First MNSSHP - Oversold?

[ohdanalee]

I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for highlighting your concerns.
Disney demands a premium price for these parties and if you end the evening feeling frustrated by how long it takes to get anything done, then you have not received a premium experience. Highlighting your concerns, does help future purchasers better perceive risk when deciding whether or not to buy tickets of their own.

I attended MNSSHP about 5 years ago and I loved it due to minimal crowds. A few years later I attended an extremely overcrowded party at Disneyland and the magic simply was not there. It has scared me away from buying MVMCP tickets when I visit later this year as the risk of feeling ‘very UNmerry’ is just too high.

It is true that Disney make no promises about crowd levels and many will argue that Disney have not been at all deceitful by selling as many tickets as they have, because, let’s face it, it’s Disney, and Disney can do no wrong.

You could also argue that Disney have simply adopted the tried and true business technique of hooking people in with something wonderful then slowly minimising the experience while maximising the price. The cruise industry is rife with it. One year you got lobster at every serving. The next year it was only once per cruise. Then suddenly you could only get it by paying $20 extra for a specialty restaurant. And now those restaurants are $50 with lobster an extra $20 on top of that. You get the idea.

Either way, I do think that until customers start speaking with their wallets, ticket prices will continue to rise, and crowds will continue to grow. A saturation point will eventually be reached when enough people take to social media and complain like they have in this forum, but sadly my gut says that this is still a few years away yet. Time will tell...

Yeah, and Disney sells $80 tickets to get a mediocre breakfast and an hour in the park before it opens. On top of the regular admission price! People will happily pay for this stuff. Heck, I've seriously considered it!

 

[MIAMouseketeer]

I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for highlighting your concerns.
Disney demands a premium price for these parties and if you end the evening feeling frustrated by how long it takes to get anything done, then you have not received a premium experience. Highlighting your concerns, does help future purchasers better perceive risk when deciding whether or not to buy tickets of their own.

I attended MNSSHP about 5 years ago and I loved it due to minimal crowds. A few years later I attended an extremely overcrowded party at Disneyland and the magic simply was not there. It has scared me away from buying MVMCP tickets when I visit later this year as the risk of feeling ‘very UNmerry’ is just too high.

It is true that Disney make no promises about crowd levels and many will argue that Disney have not been at all deceitful by selling as many tickets as they have, because, let’s face it, it’s Disney, and Disney can do no wrong.

You could also argue that Disney have simply adopted the tried and true business technique of hooking people in with something wonderful then slowly minimising the experience while maximising the price. The cruise industry is rife with it. One year you got lobster at every serving. The next year it was only once per cruise. Then suddenly you could only get it by paying $20 extra for a specialty restaurant. And now those restaurants are $50 with lobster an extra $20 on top of that. You get the idea.

Either way, I do think that until customers start speaking with their wallets, ticket prices will continue to rise, and crowds will continue to grow. A saturation point will eventually be reached when enough people take to social media and complain like they have in this forum, but sadly my gut says that this is still a few years away yet. Time will tell...

Thank you for your kind words. I did feel like because I expressed my disappointment with the crowd level and the concern that is was oversold (something Pete Werner stated himself), I was being told I was just being selfish or not realistic. I posted this thread because I did want to warn others. We are considering the Christmas Party is December, but we will now wait for reports from the first parties before purchasing our tickets. We don't attend parties to ride rides, we attend to participate in the party. When you can't do that because everything is a long line, I think its justifiable to be disappointed. I did take the time to write Disney and express my disappointment, I have not heard back. I'm not asking for or expecting anything in return, but I am hoping Disney takes a second look at the capacity levels if complaints are received.

 

[sjs314]

They don't expressly state there will be low crowds, but they do advertise that there are limited tickets sold for the special event, and they don't allow you to book Fast Passes during party time, so I think it's reasonable to infer that they want you to believe there will not be a huge crowd.

I'm confident people here know the difference between busy (which is to be expected) and SO busy where it can have a detrimental impact on your enjoyment level.

This is my first trip to Disney. If nothing else, I wish I would have waited until it was closer to my trip before i bought my ticket just to see how the crowd levels play out.

For now, things don't look too promising.

I went to the MVMCP back in 2012 it was busy but not crowded I need to mention I use an ECV and had no trouble navigating around during the party. The description of the crowds during last Friday’s Party has me nervous and I now wish I had waited to buy our tickets for MNSSHP.
We are going October 30, there were 3 parties during our trip 10/28, 10/30 and 10/31
October 28 is our arrival day so we did not want to go then, October 31 always sells out so Did not want to go then either.
Now I am worried that October 30 also will sell out and we won’t have a good time.
Due to Disney’s “limited” tickets will be sold I bought our tickets early but also do to the date paid a premium price $232.18 for 2 tickets which is a lot of money for a 5 hour event and we could end up having a miserable time.

