MVMCP - not worth the money

[webray]

Our thoughts exactly...we have attended MVMCP a few times..through out the years. Weeknights as to avoid crowds. The park is packed full. As much as I love to see the holiday shows, disney needs to just start showing them through the day..or leave the park open to everyone at night during the holidays so peple can attend when they want.

 

[goofy4tink]

I think that maybe my big mistake is eating at LTT around 5:30! If we didn't eat then we would have been in TomorrowLand and done some of the attractions/shows before 7! And then it looks like maybe you are 'let out' earlier than 7. I wonder if that makes any difference.

 

[Skatermom23]

We attended the 11-30 party and I am one of the ones that think it was very crowded. Manageable, but way more crowded than any park day I have ever attended. We use fast pass a lot and don't generally stand in any lines. We did manage to do most of the rides once with no waiting but forget the repeat rides. The shows were good. Although I really wish parents with little kids would remember that the older ones like to see things to. We staked out good spots for the parade only to be pushed aside by parents putting their little ones in front of my two kids who waited patiently for an hour to see the parade. So many times during shows parents would put their little ones on their shoulders right in front of my two kids completely blocking their view. One parent even told my 13 year son to give up his space in a character line so that his 3 year old would have a chance. That's about the time I lost my temper...

 

[MelessaG]

One parent even told my 13 year son to give up his space in a character line so that his 3 year old would have a chance. That's about the time I lost my temper...

I can't believe that! I would have been mad too, and none of my kids are over the age of 7.

 

[cobbler]

my family attended the MVMCP on nov 30th....we arrived at 4pm - (we were really at the gate at3:45pm, we had PS at CP for 4:20pm) we were in heaven!!!! the only other time we had been to WDW was in june 2003...AWFUL.
we had a great time at the MVMCP that night...we got to ride some of the rides that were still open once we had finished dinner ( 5:30pm) my DD5 and I walked onto the magic carpets of aladin!!! it closed for the "day guests" right after we got off.
compared to the crowds we had in june last year...it was a dream! ~
we pretty much got right on everything...stitch was a 5 min wait, TTA was 5 mins, we rode pirates of the carribean 3 times , peter pans flight was 5 mins...alot more that i cant think of right now
we did not to go any shows....we were more than thrilled to wonder and go on rides. for us the price WAS way way worth it!!!! to not fight the crowds was the main thing- we dont know a whole lot, i thought i read some reported MVMCP 11/30 was busy....but like i said we were in heaven


Tina

I was there the 30th too and it was soo nice. We had a 5-10 minute wait for dumbo and the Indy cars and that was the longest wait for anything. Everything else was walk-on and it was so great. We got a lot done ride wise and had a great Christmas party.

 

[Figment&Piglet]

Our perspective: we went to the 11/30 MVMCP and arrived at 6:30, not intending to do any rides because we'd been to the MK all morning/afternoon when there were no waits and had done lots. We were basically there for the Christmas shows/parade/special events.

At 6:45 we noticed all of the sidewalks on MK were almost full with people lining up for the 8:15 parade! The CM on Main Street said it gets insane, so if you want to see the first parade (and with a 2 1/2 year old, waiting for the 10:45 parade was out of the question) you better stake out a spot NOW. So, we basically camped out on the sidewalk for 1 1/2 hours, with my husband and I taking turns taking our daughter to the show in front of the castle (very good) and to go get hot cocoa and cookies (pretty good), but nothing else -- and we certainly couldn't go anywhere as a family and leave our coveted spot!

Then, the parade started which is a good 30-45 minutes if I remember correctly, but very good. But now it's 9:00, and with a 2 1/2 year old, we've basically done nothing but see one parade and half of a show! We walked over to Adventureland, stood in line for the picture (20 minutes or so), and that's when our daughter had just had it for the night, so we left.

I suppose of you can see some of the shows early and catch the second parade, you can get your money's worth, but I feel we paid $80 or whatever it was to stand in one spot on a sidewalk and see one parade. Yes, the lights and snow were nice, and yes the parade was good, but I just don't think it was worth the money, in my opinion! Oh, and just walking around was very difficult because Main Street and the surrounding areas were PACKED -- not empty, like they had been all morning/afternoon. Again, I can't say how the rides/other lands were, because we didn't have time to explore there.

Bottom line: with a real young one, and a need to see the first parade, it just wasn't worth the money.

