HalloweenTime at DLR Info and Photo Superthread #3

[dnamertz]

Yesterday, dnamertz was asking how fast the MHP tickets sold out.

This will not answer that question exactly, but I dug up a thread to show you all just for reference/example.

dnamertz-- I looked this up specifically for you, so I hope you are reading along!

In this thread from last year - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3005838 - you will see that as of 10/10/12 (when the OP started the thread) all of the MHP nights were sold out except for 10/29 and 10/31. I think most of them sold out before October, but some sold out faster than others.

Now, to be honest, I could have sworn that Halloween night sold out faster and sooner than October! Maybe Kristin will recall, but it could be that Halloween night sold out early on, then Disney released extra tickets for that night since it was Halloween -- and maybe it opened back up. I'm not sure. I don't recall Halloween night being open as late as October 10, but who knows?

But, as I have mentioned in the past, all of the nights did eventually sell out, with the 10/29 night staying open the longest. I believe that 10/29 sold out at the last minute.

There is another thread I am trying to find from last year in which a bunch of us were commenting on the speed at which the MHP nights were selling out (I specifically recall Mary Jo making a comment about it) but I don't recall the name of the thread so I cannot find it as easily! This is one of the problems with too many threads popping up on one basic topic -- it's hard to track things down for reference a year later when I don't recall which specific thread the thing I am looking for was in!

This year, since there are 13 parties maybe they will not all sell out. Perhaps a couple of them will remain open. I think a lot of the sell-outs in 2012 had to do with: 1) the newness and novelty of seeing Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, and the fact that people who were already visiting DCA for those reasons decided to add the Halloween party onto their trips; and 2) the Villains factor -- the fact that the Villains were made to be more exclusive last year, and not as available in the daytime, while they were very prominent at the MHP.

This year there could be different factors that weigh in to either make the parties sell out or not sell out.

Sherry, yes I am following along. Thanks for all the great info you have provided.

I did find this thread from last year http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2944580&highlight=mhp+sold+out&page=25. See post #371 that first mentions that the Oct 5th party was the first to sell out last year. So, it appears that by at least Sept 18 all but one of the parties still had tickets for sale.

 

[dnamertz]

With all the talk about candy, I thought you might like to see what we got last year! This was from party night 29th October. We also went Halloween night too, but as we couldn't bring all the candy back to Australia, we didn't do any trick or treating that night and just got as many pics as possible with as many characters as possible!

Yum!!!! Plus,we don't get most of these things over here.....................I actually loved the little carrots!!! ( none of those in the pic though, I ate them alll! )

That is a lot of candy! The party we are attending will probably be the last night of our trip, and we'll be flying out the next day. Our DD will probably want to keep a lot of the candy, so what is a good (cheap) way to transport it back home? Or should we just leave it behind and buy replacement candy back home?

 

[siburdue]

It as easy peasy to purchase tickets today. I was on hold for only about a minute, then it did take a few minutes for the cast member to place my order. Bought two tickets to the 09/27 and 10/01 parties. So excited to now have plenty of time to do and see everything at the parties,

My girlfriend doesn't want to dress up for the parties, as she wants to get some good photos with the villains. Trying to remember back to last year's party and what percent of the people were in costume or not. It is all a blur, as we took our grandson and went as pirates (went to the pirate's league and everything). I'd post a picture, but can't figure out how to do it (is there a post somewhere to learn how to do it?)

 

[sweethannah]

One of the reasons we ended up doing the Halloween party is because it afforded us an extra day in the Parks. We even had the now discontinued 6 days passes! For those limited to 5 days passes, adding the Halloween party to get extra Park time and a great experience is a total deal. That might contribute to whether or not the MHPs sell out. Just a thought!

 

[figment_jii]

Trying to remember back to last year's party and what percent of the people were in costume or not. It is all a blur, as we took our grandson and went as pirates (went to the pirate's league and everything). I'd post a picture, but can't figure out how to do it (is there a post somewhere to learn how to do it?)

I would say that the split was about half and half at the party I went to last year. There were enough people in costume and enough not in costume, so that no one felt out of place.

For posting pictures, there is a video tutorial down on the Technical Support board:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1977120

There also threads down there asking about posting pictures, so you read about different methods if you don't want to watch the tutorial.

