"Official" 2015 MNSSHP thread

[Aurora0427]

Do the dwarves ever come out early like jack and sally?

 

[Missyrose]

Do the dwarves ever come out early like jack and sally?

They typically come out at 6:50.

 

[Aurora0427]

They typically come out at 6:50.

Thank you! So not that early!!!

 

[CampbellzSoup]

The Sanderson sister show is an absolute must see! They are absolute look alikes

 

[snchpnz]

Didn't read the whole thread but I just wanted to say that if you're a fan of Hocus Pocus you absolutely can't miss the stage show! As a 30 year old man it hit me right in the childhood. The final musical number was amazing! I was expecting some bad imitations but the acting/singing was spot on. I camped out for the parade and caught the first show from the center hub by the statue and after the parade was over a few others around me and I rushed to the stage to watch the show a second time up close. It was that good! I even caught the end of it again on the way out after 12.

 

[tinkerbell615]

West fp+ area for fireworks and projection.

Can you please tell me where this is? We sat in the fp area for Wishes in the summer of 2014, but I think things have been changed since then. Thanks for all of your help and information!

 

[mousehockey37]

Any timing advice for seeing the projections on the castle, the fireworks and the second parade (preferring to be in Frontierland during the parade)?

Honestly, the secret of watching the 2nd parade in Frontierland is gone. Just about everyone has caught on now to do this.... This is why people are complaining about "I'm in Frontierland for the 2nd parade and it's 6 people deep..."

 

[mandy200587]

Can you please tell me where this is? We sat in the fp area for Wishes in the summer of 2014, but I think things have been changed since then. Thanks for all of your help and information!

West is over by crystal palace and caseys.

 

[KateP85]

Didn't read the whole thread but I just wanted to say that if you're a fan of Hocus Pocus you absolutely can't miss the stage show! As a 30 year old man it hit me right in the childhood. The final musical number was amazing! I was expecting some bad imitations but the acting/singing was spot on. I camped out for the parade and caught the first show from the center hub by the statue and after the parade was over a few others around me and I rushed to the stage to watch the show a second time up close. It was that good! I even caught the end of it again on the way out after 12.

Do you mind me asking, what time did you grab a spot for the first parade in that area? Our plan is to see the first show and then the first parade and we'd like to be in one spot.

 

[missnic]

Weird question.. anyone know if golden oak outpost will be open during the party?

 

[mandy200587]

Weird question.. anyone know if golden oak outpost will be open during the party?

It wasn't open before the party yesterday when we got there.

 

[Missyrose]

Weird question.. anyone know if golden oak outpost will be open during the party?

Almost never is.

 

[snchpnz]

Do you mind me asking, what time did you grab a spot for the first parade in that area? Our plan is to see the first show and then the first parade and we'd like to be in one spot.

I picked my spot at around 7:20 when I walked by the hub and saw it was getting packed. I was by myself so I just popped into an open spot I liked but if you have a group you're going to have to get there earlier. Theres like a 20/25 minute wait between the first show and the parade. I stood in the hub from 7:20 until about 10:20-ish when the fireworks ended. After that I went candy collecting and character hunting. Got half a bag full of candy, 4 character pics, and only got to ride one ride, the mine train right before closing.

 

[wheatly]

According to the post from earlier in the thread @wheatly it looks like you're going to possibly just miss those waffles again.

NOOOOOO!
I wasn't hungry last year, since I was dressed up and running around. I hope they get them in sooner!

 

[KateP85]

I picked my spot at around 7:20 when I walked by the hub and saw it was getting packed. I was by myself so I just popped into an open spot I liked but if you have a group you're going to have to get there earlier. Theres like a 20/25 minute wait between the first show and the parade. I stood in the hub from 7:20 until about 10:20-ish when the fireworks ended. After that I went candy collecting and character hunting. Got half a bag full of candy, 4 character pics, and only got to ride one ride, the mine train right before closing.

Thank you!

 

[DisneyGirlFlorida]

So last night I attended my first MNSSHP. I left feeling like I had a good experience, but it wasn't "OMG That was the BEST experience". Perhaps my expectations were too high, but in reality, I think I needed to prioritize differently.

