whoever
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
Welcome to my review of the 2015 MahaloWeen event put on at the Disneyland Hotel by Disney special events. This event was offered two nights, October 12th, and 13th of this year. This was a ticketed event at the same price as last year’s event at $150/head but that is where the similarities ended.
The event was to start at 8:00 PM, but knowing how these type of events tend to attract a lot of interest I made the decision to arrive about half an hour early. I left our room on the 11th floor of the Advetureland Tower at 7:20 with a quick stop into the E-ticket lounge to grab a bite and drink and made my way down to Trader Sam’s a few minutes later. Not quite sure where I should be going, I went around the lower walk area by Trader Sam’s, where I found an umbrella and podium set up with two CMs manning it and a line of people already waiting.
A few differences from last year… Last year was held on the patio of Trader Sam’s / Tangaroa Terrace. That was not to be the case tonight, but this is where we started our event. Lack of prior knowledge of where the venue was being held also lead to a slight issue with my camera gear selection. Not wanting to lug multiple lenses, I picked my 14-24mm ultra-wide zoom thinking we’d be in a compact area. Disney had apparently learned from last year, and with the increase in attendance, we’d be utilizing a different venue tonight. That was going to cause some challenges for my photography.. Oh well. The near-pitch black setting also made for some challenging shots, so please excuse the lack of quality in the shots. I learned my lesson and will always take at least two lens in the future.
I waited in the line to check-in, which actually ended up moving fairly quickly because people who just wanted a table at Trader Sam’s were in it. As they quickly peeled off when it became aware this was for a special event, I only had to wait a few seconds before I was at the front of the line. I gave them my name, number in party, and was asked about food allergies. The pleasantries over, I was handed a white envelope which contained two drink tickets and a self-parking voucher. I was told to head over towards Goofy’s Kitchen where the previous people who had checked in were waiting. Imagine my surprise when as I rounded the corner to venture over the bridge over the pools that I saw truly how many people were going to be at this event. Last year’s event was roughly 50 people in capacity, however this year each event was roughly a 200-seat capacity per night based upon a quick survey of number of seats per table (10) and number of tables (20). We were almost going to be at capacity tonight from the looks of things.
The event was to start at 8:00 PM, but knowing how these type of events tend to attract a lot of interest I made the decision to arrive about half an hour early. I left our room on the 11th floor of the Advetureland Tower at 7:20 with a quick stop into the E-ticket lounge to grab a bite and drink and made my way down to Trader Sam’s a few minutes later. Not quite sure where I should be going, I went around the lower walk area by Trader Sam’s, where I found an umbrella and podium set up with two CMs manning it and a line of people already waiting.
A few differences from last year… Last year was held on the patio of Trader Sam’s / Tangaroa Terrace. That was not to be the case tonight, but this is where we started our event. Lack of prior knowledge of where the venue was being held also lead to a slight issue with my camera gear selection. Not wanting to lug multiple lenses, I picked my 14-24mm ultra-wide zoom thinking we’d be in a compact area. Disney had apparently learned from last year, and with the increase in attendance, we’d be utilizing a different venue tonight. That was going to cause some challenges for my photography.. Oh well. The near-pitch black setting also made for some challenging shots, so please excuse the lack of quality in the shots. I learned my lesson and will always take at least two lens in the future.
I waited in the line to check-in, which actually ended up moving fairly quickly because people who just wanted a table at Trader Sam’s were in it. As they quickly peeled off when it became aware this was for a special event, I only had to wait a few seconds before I was at the front of the line. I gave them my name, number in party, and was asked about food allergies. The pleasantries over, I was handed a white envelope which contained two drink tickets and a self-parking voucher. I was told to head over towards Goofy’s Kitchen where the previous people who had checked in were waiting. Imagine my surprise when as I rounded the corner to venture over the bridge over the pools that I saw truly how many people were going to be at this event. Last year’s event was roughly 50 people in capacity, however this year each event was roughly a 200-seat capacity per night based upon a quick survey of number of seats per table (10) and number of tables (20). We were almost going to be at capacity tonight from the looks of things.
