Pirates & Princesses Party - Don't bother!!

[noladave]

we went on 2/2 and loved it so much, that we went again on 2/5.

The longest wait for rides we ever saw during the 2 nights was on 2/5 for Peter Pan - it was about 15 minutes. Thunder mountain you could stay on for multiple times before they asked you to get off. I saw one group, and they said they rode it 7 times in a row.

We walked right up to Mickey at 11:30pm at night, no wait at all. As for all of the other characters, it wasn't that big of a deal to us.

Captain Mickey and the gang:

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

We're going on March 1st and CANNOT WAIT!!!

 

[DisneyDadof3]

As for the admission time, I may agree with you if you don't have tickets already. However, I was a WDW Resort Guest and could of entered early anyways.

As for the characters we got them at the dinners (except for Pochontas) but this would have been nice to know if Disney posted ahead of time.

We bought the tickets mainly for the decorations and "extras" which my wife was extremely disappointed about.

I spent about $300 for this event for 6 of us. I thought the value was pretty low (especially with LONG waits for characters and rides) since the next day we hit the same things with EMH.

I guess the lesson is if you are a WDW resort guest... SKIP this event!

I am an annual passholder and can enter the park any time as well. They pass out bracelets inside the park - so no crowds and no waits.

Characters (at less the more rare ones) you can't meet at dinners would include Prince Eric, Flounder, Fantail, Camelisha, Pocahontas, John Smith, Meeko, Jack Sparrow, Abu, Snow Prince, and Prince Charming. Reading a little on these boards and you would know which characters are out - numerous theads.

Can't speak to the extras - reports vary on these - just depends on your expectations I guess.

Sorry about you being $300 out. However when we've been there for special events - the rides have been 5 minute waits if that and the character lines are typically very short with a handful of exceptions.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

I will agree that they hardly had any decorations but they did have some. I personally expected more, but I did enjoy what they had. Excuse my pictures though, i was taking them with night settings and that blurs your picture without a tripod.

You can have your pricture with Cinderella's coach.

They had twinkling signs like this around the park and they had pirate ones as well.

Here is the entrance you walk into. The smoke had pretty much stopped when I took this pic. I thought it was cool and my girls thought it was magical.

They also had cool music and lighting all throughout the parks. It set the mood.

 

[Luv2Roam]

DH and I attended 02/02. The friends with us also attended the following Saturday. Plus I know others who attended that following Saturday also.
I enjoy P&PP. However MNSSHP is still our favorite of all the MK hard ticket events.
The parade and fireworks are very good.
We were amazed how dead the park was 02/02. I almost took a few photos of the non-crowded Main St and hub area.
We sat on a bench by City Hall 15 minutes before the parade and just walked up to the curb when it finally came around. Now when is that possible under normal conditions?
We did not ride many rides. But what we did was walk on. (Including HM and Buzz.)
I was told the following Saturday was busier. But still very manageable.
CMs were very diligient about checking for wristbands when we were there, and right from the start too.

 

[Poohbear123]

And it was a LOT better. They had 2 parades and the fireworks were AWESOME, however, this year, they only had one parade and no candy. (Fireworks were still awesome) We did get to see Jack Sparrow, took 20 min tops, we were one of 30 in line. A lot of people were dressed up, more than Last year, and I loved seeing that. I may have to attend the MNSSHP this year, just to compare the 2.

 

[Harborchick]

Hi, everyone,

This will be our first trip to Disney World and our first PPP (4/1). We currently have a reservation at Kona for 5:20 pm, which will get us to the party just before 7 pm. I am getting a little concerned about the line to get in. Would you advise cancelling Kona, getting to the park at 5:30 and grabbing counter service? Is the counter service especially crowded on PPP nights? Thanks for any advice

 

[Flametamr]

I too agree with the OP. We did the P&PP last Sept while they still gave out some candy. But it was not realy anything good. The so called treasure cheap mardi gras beads was not worth chasing either. I agree the themeing was slack too. The highlight was greeting Capt Jack but it was a long wait. The ride lines were light and the parade and fireworrks were good. But I won't be doing it again. It really was not worth the near 50 bucks we spent each.

We did the MNSSHP in 2003 and had a blast. We are considering doing it again this year in Sept. There were tons of places giving out candy and the rides were all walk on. But I hear Disney has pretty much ruined this too now by not giving out candy anymore. I hope the change thier minds before we get there.

 

[Ember]

We're going on March 1st and CANNOT WAIT!!!

Us, too! Are you dressing up? I have a new princess dress for the occasion and am super exited to be a princess at Disney!

 

[CarolA]

We attended on 01/29 and were alos let down. There was not enough pizazz and in comparison to the Halloween party this was a dismal party. The parade was not "special" enough for the party. We did not have crowds. But agree the treat bags were not worth it. We found all the characters but overall did not feel the fun and magic like we do when we attend the Halloween party. It was lack lustre.

That's becasuse this party lacks a REASON to exist...

Halloween and Christmas parties are for "festive" events.

