What Would You Do Different For MNSSHP???

[pumpkinfish]

If you have been to MNSSHP before, what would you change in order to maximize your time during the event?

What advice can you give to those of us who have never been?

What is the best area to view the fireworks and see the parade?

Everyone has their own opinions and I welcome all! I am an info junkie and feed off forming different ideas and plans. So bring them on! Share those amazing ideas and opinions!



I also want to add we have ressies for LTT at 4 pm This is for 10/20.

 

[Terri C]

I'd like to know too...we are going for the first time on Oct 30

Yeah...first MNSSHP and F&W festival

 

[jckdisneybound]

The Parade I can't help you with DH crashed and we had to catch our bus so we watched it on our way out. The Fireworks, the Patio of the Noodle Station was great for us!

 

[mgkkgdm]

The party is the coolest. There is aton of extra stuff during the party, we always try to take advantage of these things as all the rides we have riden before and we usually go 2x a year.

Extra Stuff:

Park is totally decked out-very cool just to enjoy the scenes
Special Parade and Fireworks
Headless Horsemen rides before the parades
Trick or Treat staions (tons of candy)
Dance Parties for the kids with characters
Characters dressed in outfits
Complimentary Photo and Facepainting
Storytelling ....

Hope this helps alittle

Have a great time, we will be there Oct 16 and the 20th

 

[PolyGuy]

One biggie that we totally missed out on last week that my kids would of loved is the "Stitch Party" in Cosmic Rays counter service restautant. From what I gather, Stitch was on stage with Chip and Dale doing his Elvis impersonation. My little girls would of loved to see that. How did I miss that? Also, do not miss Hallowishes. Great fireworks show.

The rides all have short lines, but remember, you can ride them anytime. Do the special things, like the parade, fireworks, and see the different characters that are out. Have a great time!

 

[Lan]

Get some rest before the party!!!!!!

 

[StevePSU1]

We spent a full day in MK before the party. We got to ride most of the rides which took a lot of pressure off party night. This allowed us to enjoy everything about the party. Once the second parade was finished, we spent the last hour getting some great ride time in.

It was the highlight of our trip.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

We just got back tonight and had a blast.
One thing I would not do is go the day you arrive in Orlando, we did this. Major bad on our part, we were tired, the kids were tired and we were very unprepared.
The free photo place was cool but unmarked on the map so we ended up missing it because they shut down for the night before we found them. 2 CM's we spoke to were told they weren't even doing them, which I knew wasn't true thanks to the DIS.
I agree the Stitch Party was a blast, by that time we were beyond exhausted but seeing Stitch dressed up was soooo cute!
An absolute must do is Alice and White Rabbits tea party trail. We didn't even know there was a path back there (behind Donald's boat and into tomorrow land). Alice, the White Rabbit, Queen of Hearts, and Tweedle Dee and Dum were back there with no waiting!

Villains, Villains, and more Villains!!!!! They had a show in front of the castle and then a short meet and greet. It was awesome seeing the Evil Queen in all her glory. Of course it makes me want a Villains meal even more. Cruella got nasty with DH and put him in his place, it was hilarious.

The best place for the parade, fireworks, and the villains show is just slightly left when facing the castle, a little diagonal to Liberty Square Bridge. The headless horseman stops right there before continuing onto Main Street. Just set up camp once and enjoy the shows. We were disappointed that the pictures of the headless horseman didn't come out, he was moving way to fast and even when he was stopped just over the bridge it was so dark you could barely see him but it was still cool.

Have fun, and don't forget to get a treat bad for yourself too! My kids won't share.

 

[Dorisk3]

If I were going again- I'd eat a good solid meal before we got there! In my opinion we wasted 30 minutes sitting in Cosmic Rays when we could have been dancing, trick or treating, taking pics, or what have you. Next time I'd eat around 4:00 for an early dinner and then head into the park by around 5:30. Also, try to sleep late that morning if possible!

 

[Eeyore2003]

Eat in the park about 4, Plaza Restaurant works out nice, as does Cosmic Ray's, have done both. Go to Tomorrowland and check out lines, we usually start riding with very little lines by 5 to 6 and get allot done in Tomorrowland before the party starts. Then we head to the rest of the park at 7 when they open it all. (one time for MVMCP we ate at 5:00 at the Grand Floridian Cafe and got to the park later, never again!!!)

Have fun getting candy even if you're an adult.

At the end of the night after the parade, the photographers at least I know in Adventureland, are doing absolutely nothing. You can just walk in and get your picture taken with no waiting. We did this last time and it really worked out well. We've also done it first thing at 5:00 and waited at least 1/2 hour, so now we just wait and start doing rides right away and do our picture later.

