Oct. 8th MNSSHP Review/Crowd Report

[momofhzb]

We attended our first MNSSHP last Friday, and thought it was excellent. We arrived at 4:30, and went right in. We were able to get in about 5 rides before 7pm. As it got closer to 6pm, the park emptied out, and we were able to walk on several rides in Fantasyland. Splash Mountain had a 25 minute wait around 5pm, but we were told to come back after 7 and it would be much better. This turned out to be very true, and we walked on later. Overall, we waited no longer than 10 minutes for any ride, and were able to ride several rides multiple times. Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain,Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Snow White, Carousel, Winnie the Pooh were all walk ons. After the first parade Big Thunder Mountain did have a line, however we were able to walk on 2 times in a row during the parade. The only real lines where for the characters. Candy and picture lines took less than a minute. We found it not to be overly crowded, and was a wonderful time. According to a CM 19,000 can come to a MNSSHP at sell out level. We were also told 33,000 were in the park the day of the 8th. Several CM's told us how much shorter rides where that night than during the day. I wouldn't worry at all about attending a sold out party, they are easy to get around and a ton of fun.

 

[inky dinky doo]

Welcome to the DISboards and thanks for the wonderful review. It sounds like you had a great time. It's amazing how well Disney handles big crowds, isn't it? Did you all dress up? We're going to the party on the 28th, and I can't wait. My granddaughter is going as Lilo; the rest of us are her "cousins."

Pat

11 days and counting . . . again!

 

[SamanthaL]

Welcome and thanks! We are about to head over there ourselves in about 11 days. (but whose counting?)

 

[xyymom]

We were there on the 8th and the 3rd. The 8th was much more crowded than the 3rd, but still manageable I thought The 8th had Cindy's coach out in Ariel's Grotto, but it wasn't there on the 3rd which was a treat. We also saw Snow White & the 7 dwarfs in Fantasyland on the 8th, but not on the 3rd.

We got to the party later on the 8th, and I really recommend getting there early, like between 4&5. On the 3rd, arriving at 4:30 we were able to do so many rides and it seemed empty in the parks, no lines anywhere. On the 8th, we arrived just before 6pm and they made us go straight to Tomorrowland, we couldn't leave, there were CMs everywhere there was a spot to leave We had already done all the rides we wanted in there, so we just sat around waiting. The lines for those rides were really long too.

 

[momofhzb]

Our son dressed up as Yu-Gi-Oh, and our daughter was princess themed. We didn't have any trouble getting on rides between 6 and 7 in tomorrowland. Space Mountain was a walk on for us, and the race track ride was a 10 minute wait, candy line was less than 1 minute. Maybe just good timing. I am sure that the 8th was more crowded than the 3rd, but I still think it was much much better than during the day or other peak times. For us, waits of under 10 and multiple walk ons was a great experience.

 

[kilee]

They didn't have Cinderella's Coach out for the 10/1 party either. However we seen it last year on the 10/31 party. I was a little disappointed it wasn't out this time around.

 

[maciec]

How hot was it at night? I am still debating on dressing ds (1) up in a costume. I really want him to go as Stitch, but other posters on the DIS thought that a costume like that would be too hot.

An opinions?

Thanks!

 

[don8life]

Thanks for the report. I was worried about the 31st. But I guess it won't be to bad!
WHO Cares, I can't wait!!!

 

[xyymom]

maciec

Both nights we were there it was still hot. My boys were wearing pants (Peter Pan and a Pirate) and were hot. My dd was much more comfortable, she was Tinkerbelle. I saw a few kids in plush costumes and thought they must be roasting. However, I think the temperatures cooled this week a bit.

 

[maciec]

Thanks for the response.

I think that I am going to end up just getting him a cheap clown costume off of Ebay and spray painting his hair purple. I think that the clown costumes are pretty light weight.

I was looking at the upcoming forcast and one day had the humidity at 78% with an 80 degree temp. Sticky weather.

 

[GaRain]

I have to say....if your night is sold out like it was on the 8th - be prepared!
I have read so many good things and was looking forward to this so much. What a dissappointment. We left the park for dinner and when coming back, the lines to get in where UNREAL! I have never seen those kinds of lines just to get in! And it just got worse from there. I never could find the picture places. The trick or treat lines were so long. We heard the 2nd parade would be less crowded - not in this case!!!
The girls only ended up with like 5 pieces of candy - they only gave 1 piece at a time.
The carriage was wonderful to look at, but the lines were OUTRAGEOUS!!! Even staying late, we saw many kids asleep in strollers - still there!
Well, the weekend improved from there. But I will NEVER go to MNSSHP ever again.....

 

[kaylajr]

We were there on the 8th also
got to MK about 6

i would definatly say go earlier if you can
we did tomarrow land toon town and fantasy land got a pretty good amount of candy they actually gave out some GOOD candy too
remember tolook for CM's just walking around with black bags on there waists they were giving out handfuls

we never made it to the other side of the park it was just to busy
after fireworks and very crowded second parade the kids were just to tired

we had a great time but it was a little more crowded than i expected.

will we do it again??? if we end up in WDW during Oct YUP!!!
but i think we are going back to our spring trips everyone seems to like the weather better.

