Our MNSSHP experience

[SnowWitch]

I would guess this was probably our 20th time going to a MNSSHP, we have been attending since the parties were a shocking $29.95 per person if you can imagine that.

I had read on the dis that people felt like the party had become more crowded and felt Disney was selling more tickets. I have been to sold out parties and the party we attended Sunday night certainly felt far more crowded than any party we have ever attended.

We entered at 4pm, had an early dinner at the Plaza and then headed to ride a few rides. From 5 pm until park close this is what we did:
Dumbo
Mermaid Ride
Barnstormer
Tomorrowland Speedway
Haunted Mansion
POC
BTM
Splash
11:15 Parade
Midnight- Hocus Pocus Show
Several candy trails
3 magic photo ops

Historically, we have managed at least twice if not more rides and several character meet and greets in the same time frame.

Overall it was crowded everywhere! We no longer attend the Christmas Parties because we don’t feel there is enough value in them. After this experience with the Halloween Party we may not attend it again.

 

[frannn]

We had the same experience this year. DD lives in FL and bought tickets to this in lieu of a regular park day. Last year we all had a great night with tons of pics, rides, candy. This year was more crowded than our regular park days (late August). We may skip it next year.

 

[HopperFan]

Same and been going to parties since 2006, most those years two parties each year.

Last year I said I was done but DS really wanted to go. It was worse.

Frustrating ... especially when you have seen it otherwise. And I went to many "sold out" parties in past.

We actually went back to MK the next day and experienced lower crowds on a normal day than we had at party.

Not sure I can keep paying that much for these parties ...

 

[missnic]

Same. We were also there on Sunday, and I don't think I have EVER seen MK that crowded. And we've had APs for 10 years and have attended the halloween party for several.
This party used to be one of the things we most looked forward to, but the appeal has quickly been lost. Unless they sell fewer tickets or change up the entertainment, I don't think we'll do it again.

 

[estnh]

Also have reached the end of the rope on this party. We attended this party in 2014, 2016, and 2017 and again this year. The first two were fantastic, but in 2017 we felt overwhelmed by the crowds. We hoped that the 2017 party was the exception and went again this year hoping to recapture the great times we had at the '14 and '16 parties, but were sadly disappointed this year when it was much worse. I agree with previous posters who mentioned that MK definitely felt more crowded than even a very heavy normal day. Never again.

 

[Roy Disney]

We attended MNSSHP on Sunday Sept 30th and it was pretty empty. We could walk on most rides with no or very little wait.
We even did some pictures with characters that normally have a few hour waits because there were no lines.
We got a pic with the 7 dwarfs after waiting about 10 mins.

Party was well worth it !

 

[Babs1975]

Please everyone - write an email to Disney telling them how disappointed you are that the parties are not meeting expectations and are too crowded. I don't know if anything will change, but that's the only way to at least be heard.

 

[Amanda999]

Will be interesting to hear reports (as to crowd level) from the party on 10/31!

 

[SnowWitch]

We were at a Disney over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. We accomplished far more in the MK over the holiday weekend than we did during the party. I plan to send an email with feedback about our experience but as an AP holder more years than I care to count since the mid-90’s and a dvc member since ‘98 I don’t anticipate any change. I appreciate it is a business but guest experience is no longer the most important thing.

I am becoming disillusioned about my precious mouse.

 

[Keckster]

First time visitor to MNSSHP on Sunday (10/14), and generally enjoyed it. I don't have anything to compare to crowd wise other than what I've seen in video blogs, but it did seem more crowded than I anticipated. Frequent visitor friends told us that for several rides we would almost be able to get off and back on again with little to no wait time. It wasn't so. Seemed like 20-25 minutes was overall overage.

 

[indoshakespeare]

Looks like some dates are busier than others. The labor day dates were very low crowds.

 

[Srbright]

I will let you know. It is our 20th wedding anniversary that day and that's where we are going!

Stacy

Will be interesting to hear reports (as to crowd level) from the party on 10/31!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I stopped going to the Xmas party for this same reason. Last year was our first without doing it. It’s alwats so crowded now and not as much fun as it used to be.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I thought about going to mnsshp on Oct.30th...but after hearing about how insanely crowded the parties are lately, i decided to pass.

