pixarmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2009
- Messages
- 6,932
After reading so much about MNSSHP, I thought it might be helpful to share our experience at MNSSHP on Monday, October 8. Our plan was a little different from most. Our boys are ages 5, 12 and 13. We're AP holders and we visit relatively often, given our distance from Florida. We've seen quite a few characters over several WDW trips, DL visits and Disney cruises over the past few years. We saw Jack Sparrow with no wait on the Dream, for example. So we decided that we were not going to spend time on character meet and greets. Just planned to focus on parades, fireworks, Villains show, trick-or-treating and enjoying the general atmosphere!
Here's what we did:
Morning at MK. We have APs, so we spent our morning in MK. Wow - entirely empty in MK for the first couple hours of the day. We walked on Space, Buzz, Splash and Big Thunder with absolutely no wait. We rode Peter Pan with a 5-minute wait, and Pooh, Haunted Mansion and Pirates with no wait. We used our rider swap pass to ride Space again (but the posted wait time was only 10 minutes two hours after park opening, so we really didn't need it.) We caught a bit of the Move It Shake It parade and ate a very full lunch at Tony's.
Afternoon Break. We took a break at CR in the afternoon. (I'm a huge BC fan, and we stayed there for the weekend before the party, but we moved over to CR just for the night of the party.) Stopped by the club lounge for snacks, shopped, swam and got ready for the party. We usually have a dinner ADR at 7pm or 7:30pm, and 5pm is too early for us to eat. So it was tough to decide how to handle dinner. Most say that it's really important to eat a full meal before the party, and I agree. But we just weren't hungry for even the club lounge appetizers at 5pm (although we ate a few.)
Costumes and the Road to MK. After experiencing some monorail delays earlier in the day, we decided to walk to MK around 6pm. Not sure what time we actually passed through the gates. Wow - so festive! Our boys were Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and Hatter. My husband was the White Rabbit (sort of - he wore a hat!) and I was Alice. Fun to walk to MK in costume. And it was SO fun to see all the other guests and families in costume. We went through the clearly-marked party turnstiles, got our wristbands and trick-or-treat bags and headed down Main Street.
Trick or Treat Bags. Regarding the trick-or-treat bags, I ordered personalized Mickey head pumpkin cinch bags from Etsy before our trip as a surprise for the boys. I'm SO glad I did this. First, because they were surprised, loved the bags and our older two used the bags to CARRY THEIR OWN STUFF during our 4-day visit. These bags were perfect for MNSSHP because they could carry them on their backs and cinch them up so the candy didn't fall out.
MNSSHP: The Beginning! So we head down Main Street and to the teacups - wanted to ride that first given our costume theme. We loved the Haunted Mansion music and the announcements as the party was about to start. After teacups, we started trick-or-treating. I know lots of posters think trick-or-treating is not a good use of party time, but we loved it and thought it was a great way to see all the special effects throughout the park. And for a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old who are really at the end of their trick-or-treating days, this is a great opportunity! We started with the Alice trail that leads to Tomorrowland and then did both of the Tomorrowland treat stops. We stopped at Star Traders to see the party merchandise and the boys bought vinylmation.
The Villains Show. Then we headed over to the hub for the first Villains show. There were quite a lot of people, but we had no trouble finding a spot to see the show clearly. Great show - boys loved it! I read that Cruella would be on the right side of the stage, so we were in a good position to hop into her line. We only planned to meet one Villain, and given our oldest son's recent role as Roger in the local 101 Dalmatians production, it was Cruella. The line moved quickly, she was wonderfully "in character," and we got a photo.
Boo to You: Take One! At this point, our 5-year-old is asleep and the first parade is about to start. We decided to stay put right there in the hub and the boys had a standing-room first and second row position for the parade. We were so excited to see the headless horseman ride! At first, we were a little surprised about the wait for the parade to begin, but that makes sense. It starts at 8:15 in Frontierland, so it took a little while to reach us. The parade was really as amazing as others say. Our boys are not really into parades generally, but they ranked Boo to You as their favorite part of the party AND their favorite part of the entire trip. The Haunted Mansion section is just so well done and the CMs in that part are really talented.
More Trick-or-Treating / Hallowishes. After the parade, we went around to the teacups and saw a line for Alice that was a bit too long and did not include Hatter, so we moved on to the Fantasyland and Liberty Square treat stops. Then we did the treat trail near Splash, which was everyone's favorite treat stop/trail of the night. The CMs were the most friendly, the line moved quickly, and the atmosphere in that area was very festive - seemed most like Halloween there. It was already time for Hallowishes, so we found a spot on the side of the castle near Sleepy Hallow in Liberty Square. I certainly don't recommend this spot if you're a true fan of fireworks, but we were happy to have a spot to sit, eat some candy, see the side of the castle, hear the music and watch the high fireworks.
