MVMCP Character Report (with pictures)

[Berlioz70]

Below is just the text part of my report - check out the full report with pictures here: http://sites.google.com/site/wdwchar...ents/mvmcp2009

GOALS:

To see all characters (minus fairies) and A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas

SKIPPED CHARACTERS/EVENTS:

Tinker Bell and Friends

Celebrate the Season (Castle show)

Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade

Enchanted Christmas Storytime with Belle

MISSED CHARACTERS:

Mickey Mouse

Santa Claus

Pluto

Goofy

OVERVIEW:

I was going to skip the MVMCP this year because of the cost, however, I learned in the morning that the party was going to have very very light attendance so I purchased my tickets at 4pm and as soon as my husband came home from work we left. Since I was not as prepared as I was for MNSSHP I missed out on Mickey, which was a huge disappointment for me. So I have a piece of hindsight advice: skip Donald and Uncle Scrooge (they have the same meeting location during the day) and use that time to wait in line for Mickey.

I indicated the characters that had a Photopass photographer available.

TIME OF EVENTS:

6:30
Arrived at TTC and boarded the monorail by 6:35.

6:45
The Monorail in front of us goes 101 (stops operating) and we are stranded just outside the MK Monorail station.

7:00
We are freed from the Monorail, only to be herded together by CMs that will not allow us to go through security and enter the park.

7:05
We are allowed to approach security and enter the park! My ticket didn't work - thank goodness I had my receipt!

7:10
I'm finally in the park and the hunt is on! We started in Town Square, the line for Santa Claus was huge so we opted to start with Pooh and Eeyore. *photopass*

Then it's off to Adventureland where we met Lilo and Stitch. *photopass*

7:30
We got in line for Abu and Genie, but Aladdin and Jasmine traded out with them right at 7:30. *photopass*

Then it was over to the Pirates Plaza where we found Peter Pan and Wendy.

We ventured over to Frontierland to search for the Country Bears greeting location, 5 character attendants later we find them riding the Aladdin's Magic Carpets attraction and are able to meet Shaker and Liverlips.

Then it was off to the Diamond Horseshoe where we met Woody and Bullseye. *photopass*

8:00
We anxiously awaited for the other Country Bears to come out, but again they were no where to be seen in Frontierland. We caught a glimpse of a bear through the pathway towards Adventureland and ran back over to find Wendell...

and Br'er Fox - who was acting mischievous as always!

Then Br'er Fox invited me to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets with him!

After the attraction was finished I was able to take a quick picture with Big Al (Br'er Bear was just boarding the attraction).

While waiting for Br'er Bear, craziness issued...

And then we met Br'er Bear!

8:15
We got in line again for Abu and Genie, they came out at 8:20. *photopass*

Afterwards we headed to Cosmic Rays, where we saw Chip and Dale bustin' a move.

8:30
Then it was off to the Teacups where we shook hands with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

We also learned our manors with Alice.

8:40
We headed over to the Fantasyland Stroller Parking to see who we'd find. When we got in line it was Snow White and her Prince, but they traded out right in front of us and we were the first to meet Belle and Beast at 9:05. *photopass*

9:05
As we ventured back to the Teacups we stopped by Ariel's Grotto to dance with Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella.

Then we met the Queen of Hearts in the Tweedles previous location.

Next up was the Mad Hatter - with the best scarf of the night award!

9:30
We hopped in line for Uncle Scrooge and enjoyed the fireworks while we waited. *photopass*

At this point I realized my first Tweedle picture was blurry, so we grabbed another one since they had no line. Then it was off to Tomorrowland.

9:50
We watched A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas which was full of corn and cheese, but I must admit I loved it!!

10:10
It was back to Fantasyland to meet Donald Duck. *photopass*

10:30
Then we ventured to Toontown and met Minnie Mouse right at 10:30. *photopass*

After the mouse, we got into the Princess line (note: there was NO line for the fairies at this time on this night). We met Princess Aurora and Prince Philip. *photopass*

Then we saw Cinderella and Prince Charming. *photopass*

10:40
We hopped into line to meet Mickey Mouse! We waited five minutes, one family went through, we took a step forward. Waited another five minutes, maybe two more families went through, we took two steps. Even though the physical size of Mickey's line looked fine, the pace was RIDICULOUSLY SLOW. We made the call that if we wanted to see the rest of the characters that we'd have to skip Mickey. This was a very hard decision! We left at 11:00 after only moving about 5 steps in the line.

11:05
Back to the Diamond Horseshoe where we found Jessie and Woody. *photopass*

11:15
We got into the Belle and Beast line, knowing that Snow White and Snow Prince would be coming out at 11:30, and we were one of the first families to meet them. *photopass*

11:35
We high tailed it back to the front of the park and got into line for Piglet and Tigger... which brings me to the big surprise of the night - RABBIT! *photopass*

NOTE: Rabbit does NOT make regularly scheduled appearances at MVMCP, this was one of those lucky random moments.

11:50
By the time we exited the line with Piglet, Tigger, and Rabbit, the Santa Claus line was closed . I then realized I had also missed Pluto and Goofy at Cosmic Rays, so I dashed back in hopes of catching them... they were gone, but I did take a picture with this adorable elf instead!

12:00
We headed out of the park - the express Monorail was not running (not that I would have ridden it anyway) so we jumped on the resorts one, and made it to our car in about 15 minutes!

[Mom2twinboys]

Thanks for the great report!! Just 28 more sleeps !

[Gantu]

Thank you so much for making me smile!!!!

