Aviendha131
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2012
- Messages
- 7
We LOVED it!
ENTRANCE TIME & PARKING: We called the general info number to ask a non-related question and I happened to mention to the CM that we were going to the party that evening. She said, "You know you can get in before 7, right?" So, I would do just that! Don't wait until 7:00!!!
We are annual passholders. We were able to show our passes at 5:15 to the parking attendant and receive free parking since the regular park hours are until 7:00. The CM didn't even bat an eye and she told us, 'Have a great time!'. I'm not sure if there is a cut off time for this or not.
Crowds getting in at 5:30ish were light. There was no wait for the monorail and security lines were very short because they had extra lanes open. Same for the ticket turnstiles.
CROWDS: We went last night (Tuesday September 25th). Compared to last year's party on a Friday night in early October, the crowds were much better. The longest wait for any ride was 15 minutes at Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. Average wait times for other rides were Haunted Mansion 10 minutes; Pirates of the Caribbean 5 minutes; Small World 5 minutes; no wait for carousel; 10 minutes Dumbo. Anyone who has/had a three year old knows that no waiting in lines for rides is a BLESSING. We took full advantage.
We never saw a line at the Fire Station to get your free collector card either. We walked right in after the fireworks.
There were parts of the park that were always crowded, but they were the areas that are usually congested at any time: Main street, Fantasyland corridor, etc. But other areas had really light traffic.
We have a very shy 3 yr old so we weren't interested in any of the character meets. She was content to watch them in the parade or see them in passing. I didn't pay any attention to times at the character stations, but several had really long lines.
PARADE: I know it's been said 1000x that the second parade tends to be less busy than the first, but we didn't find this to be the case at all. I don't know. Maybe the crowds were better up around Main Street, but around Liberty Square we saw no difference. For both parades, people began lining up super early. We snagged a front row spot around 40 minutes before start time, but we had to stalk the 'rope stringers' to find a place. LoL The parade is amazing! Be warned that if you have a child who scares easily, front row seats may not be the best as many of the parade characters interact with you along the way. Fortunately, our little one loved it, even when Jafar loomed right over her.
FIREWORKS: Spectacular! I would find a spot further away from the castle (its is SO crowded up there, anyway) and closer to the entrance as there are quite a few peripheral fireworks that are better viewed further back.
CANDY: Oh my goodness, they give you so much! The lines weren't bad at 7:00ish (another reason to go early) but did get more busy as it got later. Lines looked intimidating, but seemed to be moving at a quick pace. Honestly, we only went through the 'trail' between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and we got so much candy we didn't bother doing any more TrTing. I weighed our loot on our scale and between the 3 of us we had 2 lbs of candy just from that one trail alone!!! I can't imagine what we would have gotten if we had done any other stations! They gave us tons of chocolate including Reese's cups, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, Butterfinger, and Almond Joy. Yum!
I think the value of this ticket is great, especially if you take advantage of the early entry time. I can't wait to go back next year!
ENTRANCE TIME & PARKING: We called the general info number to ask a non-related question and I happened to mention to the CM that we were going to the party that evening. She said, "You know you can get in before 7, right?" So, I would do just that! Don't wait until 7:00!!!
We are annual passholders. We were able to show our passes at 5:15 to the parking attendant and receive free parking since the regular park hours are until 7:00. The CM didn't even bat an eye and she told us, 'Have a great time!'. I'm not sure if there is a cut off time for this or not.
Crowds getting in at 5:30ish were light. There was no wait for the monorail and security lines were very short because they had extra lanes open. Same for the ticket turnstiles.
CROWDS: We went last night (Tuesday September 25th). Compared to last year's party on a Friday night in early October, the crowds were much better. The longest wait for any ride was 15 minutes at Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. Average wait times for other rides were Haunted Mansion 10 minutes; Pirates of the Caribbean 5 minutes; Small World 5 minutes; no wait for carousel; 10 minutes Dumbo. Anyone who has/had a three year old knows that no waiting in lines for rides is a BLESSING. We took full advantage.
We never saw a line at the Fire Station to get your free collector card either. We walked right in after the fireworks.
There were parts of the park that were always crowded, but they were the areas that are usually congested at any time: Main street, Fantasyland corridor, etc. But other areas had really light traffic.
We have a very shy 3 yr old so we weren't interested in any of the character meets. She was content to watch them in the parade or see them in passing. I didn't pay any attention to times at the character stations, but several had really long lines.
PARADE: I know it's been said 1000x that the second parade tends to be less busy than the first, but we didn't find this to be the case at all. I don't know. Maybe the crowds were better up around Main Street, but around Liberty Square we saw no difference. For both parades, people began lining up super early. We snagged a front row spot around 40 minutes before start time, but we had to stalk the 'rope stringers' to find a place. LoL The parade is amazing! Be warned that if you have a child who scares easily, front row seats may not be the best as many of the parade characters interact with you along the way. Fortunately, our little one loved it, even when Jafar loomed right over her.
FIREWORKS: Spectacular! I would find a spot further away from the castle (its is SO crowded up there, anyway) and closer to the entrance as there are quite a few peripheral fireworks that are better viewed further back.
CANDY: Oh my goodness, they give you so much! The lines weren't bad at 7:00ish (another reason to go early) but did get more busy as it got later. Lines looked intimidating, but seemed to be moving at a quick pace. Honestly, we only went through the 'trail' between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and we got so much candy we didn't bother doing any more TrTing. I weighed our loot on our scale and between the 3 of us we had 2 lbs of candy just from that one trail alone!!! I can't imagine what we would have gotten if we had done any other stations! They gave us tons of chocolate including Reese's cups, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, Butterfinger, and Almond Joy. Yum!
I think the value of this ticket is great, especially if you take advantage of the early entry time. I can't wait to go back next year!
(we had gone to the Tues. party as well and almost got our bags filled!) It was our first time to do the party, and we LOVED it!
