To party or not to party, that is my question!

I went ahead extended my vacation by one day. Originally we were to leave Dec 14, but due to a much cheaper flight, we are now leaving Dec 15. My original touring plan had us at MK for ADR at BoG at 8:40 am then back to our hotel by 1:30 for ME to MCO. Now that we are not leaving until the next day, I am perplexed with what to with that time.

One option is to stay at MK until it closes for Mickey’s Christmas Party, then make it an early night and do a morning at another park the 15th.

Pro - this is the cheaper option. This would allow us to utilize another day of fast passes.

Con - Flight lands at 8:30 PM pst (which will be 11:30 PM est) and my husband wants to drive back that night, putting us home at 1:30 AM EST. If we have an
early morning, then that might just do DH in!

Option 2 is to purchase tickets to the party and stay in the park till the party ends and sleep in the next day and get ready at our leisure.

Pro- late hours and possible low wait times at the party is very appealing as well as the added rest for DH the next day.

Con - other than the low wait times and extra hours in the park, the party doesn’t seem that worth it cost wise. I could less about the cookies and cocoa. We are not a big show/parade family. Although we do enjoy the fireworks. The party will add about $300 to our budget (that is accounting for the party tickets and reducing our park hoppers by one day).

Note: this is my family’s 1st trip to WDW. We have ds 12 and ds 13. DH is begrudgingly going. If he has it his way, this will be our first and last trip there. We have been to DLR several times.

Help! I need your input!

How long is your vacation in total? How many other days in the parks?

We arrive the 9th, but b/c of late arrival, we will not be able to go to any of the parks. So 10-14 for sure in the parks.

I have not been to a MVMCP, so maybe others will chime in on that, but it sounds like you’re not super excited about that option. I might consider hopping to another park that night instead of going to the party. I might also consider not doing a park on the 15th and just sleeping in and then having brunch somewhere. Wearing yourself out with a crazy long day is not how I like to end a vacation, but others may disagree.

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That is a hard choice. I enjoy the party for the atmosphere. I like the low crowds, the snowing on main street, they have a singing show that they do only at the party. All that said, not sure how your boys would like it.

Do you have hopper passes? Hopping somewhere may be a good choice. It also depends on what you feel like you have accomplished in the days leading up to that.

I am get to the park as much as possible person. I would definitely be fitting in another park day on the last day.

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This is a tough choice. I’m a sort of sentimental person, so in your scenario, I lean towards doing the MVMCP not only because you’ve never done it before & you say this may be your only Disney trip, but also because I do like sleeping in the next day & getting ready for your flight at an easier pace. Your boys are 12 & 13 - this could be your chance to pull the “Mom Card” and all wear matching holiday shirts or even ugly Christmas sweaters. If you don’t have Memory Maker, I believe you can purchase it just for the MVMCP (sorry if I’m wrong). You can likely get a bunch of magic shots and maybe some photos labeled with the MVMCP 2017.

If you think your focus during MVMCP would be rides & not the other holiday items, then maybe you could skip some time at MK during the rest of your stay to focus on other parks, and then do primarily rides during the MVMCP hours. That would seem to make good use of your time (to me, anyway). To me this would be great, but it might not be depending on the personalities of your family.

Good luck - tough choice!

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I embrace this fully!!! So much fun to do this.

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CHave you built in any time to resort hop?

If not, it is definitely worth visiting the GF, WL, AKL, BC, YC & BWI.

You could leave MK, do a monorail loop, take the boat over to WL. Then the bus either to BC or AKL. How about AKL and dinner at Sanaa? The Epcot resorts can be done in a break from Epcot (the BC Carousel and YC train are just amazing).

In the morning, why not just let DH sleep in and you and the boys could go to a park for a couple of hours.

You can still pull the “matching jumpers” trick for your last MK day!

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I’d party for sure! If you stay at the other parks the rest of your trip and only do MK on the party day and focus on rides you’ll get them all in that your kids will enjoy for sure. The party does have a great atmosphere. We’ve always enjoyed it. Let us know what you decide!

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For me, this is a no brainer. We went in November last year and went to the party. By far, the party is worth it. If it was me, I’d be going to the party, and it wouldn’t even be close.

Whatever you do though, you will have fun!

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I have decided to leave it to the party gods. I am leaving the evening open and if when we get there, there are still tickets to purchase we will go, if not, it was going to be too crowded for us anyway. If that happens we will hop to another park. I figure so much of this trip is planned, it might be nice to include some spontaneity. Not to mention, I am getting $400 in gift cards for staying CBR during construction, so we can use those for our tickets if they are still available. Thank you all for your input, I truly appreciate it!