2013 Very Merry Chritmas party

[LPnerd]

we went to the Dec 11th party. It was not sold out, and yet, I feel it was way oversold. this is not a happy report folks, so prepare...
the problem seems to be this new show after the parade and before the fireworks projected on the front of the caste it's wonderful and all, but just because you can, doesn't mean you should. But I digress...
we arrived with my daughter and her 15, 10 and 3 yr old, so 6 of us. at about 4pm, grabbed a snack, then we took the little guy and they went on the coasters . Lines were 10 min waits standby. no problem. We met back in front of castle on tomorrow land side just before 7pm. as a 15yr old tradition dictates.
Well, we barely got a place for us to stand behind the stroller. ( this new castle thing was a surprise). we couldn't believe for a, ' not sold out," event how overcrowded it was by 8pm, standing room only since 7pm, and the parade wasn't to start for 30 min. people began getting testy. little things, mainly trying to get around the crowd .
the parade was great, then came the end and instead of people following the end out, they stopped in frnt of the castel, this has never happened, and it was a bit scarey, all those people, then the castel show and it was very cool, then fireworks , more crowded, but great, and then, time to clear out, we stood and waited for about 15 min, not clearing... no movement to speak of, people began to get angry.
I mean gridlock, No traffic pattern, no cast member to be seen, no security and lots of VERY angry people, and scared kids. then, one of those scooters rolled over a little kid that had been knocked to the ground and lots of blood. it was nuts no way to get the kid help, lots of cameras and phones, and someone called 911 I heard.
we had been going to stay a bit, go on a couple rides with the older kids and my daughter was going to shop on mainstreet with the baby... instead we, and everyone on our side of the castle just started moving toward te exit unmasse, we told people trying to go up stream to turn around and just off to the side when they could, we had all had it. and we were moving some guy yelled, my kid is hurt to a CM and the guy looked around and shrugged... there was no way he could help.
My husband who looks for reasons to hate the new Disney ( as he calls it) swears that was his LAST time in the park...
we have one more small granddaughter coming up so I know he has about 3 more times left... but between the magic bands, the overpriced tickets, this party disaster, and the not so magic bands we pay to test, he's over it. if you have to go... get there very early, and get a bench seat in front of castle, or off on the adventurland side... at least you'll avoid being trampled but you better grab one by 6:30pm... nope, not kidding and as it gets closer to xmas, I'd back it up to 5pm.

 

[ddixon1]

we went to the Dec 11th party. It was not sold out, and yet, I feel it was way oversold. this is not a happy report folks, so prepare...
the problem seems to be this new show after the parade and before the fireworks projected on the front of the caste it's wonderful and all, but just because you can, doesn't mean you should. But I digress...
we arrived with my daughter and her 15, 10 and 3 yr old, so 6 of us. at about 4pm, grabbed a snack, then we took the little guy and they went on the coasters . Lines were 10 min waits standby. no problem. We met back in front of castle on tomorrow land side just before 7pm. as a 15yr old tradition dictates.
Well, we barely got a place for us to stand behind the stroller. ( this new castle thing was a surprise). we couldn't believe for a, ' not sold out," event how overcrowded it was by 8pm, standing room only since 7pm, and the parade wasn't to start for 30 min. people began getting testy. little things, mainly trying to get around the crowd .
the parade was great, then came the end and instead of people following the end out, they stopped in frnt of the castel, this has never happened, and it was a bit scarey, all those people, then the castel show and it was very cool, then fireworks , more crowded, but great, and then, time to clear out, we stood and waited for about 15 min, not clearing... no movement to speak of, people began to get angry.
I mean gridlock, No traffic pattern, no cast member to be seen, no security and lots of VERY angry people, and scared kids. then, one of those scooters rolled over a little kid that had been knocked to the ground and lots of blood. it was nuts no way to get the kid help, lots of cameras and phones, and someone called 911 I heard.
we had been going to stay a bit, go on a couple rides with the older kids and my daughter was going to shop on mainstreet with the baby... instead we, and everyone on our side of the castle just started moving toward te exit unmasse, we told people trying to go up stream to turn around and just off to the side when they could, we had all had it. and we were moving some guy yelled, my kid is hurt to a CM and the guy looked around and shrugged... there was no way he could help.
My husband who looks for reasons to hate the new Disney ( as he calls it) swears that was his LAST time in the park...
we have one more small granddaughter coming up so I know he has about 3 more times left... but between the magic bands, the overpriced tickets, this party disaster, and the not so magic bands we pay to test, he's over it. if you have to go... get there very early, and get a bench seat in front of castle, or off on the adventurland side... at least you'll avoid being trampled but you better grab one by 6:30pm... nope, not kidding and as it gets closer to xmas, I'd back it up to 5pm.

