Disney World Fall Trip Recap: Part 1
We’ll continue sharing experiences from our recent Walt Disney World trip with something we haven’t done in a while: a trip report. While our construction updates and our crowd post tell some of the story, it’s been a while since I sat down and posted stray thoughts and photos from Walt Disney World in trip report form.
Actually, this is not exactly a trip report. It’ll still have that same rambling, anecdotal style that “everyone” “loves” but instead of fully revisiting every single thing we did every single day, this will offer commentary that doesn’t fit in other posts, accompanied by random photos often unrelated to the topic at hand.
We did the first few days of this Walt Disney World trip at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort (as we spent a lot of time at the resort, most photos in this installment are from the Poly), where we’d most recently stayed a couple summers ago in the over-the-water Bungalows with a visit to the new Villas, as well.
In the last couple of years, we’ve been trying to expand our coverage of third party and off-site hotels, which has meant that we’re falling a bit short of staying at every hotel at Walt Disney World every other year in order to refresh our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews.
It probably also doesn’t help that we’ve stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter three separate times this year–sometimes deals for certain resorts make them too good to resist. Speaking of which, both that resort and the Poly, as well as countless others, have been featured on Priceline Express Deals this year.
As mentioned a few weeks ago, we still have an article about how to score those Priceline deals in the works. Unfortunately, since I started writing it, the Priceline Express Deals have pretty much dried up for late October and November, and I don’t have any screenshots (except for the Swan & Dolphin), which has been the hold-up in publishing.
This is a common thing for October, and I figure since there aren’t any Priceline deals right now, there’s no harm in waiting to publish. I just mention this now in case you were awaiting that article and thought maybe we forgot about it.
Back to the Poly, not only was our room read when we checked arrived at ~9 a.m., but we had also been upgraded to the Hawaii building–King Kamehameha Club Level.
Timing wise, I think we got really lucky with this reservation, as the day we arrived the resort was a ghost town (a friend remarked that they’d never seen the parking lot so empty), whereas the day we checked out we were told the resort was at full occupancy for that night.
We’ve already covered the roller coaster of crowds in our A Tale of Two Seasons: Fall Crowds at Walt Disney World post, so I won’t rehash that here. On a tangentially related note, I’d love to hear feedback from those who have attended Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party this year–good or bad.
I’m working on a post titled “Is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Still Worth It?” and would love to share reader accounts/quotes in that post. We’ve heard a lot of complaints about crowds, wait times, and character lines at the party, so we think this is a topic worth addressing. If you’d like to share your experience, please include the date you attended, your observations, and ultimate ‘conclusion’ about whether MNSSHP was worth it to you in the comments below.
Prior to this trip to Walt Disney World, we were debating whether to use Amazon Prime Now or just pack some snacks with us so we didn’t even have to mess with that.
We chose the latter, and arrived at the Poly with a suitcase half full of apples, bananas, pumpkin bars, and other assorted stuff. We joked that we were probably the first Club Level guests ever to BYOB (bring your own bananas).
As much as I love Trader Joe’s pumpkin cereal bars (seriously, they’re delicious), they don’t hold a candle to pork belly, poke, and the other appetizers prepared in the lounge.
Suffice to say, most of our snacks remained in the suitcase until we transferred over to Caribbean Beach.
During our stay, we heard a couple other guests in the Club Lounge indicate that they’d also been upgraded, so we weren’t alone in this. I was curious just how many people were upgraded, as our building didn’t seem nearly as ‘dead’ as the rest of the resort.
Then again, maybe people who book the King Kamehameha level are more likely to spend time hanging out at the resort? (We sure did!)
I’m not about to complain about free food, and we definitely got bang for our (zero) buck at the King Kamehameha Club Lounge. However, if we paid anything close to rack rate–or even the normal ~$200/night premium for Club Level–we would’ve been disappointed.
It’s one of those nice ways of ‘treating yourself’ if you totally divorce yourself from the cost, but it wasn’t that good. No matter much pork belly you eat or beers you drink, it’s tough to justify from a rational perspective.
The emotional side of us loved it. Convenient breakfast, “free” dinner & desserts, and excellent espresso on-demand throughout the day was really nice.