Boo to You: Take Two! After the fireworks, we continued to the treat stops in Adventureland and then returned to Frontierland for the second parade. We watched both parades for two reasons: 1) our five-year-old was asleep for the first parade and we REALLY wanted for him to see it; and 2) our older boys loved the parade so much that they wanted to see it again. We found a good spot just 10 minutes before the parade was scheduled to start, but I think we waited for about 20 minutes before it reached us. (That's a long time for us - we usually don't wait for much at Disney!) The headless horseman did not ride for the second parade, and we're not quite sure why. So the second parade was even better than the first, for many reasons: 1) Our youngest was awake and his reaction was absolutely priceless! 2) we were closer to the parade in Frontierland (even though our boys were in front for the first one in the hub); and 3) we were even more into the party spirit by that time.
So I agree with the others who recommend both the second parade and a Frontierland viewing spot.
Haunted Mansion! After the parade, we went directly to Haunted Mansion. I was a little concerned about this - seemed like lots of people would have the same idea. But there was very little wait - just the amount of time that it took to wind through the ropes. Wow - so fun with the CMs in full makeup and the spooky atmosphere.
Then End - Boo! After Haunted Mansion, we were set to meet Hatter, do a little shopping and grab food from Cosmic Ray's to go. (I brought brown paper bags and aluminum foil so that we could get some last-minute Cosmic Ray's and take it back to CR.) We bought MNSSHP shirts for our older boys in Fantasyland, but they didn't have sizes small enough for our youngest there or in Star Traders in Tomorrowland. We stopped by the Emporium on the way out and found the same situation - nothing smaller than a child's medium (and he's a tiny guy!) At the time, our youngest wasn't interested in a MNSSHP pin, but I wish I would have bought one for him anyway.
So on the way out, we stopped at the fire house for our MNSSHP cards - no wait and no line! And right past the gates, we found the bucket of Peeps that others reported. Our boys were happy to see the Peeps and I was happy that they were individually wrapped!
The Way "Home" To CR. Our boys wanted to take the monorail back to CR, while my husband opted to walk. The walk was clearly faster, but the monorail is a ride in itself, so we waited a bit for the resort monorail (it was quite busy, as the express monorail to TTC was not running that night.) We enjoyed our take-out from Cosmic Rays back at CR and got lots of rest before our flight back home on Tuesday morning.
The Candy. One other note regarding candy. I had read very different reports about the candy available. Now, we understand that we can go to the store and buy all that stuff, but trick-or-treating in MK was a really fun experience and we're glad we spent our time that way. Our oldest son made a list of all the different kinds of candy we received: milky way, twix, snickers, milk duds, m&ms, smarties, nerds, tootsie rolls, now & later, three musketeers, skittles, baby ruth, heath, whoppers, fruit snacks, starburst, butterfinger, reese's cups, werther's caramel hard candy, lemon heads, nestle crunch, raisins, candy corn, almond joy, tootsie pops, peeps, peanut chews, peanut m&ms, and kit kat. No complaints from our boys!
Again, we had an absolutely wonderful time and I'm happy to answer any questions if that would be helpful to future MNNSHP guests!
Here's what we did:
Morning at MK. We have APs, so we spent our morning in MK. Wow - entirely empty in MK for the first couple hours of the day. We walked on Space, Buzz, Splash and Big Thunder with absolutely no wait. We rode Peter Pan with a 5-minute wait, and Pooh, Haunted Mansion and Pirates with no wait. We used our rider swap pass to ride Space again (but the posted wait time was only 10 minutes two hours after park opening, so we really didn't need it.) We caught a bit of the Move It Shake It parade and ate a very full lunch at Tony's.
Afternoon Break. We took a break at CR in the afternoon. (I'm a huge BC fan, and we stayed there for the weekend before the party, but we moved over to CR just for the night of the party.) Stopped by the club lounge for snacks, shopped, swam and got ready for the party. We usually have a dinner ADR at 7pm or 7:30pm, and 5pm is too early for us to eat. So it was tough to decide how to handle dinner. Most say that it's really important to eat a full meal before the party, and I agree. But we just weren't hungry for even the club lounge appetizers at 5pm (although we ate a few.)
Costumes and the Road to MK. After experiencing some monorail delays earlier in the day, we decided to walk to MK around 6pm. Not sure what time we actually passed through the gates. Wow - so festive! Our boys were Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and Hatter. My husband was the White Rabbit (sort of - he wore a hat!) and I was Alice. Fun to walk to MK in costume. And it was SO fun to see all the other guests and families in costume. We went through the clearly-marked party turnstiles, got our wristbands and trick-or-treat bags and headed down Main Street.
Trick or Treat Bags. Regarding the trick-or-treat bags, I ordered personalized Mickey head pumpkin cinch bags from Etsy before our trip as a surprise for the boys. I'm SO glad I did this. First, because they were surprised, loved the bags and our older two used the bags to CARRY THEIR OWN STUFF during our 4-day visit. These bags were perfect for MNSSHP because they could carry them on their backs and cinch them up so the candy didn't fall out.
MNSSHP: The Beginning! So we head down Main Street and to the teacups - wanted to ride that first given our costume theme. We loved the Haunted Mansion music and the announcements as the party was about to start. After teacups, we started trick-or-treating. I know lots of posters think trick-or-treating is not a good use of party time, but we loved it and thought it was a great way to see all the special effects throughout the park. And for a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old who are really at the end of their trick-or-treating days, this is a great opportunity! We started with the Alice trail that leads to Tomorrowland and then did both of the Tomorrowland treat stops. We stopped at Star Traders to see the party merchandise and the boys bought vinylmation.
