Mnsshp

It just depends on what you want to do.


The families with kids tend to be around from 4 - 9 pm. They like to collect candy, see the characters and they usually stay for the 1st parade. You could maximise time on rides; if the wait times are low.

There are some characters that are just not usually available for MNSSHP. Especially the 7 dwarves. So, if you want to meet them, line up early. And I mean early. The queue for the dwarves can get massive.

I found that most of the adults that dressed up were very happy to have their picture taken, if you asked nicely. Crowd watching was something that was an unexpected pleasure as the costumes were just so good.

If you decide to see the 1st parade, then you might want to pick your spot early and mark out territory. If you choose to be at main street or the hub, people start marking out spots at least 90 minutes beforehand. But most of these people stay for the parade AND the fireworks. So, depending on where you want to see the fireworks, you might have to mark out a spot.

It is easier to find a spot for the second parade; but again around the Hub and Main Street is busy.

Check out the map for where the candy spots are. There will be a couple of places where there will be clusters of candy barrels. Those will be good places to hit later in the night to collect candy. The CM are usually a little bit more generous with their handfuls closer towards the end.

It was definitely easier to get on rides later in the night....but sadly, not for Peter Pan nor Dumbo. PoTC was walk on, as was Space as was Buzz Lightyear.

Have fun!
 
We went last year and I had already decided that we would not try to have a photo with the 7 dwarfes as I'd have to sacrifice a lot of time to do that. So, we entered at 4pm and, while the park was still open to the public, we rode a few rides and had dinner. Then, once the party started at 7, we went around to all the trick or treat stations and loaded up with candy. During this time we also rode rides as we went past them. I knew not to try and watch the first parade due to it being so crowded so, while that was on, we rode Big Thunder and Splash Mountain a couple of times each with no queues. The trick or treat stations also had no queues during that time too. Later, we easily got a great spot to watch the fireworks in front of the castle. Then we watched the second parade that was much less crowded. I guess we lasted until about 11 pm or so - can't remember now. We also got quite a few Photopass photos taken during the party. All in all, we had a great time and had enough candy to last the remaining two weeks of our holiday !! :rotfl2:
 

This is great to hear. We will be going to wdw for our first visit next sept and i am hoping to include mnsshp while we are there. We go on a 7 night cruise immediately after so the candy will definitely come in handy. these tips will help us maximise our time there.
 
This is great to hear. We will be going to wdw for our first visit next sept and i am hoping to include mnsshp while we are there. We go on a 7 night cruise immediately after so the candy will definitely come in handy. these tips will help us maximise our time there.

Yes, we had a week between MNSSHP/WDW and our cruise but we still had plenty of candy by the time of the cruise!!
 
Travel Mum said:
We went last year and I had already decided that we would not try to have a photo with the 7 dwarfes as I'd have to sacrifice a lot of time to do that. So, we entered at 4pm and, while the park was still open to the public, we rode a few rides and had dinner. Then, once the party started at 7, we went around to all the trick or treat stations and loaded up with candy. During this time we also rode rides as we went past them. I knew not to try and watch the first parade due to it being so crowded so, while that was on, we rode Big Thunder and Splash Mountain a couple of times each with no queues. The trick or treat stations also had no queues during that time too. Later, we easily got a great spot to watch the fireworks in front of the castle. Then we watched the second parade that was much less crowded. I guess we lasted until about 11 pm or so - can't remember now. We also got quite a few Photopass photos taken during the party. All in all, we had a great time and had enough candy to last the remaining two weeks of our holiday !! :rotfl2:

We followed a similar plan last year and it worked really well. DD coped well with the long day/late night but DS was pretty zonked. The following day we altered our plans to have a "take it easy" day at BB.
 
We have done the party twice - 2008 in the rain and 2011 in dry weather!

My tips are -

Sleep in that morning or have a midday nap. Very important for adults and kids.

Wear costumes that do not have additional accessories. Simple and non-rigid, easy to move about in so you will not be blocking other guests' view or constantly checking to see if you have lost anything.

Eat dinner outside the park before 7pm. We chose 1900 Park Fare (so we would have a professional photo of our group of 15px dressed up for halloween), our ADR was 4pm.

Line up for the 7 dwarves at the END of the night, like the last 40mins! Then after that go and have photos taken at Cinderella's carriage near HM.

Forget rides you can do them with your regular park passes. Seek out activities that are special for MNSSHP like the Villians Dance party (okay ride Buzz Lightyear if you must just because the line in short). Look for the Mad Hatter AND Alice near the Tea cups - this is a hard to get twosome. Line up as soon as you see them - MH leaves when the Queen of Hearts requests to see him for the parade...

Take the opportunity to greet Mickey AND Minnie together in their halloween costumes whilst the first parade is running (all the little kids will be watching the parade and mainly adults who move quicker through M&Gs will be there).

Stake out a spot for the second parade - we prefer corners so we can see floats as they turn to face us - Liberty Square is our spot at MK.

Accept the candy bag at the entry turnstiles but after each walk thru the candy stops empty your stash into another bag in your backpack. The CMs seem to give more when you have none-lol. Share generously with the kids by the pool tomorrow!

Take lots of photos and pose for every photopass photographer so you have maximum stuff for the scrapbook!

Plan a lazy day the next day too. We usually have a late morning of shopping then pool time and dinner with an early night to get back into our commando touring mode the next day! Have fun - Disney is truly a special place to be a kid again.
 
Costume ideas?

DH is now convinced that we're dressing up! This is going to be fun!!:thumbsup2
 
yeah, i am sure i will regret it, but we are jam packing the day of mnsshp and the day after. our plan is to do rd at DHS, then back to the hotel to rest and change, then head to mnsshp around 5pm. we plan to stay until midnight. then we're headed to ak for rd the next day. oh yeah, we'll be tired, but i can sleep when i get home. :rotfl:
 
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its really hot, so we just opted witih hats & tail for me:rotfl2:

humidity was 100%.......
 
Thanks for the great tips!
We are going for the first time this year, just bought our tickets online for the 30th :)
Baby girl is going as a pumpkin (has the cutest little costume!) and my partner and I are dressing as farmers (who grew the pumpkin - yes we are corny lol). Looking forward to it!!!
 
Love all the costume ideas! I've discussed it with my boys and they aren't remotely interested in dressing up, although DS says he'll wear his Batman t-shirt. I'm hoping to get some ears , that 100% humidity scares me!!

Andona

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards
 
my group want to do it, but i can't find any costume to inspire me that won't have me sweating to death within 2 minutes.. all the costumes i've found look lovely, but there is no way i'm wearing anything made of satin or velvet or long sleeves or long skirts in the middle of september in florida.
 
my group want to do it, but i can't find any costume to inspire me that won't have me sweating to death within 2 minutes.. all the costumes i've found look lovely, but there is no way i'm wearing anything made of satin or velvet or long sleeves or long skirts in the middle of september in florida.

My family feels the same way. We found great tshirts on the Disney Store website for Halloween, and will be wearing those instead of a full costume. After looking at this thread, I think I will consider a small head dress of some kind as well.
 
I am sure these were in the parks when we were there last week. Also some of the rides were starting to get themed up ( haunted mansion. Space mountain). All the Disney shops ( on and off site) had all the Halloween gear in them. Universal also doing similar.
 





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