MGM to Capacity on Sat Night

[disneyw/kids]

We went to MGM on sat night 12/11 to see the Osborne lights and when we arrived at 6 pm they were turning people away saying that MGM was at capacity and only letting people in as others were coming out, but the line was passed the security bag check so we left to go to MK which was not as crowded except the parade route. We were not able to fit the lights in earlier in the week because the night we wanted to go we were all sick with the stomach virus so we decided to give it a try on Sat. For those of you going this week fit them in on a week night don't wait till Fri or Sat a lot of locals are going to MGM to see them then.

 

[babieemelly]

I've heard on several different boards that MGM was crazy this past Sat. night!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Yup, I can tell you from first hand experience that it was packed on Saturday night. We had the Fantasmic dinner package booked for 4pm at Mama Melrose's and we arrived at MGM at about 3:00. Normally I don't bring a bag into the parks, but I wanted to bring in jackets and mittens so I was stuck with carrying my backpack. The line for the baggage check was ridiculously long and they had only two people working. I sent DH ahead with the kids so that they could get fast passes for Rock-n-roller coaster. By the time I finally got through the line, they had already walked down to the fast pass machine and were on their way back to the entrance. Of course the sidewalks were jammed at this point because of the parade. We finally made it through and arrived just in time to check in for our ps. I can't tell you how many people we saw asking the hostess if they were taking walk ups. She said they were completely booked for the night. We walked against the huge crowd that was there for the Osborne Lights and got to RnR at about 5:35. There was a 55 minute stand by wait. Good thing for fast pass.

Tammi

 

[TnTsParty]

Yes I heard it was very busy Saturday night - my sister was there on told me how bad the bag check was - I am not sure what time they got there but they said both the bag check line and the line to get in the park were crazy (actually she said the line for the to get in was all the way past the ticket booths!! I went last night and it was not crowded at all - I actually ended up having to go through it twice - I wanted to get the special passholder pin for the Spectacle of Lights but they only had them at Youse Guys so back through I had to go to get my pin. But it was so worth it - I think the lights were AWESOME. I missed the nativity scene the first time through and cought it the 2nd.

I would highly suggest going on a weeknight (or Sunday night ) if you are going. I think it also helped that the MVMCP was going on at MK last night also.

 

[WDWLinda]

Yes...it was a zoo. We got to MGM around 2:30 on Sat. and we all said we'd never seen it so crowded. We skipped Fantasmic and hit the Osborne lights around 7:00. The line went down the street, up and around the circle and started outside of Star Tours. It moved pretty quickly, but it was chaos trying to figure out where the line ended - we joked that you had to wait in line to find out where the end of the line was. I opted for Sat. since the park closed at 7:00 on Fri. due to a Pop Warner event. Should have gone then anyway!

~Linda

 

[riggins]

Boy, am I glad it wasn't just me. We had PSs at CG and decided to cancel them to go see the Osborne Lights. We showed up at MGM about 5:30 and were shocked. I've never seen a crowd like it ever before at any Disney park, at any time of the year. We ended up going over to Epcot instead. I was so bummed. If I'd have known, I'd have enjoyed a wonderful CG meal instead. Oh well. I'll know better next year.

 

[capthooksmom]

Yup, I can tell you from first hand experience that it was packed on Saturday night. We had the Fantasmic dinner package booked for 4pm at Mama Melrose's and we arrived at MGM at about 3:00. Normally I don't bring a bag into the parks, but I wanted to bring in jackets and mittens so I was stuck with carrying my backpack. The line for the baggage check was ridiculously long and they had only two people working. I sent DH ahead with the kids so that they could get fast passes for Rock-n-roller coaster. By the time I finally got through the line, they had already walked down to the fast pass machine and were on their way back to the entrance. Of course the sidewalks were jammed at this point because of the parade. We finally made it through and arrived just in time to check in for our ps. I can't tell you how many people we saw asking the hostess if they were taking walk ups. She said they were completely booked for the night. We walked against the huge crowd that was there for the Osborne Lights and got to RnR at about 5:35. There was a 55 minute stand by wait. Good thing for fast pass.

