OK, I'll do it and face the wrath (flaming): Thought 999 HH event was BORING!

[Dodie]

This was our first WDW "event," after several years of going for vacation. Halloween is our top holiday - and our wedding anniversary, Haunted Mansion is our favorite attraction, it just had to be...

(-)The registration set-up at the TTC was simply ridiculous. Stand in this line to register. Go stand in that line to register to buy more merchandise. Then go stand over there to... FINALLY, go to the MK itself to pick up your pre-ordered merchandise. Have these people never even attended a large convention or event? There is NO reason to stand in multiple lines and travel to multiple destinations just to get signed in! Several CMs could have handled everything in one stop/line if they had it arranged correctly.

(-)We were B-O-R-E-D out of our minds for most of the evening. Those photos I've seen with the Headless Horseman and other characters really surprise me - we NEVER saw any of that. We saw a butler and a maid by the mansion, but that is all. We were there until 11:30/11:45 - so it's not because we left early.

(+)We attended the imagineer's presentation at the beginning. Very good. Very interesting - although a little long.

(-/+)We kind of "stumbled in" to dinner because there was never any indication of where the buffets actually were. The food was good and plentiful, but there was not enough seating and the CMs refused to open the upstairs of the Columbia Harbor House. We did use our drink coupons and were pleased to learn that soft drinks were unlimited and free.

(-)We didn't see any Halloween-themed shows at the Diamond Horseshoe Review or anywhere else because there was NOTHING telling you where/when anything was. (AND no one working seemed to have any idea where or when anything was.)

(+)We bought some extra merchandise. That went okay.

(+)We wandered around and did BTMRR about 6 times in a row. We went on Splash Mountain a couple of times. Rode through the HM multiple times.

(-)Essentially, we saw a lot of people twiddling their thumbs... We rode the monorail out of the MK with a disappointed couple who rated it a "1" out of "5" and "couldn't believe they'd paid $120 to do NOTHING for four hours."

We had done Universal earlier in the week. We had NO EXPECTATIONS that the Disney event would be anything like Haunted Horror Nights, and wouldn't have wanted it to be, but were sorely disappointed that there just wasn't much to it. Not much fog or theming, not much to do, not too many characters, no real interaction unless you were interested in getting your handwriting analyzed or your "fortune" told, no signs or anything telling you exactly WHERE anything was or WHAT was going on.

It could have just been so much more than it was...

I guess if you were *REALLY* into pins and merchandise, and interested in fortune tellers...

 

[buggin']

I agree with you!!!

The 999 Happy Haunts Ball was NOTHING like it was anticipated to be!

The registrtaion was HORRIBLE!!! They had the line going everywhere, then it started to rain...people were soaked by the time they were nearin' the end of the process. The CM's didnt know how to snake the line around so everyone would have been under cover.

We were there, twiddlin' our thumbs most of the nite...so you probably passed up by when you saw all the other people doin' the same thing!!!

The Headless Horseman was good...think that was the highlight of my night!?! LoL...!!! Guess you could say Im easliy entertained...LoL...!!! Though the cake was good. To me, the buffet was ok, nothing...I mean NOTHING...like the AK event (being the same food you would think it would be as good). It was kinda 'blah' in our opinions. The sheet cake was good, but not worth $100 each!

The event could have been so much better than it was...so many people that I have talked to have thought the same thing. Some have said it will be the last Disney Event they attend. Im sorry to hear that they feel that way, but it looks like Im starting to lean that way myself.

You mentioned that there were no markers tellin' you where things were, thats true. But not only that, everytime you ask a CM something, they have no clue what you are refering to & look at you as if youre speaking another language...!!! That gets SO old after a while!

Dodie, when you mentioned you went to Universal earlier in the week...how did you enjoy Halloween Horror Nights, Islands of Fear? Wasnt it awesome??? That my friend is a Halloween Celebration!!!

Anywho...I know there were other people that attended from the DIS...please add your experiences here...?

Buggin'
Amber

 

[Dodie]

I'm so glad we weren't alone. If THAT is what a special Disney event is like - you can count us out in the future.