At last check there's no "Pirate and Princess Day" to celebrate. Plus now that they are doing TONS of the things, there's nothing special about being there for one and there's no way they are going to keep "decorating" for six months... LOL!

MNSSHP gave out candy last year!

 

[TiggerFamily]

We are going to the P&P party on May 26th, I can't wait to go and you guys are taking the wind out of my sail. So now I know we need to get there early. Do you it would be a good idea to have dinner at LTT about 5 that night? We were going to eat there some time this trip.

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

We are going to the P&P party on May 26th, I can't wait to go and you guys are taking the wind out of my sail. So now I know we need to get there early. Do you it would be a good idea to have dinner at LTT about 5 that night? We were going to eat there some time this trip.

If you are going ONLY for the P&P party from 4 to 12 midnight without staying at the resorts, then the $50 is a not a bad deal. If you are staying at the resorts and already have tickets from Open to 7PM then its not worth it to purchase the extra 5 hours.

 

[tksbaskets]

Fear not, P & P party goers!! Although it may not be the absolute BEST party Disney throws, in my experience Disney NEVER disappoints. Of course expectations have a lot to do with that. I'm going to the P & PP the first week in March. I am really looking forward to seeing things at MK I haven't seen before - special parade (hey I love the regular parade so what's not to like) , themed fire works over the castle, a few new characters.

I went to MNSSHP in October and loved it! Now I didn't trick-or-treat or worry that my plastic treat bag was "cheap" Rather I thought "cool, I got a treat bag". I did enjoy relatively short lines for rides as the little kiddies were busy collecting treats. I didn't go to any of the 'parties' either.

As for getting there at 7, TRY to get there early. I was surprised at the MNSSHP that the restaurants closed at their normal time and there was nothing to eat. I arrived at 5 ish and got in no problem.

For the poster who thought about eating at Liberty TT at 5 - do that. I love that character dinner.

All JMHO

 

[TiggerFamily]

We are staying at AKL, and we have our park tickets and just ordered our tickets for P&PP too. My question is should we eat at the park about 5?

 

[Miz Diz]

We are staying at AKL, and we have our park tickets and just ordered our tickets for P&PP too. My question is should we eat at the park about 5?

Yes.

We went last year and had a great time. We had 5:15 reservations at LTT. It was okay, but we were glad we had ressies. This year we will go again and eat CS, so we have more time for meet and greets.

 

[bjakmom]

We love the special parties - mostly for the fun of dressing up and getting in the 'spirit' of the theme (we feel the CMs are great fun on these nights), seeing the special parades, fireworks and shows (which they don't have for P&PP like they do for MNSSHP and MVMCP), DGrD(4) LOVES!! dancing with the characters - and we like getting pictures of the characters in their themed costumes. We did P&PP last Jan (07) and had so much fun that we returned with DGrD last month.
Here's my .02 cents -- if Disney is going to continue the P&P parties on a regular basis, then they will need to make them a bit different each year like they do for the other parties (but don't mess with those AMAZING fireworks!). If they would include meet and greets with Barbossa, Giselle and/or even a trial run with Tink!!, I bet the ticket sales would soar!
The Aladdin's Royal Guard show was very cute and well done, but the stage set up created another area where kids who weren't in the first row or two were forced to stand behind adults- who needed/wanted to stand with their own children. Last year I think the set up and area was better and they had a roped in area in front where the kids all sat, with the adults standing behind/around. I'm afraid interest in this party will fade if they don't do a bit more to compensate for fewer decorations and entertainment/character options. (PS: my kids (10 & 4) were searching desperately for the 'gems'- also loved the necklaces- go figure - whatever makes them happy!) We'll be there in August, but not sure yet if we'll attend again.

 

[jeast]

We're going to the 4/1 party. We have a BBB appt. for DD4 at 4:55, we'll grab some CS when hungry, and we'll stay up REALLY late (we're usually in bed by 9:30 at home).

Good enough for me!

 

[rthutchens]

We attended on 01/29 and were alos let down. There was not enough pizazz and in comparison to the Halloween party this was a dismal party. The parade was not "special" enough for the party. We did not have crowds. But agree the treat bags were not worth it. We found all the characters but overall did not feel the fun and magic like we do when we attend the Halloween party. It was lack lustre.

I agree with Mr. Stitch! We felt the same way with the 2/2 party. It just didn't compare to MNSSHP and MVMCP. The only positive was the park was dead. We actually got a seat for the parade which has never happened before.

 

[Dawgdad]

PPP was awesome. Everyone in our family (ages 2-61) loved it. No waits for rides and an awesome parade!
FYI - we went March of last year)

 

[lfeikert]

I didn't read every post on this thread, so maybe this has been said already. My parents were at the P&PP on 2/14 and they said there were no crowds. The arrived at MK close to 4pm and did the entire park by about 10pm. They didn't do everything, but definitely didn't miss much from the sounds of things! I'll have to ask them, but she didn't even mention waiting 30 minutes for anything. They were in Orlando for a trade show at Cornado Springs, so for them, this was a great deal.