“Official” 2018 Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party – Strategy and Itinerary Thread

[FeetOffTheTable]

I went tonight and the crowds were horrible. It was more crowded tonight for a "limited ticket" event then it was at 2 pm. On the bus home, someone said Disney decided to experiment tonight. They sold as many tickets as people would buy and did not allow the event to sell out. The lines for all the rides were 45 minutes long. You could not trick or treat because those lines went around the building. It was a miserable experience and I don't think I will be attending any other "limited" events.

I was there tonight and would really love to hear if that is true. We found rides to be manageable, but on several occasions noticed ride times jumped right after we rode them (ie HM went from 20 to 40 about 10 minutes before hallowishes). Character lines seems completely unreasonable, but I have nothing to compare it to. I’m sorry it was such a bad time for you

 

[FoxC63]

So if they are letting people in via the front entrance earlier do we think they are handing out armbands at the "inside the park" locations earlier too? I don't think I've seen any mention of them doing that at all.

From what I remember last year, those already inside the park standing at the wristband locations had to wait until 4pm. This was posted on the Main Halloween thread 2017. The poster also stated they saw guests with the party wristbands on. I hope it changes this year.

 

[FoxC63]

I went tonight and the crowds were horrible. It was more crowded tonight for a "limited ticket" event then it was at 2 pm. On the bus home, someone said Disney decided to experiment tonight. They sold as many tickets as people would buy and did not allow the event to sell out. The lines for all the rides were 45 minutes long. You could not trick or treat because those lines went around the building. It was a miserable experience and I don't think I will be attending any other "limited" events.

Dare I say it... Yep! I would write to Guest Services. I wouldn't "expect" something but I would let them know how you feel. Disney is a very generous company, you never know.

 

[ksromack]

I would say that their "experiment" was a failure if it keeps people from attending future events!

I *think* we may try to do both parades. If we have a great experience with the first one then we will forego the second but I like the idea that we would have another go of it if the first one was rained out or if we had poor viewing

 

[lvcourtneyy]

From what I remember last year, those already inside the park standing at the wristband locations had to wait until 4pm. This was posted on the Main Halloween thread 2017. The poster also stated they saw guests with the party wristbands on. I hope it changes this year.

Yes we had to wait until 4 inside the park this year. I'm hoping they're more organized in October than they were on 8/28. I got my band by Philharmagic and it was pure chaos amongst the CMs!

 

[Cluelyss]

Copied and pasted this from the main thread in case anyone has comments for me

OK. So here is my crazy intense MNSSHP plan. We are attending the party on Tuesday October 2.

Just a disclaimer, it will be my boyfriend and I. We have been many times to MNSSHP and have met all these characters. If we do not hit something on our list, it is not the end of the world. I do usually have very intense party plans and I have managed to do an amazing amount of things before during one party. This is also our only Disney day so we have a few rides we want to do.

Arrive before 4 pm
Enter as soon as they allow us at the tapstyles.
Orange Bird SOTMK card and bypass.
Carousel of Progress
Pooh FP at 3:40-4:40 (I would rather have a FP for Peter Pan but they're all out right now, I will keep checking.
Philharmagic
Country Bears
FP for POTC at 5:20-6

I have no idea how long the above will take, we'll cut down the rides as needed.

Like to be in Elvis Stitch's line around 6
If we meet Stitch soon enough, then try to get in another characters' line before they come out at 7 like Lotso or Queen of Hearts and Tweedles
TTA
hit trick or treat lines along the way, also keep our eye on Space's wait time during the party. If it ever goes around 20 we'll probably try it out
Check character lines as we walk and trick or treat, end up in Adventureland since there are a few characters who traditionally have shorter waits there like the Tarzan crew and Jafar
Boo To You 9:15 in Frontierland, I always recommend the first parade. If you want a front row spot it can take just as long to camp for the first as for the second (unless you get lucky and have a very empty party).
Meet gravediggers before the parade.
Rush thru the bypass to Adventureland as the parade ends, check character lines and maybe do POTC at this point if we missed it earlier (we don't care about the 'overlay')
Hallowishes in the grass in front of Casey's, do a mobile order for some corn dog nuggets and get the Headless Horseman straw
Check on Tomorrowland characters, maybe TTA again if we need a break, check Space's wait
Teacups
end up in Storybook Circus at 11, try for characters there during the end of the party.

So what does everyone think? Crazy like a fox or just crazy.

Totally doable. Looks similar to our plan As long as crowds and weather cooperate you’ll be fine.

 

[SimplyTink]

Wow 4 is really early to start lining up for Stitch. I think we are going to save him for later in the night.

I might do this as well... October 4th is a Thursday night so I will just check the line when we are over at Buzz (between 4:30-5:30 pm)

 

[FeetOffTheTable]

Ok so here is my review from last night. I definitely thought it seemed crowded, but not horrible. The time frame from 6-8 seemed to be the worst actually.

