Boy do they oversell this Halloween party!!!

[Wes1stTrip2016]

Hi. Couple questions. I didn’t see fast passes as an option online. Are they available during The event? Also, what kind of candy do they give out is it anything exclusive to Disney? Thanks much!

No FPs during the party, but we were able to book 2 between 4-6.

Snickers, twix, skittles, lifesavers - all good stuff but nothing exclusive.

 

[Frances999]

We had a horrible experience at the October 8 party. It was so overcrowded we couldn’t move near the castle or on Main Street and our kids didn’t get much candy as the lines were way too long. We waited 30 mins at one trick or treat point. We couldn’t get anywhere near the parades. The attraction wait times were all over 30 mins and we were shocked at the POTC “special extra” for Halloween - which was essentially just a person dressed as a pirate shouting from the top of one of the bridges on the ride?
What a joke! DS really wanted to ride the Halloween special Space Mountain but we never saw the line drop below an hour.

Never again for us, we are done with the parties. It almost feels like a double whammy with these parties as the park closes early on so many nights AND we paid extra to stay late in such overcrowded and uncomfortable conditions.

 

[Frances999]

Hi. Couple questions. I didn’t see fast passes as an option online. Are they available during The event? Also, what kind of candy do they give out is it anything exclusive to Disney? Thanks much!

There are no fastpasses. Candy was usual stuff like Twix bars. They were very cheap with the candy; it was one (very) small handful. Lines for candy were very long: we waited 30 mins.

 

[Alison S]

Any reports from the Oct 9 party? The 8th was a holiday Monday, so I'm wondering how the next day compared.

 

[hdnyc]

I agree strongly that Disney states NO WHERE that this is going to be low crowds, have walk on rides or anything of the sort.

Disney definitely states that there will be low crowds during the parties. I was on the phone with Disney's website tech support yesterday fixing an issue with ticketing which prevented me from booking Fastpasses (unrelated to the Christmas party). Once the issue was fixed, I was speaking with him about Fastpasses for the MVMCP. He explained that I could book them during the first two hours of the party, but that there is no need for Fastpasses during the rest of the night because you can walk onto most rides. So, based on my experience, Disney employees (in very customer-facing roles) are definitely telling guests that they shouldn't expect lines the nights of the Christmas parties.

 

[hdnyc]

I believe some people could be remembering the older ad campaigns from the past - like we're talking 10-15 years ago. When the parties first came out, they used to advertise them as an event that was strictly limited in attendance and gave you a more exclusive experience in the park with lower crowds. This was years ago though.

I was told this by a cast member yesterday.

 

[AngiTN]

We had a horrible experience at the October 8 party. It was so overcrowded we couldn’t move near the castle or on Main Street and our kids didn’t get much candy as the lines were way too long. We waited 30 mins at one trick or treat point. We couldn’t get anywhere near the parades. The attraction wait times were all over 30 mins and we were shocked at the POTC “special extra” for Halloween - which was essentially just a person dressed as a pirate shouting from the top of one of the bridges on the ride?
What a joke! DS really wanted to ride the Halloween special Space Mountain but we never saw the line drop below an hour.

Never again for us, we are done with the parties. It almost feels like a double whammy with these parties as the park closes early on so many nights AND we paid extra to stay late in such overcrowded and uncomfortable conditions.

Any reports from the Oct 9 party? The 8th was a holiday Monday, so I'm wondering how the next day compared.

It's amazing what a difference a day makes. I attended the 10/9 party and it was not even remotely crowded. No lines for candy at any point. We got 20 lbs or so, between the 2 of us. No ride line longer than 10 min, though we never checked on 7D. We never watch fireworks in front of the castle, only back. It was empty (but that's normal) We caught the 2nd parade on Frontier Land, not hard walking up 5 min before the parade began and standing at rope.

I even commented to DH about this thread and how people were complaining and he was really shocked. We also attended a party around Labor Day and this night was comparable.

