HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread #4

[TahoeMom]

I sure hope it's back! That sounds like so much fun. And a great way to spend some time in Toontown without it feeling so crowded.

Toontown is actually INSANELY crowded during this pre-party. We didn't try to go on any rides back there but there were so many people it was hard to move around from one area to another.

 

[zanzibar138]

I also think they're doing it to get people to watch their social media streams (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). I know that during the 24-Hour day, the pin trading opportunities were announced via Twitter and more than one "Suit"-CM asked me I'd seen the announcement on Twitter. So I think they were trying to gauge how many people, in the park, are following "Disneyland Today" and other feeds.

If they want more people to follow their social media while in the park, they need to implement resort wide free wifi. Most international visitors would not be accessing data on their smart phones in the parks because of ridiculous charges for international roaming.

 

[Vala]

They did have the Toontown Pre-Party last year, which started one hour before the party (so at either 5:00 pm or 6:00 pm) and only ran until the party started (at least I'm pretty sure they ended it at the start of the party - can anyone that went last year remember?). So if you arrive at least one hour before the party starts, then (if they have it) you can go to the pre-party event. At a minimum, I would plan to arrive a little before the party official starts so you can already be in the park when the party starts. Basically, because the party time is limited, I would want to make the most of it!

They closed the lines, but they didn't toss us out of Toontown when the party started. I was still in line for Goofy and Donald at official party start.

 

[laura&fam]

Toontown is actually INSANELY crowded during this pre-party. We didn't try to go on any rides back there but there were so many people it was hard to move around from one area to another.

Thanks for the info. The pre-party sounds fun but I want to factor in the crowds when deciding to go or not if they do it again. I really have a hard time when I feel like I can't move.

 

[figment_jii]

Thanks for the info. The pre-party sounds fun but I want to factor in the crowds when deciding to go or not if they do it again. I really have a hard time when I feel like I can't move.

It might also depend on the night...I went to two parties last year (Tuesday, 10/8 and a Friday, 10/11) and went to the Toontown event both nights. The Friday night event was much more crowded and there were fairly long lines for the candy. At the Tuesday event, I was there at opening and the crowds weren't that bad at all. They did pick up over the course of the hour (both nights), but I didn't experience any time when it was hard to move around in Toontown.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Sherry, either I didn't see it or I read it so early on I had forgotten about it, but thank you for pointing back to the first page about the Toontown pre-party. I still hope it is back this year.

Now another question - I have read (on the first page and in other reports) that the parties are the only place Jack Sparrow makes an appearance anymore. Is he at every party or just some? And he switches off with the Peter Pan characters at that location? DD10 REALLY wants to meet him and I'm sure his line gets long, so wondering if there isn't a TT pre-party, if we should hang out in this area in the time leading up to the official party starting. We didn't even venture to this part of the park the last time doing the party.

 

[Sherry E]

You know, I am happy for the lucky few people in the parks who are getting little treats as part of these Monday Surprises. The big smiles on their faces (shown in photos) speak volumes!

But....as an online follower-from-afar of all of the mirth and madness happening on Mondays, I am getting bored with the in-park giveaways.

Mix it up, Disney CMs! Leave the parks! Go to the hotels or stand in the middle of Downtown Disney and wave giant #GetHappier signs in front of ESPN Zone! Something! Anything! Run up to people in the lobby of the GCH and randomly hand them treats. Jump out from behind a topiary at the DLH and give guests some festive ears!

The in-park surprises are getting too predictable (not the actual prizes themselves so much as just the fact that they will be given out/taking place in the parks). I want the CMs to go and stand somewhere totally unexpected, and jump out at people, yelling "Surprise! Get Happier!"

Even if they did something fun like lurk near the exit of a ride and hand out treats as people walked out, it would be mixing it up a bit while they were in the parks. But I want them to broaden their horizons and leave the confines of DL and DCA (although they have not hit Cars Land yet, have they?)!

Sherry, either I didn't see it or I read it so early on I had forgotten about it, but thank you for pointing back to the first page about the Toontown pre-party. I still hope it is back this year.

Now another question - I have read (on the first page and in other reports) that the parties are the only place Jack Sparrow makes an appearance anymore. Is he at every party or just some? And he switches off with the Peter Pan characters at that location? DD10 REALLY wants to meet him and I'm sure his line gets long, so wondering if there isn't a TT pre-party, if we should hang out in this area in the time leading up to the official party starting. We didn't even venture to this part of the park the last time doing the party.

No problem, Jamie!

I hope the TT pre-thingy comes back this year too. It is a way to include TT in Halloween Time -- even if only briefly -- and it's a way for the very little children to get some candy in before having to go home and go to sleep early.

figment_jii will be able to give a more recent recap of Jack's comings and goings from 2013, but during the last party I went to Jack was definitely trading off with Captain Hook and other PP characters. When I was in the line, it was the PP crew. Jack showed up later, after I moved out of the area.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

You know, I am happy for the lucky few people in the parks who are getting little treats as part of these Monday Surprises. The big smiles on their faces (shown in photos) speak volumes!