 

[SueTGGR]

Is it a sign you have gone too many times to the parties when the years all blend? But I remember, maybe it was 2011?, when they were selling tickets to the party the night of? Not that I want anyone to count on that happening but I remember it within the last 2 years. Sherry, help me out here. It can't be longer than that, was it? And I also remember it being nights that were sold out online, too?
Later,
Sue
Maybe tomorrow I will search the old threads

 

[pigby]

pigby --

I don't know if you've caught it (it's easy for things to get overlooked when the pages are moving quickly), but I've said (many times) in this thread over the last month or two that, last year, every single night of the MHP sold out -- faster than we expected but not immediately -- except for the party right before Halloween. I think that one eventually sold out at the very last minute, but it stayed open the longest out of all the other nights. All of the other parties sold out. In years prior to 2012 it didn't seem like all of the parties sold out, or if they did they stayed open much longer.

Thanks Sherry - you are right, I must have overlooked that one.

I see some folks are going to the party twice or three times so thought that we may go on the Friday as well as the Tuesday seeing that there are going to be similar crowds and seeing that we have a day spare as Disney don't do 6 day hoppers anymore.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

That is a lot of candy! The party we are attending will probably be the last night of our trip, and we'll be flying out the next day. Our DD will probably want to keep a lot of the candy, so what is a good (cheap) way to transport it back home? Or should we just leave it behind and buy replacement candy back home?

If she has a small bag for activities on the plane, maybe you can stuff some candy in there. Don't make the mistake we did last year and sticking in all in a full checked bag only to unpack a bunch of smashed candy, yuck!

 

[CasandraC]

So what do people do with the candy when they want to go on rides, like splash mountain? I know us and we'll be doing some rides during the party. I'll try to hold my daughter off from trick-or-treating until later in the evening.

 

[TahoeMom]

So what do people do with the candy when they want to go on rides, like splash mountain? I know us and we'll be doing some rides during the party. I'll try to hold my daughter off from trick-or-treating until later in the evening.

My husband carried his backpack and we all put our candy in it when necessary - obviously some rides it is easy to carry the bags of candy on to.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

Is it a sign you have gone too many times to the parties when the years all blend? But I remember, maybe it was 2011?, when they were selling tickets to the party the night of? Not that I want anyone to count on that happening but I remember it within the last 2 years. Sherry, help me out here. It can't be longer than that, was it? And I also remember it being nights that were sold out online, too?
Later,
Sue
Maybe tomorrow I will search the old threads

Sue, this has been our experience the last two years as well--we bought tickets the afternoons of the parties we attended! We had no intention of going, and were already at the Resort, so last minute we thought--"Why not?", and picked up tickets on the way in.

Like you, I definitely would not suggest waiting/trying to do this if you know you're wanting to attend--it's too risky, so buy ahead to ensure your entry.

 

[DisneyFan3113]

A friend of mine went during the Halloween season (September, I think) of 2011 and got her daughter this, sent to their DLH or GCH room...

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry, yes I am following along. Thanks for all the great info you have provided.

I did find this thread from last year http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2944580&highlight=mhp+sold+out&page=25. See post #371 that first mentions that the Oct 5th party was the first to sell out last year. So, it appears that by at least Sept 18 all but one of the parties still had tickets for sale.

dnamertz --

You're welcome! Good thinking to look at the MHP Check-In thread from last year. I think I even have a link to it somewhere on Page 1 of this thread and I didn't think to look there.

So it appears as though -- if my math is correct -- that 8 of the 11 parties sold out last year, directly between 9/18 and 10/10. If all of the parties except one were available on 9/18, and only 2 of the parties were still available on 10/10, that means there was a quick sell-out of 8 parties is just under 3 weeks. That may be what caught our attention last year and made us realize that the tickets were suddenly going quickly. There was a surge of sudden sell-outs!

I know the easy thing to do is to assume that what happened last year is what will happen this year, but there is really no predicting. There could be a sudden wave of people who buy tickets, or a lot of people could decide to sit out the MHP this year and not go.

I, personally, would not wait until September to buy a ticket for any night -- at least not if the night in question was the night I really wanted to go. I waited too long in 2011 and missed the party night I wanted, so I ended up with another night.