 

[ml sumner]

We went to the party for the first time on 10/14/18, so I don't have anything to compare it to. I have been reading how crowded the party was, but my husband really wanted to go. We got there at 3:30 waited until they started letting us in which was around 3:48. We had our 3 fast passes lined up for HM 3:30 - 4:30, BTMRR 4:30 - 5:30, and SM 5:30 - 6:00. We also did Philharmagic during the time before the party, since it does not run during the party. There were crowds everywhere, but I wasn't shocked. Ride wait times for the popular rides stayed at 25 to 30 minutes all night. 7DMT was around 40 minutes all night. The trick or treat lines were long at times, but moved very quickly. We got 12 rides done, front row for the 1st parade in Adventure Land, and watched the last Hocus Pocus show. Overall for what we did we felt the party was fun and worth what we paid for it. We got our 8 1/2 hours worth of park time and took home 15 lbs of candy as well. Maybe next time I can get my son to do a few character meets!!

 

[luvthemouse71]

We went Tuesday.yes, more crowded than years past but we still had a good time. I forgot how good the parade and fireworks were. We got a lot of candy.

We aren’t big into characters so we don’t stand in those lines. Rode some rides, soaked up the atmosphere and had some Halloween treats. I’m good for a few more years..

 

[Gafnorin]

Will be interesting to hear reports (as to crowd level) from the party on 10/31!

We’ll be there! First time tho so nothing to compare it to. And we’ll have a full MK day 2 days prior so there’s no real pressure for rides. Plan is for atmosphere, seeing lots of costumes, early Hocus Pocus, late parade, dance parties (how can you turn down a dance party??) and a little candy. Or a lot. We’ll see.

And hoping to keep the FOMO in check.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

We did both the Sunday 10-14 and Tuesday 10-16 parties. Perhaps because the only previous party we did was last year on Halloween (a sold out party) it didn't seem as bad either night to us. Yes, 7Dwarves had a long line both times (but less than an hour on Tuesday) and Space Mountain was long on Sunday (it was shut down for about an hour so after it opened and word spread, the wait went to over an hour). Tuesday of course was the best of the two nights, would do another party with that size crowd again no problem. If we are back in Florida again for Halloween season, I would pick a weekday party not on Halloween itself.

 

[hes122]

We did the 10/12 party. We entered the park shortly after 4.

Here's what we managed to do during that time:
Buzz Lightyear (FP)
Walt Disney Railroad
Big Thunder (FP)
Splash Mountain
Dinner at Pecos Bill (arrived right as the park was closing for day guests)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Haunted Mansion
Peter Pan's Flight
Prince Charming's Regal Carousel
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Hallowishes
Hocus Pocus Show
Boo to You Halloween Parade
Space Mountain

We did stop a few places in there for some photo ops and trick or treating. There were one or two rides we wanted to hit up but didn't get a chance to. I think we came to the conclusion that you either focus on the rides or the character meet and greets. It's too hard to focus on both and get to do everything you want. It's all about managing your expectations. The longest ride waits were Haunted Mansion and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (both around the 30-35 minute range). HM didn't take that long, but 7DMT certainly did.

 

[AngiTN]

Please everyone - write an email to Disney telling them how disappointed you are that the parties are not meeting expectations and are too crowded. I don't know if anything will change, but that's the only way to at least be heard.

I hope those who are disappointed do that. It does sound like some days are really bad and others, folks do as much at the party, or more, than a regular park day at MK. With such drastically different results, it may be that Disney doesn't see the issue. Doesn't mean there isn't one but when you have a segment of the population go to the party and find it great they have to wonder, do the others have too high expectations? Heck, I've seen a few cases where people at the same party came away with different opinions. Like one group fell in and followed the crowd and the other group managed to tour opposite it. It's bound to make them reluctant to make any changes.

I know we have determined to never, ever go on a weekend or Holiday, only mid-week. So far, we've not had a party so bad we couldn't get things done. Character lines, however, are always bad. This I put on the fact that they do some of these characters too rarely. We have opted to never do the characters, even though I do love the rare ones because there isn't enough value in standing in the lines for them. If I could fix anything regarding the parties it would be the characters. Have more and don't make these characters so rare.