MNSSHP 2015 - Be Prepared For Chaos

[PrincessNelly]

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

I think it would be cool if they did at Epcot, something similar to what they do at Christmas... Maybe each country tell a ghost story, legend, or fall story about their respective countries.
Maybe offer special event elsewhere like making the Chip & Dale campfire Halloween themed.. Or doing the villain event more than one night! Do a pumpkin hunt the same way they do the Easter egg hunt at Epcot. Ugh so many possibilities!

 

[kydisneyfans]

It will be interesting to see the update on party #2. I find it weird that only one party has sold out to this point. We went to a sold out party in 2013 and honestly didn't notice that many people, but character encounters are not at the top of the list and our touring plan is reverse of what many do.

 

[Dentam]

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.

How do they even get away with this? What if there was a fire or some other emergency that caused a stampede? I'm surprised I haven't heard of more injuries at WDW just from people being run over in crowds like this. Insane.

 

[Dentam]

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

This is definitely what they should do!

 

[JennyMP03]

I went to a MNSSHP in late September 2013, and it seemed unreasonably crowded even then. We enjoyed some elements of it, but we stayed until closing and only rode HM and met no characters. It would seem more worth the ticket price to me if there were shorter ride lines (I understand long lines to meet rare characters), but it didn't work out that way for us.

 

[LATJLP]

Went to the first Hallowern party last night and was completely caught off guard. The crowds were completely insane, wall to wall in some cases. I completely did not expect the first party of the season to look like a U2 concert. I have followed the DISboards religiously to try and strategize and make plans to get the most out of the party. I can safely say, after last night's experience, that you can throw those plans out the window. If the first party of the season was an indication of what the crowd levels are going to be for the rest of the party season, then you are in for a surprise.

Every bit of advice I have seen before regarding the number of tickets sold, day of the week to go, go earlier in the season to avoid crowds, etc. will not matter if every party is sold out, like I believe last night's was.

Yes, some ride times were pretty good (5 min for Space Mtn at 930pm and 10 min for Big Thunder). However, I noticed that the mine train was not running around 9 PM. As I walked by the back entrance, a cast member was escorting people off of the ride. Character lines were HUGE, many spilling out of the ropes, and parade viewing was difficult as the crowd in many places were 6-7 people deep. Candy lines for the first two hours were at least 100 people long. Example: at 730 pm the candy station at COP wound around the ride's walkway and stretched all the way past where the Monsters Dance party was taking place. Quite the time commitment for a handful of Tootsie Rolls. I didn't bother waiting for the second parade because we got out of there just before the fireworks started.

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".

First party of the season is always very crowded (not only the enthusiasts going, but also every Disney blogger was there last night).

Add to that the Hocus Pocus stars......

Plus....Disney has definitely increased the attendance limits for all their parties in the last year or two....I've been to sold out parties many times over the years, and each year it's definitely more and more crowded....so they must be selling more before deciding its sold out.

 

[GreatLakes]

I wonder if the proximity to a holiday and long weekend for a lot of the country inflated the opening day crowds more then they expected. Since a lot of people were off Monday adding Tuesday as a vacation day to attend the party would mean missing only one day of work/school where a normal Tuesday would mean missing two.

I always assumed they sold the same number of tickets as park capacity, whatever that is. I never thought they would only sell, say, 20,000 if they can have 40,000 in the park. I always just figured a "sold out" party had the same number of people as when the park is closed for capacity.

 

[alliecat523]

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

To me it sounds like people had certain expectations of the party and those expectations were not met. You have to take that into consideration when determining if it was "chaos" or otherwise. The first party was later in the month than previous years. They invited media and others to join. The "worst" reports were those of crowds 8-9 deep for parades which is typically what it's like during busier times anyway. To me that's normal. It's been clearly stated on these boards that the M&G lines are long and you have to get in line early so listening to complaints about waiting in line seems silly to me.

 

[lugnut33]

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

As a person going to 3 of the parties I believe your expectations are vastly different than most who are only going there once and want to get everything out of it that they can for the large amount of money they are spending.

 

[JOE DELL]

Sounds like they try to sell to capacity now. Not cool, takes the magic and "special" out of the event.

 

[mesaboy2]

I always assumed they sold the same number of tickets as park capacity, whatever that is. I never thought they would only sell, say, 20,000 if they can have 40,000 in the park. I always just figured a "sold out" party had the same number of people as when the park is closed for capacity.

MK park capacity is generally believed to be well above 75K, even before the Fantasyland Expansion. Most estimates of max number of party tickets sold in recent years land between 25K and 35K.

 

[JOE DELL]

As a person going to 3 of the parties I believe your expectations are vastly different than most who are only going there once and want to get everything out of it that they can for the large amount of money they are spending.

This, but also people are describing a park at or near capacity

 

[lugnut33]

Sounds like they try to sell to capacity now. Not cool, takes the magic and "special" out of the event.

I just went to the Disney website to look at the advertising for it and no where do I see them say this is a limited ticket event. They used to promote that quite heavily in the past, but now they don't. Even the video ad says nothing about limiting ticket sales.

 

[5Hfan]

This, but also people are describing a park at or near capacity

Not the whole park, but the hub/Main Street can only hold so many. On a reg day people are spread around far more, at the parties they just aren't.

 

[lugnut33]

This, but also people are describing a park at or near capacity

I clearly don't think they are selling 75K, but they do have reduced attractions operating and a lot of the focus of the events is on Main Street and in front of the Castle which is where people tend to congregate. While it might feel incredibly crowded in those two areas, back by the Tea Cups it might feel empty.

Treed by 5Hfan

 

[JOE DELL]

I just went to the Disney website to look at the advertising for it and no where do I see them say this is a limited ticket event. They used to promote that quite heavily in the past, but now they don't. Even the video ad says nothing about limiting ticket sales.

But it said sold out for the Oct 31 when you try and get tickets, so if this is true that there is no limit on tickets then yea there could be 75k + people

 

[mesaboy2]

I clearly don't think they are selling 75K, but they do have reduced attractions operating and a lot of the focus of the events is on Main Street and in front of the Castle which is where people tend to congregate. While it might feel incredibly crowded in those two areas, back by the Tea Cups it might feel empty.

Yep.

But it said sold out for the Oct 31 when you try and get tickets, so if this is true then yea there could be 75k + people

Uh-uh, no way.

 

[JOE DELL]

I clearly don't think they are selling 75K, but they do have reduced attractions operating and a lot of the focus of the events is on Main Street and in front of the Castle which is where people tend to congregate. While it might feel incredibly crowded in those two areas, back by the Tea Cups it might feel empty.

Treed by 5Hfan

Exactly why I said earlier that crowd levels are subjective. My idea of packed or "chaos" would be MK at midnight Dec 31st

 

[lugnut33]

But it said sold out for the Oct 31 when you try and get tickets, so if this is true then yea there could be 75k + people

I highly doubt they have the MK staffed for 75K during MNSSHP. There are a lot of attractions and restaurants closed during the party.

 

[McGreezy]

We are attending October 29th, and I'm absolutely terrified now. This is our first trip to WDW overall and we opted for the party as a way to get a little extra out of the trip, since so many loved it. I hope I hear better things about future parties, and ours isn't as much of a nightmare as this OP's seemed to be.