I have to ask someone who was at MNSSHP on Oct 31.

[Disney1fan2002]

I was talking to my SIL this morning. They just arrived home yesterday from spending a few dasy at WDW.

This was their 4yo DD's first trip. They went to MNSSHP on Halloween night. My SIL, who can be overly dramatic, INSISTED that she will never go for Halloween again, that they filled the park to capacity ( I tried telling her they only selling a limited amount of tickets so the park is NOT crowded, rather than argue, I shut uo and let her rant) She said they did not go on any rides, because all the lines were 45-60 minutes long and they refused to wait on those lines. sigh

Well, I have a personality flaw, in that when I say something, and someone tells me I am wrong, I go on a mission to PROVE that I am right! I went to MNSSHP 2 years ago, and the whole purpose of it is you get the park with limited crowds. What she was saying made no sense to me.

So, if you were in MK on 10/31 for MNSSHP, can you desribe the crowds for me please? Were the lines very long?

 

[luvmick]

We wre at the MNNSHP on the 312st. I was concerned about the sellout crowds, but really wanted to go anyway. Well,let me tell you,we wrer pleasantly suprised!! We got to go on most of the rides with very minimal waits,5 min. maybe,even did some we do,nt usually do like tht teacups and Speedway. :bounceounc We saw the parade and fireworks and did some trick or treating and saw some of the storytelling. Saw some of the characters too. I was shocked how much we did and what a great time we had! I talked to other people who daid the same thing. I would do it again in a heartbeat.Guess I was at a different party the you sister-in-law!!

 

[mom2cinderella]

That was our last night at WDW and the kiddos were tired, so I admit we didn't do many rides. However, the only truly long lines I saw were for Stitch, and I think that's understandable. Parades, shows and fireworks were more crowded, but we were still able to find seats everytime. Character lines for Mickey and Minnie were long, but they were in special outifits and we were in Toontown during peak time. We did the Mad Hatter Candy Party or whatever it was called, and I couldn't believe how fast that line moved and how much candy we got!

It's too bad your SIL and family didn't go to the party on the 26th. I think they probably would have had a more enjoyable time b/c the crowds were noticeably less.

Michele

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Has she been to WDW before to have something to compare the crowds to?

I wasn't at the 10/31 Halloween party, but I was at the first one. Even though it was not crowded at all, there were plenty of people in the park (the party was not sold out) and there were rides and areas that were crowded. We avoided Fantastland until later in the evening (we didn't have our kids with us) and when we did eventually go to people were streaming out of that area. I bet that the waits for rides in the first hour or two was fairly long.

Maybe your SIL got to the party at 7pm (instead of early) and then went to the areas that would tend to be more crowded instead of waiting until later in the night for those areas.

Also, if she's only been to WDW during slow times she might have a different definition of busy.

T&Bl

 

[Franne]

We were there on the 31st and it was great! Around 9:00 it seemed to get really crowded, but before that, the lines were non existant. Candy lines weren't long either and we brought home so much!!! The only dissappointment was when we couldn't find all the "different" characters that you don't normally see. I was really looking forward to that, but we didn't really see any than the regular ones. The lines in toontown fair for Mickey,Minnie and Donald weren't bad at all when we went, and the MadHatter's trail was great too! Tons of lollypops!!!!
Franne

 

[twotoohappy]

We were there too and it wasn't bad at all.

In fact.... the day was great because we opened the LTT at 4pm! We got to ring the bell to open the tavern!

We did trick or treating, saw the fireworks, no problem finding a spot for the 1st parade, rode the wedway people mover( I think it's still called that) and got to see space mountain with the lights on

The only crowded time was when we were all in Tomorrowland waiting for the park to open.

 

[lkc0538]

We were there for MNSSHP on the 31st, then the again MK on 11/1. A lovely, older gentleman CM, told us that over 50,000 were there for the party on the 31st, and that they were expecting only 35,000 in attendance on 11/1. I'm not sure if he was supposed to share this info, but he did.

We thought it was crowded for MNSSHP, but we did get on most rides in 5 minutes or less. Space mountain was a bit of a longer wait, Stitch was 30 minutes. It was hard to move around, but we were able to do tons of rides with short waits, and had great fireworks viewing.

 

[DisKim]

I was there on the 31st as well. The park felt crowded but the lines were short. We spent the beginning of the party going on less crowded attractions and doing all of the Halloween party "stuff" like storytelling and the parade. After the fireworks, the lines were very short but the kids were too exhausted to take advantage of it! Oh well!

 

[psimon]

We were there on 10/31. It was fantastic. The longest line we stood on was the line for the photo. Lines for all the rides were nonexistent or maybe 5 minutes. It was wondeful.

