Official 2021 "Disney After Hours Boo Bash" Thread

[rastuso]

Ugh! Almost all the dates were sold out when I rearranged my entire trip last week so I could buy tickets for one of the last two remaining nights in October, and NOW I see that there are plenty of dates available again. I feel so stupid. I should have known they would increase capacity or add more dates. I could have saved myself so much trouble by just waiting.

Imagine what the ones who waited on the phone for 10 hours feel like.

 

[tseitel]

Sorry, personally I’m not buying this....I think it’s Disney simply adding capacity.

This. 100%

 

[The Iron Giant]

If the newly available tickets are just from people rearranging their dates, then I’m guessing we will see dates bounce back and forth from available to sold out several times by the time the parties start.

 

[kat_lh]

We found an amazing DVC deal last night and we’re finally taking that short disney trip we’ve always talked about.

literally only bought Boo Bash tickets and planning on two pool days over Labor Day.

I’ve never done a DAH event but did all the early morning events back in 2018. There were similar instances of sold out than releasing more tickets and all the handwringing that followed that. Even with increased capacity, the lines were always short at those events and we had a wonderful time. Hoping for the same on this trip!

 

[Sarahslay]

Not getting this. If the new availability was just the few spots that opened up when people who originally booked one date moved to another, then it seems like all of those events would have sold out again quickly once the new availability was posted. I mean, how many people actually moved their dates? As a percentage of tickets sold, I would think that it’s negligible.

It's not just a few, a lot of people moved it, but I was just giving people examples. I swear sometimes, goodness people, examples. I wasn't given numbers in my conversation with her, we were just talking on the phone while I drove back from the beach yesterday morning and I expressed my concern over what I had seen about the dates becoming available. People are making mountains out of mole hills and attacking people who are honestly not trying to start stuff but just trying to explain and put people at ease a bit. I was just trying to help, and if you read I said it accounted for SOME of it, NOT ALL. Good grief, I give up, I'll keep it to myself next time and let y'all just keep getting worked up over it.

 

[Sarahslay]

If the newly available tickets are just from people rearranging their dates, then I’m guessing we will see dates bounce back and forth from available to sold out several times by the time the parties start.

My friend said a lot of folks from on site switched to the newly released dates on June 15 and a few days later, but she hasn't seen much since then. Since people couldn't switched until that date, and those dates were released prior to that date, they just had to sit there and wait. Now people have the ability to decide freely before purchasing what date they want before they buy so there isn't a huge "OMG now there is a date that works better that is available!" situation.

 

[mcurrence]

Yep. I watched a family take off the lanyards and hand them over to the half that hadn't ridden buzz light year yet. And people arguing that since Mom wasn't going to ride, she shouldn't have to have an event ticket. Knowing what I paid for tickets for the entire family, that really made me angry.
[/QUOT

It's not just a few, a lot of people moved it, but I was just giving people examples. I swear sometimes, goodness people, examples. I wasn't given numbers in my conversation with her, we were just talking on the phone while I drove back from the beach yesterday morning and I expressed my concern over what I had seen about the dates becoming available. People are making mountains out of mole hills and attacking people who are honestly not trying to start stuff but just trying to explain and put people at ease a bit. I was just trying to help, and if you read I said it accounted for SOME of it, NOT ALL. Good grief, I give up, I'll keep it to myself next time and let y'all just keep getting worked up over it.

I’m grateful for the info you provided you were trying to help and I appreciate it . After the year and a half we’ve had I will be grateful to enjoy my happy place any way I can ! Have been back already this year but really looking forward to the Halloween experience . Can’t wait to be on Main Street and say ( like Cory Martin does!!! ) I’m just happy to be here!!!