 

[momofhzb]

I am sorry to hear that the poster from Atlanta had such a difficult time with MNSSHP. I think that going in between 4 and 5 really helps. We had no line to get in, and tons of people were starting to head to the exit. So, the closer it got to 6 the shorter the lines became in Fantasyland. We got our picture in Adventureland right before we left. There were several CM's outside trying to get everyone to come on in, and get it done. We had no wait at all. Several of the photographers were just standing there with no one to photograph. The lines at Cindy were long as the evening wore on. Around 6pm, no one was there and we were able to take our children's picture without any difficulty(of course no characters were in the picture), but we still got a great shot of the carriage. We talked with many of our neighbors, who were also there(we all had fall break), and everyone we talked with seemed to feel like, it was easy to get around and lots of fun. I hope everyone who goes has a wonderful time, and hardly any waits.

 

[Mickey]

We also went on the 3rd and the 8th. The 3rd was great, not crowded at all. My daughter was able to do all her rides, see all the characters and hit every candy spot. As for the 8th, I was very suprised as to the crowds. There had to have been twice the amount of people there on the 8th than there was on the 3rd. I have attended many special events (both the xmas and halloween party) and I have never experienced crowds like we experienced that night. We came in at 4pm and the park was not crowded at all. We were able to do some rides and shop, then we went to dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. If you haven't done dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, you're missing a great dinner. As for the lines, every thing we went to had anywhere from 30-40 minute waits, compared to 5-10 minutes on the 3rd. Both parades were crowded, about 4-5 people deep. I don't know how many tickets they sell, but in my opnion there were more than 25,000 people in the park. Even when I said something to a cast member, they kind of agreed. After 10pm though the crowds did lighten up. Did anyone feel the same way. I am glad we were went on the 3rd, as orginally we were only going to go on the 8th.

 

[rcraw45425]

and it was quite a surprise to see that crowd. Due to some confusion at the Poly we were unable to get moved into that room early after checking out of WL that morning. Luckily the first thing I unpacked upon our arrival in the room was the girls princess costumes. DD's and I walked back over to GCH (great cermonial house, aka lobby bldg) to look around at the pin cart, stopped by Ohana (had a PS at 5:40) and the guy at the podium said that if I wanted to go ahead and sign in that they could probably seat us within 5-10 minutes (it was a few minutes after five). Thankfully this was true, allowed us to be out and back in the room by 6:05. Got the girls dressed (SW and Esme) and pullled hair up into ponytails (due to heat). DD9 whines about the fact that I forgot the curling iron, her hair was A MESS! Oh well. Sprayed their hair with pixie dust (Glitter spray from the hairdresser), DH and I quickly changed clothes (rethought th eneed for jackets) and rushed to the monorail. OMG, the line was atrocious! SRO to the MK. Got to the gates, got our wristbands that we had not had time to get earlier, treat bags and went in to see that mass of people. Actually the best candy was on the way out the gate at 11:30. Full sized packs of Nerds and Shocktarts. We had already eaten most of what we had gotten up to that point. Had a picture taken latish at Adventureland, four copies arrived in the mail yesterday. 4X6 sized,but they were gratis so I'm not complaining. DD's Esmerelda costume got damp during Pirates, noticed later that the fuschia underskirt faded on her socks and tennies. Thankfully it wasn't the costume shoes that I bought at Disney store. Had a great time, lucked into a pretty decent location for Cindy's celebration around 9PM, stayed there for the fireworks, then moved to the other side of Walt's statue for the 10PM parade. DD7 got a kiss and wave from her namesake Snow White, they were almost too close to the curb when the gravediggers started their dance. Watch out for the sparks! WIll definitely try to go again next year!

 

[T&Tmom]

We were there on the 8th too and thought that it was very crowded. We had dinner at LTT at 4:30 and got to the park at about 3:30. I knew that we needed to get our wristbands so I asked and they told me I had to get them at the front but not until 4:00. Of course we wait around at the front till 4:00 and then as we walked back toward LTT there were MANY CM's in the hub infront of the castle handing out wristbands. We could have ridden a ride or two before LTT if I had known there were CM's at the hub handing out wristbands.

LTT was great - but we had to ask for Goofy to come and visit us. He kept skipping our little area of the restaurant. That took some extra time but the character CM's were very helpful getting him over to us.

We rode HM before we were herded into tomorrowland. We did get in a ride or two in tomorrowland before the official start of the party, but we did not get to do nearly as much as I thought we would at the party.

We missed both parades and we only saw part of the fireworks. But we did get a lot of candy and did get our picture taken (came in the mail yesterday). I don't think I would do MNSSHP again, but not because of the crowds. My husband does not see well. He is blind in 1 eye and it was very difficult for him to get around the park in the evening. He and MIL went back to the hotel after we got our picture taken and I stayed at the party with our two boys. It just was not as much fun without the whole family!

 

[lisaes]

I thought the 8th was really crowded too! I knew as soon as I saw the SOLD OUT! sign we'd be in trouble. Between 4 - 6 it was great in Fantasyland but after that, Whoa baby! DS had a great time trick or treating though. We saw the second showing of the parade but it was packed! I'm sure it would probably be better without the massive crowd though I certainly wouldn't plan a trip because of it.

 

[laceemouse]

We were there and found it very crowded. We did everything in TL okay, then went to TT which was crazy. Did everything in FL with not much wait except for PPF which was about 30 minutes of waiting. HM was the longest wait, we missed the firework because we were in line. Saw the town crier and headless horseman, but then waited forever for the second parade, VERY CROWDED. After that crowds thinned some. We had our picture made, got some candy, walked on to JC. The river boat was not running which was a bummer. Also the trains were not running. Not very many eating place open and the kids got hungry so we had to eat JUNK. We had fun, but I would not do this again anytime soon. JMO.