Disney After Hours BOO BASH

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pixarprincess

Active Member
Saw a report elsewhere that 10/5 felt oversold and crowded. Wondering if there were just more day of purchases because of the 50th. Or if October itself is going to be a poor experience.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
DCBaker said:
And nothing screams Halloween time like doing the chicken dance in front of the castle. Oof.
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Interesting. For me, I pushed myself too hard yesterday getting from Epcot to Steakhouse 71 for dinner. I ended up cancelling at MK guest relations before heading back to my hotel. It sounds like I made the right call with not being in the middle of the larger crowds. That freed up at least one ticket to someone else.
 
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dreday3

Well-Known Member
pixarprincess said:
Saw a report elsewhere that 10/5 felt oversold and crowded. Wondering if there were just more day of purchases because of the 50th. Or if October itself is going to be a poor experience.
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I read the reports - it's the same type of complaints. Walkways crowded waiting for cavalcades, free-treat lines crowded, candy lines crowded until around 11.

But rides...ride were still walk-ons outside of Mine Train! :D And that's all I need....
 
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DCBaker

Premium Member
Original Poster
JohnD said:
Interesting. For me, I pushed myself too hard yesterday getting from Epcot to Steakhouse 71 for dinner. I ended up cancelling at MK guest relations before heading back to my hotel. It sounds like I made the right call with not being in the middle of the larger crowds. That freed up at least one ticket to someone else.
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Here's the video -

 
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Hawg G

Well-Known Member
pixarprincess said:
Saw a report elsewhere that 10/5 felt oversold and crowded. Wondering if there were just more day of purchases because of the 50th. Or if October itself is going to be a poor experience.
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I never did a report for my trip on Friday the 24th.

We, my DD5 and me, arrived at the parking lot around 6, and were pretty far out, as they force you into a new section, and can't poach much better slots. I can see that when trams are running, but with no trams, the walk sucks. I was a bit suprised at the number of people entering, yet many of them weren't in the BB line. A ton were park hopping. I assume for the Fireworks, as there were already a TON of people sitting for them.

Entry opened at 6:55. I decided to hit Pirates, since it's so long, and time is money at Boo Bash. It was walkon. Was tempted with Splash, but my daughter did want to see the fireworks. We ended up with a pretty good spot on the RR tracks at about 9-10 O'Clock on the Hub. They said that everyone had to stand about 15 minutes before. But the crowding was NOTHING compared to pre-Covid, and made me wish it would always stay that way. The show was great as usual, and worth spending pre BB time on, as most of the usual suspects had long lines anyway.

After the fireworks, we had to fight cross stream to get out of the hub, then got into a pretty open Adventureland. We headed to Splash, which was a total walkon. This is where it started to come clear Disney made NO effort to make the park look its best for the 50th. The jumping Brer Rabbit was there, but broke, and stayed down. Some sound was off, including the "Briar patch?". Did they remove the little soaker waterfall? It look like it was half done, and not painted.

When we got out, It was right at 7. We hit the Splash Trick-or-Treat station about 8 times, as it was a simple oval. We should have hit it a LOT more, as there are NOT very many ToT stations, and some require a long walk to return. Splash, and the one by the Speedway are great for collecting candy. There is Nothing between Fantasyland's in the restaurant that is a long walk and the one at Pecos Bill that is a long walk. Avoid those.

We then went to BTMRR. There was a huge line for free food, so we walked on for a front and back ride. No effects working on the final lift, and no water on the first one, or in the cave. Afterwards, the food line wasn't bad, so we both got a Mickey ice cream, Coke, Water, and popcorn. For our night, the boxed popcorn was stale. The open top popcorn was fresh. Dump out a box, fill it with fresh to take back to the hotel. I was a bit surprised that they had a LOT more people handing out free food than free candy. And the last hour at least there was no wait for food.

We walked over towards FL. We saw the M&M cavalcade. It was the saddest Boo To You parade ever. HM had a line out the gate, so we headed to Ariel. As we got there, I realized I left my bag when watching the 'Parade", so we rushed back, and it was still there, luckily. Nothing valuable in it except my thermos full of iced tea from Cabana Bay.

Went into Ariel, and was VERY happy to see they finally had the shortcut straight to the station open. I've never seen that before. This ride needs SERIOUS help. In the Under the Sea room, Ariel was still, as was Sebastian. I think another one was too. Plus their "kiss" was a lot more awkward than normal. The ride looks horrible for being one of the newest rides in the 50th anniversary park.