I should probably put air quotes around “dinner” above, as it’s definitely not the lounge’s intent to serve as a replacement for dinner, but that’s exactly what we made it, all those stupid single-serving plates be damned.
What we also really enjoyed was the space of the lounge. Every day after the breakfast rush, I could take my laptop to the Club Lounge and grab a table by the window with a view of Cinderella Castle.
I’m a huge sucker for having an “office” with a view, and this is right up there with the public library in Laguna that overlooks the ocean.
A big part of the reason this is a trip recap instead of a proper trip report is that so little of what we did is worthy of a play by play recap. It wasn’t our original intent, but due to the heat, we spent the middle of each day at the Poly, relaxing and working.
We’ve come to appreciate soaking up the ambiance of resorts and focusing less on attractions, but the other byproduct of this approach was that it was much easier to get up for sunrise photography every single morning of the trip and follow that with doing rope drop most mornings. We’d then take a midday break most days, returning a couple hours before sunset and staying until park close.
I distinctly remember the ‘Summer Nightastic’ celebration at Walt Disney World and during August visits even before that, when Magic Kingdom would open at 9 a.m. and had Extra Magic Hours until 3 a.m. We’d arrive for park opening, and stay all day until after park closing for photos, only to get up the next morning and do it all over again, rope drop until park close.
At the time, anything less felt like we weren’t getting enough value for our money. Given that we were paying like ~$69/night for Pop Century and carefully rationing 10-day no expiration tickets over the course of several trips, we most certainly were getting enough value for our money. We had to save up just to afford that though, so our perspective was different.
Now, we rarely do rope drop to park close uninterrupted, and spend way more time at the resort, and still have that same perspective that doing things differently would mean getting less bang for our buck. The resort stays (even discounted ones) are typically the most expensive aspect of a WDW trip, and taking advantage of their amenities midday is more enjoyable to us than trudging through the middle of the day in the parks when heat and crowds are at their worst.
(Now, we have an upcoming stay booked at All Star Movies, and I’m guessing we won’t take advantage of its amenities quite as much as we did the Poly’s!)
It has taken us a long time to break that ingrained “rides! rides! RIDES!” mentality at Walt Disney World, but I’m glad we’ve come around.
This is totally a ‘different strokes for different folks’ scenario, and I would never implore others to follow in our footsteps, especially since everyone’s circumstances and frequency of visits differ, but it’s at least something to consider. Walt Disney World’s resorts at the Moderate level and above offer so much, and a lot of that is often overlooked.
Another thing we did that I really enjoyed was took the water taxis to and from Magic Kingdom. Even in the hot weather, I love these peaceful cruises across Walt Disney World’s lakes.
For one, they are more reliable than the monorails, so there’s no worry of ‘holding for further traffic clearance’ for 10 minutes…or an hour.
More importantly, I love the approach. Seeing Cinderella Castle rise over the Train Station and getting glimpses of Main Street is really special.
One night we were arriving right as a monorail passed, and seeing Main Street’s popcorn lights reflected off its windows as the castle glowed orange and blue–this view was downright magical. It felt like glimpsing into a boundless utopian scene, like a Blade Runner aesthetic if only the future were written by optimists.
For some reason or another, this reminded me of riding Space Mountain years ago, before the queue ceiling was installed. Back then, one of my favorite things about the ride was craning my head around for the glimpses back into the queue, which felt like a distant space station to which we’d eventually return. It sounds hokey, but one thing I love about Walt Disney World is the elements that leave room for interpretation, evoking a certain atmosphere or feeling, and letting your imagination fill in the blanks.
Okay, this has already crossed 1,500 words and I don’t feel like I’ve really said much about the substance of our Walt Disney World trip. I’ll end this installment here, hit reset, and pick up with more anecdotes from our visit in Part 2.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Any feedback on your experience at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party this year? What do you think about park time versus resort time, and the relative ‘value’ of each during a Walt Disney World trip? Think Club Level is ‘worth it’? Enjoy the water taxi rides, or prefer the air conditioned luxury of the highway in the sky? Other feedback on this Walt Disney World trip recap? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I went to the party on 10/25. I strictly go for the character greets, fireworks, and parade. I skip all rides. It felt crowded compared to parties in the past but I still had a great time and will continue to attend in the future.
