Official 2011 MNSSHP Party Planning Thread ..BOO to You and You..Happy Halloween!

[ShesAPirate]

I have two questions that I hope someone can help with:

1. Has anyone ever gone on the last day of the party? We are going on November 1st and I'm curious about what the crowds might be like.

2. Is there a list somewhere of dates that are sold out?

Thanks in advance! I'm sooooo excited to go to this party. It will be my first hard-ticket event ever!

 

[Shivatopia]

Some words of advice about what happens to the MNSSHP if the weather does provide sporadic rain/sprinkles, based on my visit on 10/07:

1.) The Villain Dance and Mingle showtimes will be cancelled on a case by case basis based on how dry they can make the stage for the safety of the performers. On 10/07, it seemed every time the show was to happen, the clouds decided to let loose some rain. By the final 11:15 showtime, after it was deemed that it was not safe for people to dance on stage, the Villains all came out to do only the meet and greet part and stayed out for a longer period of time than normal. I was able to get in line for and meet 4 of the 7 Villains from that one time alone. Normally, under more crowded (and dry)conditions, you can only meet up to 2 and only if you are first in line to meet the first villain. When I was there, Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, Queen Grimhilde, Captain Hook, and Cruella De Vil all had photopass photographers (this was also true for the 10/06 MNSSHP when it did not rain). Remember: photos only no autographs, as usual for the villains, so that more people can get their chance to meet with them.
2.) The roaming villains: The Tremains, Jafar, Gaston, and Lotso will not do meet and greets at the Castle Hub when it rains. I found them by happy chance at the TST, when the Princess & Prince couples were on break.
3.) Tarzan & friends continue to do meet and greets at the Adventureland veranda when it rains, unless there is lightning involved.
4.) Donald & Daisy move to the Philharmagic queue area when it rains and come back out to the construction wall area opposite Winnie the Pooh when the rain stops.
5.) Captain Jack Sparrow's meet and greet area is already close to a small covered area, so he continues to meet people there when it rains. The queue area to meet him is mostly exposed to the rain, so you can get quite wet while waiting. Luckily, most people will run away and abandon the line if it''s pouring.
6.) The Seven Dwarfs will get out of the rain initially and their setup will be repositioned to the covered area nearby.
7.) Princess Aurora and Prince Philip continue to do their meet and greets at the Fairytale Garden when it rains.
8.) Aladdin and friends continue to meet and greet as normal when it rains since they are in a covered area.
9.) The headless horseman was a no-show for the later showtime of the Boo To You Parade on 10/07, because the rain was sporadic sprinkles at that time. The parade still happened.
10.) The fireworks show went on as scheduled even with occasional rain sprinkles.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Some words of advice about what happens to the MNSSHP if the weather does provide sporadic rain/sprinkles, based on my visit on 10/07:

1.) The Villain Dance and Mingle showtimes will be cancelled on a case by case basis based on how dry they can make the stage for the safety of the performers. On 10/07, it seemed every time the show was to happen, the clouds decided to let loose some rain. By the final 11:15 showtime, after it was deemed that it was not safe for people to dance on stage, the Villains all came out to do only the meet and greet part and stayed out for a longer period of time than normal. I was able to get in line for and meet 4 of the 7 Villains from that one time alone. Normally, under more crowded (and dry)conditions, you can only meet up to 2 and only if you are first in line to meet the first villain. When I was there, Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, Queen Grimhilde, Captain Hook, and Cruella De Vil all had photopass photographers (this was also true for the 10/06 MNSSHP when it did not rain). Remember: photos only no autographs, as usual for the villains, so that more people can get their chance to meet with them.
2.) The roaming villains: The Tremains, Jafar, Gaston, and Lotso will not do meet and greets at the Castle Hub when it rains. I found them by happy chance at the TST, when the Princess & Prince couples were on break.
3.) Tarzan & friends continue to do meet and greets at the Adventureland veranda when it rains, unless there is lightning involved.
4.) Donald & Daisy move to the Philharmagic queue area when it rains and come back out to the construction wall area opposite Winnie the Pooh when the rain stops.
5.) Captain Jack Sparrow's meet and greet area is already close to a small covered area, so he continues to meet people there when it rains. The queue area to meet him is mostly exposed to the rain, so you can get quite wet while waiting. Luckily, most people will run away and abandon the line if it''s pouring.
6.) The Seven Dwarfs will get out of the rain initially and their setup will be repositioned to the covered area nearby.
7.) Princess Aurora and Prince Philip continue to do their meet and greets at the Fairytale Garden when it rains.
8.) Aladdin and friends continue to meet and greet as normal when it rains since they are in a covered area.
9.) The headless horseman was a no-show for the later showtime of the Boo To You Parade on 10/07, because the rain was sporadic sprinkles at that time. The parade still happened.
10.) The fireworks show went on as scheduled even with occasional rain sprinkles.

thanks for the update!!! our date (18th) is looking pretty good at this point!