The Villains Show. Then we headed over to the hub for the first Villains show. There were quite a lot of people, but we had no trouble finding a spot to see the show clearly. Great show - boys loved it! I read that Cruella would be on the right side of the stage, so we were in a good position to hop into her line. We only planned to meet one Villain, and given our oldest son's recent role as Roger in the local 101 Dalmatians production, it was Cruella. The line moved quickly, she was wonderfully "in character," and we got a photo.
Boo to You: Take One! At this point, our 5-year-old is asleep and the first parade is about to start. We decided to stay put right there in the hub and the boys had a standing-room first and second row position for the parade. We were so excited to see the headless horseman ride! At first, we were a little surprised about the wait for the parade to begin, but that makes sense. It starts at 8:15 in Frontierland, so it took a little while to reach us. The parade was really as amazing as others say. Our boys are not really into parades generally, but they ranked Boo to You as their favorite part of the party AND their favorite part of the entire trip. The Haunted Mansion section is just so well done and the CMs in that part are really talented.
More Trick-or-Treating / Hallowishes. After the parade, we went around to the teacups and saw a line for Alice that was a bit too long and did not include Hatter, so we moved on to the Fantasyland and Liberty Square treat stops. Then we did the treat trail near Splash, which was everyone's favorite treat stop/trail of the night. The CMs were the most friendly, the line moved quickly, and the atmosphere in that area was very festive - seemed most like Halloween there. It was already time for Hallowishes, so we found a spot on the side of the castle near Sleepy Hallow in Liberty Square. I certainly don't recommend this spot if you're a true fan of fireworks, but we were happy to have a spot to sit, eat some candy, see the side of the castle, hear the music and watch the high fireworks.
Boo to You: Take Two! After the fireworks, we continued to the treat stops in Adventureland and then returned to Frontierland for the second parade. We watched both parades for two reasons: 1) our five-year-old was asleep for the first parade and we REALLY wanted for him to see it; and 2) our older boys loved the parade so much that they wanted to see it again. We found a good spot just 10 minutes before the parade was scheduled to start, but I think we waited for about 20 minutes before it reached us. (That's a long time for us - we usually don't wait for much at Disney!) The headless horseman did not ride for the second parade, and we're not quite sure why. So the second parade was even better than the first, for many reasons: 1) Our youngest was awake and his reaction was absolutely priceless! 2) we were closer to the parade in Frontierland (even though our boys were in front for the first one in the hub); and 3) we were even more into the party spirit by that time.
So I agree with the others who recommend both the second parade and a Frontierland viewing spot.Haunted Mansion! After the parade, we went directly to Haunted Mansion. I was a little concerned about this - seemed like lots of people would have the same idea. But there was very little wait - just the amount of time that it took to wind through the ropes. Wow - so fun with the CMs in full makeup and the spooky atmosphere.
Then End - Boo! After Haunted Mansion, we were set to meet Hatter, do a little shopping and grab food from Cosmic Ray's to go. (I brought brown paper bags and aluminum foil so that we could get some last-minute Cosmic Ray's and take it back to CR.) We bought MNSSHP shirts for our older boys in Fantasyland, but they didn't have sizes small enough for our youngest there or in Star Traders in Tomorrowland. We stopped by the Emporium on the way out and found the same situation - nothing smaller than a child's medium (and he's a tiny guy!) At the time, our youngest wasn't interested in a MNSSHP pin, but I wish I would have bought one for him anyway.
So on the way out, we stopped at the fire house for our MNSSHP cards - no wait and no line! And right past the gates, we found the bucket of Peeps that others reported. Our boys were happy to see the Peeps and I was happy that they were individually wrapped!
The Way "Home" To CR. Our boys wanted to take the monorail back to CR, while my husband opted to walk. The walk was clearly faster, but the monorail is a ride in itself, so we waited a bit for the resort monorail (it was quite busy, as the express monorail to TTC was not running that night.) We enjoyed our take-out from Cosmic Rays back at CR and got lots of rest before our flight back home on Tuesday morning.
The Candy. One other note regarding candy. I had read very different reports about the candy available. Now, we understand that we can go to the store and buy all that stuff, but trick-or-treating in MK was a really fun experience and we're glad we spent our time that way. Our oldest son made a list of all the different kinds of candy we received: milky way, twix, snickers, milk duds, m&ms, smarties, nerds, tootsie rolls, now & later, three musketeers, skittles, baby ruth, heath, whoppers, fruit snacks, starburst, butterfinger, reese's cups, werther's caramel hard candy, lemon heads, nestle crunch, raisins, candy corn, almond joy, tootsie pops, peeps, peanut chews, peanut m&ms, and kit kat. No complaints from our boys!
Again, we had an absolutely wonderful time and I'm happy to answer any questions if that would be helpful to future MNNSHP guests!