 

[mcurrence]

It's not just a few, a lot of people moved it, but I was just giving people examples. I swear sometimes, goodness people, examples. I wasn't given numbers in my conversation with her, we were just talking on the phone while I drove back from the beach yesterday morning and I expressed my concern over what I had seen about the dates becoming available. People are making mountains out of mole hills and attacking people who are honestly not trying to start stuff but just trying to explain and put people at ease a bit. I was just trying to help, and if you read I said it accounted for SOME of it, NOT ALL. Good grief, I give up, I'll keep it to myself next time and let y'all just keep getting worked up over it.

Meant to reply to this!

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Good grief, I give up, I'll keep it to myself next time and let y'all just keep getting worked up over it.

I, for one, appreciate your posts, and your willingness to share inside information. I’m a little skeptical of Disney’s motives these days. But my issues are with Disney, not with you or your friend. I hope you keep posting what you hear. And I sure hope you’re right that this doesn’t signal a significant capacity increase!

 

[Violet Parr]

I'm staying optimistic. There was so much chaos with the way Ticket Services works that I can imagine a number of scenarios. They could have stopped sales short of a sellout to give a period for all of the switcheroo-ing to get sorted out. (In our case, I called on day 1 and when I got through, I was told Halloween was sold out, so I bought for Oct. 29. Thirty minutes later, friends got Halloween night. I called back and they were unable to switch them because Ticket Services "hadn't loaded them yet." So I had to buy Halloween, with the promise of a refund for the 29th. I was not able to call back until June 20 because we were in the Sierras for a week with no internet. They were able to sort it at that time. They told me a LOT of people were in the same position due to the tech issues of the first two days of sales.


It would not be out of the realm of possibility that they stopped sales on a few dates until they got all of those sorted out.

It's also not out of the realm of possibility that they added capacity but that they did not add enough tickets to drastically alter the atmosphere. Adding a mere 500 tickets per night (not nearly enough people to alter wait times to a noticeable degree) would net 15,000 additional tickets over the 30 nights. That's about 2.7million dollars in ticket sales. Adding only 1000 tickets per night (still not enough to make a noticeable dent in wait times) brings in about $5,400,000 in ticket sales.

And they could have added an additional 20,000 tickets per night. Enough to make things seem way more crowded. But that's assuming that many people want to pay the prices we've paid.

I've been to more MNSSHP than I can count and not a single After Hours event, so I am cautiously optimistic that our experience on Halloween night will be fun. We'll arrive as early as is allowed, soak up some atmosphere, and hopefully have a happier Halloween than last year's sad covid experience. Fingers crossed!

 

[Gypsybear]

Honestly, IMO, it's a crap shoot.....this past Halloween season, we saw a gentleman in costume at EPCOT....he made it into the park.....at one of the shops, however, he was made to purchase a tee shirt and put it over his costume, as costumes weren't allowed at EPCOT. So, while he made it in, he didn't get far...I understand that you're asking about a mask, but I think it'll depend on the CMs, IMO. There seems to be lots of gray area.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Sorry, personally I’m not buying this....I think it’s Disney simply adding capacity.

I agree, They have seen how people are buying tickets and are going to take advantage of it and add capacity to the event to make more $$.
Walt Disney World never said they wouldn’t release more tickets. The company promised a “limited-capacity” event with “less time waiting in line.” So as long as the attendance cap is 99% or less and wait times are lower than a typical day, then they’ve upheld their end of the bargain. No I do not think it will be that bad, but I do believe this is how WDW thinks.

 

[CSLucas]

To branch away from the ticket conversation just a moment - what is the transportation situation for this? If we take the boat over from the resort at 7 is it still going to be running throughout the event? Or will it switch to just bus once we reach normal park close? Normally if we are going to be in a park late we drive for convenience, but with this being MK I really want to avoid the TTC. I imagine we will leave around 11 (2 littles who probably will be ready to call it quits) so I'm also hoping we would miss a lot of the lines for transportation.