 

[JerseyJanice]

We went to the party in 2016 on Tuesday Oct. 4th. Ride lines were 10 minutes. Most people were in character lines, watching parade, fireworks etc. Crowded in the hub and main street but otherwise great.

The weather that night may have had something to do with it. We got drenched in the Animal Kingdom that day. Matthew rolled in for real on Thursday, 10/6. That Friday, the parks were closed.

 

[maxiesmom]

I was told this by a cast member yesterday.

Over the phone? Unfortunately they are not the best source. I'd ask a question here and trust the answer more, to be honest. The phone CMs are at a call center, and many have never even been to the parks.

 

[Huff]

The weather that night may have had something to do with it. We got drenched in the Animal Kingdom that day. Matthew rolled in for real on Thursday, 10/6. That Friday, the parks were closed.

We had no rain at the party on Oct 4th, 2016. Matthew didn't effect much until the night of 10/6 with all parks closing at 5pm.

 

[RedStars]

Over the phone? Unfortunately they are not the best source. I'd ask a question here and trust the answer more, to be honest. The phone CMs are at a call center, and many have never even been to the parks.

But they are the face (voice?) of the company. And like most call centers, working from a company-approved script of talking points.

I know they have a reputation of giving bad info, but I refuse to cut the company slack when they are company-trained employees. I feel like many on this board are willing to overlook the fact/make excuses that the corporation has its own best interest at heart. I get it; it's a business. Which is why I will probably take my business elsewhere after this year.

Paying over $100pp for an event means I expect more from the company providing the service; I would feel the same about a concert or broadway show or sports game. I am disappointed that the reports coming out on the parties make it seem like the value isn't there. We go next Sunday; I'm cautious about our expectations.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Well, we're going on Halloween, so I have low expectations. We will get there early (hopper passes) and try to do a few things before party time. The only ride we hope to ride is HM. Mostly going for a few of the rare character meets. We're dressing up, and will let the girls trick or treat a little. We don't do much with candy. We plan to trick or treat late, so I hope they don't run out. We are also prepared to blow off the first parade and fireworks in favor of shorter character lines. Also would love some magic shots. Grab a couple of Orange Bird cards, a pin or 2, and that's it. The kiddos are flying in the day before and we have EMM TSL, so we're in for a long haul, though we do plan to cut away from HS around 12:30 and grab an hour or 2 of rest before hitting the MK pavement. We have another HS half day planned, and 2 more MK half days, so we should get everything accomplished that we want. The next day is our full on Fantasyland princess day.

ETA: We've been going since the early days of the Princess and Pirate parties, MNSSHP and MVMCP, so we have seen the changes over the years. I can honestly say our only bad experience (with crowds) was the MVMCP in 2012. We were just not prepared for the overcrowded conditions and got very little accomplished as we were just overwhelmed. We were there in 2016 and it wasn't bad.

 

[bryanb]

But they are the face (voice?) of the company. And like most call centers, working from a company-approved script of talking points.

I know they have a reputation of giving bad info, but I refuse to cut the company slack when they are company-trained employees. I feel like many on this board are willing to overlook the fact/make excuses that the corporation has its own best interest at heart. I get it; it's a business. Which is why I will probably take my business elsewhere after this year.

Paying over $100pp for an event means I expect more from the company providing the service; I would feel the same about a concert or broadway show or sports game. I am disappointed that the reports coming out on the parties make it seem like the value isn't there. We go next Sunday; I'm cautious about our expectations.

Oh you're totally right of course. The reality is that Disney has tens of thousands of cast members, and phone support isn't a lifetime career choice for many. WDW is so mind-bogglingly complex of an operation, given the hundreds of restaurants, attractions, hotels, special events, etc.. With a couple of days/weeks of training to do your job, there's no way that every one of them has the right answers on day one. They learn information over time. Worse, if they work as a phone rep (instead of inside a park), they have less in-person experience to fine-tune their knowledge and get real world feedback on how things are working. They don't even have co-workers who they can chat with during breaks to share WDW feedback. So the CM who said that you can walk onto rides "thinks" he knows what's true, but maybe he works in Peoria and is basing that on what he heard three years ago.