 

[DadOf2Princesses]

Go on a nite that it doesn't rain.

On 10/6 they delayed the 8pm parade due to rain.
Then had a shorter parade, which we skipped because we went trick or treating.
Then by the time the 10pm parade came around the little one (6 and 3) were too overtired to watch the parade so instead we beat the crowd out the door.
We had rested before going too, but this was towards the end of our trip and they were beat. That mixed with the scatter rain and 100% humidity kind of dampened spirits.

Ahh, there always next year.

 

[bjakmom]

We just did two parties, Sun the 2nd and Thurs the 6th. On the first night my family had also just travelled in that day to meet up with me - I had hoped they would get a little rest before going to the party, but our room was not ready until almost 4 (even though I had walked over to the resort and checked in at 8 AM ) - so we had to keep the kids busy by letting them swim instead - needless to say everyone was a bit tired, but still excited. We entered the park just before 6 and thought we had time to get to Ray's for a quick dinner before it closed, but we missed it by seconds - they were securing the doors as we walked up. Oh well, always have a plan B! We walked on to HM to start the night off right - then to Pecos Bills where we managed to find a table and have a decent meal. Everyone did Splash and Big thunder with less than 10 min wait while I took DGrD (2) trick or treating. The skies opened up and we stood under cover for about 15 mins. It was about 7:50 and we found an open spot right at the beginning of the parade that I ended up loving because there were lots of lights there and I was able to video tape the parade very clearly - only down side was that the headless horseman did not run the first parade, which was delayed about 15 or 20 mins for unknown reasons (the CMs weren't saying- maybe they were still drying off!). The coolest moment was when Peter Pan came down the entrance and saw DNeph dressed in his PP costume - he stopped and shook his hand and kept saying "You're me, no I'm me" - then the whole PP crew came over and joined him - ahhh - a magical moment! After the parade we walked on to POTC, did a bit more trick/treating on our way back to Main St for the fireworks - found a good enough spot between Caseys and CP - the fireworks and effects on the castle were AWESOME !!! - don't miss it!! Then we cut over to Buzz - 5 or 10 mins - kids did Space with about a 30 min wait while I took DGrD T&Ting through Alice's zone (she was happiest to see JOJO there!) got a cute pick of her with Donald in his costume - all of the Alice characters were back there, but with lines and she was too tired at this point to care. The gang was really tired by now (I second not to go on travel day), so we booked out shortly after the 2nd parade- we knew we'd be back. PS:After the first parade and after the fireworks Fantasyland was the most crowded.

2nd night was a Thurs and definitely less crowded. DSis and I did Family Magic Tour with the little ones in the AM (lots of fun!) and got back to the room for naps by 2 - the big kids took a down day at the resort (DD had just come out of a foot cast and needed some TLC). We arrived back at the park in time for our 5:35 ADR at LTT - we did have to wait about 15 mins for our table - the characters in costume were adorable and everyone enjoyed the meal - we finished up just before 7 - I headed everyone over to HOP for the pic (they were not thrilled about this) and there were only a few people in line - we were processed, shot and out in 10 mins.- now our plan was to do Fantasyland while everyone else was waiting for the parade - we walked onto every single ride - even Dumbo! After Philharmagic we headed to the front of the castle for Hallowishes - we sat right in front of the walt/mickey statue - great spot to see the castle effects, but there were a few fireworks that were blocked by the castle as we were so close - a little further back would have been ideal, but I love having the statue in the corner of my video! DGrD was done in and I decided to wait on the hub with her for the 2nd parade while everyone else did the rides - they said they walked on to everything in TomorrowLand and FrontierLand that they wanted to do. I wanted to tape the parade again, but it was too dark there to see well - I did, however get the headless horseman on tape - you can really only see him in the light of the 'flashbulb frenzy" - but he is definitely cool!! After the parade, while waiting for my gang back at the statue, I watched and taped the short Villains show. The photopass photographers set up their tripods in front of the statue and were taking photos in front of the statue and castle with all the 'fog' in the air. I got a great pic of DGrD and I in our costumes- checked it on photopass today and love it! As they closed the park the CMs were all lined up at the end of Main St, waving good bye with Mickey hands and holding signs the spelled out "see ya real soon" - Mickey was saying good night from the train station and the CMs were literally filling up the kid's bags from the candy station in front of the train station right before the exit.

So that was our 2 different experiences - what 'worked' and didn't for us - hope it helps a bit with your planning - both nights were great fun - we all loved this event and I look forward to coming to many more over the years as I have more grandkids and they grow up - Enjoy !!
PS: the CMs really seem to enjoy working this event - every CM that we came in contact with on both nights was wonderful - and several that I talked to mentioned that they really look forward to MNSSHP - and you can tell !