MNSSHP - Warning! Busier than expected.

[MomofLogan&Evan]

I agree that it is very crowded on tuesday nights in sept. We went on sept 27, 2011 & it was horribly crowded. We went in late oct in 2008 & had moderate crowds. Last week we decided to go to the pirates and pals cruise on a friday night instead and really enjoyed it much better! We saw the hallowishes fireworks clearly without pushy people, danced and did the limbo with cpt hook, mr smee, and peter pan. We loved it especially listening to the music on the boat! and it was cheaper!!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

I guess everyone wants a piece of the Disney Halloween magic.... My kids just want candy and I just want a decent spot for Boo to You, so hopefully we won't be too disappointed... Thanks everyone for sharing our experiences!

 

[maryj11]

Yes, I do think so. And the late September crowds were influenced by the cast member discounts and the military discounts.

The discounts move the crowds more than anything.

I know that they have added the military discount to the days we are going Oct 14 and 16. Do you think that will make it more crowded ?

 

[maryj11]

curious. When does free dining end? We will be there next week. Have tickets for Monday's party. Now, I'm getting concerned. But, it's good to know ahead of time so we can be prepared for the crowd.

If I remember right it ends on October 4th and then starts again October 19th.

 

[heather13]

Thanks for setting the expectations. This is really helpful!

I'm curious about a few more things...
Are the dance parties just as crowded as everything else?
Is the parade 5-7 people deep (i.e. do we HAVE to get there super early even if DD is scared and we don't mind being behind someone)?
How would you rate it on a scale of 1-10 in crowd level?

I realize that last question is tougher since everyone is concentrated in a few areas, but the busiest I can recall was during the Christmas parade taping. I'm trying to get an idea in my mind if it's like that or worse!

 

[maryj11]

I'll be there Monday too!
I do think FD does play a part. Hopefully it won't be as bad over the next few weeks. I do agree with the PP who mentioned contacting Disney and letting them know how disappointed you are by the massive crowds and that it affected your night and you are not planning on returning for MNSSHP. $ talks and if enough people don't come back, eventually they would have to do something.

I agree, they will make less money if people stop going because of the crowds. They will need to do something about it.

 

[maryj11]

Search here or on the web for "Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom", and that will likely answer your question. A special-event card for SotMK is being handed out to any party-goer who asks, but is available nowhere else.

Where do we go to to ask for our cards ?

 

[mom2rtk]

I know that they have added the military discount to the days we are going Oct 14 and 16. Do you think that will make it more crowded ?

Not necessarily. Up until a couple days ago, people thought the end of September was the end of those discounts so they bought their tickets in September.

They also thought the end of September was the end of free dining. They ended up adding FD into Oct/Dec, but by then people had their trips set. I've always thought that was one reason the end of September was so busy.

 

[bowlingchicaroo]

We were there also on 9-25. First time going to MNSSHP and it was ridiculously crazy!! If this is "low crowd" season we will be avoiding September. Now we went in Sept. '09 and it was no where near the crowds like this year. Everything was pretty much walk on. We really didn't wait in a single line. Which was great!! I would really like to know what changed as far as September being busier??

 

[mom2rtk]

We were there also on 9-25. First time going to MNSSHP and it was ridiculously crazy!! If this is "low crowd" season we will be avoiding September. Now we went in Sept. '09 and it was no where near the crowds like this year. Everything was pretty much walk on. We really didn't wait in a single line. Which was great!! I would really like to know what changed as far as September being busier??

The first week of September is probably the least crowded week of the entire year. Or pretty close to it. By late September, people ae comfortable taking kids out of school, F/W starts, and the original FD offer is coming to a close.

 

[xipotec]

This is all making me very happy that I decided not to do MNSSHP on our trip this year!

Me too! The point of paying extra to me was for a slightly more exclusive and less crowded time at the park

But once again, disney is showing the buck now rules. I really hope this idea of packing the park every second of every year to please Wall Street slow or reverses. I can live without a FL expansion, if the cost is more n more people packed in year after year.

I really do not want to feel like the magic in the magic kingdom has lost its sparkle.....

 

[mesaboy2]

Where do we go to to ask for our cards ?

The Firehouse in Town Square at the front of the park.

 

[kramerzoo]

It really makes me sad at how people are complaining about the crowds...It's Disney!! It seems that everyone forgot the fact that there were several different events going on this past weekend...which probably contributed to the higher than normal crowds...

Any ways....we are going in a week and I am definitely gonna get to do everything on my list...and I am going to enjoy my time no matter what!!

You've gotta remember that everyone's views of crowds are different and if you really want to go...GO!! And enjoy yourself. Dont worry about what someone else says...just my lil opinion!

 

[ppony]

The problem is for every 1 of us that does not go, 2 people go in our place.

Yep. Been complaining for years. We haven't been to a party in over 4. There are always replacements.

Complaining about crowds is a very valid complaint. Why should people keep it all to themselves? We obviously still LOVE WDW or we wouldn't go. Complaints don't mean you don't still love.

 

[mom2rtk]

But once again, disney is showing the buck now rules. I really hope this idea of packing the park every second of every year to please Wall Street slow or reverses. I can live without a FL expansion, if the cost is more n more people packed in year after year.

