To Do or Not to Do... 1st timers for MNSSHP

[btosh]

How are the wait times for the rides? On a crowded night?

Wife and I went to the Sunday party on September 23rd in 2018 and walked onto EVERYTHING besides 7DMC and PP. We thought about attending the Friday night party with my brother that year, but our agent told us to avoid the Friday parties since they're the more crowded, largely due to locals not having school or work the next day. It's somewhat tough to tell how a Tuesday night party will be since it's new, but we're still planning on going to the one on the 22nd with DD (she'll be 18 months old). I'd think a Tuesday party might be slightly more crowded than a Sunday party (or less, I really don't know), but likely not as crowded as a Friday party so you should be able to get onto most rides with relative ease.

The parade and Hocus Pocus show might be a bit crowded, but parades are always crowded and you kind of have to expect that special event ones are going to draw even more eyes. We got to the parade route late, and still managed to snag a seat right on the curb out front of Casey's.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

Wife and I went to the Sunday party on September 23rd in 2018 and walked onto EVERYTHING besides 7DMC and PP. We thought about attending the Friday night party with my brother that year, but our agent told us to avoid the Friday parties since they're the more crowded, largely due to locals not having school or work the next day. It's somewhat tough to tell how a Tuesday night party will be since it's new, but we're still planning on going to the one on the 22nd with DD (she'll be 18 months old). I'd think a Tuesday party might be slightly more crowded than a Sunday party (or less, I really don't know), but likely not as crowded as a Friday party so you should be able to get onto most rides with relative ease.

The parade and Hocus Pocus show might be a bit crowded, but parades are always crowded and you kind of have to expect that special event ones are going to draw even more eyes. We got to the parade route late, and still managed to snag a seat right on the curb out front of Casey's.

We’re going to the Tuesday night 22nd party too! I was wondering the same thing lol. Is it better or worse than Sunday? But its gotta be better than Friday! The Sunday price is a little lower.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

Im super-curious how September is going to be at Disney. Will it be quieter bc of Covid-19, or slammed? Will people feel more cautious about doing crowded places like Disney, or spending the extra money on stuff like the Halloween party? Or just be desperate to be out living their best life! I know for us, we dont vacation much at all. We had the money put aside and this is the first big trip we’ve been planning with our son. Hes turning 7.

 

[btosh]

We’re going to the Tuesday night 22nd party too! I was wondering the same thing lol. Is it better or worse than Sunday? But its gotta be better than Friday! The Sunday price is a little lower.

Our agent is just speculating at this point, but she thinks it will be about the same as a Sunday crowd, which, again, wasn't very crowded when we went two years ago. I'm hoping thinking it will be a little less crowded.

We're getting in on Sunday the 20th, and would prefer to not do the Party on arrival day again despite it being a bit cheaper. The Wife was pregnant when we went last time, so she was drained by the end of the day. Thinking DD will be tired and overwhelmed if we try to do all of that in one day.

 

[jacobzking]

I have a feeling that, whatever capacity Disney allows, Magic Kingdom will be at capacity for a while after reopening. Sure, some people will be scared and stay away for a while. But SO MANT will be ready to get out of isolation, reschedule their cancelled trips from March/April/May etc...

 

[mickeymom22]

We have attended a MNSSHP and loved it.

The reasons we loved it:
1. We went with extended family and it was fun to plan out our costumes and be in costume in the park.
2. The parade. We really liked seeing the headless horseman and all the cool effects in the parade.
3. We enjoyed hearing the Dapper Dans sing as the Cadaver Dans.
4. Some family members really liked the movie Hocus Pocus so they loved the castle show.
5. We liked the shorter ride lines. (We recently went to an AH MK night, and it was so much better than MNSSHP when comparing how many rides we got to ride during each event.)

Our kids were older and weren't interested in meeting characters. Meeting characters during the party would take up a lot of time.

I would go again!

Have a great time planning!

 

[Tyler's Dad]

We go in August/September every year and with our now 15 year old, we love the parties. We do not meet characters or worry about the candy stops. I think the lines are much shorter than normal park hours and without the fast passes, you can pretty much use the app to cherry pick lines and save a ton of time. If your son is a Nightmare Before Christmas fan, I would say to make sure you get in front of the castle for the fireworks. The Jack Skellington that comes out to introduce the fireworks is really cool and was a highlight for us. We loved the old fireworks and still think they were better than the new ones, but Jack is amazing.

 

[coaster32]

I think September will be a good time for the party, and with all the school kids are missing now, I would like to think fewer folks would take the kids out to head to Disney right after the school year starts!

 

[ktlm]

We absolutely love MNSSHP. It is our favorite thing at WDW. I'm not normally a big Halloween person either. Jack and Sally are really a great character meet. Now, be aware that meeting them does take planning if you don't want to stand in line for them all night- so you definitely want to look at all the past threads and articles on the best way to line up to meet them. We have done it more than once and it typically involves getting your wristband as soon as you are able (usually 4:00-although if you are already in the park on a regular ticket, sometimes they start dispensing the wristbands earlier), and then going to get in line. Jack and Sally usually come out well before the party starts since they are typically one of the most popular and most crowded character meets. You want to spend you time waiting for them before the party- not during party time as their line is usually well over an hour. They have come out as early as 5:00 before- and in our experience for the last several years have been out by at least 5:30 or 6:00--- we usually have been done seeing them by the time the actual party starts, if not before.