I was with my sister, so there were some compromises as to what she wanted to vs. what I wanted to do. Overall, I would recommend going, and I DO plan on going next year.

We arrived at the park around 7 pm. My sister wanted to ride space mountain, haunted mansion, mine train, and peter pan. I didn't want to do the rides, other than HM, since I have an annual pass and could have done those rides any other time. My sister didn't have a ticket to MK, so this was her "ticket" to go on the rides. Neither of us have ever been on the mine train so I was happy to go on it, BUT, I would have done it during the day or another time.

Our first stop was for me to get a MNSSHP magic band, then Space mountain. We passed trick or treating thinking we would do it at the end of the night, and not wanting to wait in lines or carry candy around all night (BIG MISTAKE). In hindsight, I think it would have been more fun to hit the trick or treat locations as you passed them. The lines looked like they were moving quickly.

We hit space mountain with a 10 minute wait. Then we made our way to Fantasy land. We checked the line for the dwarfs and it snaked around the fantasy land wall and was over an hour wait. We went to mine train instead (40 minute wait). Okay, we decided to wait for that. I didn't want to, but this was my sister's night as well, so I compromised. In short, I think mine train is overrated, cute, but overrated. Then again, I'm a thrill seeker and I would do mine train again, but ONLY with a FP. To me, space mountain is worth a 40 minute wait, mine train is not. But...that's another topic.

After mine train, we hit the dwarfs line which was (according to a CM) 30 minutes. We waited 40 minutes (!!!) before giving up. The line HARDLY moved and I was watching the dwarfs who took ZERO breaks during that time. I don't know what was going on at the photo shoot area, but something was amiss. After about 40 minutes, we gave up because Celebrate the magic and the 10 pm fireworks were going to start and we wanted to catch that. So, we walked through tomorrow land and got a GREAT spot on the bridge between tomorrow land and the main hub. Stayed there for the castle projection show and fireworks. That was WORTH the watching.

After that, we made our way to Haunted Mansion fighting the crowd. HM had a 13 minute wait when we got there, which jumped to about 30 minutes. I caught a quick glimpse of Lady Carlotta, but couldn't hear much of her act since the line moved quickly past her. HM was nice, but again, I would have given that up in favor of just watching 15 min of Lady Carlotta.

Following that, we made our way to Frontierland and found a spot for the 11:15 parade. I got lucky and found a seat along the wall near the start of the parade route (YAY!). We got GREAT spots for the parade. My sister was right next to the rope, I was sitting on a wall, and fortunately, everyone in front of me was sitting down. After the parade, we walked right across the way and started trick or treating. On our way out of Frontierland, we passed through Fantasy land, hit Peter Pan (about a 15-20 min wait, but the line was moving quickly). My sister really wanted to do peter pan for the nostalgia, and while again, I could have lived without it, she DID wait with me for 40 min for the dwarfs that we bailed on, so I felt like I owed her this.

After that we I got the candy corn ice cream I wanted and we headed to the circus area. My sister wanted a dumbo popcorn bucket that I saw earlier in the day when I was there. The popcorn cart just closed, but we asked the CM who was cleaning up if she had any dumbo buckets for sale. She was super nice and called her supervisor who said they will bring over a bucket. There was another person who wanted a zero bucket. We waited about 15 min and the CM manager came with both buckets. The CM handed me the dumbo bucket and said "Happy Halloween!!!". I offered my magic band to pay, she said, no, "Happy Halloween" have a magical night. So my sister got a free Dumbo popcorn bucket and the other person got a free Zero bucket. That made up for missing out on getting a lot of candy and some of the other things.

We hit two more trick or treat locations and got a small handful of candy at each place. We "just" missed Mickey photo op in the circus area and saw a still pretty long line for Jack and Skelly. We walked through tomorrow land and saw all the trick or treat locations closing or closed. We saw part of the Hocus Pocus show but decided to give that up in favor of getting out of the park. After a 45 min wait for the boat to GF, we were back.

So, the TL;DR version...

Saw fireworks, parade, celebrate the magic, part of the hocus pocus show, did mine train, HM, space mountain and peter pan. Hit 3 trick or treat locations and got a halloween Magic Band. Didn't get a single character picture, or any photo pass ops. I'm disappointed in that, but I realize there's just NOT enough time.