We did our fast passes, Mickey meet and greet, and flying carpets all before the park closed. I tried to get in line for buzz at this Point since it was short, but it was closed to get ready for lotso. We hit up carousel of progress and once that was finished went to starlight for dinner. We were planning to camp out there a bit as a storm was coming, only it disappated. We had no rain all night actually. I tried the Muenster smash burger and visually it was unappealing, but tasted very good. Not photo worthy though haha.

We finished dinner right before 7, and was gonna try space mountain but it was a 30 minute wait. I figured that might be due to the swap over but it never went below 25 all night. We did the peoplemover instead and after that the party was started! We jumped in line for treats at carousel of progress which was very long but moved quick. The line for lotso had, I would guess, 30 or so groups in it. Stitch was insane, and I had seen people sitting on the ground waiting for him as soon as we arrived in Tomorrowland around 5:15 (so it looked like they had been waiting awhile). Sadly we didn’t get to do any more characters as all the lines were very long and stayed that way. I just didn’t want to waste our time standing in line for that, though I know it’s a priority for many. Our priority though was rides and treats, and we did a ton of both. We basically did a counter clockwise circle of the park from Tomorrowland, hitting up rides on the way. Most were little wait, but Peter Pan was 25 and haunted haunted mansion 20. Haunted mansion was at 40 when we walked out around 10 pm. The magic shots here were nicely spread out and I got the hitchhiking ghosts while I waited for the fireworks

Overall I had a good time and it worked well for us as a family not having any other Disney day this trip, so we focused on the rides. Speaking of, I wasn’t expecting to get candy in line for rides! Maybe I missed a post with that.

My two complaints would be that wait times did tend to be longer than advertised, and crowd control during the parade. The wait times seemed to be inaccurate and for example dumbo said it was a 5 minute wait but it still ended up being 15. The parade was about 4-5 people deep. We inadvertently got off splash just as it was starting so I tried to go down the walkway and get out of the area. People were standing outside of the designated area and wouldn’t move for us (I had a stroller). There were empty strollers on the path blocking the way, as the parents had the kits sitting up along the rope, but left the strollers in the way. I tried asking who they belonged to and everyone ignored me. Some guy (not his strollers) was nice enough to move them for me to get by. Then when we finally got to an area where it opened up and we should be able to go off to the left and get away, again my way was blocked and people unwilling to budge a few inches to let us pass. Again I was assisted by a random stranger who literally picked up the front of my stroller to help me lift it over the edge of the path / feet of people. So huge thanks to those two guys who helped if you’re on here! I just really couldn’t believe that people would just ignore me, considering we were on the walking path and they weren’t leaving room for anyone to pass. What if we had an emergency and were trying to get through? I was surprised there was no crowd control for that sort of thing.

We came home with tons of candy, a few good photos (I got headless horsemen too) and I think I would do it again, but yea it did seem really crowded especially considering we weren’t doing any of the Halloween stuff

 

[FeetOffTheTable]

From what I remember last year, those already inside the park standing at the wristband locations had to wait until 4pm. This was posted on the Main Halloween thread 2017. The poster also stated they saw guests with the party wristbands on. I hope it changes this year.

This seems like what I saw last night as well

 

[FoxC63]

This seems like what I saw last night as well

Someone mentioned they wished they had gone through the Main Entrance instead of waiting at the distribution location. I really don't remember which location these posters were referring to. If early entry continues Disney should fix that.

 

[FoxC63]

Ok so here is my review from last night. I definitely thought it seemed crowded, but not horrible. The time frame from 6-8 seemed to be the worst actually.

WOW! First off sorry to hear about the lack of consciousness people had during your party we often experience it on the threads as well.

Secondly, looking at your original itinerary I think you had a pretty good idea of what to expect or at least thought of other alternatives: Stitch/Mickey etc. I have never heard of lines being so long for Lots-o'. Woof! You also wanted to go shopping, did you get that done?

I hope you do return and attend another party. You should mount a courtesy bell on your stroller and if that doesn't work bring out the air horn!



Thanks for posting too!

 

[FeetOffTheTable]

WOW! First off sorry to hear about the lack of consciousness people had during your party we often experience it on the threads as well.

Secondly, looking at your original itinerary I think you had a pretty good idea of what to expect or at least thought of other alternatives: Stitch/Mickey etc. I have never heard of lines being so long for Lots-o'. Woof! You also wanted to go shopping, did you get that done?

I hope you do return and attend another party. You should mount a courtesy bell on your stroller and if that doesn't work bring out the air horn!

View attachment 352415

Thanks for posting too!

I should get an air horn haha. I just couldn’t believe that people would outright ignore us in that area.

I wanted the malificeng cone, but didn’t get it and that’s not a big deal. I would have enjoyed more shopping too, but I’m not upset we didn’t get it. Other things were more important to us.