 

[KY_Minnie]

I attended a sold-out party last year and we were still able to do everything we wanted to. Although the party doesn't start until 7pm, party guests can enter the park at 4pm. You can book FPs to use between 4-7pm. It's a great chance to spend the morning/afternoon at the resorts and by the pool.

They hand out the good candy trick-or-treating! The parade and fireworks are soooo good. I LOVE MNSSHP!

 

[MATTERHORN]

Consider booking a trip to Disneyland instead. They convert the Haunted Mansion to a Nightmare Before Christmas ride thats pretty cool. If you guys have never been to either Disney Park, Disneyland (depending on where you live) is cheaper, easier to get around and less overwhelming. Me personally, I prefer Disneyland to Disney World (and I've been to both several times). You miss out on Animal Kingdom and Epcot, but otherwise you get all of the more popular rides (Splash Mountain, Peter Pan, some cool rides from 1955, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Toon Town, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, etc...). If you have any questions, feel free to text me: 469-348-3171. I'd gladly share the pros and conns of both parks. FWIW I'm doing MNSSHP in Florida this year, but only because we went to Disneyland twice last year. Oh, and I personally feel Disneyland does a MUCH better job decorating for Halloween.

Agree with ABSOLUTELY everything you said! Disneyland is the BEST, especially at the holidays!

That being said, if you can't get to Disneyland, and you are going to the party because you love Halloween, absolutely spend the money! The parade alone is worth it!

But if you are going for short lines, I wouldn't waste your money! We go all the time so I don't care about the rides. But they are definitely not short most nights. We got lucky last year that I had bought for a day when most people cxld their trips because of a hurricane threat! That didn't happen and it made for an amazing night for us.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

Although the party doesn't start until 7pm, party guests can enter the park at 4pm. You can book FPs to use between 4-7pm.

Hmmm you just brought something up for me... Im planning on using that day as my Magic Kingdom day, (I have 4 park magic tickets). So do I get my 3 fast passes for my regular day, AND 3 fast passes to use between 4-7pm from buying the halloween party tickets??

 

[Gordon Gekko]

Hmmm you just brought something up for me... Im planning on using that day as my Magic Kingdom day, (I have 4 park magic tickets). So do I get my 3 fast passes for my regular day, AND 3 fast passes to use between 4-7pm from buying the halloween party tickets??

We always used the party day as our MK day. I think that would be an extremely long day to do both; we go to the party right at 4PM and we are worn out by close. Meeting the characters at the parities sucks up a ton of time and bypassing that always allowed us to ride everything multiple times. Haunted Mansion thins out after 10PM but seemed to have the longest waits during the party.

 

[MATTERHORN]

Hmmm you just brought something up for me... Im planning on using that day as my Magic Kingdom day, (I have 4 park magic tickets). So do I get my 3 fast passes for my regular day, AND 3 fast passes to use between 4-7pm from buying the halloween party tickets??

If that's the way you have to do your days, then you have to! But I agree with the person above me, I'd use it for a separate day to get the most bang for your buck if you can! Do you have a non park day? Can you switch things around? That makes for a super long MK day. The party alone is 8 hours with a 4pm entry!

 

[MATTERHORN]

Hmmm you just brought something up for me... Im planning on using that day as my Magic Kingdom day, (I have 4 park magic tickets). So do I get my 3 fast passes for my regular day, AND 3 fast passes to use between 4-7pm from buying the halloween party tickets??

But to answer your question without advice, LOL, yes! You would get two sets. You'd just have to use the party ones from 4-7 only.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

So heres the thing. I dont really have another day. My Florida trip also involves different family members joining us for different occasions that theyve pre-planned, for instance Animal Kingdom for my nephew’s birthday. I kinda came to accept that Im not getting the most bang for my buck when it comes to Magic Kingdom. My thinking was, supposedly Magic Kingdom is quieter during the day on party days? So we’ll go in the morning, hopefully use some fast passes, try not to go crazy waiting on any lines bc we’ll have the nighttime as an opportunity as well. We’re staying at WL, so maybe take the boat back over at one point to shower & refresh, change to our Halloween outfits, and come back. My only concern is we have a 4:00 Be Our Guest dinner reservation I dont really wanna cancel. But Id love to use those 3 extra fast passes before 7! Hmmmm

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

Besides Jack & Sally, who I feel like it seems very hard to meet, Im not planning on waiting on any character lines. I dont think Ill wait on Jack & Sallys line either. I would like to try to get a view of him starting the fireworks

 

[CAPSLOCK]

But to answer your question without advice, LOL, yes! You would get two sets. You'd just have to use the party ones from 4-7 only.

I do not think this is correct. I believe you can only have 3 pre-selected FPs per day, period (excluding club level paid extras).

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

I do not think this is correct. I believe you can only have 3 pre-selected FPs per day, period (excluding club level paid extras).

Aren’t you paying extra for MNSSHP tho? I’m pretty much paying admission twice for that day.

 

[Jen_K]

Who knows what it will be like this year, but we went to a party in early October last year (it ended up being a sold out party) and it was just crazy crowded. We were barely able to do anything and it was NOT worth the money. I probably won't do another party anytime soon. As for the popular characters--those lines get insane so you end up wasting a lot of your party time in line. Now, my kids got a TON of candy which made them really happy, but honestly, for what we paid for the party, we can buy 10X that much candy.