Return to Sleepy Hollow at Disney’s Fort Wilderness

Disney introduced a brand new Halloween event this year – Return to Sleepy Hollow hosted out at the Tri-Circle-D Ranch at Fort Wilderness – and we were there for the premiere show!!  It was a rainy night and that really made it even more eerie winding down the path from the Settlement to the stable.

There is a cool backdrop with pumpkins and hay bales for your arrival.

Once we checked in we were each given our commerative pins.  As pin collectors / traders, we LOVE these!

We were offered a couple of bags of popcorn (Pop Secret like at some of the other Disney movie events) for the four of us and took seats in the last row.  At promptly 8PM, the movie rolled.  We have this one at home and have watched it countless times.  It was still quite enjoyable.

As soon as the movie ends, there is a very cool reveal of the Headless Horseman – on a real horse :-)  I won’t spoil it for you, but it was a highlight of the evening.

Row by row (like communion), we were taken up to the front for our photos.  There was a PhotoPass photographer there, hence the “look normal” and “act scared” faces.  Haha!

If you go:

• This event is running on select nights in October and advance reservations are required.
• Getting to the Settlement is not easy!  If you are not staying there, at Wilderness Lodge or Contemporary, it involves multiple modes of transportation – bus changes, boats, etc.
• Based on this, I would definitely make a night of it!  We made a last minute dinner res at Trails End had had a great time.  The food is good and it has to be the best priced buffet on property.
• There are two  tiers of tickets – regular and premium.  Premium is $38 per person.  You are seated in the first 6 rows and are given a small soft side lunch type cooler with a bottled water, Halloween candy, a lanyard and the pin.  Regular seats are after the first 6 rows and receive the pin.  We had regular seats and sat in the last row (by choice) and had a lovely view.  I would not pay $38 per person for this event.
• Speaking of price, the pin alone would have cost around $14 in a Disney store so with the $22 seats you are really paying about $8 for the movie and popcorn, which is not a bad deal especially at Disney.
• Seating is open and first come first serve.  We arrived about 10 minutes early and could have sat anywhere in the last 8 rows or so.
• It is located in a barn with horses.  It smells like a barn.  Kinda gross but I didn’t notice it after a while.  It’s a very cool idea but….
• The photo at the end goes quick and smooth.  No hassle at all and a very short wait.
• You only get popcorn, no drinks if doing regular seats so you might want to bring in a bottle.
• The whole thing was done in under an hour.

It was a lot of fun to do something different and new at Disney and, as lovers of all things Halloween, we had a fantastic time.   Besides, this is the one and only opportunity I know of to meet the Headless Horseman!

But, would we do it again?  Probably not based on how long it takes to get over there and the fact that it doesn’t a have a huge draw for repeat-ability.  If I were staying at Fort Wilderness or Wilderness Lodge, however, I would 100% consider doing this!

I have so many more fun things to share in the coming weeks!!!

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