Opinions, please. Which Night for Halloween Party?

[stickeymouse]

We will be visiting Disneyland Tuesday through Saturday, the first week the Halloween parties are offered. There is a Halloween Party on Wednesday evening and one on Friday evening. I can't decide which to choose!

The benefits of going on Wednesday is an earlier evening (for the 6 y.o. in the group), a slightly cheaper price, and potentially lower crowds because it's on a school night (although the fact that it's the first party of the year might offset that). The benefits of going on Friday evening is that it would allow us to avoid (what I assume is) a very busy evening at DCA (Friday night + only park open) and it's our last night, so it would be a neat way of ending the trip.

Is there a factor I'm missing? Which would you choose?

 

[fantasmicfantastic]

I would go Friday. Wednesday and Friday parties will probably both be sold out or close to, so you can expect the same crowds on either party day since it is a limited ticket event. At least Friday will be a cool ending to the vacation and you can avoid the overcrowding in DCA.

 

[lcp9]

Agreed. both parties will likely sell out, but obviously that means attendance is capped. So it should be the same experience either way, just depends on what you'd rather do. FWIW we did Halloween night last year (Tuesday night) for a Mon-Wed trip, and in addition to the party, Tuesday morning was magic morning at 7am, and we have 3 kids under 6. You can do the math on how exhausting that was for a mid-trip day. ha.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Agreed. both parties will likely sell out, but obviously that means attendance is capped. So it should be the same experience either way, just depends on what you'd rather do. FWIW we did Halloween night last year (Tuesday night) for a Mon-Wed trip, and in addition to the party, Tuesday morning was magic morning at 7am, and we have 3 kids under 6. You can do the math on how exhausting that was for a mid-trip day. ha.

Doubt it would be a 7am EMH at the time of year OP is going (I hope because I am too but based on historical hours an 8am, or heaven help us 9am, EMH is more probable).

OP, I’m headed to that party as well. I chose Wed over Fri as well. I’ll also be there Fri but I chose Wed party because it’s earlier in our trip so we’ll have more energy and I’m hoping that Fri night will have later hours in DCA than Wed would so we’ll get a wee bit more park time by doing the Wed party

 

[lcp9]

Doubt it would be a 7am EMH at the time of year OP is going (I hope because I am too but based on historical hours an 8am, or heaven help us 9am, EMH is more probable).

OP, I’m headed to that party as well. I chose Wed over Fri as well. I’ll also be there Fri but I chose Wed party because it’s earlier in our trip so we’ll have more energy and I’m hoping that Fri night will have later hours in DCA than Wed would so we’ll get a wee bit more park time by doing the Wed party

Could be - I figured they did that on all party MM days to accommodate the early closure to regular tickets

 

[stickeymouse]

I'm leaning toward Friday at this point, but I'll ponder it a couple more days.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I'm leaning toward Friday at this point, but I'll ponder it a couple more days.

Fwiw: you’ll have fun no matter what you pick- it’s Disneyland!!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Could be - I figured they did that on all party MM days to accommodate the early closure to regular tickets

Hmmm... went back and checked hours and the first parties of last year had EMH at 8am for DCA on Wed and 7am for DCA Fri! w00t! I love an early EMH so fingers crossed!

 

[stickeymouse]

Fwiw: you’ll have fun no matter what you pick- it’s Disneyland!!

No doubt!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If you want to read reviews of the party to know where things are located and what might be new this year, then I would choose the Friday party. In my experience, while any MHP is lots of fun, the first party of the year tends to be more unorganized than any of the others (for obvious reasons). Thus we usually choose party dates later in the run so the CMs have a chance to work out the glitches and kinks. If you choose the Friday party, you'll have the opportunity to read the reviews of the first party. And if you do choose the Friday party, I'd buy the tickets soon -- Friday dates usually sell out before the other dates, and the first party to sell out (10/12) was a Friday.

 

[stickeymouse]

If you want to read reviews of the party to know where things are located and what might be new this year, then I would choose the Friday party. In my experience, while any MHP is lots of fun, the first party of the year tends to be more unorganized than any of the others (for obvious reasons). Thus we usually choose party dates later in the run so the CMs have a chance to work out the glitches and kinks. If you choose the Friday party, you'll have the opportunity to read the reviews of the first party. And if you do choose the Friday party, I'd buy the tickets soon -- Friday dates usually sell out before the other dates, and the first party to sell out (10/12) was a Friday.

Very sound advice. Thank you!

 

[figment_jii]

That's a tough question. If you were an all adult group, I would recommend the Friday party for all of the reasons stated above. Personally, I like the Friday parties better because of how the hours are distributed. There hasn't been any difference in terms of the offerings (e.g., fireworks, parade, trick-or-treating, characters, etc.). So in that way, it doesn't really make a difference between the Wed and Fri party. However, in terms of the schedule, I do think it makes a difference. For the last several years, the schedule was the same regardless of the party start time (e.g., fireworks is at 9:30 pm, second parade at 10:30 pm). So while both parties last five hours, the one starts at 7:00 pm has about two hours after the fireworks for trick-or-treating, characters, entertainment, and attractions. The 6:00 pm parties only have one hour after fireworks (10:00 pm to 11:00 pm). It's hard to explain, but it felt like those first two hours weren't as "efficient" as having two hours after fireworks to trick-or-treat, ride attractions, meet characters, etc. This is predicated on the assumption that you want to see the parade and fireworks (if you were only interested in the attractions, then I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes). I think it's because there is a good number of guests that do leave after fireworks and then another group that leaves after the second parade, so the crowds diminish over the course of the night. With the 7:00 pm start, it means about an hour of time after the last parade ends, when crowds are fairly low. Not all attractions will be walk-on (e.g., there will probably still be a line for Space and HMH), but the lines will be shorter and the trick-or-treat lines will probably be very short ("walk-on"). So, if possible, I would recommend going to a party that starts at 7:00 pm. That being said, you mentioned have a 6 year old, so some of this depends on whether you think she/he can make it until midnight. If not, then it might be more practical to go to the Wed party.

 

[tarheelalum]

Absolutely go. And I'd go on Friday night. The crowds are not that bad for the candy. The lines move fast. (Bring your own candy bags because the ones Disney hands out are crappy) Hardly no line at all for the rides. The parade, which is awesome, is not that hard to watch either. The bad part about the party is the character meets. The lines are really long. But the party is super fun for kids and adults. We are going on Halloween night and I can't wait!!

 

[stickeymouse]

I pulled the trigger and bought tickets for the Friday party. I just think it will be a perfect way to end our trip. Fingers crossed we can settle down for a nap the afternoon before the party. We will sleep in the next morning, maybe swim, and perhaps grab breakfast at Storytellers before heading to the airport at 11:00.

Thanks for all the comments!

 

[azdisneylover]

I would go Friday, so, we would have a big bag of Disneyland candy to drown our sorrows of leaving Disneyland with on our long way back home to reality.

 

[Jaina]

I pulled the trigger and bought tickets for the Friday party. I just think it will be a perfect way to end our trip. Fingers crossed we can settle down for a nap the afternoon before the party. We will sleep in the next morning, maybe swim, and perhaps grab breakfast at Storytellers before heading to the airport at 11:00.

Thanks for all the comments!

Sounds amazing!