Headless horseman question for MNNSHP

[Reneelgh]

For MNSSHP, does the headless horseman ride twice a night before both parades or just before the first parade? Thank you in advance.

 

[SueDonym3]

twice, kicks off each parade

 

[cristen72]

When we were there in 2011 he rode before both parades.

 

[Reneelgh]

Thank you so much.

 

[Meldev]

What time are the parades usually? If we have 6:50 reservations at CRT will we miss the first but see the second?

 

[mesaboy2]

What time are the parades usually? If we have 6:50 reservations at CRT will we miss the first but see the second?

8:15p and 10:30p historically.

PPs are correct, he rides before both parades conditions permitting. If the parade surface is too wet (a very easy condition to achieve), he will not ride. How far in front of the parade he appears depends on where you are on the parade route.

Lastly, I highly, highly, recommend moving that CRT reservation. You've already set yourself up to miss 20% of the party for something else that can be done 365 days a year. That is a mighty expensive meal you're doing, and that's before you figure in the money you're paying for MNSSHP that you are not getting MNSSHP.

 

[Meldev]

8:15p and 10:30p historically. PPs are correct, he rides before both parades conditions permitting. If the parade surface is too wet (a very easy condition to achieve), he will not ride. How far in front of the parade he appears depends on where you are on the parade route. Lastly, I highly, highly, recommend moving that CRT reservation. You've already set yourself up to miss 20% of the party for something else that can be done 365 days a year. That is a mighty expensive meal you're doing, and that's before you figure in the money you're paying for MNSSHP that you are not getting MNSSHP.

Yes had I been thinking straight at the 180 day mark (all I was worried about was BOG on my anniversary) I would have considered a early dinner CRT reservation...so far this is the first I've been able to get in that day. I will continue to look for a better time.

 

[mesaboy2]

Yes had I been thinking straight at the 180 day mark (all I was worried about was BOG on my anniversary) I would have considered a early dinner CRT reservation...so far this is the first I've been able to get in that day. I will continue to look for a better time.

Obviously your call, but I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't mention that. :

 

[Bluegrrl]

If it were me (and it has been, several times!), I wouldn't even bother getting a ts dinner or I would only do lunch. We usually go early, get a potato from the cart in liberty sq, and eat at chh. You are paying too much to be wasting 1/2 time at a ts place. Plus, you need to leave some room for all the wonderful candy and you also will want to meet characters that you can't see usually. And you will also want to show off your stylin' costumes! You don't want to be locked up in some ole castle, right?

 

[figment_jii]

I don't remember the exact time, but he does ride before the official start of the parade (I want to say he steps off somewhere between 5-15 minutes before the parade) and reaches Main Street relatively quickly (at least it seems like that to me).

As mesaboy2 said, if the ground is wet, he won't ride for safety reasons. So hope for good weather conditions in the hours leading up to the parade!

 

[Ronda93]

I'm not sure how far ahead he is. He rides the first half. Holds on the bridge. Then the music swells and he rides the second half. We were in Frontierland one year and heard the hooves dancing on the bridge as he was waiting.

Very cool.

 

[ktlm]

If I remember right, the Headless Horseman comes through about 10 minutes or possibly even 15 before the parade starts.- it definitely is before.

Honestly- it would not be unheard of to have a 30 minute wait at CRT at that time, and then a meal that takes about 1 1/2 hours, which could put you not even getting to the party until 9:00. In my opinion, it would be a waste of party tickets. I would just pick CRT or the party for that night, but not both. If you don't get out of CRT until 9:00, or possibly a little later, you will be walking out as the lights on the castle show, Celebrate the Magic is starting or about to start so you may not even be where you can see that; the fireworks are right after that, so if you want to see those, you will be scrambling for a spot, and if you are looking at doing the 10:30 parade, you won't really have time for anything else as you will need to get a spot for that immediately after the fireworks of you will miss the headless horseman. After that, you might be able to move over to the 11:15 villians mix and mingle show at the castle, and then the party will be over. You won't have really had any time to trick or treat, meet the special party characters, take the special party pics, enjoy the atmosphere, ride rides etc.