But....as an online follower-from-afar of all of the mirth and madness happening on Mondays, I am getting bored with the in-park giveaways.

Mix it up, Disney CMs! Leave the parks! Go to the hotels or stand in the middle of Downtown Disney and wave giant #GetHappier signs in front of ESPN Zone! Something! Anything! Run up to people in the lobby of the GCH and randomly hand them treats. Jump out from behind a topiary at the DLH and give guests some festive ears!

The in-park surprises are getting too predictable (not the actual prizes themselves so much as just the fact that they will be given out/taking place in the parks). I want the CMs to go and stand somewhere totally unexpected, and jump out at people, yelling "Surprise! Get Happier!"

Even if they did something fun like lurk near the exit of a ride and hand out treats as people walked out , it would be mixing it up a bit while they were in the parks. But I want them to broaden their horizons and leave the confines of DL and DCA (although they have not hit Cars Land yet, have they?)!





No problem, Jamie!

I hope the TT pre-thingy comes back this year too. It is a way to include TT in Halloween Time -- even if only briefly -- and it's a way for the very little children to get some candy in before having to go home and go to sleep early.

figment_jii will be able to give a more recent recap of Jack's comings and goings from 2013, but during the last party I went to Jack was definitely trading off with Captain Hook and other PP characters. When I was in the line, it was the PP crew. Jack showed up later, after I moved out of the area.

Thanks for the info on Jack. I'll wait for figment-jii to chime in

And I agree with you on the #GetHappier stuff. And I was there for a Monday giveaway! The problem I have with it is that I personally don't want to be on my phone the entire time we're in the parks and like what happened to us, we were too late (not that we tried) by the time we did see it. I would like to see at least one online surprise.

 

[figment_jii]

From what I recall, he switched off with Peter Pan and Wendy or Captain Hook during the parties at the Meet & Greet area over by the Columbia during the parties. I'm pretty sure he's at all of the parties, but I don't think he's available all of the time. I suspect it rather like any of the face characters; they have to switch off, but they do not announce when so it's kind of luck of the draw when you get up there. I didn't see him outside of MHP, so I do think he's a party exclusive character.

 

[zanzibar138]

And I agree with you on the #GetHappier stuff. And I was there for a Monday giveaway! The problem I have with it is that I personally don't want to be on my phone the entire time we're in the parks and like what happened to us, we were too late (not that we tried) by the time we did see it. I would like to see at least one online surprise.

I agree too. The last thing I want to do when I'm at Disneyland is spend all day on my phone and miss what's right there in front of me! Also, I feel it's a little unfair to those who don't have internet access in the park.

I don't mind the current format as part of a larger promotion where everyone has a fair chance of 'winning'. It would be nice to see them add a few random giveaways too (like Sherry said, maybe at the exit for a ride, or in DTD, one of the hotel lobbies etc). Or maybe they only want paying park guests to receive the extra magic.

An online surprise would be nice too, for those of us who aren't actually in the parks to share in a little magic.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

From what I recall, he switched off with Peter Pan and Wendy or Captain Hook during the parties at the Meet & Greet area over by the Columbia during the parties. I'm pretty sure he's at all of the parties, but I don't think he's available all of the time. I suspect it rather like any of the face characters; they have to switch off, but they do not announce when so it's kind of luck of the draw when you get up there. I didn't see him outside of MHP, so I do think he's a party exclusive character.

Thanks for the information. Hopefully we're successful!

 

[Sherry E]

Thanks for the info on Jack. I'll wait for figment-jii to chime in

And I agree with you on the #GetHappier stuff. And I was there for a Monday giveaway! The problem I have with it is that I personally don't want to be on my phone the entire time we're in the parks and like what happened to us, we were too late (not that we tried) by the time we did see it. I would like to see at least one online surprise.

Jamie --

I never use my phone or check my phone in the parks. It usually stays turned off the entire time I'm there, unless I am specifically waiting to hear from a friend who is going to meet me or something. The last thing I'd be doing is checking my phone for tweets and updates.

I have a feeling that a lot of the people who have scored the #GetHappier prizes are people who just happened to be wandering by a certain location and saw the signs. Lucky timing. I am having a hard time believing that too many people have been able to run from wherever they were after getting a Twitter or Facebook alert, just in time to get some ears or cookies or whatever.

And if whoever happened to be walking by at the right time didn't know the "secret word" to get the prize, all they'd have to do is just stand within inches away from someone who did know the secret word and listen in! Do we really think that everyone is going up to the CMs and whispering "sweet" or whatever the secret word is? Of course not. They are probably running up and loudly proclaiming, "SWEET!!!!!" And then, guess what? They just told the next 5 people near them what the secret word was!