 

[Pollito916]

We got in line for the Dwarves at 615, and it took only about 10 minutes to be done and move on.

Does that mean you were able to see the dwarves before the party started at 7?

 

[snykymom]

For anyone who's concerned - I just bought my tickets for the party on the 16th, so as of now, it's not sold out!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I have two questions that I hope someone can help with:

1. Has anyone ever gone on the last day of the party? We are going on November 1st and I'm curious about what the crowds might be like.

2. Is there a list somewhere of dates that are sold out?

Thanks in advance! I'm sooooo excited to go to this party. It will be my first hard-ticket event ever!

We went to Nov 1 last year and it was a sold out party. I still never find sold out events as crowded, as say an EMH night in the summer.

We tend to ride things early, watch the second parade and save trick or treating for later in the night when the lines are all but gone.

 

[disneyfan61]

Are fast passes available during the party?

 

[poohj80]

Are fast passes available during the party?

No and most fast pass return lines are closed as well.

 

[disneyfan61]

No and most fast pass return lines are closed as well.

Thank you so much. It is our first time attending the party so I did not know.

 

[Shivatopia]

Does that mean you were able to see the dwarves before the party started at 7?

When I went to see the Seven Dwarfs, they came out to meet people only a couple of minutes before 7 pm. Keep in mind that the first few groups who met them did not have a photopass photographer available. I believe she came out at 7 pm. Woody and Jessie were doing regular meet and greets at the same location until about 6pm, after which that area is left vacant for the cast members to set up for the Seven Dwarfs and the MNSSHP start time of 7 pm.

 

[budafam]

How do they do the villains meetngreet? Do they have signs up as to where they will meet? DS would LOVE to meet Captain Hook so I want to make sure he's in the right spot for the line to form...

 

[Shivatopia]

How do they do the villains meetngreet? Do they have signs up as to where they will meet? DS would LOVE to meet Captain Hook so I want to make sure he's in the right spot for the line to form...

The Villains that participate in the Villains Dance & Mingle stage show have designated queue areas after the show, but there are no signs indicating the exact areas where they will be. Cast members assigned to the area have their own reference diagrams to direct you to the right area, but they may not know exactly where the line forms. From my own experiences: Maleficent is on the ramp to the left of the stage. Her line forms against the left side metal railing of the ramp (to allow an exit space to the right-hand side of the ramp). Dr. Facilier meets people on the far left of the standing area in front of the stage, and his line forms to the left, up against the ramp that Maleficent is on. Queen Grimhilde (the Queen) is in front of the left-hand speakers in front of the stage, and her line forms next to the barrier pole in front of those speakers. Captain Hook is positioned in front of the right-hand speakers in front of the stage, and his line also forms next to the barrier pole in front of those speakers. Cruella De Vil is on the far right of the standing area in front of the stage, with her line running alongside the right-hand ramp. The Queen of Hearts is on the right-hand ramp next to the stage, and her line forms to the right-hand side of the ramp, next to the metal railings. Frollo wanders into the crowd, so you have to find him and sort of assertively ask to take a picture and quickly do it, as no organized line forms for him and he gets surrounded by people trying to get an autograph (which they are not supposed to ask for during these meet and greets).

As the Villains make their way to their meeting spots, cast members try to form the lines with varying success with crowd control. If you are in the front to meet your favorite villain, be very assertive in saying: "I'm here to meet _____!" so that they know that you really should be at the head of the line. I was almost passed over to queue up to meet Queen Grimhilde because I didn't initially shout out at the cast member, even though I specifically staked out the right spot before and during the show to be first in line to meet her for that set.

When I was there, photopass photographers were only present for Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, Queen Grimhilde, Captain Hook, and Cruella De Vil. The photopass photographers and cast members are also willing to use your own cameras to take pictures. Remember: no autographs for these meet and greets. The villains are only available for up to 7-10 minutes per set, and they want to meet as many of their fans as possible. Cast members will announce how much time is remaining and will cut off lines, sometimes after consulting the villian. When I was in line for Cruella De Vil and she selected me to be the last person for her line in that set.

