Shame that we just got home from our one week vacation in Disney World but it was definitely a blast, I may write a trip report haha.
I got to meet Megara at the Villain's Bash! I was telling my wife before we left how could it would be if Megara was actually out and about (since I've never seen her) and to my surprise, she was at the villain's bash! We got to meet her behind the stage in this roped off "VIPish" area where literally no one but us were standing sometimes. The characters would come off the stage/dance floor and come over to say "hi" before they went back to take a break a bit. We got to spend some time taking pics with Hook, Sheriff of Nottingham, Ratcliffe, etc before people noticed them with us, haha.
People were camping out for the stage show at 3 PM. People were in line for the character lines at around 5 PM and no one knew which character would be where. It was crazy. I've never seen the park so packed before. We are not local but the CM's were telling us they have never seen anything like this before.
I am going to write up my experience a bit, let me know if you have any Q's.
I managed to videotape the stage show while my wife waited in line with some off duty CM's/locals we made friends with while waiting for the characters to make it to their lines. The characters didn't make it to their lines until around 9 PM. I'm assuming it was a combination of the crowd/confusion.
The stage show was cool. I loved seeing Megara, she was great! Hades did a good job hosting and the band was good. Seeing Pain and Panic was cool but they didn't interact much and they were getting mobbed when walking in/out of the "break" room. They had kids/people literally attached to their legs and they were dragging them as they walked. The crowd near Great Movie Ride were like paparazzi, taking pictures as they walked/in out of the break room. It was insane. I cannot say in words how insane it was.
We got to see Oogie Boogie and luckily were in his line when we first lined up. The lines were an absolute mess and confusing. Jafar and Oogie had the same line and everyone in the line wanted to see Oogie so it didn't move much. A CM managing the line was yelling out loud to everyone in the line/out of line telling people who want to see Jafar to go ahead and do so (almost causing a riot since people who were waiting were getting passed over).
We couldn't move in the gift shop at 5 PM. We saw at 10ish (this probably happened earlier) that the shops doors were shut and a huge line wrapping around the corner was made just to enter the store!
We went to the park in the morning and it was unusually crowded. I was happy we went early on in the day since we heard that it was impossible to travel to/from HS without being stuck in a jam as it neared evening. We also were told the gates were shut and they weren't letting anyone else in at one point, which made sense considering how packed it was.
-The fireworks were AMAZING! I'd suggest watching them from the link someone else posted on the boards if you have not already.
- The "Mosh Pit" was in our opinion the "safest" spot to be in since it was actually roped off and had clear exits and walking paths around it, unlike the character lines.
- We noticed a CM crying and went up to her to try to comfort her a bit. She was overwhelmed and no one was listening to her. I felt bad for her. We also heard other CM's being berated, guests cursing like sailors in front of children and saw a fist fight in one of the character lines. We were told by other CM's that other fights had broken out and people were removed from the park. I believe it. It was insane. I had never seen Disney like this before.
- It was quite obvious that things were not too organized. I would of done the character lines much differently. When the area behind the hat/LM/IJ was roped off, everyone was in the first half of the park, leading to even more crowding.
- The merchandise was pretty neat but we didn't buy anything. The villain ears were cool as were some of the shirts.
- We bought the alcoholic drinks and liked them but they were pricey.
This event idea was great, however Disney was not prepared for this and should not hold these things in HS if they don't plan to space out the different entertainment a bit more. They could of put some characters all the way in the Lights Motor Action Stunt Show arena to try to space things out a bit and use the whole park. We were disappointed in the execution of the event but were happy we got to see some rarer villains.
I got to meet Megara at the Villain's Bash! I was telling my wife before we left how could it would be if Megara was actually out and about (since I've never seen her) and to my surprise, she was at the villain's bash! We got to meet her behind the stage in this roped off "VIPish" area where literally no one but us were standing sometimes. The characters would come off the stage/dance floor and come over to say "hi" before they went back to take a break a bit. We got to spend some time taking pics with Hook, Sheriff of Nottingham, Ratcliffe, etc before people noticed them with us, haha.
People were camping out for the stage show at 3 PM. People were in line for the character lines at around 5 PM and no one knew which character would be where. It was crazy. I've never seen the park so packed before. We are not local but the CM's were telling us they have never seen anything like this before.
I am going to write up my experience a bit, let me know if you have any Q's.
I managed to videotape the stage show while my wife waited in line with some off duty CM's/locals we made friends with while waiting for the characters to make it to their lines. The characters didn't make it to their lines until around 9 PM. I'm assuming it was a combination of the crowd/confusion.
The stage show was cool. I loved seeing Megara, she was great! Hades did a good job hosting and the band was good. Seeing Pain and Panic was cool but they didn't interact much and they were getting mobbed when walking in/out of the "break" room. They had kids/people literally attached to their legs and they were dragging them as they walked. The crowd near Great Movie Ride were like paparazzi, taking pictures as they walked/in out of the break room. It was insane. I cannot say in words how insane it was.
We got to see Oogie Boogie and luckily were in his line when we first lined up. The lines were an absolute mess and confusing. Jafar and Oogie had the same line and everyone in the line wanted to see Oogie so it didn't move much. A CM managing the line was yelling out loud to everyone in the line/out of line telling people who want to see Jafar to go ahead and do so (almost causing a riot since people who were waiting were getting passed over).
We couldn't move in the gift shop at 5 PM. We saw at 10ish (this probably happened earlier) that the shops doors were shut and a huge line wrapping around the corner was made just to enter the store!
We went to the park in the morning and it was unusually crowded. I was happy we went early on in the day since we heard that it was impossible to travel to/from HS without being stuck in a jam as it neared evening. We also were told the gates were shut and they weren't letting anyone else in at one point, which made sense considering how packed it was.
-The fireworks were AMAZING! I'd suggest watching them from the link someone else posted on the boards if you have not already.
- The "Mosh Pit" was in our opinion the "safest" spot to be in since it was actually roped off and had clear exits and walking paths around it, unlike the character lines.
- We noticed a CM crying and went up to her to try to comfort her a bit. She was overwhelmed and no one was listening to her. I felt bad for her. We also heard other CM's being berated, guests cursing like sailors in front of children and saw a fist fight in one of the character lines. We were told by other CM's that other fights had broken out and people were removed from the park. I believe it. It was insane. I had never seen Disney like this before.
- It was quite obvious that things were not too organized. I would of done the character lines much differently. When the area behind the hat/LM/IJ was roped off, everyone was in the first half of the park, leading to even more crowding.
- The merchandise was pretty neat but we didn't buy anything. The villain ears were cool as were some of the shirts.
- We bought the alcoholic drinks and liked them but they were pricey.
This event idea was great, however Disney was not prepared for this and should not hold these things in HS if they don't plan to space out the different entertainment a bit more. They could of put some characters all the way in the Lights Motor Action Stunt Show arena to try to space things out a bit and use the whole park. We were disappointed in the execution of the event but were happy we got to see some rarer villains.
I was hoping to discuss some Disney with some people. I guess this isn't the best board to post it on though.
