Halloween 2010 @ Disney - Report
*eeks* already 2 weeks, sorry for the delay,
too many things to do and unexpected things as usual*g* ;)
Where are my meerkat slaves !
Well another year gone, overall a few glitches here and there due to unexpected things as usual,
and everything was not optimal, but I think it was a success overall. :)
For general stuff and summary check the website
I'll give a few more details here so that you know a bit more what happened and why ;)
Photos and videos
We are still missing many I think, don't forget to send them my way so I can add them to the fursuit archive for everyone to enjoy :)
In case you missed, there are a few photos and video available there already. :)
But we need moarrrr ! ;)
Group photos should be posted shortly too hopefully.
And now, here are the more crusty details ;P
Parking
After the usual preparations, unqueuing and such,
trying to survive deadly fursuiters ;)
(we'll try to improve that for next year, try to organise it slightly differently and get the queue faster)
we still finish slightly ahead of time, but we're still missing a couple helpers and suiters.
2 fursuiters decided that it would be good for them to not come to the parking lot,
so we have to pick them up on our way.
The time we get ready on our side and plan all the stuff, and we're ready to go with a slight delay around 10:10pm :)
The time to make the last few reminders, count, and let's go to the park ! :)
To the park
It's always a nice walk, there are still many people passing us the other way as they leave the park,
so it's good to interact with them all and get into the mood.
The walk is still quite a distance, so to make sure we don't lose anyone on the way, we regroup quickly twice along the way to count and wait for regrouping :)
Works smoothly, we also recover the missing fursuiters and helper, we're good :)
Last regrouping in a lit area in front of the train station before going through the security.
train station plaza
It's a good spot, and quite well lit, it doesn't take long for the fursuiters to play their people magnet role,
and we get very busy quickly ;)
It's not too bad, and it's one reason to stop at that location, because we can have the train station wall behind us in order to help ;)
It's kinda a general rule to help not being circled and overhelmed when we make a long stop:
stop in an area where people can't come in our back, one less angle to cover. ;)
The few less lucky who didn't regroup along the wall will understand quickly why it's useful, and they get circled quickly,
There are a few groups of teenagers that are very very "enthousiastic" and brutals (not that in a bad way)
but it's a bit difficult to manage 10+ people like that pushing you all around and jumping ;)
We gathered everyone back, so it's time to go. :)
Security
It goes quite smoothly and they are nice :)
First they check the tickets quickly to make sure we have them,
and then the usual security check, no problems, we go through quickly :)
Didn't even have to remove the heads, that's good :)
We regroup a bit after the security as usual the time to gather everyone back.
And can relax a bit as it is one step that can stops everything if they don't let us in ;)
The relaxation was unfortunately very short, new unexpected thing:
the 3 who didn't start from the parking lot, and of course who didn't read the instructions,
don't have a ticket !
It starts to get complicated, even more because one of the fursuiters still got through the security even without a ticket,
and he is deaf and "speaks" only german, it's complicated to try to explain to him.
It takes us quite some time to try to solve that problem, the coordinators who stayed outside, tries to discuss with the security and such, but
in the end there is no real solution,
so the 3 needs to get out of the park and it's over for them.
Conclusion
You see, the instructions are not only there to bother you, it contains important stuff.
Not only did that problem spoiled it for everyone by making us lose precious time and delays us,
but also the night is over for those who didn't read the instructions.
Because of the special condition of the deaf fursuiter,
I had also reminded by email to 2 of those 3 people that they had to hurry up to buy their tickets.
I'm sorry but you just cumulate mistakes, and you fucked up half of the planning, because as we'll see later on, it just cumulates because of that first delay.
=> These 3 are not welcome anymore in the future and black listed from the event.
With a group of our size it's pretty sure we'll always have that kind of behaviour, but we can't afford that to happen again.
