On hearing that dinner reservations are now available for MNSSHP, I rushed to book something and found a dinner reservation at BOG for 6.40pm.
Does that timing sound OK? I don’t know when the Boo To You parade is (presumably much later but it’s not on the Disney site) and I don’t want to miss out on the Halloween fun.
PS Is BOG the right choice? There was availability at CRT for 7pm – I thought that might take too long. Plus the expense? But it’s better?
Personally I would not book a meal during party hours. It’s an expensive party ticket to be sitting inside eating. If I did do a meal, I would book it around 4pm to be out in plenty of time to hit my first special character line.
Everyone is different, so my comment here is not a criticism, just a different perspective. We are going to the MVMCP (first time) during our trip in December, and I’ll be having myself & my family grab something early & quick for dinner rather than taking the time out of the special event for a sit-down dinner. In my opinion, the event only lasts a certain amount of time, and I’d like to make the most of it, rather than eating. I know that MNSSHP is different than MVMCP, but some of the things I’ve read about MVMCP state that if you want to meet some of the characters, getting in line for them by 530pm is not unreasonable,and I think that MNSSHP actually offers more to do than the Christmas Party. So with that in mind, knowing that I might not get to do everything I want to do (parades, taking photos of the decor, character meet & greets, special holiday shows, a couple of rides, special treats, fireworks, shopping event merchandise, etc), I feel like it makes the most sense for me and my family not to have reservations for dinner on a Party night.
**Again, completely understand what works for me might not work for you, just offering a different perspective that maybe you didn’t think about. If you do want a dinner reservation, then I’d go for as early as you could get one.
BOG is usually a difficult reservation to get, so I was pleased to get a BOG dinner reservation.
For me MNSSHP is about short lines on rides, the parade, the fireworks, the trick-or-treating. I’m less bothered about meeting characters. And I enjoy good food and was hoping to get BOG on my schedule at some point.
When I made the reservation, I didn’t realise it was a sit-down. But I think it’s an experience I want to have.
I think there’ll be time for other things. Especially as we’ll be in MK from about 2pm onwards. (We have regular tickets, too.)
It’s sounds like this is a done deal for you. So I would plan 60-90 minutes dining time. The castle is beautiful and it’s truly a magical place to eat. If you have another MK day it’s worth setting up a ADR finder to see if maybe you can get another day BOG that won’t interfere with your party.
I guess my main concern was missing the parade. I figure we’ll be done by 8pm?
MK is not a priority for us. We’re doing a couple of hours on arrival day (we’re hoping to FPP the three mountains, then we’ve got dessert party and fireworks), then we’re doing MNSSHP but arriving much earlier than start time, so we should get some FPP rides in before MNSSHP starts.
I found these timings for last year. Our dinner reservation is 6.40pm, so I think we’re good.
Mickey’s “Boo-To-You” Halloween Parade - 8:30 p.m. and 11:15 p.m.
Celebrate the Magic - 10 p.m.
HalloWishes - 10:15 p.m.
Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular - 9:15 p.m., 10:40 p.m., 12 a.m.
Do any of you know, where the stations are at in the park to activate the party tickets, in case we decide to enter early. Before 4, I have hopper and will be using a ticket that day anyways.
I had this same question and this is the reason I came in here today! My dad and husband like beer so I booked a ADR for BOG at 9 on the party date so they can at least have a beer or 2 during the party. I don’t think we will eat a full meal maybe drinks/app or drinks/dessert. I really was just looking for a way to give them an adult beverage during the party. Will we miss anything to important at that time?
We did a 5:25 CRT on a party night. It was the only time we could make work with our plan for the week. It worked fine for us and we were done by the time the party officially started. Note: we didn’t do any character meets during the party. For a future party, I would consider eating around this time again assuming we didn’t need to be in a character line.
I haven’t eaten at BOG for dinner, but from what I’ve read about your trip I think it might be the right choice for you. The food seems to be better reviewed than CRT’s food and the theming is really nice. To me CRT was mostly about the princesses plus being in the castle.
We also ate at around 4 pm on our MNSSHP night, and got Dole Whips and popcorn later in the evening. The thing about the parade is that people line up for it well in advance (like an hour or more in advance). It’s possible to see it from farther back (especially for adults), but if you’re really looking forward to it, you probably want to snag a good viewing spot. So if it’s a must-do, then I’d want to be along the route at like 7:15-7:30 for the parade, and you won’t make that with a BOG reservation at 6:40. I would plan 90 minutes for BOG, as mentioned above. May be different for party nights, but I’ve also had waits past my reserved time to check in, so there’s possibly delay over and above the time to get your food and eat.
EDIT: This assumes you want to see the 8:30 parade. If you’re good to wait for the late one, never mind.
If you’re doing the dessert party then you’ve got a little more leeway… you just want to make sure you go right to Town Square after dinner. The parade viewing area didn’t get packed at all when we did it last year (meaning that you should be able to see no matter how close you cut it), so you could probably take a few minutes if you wanted to do some shopping at the Emporium or Confectionary, or go and visit Talking Mickey. You just need to be at the viewing spot before they close the street, which happens shortly before the parade actually arrives, because you have to cross the street to gt to the center of the square.
You will probably miss the fireworks with a 9:00 BOG. That’s a meal you should plan 90 minutes for, so even if you arrived at 8:30 you’d be cutting it close.
Edit, just read the part about it being just drink/app or dessert… that makes it a little more doable, but if you’re not seated right away then you still might miss the beginning, and you’ll be watching from the back at any rate. That said, I enjoy watching the fireworks from behind the castle, though you tend to get a bit of a stiff neck.