Trip Report A Villain's Party Trip...

flynnibus · Jun 15, 2019

Once off BTMRR... we were really in 'after hours' party mode.

Really for the most part, it would be hard to tell otherwise you were in that mode. They seemed to change the background music for the most part... but it was a track that was obvious, but not... dominating. So it wasn't like it was hugely distracting.

Throughout the park, they had blue, purple, and green accent lighting showing on the structures. That was probably the biggest giveaway that 'things are not the same'. To me, it did impact the mood... but honestly the changes for the most part were so low key that less attentive guests or less frequent may not even pickup on most of the changes. Pretty sure they had the lighting changed on BTMRR too... but like Frontierland 2nd story structures, etc.. that's more what immediately stood out.

But now, this was my first chance to experience the "free snacks". This was a bit confusing for me as a first time party goer and I think it's an area Disney might stand to improve upon.

Are you hungry?
In the flyer they gave out when you checked in, it outlined all the special foods for the event.. of which there was about 6-8 or so offerings.. and showed where they would be sold. But it also mentions the free snacks... but doesn't actually say what the snacks ARE.. and its not too clear if the snacks shown in the flyer are what they are referring to, or what. At best it says (paraphrasing) there are free snacks, and ALSO available for purchase.. specialty stuff.

But at this point, I can see the mobs at all the ODV carts.. and each cart has the sign of what they are offering. Simple observation of other customers, shows that these are free

The snacks are popcorn, mickey ice cream bars, mickey ice cream sandwiches, a strawberry fruit ice cream bar, and the standard bottled sodas and bottled water. All the carts were the same.. and at this time, every cart had a reasonable line I saw. Think 15+ people.

But here was the trade-off... now at 10pm... everything NOT specific to the party was closed. So no getting normal food. The food locations that were only were ONLY serving the party menu.

So... make sure you got a good meal in you BEFORE the party... because the party menu was really just deserts. Nothing of any substance. The only item that was even close to 'anything but desert' was some spicy nacho thing in Tortuga Tavern.

Argh...
I take advantage of my 'included snacks'... get a drink.. and decide to check out PoTC with it's live actors. I think it's listed at 10mins... but it was effectively a walk on. Walking through the queue, they route you past one of the rooms with a storage room with bars low on the floor.. and an actor was in there husking and 'warning' guests not to proceed. There be danger up ahead... etc. The actor was pretty good.. adlibing a few times with different guests. It was a great live performance bit.. tho I felt sad for the folks who may have to do that for such an extended time.

With the line basically moving at a walking pace... it worked really well where the guy is someone you passed, vs being stuck next to for an extended period. It was 'nice' but not like 'wow!'.

As we approached the dock, they were loading only one side now, and another actress doing a pirate thing again made comments as we passed her... about danger... etc.

On the ride, another actor was on the bridge you pass under (past the auction scene if I recall?). This actor would pace out, lean over and say something to your boat as you passed. Again, I heard some adlib personalization that was neat too.

So what did I think of the changes? It made me yearn back to the days when we had HOSTS on attractions, not computer playback spiels... it reminded me of the Star Trek experience in vegas. It was GOOD! It doesn't radically change the attraction, it simply adds a dynamic element that can plus things and makes it more intimate. I really hope Disney gets good feedback on this stuff and will consider more live 'actors' in attractions.

Should I partake?
Normally I'm not one of these "try out the special foods!!" types. I don't need to sample everything.. I just want stuff I like. And I don't like burning money just to try things... so normally I'd probably pass. But tonight, I'm here to really try this experience out.. so I figure I'd force myself a bit to try some of the offers. There were some tempting brownie type things on the menu... but I opt'd first to try the Cosmo mocktail they were offering in Tortuga Tavern. It was a slushie drink with a gummie worm on top. The flavor was quite good, and the portion size was decent as well. Being served in an oversized plastic martini style 'glass'.

I liked the drink, even if it was just a mocktail, and would easily recommend it for the fun flavor+tart. I took my drink on the road and headed towards the Haunted Mansion.