Back in the good ol' Year of a Million Dreams days, as figment_jii has said, there was no real social media to contend with. The CMs just walked to random areas, or up to randomly selected people, and began handing out prizes -- and the prizes were varied. Sometimes people got a free character meal. Sometimes they got a hotel stay. Sometimes they got Disney gift cards. Sometimes they got a button. Sometimes they ended up in the Dream Suite. Sometimes they got Fast Passes for a bunch of rides. There were all sorts of prizes, on all levels, so the guests never really knew what they could/might get.

With this current promotion I am sure that at least one prize will eventually be a "really good one" (like a big prize), but who knows if that will end up being an online giveaway or another in-park giveaway, and who knows if only one person will win it, or maybe 5 people, or however many?

I agree too. The last thing I want to do when I'm at Disneyland is spend all day on my phone and miss what's right there in front of me! Also, I feel it's a little unfair to those who don't have internet access in the park.

I don't mind the current format as part of a larger promotion where everyone has a fair chance of 'winning'. It would be nice to see them add a few random giveaways too (like Sherry said, maybe at the exit for a ride, or in DTD, one of the hotel lobbies etc). Or maybe they only want paying park guests to receive the extra magic.

An online surprise would be nice too, for those of us who aren't actually in the parks to share in a little magic.

zanzibar138 --

Very true. My phone doesn't even function properly when I am at DLR half of the time (which is why I leave it turned off for most trips), so I am sure that any kind of Twitter alert would end up coming through for me 6 hours after it had been announced online!

I just like the idea of the CMs mixing it up a bit and not doing the same old "Let's put up our Get Happier signs and hand out prizes in this park. Now let's put up the signs and hand out prizes in that park." That is getting old and predictable.

They could still give out prizes IN the parks if they wanted to, but why not randomly select people here or there? If they are only giving out 50 of one item, they could easily pick 50 people at random (in different lands or locations) and give out the items, OR stand near the exits of the rides and hand them out. I still think they need to get out of the parks and move into DTD or into the hotels, just to go where no one is expecting them to go.

As figment_jii said a while back, this seems to be a very social media-focused giveaway. Its intent is to spread the word of the giveaways via social media and see how quickly people show up and claim their prizes, but, as I mentioned to Jamie above, my hunch is that a lot of people are not actually following social media to get the prizes and are simply walking up at the right time, and/or they're hearing someone else give the "secret word" and copying them.

I really thought there would be more variety involved, and that the Get Happier giveaways would alternate between in-park stuff, online stuff, DTD or hotels stuff, back to in-parks, back to online, etc. As you said, maybe they only want paying park guests to receive the extra magic for right now?

 

[figment_jii]

I really thought there would be more variety involved, and that the Get Happier giveaways would alternate between in-park stuff, online stuff, DTD or hotels stuff, back to in-parks, back to online, etc. As you said, maybe they only want paying park guests to receive the extra magic for right now?

I do generally think there is a preference for things to be done in the parks (at least they've doing things in both DL and DCA). In some ways, I'm not surprised that nothing has happened out at DTD or in the hotel lobbies. Based on the photos, it looks like there was a pretty good line formed for the cookie give away (probably because there was 300 cookies each time) and my guess is they don't want the congestion in the hotel lobbies. In truth, I'd almost rather that they didn't do anything major (like a vacation give away or anything like that). I like that they're relatively simple, but I do hope they continue to keep the number up (600 cookies this time opposed to 100 ear hats or vinylmations) so that more people can enjoy the event.

 

[Sherry E]

I do generally think there is a preference for things to be done in the parks (at least they've doing things in both DL and DCA). In some ways, I'm not surprised that nothing has happened out at DTD or in the hotel lobbies. Based on the photos, it looks like there was a pretty good line formed for the cookie give away (probably because there was 300 cookies each time) and my guess is they don't want the congestion in the hotel lobbies. In truth, I'd almost rather that they didn't do anything major (like a vacation give away or anything like that). I like that they're relatively simple, but I do hope they continue to keep the number up (600 cookies this time opposed to 100 ear hats or vinylmations) so that more people can enjoy the event.

DTD could handle some congestion. Maybe the hotel lobbies couldn't, but the CMs don't have to hand out 300 cookies in a lobby. They could venture out of the parks and hand out one or two or five of their "bigger" prizes to randomly selected guests in DTD or in the hotels, and then be done with it.

That's the part I am not thrilled with -- "Let's go stand in DL with our sign and wait for people to run up to us and pretend to know the secret word, when they really just heard it from the person next to them, who shouted it," and "Let's now take our signs and move to DCA and do the same thing." As an online follower from afar, that stuff is getting boring for me to see on the Facebook and Twitter pages.

