So a couple of observations I noticed when I attended the Party this past Sunday evening.
One, is they no longer give you extra treat bags.
It’s one per person.
I recall in the past Cast would typically have bags at every candy stop in case Guests needed another one to carry all their candy around, but that seems to no longer be the case from what I saw Sunday.
When I specifically asked for another, I was told it’s one per person.
My guess is since the bags are much nicer quality now they are tighter in distribution.
So if you plan on collecting a lot of candy, definately bring your own bag.
Also…
Of the two showings of ‘Hocus Pocus Villians Spelltacular’ that I viewed, one of them was a ‘B-Mode’ version I had never seen.
Typically when it rains or the stage floor is too damp for the dancers to do their act safely, the show is cancelled outright.
This time however they ‘cancelled’ the full showing, and instead did this nice consolation prize version instead.
The Sanderson Sisters come out and perform the finale song, along with the group of Villians that appear in the show.
No fancy dance steps due to the damp stage, but pyro and other effects happen as the norm.
I found this to be a welcome and well done change to insure Guests are not disappointed by a cancelled show.
At least they get to see the characters and hear one song…as well as some small pyro enhancments.
For Guests who have never seen the show before, they leave happy thinking this was ‘it’.
Folks like me who know well how the show is supposed to happen appreciate the gesture even when the full blown production can’t happen due to weather.
So this was nice to see.
Another observation -
I see WDW is now being somewhat inspired by Disneyland Resorts ‘Oogie Boogie Bash’ character treat trails.
Several treat trails during this years MNSSHP feature characters within the treat line areas.
Examples being Romeo greeting Guests within Grizzly Hall, and of course the Evil Queen and Maleficent within Fairytale Hall.
Also this time around I see they are now trying to improve the treat line experience by sending Guests through Attractions and themed spaces like the Enchanted Tiki Room , Country Bears, and the Golden Horseshoe.
Much better going through these areas to not only cool off, but also get some eye candy as the areas are tweaked visually to fit the spooky vibes.
In the Tiki Room for example, the birds are in a ‘random movement’ mode with instrumental tropical music playing.
Before treat lines were just people lined up outside on the walkways and beside buildings as usual.
Now some of these treat distribution areas are more of a ‘show’.
So these changes I find a nice improvement.
One other observation -
The Park seemed very packed , although this was a sold out event.
The comments i had read earlier in this thread were right on the money.
Overall, still a good experience for the most part but I didn’t really get to do as much as prior years.
But that’s on me, considering Beak n’ Barrel was part of the experience this time.
-