 

[twinklebug]

To branch away from the ticket conversation just a moment - what is the transportation situation for this? If we take the boat over from the resort at 7 is it still going to be running throughout the event? Or will it switch to just bus once we reach normal park close? Normally if we are going to be in a park late we drive for convenience, but with this being MK I really want to avoid the TTC. I imagine we will leave around 11 (2 littles who probably will be ready to call it quits) so I'm also hoping we would miss a lot of the lines for transportation.

The boats should still be running until an hour after the event ends. Keep in mind that Disney will stop boats at their discretion due to weather, or even staffing power should they be down a skipper. Buses between WL or FW and the MK are very fast and reliable. They will not leave you stranded.

 

[Raya]

To branch away from the ticket conversation just a moment - what is the transportation situation for this? If we take the boat over from the resort at 7 is it still going to be running throughout the event? Or will it switch to just bus once we reach normal park close? Normally if we are going to be in a park late we drive for convenience, but with this being MK I really want to avoid the TTC. I imagine we will leave around 11 (2 littles who probably will be ready to call it quits) so I'm also hoping we would miss a lot of the lines for transportation.

In my experience with After Hours events the boats to the TTC were running, boats to resorts were not. Monorails were not running. Buses were the main mode of transport. The park is partially closed for this event, and normal transport isn't running,

 

[Dano the Pirate]

My friend said a lot of folks from on site switched to the newly released dates on June 15 and a few days later, but she hasn't seen much since then. Since people couldn't switched until that date, and those dates were released prior to that date, they just had to sit there and wait. Now people have the ability to decide freely before purchasing what date they want before they buy so there isn't a huge "OMG now there is a date that works better that is available!" situation.

Respectfully, there is no way all but 2 of the sold out dates are available due to moving from earlier sold dates…

we have been played… again.

 

[Sarahslay]

Respectfully, there is no way all but 2 of the sold out dates are available due to moving from earlier sold dates…

we have been played… again.

Again, I said she said SOME of the availability is from that NOT ALL of it. She's not in charge of that other part, she doesn't know what the heck they're doing or what the actual numbers are, she just runs numbers all day and goes home. Sometimes she has juicy stuff to tell me, sometimes it's mildly helpful, and sometimes it's very helpful, and sometimes it's kinda calming to know it's not totally all increased capacity but people still like to take a poop on me for it. It is what it is, I just know my date never did sell out so now I'll never know if it ever did get to that level of capacity or not to be their first level of "sold out". I'm as frustrated as everyone else, I was just trying to pass along what she told me because she does work with some of the numbers and has some info that most CMs don't have. I'm just gonna go and drown my sorrows in free snacks.

 

[floribr1]

I'm just gonna go and drown my sorrows in free snacks.

Haha!!

 

[CSLucas]

Again, I said she said SOME of the availability is from that NOT ALL of it. She's not in charge of that other part, she doesn't know what the heck they're doing or what the actual numbers are, she just runs numbers all day and goes home. Sometimes she has juicy stuff to tell me, sometimes it's mildly helpful, and sometimes it's very helpful, and sometimes it's kinda calming to know it's not totally all increased capacity but people still like to take a poop on me for it. It is what it is, I just know my date never did sell out so now I'll never know if it ever did get to that level of capacity or not to be their first level of "sold out". I'm as frustrated as everyone else, I was just trying to pass along what she told me because she does work with some of the numbers and has some info that most CMs don't have. I'm just gonna go and drown my sorrows in free snacks.

I appreciate the info, and I find it encouraging if for no other reason than that it shows that Disney's official stance is that this is still a limited, after-hours event. Maybe not as limited as some previous AH, but if they were going to open the floodgates I don't think they would be working on managing expectations, not setting themselves up for a huge blowback by telling people not to worry only to later find it packed.

 

[JoJoGirl]

In my experience with After Hours events the boats to the TTC were running, boats to resorts were not. Monorails were not running. Buses were the main mode of transport. The park is partially closed for this event, and normal transport isn't running,

This was our experience as well. In May 2019, we were directed to a bus labeled “Monorail Loop” to get back to the GF after the event.