MNSSHP 2015 - Be Prepared For Chaos

[CinderElsa]

Wait a minute, how many blogger tickets do you think they gave away? Are we talking an extra 5000 people because of this? Personally I wouldn't expect the number to be more than 500 and a park that routinely operates at 50K in attendance per day should be able to handle that.

Media + Disney Parks Blog + the bloggers could have easily put another 2K+ people in the park last night.

I should add that I think it's important for these folks to be able to go & get reviews up, as we all benefit from that, but the total number of tickets available to the general public should have been reduced accordingly, and I don't think it was.

 

[siskaren]

Every guide I read, Kenny the pirate and such, said the first party was expected to be one of the 3 least crowded. I think those guys miscalculated.

As far as I know, this is the first time the first MNSSHP has sold out. Josh at easyWDW has done reports from the first party where you can see from his pictures that the crowds were low. I'm wondering if the new Hocus Pocus show had anything to with it selling out this year.

Any chance they'll change the number of tickets being sold for future parties after learning from this experience??? We're going on 10/29 and I fear it will sell out too.

I would doubt it, at least for this year. And I wouldn't be surprised if your party date sells out since it's one of the last ones.

 

[lugnut33]

Perhaps they gave away 500 blogger tickets but they could bring their families. That would quickly add up.

I would love to know if Disney gave away free family tickets. I highly doubt they would do that.

 

[verleniahall]

DI dno't knwo if ayone else knows this, but even if a party is "sold out" to the public, military can still get tickets to most of the sold out nights - they have about 50-75 military tickets reserved for each party night on top of regular admission - so you could have had a ton of last minute military tickets sold as well

 

[avic77]

Next week our schools are closed Wednesday for Yom Kippur and Thursday for Eid-al-Adha. It wouldn't surprise me if parents pulled their kids from school on Friday to make a long weekend. There's a five day trip right there.

Wow back to back long weekend holidays at the beginning of the school year.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I would love to know if Disney gave away free family tickets. I highly doubt they would do that.

Someone posted above that she saw a picture of the pass on Instagram:

I suspect it was sold out AND they sent the media along with all the bloggers & their families, without those folks needing tickets. (I saw someone post a photo of the bloggers' pass on Instagram.)

That would make it the most crowded party of the year... even worse than Halloween night.

 

[alliecat523]

I think it's hard to judge future MNSSHP nights based off of one (and the first one at that) night. I'm interested to see what the next few parties look like before I prepare for chaos.

 

[lugnut33]

Someone posted above that she saw a picture of the pass on Instagram:

Yeah, but it was a media pass. I'm saying I really doubt Disney would give passes for the family members of the media.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Yeah, but it was a media pass. I'm saying I really doubt Disney would give passes for the family members of the media.

They consider bloggers "media" now?

LOL.

Walter Cronkite would be rolling in his grave.

I wonder if anyone will fess up if they were allowed to bring family. I know Kenny the Pirate often has his kids along, so maybe he'll say something. I thought that bloggers had to disclose any sponsorships they receive.

 

[ELSA711]

The past few years it seems to have gotten worse IMO.
Lines were really long for rides and candy stations last year. We did get a good spot for parade but we sat early for it.

I opted to not buy tickets this year and I know I'll get back lash from my kids but they don't even know we are going yet. Going to tell them when they get home from school that day.

We still bought them surprise costumes and treat bags. I plan to give them each $30 and they can fill their bags at the Confectionary on Main Street. Hopefully they will be ok with that

 

[winterface]

Was there last night and it was complete chaos, I had never seen something like that before.

At one point nobody could even move in the streets, it was just people shoulder to shoulder completely blocked, For Parade viewing, we saw people 8 or 9 people back trying to see the parade, it was crazy.

Lines for food were out the doors and wrapped around the buildings, a lot of the quick carts were closed so you couldn't even get a snack or water.

We ended up only going to 3 of the trick or treat candy spots, the rest had lines that were easily an hour long, just to get a handful of generic candy!

We didn't end up even going on any rides or seeing any characters, it was just total madness. Staff was scrambling, you could hear on the walkie talkies them trying to figure out how to work things but there was way too many people.

