Mickey Halloween party opening night & Visa Discount

[2Brave]

Long time reader of the forums and first time posting. Would like some advice on 2 questions regarding the Mickey Halloween Party.

My family hasn't been to DLR for some and are going the end of Sept 2012. Our last day in the park is 9/28 and are thinking of going to the Party but concerned with this being the first party it will be very crowded especially with it being Friday night. There are 6 in our family, kids ages 11,9,6,5. wondering if it will be worth the cost. We are spending the entire week in the park. Never been during this season. Just hesistant with the cost of $324 for one night. Any thoughts would be great.

We were actually planning on going until finding out the cost today and now my wife isn't so sure. Need some great advice for my wife to read to see it will be worth it.

Also we have the Chase Disney Visa card (not the premier) will this card save us on the MHP tickets at all? If so how do you get the discount?

Thanks for the thought. This site is such a great resource.

 

[skiingfast]

I would strongly suggest going to a party.

The visa doesn't help with the tickets.

You should prepurchase the party tickets because the opening party sells out faster than most. See what the cost is when the pricing information comes out later this week or next. It may be cheaper to just go to the party on Friday, than having a ticket to go to the parks that day. With the party ticket you can enter at 4pm and the party for ticketed guest only starts at 7pm. The party is not totally crowded nor are Fridays. Friday will be busy in the late afternoon and very busy in the evening, DCA will be very busy as well and especially when MHP is happing in DL. Inside the party most trick or treat stations are busy, the HM and SM with overlays are busy too. The Hub and Main Street are super crowded as people wait longer for the parade and pack in for the special fireworks too.

 

[Girimama33]

According to posts on the Halloween Superthread, they have offered discounts for the Halloween Party for AP holders, DVC members and Disney Visa Card members in previous years. As of yet, there is no mention of any discounts other than AP holders for the 2012 dates.

 

[2Brave]

thanks for the thoughts. Was really hoping crowds for the party and that week are not to bad but not so sure now. Will just have to go with the flow.

We went in early June a few years ago. Anyone know how crowds in late Sept compare to early June?

 

[interstate70s]

We are debating the same thing in our family. We 're going the 26th through the 1st so the party will be in the middle of our trip. Not sure I want to pay 200 plus for my family to trick or treat and stand in long lines for characters. The fireworks show is the only thing that seems appealling in the reviews, but I 'm not I huge fan of staking out a spot hours in advance especially if I 'm paying extra for those hours. Always seems like our kids get stuck behind 6'5 guy who needles in at the last minute. We 're also considering having some down time that day in the hotel(GC), going to Universal that day, or doing A couple of character meals for the price. Maybe there is something I 'm missing that justifies the cost? ?

 

[Girimama33]

thanks for the thoughts. Was really hoping crowds for the party and that week are not to bad but not so sure now. Will just have to go with the flow.

We went in early June a few years ago. Anyone know how crowds in late Sept compare to early June?

Should be less crowded during September during the weekdays vs. June. Weekends are usually busy throughout the year.

 

[2Brave]

We are debating the same thing in our family. We 're going the 26th through the 1st so the party will be in the middle of our trip. Not sure I want to pay 200 plus for my family to trick or treat and stand in long lines for characters. The fireworks show is the only thing that seems appealling in the reviews, but I 'm not I huge fan of staking out a spot hours in advance especially if I 'm paying extra for those hours. Always seems like our kids get stuck behind 6'5 guy who needles in at the last minute. We 're also considering having some down time that day in the hotel(GC), going to Universal that day, or doing A couple of character meals for the price. Maybe there is something I 'm missing that justifies the cost? ?

Can buy a lot of candy for $200+ but can't put price tag on the experience. My kids want the candy of course but I want to experience the fireworks and the event. But hard to say if worth the cost. If can get discounted prices then we will likely go.

Mentioned in another thread that someone thought the max tickets sold are around 20,000. That seems like a lot if they all pack in for the fireworks

 

[chrissiecutie]

I've been debating about the Halloween party for some time now too. What we've decided is that instead of buying our usual 3 day PH tix, we will just buy 2 day 1 per day tix AND the Halloween party tix. This makes the price a little more affordable and we still get our 3 park days.

Since this will be DS's 4th trip in 4 years, the Halloween party will be a nice change of pace. My focus for the party is NOT the candy (although I know DS will want to do some trick or treating) but rather the fireworks and the parade. I've heard that the Space Mtn overlay is NOT a party exclusive thing, so we will try and see that during our other DL day instead of battling the party crowds. Same with HM.

I'm more excited for the experience. I've been to DLR once during Halloweentime and that was years ago & they didn't have many decorations. In fact, it was the 1st year of the HM overlay...So our goal is to see the things exclusive to party ie. the parade & fireworks and soak in the experience. Plus, DS is excited to wear a costume.

And if we decide after the party, that it just wasn't worth the cost...I will still be glad to have done it. Especially since DS is so young, I know that it will be a fun event for him.

 

[traveln4fun]

I love all things Disney and have had an annual pass since 1996 and I've done the Halloween party in both parks and would recommend Universal over the party for the money. We no longer go because it is a lot of money for a bag of reg. candy. You can enjoy a full day of universal for just a little more. Enjoy whichever you choose!

 

[rosie2283]

We did the Halloween Party last year on the 2nd friday. We ended our trip with it. The party was not sold out. From 4-7 the parks were crowded. We went in just shortly after 4. Found a place to eat. Watched a show that was going on and waited for the crowds to dissapate. Haunted mansion lines were long as was space mountain. Other than that we were walking on all the rest of the rides. I didn't find the trick-or treat lines to be long. In fact I am sure we walked up and straight through. They have them set up so they run fairly efficiently. The character line-ups were long, but our kids were character'd out by that time and we were using the evening to take in everything that we wanted to do that one last time. We staked out a parade spot about 45 minutes before. Sat down on the sidewalk in front of the photo place on mainstreet. When the parade was over, we went to Star Tours (one more time!), walked out of star tours to mainstreet and stood and watched the fireworks. The halloween party was an absolute blast! We loved it and found it was a great day to end off our week at Disneyland. I would recommend not missing it!

 

[2Brave]

Thanks so much for the post and thoughts. We decided to go and tonight were able to purchase the tickets.

We have the regular (not premier) Disney Visa and got the discounted $46 rate.