 

[btuftee]

I would never go to a party on a sell-out night anymore, after having done that on Halloween a few years back. If Disney is ramping up the number of tickets to be sold, then the sell-out nights will really be getting worse, and other dates won't sell out entirely, but might be more crowded than the same date a few years back. All I can hope that will happen is that the repeat party attendees will get vocal enough that the word gets out. One of the kids in my daughter's pre-K class just happens to be going down to WDW at the same time as us for Labor Day week, and they had never done the party. I told the dad all about it, and hopefully I didn't "oversell" the low crowds and limited ticket aspects of it. If I go to the party on Sept 7 and it's a big crowded mess like Halloween from a few years back, we'd probably be done with it. But the other thing is, I'll probably tell everyone else I know about it, in the mindset of "Yeah, that was a nice thing years ago, but now it's too crowded and too expensive", and maybe dissuade someone else from going in the future.

Complaints about the weather, I mean I know it sounds miserable, but it's WDW in August (I am sure early Sept won't be much better!). I can cross my fingers and hope for a little break from the humidity, but it's something I kind of expect. If that Halloween night party a few years back had been 90 degrees and humid, I can see how that would have really turned me off from ever doing another party again!

Hopefully, it was just a combination of the first party being a sell-out (possibly being sold beyond what Disney even intended, due to extra media invites) and stifling hot weather that makes it seem like the parties will all be an overcrowded mess. But I don't doubt that Disney will push this until it looks like it'll break. You know they are tracking guest satisfaction from year to year with surveys, but are they smart enough to dial back the # of tickets before MNSSHP gets a bad rep?

 

[emmabelle]

Thanks for posting this! The parade, Hocus Pocus and fireworks looked awesome, but not sure about the rest. Seems pretty crowded to me.

 

[MomOTwins]

I expect it did not help that the first party coincided with the first free dining dates of the year, and the last week of summer vacation for a lot of school districts. Kind of a perfect storm of crowd builders...

 

[IrishNYC]

I will say the Disney Jr Dance Party was not what was advertised. It was 92 degrees outside when the party started and they held it in a tent with no circulation. It was a sauna! It was cooler to be outside in the sun that in that tent. The characters were Doc McStuffins and Timon. None of the current Disney JR characters. It was a half assed done section without any thought put into it

Doc McStuffins is in every photo advertising the Disney Jr. dance party, and it advertises "favorites." It does sound like they need to add more, though.

I don't think it's solely a price issue. Disney raised the prices across the board this past February to try and lessen crowds and it doesn't seem like it did anything. We are in a great economic climate so the only REAL way to get Disney crowds down is for another recession. Or a hurricane. Magic Kingdom was EMPTY last year the day before Irma hit. But neither of those would be good things...

Disney doesn't raise prices to drive people away, they raise prices to make money.

 

[tsme]

We use to go to the parties, both Halloween & Christmas depending on when we were there. Each year, it got more and more crowded with Disney selling more tickets. Our breaking point was one Halloween party where every ride that was opened (some had shut down due to whatever problems, like SM) had long lines, the park was so crowded, it was difficult walking thru from frontier land to fantasy land, the 1st parade was a nightmare (we waited an hr for a spot & were pushed etc), plus other annoyances that by 8:30, we couldn’t take it and left. Total waste of money. We haven’t gone to another one, which is ad because the parties use to be fun.

 

[ohdanalee]

Doc McStuffins is in every photo advertising the Disney Jr. dance party, and it advertises "favorites." It does sound like they need to add more, though.



Disney doesn't raise prices to drive people away, they raise prices to make money.

"“We know how important making memories at Disney theme parks is to families and we will continue to evolve our pricing in a way that gives families a range of options to meet their budget and helps better spread attendance throughout the year so they can make the most of every visit,” Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said in a statement."
They're also changing the annual passes around to change which parks you can go to on which days for this attendance spreading.

 

[Missyrose]

I would never go to a party on a sell-out night anymore, after having done that on Halloween a few years back. If Disney is ramping up the number of tickets to be sold, then the sell-out nights will really be getting worse, and other dates won't sell out entirely, but might be more crowded than the same date a few years back.

But most parties that sell out (Halloween being the lone exception) sell out the day of, so are you just going to wait until 6:59 to buy your ticket?