We attended the MNSSHP on Sunday 10/20 and we were really disappointed. Lower crowds my eye!!! We waited in so many long lines, only really getting to accomplish 4 things. I would never go to another Halloween party again. In fact I think I will avoid Halloween all together at Disney. We stayed at the Polynesian which I absolutely loved but didn’t like having to wait until 10:15 most nights to watch fireworks. The Halloween party messed up our entire schedule. We were never able to go to a full day at magic kingdom due to all the parties. To say I was disappointed with the MNSSHP is an understatement. Huge waste of money!!
Hi Tom,
We attended the Tues, Aug 28th party and while it was a later start for us than anticipated due to the rain, we loved it! We arrived shortly before 6:00 with the main goals of enjoying the rides and Trick or Treating. We were at Disney as a short, surprise trip for my 9yo daughter and the original intent of our trip was to visit the water parks and book a FD BB for Sep 2019. The MNSSHP ended up being an added bonus.
We loved it even though we did not do a lot of what others choose to do at the party. Other than a 35 min ride right at 7pm to ride 7 Dwarfs (wanted to ride in case they closed it for rain again) we never waited more than 5-10 mins for a ride and the majority were walk-ons. We rode to our hearts content as well as enjoyed visiting the ToT stations, again with little to no wait. We didn’t see the hub so I’m not sure how busy it was there. We watched the fireworks from a bridge in Frontierland which is something I wouldn’t choose to do again. I could not hear the music well and found myself constantly looking left and right to see the fireworks as they were in different locations due to our location on the bridge.
Was the party worth it? 100% yes for us!!! Was it too crowded? Not at all but we were also not trying to secure parade viewing or meet characters.
While we won’t be hurrying back to attend MNSSHP as normally we get out fill of rides during a ‘normal’ Disney trip, I would highly recommend the August parties to those who have the opportunity to go to them as the crowds were quite manageable!
Attended MNSSHP 10/18. 1st timers with a 5yo. Let us in about 3:45, which was nice. Much more crowded than the blogs I had read led me to believe it would be. Waited 20+ just for Mad Tea Party (as opposed to Saturday when the wait was about 10). Didn’t wait in a single candy line bc they were too long. Same for Magic Shot photogs (snagged one as we exited with Headless Horseman). We did meet Jack & Sally, as well as Tarzan (my son’s favorites). Parade was neat, but maybe felt a little short? HPVS show was fun, and HalloWishes was good. I’d say I’m on the fence about going back for the party again.
My friend and I attended the Halloween party on October 19th. We arrived at 3:45 for early entrance and went to do our 2 fast pass selections before 6pm. The party didn’t seem as crowded as the previous Wednesday we attended MK on the 17th. The crowds on the 17th were INSANE. 30 minute+ waits for every ride and 2 hours for Seven Dwarfs. We were shocked at how crowded it was – it was wall to wall people everywhere! Then we attend the Halloween party on the 19th and wow what a difference! During the transition time of 5:30-7pm that night we did Splash Mountain with a 10 minute wait and back to back times on Thunder Mountain for 5 minute wait times each. Then we did Haunted Mansion and Pirates for 15-20 minutes wait time then Space Mountain back to back for 20 minute times. It may seem long for most people but these times were a treat for us compared to the chaos of the 17th! We enjoyed the parade, Hocus Pocus and HalloWishes. Overall we were very pleased with the entire evening!
We attended MNSSHP on 10/18. Crowds were awful. Wait times around 45 minutes for Space Mtn and 90 for Seven Dwarfs. Was really disappointed by the number of people who were completely drunk and obnoxious so early in the evening at Food & Wine on Saturday night-it didn’t feel safe/appropriate for our kids. Sunday (10/21) was better at Food & Wine but crowded weekend overall. WE loved the Deluxe Studio at Poly as well.
Hi Elizabeth,
We felt the same way about the Food & Wine event about 5 years ago with a 10 year old. Between people smoking anywhere they wanted, drinking too much and the bathrooms being atrociously dirty that we watched when we went. I feel that it is not a representation of what Walt would approve of. There should be someway of limiting how much alcohol is purchased and keep it a family friendly environment.