You were so right about the CMs. The ones stationed around the area didn't have a clue where or when anything was. The ones working the rides were having a great time though!

We DID go to Islands of Fear at Universal earlier in the week. As I said - we honestly didn't expect the Disney event to be the same (or as intense). We REALLY enjoyed the haunted houses and atmosphere at Universal though.

I just thought that the Disney event would have some sort of ACTIVITIES. Some theming. Some decorations. (The HM did look cool with the lighting and fog but, come on, how long can you stand and look at the HM?)

It seemed like the Disney folks treated us like we were "lucky" to have spent over $100 to attend and that buying stuff was all we were there for.

As stated, DH and I were sorely disappointed.

 

[Mish19]

There was cake?? Drat and darn, I didn't see cake LOL.
We did get those neat white chocolate skulls that spent the whole trip peering out our hotel room window.

 

[dreamfinder1982]

Hey Amber......nice to see your review of the event!!
Glad I went in earlier and cleaned out the HM license plates and left! Sounds like a really boring evening for $120.

I'm really over paying for the privledge of buying merchandise!

TTFN!

Dreamfinder
(Arlen)

Originally posted by buggin'
I agree with you!!!

The 999 Happy Haunts Ball was NOTHING like it was anticipated to be!

The registrtaion was HORRIBLE!!! They had the line going everywhere, then it started to rain...people were soaked by the time they were nearin' the end of the process. The CM's didnt know how to snake the line around so everyone would have been under cover.

We were there, twiddlin' our thumbs most of the nite...so you probably passed up by when you saw all the other people doin' the same thing!!!

The Headless Horseman was good...think that was the highlight of my night!?! LoL...!!! Guess you could say Im easliy entertained...LoL...!!! Though the cake was good. To me, the buffet was ok, nothing...I mean NOTHING...like the AK event (being the same food you would think it would be as good). It was kinda 'blah' in our opinions. The sheet cake was good, but not worth $100 each!

The event could have been so much better than it was...so many people that I have talked to have thought the same thing. Some have said it will be the last Disney Event they attend. Im sorry to hear that they feel that way, but it looks like Im starting to lean that way myself.

You mentioned that there were no markers tellin' you where things were, thats true. But not only that, everytime you ask a CM something, they have no clue what you are refering to & look at you as if youre speaking another language...!!! That gets SO old after a while!

Dodie, when you mentioned you went to Universal earlier in the week...how did you enjoy Halloween Horror Nights, Islands of Fear? Wasnt it awesome??? That my friend is a Halloween Celebration!!!

Anywho...I know there were other people that attended from the DIS...please add your experiences here...?

Buggin'
Amber

 

[Dodie]

Is there an e-mail address for the WDW Special Events group? I'd like to provide my constructive feedback on the event.

 

[Buzz2001]

I had great time at the event. Saw everything, did everything. Met some great folks. Had a blast!

 

[bonzie1]

Dodie,

I'm glad you took time to post your feelings. We felt the organization could have been vastly improved. We went to the wrong line for registration (we entered from the monorail side and the welcome sign was facing the parking lot side) The cast members were spending more time talking to each other than offering help.

We almost missed the headless horseman, since it wasn't mentioned anywhere... we also almost missed out skull dessert. We asked cast members what the special dessert was, and they said it was supposed to be special, but it didn't work out, and they decided to do cake! Isn't that funny???? So we weren't looking for the dessert until we saw others walking around with the white chocolate skull.

We also missed out on buying the left over mdse (which in hindsight was okay since we spent so much already), but again, if they had signs and a complete sheet of all activities there would have been less disappointment.

The departing gift was nice.
The food was good.
The free pins (graveyard dig) were okay

The locker information wasn't clear.
The Tiki room wasn't really set up well for the Imagineer presentation.
The scavenger hunt was not really a hunt, but a Q+A.

We did enjoy ourselves though, and met up with people we've met through the DIS boards. If you get an e-mail address, please let me know as I would also like to share my + and - thoughts, so they can plan future events with a little more organization.