If we, the people at home, cannot participate in this Get Happier event, then I at least want to see some sort of variety happening in how the in-park items are handed out, to make it more interesting for me to read about!

I don't even like the ideas of the lines forming. If the CMs were just kind of handing out things at random, lurking near the exits to rides or jumping out at people when they least expect it, they could hand out a few things and then leave.

I guess that, overall, I think there could be a little more creativity put into executing this idea, no matter how large or small the prizes are.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

DTD could handle some congestion. Maybe the hotel lobbies couldn't, but the CMs don't have to hand out 300 cookies in a lobby. They could venture out of the parks and hand out one or two or five of their "bigger" prizes to randomly selected guests in DTD or in the hotels, and then be done with it. That's the part I am not thrilled with -- "Let's go stand in DL with our sign and wait for people to run up to us and pretend to know the secret word, when they really just heard it from the person next to them, who shouted it," and "Let's now take our signs and move to DCA and do the same thing." As an online follower from afar, that stuff is getting boring for me to see on the Facebook and Twitter pages. If we, the people at home, cannot participate in this Get Happier event, then I at least want to see some sort of variety happening in how the in-park items are handed out, to make it more interesting for me to read about! I don't even like the ideas of the lines forming. If the CMs were just kind of handing out things at random, lurking near the exits to rides or jumping out at people when they least expect it, they could hand out a few things and then leave. I guess that, overall, I think there could be a little more creativity put into executing this idea, no matter how large or small the prizes are.

I'm sure this is actually just a marketing campaign to judge the effectiveness of their online social media presence, but I still agree with you. First, it's hard to judge who effective it is when a) Facebook decides how to filter things and whether somebody gets to see it without specifically searching out the page and b) like you said, my guess is many people are just following what the people ahead of them are doing and haven't actually seen the Twitter/FB post.

We only went once during the YOMD, but it was so much fun wondering if/when you might get something special. As it was we did win Dream Fastpasses coming off the Matterhorn. But I like that is was more random and you could still enjoy the parks without worrying about missing something (even if you did keep a close eye on those CMs in the blue Dream Team vests!)

 

[Kristina4109]

In the YOMD I won a pin lanyard with two starter pins on it. I so don't care about pin trading so I randomly gave it to someone else. Made her day.

 

[Sherry E]

I really liked that YOMD promo (and it lasted for 2 years!). Even though I didn't get anything more than Dream Fast Passes out of too (like Jamie did), I liked the true element of surprise. No one knew if the Dream Squad/Team would be out and about in any given day, and they really would just stop and hand out things to random people -- sometimes just one person, and sometimes many people. No code word needed.

Also, there was a great variety of prizes given out in YOMD. Plus, if I recall correctly, I think that some people did get approached by random CMs at the hotels here and there -- not as often as in the parks, but there were some hotel occurrences in which CMs stopped guests headed in or out of a hotel.

This year, the Parks Blog tried to add in that element of surprise by hinting that we'd never know where or when the Get Happier people would pop up, but because they made the announcement in the first place, and because we knew we'd have to be checking various forms of social media to find out what the surprises were and where they were given out, it added in an element of frustration too!

 

[figment_jii]

But how much of the difference between YOMD and GetHappier is driven by the changing times? YOMD had "random" surprises, but at that time, there was no way to really announce where the surprises would be (no Twitter or Facebook yet). I don't really think that GetHappier is really all that different, except that they are making use of social media. I suppose the biggest difference is that the surprises are only happening a couple of times on Monday and not randomly throughout the day on any day. Still, I haven't felt frustrated by the promotions or the slightly repetitious nature of the events (mostly give aways). And while not all of us are living on our phones while in the parks, I do think there is a good chunk of folks who are. I suppose I just find it fun to see what they're up to and wish I was in the parks, but knowing that I can't, I might as well live vicariously through those that are in the parks.

 

[Sherry E]

Yeah, but...I'm still not feeling this Get Happier thing. I'm just not. I am following along with it to see what happens every week, but the way it's being handled is boring to me.

I liked YOMD much better. I realize the differences are driven by the changing times, but Disney didn't have to use the social media aspect of it this time around. They could have done exactly what they did for YOMD, except without the social media involvement. The fact that they are relying so heavily on social media is also annoying to me.

I just don't like it. It's great for the people who are in the right spot at the right time, and winning something because they overhear someone else say the secret word, but it's boring to me!

I liked the fact that there was no way to announce when and where the surprises would be back in 2007 and 2008!

 

[sgrap]

So, as a new first-time AP holder and first-time MHP ticket purchaser, what should I expect tomorrow morning? I gather it is online only, no over the phone purchases? I have a busy day, so I'd like to buy the tickets right away at 8 a.m PST if possible. How has it gone the 1st day in years' past? Thanks!