Our 'take' of our first time at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

We just returned from an 8 day trip to WDW. My wife and I took our Daughter, Son-In-Law and 2 grandsons (ages 5 & 7) as a Christmas present to them. Overall, it was a fantastic trip. Everyone loved it. I got a lot of good info from the touring plans site, and used a custom touring plan for each park (didn’t follow them totally, but as a guide). We did purchase tickets for the Christmas Party last Sunday (12/10). We weren’t that impressed. In fact, while we’ll continue to go to Disney, we won’t waste money on the Christmas Party again. We had been at the Magic Kingdom all day and expected to see the crowd level decrease, it didn’t. None of the ‘free food’ was really worth spending the time required to march from one end of the park to the other to stand in line for. Parade and fireworks were great, but really not significantly better than the ‘regular’ ones. So we couldn’t think of anything worth any extra money, let along the extra $600 it cost us to attend the party.

On other topics, this was our first stay at Beach Club and we LOVED it. We had a 2 bedroom villa that we got by buying points thru Griswolds Magical Memories (great process and experience with them). Best meal was at Cape Mae, other good meals at Le Cellier, Rose & Crown, Kona (breakfast), Liberty Tavern, Prime Time, Brown Derby, T-REX. Terrible service at ESPN (if they didn’t add 18% tip automatically, they woudn’t have gotten any). Also used mobile ordering at FlameTree BBQ and avoided a line a mile long! This was probably our 6th trip to Disney and I now have a new favorite ride – Flight of Passage – by far the best ride ever!

2 Likes

I have posted my wife and I’s experience with MVMCP in a couple of past posts. My wife and I would never do it again as well. We had a terrible time as the place was packed. We got a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie after waiting in a long line. We were pushed and shoved trying to see the Christmas party at the castle. People were outright rude and some downright nasty. As I stated in the past post, you paid for something you should have already gotten. They close the park early by 2 hours so the MVMCP could take place. You already paid for that time and didn’t get it. They charged you an extra $100, (in our case), and you got what? It is interesting to hear your experience as I was beginning to think we were the only ones that thought it was a big waste of money.

We were not fans of the party either. It was so crowded and we really didn’t think it was worth the extra money Can say we tried up but won’t go back

I had a very disappointing experience at MNSSHP, the Hallowe’en party, back in September. I wouldn’t do that again, either.

I think these parties are really hit or miss.

Like @profmatt, we went to MNSSHP. But we went on Columbus Day, which was predicted to be one of the worst days to go, being a holiday that many locals would be able to take advantage of.
Though it was busy, it was nothing compared to the huge crowds others have described. We took a chance (it was the only night we could go during a super short trip) and it paid off.

I agree that the drinks and cookies are pretty lame enticements. At least at Halloween, you can walk away with as much candy as you care to haul. Those sugar cookies from MVMCP look awful!

You can also be at the same party and have completely different experiences. Some times it depends on your plan/priorities, some times it is just plain luck. I was at the same party as @profmatt- it rained out part of the night but I stumbled upon 7DMT was it reopened and then an amazing spot for the 1st parade. I had a magical night.

1 Like

Yes, to be fair, when we went it rained. This caused the parade and fireworks to be delayed, and the Headless Horseman to be cancelled. I felt the whole thing seemed massively disorganised and there was a lack of information about what was going on.

But then, MK is my least favourite WDW park, and I’m really not that bothered about candy. 7DMT is wildly over-rated in my view.

I thought the parade was fine, but the fireworks — and in particular the projections on the castle — were pretty meh.

I think perhaps MNSSHP is really all about kids. It’s not aimed at me. And maybe I was in a grumpy mood. We’d had dinner at BOG, which I was really excited about, and we were put in some ghastly, soulless side room, and got poor quality food.

But, hey. It’s all a learning experience. I’ll know better next time. What didn’t suit me, clearly delights others.

From what I can tell, the parties are about (a) unique M&Gs, (b) unique parade/fireworks, and © lower crowds/shorter lines. To me, M&Gs are perhaps the biggest waste of time in WDW; I have no desire to do any - let alone wait in line for over an hour for one. I’ve never especially been into parades; maybe fun to see if one happens to “go past”, but not something I’m going to line up for an hour to see. Any MK fireworks have become so stressful due to the rude crowds that I have pretty much given up on them. That leaves short lines, and by more and more reports, that’s so much the case anymore (I’ve read one [unconfirmed] story that 20% more tickets are being sold for parties than 3 years ago).

So, basically, I can find no “justification” for going…

For me the party was great. I was only in for the weekend and Saturday MK was packed. It was so bad that the people mover had a long line!!! The party on Friday night allowed my daughter and I the chance to ride all the rides we wanted in 2 hours from 6-8. You can get in at 4 for the party. Most people waited to get there until 8. I saw tons of people leaving the park around 6. For me, the party rocked! :wink: .

1 Like