If you are NOT going to a Halloween party..what's better?

[vonnie87]

We are headed to Disney next week. Even though there is a Halloween Party on Wed the 20th we are not going. Is it better to stay in DL until they kick us out and then go to DCA or would it be better to plan on being in DCA the whole day and avoid DL?

 

[MacMama0930]

If you have hoppers, go to DL first. Because a lot of people with one park per day tickets will choose DCA all day because of the early closure. I think DL will be quieter during than the day then DCA. DCA, however, will become very busy after DL closes.

 

[julesann]

I think that the night of the Halloween Party is a great night to see WOC. If you can it would be great to see it with the Dessert Party or a dinner.

 

[Radgirl80]

Although, I have no experience with this at Disneyland, my family is coming on tues 10/3 during the day on a party day(our only day in Disneyland). We don't have hoppers and we don't have party tickets. I've been worried, but then I looked at touring plans crowd numbers over the last two years on party days and the nonparty days surrounding the party days. The party days had consistently lower wait times before 4ishpm.

My family went to magic kingdom in WDW on a Sunday party day in oct 2013 and a tues nonparty day. The Sunday was MUCH less crowded! I'm hoping for the same at Disneyland.

What are you leaning towards doing? Would you mind updating what you experienced? Good luck and have fun!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Go to DL first and then when it gets too crowded hop over to DCA. Excellent strategy because the early entry park that day is DCA so DL will start the morning empty. Party guest start entering at 4pm FYI so if you're finding it busy just hop to DCA, don't stick around. If crowds are light for whatever reason keep enjoying yourself until they kick you out.

 

[agamble]

Also, the party tickets this year are park-hoppers in the 3-hours leading up to the party. So, many party guests may be heading to DCA for a few hours to see the attractions there before going to Disneyland to spend the evening. My friends go each year just for a party, and they are excited that they get to go to DCA because it's been a while for them, so they will be taking advantage of those few hours at DCA.

We're going to be visiting the last weekend of September and have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. Friday is a party night. I expect the morning and early afternoon to be not too busy at either park, but by 4PM I expect both parks to get busier as the party guests begin filing in. Not sure what we're doing yet. My mom has never been for Halloween, so it's all new to her. But for us the DCA stuff is new. I'm leaning towards Disneyland first since we'll be hopping over to DCA later in the day since we're not going to the party.

 

[vonnie87]

What are you leaning towards doing? Would you mind updating what you experienced? Good luck and have fun![/QUOTE]


I will let you know what we chose and if it was a good idea or not . So far I am leaning towards DL

 

[thundermountain480]

Question for those that have been there - if you go to Disneyland Park on a regular ticket and do NOT have a Halloween Party ticket, what happens when the Halloween Party crowd starts arriving? Do they close the whole park down to get the regular ticket guests out first? Or do the Halloween Party guests get a wristband so they know who is supposed to be there? I'm confused because the posted hours for 9/20 are 8:00a-6:00p for regular guests, 6:00p-11:00p for Halloween Party, and a few posts have mentioned that they let Halloween Party guests in 3 hours early. So how does that overlap work?

 

[azdisneylover]

Halloween Party goers get a wristband and the CMs will do their best to point non ticketed HP guests out of the park.

 

[Geemo]

Question for those that have been there - if you go to Disneyland Park on a regular ticket and do NOT have a Halloween Party ticket, what happens when the Halloween Party crowd starts arriving? Do they close the whole park down to get the regular ticket guests out first? Or do the Halloween Party guests get a wristband so they know who is supposed to be there? I'm confused because the posted hours for 9/20 are 8:00a-6:00p for regular guests, 6:00p-11:00p for Halloween Party, and a few posts have mentioned that they let Halloween Party guests in 3 hours early. So how does that overlap work?

As mentioned, in past years MHP guests are issued a colored code wristband. During the three hour over lap nothing is said to non-MHP guests really.

However, once party time arrives CM's begin directing non-MHP guests to exit the park.
Ride CM's watch closely for the MHP wristbands. If you aren't wearing one the CM will not let you enter the ride and will ask you to head to the exits.

You asked "So how does that overlap work?"
The three hour overlap creates a CROWD CRUNCH in the park. With MHP tickets allowing you to enter either park may help this.

Geemo

 

[tjcrabb]

I think that the night of the Halloween Party is a great night to see WOC. If you can it would be great to see it with the Dessert Party or a dinner.

That is what we are doing. We have booked Ariels Grotto. I have done the WOC package there before and enjoyed it. Its nice that DCA closes at 8 and WOC starts shortly after that. We leave UT at 530am that day so it will be nice to turn in early!

 

[colormegreen]

I think that the night of the Halloween Party is a great night to see WOC. If you can it would be great to see it with the Dessert Party or a dinner.

Do you know how much it is for the dessert party? And is it the same price for a child? You get better view with the dessert party than wit the dinner, correct? Sorry, it's just that we will be spending my son's birthday at the park and it's on a night of a party.

 

[thundermountain480]

As mentioned, in past years MHP guests are issued a colored code wristband. During the three hour over lap nothing is said to non-MHP guests really.

However, once party time arrives CM's begin directing non-MHP guests to exit the park.
Ride CM's watch closely for the MHP wristbands. If you aren't wearing one the CM will not let you enter the ride and will ask you to head to the exits.

You asked "So how does that overlap work?"
The three hour overlap creates a CROWD CRUNCH in the park. With MHP tickets allowing you to enter either park may help this.

Geemo

Wow, sounds like kind of a mess....and to think we scheduled our trip in late Sept to avoid the Crowd Crunches of the summer haha. I guess we can try to plan for that by grabbing a couple Fast Passes and taking a food break to lay low during that time slot. Thank you for the info @Geemo !

 

[vonnie87]

[QUOTE="Radgirl80, post: 58190477, member: 481661"

What are you leaning towards doing? Would you mind updating what you experienced? Good luck and have fun![/QUOTE]



I thought I would let you know how it went. I chose to go to DL until they kick us out. It was AWESOME. Nobody here- didn't need fastpass at all so far . I am sure that will change by mid afternoon, but for now DL is awesome on a Halloween party day