A youngish woman ran over my 8 year old's foot with her scooter. I was shocked and horrified. I asked him if he was okay. He meekly nodded his head, then I asked, "Did she just run you over?" to which SHE loudly retorted, "Yuh-huh, I DID run him over, that's what he gets for walking in front of me!"
Granted the crowds were intense and folks were frustrated, but really?
I told her that I felt sorry for her, and that I expect a life a frustration and misery for her, if she can justify harming a child.
I told my son to pity people with such anger and selfishness in their hearts.
His reply: "wow, Mom, for someone wearing Minnie ears, she's sure not feeling the magic!"
I learned to chart my course more carefully.
And to avoid parties at WDW.
Because returning to a hotel with no electricity at 1AM was the icing on the cake...

 

[Sur]

Yeah, the MVMCP was nuts earlier in Dec this year too...nuts! Just not worth how bad the crowds and temperaments became....lesson learned.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Yes, I was much happier at last years party. We missed the show in front of the castle. There are just too many people in the park NOT part of the party when they start the party stuff. This year we went straight to frontierland, got a spot for the parade where it starts for the kids to see it, and rode splash mountain and thundermountain until the parade started. We also watched the fireworks from fantasyland because of all the people. This is our last party. Last year was better.

 

[ddixon1]

And I hope that the injured child is okay. What a terrible experience for that family.

 

[LPnerd]

And I hope that the injured child is okay. What a terrible experience for that family.

yes, it was nuts! so not worth it at all. I mean it could be the highlight of a trip, but they have work to do on crowd control, AND the place to begin is to stop overselling the events.
Dear Disney marketers... your losin people to Universal by the boatload. you wasted millions of dollars on a fantasyland refurb that's a typical industrial food restaurant, and meet and greets... why did you bother?
You've raised ticket prices to the point of no return people unless its perect, and now this party mess and magic band RED HOT MESS. stop ruining my happy place! ???

 

[J and R's mom]

...
Dear Disney marketers...stop ruining my happy place! ???

I AGREE!

We are here now (12/9 - 12/15). We were at MK that night and passed the gurneys on the bridge as they were dealing with the mess OP referred to. We weren't sure what had happened, though. So sad.

Out first MVMCP was back in 2000 and many since then. We have probably just done our last on 12/12. I hate to say it, but it's just not worth the cost anymore, literally and figuratively. At least not for us. I miss what the parties were like back in the beginning (we still have our 5 by 7 family photos they use to give out at the parties). We haven't truly enjoyed them since 2005. And the crowds have grown exponentially for this time of year since 2005 as well, and not just at MVMCP.

We've done this long enough to know how to work the system in our favor and still enjoy ourselves, but again, the cost is beginning outweigh the benefits. Although we will return, it most likely will not be as often. That will at least leave a few extra places on the bus for others in the future--and some extra FPs too.

 

[boBQuincy]

We stopped going to MVMCP about 7 years ago. The parties may be limited attendance but not nearly as limited as before, they are far too crowded now. The photos were nice but that has been long gone and the fireworks are not as impressive as they used to be either. It's not my memory going bad this time, I have photos to prove it!

Nonetheless, MVMCP attendance is better than ever and it's a big money maker so what incentive is there for WDW to change it? Except to find a way to reduce costs and charge more while selling even more tickets.