We fully expected longish lines for characters,especially the rare ones, but I wonder if last nights crowd was character heavy, accounting for those longer lines? Or perhaps it’s as another poster said and it was “sold out” or over sold. I was hoping we would encounter some lower character lines at some point, but it never happened. C’est la vie! Otherwise it seems the concensus is everyone in our party enjoyed it and would do it again definitely

 

[Araminta18]

From what I remember last year, those already inside the park standing at the wristband locations had to wait until 4pm. This was posted on the Main Halloween thread 2017. The poster also stated they saw guests with the party wristbands on. I hope it changes this year.

On 9/16, we got our wristbands at Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and they gave them out at 3:53

 

[FoxC63]

On 9/16, we got our wristbands at Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and they gave them out at 3:53

We're the guests at the main entrance allowed in at 3:47? I thought I read that.

 

[Araminta18]

We're the guests at the main entrance allowed in at 3:47? I thought I read that.

No idea, we didn’t go to the front. . Just wanted to report that the inside the park stations (at least occasionally) aren’t waiting til 4 pm. It was a pleasant surprise for us

 

[disxlovee]

Hello all!
I've finally made some serious edits to my itinerary (#376) now that I've read all the latest party reports. While I know new itineraries are no longer being accepted, I wasn't sure if I could still obtain thoughts on my tweaks. If not, simply disregard. Thank you!!

 

[FoxC63]

Hello all!
I've finally made some serious edits to my itinerary (#376) now that I've read all the latest party reports. While I know new itineraries are no longer being accepted, I wasn't sure if I could still obtain thoughts on my tweaks. If not, simply disregard. Thank you!!

You are certainly on my radar, I have not forgotten you or anyone else.

Again if your name appears on the Main Thread on Post #1 your itinerary will be addressed. I'm currently working on the remaining Sept. parties and will address October attendees accordingly.

We have seen a lot of changes with characters not just their start time but the longer waits. Currently those who plan to meet Jack & Sally it has been reported they meet at 4:30 instead of 5pm. Guests are lining up as early as 3:10. If this trend continues more updates will be necessary.

@disxlovee your party is on Oct. 18th, I think it's still too soon to start fine tuning your itinerary. I believe more changes are coming.

 

[disxlovee]

You are certainly on my radar, I have not forgotten you or anyone else.

Again if your name appears on the Main Thread on Post #1 your itinerary will be addressed. I'm currently working on the remaining Sept. parties and will address October attendees accordingly.

We have seen a lot of changes with characters not just their start time but the longer waits. Currently those who plan to meet Jack & Sally it has been reported they meet at 4:30 instead of 5pm. Guests are lining up as early as 3:10. If this trend continues more updates will be necessary.

@disxlovee your party is on Oct. 18th, I think it's still too soon to start fine tuning your itinerary. I believe more changes are coming.

Perfect! Thank you. I just wanted to make sure as I know I hadn't touched it in awhile but I'll continue to be on the lookout for additional changes impacting my plans.

 

[FoxC63]

NEWS & UPDATES - Sorry about the typos and there will be plenty, just trying to rush.

Over on the Main Halloween thread there is a discussion about another viewing location for Hallowishes in Frontierland. @OhioStateBuckeye posted several photos:

Hallowishes in Frontierland Photos - Post #9337

I'm bringing this up because of the crowd levels that have been reported. If you're already in the vicinity and you're dealing with intense crowds do your self a favor and watch the fireworks there.

We currently have a report from @FeetOffTheTable who experienced difficulty maneuvering a stroller through thick crowds so please be prepared to make quick decisions as the crowds in October will be heavier.

Post #3208

I also want to address the weather, I do post updates on that but you need to be prepared for it during your party and that includes proper gear; packable lightweight rain jacket, pants and shoes. I fervently believe we'll be seeing more rain especially in early October.

 

[FoxC63]

UPDATE - Characters

Br'er Rabbit & Br'er Bear - Possible Rain Location



I believe these characters start roaming at 7pm. We did NOT ask for autographs also note PhotoPass is not available.

2017 @Vala got a signature from Br'er Bear [URL="https://www.disboards.com/threads/%E2%80%9Cofficial%E2%80%9D-2018-mickey%E2%80%99s-not-so-scary-halloween-party-%E2%80%93-strategy-and-itinerary-thread.3672288/page-162#post-59765278"]Post #3224[/URL]

These characters are roaming however during 9/14/2018 party, it was reported by @RJstanis whom I really trust stated:

"I was in Frontierland mainly during when it was raining. I saw both Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit at different times almost hiding under the cover around Liberty Tree Tavern and Diamond Horseshoe taking pictures and interacting with maybe one group each and nobody waiting." Post #0933

Thanks for reporting that!

This has been added to: Post #6: Character List

Look for *More