We were there last night at the early seating (had originally scheduled the later one but was worried that the kids wouldn't make it). It was awesome!!!!! Just a couple of quick things because we are heading out the door to AK, but I will post more later:
Parade viewing was amazing. We all had tons of room to spread out. I think everyone who wanted to had a spot by the rope...there was that much room. My daughter had at least 15 characters come right over to her and interact with her during the parade. She was loving it!
They were giving away free bottled waters and suckers throughout. There were about 3 PhotoPass photographers in the area, but they disappeared for a while when it started drizzling. We did eventually get our shot though. My daughter was asked to pretend like she was holding something from between her fingers. Maybe a spider? I will update this once I get a chance to view it.
After the parade a few people left the area so there was even more room. We moved back a bit and found a spot along the rear of the rope right in front of Walt's statue. We had a stroller with us. We spread out and sat in the ground. There was NO ONE in front of us. We had maybe three groups of people off to the sides of us (some others were along the sides of the rope towards the front). It.Was.Awesome.!!! We watched the projection show (which gets me every time, and it was the most amazing view).
Then we stayed put for the fireworks. I'm so glad we did. Again, we were literally spread out like we were having a picnic. My husband laid down at one point. The people outside of the ropes were crammed in like sardines all around. Having that much room to ourselves was priceless IMO. And the view...I know that people have said that it is obstructed (and maybe it is a little bit), but we thought it was great!!!!! Some fireworks were behind the castle, but even those it was just the middle that was blocked...they burst around the sides if the castle, and it looked beautiful. There were lots of fireworks that were all the way above the castle too. And the 360 degree ones of course were so cool. We loved watching the projections on the castle and the color changes as the fireworks went off. Honesty...it was an amazing spot. I think the naysayers might be being a tad overly picky on this issue. The view (which was very good albeit not 100% perfect) coupled with the ability to spread WAY out was priceless to us.
Afterwards the CMs escorted us to the castle. It was a little chaotic (we had to wait for the crowd to disperse before they moved us, but they didn't really do a good job of explaining what was going on so a lot of people were confused). We made it though. They walked around and checked everyone in outside at the same time (I'm not sure if this is because we were running a little late because the parade was delayed a bit because of the drizzle?) and then let us all in to mingle downstairs. The stepsisters came around and joked with everyone for awhile. They did a good job of moving around the crowd, and they were hilarious. Then they ushered everyone upstairs.
And then...to be continued...I really need to head out the door now.
Finally getting a few minutes to finish up the review (we just got back from Ohana breakfast and need some time to digest, lol). As I said, we were all downstairs mingling with the stepsisters, and then they ushered everyone upstairs. It was a little chaotic...it's such a tiny staircase and there were tons of people trying to smash up it at once. But...we eventually made it upstairs. (Someone asked about the bathroom situation. People were breaking off from the group going up the stairs and heading to the bathroom, but it's a small bathroom and there was a line. We decided to wait until we were seated and then head back down when the crowd dispersed a bit, and that worked well.)
As soon as we walked into the main dining room, we were asked to show our reservation card, and we were shown to our table. The table setting was great! The Maleficent cups are substantial and filled with candy (which the kids liked). They also hand you carryout bags at the end of the night which include lids and straws for the cups. My kids have been using them ever since. The cheese plate was in the center of the table, and we each had small rectangular plates. The cheese itself was good! I really like the brie, and my DH loved the fondue. He also really like the salami; you could tell it was aged and not just stuff from the deli counter. The kids didn't eat any of the cheese, so it was kind of nice that they could munch on the candy during this time to keep them busy (hey...it's Disney...candy all the time!). The drinks with the apple light up cube and stirrers were pretty. The kids thought they were cool. They are really sweet though, so it was nice that they also had water to drink.
During this seating time, Captain Hook and Frollo were walking around. They stopped at tables randomly and took pictures with people. We never did see the Queen of Hearts...someone mentioned that she was at the top of the staircase as you came in, but she wasn't there when we first walked in, and she didn't ever enter the dining room to my knowledge.
When most people were seated, the "show" began. Lady Tremaine was a fabulous host. She sang a few songs and then mingled throughout the room with the rest of the villains and the stepsisters. All of the villains were wonderful. They were completely in character, and they looked great. We met each of them, and they stopped to take pictures. I got so many great shots!!! I will try to post some when I get home. They also seemed to be very aware of/conscious of little ones. They knew when to back off (my 2 1/2 year old DS was scared of a few of them, especially Dr. Facilier), and they would then just hover over him in the background so that I could at least get a good picture. My 4 1/2 year old DD was loving everything though, and they all made sure to stop and chat with her.
We thought the desserts were interesting, well-themed, and tasty. The rhubarb in the apple has been replaced with cherry. They must have had some negative feedback on the rhubarb. It was actually my DD's favorite, and she almost ate the whole thing. My DH and I both liked Dr. Falicier's tarot card the best. It was delicious! We felt like it was MORE than enough to eat...honestly, we all left at least half of each dessert on the plate at the end of the event.
Once we had finished, our server brought around take out bags and asked us if we wanted anything boxed up (we didn't). We were told to take the Maleficent cups, ice cubes, stirrers, and the menu. People had already started to head out by the time Lady Tremaine sang her final song. We thought it was MORE than enough time; we didn't feel rushed at all (although we have little ones, so we don't usually like to linger).
Afterwards, we hit up a few more rides and then headed home around midnight. For us, this event was SO worth it. We really, really enjoyed the VIP viewing for the parade and fireworks. We would never have waited around for those spots otherwise. Even my DH (who about fainted when I told him the price and then just rolled his eyes in defeat, lol) said that the event was great overall.
I would say that the only negative for us was the lack of organization/communication in herding us over to the castle after the fireworks and in getting the group inside the castle and up into the main dining room. It seemed disorganized, but I am thinking that they will tweak this as time goes on.
Also, we are going to
MNSSHP again on Friday night (tomorrow), so we plan on doing more trick or treating/characters/rides then. I'm not sure how I would feel about taking up so much party time if we weren't doing two parties. I am glad that we switched to the earlier party time though...I think it was much better that way for the kiddos.
Overall, we had a wonderful night and felt the whole thing was very well done.
