My party day was 10/16. I was prepared for the worst after what had been posted here, but honestly thought the crowds were okay, even less bad than some years before.
The only thing I absolutely hated was how they did entrance to Toontown for the pre-party. In the past they had taped lines on the ground. People were fed into these lines and then walked in one line after another. This time no lines, instead they grabbed people from the front rows and made us inch forward a couple of yards. This was totally ridiculous. Many families sent one person to push in and then jumped to the front because CMs let the pushers take their whole family with them. I was third on arrival and almost 100 people back when we finally walked in.
Not that it mattered much. I had seen that Max had been out and was really trying to get into the Goofy/Max line. The only lines they were allowing to form were Mickey and Minnie - only to have then Donald and Daisy walk out. By the time I had my Daisy photo done a Goofy line had formed, but he was not there. I asked a CM and was told Max was kept up at school and Pluto may be coming out after Goofy.
So if you don't know me: hello, my name is Vala and I am a character fanatic.
My priorities were characters, characters and more characters and then maybe the parade.
There were so many new things at the party that I decided it wasn't worth the risk waiting for Max who may never show. So I left Toontown.
There is a treat trail at Fantasyland Theatre which opened about 20 minutes after Toontown. It's just 4 stops, but it also has a character stop that I didn't really see advertised anywhere. And it's a good stop - Horace and Clarabelle are swtching with Chip and Dale! I was the first to see Horace and Clarabelle and then went through the trail again. The CMs kindly allowed me to wait to the side til the munks were back.
I was out and heading for Zocalo to find the Mickey and Minnie line a little after half hour before the party started. Arriving at Zocalo there was a bit of a surprise. They hadn't actually set up a line - again. Told us they would do so at party start. With about 30 people lingering in the area you can imagine how that worked - not.
We were then walked into the Zocalo seating area eventually. All chairs still out and everything. I hope no one fell over something. With lots of strollers behind me things seemed to get a bit hectic because again quite a bit of pushing ensued.
I was 10 minutes into the official party at that point and off to my main meet: Sally and Constance at the French Market. Imagine my surprise when at that point not only there was only one family in front of me, but the French Market also had not been cleared up on time and they couldn't let us in because there were still people eating. So... time out for me.
By the time they finally let us in the "line" was 5 groups deep. Shocked doesn't even begin to cover my state of mind at that point. Two totally new characters and probably the biggest addition to the party in years and no one is in line?
I guess it didn't help that the meet is not in the line or the times guide. The CMs hosting mentioned that they had only had one mention on Instagram and Twitter before, and at other stops CMs were constantly telling attendees about this meet.
Sally Slater was the first character coming out for the meet, and she was an absolute joy. The set up is done really cool too. If you love the Mansion please go to this meet.
I asked the CMs when Constance would come out and figured I could check out the Jane/Terk line meanwhile. Baloo and Louie were still out at that point and in hindsight instead of waiting a few minutes to meet Jane I could have met Baloo and Louie too - the lines for both pairs really were that short.
Went back to French Market and when I arrived Constance was already meeting, and she was a walk up. A walk up.
I asked on here if they sign and can hereby confirm: yes, they do sign.
I still had time before the first parade and wasn't sure who'd still be out at Town Square at that point, so I headed for the pirates meet. Long line there, easily over an hour. I can see why they added a second spot for the pirates - Neverland Gang and Captain Jack rotating always had long lines. However, feeding both stops from the same line may not have the best idea. I gave up and went for Town Square, where the set villains meet had crazy lines, but the rest was fairly light. Got Pluto, Goofy (set up meet) and Facilier, Sailor Donald and Pirate Chip and Dale roaming in fairly quick succession - still got second row parade spot.
After the parade had gone through I managed to wing it to New Orleans Square and met Sally Slater again and listened to the Cadaver Dans a little while. I was regretting a little letting Baloo go, but that's water under the Bridge. The Pirates stop line was under 10 minutes, so I jumped in there and met Captain Jack, Hook and Smee. On the way back it was still Jane and Terk in Adventureland and o I tried my luck at Town Square again. I would have really liked another picture with Lady Tremaine, but as usual she and the girls were hard to get and I failed being solo. I did get Gaston though. After front row spot for parade they opened the set villains meet again. I decided to chance it and met Hades fairly quickly. While I was in line the Villains Kiss good night started, so I got to enjoy this too. Took way longer than usual too - no CMs came to clear a path for the villains and they ended up being stuck in the train station for a good 20 minutes...
EDIT: I did get my party ticket very early in the afternoon at the Starcade AP center. Was before 2 PM. No line at all. I was a bit disappointed about this year's gifts though. They seem to become cheaper every year.