MNSSHP - early October experiences

[returnplanning]

Dear all

I'm considering the MNSSHP this year - the 2 dates I am considering would be Tuesday 6th October and Thursday 8th October (weekends I am sure will be busier, and I'd like to do it during our onsite stay so that transport back will be easy).

Can anyone tell me about their experience of early October midweek last year? I don't tyhink that the teenagers will be so keen on the character meet+greets, but would want to see the parade/fireworks and soak up the character of the park, and get a bit of candy collection done, as well as hopefully enjoy shorter ride queues. How long were the ride queues? What was your experience otherwise?

Thanks

[Shooby doo]

We were Oct 3rd last year & the 6th this year, what I would say is that I can't remember going on a night that wasn't busy! I do see posts where people say they got "walk ons" etc but not my experience. I'd say that now you have to decide your plan early, if it includes Meet & Greets then you have to resign "yourself" to a lot of the night spent queuing- 7 Dwarfs & Jack & Sally were all well over 60 mins before the party had even started! The next busiest thing is some of the photo ops, the HM lantern a case in point. Candy queues move quickly, we did find the second parade a bit quieter, the new nighttime show, if you want to see the Castle display, really means that you need to be on Mainstreet but the fireworks are good from anywhere.
SD

[Zellotape]

Following as looking at those 2 dates for MNSSHP myself.

Im hoping that if plans work out, to go on the Tuesday rather than the Thursday as our experience with MVMCP on a Thursday the park was heaving!

[returnplanning]

Originally Posted by Zellotape

Following as looking at those 2 dates for MNSSHP myself.

Im hoping that if plans work out, to go on the Tuesday rather than the Thursday as our experience with MVMCP on a Thursday the park was heaving!

See more...

I'm leaning towards the Tuesday night as well, partly because Thursday is our last night.

Hopeing some Tuesday early October DIBBers are around to respond.

When you did the Thursday, what was the wait time for rides like?

[BarryL]

I don't think you'll notice a huge difference between the Tuesday and Thursday nights to be honest. They'll both be pretty busy so just go on the night that suits you best.
You can have a great night regardless of the crowds

Our last Halloween party was Thursday 11th October '18
If it's of interest this is what we managed to do that day (times are approximate and based on notes I like to make on my phone on the bus home)



We decided not to spend too much time waiting for the "headline" characters and went for a balance of rides, candy and characters (plus all the party exclusive parades, shows and fireworks)

EPCOT
11:30 Bon Voyage Breakfast
13:30 FP+ Frozen

MK (Used our Ultimate tickets to enter early)
15:15 Pirates FP (booked on the monorail on the way to MK)
15:30 Tiki Room
15:45 Aladdin FP
16:00 Skipper Canteen Dinner
Collected Wrist bands from nr. Tortuga Tavern
17:45 Country Bears
18:00 Haunted Mansion
18:30 Splash Mountain
18:45 Splash Mountain Candy Stop
18:50 Big Thunder Mountain
19:00 Splash Mountain Candy Stop x2
19:15 Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates Candy Stop
Country Bears Candy Stop
Candy Bin! - By sheer luck CMs wheeling a massive bin full of candy gave the
kids a full bag each
19:45 Under the Sea
20:15 Barnstormer + Candy Stop
20:45 Elvis Stitch (longest wait of the night at 20min)
21:15 Boo to You Parade (arrived way too late for a good view)
21:45 Meet Lotso (straight from parade, a 2 minute wait)
Carousel of Progress Candy Stop x3
22:15 Hallowishes
22:35 Buzz Lightyear x2
22:50 Space Mountain
23:15 Boo to You Parade
00:00 Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular

[Tinkjon]

We did a party in early October about 5 years ago. At the time, when I was deciding which date to book, everyone said that Tuesdays were the quietest party night (unless the first party or actual Halloween night). I'm not sure if that still holds true but I'd pick Tuesday because of that.

[Zellotape]

Originally Posted by returnplanning

I'm leaning towards the Tuesday night as well, partly because Thursday is our last night.

Hopeing some Tuesday early October DIBBers are around to respond.

When you did the Thursday, what was the wait time for rides like?

See more...

To be honest it was too busy for the rides! We rode People Mover which was fine, and also Space Mountain, but both of these were at the end of the night after the fireworks. The rest of the time was spent battling crowds, waiting for the Parade/show/fireworks. And I waited to meet Goofy, whist DH rode Barnstormer 3 times!
We got quite a few of the cookies but even the lines for those were so busy!

Hence why i want to try a Tuesday for the Halloween Party, as I am hoping it will be quieter!

[BarryL]

Tuesday 1st and Tuesday 8th October sold out last year so I'm not sure the quiet Tuesday advice still holds

These are last years sell out dates (US date format).
Date they sold out on is in brackets
9/22 (9/22), 9/27 (9/24), 9/29 (9/25), 10/1 (9/28), 10/8 (10/7), 10/10 (10/8), 10/11 (10/8), 10/14 (10/13), 10/17 (10/17), 10/24 (10/19), 10/25 (10/24), 10/31 (10/8), 11/1 (10/29 )

[Guest]

I see a lot of threads in which people assume that Tuesdays won’t be as busy. Maybe they are not I don’t have the comparison, but we have been on two Tuesdays (early and mid September) and they were absolutely heaving busy. I would not assume that Tuesday would be notably quieter than the following Thursday, I would assume all would be really busy.

[returnplanning]

Originally Posted by BarryL

I don't think you'll notice a huge difference between the Tuesday and Thursday nights to be honest. They'll both be pretty busy so just go on the night that suits you best.
You can have a great night regardless of the crowds

Our last Halloween party was Thursday 11th October '18
If it's of interest this is what we managed to do that day (times are approximate and based on notes I like to make on my phone on the bus home)



We decided not to spend too much time waiting for the "headline" characters and went for a balance of rides, candy and characters (plus all the party exclusive parades, shows and fireworks)

EPCOT
11:30 Bon Voyage Breakfast
13:30 FP+ Frozen

MK (Used our Ultimate tickets to enter early)
15:15 Pirates FP (booked on the monorail on the way to MK)
15:30 Tiki Room
15:45 Aladdin FP
16:00 Skipper Canteen Dinner
Collected Wrist bands from nr. Tortuga Tavern
17:45 Country Bears
18:00 Haunted Mansion
18:30 Splash Mountain
18:45 Splash Mountain Candy Stop
18:50 Big Thunder Mountain
19:00 Splash Mountain Candy Stop x2
19:15 Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates Candy Stop
Country Bears Candy Stop
Candy Bin! - By sheer luck CMs wheeling a massive bin full of candy gave the
kids a full bag each
19:45 Under the Sea
20:15 Barnstormer + Candy Stop
20:45 Elvis Stitch (longest wait of the night at 20min)
21:15 Boo to You Parade (arrived way too late for a good view)
21:45 Meet Lotso (straight from parade, a 2 minute wait)
Carousel of Progress Candy Stop x3
22:15 Hallowishes
22:35 Buzz Lightyear x2
22:50 Space Mountain
23:15 Boo to You Parade
00:00 Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular

See more...

Thanks, this is very helpful, and is the type of info I was after (actually more detail than I expected!)