Well well well, after all that, we can finally head toward the main entrance of the park. ;)
Main entrance
Right before the entrance we get stopped by cast members, it was all good though, and they only wanted to remind us that we needed to grab the bracelet after going through the gates :)
We go smoothly through the gates, regroup on the right side.
We have to wait some more because someone doesn't have a real ticket and needs to go to the cashier to exchange it.
He does so quickly, and during that time we improvise a first group photo and can interact with all the visitors coming in, so no biggies beside a slight added delay :)
Once we gathered everyone, we head to make the first quick break to recharge with drinks and snacks, as we are already late.
Main street
Originally we were supposed to stay on the plaza at the start of main street for nice interactions, then go up mainstreet for more interaction, small parade of our own,
and then get a nice group photo with the castle in the background at the end of mainstreet.
Thanks to the delays, as we go out of the break to do so,
it's 9:50pm and the parade is about to start, the staff is already blocking the plaza and main street.
We try to go around and engage into main street, but they anounce the parade in 10 minutes.
We decide to cross Main street right away and go on the left side while we can in order to try to reach the central plaza,
but as we go further up main street, it's more and more crowded, people already gather for the parade.
We have to get out of there and we unfortunately have to head directly toward Big thunder mountain.
Big thunder moutain
Well as everyone noticed there was a big queue. ;)
It was about the same conditions than last year, and it was exactly why we had decided to skip it.
But since many complained we had decided to push at least one big ride for this year.
But that costed us a lot of time in the queue and impacted what we can do afterward of course.
The queue is still not too bad in BTM, as it cirles all around, and you pass different people in the queue
which allows for interactions for the fursuiters, and for others you have plenty of time to talk I guess ;P
Next year should hopefully be better with the night being out of the weekend.
I think we'll fall back to our usual routine from the previous years, which is to try to avoid long queues as to maximize the number of things we can do during the night.
ie we don't engage in a queue if we think it can be more than 45 minutes - 1 hour maximum for the most popular rides.
After the long queue it's time to have fun in the ride... or not ...
Another unexpected thing is that the security requests the fursuiters to remove their head.
The goal is to have a visual check of their health condition they say.
As our group is going through they get more and more lenient,
the first few fursuiters have to remove their head and decide to get out of the ride,
the few after that have to remove their head but can put it back on in the ride,
and the few after that can go directly into the ride without removing their heads.
Small glitch that spoiled it for a few, but the security has the last word, and we need to respect their decision.
Weirdly the photos in the ride were not working at that time either.
Too bad too as it always makes a nice souvenir.
Well after all that, direction the manor for another break, it's already late, we need to see what is left possible to do.
Break
At this point it's already after midnight, the previous years the rides entrance are closing around 11:50pm.
It seems that this year they closed them a bit before 1 am, which is good.
We decide to head toward the central plaza, try to reach the dance party,
and from there we'll see what time is left and what can be done.
Central plaza - take1
We progress toward the plaza, form the chain of suiters,
I'm pretty confident and keep going, timing is perfect and the fog / moisture spray thing just triggers as we walk toward the plaza.
The floor is very slippery too, have to be careful.
Once I reach the plaza it's very very crowded, a quick check to make sure the chain is formed,
and ... nope, the chain is not formed , try again ;P
There is constant flow of people going down main street (most likely leaving at that time and trying to catch the last RER train)
We definitely need the chain to go through that ;)
Surprisingly we go through smoothly, people stops and are respectful and let us pass :)
that's good :P
pfeeeww we're on the other side, let's see if we can find some good spot now ;)
Central plaza - take
It's still very crowded, but we spot a nice area around the fountain next to main street.
As we go there, it seems there an even better area on the side of main street with a few people dancing .
Weeeeh, let's go !
We stops the group back to the main street wall/barrier to make it easier, and in an area with a bit of light.
The party is kinda going like crazy,
the few people bouncing with us quickly drives the crowd to us,
and it's bounce crazy time ;)
Really great, my favorite moment of the night. :)
We can alternate bounce time, photos, interaction for a bit.
