Possible to do Halloween party, WOC and fantasmic on same trip?

[Goose&mavie]

Well, we're planning to visit DL on Sept 24,25 and 26 of this year with a 3 day park hopper. We have reservations at the disneyland hotel.

Looking at the Halloween thread, it seems there's a high likelihood (fingers crossed) of mickey's Halloween party happening on Friday the 25th. We have a almost 4 yr old when we go, so I think that we'll splurge for the Halloween party-- trick or treating and character meets for her would be fun!

Do you think there will be fantasmic and WOC on Thursday or Saturday? Would they offer them on that Friday with the party going on at the other park? What about fireworks? When we went for the 1st time in February of this year, WOC was closed and no fireworks. We did see fantasmic with a river belle terrace dining pass and our LO loved it! Are crowds going to be much worse than in February?

If you had to choose 1, which would it be-- fantasmic or WOC?

Thanks for your help!

 

[SMD]

Weather permitting there are fireworks as part of the Halloween party. Until now the schedule has been WOC every night, Fantasmic Fri-Sun. Except they started the Fantasmic meals and FP during a time when it ran every night for holidays. Then WOC went down for refurb and Fantasmic stayed on every night. We don't really know what the schedule will be in September. Also, with the new Paint the Night parade, will that run every night or just on weekends? But you can pretty much plan on no fireworks Thursday night because they keep to a schedule on those due to the surrounding neighborhood. Everything else is kind of up in the air right now.

 

[figment_jii]

It's also worth noting that there are a lot of rumors at this point about big changes coming to MHP for 2015. Among those rumors is that the party will be moving back to DCA. If that happens, it means there will probably be no special fireworks show associated with MHP this year. If I had to make a guess right now, I don't think there will be F! on the weekdays (Mon-Thu) in September (except maybe Labor Day Monday) unless WoC goes down again for another lengthy refurbishment.

By September, the new WoC will have debuted. So it's hard to say which is "better" because the new show hasn't debuted yet. If you were comparing F! with the existing version of WoC, I would go with F!, but that's because I find the WoC viewing area to be problematic. I'm not tall, so I have trouble seeing the lower half of the show on the water's surface.

 

[SMD]

It's also worth noting that there are a lot of rumors at this point about big changes coming to MHP for 2015. Among those rumors is that the party will be moving back to DCA. If that happens, it means there will probably be no special fireworks show associated with MHP this year. If I had to make a guess right now, I don't think there will be F! on the weekdays (Mon-Thu) in September (except maybe Labor Day Monday) unless WoC goes down again for another lengthy refurbishment.

By September, the new WoC will have debuted. So it's hard to say which is "better" because the new show hasn't debuted yet. If you were comparing F! with the existing version of WoC, I would go with F!, but that's because I find the WoC viewing area to be problematic. I'm not tall, so I have trouble seeing the lower half of the show on the water's surface.

I honestly think the deciding factor will be which premium meal makes more money. That's why I think that it's sort of up in the air. As congested as it might be to have a parade and fireworks and a show in one park, if it makes money, they'll find a way.

 

[Goose&mavie]

It's also worth noting that there are a lot of rumors at this point about big changes coming to MHP for 2015. Among those rumors is that the party will be moving back to DCA. If that happens, it means there will probably be no special fireworks show associated with MHP this year. If I had to make a guess right now, I don't think there will be F! on the weekdays (Mon-Thu) in September (except maybe Labor Day Monday) unless WoC goes down again for another lengthy refurbishment.

By September, the new WoC will have debuted. So it's hard to say which is "better" because the new show hasn't debuted yet. If you were comparing F! with the existing version of WoC, I would go with F!, but that's because I find the WoC viewing area to be problematic. I'm not tall, so I have trouble seeing the lower half of the show on the water's surface.

Will these changes be announced in July-- that way I can start making reservations? I guess a tentative plan could be WOC on Thursday night, Halloween party Friday and fantasmic on Saturday...

I was planning to ask for a park view room at the DLH so maybe we can catch fireworks there on one night...with Luck!

I'm just a bit worried about staying out so late multiple nights with a little one, but if we do naps mid-afternoon, maybe we can power through.

Also, what's better, ariel's grotto for breakfast or lunch? My LO is really into princesses so this is a must this trip since it was closed in February when we last went.

 

[keltiesmom]

Our last trip we had a 5, 3, and 1yo. Our 3 yo walked almost the whole time and she didn't nap during the day. She was a trooper! I recommend bringing a stroller so your little one can nap while you enjoy the parks works well for us. Have you considered adding a night to your trip and doing a Halloween party as well as 3 days in the park? The party ticket can get you in 3 hrs before the party starts so you can have a slow start to the day, hot downtown disney or have a morning at the pool to kick off the day.

 

[Goose&mavie]

Our last trip we had a 5, 3, and 1yo. Our 3 yo walked almost the whole time and she didn't nap during the day. She was a trooper! I recommend bringing a stroller so your little one can nap while you enjoy the parks works well for us. Have you considered adding a night to your trip and doing a Halloween party as well as 3 days in the park? The party ticket can get you in 3 hrs before the party starts so you can have a slow start to the day, hot downtown disney or have a morning at the pool to kick off the day.

