Disney's Pirate and Princess Party extension?

[martaraepa]

Has anyone heard anything about extending the dates for the Pirate and Princess Party?!?! My family is going in the beginning of April and really really wanted to attend the event!! Also, what if anything are they doing in the parks/resorts for Easter?!?!

 

[Dream-Along]

I know they will be stopping P&P in March but I do not know if they do anything for easter.

 

[ToTBellHop]

no extension...actually, last I heard, P&P has been underperforming and may not return at all.

 

[pinkrose]

no extension...actually, last I heard, P&P has been underperforming and may not return at all.

Awwww I really liked it. I hope it returns. If not, I am very glad that I got to go to one.

 

[Nemo14]

We were there Friday night, and most rides were a walk- on. The fireworks were amazing. I'd pay to go back just to see them!

 

[Monty]

DS and I thoroughly enjoyed P&P, but I think the timing may have been its death-knell. This time of year, evenings are cold and often wet. Locals are less likely to attend in inclement weather and visitors buying in advance seemed to be the primary attendance. That's not normally enough attendance for the party to make a profit.

As good as it was, Disney bases decisions on profit-margin.

 

[ToTBellHop]

what they could always do is condense it more. Have it like 3 nights a week, starting President's Week and running right up to the week before Easter. They'd probably make more money then...that is, if they haven't already given up on the concept altogether. They could even start in March, not have it for the week before and after Easter, and have it continue right up through the end of May. They'd make more money then, as well.

 

[the-reason14]

So they are having this thing in March too? At the same time when spring break hits? I hope not, I mean I wanted to see this, but I dont wanna have to pay extra to spend extra time in the MK and to just see a new parade and fireworks(that I probably wont even get to see) when I can just get extra time during a free emh.

 

[ToTBellHop]

So they are having this thing in March too? At the same time when spring break hits? I hope not, I mean I wanted to see this, but I dont wanna have to pay extra to spend extra time in the MK and to just see a new parade and fireworks(that I probably wont even get to see) when I can just get extra time during a free emh.

Jan. 22, 26 & 29, Feb. 1, 5, 8, 12, 15, 23 & 26, Mar. 2, 5 & 8

 

[Monty]

So they are having this thing in March too? At the same time when spring break hits? I hope not, I mean I wanted to see this, but I dont wanna have to pay extra to spend extra time in the MK and to just see a new parade and fireworks(that I probably wont even get to see) when I can just get extra time during a free emh.

I don't think they quite make it to Spring Break...

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Party nights: Jan. 22, 26, 29, Feb. 1, 5 ,8, 12, 15, 23, 26 and March 2, 5, 8. from 7:30 p.m. -12:30 a.m.

I wouldn't compare P&P extra time to EMH extra time. P&P was a lot less crowded than I've ever experienced with EMH [particularly in the first hour of EMH, when the lines for rides seemed as long as during the day].[/FONT] I didn't see the new parade, but DS and I aren't really into parades anyway. The P&P fireworks were worth the price of admission alone!

From what you say, you likely wouldn't buy tickets regardless. If it is still on when you're there, just avoid MK the days it's on, there will probably be EMH in a different park..

 

[elle72688]

We went on Feb 5th and it was a cold night for the party. The park was so empty...everything was a walk-on and we had no trouble getting decent spots for the parade right before the parade began.

 

[davinakb]

Awwww I really liked it. I hope it returns. If not, I am very glad that I got to go to one.

Me too! The night we went (Feb. 8) the rides were walk-on, the weather was cool, but not bad; we had a really nice time. Agree that the time of year played into the slowness of the event, but would have to think it'd need a little time to build a following. The suggestion of moving the dates to a busier time of year (March-April) is not a bad one. Anyway, here's hoping it returns next year.

 

[the-reason14]

I don't think they quite make it to Spring Break...

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Party nights: Jan. 22, 26, 29, Feb. 1, 5 ,8, 12, 15, 23, 26 and March 2, 5, 8. from 7:30 p.m. -12:30 a.m.

I wouldn't compare P&P extra time to EMH extra time. P&P was a lot less crowded than I've ever experienced with EMH [particularly in the first hour of EMH, when the lines for rides seemed as long as during the day].[/FONT] I didn't see the new parade, but DS and I aren't really into parades anyway. The P&P fireworks were worth the price of admission alone!

From what you say, you likely wouldn't buy tickets regardless. If it is still on when you're there, just avoid MK the days it's on, there will probably be EMH in a different park..

Im glad thats its not going to be there on spring break. If I went in January I probably would go to it.

 

[Evil Moose]

I wanted to go do it but I couldn't cause i'm going in April! I'll get over it though!

 

[Mimi]

I think moving the event further into spring would be smart now that they see what the attendance levels have been, but the original idea was probably to attract more people to the parks at a time when attendance tends to be lower.

 

[maharet97a]

We went on Friday night as well, and the weather was great. Of course it cooled off a bit from the day, but it was very comfortable with a light jacket. It seemed to me that there were quite a bit of people there. More than I expected in fact. The rides we went on were only 20 minutes at most, but I thought that was part of the idea of limiting the number of tickets to the event. Anyway, over all it appeared to be very successful. The park was pretty packed and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

 

[lentesta]

Disney's supposed to be capping the tickets sold for this event at 20,000, but I think they struggle to sell 8,000 most nights. The longest wait we've seen while in the parks is 10 minutes, and the vast majority of rides are walk-ons or 5-minute waits

This is the first year that PnP has been offered. As word of low crowds and special fireworks spread, I wouldn't be surprised if crowds increase. For the remaining 2007 dates and the first 2008, however, it's a great way to see a lot of attractions with very little wait.

I used to deplore the idea of more hard-ticket events in the MK. If it means five hours of no waits for my favorite attractions, for less than the cost of a 1 day MYW ticket, however, I can definitely support that.

Len

 

[maharet97a]

I would say there were at least 10-15K people in the park the night we went. I wish I had gotten pictures of the crowds, but I didn't. But agreed, moving it back a few weeks could help weatherwise. We get unpredictable and quickly changing weather down here in Feb and March.

 

[DisneyWales]

Not impressed

Now I love the Halloween and Xmas partys so much that i went to them both twice both this year and last year. However after the Pirates and Princesses party i was a little disapointed by the night overall.

A few Factors,

Yes it was bloody cold, but i can see past that,
we were the only adults who had really dressed up
The Parade was boring
The Music for the Parade was dull
While the fireworks were impressive, the music wasn't Fantastic.
And the "Treasures" worked just the same as the Treat Trails at MNSSHP.

The park was empty when we went, and there was just no atmosphere at all.

I wouldn't rush to go back, we had fun dont get me wrong, but it wasnt enough fun to warrant an extre $40 to get in to the park.

 

[ToTBellHop]

One thing to note...if they do move the party to a later time, they run into problems w/ Daylight Saving Time. It should come as no surprise that the last night of the party is only a couple days before Daylight Saving Time starts. Since the parks are more crowded in March, you really need to have Wishes playing every night, but starting in 9 days, they won't be able to play fireworks til at least 8:30 pm, which would mean the party would have to start at 9 pm at the earliest. Not feasible. Sunset is at 7:30 starting next Sunday in Florida and continues to move later into April and May, of course, while in October, sunset is around 7 pm (and moving earlier) with a 5:30 sunset for the Christmas parties. This is probably why we don't see parties at the MK between the day when Daylight Saving Time and the point when sunset moves earlier than 7:30 pm (and I would point out that the parks are much less crowded in mid-September than mid-March). If you look at the park closing times at the MK this month, it is routinely closing at 11 pm. Can't have a party w/ that.