We then hit the Speedway candy spot a ton. It was literally like a 50 foot oval, and I needed my candy for Halloween distribution.

My daughter just barely hit 44", so Space Mountain was new to her. Rode both sides. REALLY wish you could still sneak up the wheelchair ramp for rerides, as both stations were empty, but there is a guard there now to limit your fun. No real other purpose. I REALLY miss the speedwalk at the end. I was suprised to see just how far back TRON is. It is really far back there. And there is ZERO excuse for it not to be open for the 50th. Cheap Disney.

We hit Buzz. The AA in the queue was curtained off, for the 50th! This ride is fun, but our car seemed to rotate on its own more than I remembered, making it a pain. Oh, we also got LOTS of cokes, some more ice cream, and popcorn. I ended with 8 Cokes to take home. I had a stroller, might as well get some of my money back.

I looked for merch at Star Traders and was stunned to learn there is no even shirt ? Hit the ToT some more. We ended up with 2 and a half bags of candy. I wanted to hit Dwarf Hill, but it had a healthly line at 11:30, and would have been it for us, so sadly we didn't ride it. Walked on Pooh. More broken effects. Minor ones, you know, like the Pooh Pepper's Ghost and Smoke Ring.

Tried to hit PP, but it was down for a good chunk of the night. Decided to end on Mansion, which was one elevator wait. I still want to punch Imagineering for never making Master Gracy's transformation viewable for anyone but the first 5 people through the door. It seemed most effects were OK here, thankfully.

Oh, and we did catch the Dragon float, which was pretty cool, and was breathing fire. Sadly we viewed it from the rear for the most part.

The night went fast for sure. With the extra 2 hours, we rode 8 rides, reriding Space and Big Thunder. So 10 rides in 5 hours, with about 1 hour dedicated to fireworks. We also both had 3 ice creams, so that's like $40, plus $25 in pop, and $20 in popcorn. Of course, street value is more like a forth of that.

Overall, compared to a normal park day, I think it was worth it. It was damned hot that day, and I'm not sure we would have even made it through all those lines unless we did rope drop, which I rarely do anymore. We would have bought single day tickets, since I don't use my non expiring ones if I'm not park hopping. So a little premium to get all the rides done in a much shorter time, and much less sweating, plus the food, was worth it to me. No parade sucked. Especially since people were still sitting on the parade route waiting for the cavalcades, and still packed the Hub before the event. It made no sense, except cost cutting.

I really hope MNSSHP come back, but those have been crazy packed of late. I remember paying like $50 for a ticket that gave us walkons for pretty much everything all night, a parade, fireworks, and character M&Gs. And that was only like 10 or so years ago.

I think the party price needs to be higher, and all the extras come back. Something between the Party and Bash in price, but basically the Party in offerings. Plus the Party Pass needs to go. I'm sure it will, as Disney has finally realized locals with nothing better to do than wait 2 hours for a damn popcorn tub to sell on eBay for a $20 (maybe) profit really ruin a lot of the fun for tourists.

J
 
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Touchdown

Well-Known Member
brb1006 said:
I'm alright with being scared, but Halloween Horror Nights isn't really my taste and could be intense for some visitors. Plus I'm not a fan of horror movies and gory content (with the exception of some anime).
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You know the gore isn’t too bad, there is usually one-two houses where clearly that’s the main focus (this year it’s TCM obviously, and I’ll add tooth fairy particularly if your afraid of the dentist) but otherwise it’s only in a few scenes and not the main focus.
 
Casper Gutman

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
Touchdown said:
You know the gore isn’t too bad, there is usually one-two houses where clearly that’s the main focus (this year it’s TCM obviously, and I’ll add tooth fairy particularly if your afraid of the dentist) but otherwise it’s only in a few scenes and not the main focus.
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I actually don’t really get scared at HHN, and I certainly don’t go to get scared. I go to enjoy the production - sets, costumes, makeup, sfx. I can absolutely understand folks who don’t want to go to HHN or might find it unsettling.
 
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Touchdown

Well-Known Member
Casper Gutman said:
I actually don’t really get scared at HHN, and I certainly don’t go to get scared. I go to enjoy the production - sets, costumes, makeup, sfx. I can absolutely understand folks who don’t want to go to HHN or might find it unsettling.
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Me too, will I get jump scared, of course, but I just love the atmosphere and watching others get scared.
 

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