Too late. They'll never put that genie back into the bottle. They shelled out a lot of $$$ for the expansion and they'll expect a return. Any day the parks are not at capacity are viewed as a marketing opportunity.

 

[BigGreen73]

Thanks for setting the expectations. This is really helpful!

I'm curious about a few more things...
Are the dance parties just as crowded as everything else?
Is the parade 5-7 people deep (i.e. do we HAVE to get there super early even if DD is scared and we don't mind being behind someone)?
How would you rate it on a scale of 1-10 in crowd level?

I realize that last question is tougher since everyone is concentrated in a few areas, but the busiest I can recall was during the Christmas parade taping. I'm trying to get an idea in my mind if it's like that or worse!

The dance parties weren't too bad. But they did have "party goers" right until close this year. Compare to 2010, and the parties were shut down by 11:30pm because there was no one dancing.

The parade was definitely "5-7" deep on main street and in front of the castle. I strongly recommend seeing it in Frontierland, you will be able to get a decent spot getting there 20-30mins prior.

For the FW's, I recommend seeing them in the area in front of the Crystal Palace. It's a great view and not a ton of people.

Rating crowd level is impossible, because like you said the crowds vary by where you are in the parks. Thickiest crowds are always on main street and in front of the castle pretty much all night. Longest lines are for characters. Trick or treat lines can be really long but move pretty quickly, longest line we experienced was 5-10 mins at most. Ride lines varied from walk on to 30mins.

 

[BigGreen73]

It really makes me sad at how people are complaining about the crowds...It's Disney!! It seems that everyone forgot the fact that there were several different events going on this past weekend...which probably contributed to the higher than normal crowds...

Any ways....we are going in a week and I am definitely gonna get to do everything on my list...and I am going to enjoy my time no matter what!!

You've gotta remember that everyone's views of crowds are different and if you really want to go...GO!! And enjoy yourself. Dont worry about what someone else says...just my lil opinion!

Complaining is just the nature of the beast and people have the right. It's Disney, but for the amount of money people are paying, they want to be able to enjoy what they are paying for, especially during a supposed "slow" period.
During September, WDW pushes Free DDP, has more discounts, it's "value" season, and WDW is running more events. Along with recommendations from the Dis and similar websites, more and more people are going now during September.

When I started this thread, I just wanted to get the word out that I experienced somewhat heavier crowds overall than my Sept 2010 trip and the crowds for the two MNSSHP that I attended was way busier that the two parties I did in Sept 2010. I still had an awesome vacation, but the crowds were a litle surprising. Not what I expected.

for MNSSHP, it's just becoming more popular. More and more people what to see and take pics with characters and parties are a great time to see less common or rare characters. The character lines and trick or treat lines were long all night. Folks need to be aware. I have seen so many itineraries where folks are planning based on past parties. They want to to the FW's, parade, Villain shows, 8-9 characters, a dance party etc.... Based on the crowds and feedback on crowds from CM's I spoke to, that is not going to happen. Better for folks to be informed to adjust what they want to do and set realistic expectations than go and be disappointed and frustrated.

Maybe there will be some parties with lower crowds in October and folks will be able to do more than they planned.

But it should not make you sad people complain about crowds. It's Disney, it's expensive, and complaining is a just a part of it.

 

[kermit116]

We attended MVMCP on what turned out to be a sold out night (and it wasn't even close to Xmas!). Never again would I do one of these parties unless I could try on a slow night. Waits for Peter Pan were 45+ minutes even until 11pm (when we left because we just couldn't deal with the crowds). Fantasyland was so packed after the fireworks I was actually scared it could become dangerous. Space Mtn wait was never under an hour. We had saved a number of MK favorite rides for the party night, assuming low crowds, and then only got to do about 4 rides over a 4 hour period. Very disappointing! I wish they would sell fewer tickets to make it the way it sounded when I heard Podcast reviews (5-10 minute waits). I understand of course that WDW wants to pack the parties to make money, but to me there's just not enough incentive, even with the characters (which when we went all had very long lines), special fireworks, & special parade. I feel like Disney originally marketed these parties & justified the extra cost by playing the parties off as a more "premium" kind of WDW park experience. Perhaps my expectations were too high based on hearing so many people say most rides would be walk ons, but it just wasn't a plus for us on that particular trip.

 

[MaleficentRN]

The 26th was Yom Kippur, a day off in many schools. I suspect many locals attended the Tuesday night party. The same could be said for Friday and it was also the last night for half off tickets for military. Many things contributed to the "perfect storm" of crowds.

 

[OhBother]

I was there on Friday night, the 28th, and my experience has been similar to what others have posted. We had a great time and I'm glad we went, but it did seem way more crowded than what I was expecting. I had never been to MNSSHP party so all I had to go on was previous trip reports and such, and because of that I was expecting the park to be empty after the 10:30 parade. Nope!! The crowd was heavy right up until midnight. The lines for candy and rides seemed long but they moved pretty fast once you were in them, so that wasn't the problem. It was just basic getting around from point A to point B that it seemed there were constant bottlenecks of people. It didn't help that there were 7 of us all trying to stay together. Luckily we all dressed like M&M's with bright shirts so we could find each other easier It was a fun time, just wish we could have done everything we wanted to do. We were a little surprised by how busy it was.