Wylf's video shows all the crazyness there ;)
The music is very loud though, and hearing the communication through the talkies is ... almost impossible ;)
Have to reach other coordinators with difficulty.
The bridge in front of the castle looks like a nice area to take a group photo,
we check there, but there are a few characters still there.
We wait a bit that they are gone, the plaza and dance is nice and pleasant anyway, we can spend more time here ;)
Once the bridge is free, we can go there :)
Castle
We slowly direct the fursuiters and gather them there.
Most people also follow us to there ,crazyness ;) They surely like us. ;P
We do the multiple group photos, trying to position people as good as we can,
not easy as we try to get the castle in back which is tall while still having everyone on the photo.
I'm still waiting for the main group photos, but the few I've seen around it should be quite nice. :)
At the end of the photo session, the music stops, and they announce that the night is over.
We can head slowly toward Main street.
Main Street
There are still many people to interact with,
but most people are in automatic mode at that point, and head toward and mostly want to head back to the parking lot *g* ;)
So the walk is quite fast ;)
City Hall
The usual group photo in front of the city hall,
we are too many to invade city hall, so we head toward the exit :)
To the parking
The group splits a bit, a few bypass me and separate in the front.
Well it's mostly direct to the parking and they have their helpers with them, so no biggies.
The procession progresses slowly, going through the plaza out of the park,
then the walkways which are nice and full of visitors leaving to interact with,
always good to try to get rid of all the energy left :P
We are back at the parking around 1:30am
the time to say good byes and such, and it's over.
The end
Well I hope you still enjoyed the night :)
we know that things could have been better, but we got quite unlucky in the succession of unexpected things,
not much we could have done on our side unfortunately.
As usual we can only do our best to minimize the impacts for you with all the unexpected things ;)
With a group of our size, it will always happen.
Now that you have the main details, feel free to direct your feedback and remarks if there are things that are not listed here and that you think could be improved,
or if you just want to give information on certain parts and so on :)
too many things to do and unexpected things as usual*g* ;)
Where are my meerkat slaves !
Well another year gone, overall a few glitches here and there due to unexpected things as usual,
and everything was not optimal, but I think it was a success overall. :)
For general stuff and summary check the website
I'll give a few more details here so that you know a bit more what happened and why ;)
Photos and videos
We are still missing many I think, don't forget to send them my way so I can add them to the fursuit archive for everyone to enjoy :)
In case you missed, there are a few photos and video available there already. :)
But we need moarrrr ! ;)
Group photos should be posted shortly too hopefully.
And now, here are the more crusty details ;P
Parking
After the usual preparations, unqueuing and such,
trying to survive deadly fursuiters ;)
(we'll try to improve that for next year, try to organise it slightly differently and get the queue faster)
we still finish slightly ahead of time, but we're still missing a couple helpers and suiters.
2 fursuiters decided that it would be good for them to not come to the parking lot,
so we have to pick them up on our way.
The time we get ready on our side and plan all the stuff, and we're ready to go with a slight delay around 10:10pm :)
The time to make the last few reminders, count, and let's go to the park ! :)
To the park
It's always a nice walk, there are still many people passing us the other way as they leave the park,
so it's good to interact with them all and get into the mood.
The walk is still quite a distance, so to make sure we don't lose anyone on the way, we regroup quickly twice along the way to count and wait for regrouping :)
Works smoothly, we also recover the missing fursuiters and helper, we're good :)
Last regrouping in a lit area in front of the train station before going through the security.