 

[sjs314]

I would never go to a party on a sell-out night anymore, after having done that on Halloween a few years back. If Disney is ramping up the number of tickets to be sold, then the sell-out nights will really be getting worse, and other dates won't sell out entirely, but might be more crowded than the same date a few years back. All I can hope that will happen is that the repeat party attendees will get vocal enough that the word gets out. One of the kids in my daughter's pre-K class just happens to be going down to WDW at the same time as us for Labor Day week, and they had never done the party. I told the dad all about it, and hopefully I didn't "oversell" the low crowds and limited ticket aspects of it. If I go to the party on Sept 7 and it's a big crowded mess like Halloween from a few years back, we'd probably be done with it. But the other thing is, I'll probably tell everyone else I know about it, in the mindset of "Yeah, that was a nice thing years ago, but now it's too crowded and too expensive", and maybe dissuade someone else from going in the future.

Complaints about the weather, I mean I know it sounds miserable, but it's WDW in August (I am sure early Sept won't be much better!). I can cross my fingers and hope for a little break from the humidity, but it's something I kind of expect. If that Halloween night party a few years back had been 90 degrees and humid, I can see how that would have really turned me off from ever doing another party again!

Hopefully, it was just a combination of the first party being a sell-out (possibly being sold beyond what Disney even intended, due to extra media invites) and stifling hot weather that makes it seem like the parties will all be an overcrowded mess. But I don't doubt that Disney will push this until it looks like it'll break. You know they are tracking guest satisfaction from year to year with surveys, but are they smart enough to dial back the # of tickets before MNSSHP gets a bad rep?

Last August a friend was going to Disney with his family of 11 and I mentioned about MNSSHP to him so he coughed up the $800 for everyone for the first party.
When I told him I bought tickets for this years party since we never went before He then went on to tell me that last years party was the worst night he ever spent at Disney.
The party was packed
It was crowded lines for candy and characters too long and after spending an hour waiting for the HP stage show it rained and was cancelled
They had difficulty seeing the parade, 5 small grandchildren in party
I felt bad for ever having suggested the party to him
Just goes to show last years 1st party was also bad.

 

[mamamelody2]

I am waiting with great interest to hear how tomorrow's party and then next Tuesday's go. I sure hope things improve!!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Yeah, and Disney sells $80 tickets to get a mediocre breakfast and an hour in the park before it opens. On top of the regular admission price! People will happily pay for this stuff. Heck, I've seriously considered it!

Planning this trip compared to my last visit nearly 5 years ago, I can’t get over how many additional ways Disney have come up with to separate me from my money.
More tours and parties, dessert events, special admission before and after hours etc etc, and at the same time daytime park hours at MK seem reduced, day tickets are more expensive and don’t even get me started on the increased cost of table service restaurants.

Despite all this, it appears from reading these threads that demand for all these extra events is huge. I must admit that I too have seriously considered quite a few of them. It’s marketing genius on the part of Disney.

On the flip side, the pixie dust glow of planning this trip, compared to the last, has diminished. I am more acutely aware that I am planning a trip to a place that wants my money rather than a place that wants me to have a magic experience with my family and I’m not as upset as I thought I would be that this visit is considerably shorter than my last.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited. Just a bit disillusioned I guess. What this means going forward, I will decide after this trip. But the world is a big, wonderful place and my bucket list is huge. The cost of those special desserts could go a long way elsewhere.

 

[billyjobobb]

$1400 for 2 tickets. $200 a day for spending money, plus a budget for souvenirs and for special dinners..... Then on top of that a special "hard" ticket for the party...... then decided that 1 day for the party won't be enough so bought a second day for the party..... might be able to see the fireworks and get a picture with the 7 dwarfes..... better pay for the dessert party to be sure.....

 

[dlavender]

$1400 for 2 tickets. $200 a day for spending money, plus a budget for souvenirs and for special dinners..... Then on top of that a special "hard" ticket for the party...... then decided that 1 day for the party won't be enough so bought a second day for the party..... might be able to see the fireworks and get a picture with the 7 dwarfes..... better pay for the dessert party to be sure.....

Will you adopt me?

 

[bethbuchall]

Planning this trip compared to my last visit nearly 5 years ago, I can’t get over how many additional ways Disney have come up with to separate me from my money.
More tours and parties, dessert events, special admission before and after hours etc etc, and at the same time daytime park hours at MK seem reduced, day tickets are more expensive and don’t even get me started on the increased cost of table service restaurants.

Despite all this, it appears from reading these threads that demand for all these extra events is huge. I must admit that I too have seriously considered quite a few of them. It’s marketing genius on the part of Disney.

