FromMaldonia
Member
I went to the party last night. In general your itinerary seems pretty good to me. I can't provide a lot of help because we didn't meet any characters, but I can give some info in case it helps.I’m curious if anyone has any suggestions to my proposed itinerary?
(We’re going in October! Just me and my fiancé - no kids and we’re city walkers..)
- Line up between 3-3:30 after a 1/2 pm lunch at SH71 Lounge.
- 4-7: see Main Street, take photos, go to Fantasyland, 7DMT ride, Pooh ride, grab treats: whoopie pie, queen slushy, and witches brew, Pooh M&G at 5:30, go back to TST to visit Mickey at 7
- 7-8:30: go to Tomorrowland, space mountain ride, monsters inc overlay, people mover ride, snacks: zombie fingers, sully slushee, see Tron (not riding)
- 8:30-10: Donald/Daisy M&G, grab buffalo chicken pie snack, haunted mansion ride/photos
- 10-10:30: grab a Jack cake pop & fireworks
- 10:45-11:45: second parade in Frontierland, snacks: fries and corn milkshake, Rusty Cutlass show
- 11:45-12:45: final Hocus Pocus show, photo pass spots, any merch
We also went to Steakhouse 71 for lunch (1:30pm -- Our waiter was great and everyone was happy with their food). We had lots of time to kill afterwards so looked in the Contemporary shops a bit before finally walking over to MK. We were in line at 3:30pm -- in the crazy long switchback section by the Ferry. Like others have said, the line moves fast once they start letting partygoers in (which seems to be just a bit before 4) and we were in by 4:02.
I know October is a more busy time than September, but as I was checking ride times throughout the day yesterday our family was shocked. Space Mountain was 5 mins every time I checked. Mine Train was often 45, always under an hour. Big Thunder Mountain was 15 or less. My kids are at the age where they mostly only want rides and we couldn't pass up these lines. Sure enough we went straight to Space Mountain and it was a 5 minute wait. We had ILL for Tron after, and then headed to Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion. By then the times went up a bit due to all the partygoers overlapping the day guests, but the posted times seemed highly inflated. Haunted Mansion said 30, we must have waited no more than 5 to get to the stretching room. We stayed clear of Mine Train as it jumped up to 55ish for a while, but then it dropped down around the time of fireworks so we rode it after fireworks a couple of times with a 10ish minute wait despite the sign saying 30.
So we rode a lot of rides, but as for parade, fireworks, shows: We watched Rusty Cutlass a bit while in Adventureland around 8 or 8:30 and really enjoyed it. The gathering was small so easy to get close and a good mix of music and entertainment for kids. We walked up to the Frontierland section of the parade about 15 minutes before the first parade and had no problem getting a spot with a view (technically behind the first row of people, but the kids maneuvered to see and we all had a clear view. We also showed up in front of the castle 15 minutes before fireworks and easily got a close spot for a great view of Jack and the projections. We hit the midnight Hocus Pocus show and again easily got a spot close to the castle 15 minutes (maybe less) ahead of the start. I think the earlier post about making sure not to wait if there's a chance for rain is good advice, but we had 1% chance in our forecast. I will say don't expect to get/do too much after the show as many things are closing down right at midnight (food, stores, photos). I know some stores are still open, but it looked like mostly just main street.
You didn't mention trick-or-treating/candy. If you are seeing Tron from the outside (I suggest at night), taking the trail from there to Storybook Circus is pretty great as they have multiple candy stations. But really there is candy to be had easily all over the park.
TL ; DR - SH71 before hand worked great for us. Don't worry about the line to get in at 3:30. Rides were all very short waits regardless of the posted times -- you can see the 7DMT queue so you can kind of judge it, but it's very likely switchbacks are not being used so even shorter than what you see. We all enjoyed the entertainment, don't waste time lining up 30+ minutes before they start. Character lines often looked long, but we didn't do any so I can't make any real comment. Jack Sparrow seemed super short when we walked by around 8pm. Treat trails were generous with the candy, especially toward the end of the night. Overall, the crowd level seemed easily manageable for people to do what they're most interested in during the party.