train station plaza
It's a good spot, and quite well lit, it doesn't take long for the fursuiters to play their people magnet role,
and we get very busy quickly ;)
It's not too bad, and it's one reason to stop at that location, because we can have the train station wall behind us in order to help ;)
It's kinda a general rule to help not being circled and overhelmed when we make a long stop:
stop in an area where people can't come in our back, one less angle to cover. ;)
The few less lucky who didn't regroup along the wall will understand quickly why it's useful, and they get circled quickly,
There are a few groups of teenagers that are very very "enthousiastic" and brutals (not that in a bad way)
but it's a bit difficult to manage 10+ people like that pushing you all around and jumping ;)
We gathered everyone back, so it's time to go. :)
Security
It goes quite smoothly and they are nice :)
First they check the tickets quickly to make sure we have them,
and then the usual security check, no problems, we go through quickly :)
Didn't even have to remove the heads, that's good :)
We regroup a bit after the security as usual the time to gather everyone back.
And can relax a bit as it is one step that can stops everything if they don't let us in ;)
The relaxation was unfortunately very short, new unexpected thing:
the 3 who didn't start from the parking lot, and of course who didn't read the instructions,
don't have a ticket !
It starts to get complicated, even more because one of the fursuiters still got through the security even without a ticket,
and he is deaf and "speaks" only german, it's complicated to try to explain to him.
It takes us quite some time to try to solve that problem, the coordinators who stayed outside, tries to discuss with the security and such, but
in the end there is no real solution,
so the 3 needs to get out of the park and it's over for them.
Conclusion
You see, the instructions are not only there to bother you, it contains important stuff.
Not only did that problem spoiled it for everyone by making us lose precious time and delays us,
but also the night is over for those who didn't read the instructions.
Because of the special condition of the deaf fursuiter,
I had also reminded by email to 2 of those 3 people that they had to hurry up to buy their tickets.
I'm sorry but you just cumulate mistakes, and you fucked up half of the planning, because as we'll see later on, it just cumulates because of that first delay.
=> These 3 are not welcome anymore in the future and black listed from the event.
With a group of our size it's pretty sure we'll always have that kind of behaviour, but we can't afford that to happen again.
Well well well, after all that, we can finally head toward the main entrance of the park. ;)
Main entrance
Right before the entrance we get stopped by cast members, it was all good though, and they only wanted to remind us that we needed to grab the bracelet after going through the gates :)
We go smoothly through the gates, regroup on the right side.
We have to wait some more because someone doesn't have a real ticket and needs to go to the cashier to exchange it.
He does so quickly, and during that time we improvise a first group photo and can interact with all the visitors coming in, so no biggies beside a slight added delay :)
Once we gathered everyone, we head to make the first quick break to recharge with drinks and snacks, as we are already late.
Main street
Originally we were supposed to stay on the plaza at the start of main street for nice interactions, then go up mainstreet for more interaction, small parade of our own,
and then get a nice group photo with the castle in the background at the end of mainstreet.
Thanks to the delays, as we go out of the break to do so,
it's 9:50pm and the parade is about to start, the staff is already blocking the plaza and main street.
We try to go around and engage into main street, but they anounce the parade in 10 minutes.
We decide to cross Main street right away and go on the left side while we can in order to try to reach the central plaza,
but as we go further up main street, it's more and more crowded, people already gather for the parade.
We have to get out of there and we unfortunately have to head directly toward Big thunder mountain.
Big thunder moutain
Well as everyone noticed there was a big queue. ;)
It was about the same conditions than last year, and it was exactly why we had decided to skip it.
But since many complained we had decided to push at least one big ride for this year.
But that costed us a lot of time in the queue and impacted what we can do afterward of course.
The queue is still not too bad in BTM, as it cirles all around, and you pass different people in the queue
which allows for interactions for the fursuiters, and for others you have plenty of time to talk I guess ;P
Next year should hopefully be better with the night being out of the weekend.
I think we'll fall back to our usual routine from the previous years, which is to try to avoid long queues as to maximize the number of things we can do during the night.
ie we don't engage in a queue if we think it can be more than 45 minutes - 1 hour maximum for the most popular rides.
After the long queue it's time to have fun in the ride... or not ...
Another unexpected thing is that the security requests the fursuiters to remove their head.