If you want to meet any of the most popular characters at the party, those lines can be extremely long. The 7 Dwarves meet and greet usually runs an hour for most of the party, as does Jack and Sally's line. People generally start lining up for those around 5:30 or 6:00 p.m., so as not to waste valuable party time. We got in line for Jack and Sally around 5:30 last year, and we were not at the front of the line. We still had about a 15 or 20 minute wait for them once they came out.

Another big draw is that the Princes will meet in the Princess room with the Princesses during the party. The parties are the only time of year the Princes come out for meet and greet, so that also creates long lines, but in DD's opinion lines that are well worth it. Flynn Rider is always a fun one, and last year Prince Charming was dancing with DD and reading a book with her. Sometimes those lines get shorter during the parades, so it is always good to try to meet a few characters near and during one of the parade times. No idea what will happen with that with Anna and Elsa taking over one of the meet and greet rooms this year- don't know if they will have them still in there for they party, or if they will have different Princesses with the princes.

Most of the party stuff is going to involve some waits. You will need to stake out a spot for the parade pretty far in advance, the castle show you will need to hit pretty early too if you want to get down close to do some villian meet and greets after it. Last year we noticed the Haunted Mansion line and all the photopass ops in that area (hitchiking ghosts; ghost driver etc), had fairly short lines early in the party, but the lines got really long as the evening went on.

If you don't I agree that I would do a TS lunch that day and just a CS dinner if at all possible, or at the very least a very early TS dinner- like 4:30- if you aren't wanted to meet some of the most popular characters, then 5:00 might be okay.

 

[csmith041177]

Can't wait to see the horseman! I agree with what everyone says for CRT, we made that mistake the first year we went to the Christmas Party. Ended up missing most of the party because of how long we spent at dinner.

 

[rapunzels]

Ditto on the ADR. That is too late to eat. Our last party we ate TS at 4pm to be sure we were ready to go..

 

[xie]

I'll echo everyone else and say ditch the ADR, or move it up to 3-4 in the afternoon so you can be ready when the party begins. The Halloween stuff is only out for a few hours and you really don't want to spend that time in a restaurant, trust us.

The Horseman is awesome. He rides 5-10 minutes prior to the parade. For the animal and rider's safety, expect the CMs to be extremely strict (even more so than usual) about keeping you and your kids out of the route in advance of his ride.

Also, know that it doesn't take much inclement weather for Disney to cancel the Horseman's ride, the Parade, or both. It isn't safe for the horse if there is any wet pavement. This particular parade is also much heavier on CM performers than any of the other Disney parades - meaning there are large groups of dancers on foot (from the grave diggers to the ghostly dancers and so many others). Again, for their safety, it doesn't take much rain for them to cancel the parade.

We have been to the party 5 times over the last decade, and we have seen the Horseman 2 of those times and Parade 3 of those times (the other times either the Horseman alone or both Horseman and Parade were cancelled due to weather). So if you are hyping it to kids, be sure they know that these events may be cancelled, to avoid tears.

On the bright side, the castle light show and fireworks seem to go on no matter how rainy it is. Last time we went, a couple of years ago, it poured all night, and they still did those. The candy and character signing lines never seem to be affected, as they put the candy barrels under shelter. I cannot recall if they did the Villain stage show that night or not.

Wait times at rides will be almost nothing, because many people crowd and camp out in the Hub and Main Street to see the parades, fireworks and stage show, and another huge chunk of them spend the entire night in character lines. Know your park shortcuts to get around without having to cross the Hub (you'll also often find candy station along these back sidewalks). We usually ride and trick or treat our way around the park, and walk onto pretty much anything we choose to ride.

 

[Meldev]

Thanks everyone! Ditching the ADR!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes had I been thinking straight at the 180 day mark (all I was worried about was BOG on my anniversary) I would have considered a early dinner CRT reservation...so far this is the first I've been able to get in that day. I will continue to look for a better time.

I second Mesaboy's advice. Just keep watching. Something earlier will come up.

And the headless Horseman rides twice (as others have said) but that is weather permitting. If the pavement is wet, he might not ride.