Went to MNSSHP on Tuesday, October 16th and I thought the crowd levels were extremely high for being a special event. Wait times for rides were 30minutes or more. The lines for characters weren’t as bad as I expected, but there were lines for candy throughout the whole night. Also, I thought crowds would die down after fireworks, but they did not. The park was full until the very end. I absolutely loved the parade, fireworks, and hocus pocus show. I did feel like I was running around all night though.
Tom! I am currently on the tragical express after 7 nights (10/13 – 10/20) renting DVC at the boardwalk. Crowds were heavy but manageable (we usually go during Labor Day week so we were prepared for heavier crowds). HOWEVER we went to MNSSHP on Friday 10/19 against all advice and guess what? Crowds felt light! We hit all the rides we couldn’t bc of heavier crowds on other days, saw the parade, fireworks, and the hocus pocus show. Our first MNSSHP was September 2017 on a Tuesday and yesterday felt lighter, but maybe that’s because we were expecting nightmare crowds. Love your blog! It is the quintessential reference source for all things Disney parks!
Tom, sounds like your trip this time was pretty much how all our trips are. We do rope drop, leave the park around 1:00-1:30 to do the resort pool, then head back to the parks around 4:30-5:00. Granted, we usually go in August, when the temperature is approximately that of the surface if the sun (and 98% humidity).
MNSSHP: Attended Tues. Sept. 11th, and exactly one month later on Thurs. Oct. 11th 2018. I didn’t feel like Sept. 11th would have been the smallest crowded Party as slated. I was able to ride everything within 10-25 min., which I was happy with. The Oct. 11th was somewhat more crowded, but manageable. Rides were like 15-20, except 7D which was about 60 mins all night. I’ve always found character lines too long to wait-iI didn’t want to use an hour or two of my Party time for that. Worth the $? Yep-love it & I go every year! I really don’t want to pay more than it costs for a 1-day park ticket though! So Disney chill on the price increases!!!
We travel to WDW every year and don’t go to the parks! We love the amenities at the WDW resorts and the transportation to Disney Springs at night. More then enough to do to keep everyone busy and yet relaxed on vacation. Love your website, keep up the excellent, honest reporting!
This was my first time attending WDW during Halloween season, and I treated it as a one-off, so bought tickets to 2 parties. I attended Sunday 23 Sept with two adult girlfriends, and also Tues 25Sept solo, as the girls didn’t want to spend the $ to do the party twice. Given what I’ve read on your site about how hard it is to see/do everything in one night, I decided to go for it! I found the crowds very manageable. I was only interested in the Halloween entertainment though, and didn’t bother with attractions once the party started. On the Sunday night we watched the 2nd parade, fireworks, and final 2 shows of Hocus Pocus, as well as meeting a few characters – Found B’rer Rabbit early on, I did the 7 Dwarfs (got in the queue at 5’ish & they started at 5:45 or 6?) while my friends wandered and did attractions. Then we all met Elvis Stich, did the Hitchhiking Ghost magic shot, watched the actors at Haunted Mansion (so cool!), Monsters Dance Party, and soaked up the atmosphere. The Tuesday night I accomplished a lot more characters on my own, including Minnie, Donald & Daisy, Lotso, Aladin & Abu, and the Queen of Hearts with Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum. I watched both parades, did a bunch of magic shots, saw the fireworks & only the midnight Hocus Pocus. The crowds were fine – I did lots of “racing” around to fit all this in & didn’t have any trouble navigating the crowds. I got a decent spot very last minute for the midnight Hocus Pocus show, a very decent spot right in the hub for the 2nd parade, which was also only about 10-15 minutes ahead. Slipped into a perfect viewing location for the 1st parade down by the train station so that the parade was coming right towards me. Fantastic! And I got a nice view of the fireworks more centred than where we were the first night. It might have helped that I was a single so I could slip in easily. I absolutely LOVED the atmosphere in the park after the final Hocus Pocus show – the great spooky tunes playing on main street – grooving out of the park to the sounds of We are Family by Sister Sledge & Thriller by Michael Jackson was soooo cool! Oh, I fit the Cadaver Dans in there somewhere too. I had an absolutely fantastic time both nights. LOVE the parade & Sanderson Sisters show. Fireworks isn’t as good as Disneyland’s Halloween one, but still really fun. I don’t know when I’ll ever get back for Halloween, but would definitely do another party – like to take my husband & son (as this was a girls’ trip). The atmosphere was just so fantastic! And the ticket price was better being earlier in the season. Did I mention how much I loved it?!
