I wasn't there, however here is my opinion. Disney needs to stop adding these events and work toward improving and adding to what they already have. HS is going down hill and the only reason I go there is to ride the Tower of Terror. The shine is gone and they need to "re-polish" it.

To add my two sense, and a #6 for the list, clear explanations and honest advertising are a definite must.

First off, I waited needlessly in a line waiting to acquire "party credentials" which several cast members said I needed, but in fact the only "party credentials" I really needed was the photo pass card that was hanging around my neck when all those cast members told me to get in line, a photo pass card in fact that was kind of tossed at me without explanation, and was in fact completely unnecessary as I put all my photos on my magic band.

Secondly, I waited in line for a character whose sign listed appearing 8:00 - 12:30, but NONE of the villains appeared before 8:45, so I missed the entire opening show for nothing.

As for the long lines, the party was grossly oversold; Disney made a killing off us all by overselling and understaffing the party. One cast member admitted to us that the reason there were so many of the characters were "roving" was that there were not enough cast members to watch them in a formal meet-n-greet. With all the money Disney raked in, they could have brought in the extra staff. The one good thing, though about roving characters is that it is considered perfectly appropriate to dive in and photo bomb the character. Cast members were generally good about taking a photo for me, but some were rather snooty. I'd ask "can you take a photo for me?" And they'd reply "You have to ask the character." Actually, I'm asking you Miss Snooty, to take a picture because I need a photographer (because Disney is too cheap to bring more in); the character I'll ask for myself obviously (they deserve respect).

PS I know there is only ONE Maleficent, ONE Barbosa, and ONE Constantine (as far as Disney is concerned), but would it shatter all the magic in the kingdom if each of these popular lines split into 2, 3, or 4 lines and each of those lines went into a room with its own Barbosa, Maleficent, or Constantine (and nobody could really see there was more than one of each character) to make the line move faster? just saying. The magic died when we saw the lines anyway.

And as for food, when I was hungry enough to eat, EVERY place to eat in the park was closed except for Club Evil, which was standing room only, and I was ignored by wait staff for a very long time.

Larry

Disney's Dismal Disaster. We're Pass-holders, and we drove 7 hours just for this epically disappointing event. I didn't get to experience any meet & greets (3-hour lines!) no photos, and the t-shirts were sold out. I didn't get so much as a glance at Constantine, the only one I really wanted to meet. At least Hubby got to see a few of his favorites. The evil step-sisters were funny, and the lady singing in the Brown Derby was entertaining. We were some of the first people in the Brown Derby and our waiter was already surly.
The real horror is the damage to my wallet for nothing in return! I want a refund

This even should be better planned out. In fact, it should coexist with Mickey's not so scary Halloween event at MK. Villians unleashed can happen at HS on special nights and be a bigger draw yet capping things off will keep people shelling an extra was of cash happy and looking forward to dropping another once inside.

That park for several years has had an identity problem since it is not a working studio. This event was awful. I don't go to universal because the event and parks are cheesy and trite. I have been going to Disney since they opened in 1971. The minute they start trying to be like universal it is a disaster and this event is a good example. Just do what you do best it works, it's classy and stop trying to be like a competitor and stand on your own. It's DISNEY villains, not DISNEY characters/Star Wars/meet the muppets on the Death Star.

We were able to get a full refund on a Disney Gift Card. The party was overbooked and some details were never released . We didn't do anything we wouldn't have done on a regular visit to Hollywood Studios. Took a very disappointed 9 year old back to POP Century before 11! Love the Halloween and Christmas parties, but we won't go back for this again!

It was really cool leaving Hollywood Studios that day and watching all the "villains" walk in.... I almost thought it could be re-named "Disney Goes Goth"

I will say that the event already had streams of people coming in at 5 PM when we left the park for the Magic Kingdom and I'm sure the "villainous" Thunder Storm that was just starting to hit the park as we were leaving didn't help.

It seems like a cool concept that hasn't really been thought out. I would have stayed if it was free, but for the extra money I'd rather stay in the Magic Kingdom until 1 AM that night.

I wasn't there this year but I'm honestly surprised that even making it a hard ticket event didn't really help solve the problems they had (when any form of park admission worked that night)

I am an annual passholder and shelled out 70 extra bucks for this. The crowds were ridiculous! We couldn't even get into the brown derby for snacks and settled for a 45 minute wait for mixed drinks. Thank god! A 10+ dollar drink never tasted so good. The 3 hour waits were horrible and my gf didn't get to have a villains tshirt or meet any of them because we wanted to atleast see some shows and not wait in a line. The oogie boogie show was the highlight of the night it was great. It was more adult oriented so I can see how younger kids might not have liked it but it kept me from going insane. All in all it was very frustrating and felt like disney was just trying to make as much money as they can.

The Oogie Boogie freaky funhouse show was the best thing that entire night. It felt like it fit the theme. The only thing I could see people complaining about would maybe be it wasn't really suited for kids, but they ha a disclaimer. As a Disney frequenter, personally l liked that this event ha something more geared to adults.

I will not attend next year....I was caught in last year's chaos and I will wait until they get it right....because the event is not cheap and my patience is priceless.

I was there, and if you were at the MainStage at show open (8pm) you were then thrown into a mess of bad scheduling. The oogie boogie show was on the half hours was poorly lit so that you could not see the freakshow acts, and the dancers were blah. , The character wait times were a major issue (over 3 hours for Maleficent of the moors!) . Went directly from opening show to Constantine ( Muppets most wanted) however, his line was already closed for the night! Brown Derby Villains themed night club was ok, but needed to accommodate more people ( There are sound stages that could have been used) Fireworks were great!

I was there, and if you were at the MainStage at show open (8pm) you were then thrown into a mess of bad scheduling. The oogie boogie show was on the half hours was poorly lit so that you could not see the freakshow acts, and the dancers were blah. , The character wait times were a major issue (over 3 hours for Maleficent of the moors!) . Went directly from opening show to Constantine ( Muppets most wanted) however, his line was already closed for the night! Brown Derby Villains themed night club was ok, but needed to accommodate more people ( There are sound stages that could have been used) Fireworks were great!

Ugh dont even want to talk about all the told u so's I got from the hubby, how didu go about getting a refund?

They will learn...usually first time anything is not the best, they need a starting and now they have one. It will only get better from here on out

It's sad to see that they didn't learn from last year's Friday the Thirteenth limited time magic event. I was there and it was everything people complained about at the hard ticket event. The crowd was rediculous (HS was closed for capacity at one point); the merch actually sold out before the event started (unlike Not So Scary and Christmas, the mech wasn't held until the event itself started); and the lines were insane. We were there for 3 hours and our sole accomplishment was a photo with Jafar. I'd really hoped that making it a hard ticket event would impove it. Seems like they have yet to realize that their BEST option would be to offer this like they do for Not So Scary, maybe on the nights NSS isn't running at MK. There's clearly a desire to see the villains but they're going to shot themselves in the foot if they don't do this right. So glad we didn't go this year. If I'd been disappointed twice I would have been really annoyed.

We attended this event and it was a huge disappointment. We got there at 7:30 and they were already out of maps! We waited in such long lines that we only had the chance to meet 2 characters. The Ooogy Boogy show was not great. Many people started walking out of the theater after 5 minutes! Will never do this again:(

Definately overcrowded. Merchandize they didn't have enough to sell to everyone that attended very upset about this. The meet and greet the Villains was over a 3hr wait. Not enough locations selling the specialty drinks, lines way to long. Overall experience not very good...