Mickey's Halloween Party Crowded?

[DisneylandDeeDee]

Hi everyone. Here's hoping I can get some advice from the fabulous folks here at the DisBoards.

We will be in Southern CA on the weekend of the 26th of October (business trip).

I am thinking about going to Mickey's Halloween Party on Friday night the 26th of October. I have been googling crowd levels for the parties and have found conflicting information. Some say that the party crowds are like a summer's day (very high). Others say it is manageable. Since I will be alone (sigh) I probably won't do many attractions. Also I won't be in line for character greets or candy. I will be there to soak up the atmosphere, see a parade and the fireworks and generally enjoy the park and decorations. But if it is way crowded, paying $$$ for a ticket to the party may not make good sense.

I can always go to the park during the day and leave at 7:00 when the party begins. Crowd calendars show that the crowd level is pretty low for the day of October 26th.

So here are my choices:

Spend the day at the park AND go to the Halloween Party

Spend the day at the park and leave at 7 p.m. no party

Go to the party, arrive at 4 and stay until 11 p.m.

And BTW, I will be driving from Palos Verdes.


Any thoughts? Thank you in advance!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

A sold out party date (reported to be anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 people) is nowhere near as crowded as a truly packed day at DL (think NYE). If you just want to enjoy the atmosphere, fireworks, and parade -- then go! Even in the relative crowds (and that date may sell out, since it is the last Friday before Halloween), you can still have a great time. Just relax and go with the party flow and the crowds won't be a problem.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

The party this past Friday was sold out. We were there and had no trouble handling the crowds.

It didnt seem crowded to us at all. We did wait to see the second parade. We walked up and got abench right before it started.

The Fireworks were probably the most corwded point in the evening. Other than that it was better than any summer day we have gone to DL (and we go a lot, ).

 

[laura&fam]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but how long do you need to wait to get good (not necessarily the very best) spots for the fireworks?

 

[DisneylandDeeDee]

Bump

 

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,

Everything is relative. What may be crowded to one may be slight to another. I personally thought last Friday's sold out party to be very congested. The TorT lines were long and the ropes were very confusing with the lack of light. Most especially for TL and FL. The day crowd didn't depart until after the party started.

Recommend to hit the rides first, enjoy the fireworks west of the hub and TOT after the fireworks. CC, AL and Frontierland should be easier to manage at the start of the party.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but how long do you need to wait to get good (not necessarily the very best) spots for the fireworks?

We walked to the hub at 9. The fireworks started at 9:30. We got a good spot for us. We could see the part where Jack appears amd where zero flies but part of the castle was blocked.

It really started filling up very fast after we got there.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I think the lines for the rides were not that long on Friday. So if that was ones focus, it would seem to be not crowded.

The longest lines were for the characters, esp. Mickey and Minnie (they were together). And Jack Skellington. They were very long. There were also some very long lines for candy, but if you see that, just move along to the next candy station....

I was bummed about the character lines though.

 

[DisneylandDeeDee]

Thank you so much for your replies. Makes it easier to decide what to do!

 

[nbliss]

We went to a Tuesday night party last year. We spend the day at DL until about 3pm (2 adults, 8year old, 5 year old), then went to the hotel to change and rest for about two hours. We then headed over to the party and stayed until it ended. Kids were tired at the end, but no regrets staying til the end. Treat trail lines are long, but they move really fast.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

its definitely not going to be like a summer day for sure...but like some other posters said, you will have a lot of traffic especially in areas like AL and TL..as they are small anyway and it can get rough manuevering through the area...and also MS will be pretty packed for the fireworks and parade but I think its definitely worth it...with the exception of the very first party, I have done it every year and I love it!!!

Don't mean to hijack the thread but how long do you need to wait to get good (not necessarily the very best) spots for the fireworks?

ok well to me this question has to also accompany what you mean by good area because everyone has a different idea for what they consider good area...for me, I want the best and Im willing to wait..so usually I go around 7pm and sit near the hub when they pull out the benches and I wait..I do the same for F! too

 

[MrsPinup]

We went to a Tuesday night party last year. We spend the day at DL until about 3pm (2 adults, 8year old, 5 year old), then went to the hotel to change and rest for about two hours. We then headed over to the party and stayed until it ended. Kids were tired at the end, but no regrets staying til the end. Treat trail lines are long, but they move really fast.

In 2010, when we stayed till the end and had several CM dump entire trays of candy into our bags...it was AWESOME!!!! I don't know why they didn't save it until the next night, but I am not sayin no to free candy!