We stayed at Poly Club Level last year for a 3-day trip; the upgrade to concierge was my husband’s birthday present (mine to him), since I am normally the penny-pinching grinch who decides that there is not enough value for the $200 / night increase.
One thing that I hadn’t counted on in my calculation was exactly what you noted – the value of the lounge. We’re a family of five, and I’ve spent my share of mornings waking up earlier than everyone else and trying to read quietly or otherwise be unnoticeable so as to not wake everyone else up. It was such a pleasure to be able to take my kindle and my ipad and go out to the lounge with that beautiful view, and not feel like I had to be careful not to get in anyone’s way. Of course there are spaces that one can use that way in most hotels, but the lounge was just so much more comfortable and pleasant than many of those spaces, in a way that’s hard to describe.
I don’t know whether or not we would pay for it again without some similar special occasion, but I suspect that we are not the only ones to find that the more people there are in your traveling party, the more value there is in the lounge.
Went to my 1st MNSSHP the second week it began. Overall had a great, fun experience despite rain for the 1st few hours, very hot temp, high crowds and high price tag (for a family of 5). The park looked great decorated. Since it rained the 1st few hours, it didn’t feel like anything special. We rode some rides. The 1st parade never happened. So when rain finally stopped, everything got very busy and crowded. Never saw the fireworks, hocus pocus, special characters, etc. Did experience the space mountain and pirates of Caribbean enhanced ride experiences. Saw the late parade (only 1) very crowded. Missed headless horseman. Did trick or treat LATER and got a ton of candy. Went in search of some special Halloween event dessert treats thought the park. Got some of the ones that were trending. Was a little confusing with not all rides open. Wish I got to take advantage of more MNSSHP exclusive events that night. Although it was expensive I would do it again. Maybe in cooler weather. Wearing better costumes and see all the special attractions/shows/characters that night. I wish the Haunted House had a little more added excitement to it that night. Looks like they save that for Disneyland though.
One strange thing I noticed this year was that there were a lot of social media influencers being sponsored by Disney to attend MNSSHP events this year – some of them even attended multiple times while being sponsored by Disney to attend and advertise the event! Given the popularity of the parties already, I wonder what Disney’s thinking is in trying to bring even more people in to these parties.
We’re going down in December (9)’for Christmas party. Only park tix are for party. I was expecting light crowds. Now I’m a little worried
We attended the first MNSSHP this year and will probably never attend another. We left the park around 9:00 because we simply could not stand another second. It was the worst crowds I’ve ever seen in the Magic Kingdom in my 15 vacations to Disney World.
I did not attend MNSSHP but we just returned from a trip too and I echo the high crowds comment. When you mention “value for money,” it’s very hard to spend a day with long wait times due to high crowds AND end up having to leave early due to a special ticketed event…. Also hard to even contemplate leaving midday, even with a toddler who needed a nap, when lines were so long and weren’t getting ride time we wanted. Rope drop was key though as that first hour each day was the best for walking on to rides that we’d never be able to ride later in the day.
Thanks for all your hard work, love your trip reports.
I wonder if they upgrade up to a certain level for the club rooms. If they’re going to put the food out anyway, why not have it eaten. Also, an ability to spread some magic w/o extra spend. Did you ask people in the lounge how many got upgrades?
Loved the trip recap and looking forward to the next installment! I always ask people after a WDW trip, “where did you stay?” and “what restaurants did you go to?” Although, I also love the attractions, I feel like these two elements are often overlooked and they are just as important. On our next visit, we too have vowed to spend more time exploring and enjoying the resort. They have just as much Disney magic as the attractions sometimes.