[SalmonPink]

Fantastic report! Especially useful to hear about who had PhotoPass photographers with them. And I know a lot of people were asking about Tink's line at MVMCP, so they'll be really glad to read this. It's fabulous that you got surprise Rabbit, and I hadn't heard about Br'er Bear and Fox attending the party. Also very handy to be warned about Mickey's line. While I'm sure it'll be a fair bit more crowded when we go on the 1st, it's good to know that we might still be able to see a fair chunk of the characters appearing.

I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions. Looking at the timing on your report, did most characters swap every half hour on the dot/did the CMs give the line warning when the characters were preparing to swap? If, for example, you arrived at Fantasyland while Belle was there but you wanted to see Snow White, were the CMs cool if you wanted to wait and let people go ahead of you until Snow White arrived, or did you just manage to time the queues well? Thanks in advance for your help.

Okay, I'm off to see your pictures!

[Berlioz70]

Originally Posted by SalmonPink

Looking at the timing on your report, did most characters swap every half hour on the dot/

Most seemed to trade on the 30s... the ones that did not:

Aladdin & Jasmine opposite Abu and Genie

Jessie, Woody, and Bullseye (we swung through here about 4 times before we got the ones we wanted together, I have no idea what this pattern was)

I'm not positive, but Mad Hatter and Alice didn't seem to trade on the 30.

Belle and Snow did NOT. This is the hardest one to guess, I just asked the attendant when the next character would be coming out to plan accordingly.

Originally Posted by SalmonPink

did the CMs give the line warning when the characters were preparing to swap? If, for example, you arrived at Fantasyland while Belle was there but you wanted to see Snow White

Usually the attendants have been good at this, but I never heard a warning last night, I only knew if I asked first.

Originally Posted by SalmonPink

were the CMs cool if you wanted to wait and let people go ahead of you until Snow White arrived, or did you just manage to time the queues well?

The only place I saw this tried was the Belle/Snow line. A family was yelled at for letting people pass them. We really just worked out with good luck in our timing. I was worried I'd get through the line too fast and not get to see Snow, but it was cut two families in front of me so it worked out.

[SalmonPink]

Originally Posted by Berlioz70

Usually the attendants have been good at this, but I never heard a warning last night, I only knew if I asked first.

Thank you, good to be forewarned, we'll make sure we ask before we join the queue.

Originally Posted by Berlioz70

The only place I saw this tried was the Belle/Snow line. A family was yelled at for letting people pass them.

Woah, definitely won't be trying that strategy, I don't do so well with raised voices. I guess we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed, double-check with CMs and try to judge the line. And if things repeatedly don't work out throughout the night and we miss a lot of characters/events, I might have to use it as an excuse to shift the budget around and attend a second party.

[Disneyafternoonfan]

Sounds like you had a lovey time I would love to meet Abu and the Beast

[dazednconfused]

We cannot wait till we get there!! Definitely will go character 'hunting'!

[stashf]

In all the MVMCP Ive been too, they often do issue the warning as the time gets close to the switch and I have seen people allow people behind them to go before so they can see their character. Ive never seen anyone yelled at! Most people are so happy and enjoying the party! But if you ask the CM they will tell you before you line up! Ive never seen Lilo and Stitch in Adventureland, my daughter will love it, where exactly were they!

Stacey

[kaleighmariesmom]

ok... so how come the map only has a few character spots listed? there seems like WAY more then what they said!!!

[mom2rtk]

Originally Posted by Berlioz70

The only place I saw this tried was the Belle/Snow line. A family was yelled at for letting people pass them. We really just worked out with good luck in our timing. I was worried I'd get through the line too fast and not get to see Snow, but it was cut two families in front of me so it worked out.

That is incredibly annoying. How on earth would you ever see both sets of characters? Who would get in line twice if it could be the same set again and you couldn't let people pass!

We have done this in the past with no problem. For every person waiting for the next set of characters, there is someone in line desperate to see who is there and about to leave!

This happened to us in the World Showcase waiting to see Belle and the Beast. Belle was by herself, but he was joining her soon. When we got to the front, they refused to let us let people pass, which I thought was dorky. I played along and went back to the END of the line. When I got to the front and he still wasn't out, I started letting people pass in spite of the previous issue. Turns out.... NO ONE wanted to pass and we were ALL waiting for the Beast to arrive!

[mom2rtk]

Originally Posted by Berlioz70

Santa Claus


I was going to skip the MVMCP this year because of the cost, however, I learned in the morning that the party was going to have very very light attendance so I purchased my tickets at 4pm and as soon as my husband came home from work we left.

So how did you find out it would be low attendance?

[mom2rtk]

Can you post a larger picture of Cinderella from the party? I saw it on your report, but it was pretty small. I want to do the gown with jacket for my daughter to wear next year at the party and have been hoping to find some photos!

I also noticed Alice was in her cape. Was it a really chilly evening? I SO wish we were going this year!

[mom2rtk]

I feel for you making that call while in line to see Mickey. It brought me right back to our second party night last year. We had not yet seen the parade OR fireworks and it was closing in on do or die time.... We too had to bail on Mickey knowing we would miss him completely.... We had a ball though and from what I saw, Mickey's costume looked kind of boring.... kind of a bland olive green or something....

Did you get a peek at Mickey's costume this year?

[PoohsFan1]

Great report and Awesome pictures. We are going to our very first MVMCP on 12/3 and are very excited about it. I can't wait to see the characters in their holiday outfits