If you aren’t ‘grandfathered in’, unfortunately, you do not qualify fo the discount
Good attitude
Have been there on night #1, very crowded.
Make the best of it

, you will have a swell time!
it honestly wasn’t difficult to see where media was congregating…
on Main Street (taking pics with merchandise),
popcorn stands (taking pics with whatever limited bucket),
food windows (taking pics with the special halloween treats or in front of whatever attraction…i.e. Haunted mansion with a cupcake sort of thing).
Look for the selfies & zig when they zag
also, prioritize your night…
decide which character pic is most important to you. In the past many times you could line up a good hour or so more early If a must do
stake a spot for the awesome FW & 2nd parade, early
save the bulk of your candy grab for later, those bags gets heavy & the lines tend to get much shorter. Bring a small empty backpack to offload the candy & to stow costumes if it gets too sweltering.
we save the stage show for end of the night. By that time many guests with little kids have abandoned ship