Might as well drink and move right... since 'the war on benches' in the MK means there is almost nowhere to sit and relax on this side of the park

Besides the few chairs in some frontierland porches... I think the 4 benches in liberty square were the only benches I remember seeing all night

While passing through, I see the castle has projections and eventually some fireworks too.. as the stage show obviously goes through it's 3(?) performances for the night. I had already heard the luke warm reception from opening night.. so I wasn't looking to invest my time there.

MAWR RIDES!
Upon getting to the HM, lighting changes are pretty obvious on the manor house... but the rest of the ride is pretty uneventful. I was able to walk right through the house doors, and into the lobby as a stretching room sequence started. Things were kind of rushed as they always are now... but it wasn't too bad.

After finishing HM... I wanted to wait to see Maleficent make her pass. I wanted to take the opportunity to use the only benches I had seen in hours... the benches in liberty square and have a free drink. But... they were taken, so I had to sit on the brick wall. She was scheduled to run at 11:45 from frontierland. Shortly after, she made her way up the parade route, with about 4 of the street level performers in front of her. She was moving at a quick pace and looked good at night. I didn't get a good look at the fire blast.. as she didn't do it until AFTER she passed me. I was sitting right there in front of the market opposite the liberty tree area... and she didn't blast the whole way up the hill and turn.. but did blast once she was aimed at the hub and more in front of HoP. It was neat to say I did.. but I wouldn't go out of my way to see.

Peter Pan was next on the menu. Peter Pan actually had a wait. I think it was posted at something like 15mins... but PP is the embodiment IMO of classic Disney magic and dark rides, so I must ride. They were using the FP entrance that winds to the left.. and really the whole FP line was full. Relatively short wait... but not walk on.

Continuing around.. I made my way towards Seven Dwarves. But first I made a detour to try my second specialty of the night.. the Dragons Breath float. It was supposed to be lemon icecream, sprite, cherry syrup, and green cherries for eyes. The ice cream was ok.. the rest? Not so much. Was not a fan... I ate most of the ice cream and tossed it. And the portion on this was kinda small... where the mocktail was perfect sized... this was about the size of when you get soft serve in a cup. Like the 2.5" sundae cup, etc.

Seven Dwarves had I think a 20min wait posted... I was able to walk all the way up to the doorway unhindered... but at the door and onward it was a slow crawl. I think it did take me the upwards of 20mins to ride.

(a trend is forming...)

Last on the 'must do' list was to check out the blacked out Space Mountain. I wasn't sure if my back was going to be up for it.. but I pushed on. Outside the wait time posted was 20 or 30mins... but since most times had been exaggerated, I figured it would be much less.

I get inside.. and wth... the line started basically at the start of the indoor tunnel! That's right.. the line was stopped and went through the ENTIRE normal standby path. Full tunnel, full switchbacks, to the back hallway, etc. They were running both tracks.. so the line did move steady.. but I do think I waited about 30mins. Of course, as I'm approaching the back hallway I look out towards the start of the line... and the back of the line is there in the switchbacks now... no longer down the hallway

I must have somehow caught a huge surge of people in front of me

For those who complain about FP, waits, etc... the key takeaway for me was... I went through the entire standby line, in about 30mins.. and never had those full stops. That my friends is the difference FP makes on attractions... and is much more like we were used to from the 80s..

Anyways, the ride experience. When they said it was SM in the dark... they weren't joking! EVERY thing was lights out.. not just the show scenes, but the tunnels, etc.. everything blacked out. The only thing I saw the whole ride was the IR cameras on the assent

I DO so wish the cars still had their glow stripes.. if that was added it would have been BEAUTIFUL in my mind. The soundtrack? I can't say I could tell what it was supposed to be... or much different than the normal mechanical and scream sounds you normally hear on SM. I bet you could poll people what they thought about the sounds and half might say they didn't even know there was some soundtrack.

I think it was a fun gimmick for the coaster fans... it's a bit more like DL space mountain in this form... but still rough and violent to you as it always is (unlike DL's simple diving patterns). Was worth the ride for sure!

This was my first time going through the redone SM exit. All I want to say is what the #@%. Who thought mall decor was a good fit for SM's exit ramp area. I know they had practical reasons... but this was just another notch in the declining by degrees.

... and then??