For next year, I'll definitely prioritize differently, and overall, I had a good time. I consider this an experience for my first MNSSHP. The crowd was much higher than I expected, but not unmanageable. Character lines are understandable, and I think I would have had time to do those had I not done the rides.

What I DID learn is that all the info I read prior to the party about yesterday being low attendance, 2nd parade not being crowded, more candy toward the end of the night, etc., was outdated. I think due to the crowds this year, and everyone getting smart about reading blogs, etc., what was once wise advice is not applicable this year. Then again, when dealing with an event such as this with as many people as this, things are unpredictable.

For those going - have a great time! Remember to prioritize your evening!

 

[godders]

Where is the west FP area? Is that one of the new areas? Is it open to anyone during the party?

Edit: oops totally just realised I said I was in the West side when I meant East (I must've been half asleep). Doh!

There are 2 areas one on each side of the hub. They are little areas with grass just at the top of Main Street

Yep it's available for everyone and most people were sat down to watch the show. This is the view I had:

 

[CampbellzSoup]

My bucket was FULL of candy and I met Cruella since she's really the only "new" on since last year. She was amazing!

The party was excellent and a great time - maybe fewer tickets and more dates should be sold to even it out too

 

[disneypolybride2008]

Are the FP+ parade areas in front of Casey's and The Plaza open for all guests to use?
When will the castle construction walls be down? end of october??

 

[Dax]

So a quick review of my MNSSHP from a group of first timers. It was my 8m pregnant self, DH and 2yo DD. We wanted to arrive early, but due to a boat mishap at FW, we ended up arriving right around 6:45. We did get in quickly and got bands and bags. There were announcements telling people if you didnt buy a ticket to get out. There was a LOT of CM around, checking bands, and trying to get the people sitting on Main Street not wearing bands moving along. We headed away from the hub as it was a mess, and didnt want to be part of it. We walked into Fantasy Land and it was still pretty busy. We waited 15m for Pooh, then went over to the 7 dwarves character line. It was well over an HOUR!! No way would my 2yo handle that. Gaston had a short wait, but DD is not into face characters, so we passed. We ended up hitting some TorT station, then went into Circus area. Lines for characters were again REALLY long. So we took DD on Dumbo, then went down the treat trail.

Once in Tomorrow land, the dance party was in full swing, and SM was a walk on. So DH rode that, and DD and I danced with the Monsters for a bit. Then we all rode the TTA 2x. We also got pics with Buzz since it was a short line. Lotso, not so much. We then decided to head toward the other side of the park, but the hub was still a super crowded mess, so went back through FL. Dwarves line was still super long...so we kept moving. Once in Liberty, we saw HM was a 45m wait, so again, skipped it. We grabbed a snack and rested again, as I was getting really really tired. We walked through to Adventure land just before the fireworks started, and it was DEAD. We got more candy, then headed back to Liberty to watch the fireworks. They were great. We headed to the baby station to change DD and rest again, then went back through Adventure toward FL.

FL was a TOTAL mess. There was no spots to be found. The secret is out that this is a great spot to see the 2nd parade. We got to see the Headless Horseman, but we were way to far back for DD to see anything. So we raced the parade to the hub area, and the CM were great there and found us a great spot. The parade is a cannot miss. Once it was over, we decided to check dwarves again. Line was short....and CLOSED!!! I was soooo bummed. So we moved on for more candy, and all the characters were heading in at this point. By this time, I was done. My body was giving out and it was so humid. We walked the trail for the last bits of candy, which the CMs took pity on my and gave me LARGE handfuls..we rested a bit in tomorrowland, then headed out. We finally made it back to FW at 1:30am.

So overall, we rode some rides with little wait, but the main draw of the characters were just not possible with a active, non patient toddler. It was a LOT busier than I expected a Sept Halloween party to be. I heard that the J&S lines were really long all night. I never did find Cruella. I did see The Hag, but again, we skipped. My DD had a good time, and so did the adults, but I think Disney is selling way to many tickets and it is next to impossible to see it all in one night anymore.