I need to see if the Halloween party will be offered Wednesday night. I didn't see anywhere that it's done on wed nights, but if it is, it works best so we can just go to the party on the night we arrive. We're driving from Northern California and I can't leave until noon cuz of work so we won't hit LA until rush hour so who knows when we'll arrive. Then we have to leave Sunday am so I can get to work on Monday without being too exhausted. This mini-vacation to DLR is an add-on vacation for us this year since LO loved DL(more than we ever thought she would!) in February.

Thanks for the stroller suggestion--we plan to rent from city stroller rentals this time instead of from DL so we can actually wheel her to the DLH instead of carrying a 30lb load at the end of a very long hot day .

 

[D1sneyfam1ly]

Our last trip we had a 5, 3, and 1yo. Our 3 yo walked almost the whole time and she didn't nap during the day. She was a trooper! I recommend bringing a stroller so your little one can nap while you enjoy the parks works well for us. Have you considered adding a night to your trip and doing a Halloween party as well as 3 days in the park? The party ticket can get you in 3 hrs before the party starts so you can have a slow start to the day, hot downtown disney or have a morning at the pool to kick off the day.

I agree with this! This was the only thing we would have changed about our Halloween trip a few years ago. We used only used a few hours of one of our park hopper passes before going back to the hotel to let the kids have a good rest before going back around 4 and staying until 11. It felt like a waste of one of our park hopper days since we had to pay for party tickets too. When we do the party again we plan on not starting the day in the park on our party day.

 

[Sherry E]

I need to see if the Halloween party will be offered Wednesday night. I didn't see anywhere that it's done on wed nights, but if it is, it works best so we can just go to the party on the night we arrive. We're driving from Northern California and I can't leave until noon cuz of work so we won't hit LA until rush hour so who knows when we'll arrive. Then we have to leave Sunday am so I can get to work on Monday without being too exhausted. This mini-vacation to DLR is an add-on vacation for us this year since LO loved DL(more than we ever thought she would!) in February.

Thanks for the stroller suggestion--we plan to rent from city stroller rentals this time instead of from DL so we can actually wheel her to the DLH instead of carrying a 30lb load at the end of a very long hot day .

Wednesday has not always been prominent in the Halloween party schedule, but last year there were 3 Wednesdays in the party line-up. In this post - http://www.disboards.com/threads/ha...ut-halloween-time-2015.3270919/#post-51326916 - scroll down to the bold, red text and you will see the Wednesday dates, and the parties that sold out in 2014, etc.

 

[gottalovepluto]

This might be totally unnecessary but you mentioned having an almost 4yo. Fantasmic can be scary to young children. This was the case in my family. If your child might be like that you could try YouTube to preview the show. (You can also try YouTube to preview both shows if you are worried about having to choose between the two.)

 

[Goose&mavie]

This might be totally unnecessary but you mentioned having an almost 4yo. Fantasmic can be scary to young children. This was the case in my family. If your child might be like that you could try YouTube to preview the show. (You can also try YouTube to preview both shows if you are worried about having to choose between the two.)

Thanks for the advice! We actually did fantasmic with LO in February and she absolutely loved it! Not scary for her at all, which was a pleasant surprise. We did the river belle terrace dining package and had great seating and views, but then again, it was low crowd time. I guess I was mostly worried about LO being able to see WOC without much problems as I think we have to stand?

 

[Goose&mavie]

Wednesday has not always been prominent in the Halloween party schedule, but last year there were 3 Wednesdays in the party line-up. In this post - http://www.disboards.com/threads/ha...ut-halloween-time-2015.3270919/#post-51326916 - scroll down to the bold, red text and you will see the Wednesday dates, and the parties that sold out in 2014, etc.

Thanks for the tip! I totally missed that... I hope that they will offer wed sept 23rd this year, and that traffic is not too much...that would work out the best for us!!

 

[Goose&mavie]

I agree with this! This was the only thing we would have changed about our Halloween trip a few years ago. We used only used a few hours of one of our park hopper passes before going back to the hotel to let the kids have a good rest before going back around 4 and staying until 11. It felt like a waste of one of our park hopper days since we had to pay for party tickets too. When we do the party again we plan on not starting the day in the park on our party day.

I agree with you! I can't wait until the dates are posted....

 

[Goose&mavie]

For the MHP-- do people just go to the other park when it's happening and they don't want to attend the party?

 

[Imdboss]

For the MHP-- do people just go to the other park when it's happening and they don't want to attend the party?

Yes there is a mass exit from DL to DCA when the party starts or vise versa if the party changes to DCA this year.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thanks for the advice! We actually did fantasmic with LO in February and she absolutely loved it! Not scary for her at all, which was a pleasant surprise. We did the river belle terrace dining package and had great seating and views, but then again, it was low crowd time. I guess I was mostly worried about LO being able to see WOC without much problems as I think we have to stand?

Yes, WOC is standing only. You're right in that it can be hard for LO to see, so your best bet is a dining package getting you placed in the preferred section and get there early for the best standing spots within the section.