Some input on upcoming Halloween trip plans??

[AndrewC]

So I've got my yearly October trip planning started... I'll be at the DLH checking in Oct 19th (Saturday) but probably won't be in the park that day and instead head over and do Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. Then 20-24th will be Disney/DCA (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, part of Thur before I head over to Knott's Scary Farm). I have a couple big priorities with Disney....

Reserved seating/location for the Halloween Parade
This year the WOC dessert party for the Halloween party (if it's offered)
Fantasmic!
Fireworks (if possible)

Now, I'm assuming October is considered "off season" for Fantasmic and Fireworks? I have Halloween party tickets already purchased for Tue Oct 22nd. My question is, should I also buy them for Sun Oct 20th? I'm early 30s with no kids, so I won't be spending all night trying to meet each character, etc. I'll certainly make my way around to see everything and experience the atmosphere, so I feel like one night doing the Halloween party should be enough EXCEPT, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do any dining package with preferred parade location and then WOC dessert party, if those things are a thing, which I really hope they are. I'm also thinking Sunday will be my only night to experience Fantasmic and the fireworks, right?

I'm just not sure if I should give up Sunday over at Disney to be able to have two nights at the Halloween party..... or if I should try to just pack everything into one Halloween party night...

Thursday is out since I'll be leaving the park around 4pm...

 

[Pamela M]

With the party being back in DCA I'm not sure what the plan is for fireworks. Last year they were only showing fantasmic & fireworks on Saturday, Sunday the days I went ( late October).
We made it work and were able to watch both in one night as we were only there Sunday.

What I did was get a dining package ( Hungry Bear) for Fantasmic 2nd show. Then 20 minutes before fireworks found a space in the hub near Adventure/Frontierland. Made sure I could see most of the castle. Then after the Fireworks we walked over to where we line up to be let in for the reserved view area.

Now with Glaxay's edge opening I'm not sure what that will do to crowd flow. Also if the fireworks show is actually mostly projections like Mickey's Mix Magic you're going to want to be on main street. The above could possibly work with just a fastpass but not sure as I never do fastpasses for Fantasmic.

good luck!

 

[AndrewC]

Ya, I figured Sunday would be my only option for Fantasmic and Fireworks over at Disney... I'll probably try to do a River Belle Terrace Fantasmic! Premium Dinner package if they're still offering it and then either hang out there with some coffee to watch fireworks or book it over to main street to see fireworks/projections, depending how much of the show is projection based.

I wish Disney would post the special Halloween event dining details, like if there will be a WOC dessert party (seated at tables) and if there will be a dinner package which includes preferred viewing location of the parade, or a seated dessert party type thing for the parade. It's soooooo worth the money to sit down at a high top table and enjoy the parade and World of Color. If those are both options, I might rather do two Halloween nights to just relax and enjoy one each night... that's the wild card right now though and I'm worried Halloween tix will sell out by the time Disney starts announcing dining options during the Halloween party...

 

[figment_jii]

Personally, from the pictures I've seen of the RBT premium package, I would opt to do the normal package and watch F! from the more centered dining package viewing area. After the show ends, you can either watch fireworks from there or try to make it Main Street (it's pretty tough to do assuming the show times are fairly close together). Of the three most common viewing areas, the RoA is my third choice, but that's mostly because you can't see the castle.

Do you want to do a Halloween Parade package because you want to eat at one of the places that normally does the parade packages (e.g., Carthay or Wine Country Trattoria) or because of the potential for the viewing area? I ask because DCA's parade route is longer, so it might not be as critical to have a package to get a good view. At least that seemed to be the case for PtN when it returned to DCA. This would be something to keep in mind when the parties start in September (you'll have time to read early reviews and see whether folks thinks that a reserved viewing area is needed).

Yeah, at this point, I don't think there is really any way to know when the parties will sell out. I can see where the move to DCA and the weeknight-focus might deter some folks from going, but on the other hand, I can see where the possibility of "new" things might attract people that were getting tired of MHP. Overall, my guess is the tickets will sell out in August and September, like they have in previous years (now that I've said that...watch...they'll start selling out sooner! )

 

[AndrewC]

Personally, from the pictures I've seen of the RBT premium package, I would opt to do the normal package and watch F! from the more centered dining package viewing area. After the show ends, you can either watch fireworks from there or try to make it Main Street (it's pretty tough to do assuming the show times are fairly close together). Of the three most common viewing areas, the RoA is my third choice, but that's mostly because you can't see the castle.

Do you want to do a Halloween Parade package because you want to eat at one of the places that normally does the parade packages (e.g., Carthay or Wine Country Trattoria) or because of the potential for the viewing area? I ask because DCA's parade route is longer, so it might not be as critical to have a package to get a good view. At least that seemed to be the case for PtN when it returned to DCA. This would be something to keep in mind when the parties start in September (you'll have time to read early reviews and see whether folks thinks that a reserved viewing area is needed).

Yeah, at this point, I don't think there is really any way to know when the parties will sell out. I can see where the move to DCA and the weeknight-focus might deter some folks from going, but on the other hand, I can see where the possibility of "new" things might attract people that were getting tired of MHP. Overall, my guess is the tickets will sell out in August and September, like they have in previous years (now that I've said that...watch...they'll start selling out sooner! )

I've done the RBT premium package before (last year) and enjoyed it. I agree with you that the viewing isn't the BEST, especially when you factor in the extra cost, but holy cow I love getting off my feet and having some hot coffee or something to enjoy while watching the show. I'm one of those people that's in the park pretty much from 8 or 9am until 10 or 11pm (depending when they close), so having a couple breaks during the day where I'm off my feet for an hour at a time is worth every penny... however, I never just head back to the hotel to rest during the day because then I'm "wasting time" I could be in the park, hence why the dining packages that have a seated option seem so prime to me

I've eaten at both Carthay and Wine Country (and prefer Carthay for the better cocktails and they seem to have better ability with vegetarian fare) and probably will make reservations at one of them sometime during my ~4.5 days in the park, but again I'm thinking back to Paint the Night when Carthay had a dining package that included an area where they put out some chairs, which would be awesome for this Halloween parade. I've done the dessert party a couple times before with the standard WOC show and thought they were the best sight lines possible (since you're at a high top table) and again after 10+ hours in the park walking ALL over it was nice to get off my feet while watching it. They had a dessert party for Paint the Night when WOC was dark for the repairs and that was probably the best way I've seen any Disney parade, hands down...

So I guess priority for me is scoring the good viewing locations (without having to camp them an hour before the show), getting off my feet, and then any fun from a themed Halloween dinner or package or something.

If tickets hang around till July then at least the dining details should be updated for September (~60 days out) and I could then decide what to do... I just get this weird feeling they'll sell out faster this year, at least for select nights (probably the Sunday nights). I'm thinking Star Wars may just increase the out of state visitors and they may think "might as well schedule the trip during Halloween."