Thought I'd write my review of last night's MHP while it's fresh in my mind. Thanks to all of you for helping me plan for it. Overall we had a great time!
I took my DS (6) as a surprise trip. He hadn't been to DL for a year and a half so rides were important to him. We're not really character people so we didn't spend much time on that. We got to the main entrance in line about 2:30, and they let us in at 2:50. We got our Zero popcorn (3 min), did HM (20 min), Thunder Mtn (10 min), Jungle Cruise (5 min), Tarzan's Treehpouse, Indiana Jones (FP but broke down so maybe 30 min) and then headed towards Toontown at about 5.
As we walked over there, we noticed that the Carnival/Jamboree/Big Thunder Ranch area was open as a MHP pre-party area. I don't remember anyone mentioning that on the boards so I was surprised, but it was EMPTY! There was probably 20 guests in there. A nice treat trail with no line, all the games, musicians, Duffy, Jesse, Pluto, and a couple scarecrows wandering around.
We headed to ToonTown around 5:30 but the treat trails were crazy long so we just rode RR and Gadget's (walk ons)
Next we did the treat trail at Innoventions but it was long too for my likes. We did Autopia twice, Star Tours, and Buzz - all no waits.
We hit the treat trails on Main Street (not bad lines for either) and then headed to Fantasyland and did SW, Pinocchio, Casey Jr, and Tea cups (no waiting and then waited 20 minutes for Alice (really wanted to see the new projections). Then we did the treat trails at Village Haus, Big Thunder Ranch again, and Golden Horseshoe with very short lines.
We squeezed on another ride on Indiana Jones (10 minutes) and then headed to the fireworks and got a pretty decent spot 5 minutes before. It wasn't perfect but we saw Zero and the Jack globe and most of the sky and fire. I was actually not super-impressed with it. I think it had been hyped up too much to me. It was a very good show but not my favorite. Maybe if we'd had a better spot...
We did one more (walk on) ride on Star Tours and then called it a night at 10PM.
We really liked all the decorations and atmosphere. It was great that most of the rides had no lines. My son dressed as Indiana Jones and he got a lot of attention from guests and cast members which was really fun for him. At BTR the violinist even started playing the Indy theme song when he walked by. He really liked the trick or treating even though he only ate one piece of candy. I think he was mostly interested in the acquiring.
We got on 18 rides and came home with a backpack full of candy so I think we got our money's worth!