The goal is to have a visual check of their health condition they say.
As our group is going through they get more and more lenient,
the first few fursuiters have to remove their head and decide to get out of the ride,
the few after that have to remove their head but can put it back on in the ride,
and the few after that can go directly into the ride without removing their heads.
Small glitch that spoiled it for a few, but the security has the last word, and we need to respect their decision.
Weirdly the photos in the ride were not working at that time either.
Too bad too as it always makes a nice souvenir.
Well after all that, direction the manor for another break, it's already late, we need to see what is left possible to do.
Break
At this point it's already after midnight, the previous years the rides entrance are closing around 11:50pm.
It seems that this year they closed them a bit before 1 am, which is good.
We decide to head toward the central plaza, try to reach the dance party,
and from there we'll see what time is left and what can be done.
Central plaza - take1
We progress toward the plaza, form the chain of suiters,
I'm pretty confident and keep going, timing is perfect and the fog / moisture spray thing just triggers as we walk toward the plaza.
The floor is very slippery too, have to be careful.
Once I reach the plaza it's very very crowded, a quick check to make sure the chain is formed,
and ... nope, the chain is not formed , try again ;P
There is constant flow of people going down main street (most likely leaving at that time and trying to catch the last RER train)
We definitely need the chain to go through that ;)
Surprisingly we go through smoothly, people stops and are respectful and let us pass :)
that's good :P
pfeeeww we're on the other side, let's see if we can find some good spot now ;)
Central plaza - take
It's still very crowded, but we spot a nice area around the fountain next to main street.
As we go there, it seems there an even better area on the side of main street with a few people dancing .
Weeeeh, let's go !
We stops the group back to the main street wall/barrier to make it easier, and in an area with a bit of light.
The party is kinda going like crazy,
the few people bouncing with us quickly drives the crowd to us,
and it's bounce crazy time ;)
Really great, my favorite moment of the night. :)
We can alternate bounce time, photos, interaction for a bit.
Wylf's video shows all the crazyness there ;)
The music is very loud though, and hearing the communication through the talkies is ... almost impossible ;)
Have to reach other coordinators with difficulty.
The bridge in front of the castle looks like a nice area to take a group photo,
we check there, but there are a few characters still there.
We wait a bit that they are gone, the plaza and dance is nice and pleasant anyway, we can spend more time here ;)
Once the bridge is free, we can go there :)
Castle
We slowly direct the fursuiters and gather them there.
Most people also follow us to there ,crazyness ;) They surely like us. ;P
We do the multiple group photos, trying to position people as good as we can,
not easy as we try to get the castle in back which is tall while still having everyone on the photo.
I'm still waiting for the main group photos, but the few I've seen around it should be quite nice. :)
At the end of the photo session, the music stops, and they announce that the night is over.
We can head slowly toward Main street.
Main Street
There are still many people to interact with,
but most people are in automatic mode at that point, and head toward and mostly want to head back to the parking lot *g* ;)
So the walk is quite fast ;)
City Hall
The usual group photo in front of the city hall,
we are too many to invade city hall, so we head toward the exit :)
To the parking
The group splits a bit, a few bypass me and separate in the front.
Well it's mostly direct to the parking and they have their helpers with them, so no biggies.
The procession progresses slowly, going through the plaza out of the park,
then the walkways which are nice and full of visitors leaving to interact with,
always good to try to get rid of all the energy left :P
We are back at the parking around 1:30am
the time to say good byes and such, and it's over.
The end
Well I hope you still enjoyed the night :)
we know that things could have been better, but we got quite unlucky in the succession of unexpected things,
not much we could have done on our side unfortunately.
As usual we can only do our best to minimize the impacts for you with all the unexpected things ;)
With a group of our size, it will always happen.
Now that you have the main details, feel free to direct your feedback and remarks if there are things that are not listed here and that you think could be improved,
or if you just want to give information on certain parts and so on :)