 

[n2mm]

I agree with your comments also. Though we had a wonderful, relaxing evening, mostly staying to ourselves. It would have been nice to know about the activities that were happening (since we were on vacation for the first week before the event, we didn't have access to any new NEWS, other than word of mouth). We walked by as a show was going on in the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon and we would've like to have gone. However, we avoided the crowds by eating at Pecos Bill....how wonderful. No one was there. We actually had the entire backroom to ourselves. No lines at the buffet tables at all. More food then I could ever want. We did know of the 3 locations to eat, so had planned to go to Peco's Bill thinking most folks would go to the closest place. (Good Decision). Never had cake, but saw it. Rode the rides, and did the hunt. Was also bored. Did manage to catch the Headless Horseman (because a CM told us what time he might be riding by). I would do it again. We also avoided the lines by waiting to pick up extra pins at 10:30 and picking up our candy right before leaving. So didn't have any real lines to speak of. The line for the picture was long, so we left and came back around 11:00--(and yes, it was still long then) but we liked the picture and wanted to buy it.

 

[Brisully]

Dodie - I am not sure why you attended this event. Isn't the Universal Halloween Horror nights a big Halloween party with all of the rides open and special events throughout the park? It sounds like you would have had more fun going to MNSSHP, than to an event of 1,000 people, when you knew going in that the whole park wasn't going to be open, you knew what the itinerary was, (imagineer presentation, dinner buffet, and SOME rides open), and you knew what the hours were. In fact, if you go here, you could see everything here that you had issues with.

I didn't know where the buffet was going to be. But I asked a CM and they told me Columbia Harbor House, Liberty Tree, and Pecos Bill's. Then they said there was no waiting at Pecos Bill's, and CHH and LTT were very full. Great communication from the CM's.

I was told about the HH from a CM who had the STREET ROPED OFF. I was told that the HH would be coming out four times that night.

I have been to a few events, and this was run better than any of the previous ones that I went to. The event was what it was - a special event about the HM, not a Halloween party. We all knew that going in. If you want a Halloween party, go to MNSSHP, or over to US. But if you want a special night about the HM, IMHO, WDW did a pretty good job.

 

[Dodie]

Dodie - I am not sure why you attended this event.

Brisully

I attended this event because we love Halloween and love the Haunted Mansion. I did NOT attend this event to buy a bunch of stuff, although we did pre-order some merchandise. (Yes - I knew that it was a "merchandising event." I was still surprised that Disney thought that would be enough to entertain 999 people for 4 hours.)

I stand by my statements that the event itself was boring and that there were no signs telling you where things were and no details about what was going on. I also stand by my feeling that we - huge WDW and HM fans - were treated like we were "lucky" to have spent over $100 to just be there.

We did not know other people there like some of you who really enjoyed yourselves appeared to. It was just us trying to amuse ourselves for 4 hours.

I am glad to see that I am NOT the only one who felt this way, although you singled me out because I started the thread.

 

[Brisully]

Well I guess that this event, like any trip to WDW, is only as good as what you put into it. The information that you and others seemed to be unable to find, was on several different locations on the internet before the trip. I had no inside information about the event, but I was able to find most everything.

Dodie, I am sorry that you feel that I singled you out. But, you are the original poster, and you expected the "flames", as you wrote in the title of this post.

 

[Engr-Chas]

What!!!! Aren't you Disney people?? Maybe you should take that Jack picture off of your sig and put a fricken' Woody Woodpecker pict instead! Universal where the theme is "dirty". In this rare instance where I agree with Brisully you should have gone to Universal and stayed off Disney property!

Amber...don't get on my bad side girl friend! Never bash the Mouse! I maybe a villain but I have my loyaltys.

Engr-Chas
Lord of the I've Got Mickey's Back!

 

[bonzie1]

It's just unfortunate that the communication level wasn't up to standard. One shouldnot have to search several boards to find out all the information on an event. After all, one already paid to attend.

While we weren't bored, we were frustrated that we almost missed out on things because we didn't walk up to every cast member in sight and ask them what was happening. All events should have been listed on the schedule. If they didn't want to give away the surprise of the HH, they could have listed times on the schedule along with "Come to liberty square for a frightful surprise"

I am glad some people "lucked out" and asked the right CM's the right questions at the right times... that's great. And I'm glad we did happen to stumble upon some events. But, when you pay a steep fee to attend an event you should not have to leave your participation up to chance... you should have a choice, and to have a choice, you need to be informed by the host of the party.