Most of us here on these boards have the equivalent of hundreds of hours of "training" through our own experience and research. No need to cut the company any slack, but perhaps the best suggestion is that phone CMs be allowed to say "I don't know." Even that might not be enough, so some companies give call centers a strict script, and they aren't allowed to deviate in any conversation with personal insight... which is the real solution to avoiding misunderstanding and misinformation. Though that is probably too robotic for Disney.


(Edited for clarity.)

 

[AngiTN]

Considering how vastly different answers to from cm to cm in willing to bet they have no script at all. Or at best they have a loose guideline. If they did have a script your have some consistency.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Oh you're totally right of course. The reality is that Disney has tens of thousands of cast members, and phone support isn't a lifetime career choice for many. WDW is so mind-bogglingly complex of an operation, given the hundreds of restaurants, attractions, hotels, special events, etc.. With a couple of days/weeks of training to do your job, there's no way that every one of them has the right answers on day one. They learn information over time. Worse, if you work in a call center (instead of inside a park), you have less in-person experience to fine-tune your knowledge and get real world feedback on how things are working. You don't even have co-workers who you can chat with during your breaks to share WDW feedback. So the CM who said that you can walk onto rides "thinks" he knows what's true, but maybe he works in Peoria and is basing that on what he heard about it three years ago.

Most of us here on these boards have the equivalent of hundreds of hours of "training" through our own experience and research. No need to cut the company any slack, but perhaps the best suggestion is that phone CMs be allowed to say "I don't know." Even that might not be enough, so some companies give call centers a strict script, and they aren't allowed to deviate in any conversation with personal insight... which is the real solution to avoiding misunderstanding and misinformation. Though that is probably too robotic for Disney.

I thought this was really well said.

 

[luvsJack]

If they are given a script, it’s still a problem because Disney is giving them that script and they know better. Not like the company doesn’t know the number of tickets that are sold

If they aren’t given a script, there is an even bigger problem

 

[mamapenguin]

It will be busy, rides will break down. The app may give you grief. If you manage your expectations, it will be ok. We went 10/10 and it was crowded, but ok. Last night 10/13 (non party night) was awful. Space was down for about 2 hours, and Pirates broke twice that I am aware of. It was super crowded and dirty. This morning we went to Universal for our second 7:00am morning in a row, and my teenage daughter remarked how clean the park was versus "MK where they just stomp the popcorn into the ground..." We will likely skip the party next year.

We had fast passes for MK this morning that I cancelled because my daughter said she'd rather go to Universal after the disaster that MK was last night.

 

[mkla2015]

We attended the party on Tuesday 10/9 and didn’t find it very crowded. We were able to hit all the rides we wanted, stood right in front of the castle for fireworks, and had front row seats for the 2nd parade in frontierland. It was fun but I really have no desire to go to another party.

 

[kandb]

We had a horrible experience at the October 8 party. It was so overcrowded we couldn’t move near the castle or on Main Street and our kids didn’t get much candy as the lines were way too long. We waited 30 mins at one trick or treat point. We couldn’t get anywhere near the parades. The attraction wait times were all over 30 mins and we were shocked at the POTC “special extra” for Halloween - which was essentially just a person dressed as a pirate shouting from the top of one of the bridges on the ride?
What a joke! DS really wanted to ride the Halloween special Space Mountain but we never saw the line drop below an hour.

Never again for us, we are done with the parties. It almost feels like a double whammy with these parties as the park closes early on so many nights AND we paid extra to stay late in such overcrowded and uncomfortable conditions.

Wow, that is really unacceptable. A family of 5 would cost over $500 for the night with a snack or two. It's crazy and Disney has really taken advantage since the Halloween party has become so popular.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

why don't they simply charge more?