Oh, and the candy.... it flowed like water! If you took the path between Toontown and Space Mountain, you would encountered the largest giveaway of candy I have ever seen. They were handing out double handfuls of candy to everyone! Then there were the rolls of Shocktarts away on the way out of the park. Each of us came home with over 40 rolls of the, each! We won't be buying candy for a LONG TIME!

Would I do it again... YOU BET!!!!!!

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[Gabrielle]

We were there - Stitch and Peter Pan's Flight were the only rides I saw with long lines. Space Mountain had no line at all. It was a 5 min wait for PP's Flight at 11:45 pm. The only real line I waited in was for Pirates - that was about 15 mins.

I think a lot of people were there but not a lot on the rides. I watched the fireworks from the Rose Garden - not a big crowd around me.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Thanks for all the responses.

I am frustrated to no end now! GGGRRRR. My SIL was going on and on how crowded it was , and how they were not going to wait in a line that was 45-60 minutes long. I even thought, maybe because she had the 4yo, she was in Fantasyland, and all the kids were there, instead of Frontierland or Tomorrowland, ect. So I asked her if she left Fantasyland, and she practically yelled at me "WE WERE ALL OVER THAT PARK AND IT WAS PACKED." She kept saying they filled the park to capacity. I kept saying they DON'T do that with teh special parties. Now I hear people here saying non-existant lines, 5 minute waits. POOH on her. .....

MENTAL NOTE.....never go to Disney with brother and SIL. drill into head. NEVER EVER NEVER. Something tells me it will NOT be a fun time. No sir-EEEEE

 

[i like stitch]

In defense of your SIL, I'd like to share my experience

We went for the 1st time to MK on the sold out Halloween party on the 29th. It felt very overwhelming at times because we were trying to get oriented to the park, it was dark, and there were a lot of people. The crowds for the parades and fireworks probably added to this for us.

We skipped the candy lines until later because of the lines and although we stayed until midnight, we didn't experience the handfuls of candy being given out. Most of the candy we received was lollipops. There were a few miniature skittles and hersheys. We never made it to toontown. We did walk right in at midnight with no waiting to have our picture taken. We rode Haunted mansion a lot and the wait for the jungle cruise was easy. It was 15 or longer wait for the pirate ride. We did our rides later in the evening, as the waits were shorter.

Did we have a bad experience? No and I'd like to go again (but not on a sold-out night. Despite the crowds, we did enjoy the costumes and the overall ambience of the park. And we got some cool autographs. Had we been to MK before, our experience may have been even better because we'd have been more familiar with the park.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I went to the party on the 31st, and was surprised on how uncrowded it seemed! I went on BTMRR three times without even getting off. I got so much candy that I have no idea what to do with it all!

My only complaint is the same as Franne:

The only dissappointment was when we couldn't find all the "different" characters that you don't normally see. I was really looking forward to that, but we didn't really see any than the regular ones.

The characters at the 31st were pretty sparse, in my opinion. They did not even have a Prince Philip, who was suppose to be there. Sora was gone for the evening by 9:00, I was told. In the front, only Darkwing, Scrooge, and Daisy were out. By the castle, the only unusual ones were Big Bad Wolf and Malificent. Last year had many more characters out, and even the party on the 29th had more characters. Next year (if I can go ), I doubt I would plan for Halloween night, as nothing was different about it than any other party night.

But even so, the crowds did not seem bad at all!

 

[pandamom]

We went on the 31st and were pleased with the lines. Walked on many rides and short waits for others. Had a great time.

 

[Jennasis]

Is it possible your sister wasn't actually in the MK. Did she accidentally go to Epcot or MGM?

Otherwise Pooh on her as you said.

 

[Luigi's Girl]

we were at MNSSHP on the 31st also and had a fantastic time! I was in a group of 12 family members and at times 5 other friends joined us. we had no problems keeping together since the park was well lighted. we didn't encounter any lines for rides or candy. i always say life is what you make it and i think that goes for making your own fun while on vacation. if you go somewhere with an attitude and make the worst of it you make your own misery. if you go with the enthusiasm to have a blast you most likely will! it's hard for me to believe that some people might not enjoy themselves at WDW at anytime! i've been there at Easter with 21 family members and the crowds couln't stop us from enjoying ourselves! i certainly would rather be in a crowded disney park than in my kitchen doing dishes!!! well just my 2 cents.(well maybe a little more than 2).

 

[kilee]

I don't know. I went on Halloween in 2003-- also a sell-out. I HATED the crowd levels. I have been at Easter time and I'd compare the crowds to that level. This was only at MNSSHP. Granted the ride waits were short, but the masses of people were overwhelming. This year we went at the beginning of October just to hit MNSSHP and avoid the crowds. It was great.