The lines do move rather quickly, depending on how much interaction each guest group has with the villains. Naturally, The Queen of Hearts, Captain hook, and Frollo are more limited, due to not being face characters. Cruella De Vil is probably the most interactive of the group, and she is completely fabulous, but consequently, you may get anxious standing in her line as the cast member is counting down the minutes! Generally expect to meet up to 2 villains per set, assuming you are at the head of the line to meet your first villain of choice.

Oh, and be sure to greet, praise, and thank the villain, as well as thanking the photopass photographer/cast members that assist you! I met Maleficent on both 10/06 and 10/07 and she remembered me, which was really magical!

 

[Kathymford]

Does that mean you were able to see the dwarves before the party started at 7?

No, they came out a little after 7. We were told ahead of time that they were running late; even the photopass photographer got there before them. But since we were in line early, it took no time at all!

 

[Kathymford]

Double post!

 

[MadtownMama]

We were at last nights party and had a blast! Did not feel any sort of crowded. Got in the princess line around 630-645 and we were around the 4-5 family in line. Saw the seven dwarfs mid party and waited maybe 20 minutes. Those were are longest waits everything else was 10 minutes or less with rides being almost walk on. Such a great time!

 

[2girlsmom]

Just bought my tickets for next Thursday 10/20. The kids are SO excited to go, and we are currently planning to spend the weekend at the parks with our brand new ap's, but Thursday will kick off our weekend.

 

[srauchbauer]

Just bought my tickets for next Thursday 10/20. The kids are SO excited to go, and we are currently planning to spend the weekend at the parks with our brand new ap's, but Thursday will kick off our weekend.

we are going to be going on Thursday also glad to hear that it is not sold out.

 

[Pollito916]

We're going next Thursday too! My little ones will be dressed as Mickey and Minnie - I'm sure they'll be the only ones!

 

[disney dog lover]

Ok, was at the party on the 6th. We were in line for the 7 dwarfs at 5:55 and were 10th in line! They came out right at 7pm and with their photographer. It only took about 10 mins for us to get thru. There was an awesome family dressed up as the 7 dwarfs, snow white, the prince, the evil queen, etc. they were very cool and the dwarf spent a little more time with them.
Next we went thru the trick or treat line by splash mt. We rode big thunder mt. Walked over to the haunted mansion and did the ride and got our pic with the carrige and walked over to to Cinderella's couch. The line was pretty long, so we went over to Peter Pan, which didn't have a line at that time?
We were hungery so we went to Cosmic ray's and ate. Then we went over to the castle and saw the villians show and waited about 1/2 hr. for the fire works. Awesome
Then we went and rode Winnie the pooh and got our pic with Cindy's coach. and went to frontier land to see the second parade. The headless horse man did ride about 10-15 mins. before. It was packed FYI
Then we rode Pirates. The line for jack sparrow was short at this, but we didn't stop. It was about 11:15 at this point so we headed to main st to visit Mickey and Minnie. They closed the line for them at about 11:40pm. They did let 2 famlies in after that.
We were in line for the bus at 11:58. We didn't wait too long. We did see the monorail go by a few times while we were waiting.
The trick or treating lines we passed were very long at the early part of the party
This was a last minute adventure. We are doing on Nov.1st. with our DS so we'll get to do trick or treating and meet a few more characters.

 

[Karpkg]

The impression I'm getting is that the surge of crowds were mostly in September, and has eased up in the first 2 weeks of October. We went on a Friday, Sept. 23 and it was heinously crowded, but so were reports of the following Tuesday. DH swears he doesn't want to go through that again and I'll have trouble convincing him to do this next year.

But just for strategy purposes for those going this month, it looks like the characters at the front of the park (princesses, Mickey & Minnie) at the latest is to get in line between 10 and 11PM? Looks like they're closing the line an hour early if you're not already in it. Do the characters toward the back (Cinderella's mice, Mad Hatter, etc) have fewer lines?

For those that have gone in years past, what do you think of the trick or treating lines? (I miss the Alice in Wonderland trail they had last year)

The quality of the candy seems better.

What characters/Villains would you have liked to see? What would you like to have changed out?

I'm sure with the Fantasyland expansion next year it'll be a whole new ballgame again!