 

[Judy from Boise]

My big dissapointment was that Cinderella's coach wasn't in Fantasyland.Also last time we were at a part, in Fantasyland they had a handbell choir that was great. This year that space was just dark and empty. I thought it was more crowded this year(we were there 12/7) but "worth" the money.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I went to the MVMCP last night, and was able to do basically everything I wanted to do, most of it with no wait.

Our group (ranged in size from 6 to about 16, depending on which families were with us at any given time) was able to ride BTMRR 3x, Splash 2x, Buzz 2x, Space, and Haunted Mansion, all with less than 5 minute wait. I think the longest wait we had was about 10-15 minute wait to get our pictures taken.

The folks I was with for most of the night had all seen Wishes and the parade before, so we didn't make seeing those a high priority, and we didn't feel a need to see any of the shows. We did get to see part of the parade, and the finale of Wishes, which was nice.

 

[Doug7856]

My big dissapointment was that Cinderella's coach wasn't in Fantasyland.Also last time we were at a part, in Fantasyland they had a handbell choir that was great. This year that space was just dark and empty. I thought it was more crowded this year(we were there 12/7) but "worth" the money.

Yes, we missed these attractions too.

 

[wilderness01]

My husband and son were at the party on the 5th and thought it was crowded, especially down Main Street and around the shows. We all went on the 7th and again I thought it was crowded. We did manage to go on all the rides though. Peter Pan had a 45 minute wait so we bypassed that and returned right before it closed. We worked the rides just right so our waits weren't bad. But to see any shows or the parade it was very crowded and hard to get a spot for 18 people. It was nice to come this time of year but we will never again. All in all the parks were crowded to us and we prefer going the end of January.

 

[CarolA]

Went last night. We made little to no effort to do the rides.

Saw all the shows (except Belle's), the late parade and the fireworks. We did do Splash Mountain and some of our group did Buzz.

I really enjoyed it. I wanted to do the special stuff which I think is the point of MVMCP.

 

[MelessaG]

I wanted to do the special stuff which I think is the point of MVMCP.

That's why I was so disappointed in our experience. Even showing up early, we were never able to get good spots for any of the special events and that left me feeling really disappointed in the whole experience even though the rest of our trip was, for the most part, magical.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I suppose of you can see some of the shows early and catch the second parade, you can get your money's worth, but I feel we paid $80 or whatever it was to stand in one spot on a sidewalk and see one parade. Yes, the lights and snow were nice, and yes the parade was good, but I just don't think it was worth the money, in my opinion! Oh, and just walking around was very difficult because Main Street and the surrounding areas were PACKED -- not empty, like they had been all morning/afternoon. Again, I can't say how the rides/other lands were, because we didn't have time to explore there.

We went on several rides with no line, caught the first parade with no real wait (we viewed from the train station platform on Main Street and the parade passed by right in front of us), saw wishes, saw at least one later show (we happened to walk by as it was starting and had good viewing spots) and had no wait at all for our photo or cookies/cocoa. The late half of the night we spent going back on rides...

Was I just there on a different night than all of you? I was there on Thursday Dec. 2

 

[keriannhoward]

Just a fast question-how many of you that have posted about being disappointed are repeat attendees? I"m wondering if you're disappointed because you have something to compare it to, rather than someone like myself who hasn't attended one yet. We're leaving an about an hour to go for a long weekend and take our 2 year old to his (and our) first MVMCP. He's just in the last month "gotten" Mickey Mouse and is really into the characters, he's even saying "Mary Mip Mip Mick-key" so we're really excited. We realize that a LOT has changed in the last several years at WDW, but for DH and I, MK is a huge nostalgia trip for us, we've been going since MK was WDW!! (Now you know how old we are!) We talk about how it used to be just a day trip for us and then just every couple of years-now we go just about every other month and stay onsite lol

No matter what's missing this MVMCP, it's going to be magical because it's a "first" for all 3 of us!

 

[lllovell]

I loved it and this was our first MVMCP, but as with all "firsts" at Disney, I usually do better the 2nd time on planning, etc. We had gone to the Halloween party as well this year and loved it!

I think that we were there for the parades and shows and rode the most important rides in between (with hubby taking the boys while Mother-in-law and I saved a space for the parade and had hot chocolate) so I guess that is where the difference comes in . I was very willing to be seperated for a little bit so that I could assure my 2 and 4 year old a seat at the parade where I KNEW they would be able to see.