Well, would you believe by that time, it was past 1am, and the park was closed. The stage show was set to run at 1... and earlier I had see a ton of fireworks for the show, but never saw it quite cleanly. So I wanted to take the chance to see stuff from the Fantasyland side.. since I had no real interest in the show.

But since it was 1am, all the snack carts were already shutdown... and the CM filtering of guests had already started. I was able to go past the speedway, but not past the teacups .. so had to route towards the hub there. I did however just stop on the bridge there past cosmic ray's and belle's storybook area and watch the tech/backside of the stageshow.. and watch the fireworks go off pretty close.

So close, that the ash/reside from the roof fireworks was getting into my eyes and I had to stop looking right up. It's a good # of roof and castle pyro for a stage show IMO. And there is a TON of fire effects.. including the cool green fire too!

Ok, wrap up thoughts next...

flynnibus · Jun 15, 2019

Ok... so general comments and thoughts..

Crowd levels? The park certainly isn't EMPTY... its just very very light crowds out and about. I would maybe draw a parallel to what it used to be like for EMHs that went past 1am. Lots of people around, but certainly not crowded... and headliners have SHORT waits, lower tier attractions are effectively walk ons.

The snacks? The free ones were nice... lines meant you kept looking for another cart people weren't at

. Would have preferred to see things like pretzels and not just popcorn in the free list.

The specialty foods? Don't feel I could answer fully... at roughly $7/item... I guess it's not AWFUL by Disney standards, but not cheap either. You don't have time to sample them all...

The special merch? The limited stuff I saw was nothing special. Maybe if you wanted some feminie ursula stuff it would be in your wheelhouse... but overall... easy pass. Nothing looked even tempting.

Admin/organization? Very good to excellent. The culling of the non-party folks was done in less than 20mins on the ROA area.. so not much better you can do there IMO. Maybe mainstreet and the first show would have been more challenging.. but back there... no issues. My only knock admin wise is I'd like to see the specific snacks called out in the handout and a little more clarity (for those who hadn't done it before) about that vs the speciality foods.

Other random thoughts...
- Some claim this is a thing aimed at 'rich people' or the buy their way out of problems crowds. That was NOT the demographic on my night. It was your stereotypical Disney crowd... focused more on the 8-40 crowd I'd say. Less ECVs... less strollers... less 'grandma in the wings' situations. Tons of young adults... tons of 6-14yr olds too. I think the core audience is the 'we will do anything for Disney' fans. I can tell you MANY there were not rich

- The lack of regular food I found to be a big negative
- The duration is short.. too short to see it all. if this were a 8pm-1am... I'd feel a lot better about it.

Would you recommend it?
I think this is a tough one... I have philosophical problems with this offer, but I also want to be objective about it for those who don't.

1) It's not really a replacement to visiting the parks for a full day for a tourist WHO DOESN'T KNOW THE PARK
2) It's like FP.. you see the important bits, but you miss a lot of the journey. You can't stop and smell the roses, it's the 'extreme commando' version of visiting the park
3) If you want to experience attractions with minimal to no waits.. this is a great way to do it (and with EMH thinning down, maybe the only way to do this in the future...)
4) Don't do it for the special food/merch/entertainment . -- or only do it if you are a real disney fanboi. I don't think I'd recommend a family of 5 do this... but if a subset of your group was interested in commando touring... its a fun alternate.
5) I don't think there is a value story here.. especially compared to other party offers (like halloween, etc).

I think my takeaway is... if you are Disney FANS, want to experience something different, and the money isn't taking away from some other possibility on your trip... I'd think you might consider doing it once every couple years. Take your most able bodied park warriors and go have fun. Don't keep grandma up past her bedtime for this one.

Nunu · Jun 16, 2019

Thank you for such a comprehensive report. I've always wondered about these special ticketed events. I've read some descriptions about them but, your personal experience answered my questions in a relatable way.

Some aspects of this event, are attractive to me, others, like the lack of food offerings, the few merchandise options and specially, the commando mode, not so much.

These events might be a good option for many (they sell very well!), just not sure if they are a good fit for me.

Again, thanks, I found it very useful.

Trip Report A Villain's Party Trip...

flynnibus

flynnibus

Nunu

Wanderluster