 

[JOE DELL]

Well everyones idea of busy or crazy is different so are we talking new years, 4th of July, labor day type crowds?

 

[lugnut33]

I'd love to know how many tickets they are selling now. I know back in 2010 they were selling 25K (I had a pretty reliable source at that time), which was thousands more than they were selling just a few years prior to that. Just a total guess on my part but I'm suspecting 35K.

 

[JaxDad]

Was there last night and it was complete chaos, I had never seen something like that before.

At one point nobody could even move in the streets, it was just people shoulder to shoulder completely blocked, For Parade viewing, we saw people 8 or 9 people back trying to see the parade, it was crazy.

Lines for food were out the doors and wrapped around the buildings, a lot of the quick carts were closed so you couldn't even get a snack or water.

We ended up only going to 3 of the trick or treat candy spots, the rest had lines that were easily an hour long, just to get a handful of generic candy!

We didn't end up even going on any rides or seeing any characters, it was just total madness. Staff was scrambling, you could hear on the walkie talkies them trying to figure out how to work things but there was way too many people.

Wow. That is a grim report.

 

[JOE DELL]

I'd love to know how many tickets they are selling now. I know back in 2010 they were selling 25K (I had a pretty reliable source at that time), which was thousands more than they were selling just a few years prior to that. Just a total guess on my part but I'm suspecting 35K.

Would have to be a lot more than that for the crowds we're hearing about

 

[PrincessNelly]

I don't blame people for going. I totally blame Disney for selling way too many tickets for these events and turning what used to be a pleasurable experience into an utter mess. It doesn't help that the first party this year started two weeks later than the first party last year. I'm sure that has something to do with the sea of humanity at the Magic Kingdom last night.

I am not saying that you shouldn't go, but what I am saying is don't expect the Halloween parties this year to be as they have been in previous Septembers. I will not waste another penny on these "special events".

I really don't think the start has much to do with it. As last year was the first time they tried starting MNSSHP earlier than the second week of sept. I think they just increased the number of tickets available.

You would think that they would spread out the halloween season across all the parks the way they do Christmas events.

 

[JOE DELL]

I really don't think the start has much to do with it. As last year was the first time they tried starting MNSSHP earlier than the second week of sept. I think they just increased the number of tickets available.

You would think that they would spread out the halloween season across all the parks the way they do Christmas events.

Now that would be cool, limited number of tickets and a park hop trick or treat party, at least between MK and Epcot

 

[godders]

Was there last night and it was complete chaos, I had never seen something like that before.

At one point nobody could even move in the streets, it was just people shoulder to shoulder completely blocked, For Parade viewing, we saw people 8 or 9 people back trying to see the parade, it was crazy.

Lines for food were out the doors and wrapped around the buildings, a lot of the quick carts were closed so you couldn't even get a snack or water.

We ended up only going to 3 of the trick or treat candy spots, the rest had lines that were easily an hour long, just to get a handful of generic candy!

We didn't end up even going on any rides or seeing any characters, it was just total madness. Staff was scrambling, you could hear on the walkie talkies them trying to figure out how to work things but there was way too many people.

From that report it sounds like we were at completely different parties lol

 

[JennyDrake]

This was exactly my experience at MVMCP last November. It was PACKED and not enjoyable. Wait times for rides were longer then they were in the afternoon! Even at 10pm, ride lines were over 30min for all the major rides! Lines for characters were insane and it was 6-8 people deep for the parade so it was impossible to see anything at all. Like you, I will never again purchase a ticket for one of these parties. Everyone says they limit the tickets they sell, well it sounds like they're selling double the "limited" tickets they used to sell. I'm glad I checked it off my Disney bucket list, but never again!!

My feelings exactly. I've been to 4 MVMCP (2 as a guest of someone else) and 3/4 were PACKED and miserable. All were before December 16th. I waited 45 minutes at a CS for a drink. Waited 30 min in line at Cosmic Rays just to order.

 

[winterface]

From that report it sounds like we were at completely different parties lol

I think judging from all the other posts about the crowds you are in the minority thinking the event wasn't over crowded.