I hope you have a BLAST!!!

 

[wdw4us2]

Just a fast question-how many of you that have posted about being disappointed are repeat attendees?:

We will be attending our 10th MVMCP on 12/17. I will post when we return home and give you an experienced comparison between this year and the past 9 years.

 

[CadiesMom]

We were lucky enough to attend on both 11/30 and 12/2. I thought the party was wonderful. I don't know if we just hit everything at the right time or not, but we got to see all the holiday shows and rode every ride! DD rode several things multiple times on both nights, we got great spots for the parade and wishes, and thought the crowds seemed light! We virtually walked through the ques and onto the rides. It was terrific for us and I am sorry to see that some didn't have as good of time!

 

[kar313]

We attended our 1st MVMCP on Dec 2 and thought it was wonderful!!! Esp the shows and snow on Main St. DMom loved it so much she has convinced whole family to go in 2006.

We arrived at gate about 5:45 got our wrist bands and our free stroller (also free parking!!) and saw Santa as soon as we came in Town Square. They closed the line not to long after we got in. I suppose because it was close to 6pm closing for non-MVMCP. After the Santa pics DH decided instead of doing counter-service rest like I'd plan he wanted sitdown (I tried to tell him all PS were probably gone b/c of everyone trying to get in before the party.) We went to CP and waited only 10-15min. Had a great meal and were out in the park by 7 went to Fantasyland through a very dark Liberty Square saw Donald's tree lot with no wait at all. Walked onto Peter Pan, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Snow White all w/ no wait. Did Dumbo w/ 2-3 min wait. REally enjoyed the Party Hop. After that Mom, DD and I did Belle show while Dh and DS did Indy cars. Did Buzz 2x w/ no wait then headed to Tomorrowland bridge for Wishes at 9:15 we headed straight the Mickey Night Before Xmas show at 9:30 got seat just as show was starting. Did Buzz again. Then headed out to Main St. for drinks and spot for 10:45 parade. We had 5 of us so a few of us would just keep our spot while others went to do there thing. Over all a great time only time I noticed crowds were on Main St during parade. We didn't do pic b/c other DS wasn't w/ us and it seem a waist of time w/out him. Didn't do cookies b/c we had just eaten. And didn't make it over to Advertland or Frontierland but we do those rides all the time.

 

[chesirekate]

Like the OP, we also attended MVMCP on 12/7, arriving abut 4:30. And yes, it did seem very crowded. However, I did not find the wait for rides to be that long at all. Because we were going back to the MK a few days later, we were selective about what we rode. Peter Pan had a long line so we skipped that, but we only waited 10 minutes for Dumbo. Seriously, that is the shortest I have *ever* seen that line in the times I've been there.

I walked on Space Mountain, BTMRR, Philharmagic (timed that one perfectly), Snow White (okay, there is never a line for that one), Carrousel, HM, etc. My DH waited 5 minutes in the area outside the door for Stitch (I rode it when we went a few days later). The cocoa was decent, but so hot I burnt the tip of my tongue, my own fault. The cookies were fine, just thick sugar cookies with a bit of cinnamon I think. We walked right into Columbia Harbour House and up to the counter for the cocoa and cookies.

My daughter, two years old, loved the snow on Main Street (and I could see it just fine), and the Christmas parade, which was totally over the top and really done well. We watched it in Frontierland, right in front of the shooting arcade. We walked up about 10 minutes before it reached us and plopped down behind one other family. We had a perfect view!

But what Kate loved most was the Holiday Hop in Fantasyland. She spent about an hour just dancing and bopping around to the music. The DJ was fun and it was pretty funny watching a bunch of tourists and little kids dancing to Outkast. Chip and Dale and Pluto even joined the kids on the dance floor, which delighted Kate.

Wishes was beautiful, just really really lovely, and I'm not much for fireworks shows.

When we left around midnight, we walked down to the Pop bus stop and two busses pulled up and piled us all in within 5 minutes.

We had a great time and would definitely do it again.

 

[CarolA]

KerrinHoward,
I have been to at least one party a year for the past 5 years or so.

My only disappointment with this one was NO free button. I grabbed a Disney suit to complain... he said they are working on it for next year. According to "Jim" Disney did not produce buttons since literally thousands of them were thrown away each year. I told him I would be willing to pay a dollar or so to prevent waste!