It as easy peasy to purchase tickets today. I was on hold for only about a minute, then it did take a few minutes for the cast member to place my order. Bought two tickets to the 09/27 and 10/01 parties. So excited to now have plenty of time to do and see everything at the parties,

My girlfriend doesn't want to dress up for the parties, as she wants to get some good photos with the villains. Trying to remember back to last year's party and what percent of the people were in costume or not. It is all a blur, as we took our grandson and went as pirates (went to the pirate's league and everything). I'd post a picture, but can't figure out how to do it (is there a post somewhere to learn how to do it?)

siburdue --

I thought that at both the DCA party and the DL party the crowds were about 50% in costume and 50% not in costume, roughly. Certainly no one would feel out of place if they did not dress up because there were enough other people not dressed up as well.

Do you have a free Photobucket account? If you open a free account and upload the photos you want to post to your account, somewhere near each photo you will see an IMG Code. Actually, you will see several codes but just look for the IMG code.

All you have to do is highlight that entire IMG code, then copy and paste it here in the thread. It's easy!

One of the reasons we ended up doing the Halloween party is because it afforded us an extra day in the Parks. We even had the now discontinued 6 days passes! For those limited to 5 days passes, adding the Halloween party to get extra Park time and a great experience is a total deal. That might contribute to whether or not the MHPs sell out. Just a thought!

sweethannah --

I would bet that you're right. That 6-day Hopper thing seems to be a real problem for many people, and I think that a lot of the people who buy the 5-day Hoppers will, indeed, end up with an MHP ticket as well. That makes a lot of sense. There have already been a couple of people who have stated the same basic thing in regards to whether or not there is a Christmas party this year. If there is a party they would use that as their 6th day.

Is it a sign you have gone too many times to the parties when the years all blend? But I remember, maybe it was 2011?, when they were selling tickets to the party the night of? Not that I want anyone to count on that happening but I remember it within the last 2 years. Sherry, help me out here. It can't be longer than that, was it? And I also remember it being nights that were sold out online, too?
Later,
Sue
Maybe tomorrow I will search the old threads

SueTGGR --

Yes, you are absolutely correct -- in the past (and I thought it was 2011 too) there have been tickets available on the day of the event for some of the nights. I was under the impression that Disney held a few tickets aside for last-minute MHP guests who decide on the spot to attend. However, when I mentioned that last year in this thread I was reminded of certain scenarios in which that was not the case for everyone, and tickets were not always available on the day of the MHP. (I think that Corinna -- who is a participant in this thread -- was one of the ones who explained the day-of-event tickets not being available in some cases. Corinna, are you out there? Can you confirm or deny? Lol.)

So, while I would like to tell people "Don't worry -- worst case scenario, you can get a super-expensive ticket on the day of the event," I was told last year that it cannot be relied upon to work out that way. Some nights just end up selling out all across the board, in advance and on the day of.

That was my mistake in 2011 -- I was basing when I bought my ticket on how quickly the tickets sold out in previous years, and I waited too long! I thought the night I wanted would be available when I finally decided to buy it and it wasn't!

I also thought I remembered Halloween selling out last year, then suddenly becoming available again (online), then ultimately selling out again. I could be wrong, but I thought that one night sold out, then mysteriously opened up again, then sold out again -- and I thought it was October 31st. I could be wrong, though. All I know is that, in the end, all of the nights sold out in advance but one -- and that was the party before Halloween.

There were a lot of MHP-related threads popping up last year. It gets to be confusing. That's why it is hard for me to find certain things -- and I am usually very good at finding threads and posts with older info. I tend to remember a lot of threads and posts that other people will not remember. Even if something was mentioned in a short, 1-page thread, if it was an important/relevant comment I will remember it. I will remember that so-and-so said X,Y or Z and I will want to find that post because I know there was more info in the thread. However, when there are a lot of threads popping up left and right and the titles are either all similar to each other or not indicative of what is actually being discussed in the thread, it is not as easy to locate what I am trying to locate!

Thanks Sherry - you are right, I must have overlooked that one.

I see some folks are going to the party twice or three times so thought that we may go on the Friday as well as the Tuesday seeing that there are going to be similar crowds and seeing that we have a day spare as Disney don't do 6 day hoppers anymore.

pigby --

It's okay -- I know the threads can sometimes move quickly (after being quiet for months on end) and people tend to not look at what has recently been posted/discussed. I just want to make sure that if I or someone else explain something or answer a question, the person who wanted the information actually sees the response. Sometimes the information is right there on the same page or on the previous page, but people still miss a lot of things! I can understand not going back to page 20 of the thread if there is no need to, but it's always a good idea to skim the most recent page or two to see what has been discussed.

