Time? I'm hoping most people probably either go the first weekend or wait for MHP to start right? here's hoping!!!!!

 

[Sydneymum]

Can someone out there explain to me what PS is????Sorry, I am still a Newbie from Downunder.......

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I'll try to take the mystery away for you. PS is I think short for Private Seating. All of the table service restaurants you have to make reservations at least 30 days in advance of arrival. You make the reservations 30 days from the day that you want to visit the restaurant. Character meals (such as Goofy's Kitchen, Minnie's Breakfast, etc) require that you reserve your seating 60 days in advance. So when I want to book a surprise Character Brekki for the family in Feb, I would have to book it in Dec approx 60 days from the date I want to book it for.. All you are doing when you call the Disney Dining number is reserving your place at the restaurant of your choice. NO money exchanges hands until you are actually at the restaurant or Character Breakfast. Things like WOC picnic meals, F! desert packages are paid in full using your CC either online or calling Disney Dining. I know I'm long winded, but this basically explains it.

 

[mmmears]

Can someone out there explain to me what PS is????Sorry, I am still a Newbie from Downunder.......

In this case, I believe the poster was referring to a Priority Seating, or a restaurant reservation. You can make reservations for the sit-down restaurants 60 days in advance. It's helpful if you don't want to be waiting for a table, but some people prefer to eat when they are hungry and choose the place to eat at that time.

We've found that, with our PS, we can bypass the big line at Carnation Cafe and get to out table quickly and easily.

Hope this helps!

 

[Sydneymum]

Oh thanks y'all...(that is how you say it in the US?)....I get it now...........

 

[tksbaskets]

In this case, I believe the poster was referring to a Priority Seating, or a restaurant reservation. You can make reservations for the sit-down restaurants 60 days in advance. It's helpful if you don't want to be waiting for a table, but some people prefer to eat when they are hungry and choose the place to eat at that time.

We've found that, with our PS, we can bypass the big line at Carnation Cafe and get to out table quickly and easily.

Hope this helps!

Hi,
We make a PS 'reservation' each day. This is then our time to sit and re-group. We travel at peak times and find we too by-pass many long lines. We plan our other eating around this (light breakfast if we have PS for lunch, etc.)

My family is hungry whenever we have reservation On occasion we have called to cancel a reservation or swapped. See - we're flexible! Here is our PS list for our Holiday trip last year:

 

[Sherry E]

Let me demystify the "PS" situation a little further and in more detail.

Priority Seating (or PS, for short) is what it used to be called. It is now called (by Disney Dining) "Reservations." That is the new, official name for it (I can't recall when exactly DLR switched from PS to "reservation," but it was in the last 12 months, I think.

The trouble with these "reservations" is that they don't work like actual reservations work at any (non-Disney) restaurant. In other words, there are no tables being held in anyone's name or kept empty until a party arrives. It basically IS still a 'priority seating' system...that is referred to as a reservation!!

The advantage of a PS/Reservation is that you will get seated before the people who do not have a Reservation....most of the time. If you arrive at Carnation Cafe with a reservation for 4 people, for example, and there happens to be a party of only 2 people who walk up without a reservation and a table for 2 is available, then the party of 2 without the reservation will get seated before you get seated, even though you have the reservation. They basically have to fill the tables and so if they have to pull from the walk-ups without reservations to fill certain tables, they will. I have seen it happen.

But most of the time, those who have the reservations will be seated before those without them. For a place like Carnation Cafe, I strongly recommend that you make a reservation because there is limited seating available and the line of people waiting for tables builds fast. You could be waiting for 45 minutes for a table if you don't have a reservation. Also, Rainforest Cafe is a good place to make a reservation as well (they have a separate phone number for that) - they get very busy at dinner time. And ESPN Zone is another place where I would recommend a reservation/PS.

The character meals are hit or miss. It is advised that you make a reservation for them because you could be waiting a long time, but honestly, I've done the meals with reservations and without them, and we always seem to wait about 5 minutes to be seated either way.

The only restaurant in all of DLR that actually requires that you have a reservation is Blue Bayou. However, people reported that they have walked up to BB and gotten tables, but generally Blue Bayou is so busy and packed with people that they require the reservation.

You can make your reservation as early as 60 days out, but it is not necessary. It may be useful to just have that part of the planning out of the way, but if you don't make a reservation until 30 days out, or 20 days out, or 10 - it will still be fine. The dining situation is handled much more casually at DLR than it is at WDW.

 

[JH87]

I took a trip to San Francisco today and saw lots of HalloweenTime billboards, and ads on benches etc.
It made me so happy

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Went for a few hours this morning. Not very crowded. We left by 2pm though. Here is a shot from HM.

 

[tdashgirl]

Nice shot Roger

 

[All American]

Can someone out there explain to me what PS is????Sorry, I am still a Newbie from Downunder.......

Ask away! And don't worry about it. It will make your trip much easier if you know the lingo. My mother-in-law likes to tell the story about the time she was on a trip in Australia and they needed what we call a "cooler". She and her group wasted a lot of time trying to find someone who could help them find a cooler. One of the locals finally figured out that they wanted a "chilly bin". If she had only known, she would have been spared a headache and saved some time. So, if you don't know, ask. People on this board have been so helpful in answering my questions and it's easy to find someone to explain Disney-speak.

 

[barefootmomma]

Awesome shot Roger!! I can't wait to see more of your Halloween photos.

 

[Sydneymum]

Awwwwww, thanks AllAmerican DisVeteran. Group Hug