We had fun, and it's okay to say what things can be improved for the next time. Hope to see everyone next year!

Georgie + Joe... the generic ghosts!

 

[Flitter]

IMHO this event was extremely well run. The hang tags they gave out had a good time schedule on it but, I agree it would have been helpful to have a map also. If you had been to either Disneyana in August or the Pin Celebration in September you would know exactally what I am talking about. I would definately go back to this event but, I'm still not sure what I am going to do about Disneyana or the Pin Celebration next year.

 

[wdw4us2]

I also feel that this event was fun very well, especially considering it was the first time for this event. There were some little things that could be improved, but overall, I thought it was great.

I certainly wasn't bored, my friends and I actually ran out of time before we got to see everything. I will definitely plan on attending next year.

Flitter -- Your comments regarding Disneyana and the Pin Celebration are shared by more people than you realize!

 

[buggin']

EXCUSE ME...????

I had an opinion...I said my opinion, just as Dodie did. WE (neither of us nor our party) enjoyed the HhB. The event could have been A LOT BETTER...talk to the people that live in the Florida area, as quite a lot do! We felt the 'event' was not what it should have|could have been.

& To Chas...EXCUSE ME SIR, whats wrong with liking Universal? They happen to be a great place & the people that work there know where things are & how to get there without having to go to a manager to get an answer for a guest!!!

Buggin'
Amber

 

[geliebter2]

We also, and unfortuantely, went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal first this year and thus were extremely bored at the HHB event. Isn't Disney all about themeing? Where was it? Actually most of it was on Main Street since they had turned on the music and lights up there for MNSSHP. And what were those all of the stantion ropes for in the dark? I know the answer but it sure was funny watching people run into them over and over.

I thought the imagineer gave a nice little 45 minute show as scheduled, until he started over for some reason and talked for another 45 minutes. It didn't help that the computer slideshow was projecting a clock in the upper corner.

I realize this wasn't a pin event, which may have been why I was expecting a little bit more than paying the customary event fees just to stand in lines. I'm very curious to hear how a non-pin trading Haunted Mansion fan felt about the event.

 

[doombuggy]

Ok, I will post my opinion of the event.

I was not happy to stand in line, but I think I spent less time in line than some other people I know. I put that I would register at noon, and I was out of there by 1:30pm. After attening the WDAC mini convention in March 2000, this was a vast improvement!

I had absolutely no wait to view my merchandise purchases. I had most of mine shipped (still has not come yet, though), so I went later in the day for this.

I enjoyed the talk, even though it went a little long. I knew nothing about purchasing additional merch, but had everything I wanted (except for the clock & the claw pin set), so i did not need more stuff.

I assumed that the food was going to be outside. I did not know anything about the three resturants having the food. We found that out when I went to eat - I think somebody asked around. N2nm, if I had know about Peco's, I would have brought my crowd down to sit & chat with you guys again. Lunch was great, by the way!

We saw headless horseman from a distance, but I got to see him hthe next night at MNSSHP. We were interested in riding the rides. I DID NOT know that only 3 rides were going to be operating. i felt that more rides should have been going, for what we paid.

Would I do it again, yes. Mostly because of the people I was with, and b/c I love the haunted mansion!

PS: as to whoever said that this info was available on the internet, I have a print out of the list that was posted on dizpins about this event - printed on October 25, 3 short days before I left, and months after I sent in my $$$. Working 2 jobs does not give me much time to spend hours on the computer. I have better things to do, like live my life.

 

[dawngee]

touchy, touchy!!!

You made your point, you asked for feedback and you got what you asked for.

If you did not like the event that's your opinion, as is other's opinion as well.

I tend to agree with Brisully, I came, I asked, and I was told exactly what I was looking for.


If you went to the event expecting a good time you got it. We can debate what coulda, shoulda, woulda, all night long and no matter what anyone says someone will always be disappointed.

As far as the event I think the only thing I missed was my goodnight kiss. What was that anyway?

dawn g