I am totally with you! We were there on Friday night too and didn't meet any characters. I had high hopes of meeting Jack and Sally but knew the lines might be too long. I then thought we'd lower our expectations a little and made a bit of an attempt to meet Pooh and friends but, every time we went by, their line was long and they weren't even out. We have 2 small kids so that definitely limited our time at the party (we left after the fireworks) but I would say you need to stay late in order to accomplish much (or have a big enough group that you can split up).
We arrived between 4 and 4:30, picked up our treat bags, DH took DS on one ride and then we went to eat. After that, it was 7 so we started trick or treating and the lines were crazy long. In one of the lines, one of the CMs was timing it and was not happy that it was taking 8 minutes for guests to get through. Around 8, we went to get a spot for the parade and did more trick or treating after the parade. We also got a picture in front of the Haunted Mansion (one of the magic shots) and then found a spot to watch Celebrate the Magic and Hallowishes and then we left. It was fun but I think I was expecting to get more stuff done, despite our time limitations.
Anyway, we're a family of 4 and here's a picture of our haul. Note that this was taken tonight and so a bunch of candy was eaten between Friday and today.