I think that a lot of people will choose an MHP night as their 6th day/night, since the Hoppers are limited to 5 days! It's not a bad plan.

So what do people do with the candy when they want to go on rides, like splash mountain? I know us and we'll be doing some rides during the party. I'll try to hold my daughter off from trick-or-treating until later in the evening.

CasandraC --

Many people do, indeed, wait until the end of the evening to collect candy for that very reason -- they do not want to lug bags of candy around on rides, while standing in lines for characters, etc.

Also, some people opt for renting lockers, which is a good plan if you can score one before they all fill up. The thing is, you'd have to be okay with walking back and forth to the locker if you wanted to stash things throughout the night, and that could be inconvenient. If you're okay with it and you want to get some candy early on, maybe the locker would be a good idea?

 

[Jenn1116]

Is there a list of everyone going for Halloween this year and their dates? Erhm, I thought I recall there was one...and I might even be on it...

 

[Sherry E]

Is there a list of everyone going for Halloween this year and their dates? Erhm, I thought I recall there was one...and I might even be on it...

A dedicated 2013 Check-In/Meet thread for reporting guests' MHP dates and costumes would be separate from this thread. Two days ago I suggested that someone might want to start the 2013 Check-In/Meet Thread ("Who's Going to the MHP? Name Your Dates and Costumes" sort of a thing, I suppose) because I didn't see a Check-In thread when I looked for it. Everyone ignored me.

Whoever starts it has to be able to keep up with the list and make sure it is updated with guests' dates and costumes.

 

[CasandraC]

Thanks Sherry and everyone else for all the helpful information. This place has helped me a lot.

 

[Kiwigirls]

I am happy to set up the new Meet-up thread, if no-one else wants too? Will get it sorted today, unless I hear that someone else is already on to it!!

 

[kelmac284]

FYI for anyone going the Ramada Inn Maingate has a great fall saver rate. If you go direct to their website you can get a double bed room for as low as 96/night. Or a Queen room for 106. We were able to get 4 nights for under 500 so pretty good deal and they just remodeled and it was nice before when we stayed so something to think about if you are trying to save money and want a good deal on a room close to the park. I looked on getaway today and that was cheaper than Hojo, Desert Inn Best Western Etc.

 

[Kiwigirls]

Ok, I have set up the check in thread!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3139112

I have gone through this thread and added dates for people that had posted to say they had bought tickets and the dates. Those who haven't bought tickets yet I haven't added you in (including myself!)

If you want your name removed, please let me know!
And if I have missed you I'm sorry!!! Please let me know in that thread and I will add you in, as well as new people that get tickets as we go.

And if you have costume info I am happy to add that too.
Hope it helps!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am here. I had an absolute nightmare with my tickets in 2011. I live in the UK and as I am a DVC member and wanted that discount, I had to call. They were very reluctant to ship tickets to the UK and there is no will call option at Disneyland. So after a bit of back and forth and after assurances that the tickets never sell out apart from the party at Halloween itself, I agreed to purchase the tickets when I got there. We arrived on September 26th and I wanted a ticket for September 30th and two tickets for October 11th. The second date was no problem, but all tickets for the 1st party had sold out. I was still told at the hotel that they hold back tickets to sell on the day. This meant that I had to pay full price, but at that point I did not care.

We renewed our wedding vows during this trip and I had arranged to meet my photographer during the cutover period to do a Ghost Bride photo shoot. She had her ticket already. Anyway, the day of the party came and I headed to the park to see if I could get a ticket and were welcomed with sold out signs. I went to Town Hall and queried this saying that I had been told at the hotel that they kept tickets back to sell on the day. The person I spoke to made some phone calls and then advised me that I had been misinformed and that they do not hold any tickets back. He recommended that I ask to speak to a supervisor at the ticket booths.

I did not really expect anything, but wanted to provide feedback so that this may not happen to anybody else. I spoke to an absolutely amazing supervisor who patiently listened to the whole story. She then asked me to come back with her friend and her ticket once she has arrived and they would sell me a ticket. So the day was saved and I got to do my photo shoot and enjoyed the party afterwards.

Corinna