On the flip side, the pixie dust glow of planning this trip, compared to the last, has diminished. I am more acutely aware that I am planning a trip to a place that wants my money rather than a place that wants me to have a magic experience with my family and I’m not as upset as I thought I would be that this visit is considerably shorter than my last.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited. Just a bit disillusioned I guess. What this means going forward, I will decide after this trip. But the world is a big, wonderful place and my bucket list is huge. The cost of those special desserts could go a long way elsewhere.

I agree. We still had a wonderful trip, but even my 19-year old noticed the difference in Disney philosophy. I’ll definitely be back but expectations will be different.

 

[monorailrabbit]

Planning this trip compared to my last visit nearly 5 years ago, I can’t get over how many additional ways Disney have come up with to separate me from my money.
More tours and parties, dessert events, special admission before and after hours etc etc, and at the same time daytime park hours at MK seem reduced, day tickets are more expensive and don’t even get me started on the increased cost of table service restaurants.

Despite all this, it appears from reading these threads that demand for all these extra events is huge. I must admit that I too have seriously considered quite a few of them. It’s marketing genius on the part of Disney.

On the flip side, the pixie dust glow of planning this trip, compared to the last, has diminished. I am more acutely aware that I am planning a trip to a place that wants my money rather than a place that wants me to have a magic experience with my family and I’m not as upset as I thought I would be that this visit is considerably shorter than my last.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited. Just a bit disillusioned I guess. What this means going forward, I will decide after this trip. But the world is a big, wonderful place and my bucket list is huge. The cost of those special desserts could go a long way elsewhere.

I was just saying the exact same thing to DH a few minutes ago! I remember years ago having the EMH until 2 AM without paying extra. Now to stay that late, we need to pay for DAH. There are add-ons galore, to the point where it is almost a turn off. We too feel its all about the $$$ vs. magic now. We have a very short trip this December to catch MVMCP before a cruise, but this is our last trip for the foreseeable future. I just don't like the way things seem to be going. We were also discussing like a previous poster, that things likely won't change until there is another economic crisis.

To add to the party discussion - Last year we had a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list trip where we did "coast to coast Disney" and hit up WDW and DLR for MNSSHP. We hadn't been to a party since 2012 and it was a drastic difference. I will throw out there it was still enjoyable, and we had an absolute blast, but make no mistake - it was much more crowded than 2012. DLR, by comparison, didn't seem bad at all until the fireworks - yikes! Add me to the camp that doesn't necessarily expect LOW crowds, but I do expect MANAGEABLE crowds.

 

[bb32]

More and more Micro transactions. It’s overtaking the country.

It’s been around forever, however companies are finding more ways of reducing the basic experience in an effort to promote the “enhanced” experience.
“$200 for the basic package, but if you want to ride our new exclusive ride you’ll need the Magical Pass for an additional $75”. Disney is too smart to make it that obvious, but they will continue to find more ways of adding these pay to enjoy features.

 

[OneinThree]

More and more Micro transactions. It’s overtaking the country.

It’s been around forever, however companies are finding more ways of reducing the basic experience in an effort to promote the “enhanced” experience.
“$200 for the basic package, but if you want to ride our new exclusive ride you’ll need the Magical Pass for an additional $75”. Disney is too smart to make it that obvious, but they will continue to find more ways of adding these pay to enjoy features.

I don't mind shelling out for "premium" every now and then -as long as I'm getting a premium experience for my premium dollars. Wading through the typical sea of people at MK during a hard ticket event doesn't realky fit that description for me.

 

[dachsie]

I went to the MVMCP back in 2012 it was busy but not crowded I need to mention I use an ECV and had no trouble navigating around during the party. The description of the crowds during last Friday’s Party has me nervous and I now wish I had waited to buy our tickets for MNSSHP.
We are going October 30, there were 3 parties during our trip 10/28, 10/30 and 10/31
October 28 is our arrival day so we did not want to go then, October 31 always sells out so Did not want to go then either.
Now I am worried that October 30 also will sell out and we won’t have a good time.
Due to Disney’s “limited” tickets will be sold I bought our tickets early but also do to the date paid a premium price $232.18 for 2 tickets which is a lot of money for a 5 hour event and we could end up having a miserable time.

First of all, if you go in to something thinking you will have a bad time , then you most likely will. It's all about tempering your expectations. Go to the party realizing you may have to wait for some things and may not get everything done you want. Prioritize the things you want to do and if you don't get to the bottom of your list, then you wont be disappointed. Go in with the attitude that you are going to have a great time, no matter what. And you will. It's Disney - the happiest place on earth.