We went to the party last night (9/16) and I found the crowds to be very reasonable!
We arrived a bit later than intended due to the monorail pausing for awhile at the Contemporary. We should have just walked anyway (just trying to stay out of the heat a bit longer) so we ditched the line and walked over. “Luckily” while we were waiting for the monorail, We received an email that our Splash FP (scheduled for 3:15-4:25) was turned into an anytime FP because it went down during our window. We had started walking at about 4 so there was no way we would have made it.
We were able to walk right up to the event turnstile to get in, got our wristbands and strolled quickly through the bypass, taking a few pics but no stops for photopass. There seemed to be lines at all the stops, though nothing too crazy. We just don’t tend to do pics.
Headed over to BTMRR right when our window opened for our 4:20-5:20 FPs. After a quick ride, Splash had reopened so we jumped into standby with a 15 min wait instead of using our FP. Then headed over to HM which had a posted 10 min wait. Used the anytime FP since we figured we’d be out of time to use it in anything else and it was useless as we were with the people going standby. Oh well!
Next up we moved on to our PP FP that was 5:25-6. We were off this I think by around 5:40 so we definitely should have held onto our FP to ride something else. Didn’t really matter though - waits were very reasonable (and it couldn’t be used on SDMT). We headed for Under the Sea instead, via a Mickey ice cream stop. I think it was shortly after 6 at this point.
Once done under the sea we headed into Storybook Circus and ended up riding Barnstormer for the first time ha! Then over to Cosmic Rays for the Meunster burger. We enjoyed it - I found it maybe slightly dry but the sauce was really good/different. I think we just waited for one person in front of us so the lines at this time were very reasonable. Finished up just after 7 so it was time to enjoy the party!
Hit up Buzz then went to the COP TOT trail. It was long but it moved quickly. Then to Space with a posted 30 min wait. While we didn’t stop moving almost the whole time, it was pretty close to 30 mins. I though the music could have been a bit louder and more rock music would be cool but the ride itself was super fun in the dark.
Did the Cosmic Rays TOT then lined up for Teacups with a 15 min wait. Once done we moved onto SDMT which had a 35 min posted wait. Again the line kept moving but that was about the wait. I didn’t see it below 30 mins on MDE while we were at the party. Did the Fantasyland TOT trails and moved on towards the Liberty Square ones. At this point the parade was on but we got by no problem. Stopped for a pic at the big pumpkin since there was no one there at all and managed to get to the bypass between Adventureland and Frontierland just as the parade ended so we could cross as a Dole whip was needed!
Sat and enjoyed that for 10 mins then headed to the hub. Grabbed a great spot towards the left side (plan was to hit POC after the fireworks) and sat for 20 mins. And just when we stood up in anticipation of the fireworks starting, they announced a delay for inclement weather. We stood for a bit then decided to hit the shops. Started raining a bit while we walked so I guess that was the weather they were talking about. I think we shopped maybe for 15 mins or so - enough time to grab a couple of
MNSSHP shirts - and decided to wait on Main St to see what would happen since it wasn’t raining. Literally 2 mins later the lights dimmed!
After a great fireworks show, we finally decided to call it a night. We had left the house on Saturday at 4pm, traveller overnight (3 flights) with minimal sleep and didn’t get into our room until 2:30 which killed most of our napping plan. I really did want to see the parade but it was raining a bit again and I didn’t want to stay, only to have it be washed out. I should have planned on the early parade instead in anticipation of this but what can you do.
Overall we had a great time! Rides were our priority as we aren’t huge character or photopass people. Mostly for us the party was more about getting a taste of Disney for what was originally going to be a Universal only trip. We loved the DL version so it seemed like a great option - and it was! We Disney-bounded I would say rather than fully dressed up and will be enjoying candy for the rest of the trip!
Waits for us were very reasonable - I thought maybe we’d get a bit shorter for SM but that was likely because we did it right at the beginning. It never seemed ridiculously crowded but of course was quite hot the whole time.
Thanks to everyone participating in this and the strategy thread as they both helped me form a great (and very accurate for timing - even had some extra time we could fill in) plan that kept us from floundering about what to do next. As the parade was a priority for me I should have recognized our potential inability to make it to the second one and done the first. But still very happy with what we did get done and that we chose to add this in!