Tammi

We were at Mama Melrose's at 4pm Sat. night too! The food was terrible, but that's for another thread. We were surprised when we heard they were turning people away. We spent the day there and didn't really have problems with the crowds except for trying to view the Osborne lights. We went after Fantasmic and walked forever to find the end of the line for the lights. We almost left but I'm glad we didn't. The line moved really fast. We also got the second bus back to POFQ. I guess we just got lucky in avoiding the crowds.

 

[TammiMcMan]

We were at Mama Melrose's at 4pm Sat. night too! The food was terrible, but that's for another thread. We were surprised when we heard they were turning people away. We spent the day there and didn't really have problems with the crowds except for trying to view the Osborne lights. We went after Fantasmic and walked forever to find the end of the line for the lights. We almost left but I'm glad we didn't. The line moved really fast. We also got the second bus back to POFQ. I guess we just got lucky in avoiding the crowds.

I'm so sorry that you had a bad meal that night. Our food was very good. We ordered the grilled chicken flatbread, I had the steak, DH had the Italian sausage dish, DS had the chicken in the cream sauce and DD had the chicken parm. For dessert, we did chocolate gelato, molten chocolate cake and ricotta cake. Ken was our server. Were you near the shrieking baby? It's funny, because when we left Mama Melroses, it was close to 5:30. I got a little mixed up and we somehow ended up inside the Osborne Lights display, just as they were closing it off. Without waiting in any lines, we magically made it right onto the street.

Tammi

 

[All Aboard]

WOW! At 5:30p, we were leaving Epcot. I asked my daughter if she wanted to go see the lights one more time or go to the Magic Kingdom. She chose MK, which was great that night, btw. I had no idea the Studios were so packed. Epcot was great that day.

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

yep, I got caught in that mob too. Waited for an hour just to get into the park. SAw the line for the lights and turned around and walked out......just wasn't worth standing in that huge line, I've seen them beofre and will see them again and was by self, besides I just had a t-shirt on and was freezing!!

 

[n2mm]

Count us in too. We were also there. Took us more than 30 minutes to get through the turnstiles. I kept saying that if Christmas is worse than this, I never want to be there then. I just couldn't believe it. We go to WDW in the middle of July and have never seen it like that before. We had a 7:30 PS for the 50s PT, so caught the lights too. We didn't even know there was a line. We were at the prop shop and just wandered into the lighted area. It didn't even occur to us that there was a line. Then when we left, we saw the huge line. I hope I am never in WDW when that type of crowd occurs again. I avoid all holidays, so was shocked. When we went to the 50sPT, they were turning folks away if they did not have a PS.

 

[capthooksmom]

I'm so sorry that you had a bad meal that night. Our food was very good. We ordered the grilled chicken flatbread, I had the steak, DH had the Italian sausage dish, DS had the chicken in the cream sauce and DD had the chicken parm. For dessert, we did chocolate gelato, molten chocolate cake and ricotta cake. Ken was our server. Were you near the shrieking baby? It's funny, because when we left Mama Melroses, it was close to 5:30. I got a little mixed up and we somehow ended up inside the Osborne Lights display, just as they were closing it off. Without waiting in any lines, we magically made it right onto the street.

Tammi

Hey, that was my shrieking baby!! Just kidding. I don't remember hearing a baby. We were sitting close to the front. When you walked past the hostess stand and turned right, we were the second booth, I think.
We had the four cheese flatbread which wasn't bad. The salad tasted like it had bleu cheese on it and neither of us are fans of bleu cheese. Feta, asiago or mozzerella would have been better. The entrees were terrible, though. DH had the veal and I had the wood fired chicken pipette. I was going to have the steak but our server (don't recall his name) said the chicken pipette was better. It was very bland, and had almost no artichokes. It also didn't have any of the roasted red peppers in the description. It had the potential to be good but just didn't measure up. We have this problem sometimes when we travel, though. We're from Louisiana and it's hard to get a bad meal here. La. cooking is very flavorful. When we eat out of state, we are sometimes disappointed. I had heard so many good things about Mama Melroses and was expecting a lot more, especially for the price. DS's noodles were good, though. He originally asked for the cheese sauce, then changed his mind after it came (he's 3) so our server brought us a bowl of spaghetti sauce which we mixed with the cheese sauce. It was actually a very good mixture.
Dessert was good, though. DH had the tiramisu and I had the cheesecake. DS had vanilla ice cream.