10/12 Oogie Boogie Bash impressions

[brerphysicist]

First, a little background…

• Travelling party: Wife, me, son (5) and son (3)
• We used to have Deluxe annual passes
• We haven’t bought a Magic Key
• Last time attending DL/DCA was 9/2019
• This was our first after-hours party event

Why did we choose to go to OBB?

• Frightfully Fun Parade
• Character and Villain interactions
• Limited capacity

What we liked:

• Frightfully Fun Parade was the best parade I’ve ever experienced. The performers interact with you unlike any other Disney parade (probably because of the smaller crowd sizes – everyone has a front-row seat). I can’t overstate how amazing this parade was
• Treat trail character interactions were unexpectedly VERY fun. My kids had 1-2-minute-long interactions with Cruella, Mad Hatter, Maleficent, and Dr. Facilier. These performers were TOP NOTCH. Again, this can’t be overstated. Watching youtube videos of the treat trails does not show how cool they are. I thought they were pointless, and we’d be doing it just for the kids, but no, they were great.
• Photopass photographers were all super friendly. Photopass was included in the prices of admission
• Wait times were short
• Candy/treat selections were diverse, and they gave you lots of candy. We brought up 35 lbs of treats (we weighed it). That was after only spending about 2.5 hours of our time on treat trails.
• Walking from Mickey and Friends to the parks. Yeah, I know I’m in the minority here, but we prefer walking, and it was nice being able to go that route instead of the one through Downtown Disney where you have to weave through oblivious people.
• The weather was perfect the night we went. Started in the 70s and dropped down to the low 60s.

What we didn’t like:

• Mobile order was slow. I placed an order at Smokejumpers, and it took about 15 minutes to get my food after I arrived during my arrival window. The CMs seemed a bit out of sorts. You can tell who the veterans were and who the newbies were.
• People are oblivious. I forgot how annoying it is to traverse a Disney park with the morons who stand shoulder to shoulder, six-abreast taking up the whole walkway walking 1 MPH.
• The dumbo who sat next to me on Soarin’ and had to narrate the entire ride to try and look cool to his lady friend. These are the people that I can’t stand at DL. Rude and self-centered.
• I wish they had the WoC show, Villainous, working this year, but I’ll just have to wait for next year.
• RSR was down much of the night
• The rides were meh. I’m starting to discover that I don’t really care about the rides nearly as much as the entertainment. The rides (for the most part) are the same each time you ride them, while the entertainment is truly special and unique. This is one of the many reasons why we will not be buying Magic Key passes. Without a full entertainment schedule, why go back to DL over and over? To ride the same rides over and over? I'll pass.
• We never got around to Villains Grove

Why would we go again next year?

• Frightfully Fun Parade
• Treat Trails
• Reduced Crowds
• We love Halloween
• Family photos with photopass

Take-home messages:
Our family, formerly an AP family, is better served by going to DL for a two-day trip in the Fall (OBB + DL) and maybe a two-day trip in the Spring. We’d be spending about 1/8^th to 1/4^th the money and we’d still get our Disney parks fill. I’d have to believe other families are finding the same thing. When I had an AP, I used to feel the need to go to DL numerous times a year. This would result in us spending extra money on gas, food, merch, etc. Now we’ll be saving plenty of money and probably getting the same – if not more – satisfaction out of our Disneyland experience.

What would it take to make us an AP/MK family again? Lots of entertainment, and lower demand. The former may come back, but the latter is the deal-breaker. Crowd levels on weekends right now are nauseating. Wait times are sky-high, which would be fine if there was FP, but there isn't. As long as my kids are under the age of 10, I don't want to stand in line with them for an hour straight telling them to stop playing with the chains, stop climbing the railing, etc. It's just not fun. FP had its issues, but it was a life-saver for those of us who don't like waiting in lines.

[Mr_IvanStark]

2 questions. Did you just go for the Oogie Boogie Bash? And if so, where did you park?

[JoFi]

Definitely try to make Villain's Grove a priority next time - It is really different and very cool. Don't let that crazy long looking line fool you. It goes pretty quickly. I think, based on your post, that you in particular would appreciate it! It is my favorite part of OBB! There's some old fashioned Disney magic and wonder in there.

[savarese04]

Mobile order was slow. I placed an order at Smokejumpers, and it took about 15 minutes to get my food after I arrived during my arrival window. The CMs seemed a bit out of sorts. You can tell who the veterans were and who the newbies were.

This is expected behavior. Even if your window is from say, 7pm-7:30pm, they don't automatically queue making your food at 7pm. When you click "I'm here" on the app, that's when they start making your food. I'm guessing it took about 15min from when you hit I'm here? That's a little on the longer side, but not that bad. If you think about when you placed an order directly with the cashier in the past, you'd often have about a 10min wait while you work your way from the cashier to the pickup counter. One trick is to hit "I'm here" when you're walking over to the food place. This way you'll cut off most of your wait time.

The nice thing about mobile order is you can cancel your order at anytime up to the moment you click "I'm here," so if you place an order and change your mind later to eat somewhere else, no sweat!

[brerphysicist]

2 questions. Did you just go for the Oogie Boogie Bash? And if so, where did you park?

Yes. We arrived at the gates around 2:55. We parked at Mickey and Friends. We brought a double stroller to push the boys along the tram route b/c I know they would walk too slow.

[brerphysicist]

This is expected behavior. Even if your window is from say, 7pm-7:30pm, they don't automatically queue making your food at 7pm. When you click "I'm here" on the app, that's when they start making your food. I'm guessing it took about 15min from when you hit I'm here? That's a little on the longer side, but not that bad. If you think about when you placed an order directly with the cashier in the past, you'd often have about a 10min wait while you work your way from the cashier to the pickup counter. One trick is to hit "I'm here" when you're walking over to the food place. This way you'll cut off most of your wait time.

The nice thing about mobile order is you can cancel your order at anytime up to the moment you click "I'm here," so if you place an order and change your mind later to eat somewhere else, no sweat!

Thanks for the mobile ordering tips! I've lost my insider knowledge now that I don't frequent the parks like I used to.

[nostalgic]

[FONT=Arial][*]Candy/treat selections were diverse, and they gave you lots of candy. We brought up 35 lbs of treats (we weighed it). That was after only spending about 2.5 hours of our time on treat trails.

I just want to check....35 pounds of candy? That is not a mistake? not 3.5 pounds? I'm not actually tempted by that at all, I just want to clarify that is the right number.