 

[darbry]

We went the first week of December and it was crowded and horrible for us too. I was very embarrassed because it was my niece and her families first visit and to pay that kind of money for that many people to be in the park was disheartening. Lesson learned. Disney will never get money from me for a couple of cookies and hot cocoa. We did get a couple of rides in but getting through the crowds was more stressful than during a normal day.

 

[DizBub]

We also passed on the MVMCPs during the 1st week of Dec. When we saw that they were all sold out we were really glad we hadn't bought tickets early. They really should restrict the amount of tickets they sell or the amount of parties they have in a week. I think they had at least 4 the week we were there.

As far as the crowding around the castle, on the side of TomorrowLand in particular, maybe this is why they are creating a new exit out of the park. I know that sometimes they open up back stage behind the shops on Main Street to funnel people out to the exit by Tony's. They are "dressing" this area so it doesn't look like a service area anymore. Probably not a bad idea considering recent events.

 

[brertoad]

We were expecting to go this year for the first time, but we ended up not being able to book a room, so we just let it go. We did the Halloween party, and that way pretty crowded, I believe one of the employees said attendance was like 60,000? I can only imagine what the Christmas party is like.

They should limit the crowds better and then make more dates available to spread out the attendance.

It is unacceptable that people get hurt due to being overcrowded, those scooters are so dangerous because of how people drive them.

 

[jcwedit]

We went to the dec 11th party. I do agree the crowds in front of the castle after the fireworks were crazy. We wanted to cross over from tomorrow land to adventure land and that was a huge mistake (wife gave me that look). I was surprised because last year this was not the case. Besides that it didn't feel anymore crowded than the last 2 years parties so I would attribute it to the stage show after the fireworks.
Fortunately we did not witness any injuries at the party although we did see a woman on a scooter hit someone at Epcot on the line for the Nemo ride.
Overall we has a great time at the party and we will be there next year.

 

[jdkdorn]

The. MNSSHP and the MVMCP used to be limited to 10-15,000 people when we started going 10 years ago and the past 5 years they have been so crowded that we changed our vacation schedule to avoid them. Disney has become so money grubbing that I decided that we will be cutting our trips to once every two years to WDW and just using our dvc as a place to stay every other year. It is cheaper to go to Universal than Disney even with car rental.
They have completely lost sight of why Walt built DL & WDW. He wanted a place families could go together and all enjoy without putting them in debt.

 

[rkold]

We were expecting to go this year for the first time, but we ended up not being able to book a room, so we just let it go. We did the Halloween party, and that way pretty crowded, I believe one of the employees said attendance was like 60,000? I can only imagine what the Christmas party is like.

They should limit the crowds better and then make more dates available to spread out the attendance.

It is unacceptable that people get hurt due to being overcrowded, those scooters are so dangerous because of how people drive them.

I have to say, I think that attendance # for the Halloween party definitely varied by night. We went early Oct this year (5th) vs 16th last year and it was much much quieter. In 2012, the candy lines were super long and not worth waiting on until after the first parade, this year we got a ton of candy early on with no lines. The character lines were also shorter than last year and the ride lines were non-existent. I don't know if it was going nearly two weeks earlier, and I can't speak for pre-2012 since that was our first time attending both parties, but not every date for the Halloween party had crazy crowds in 2013.

I am horrified that some poor child got run over by one of those scooters. Yes being in a crowd is no fun, but be an adult and wait, especially if you're on a scooter which has the strength and weight to seriously hurt someone!

 

[Mazz519]

This is one of the reasons we stopped going to the Xmas Party… We noticed 4 yrs ago that so much has changed and the crowds were just getting bigger every year… After going to it for about 10yrs in a row we decided that it wasn't worth the cost and crowds to go again… I have the first ticket from the 1st Xmas party that we went to price was 19.95 per person, and I know you won't believe it, but you got so much more for your money(Pictures, cookies, hot chocolate, and the shows were so much better) used to be great !!!!

 

[Mazz519]

The. MNSSHP and the MVMCP used to be limited to 10-15,000 people when we started going 10 years ago and the past 5 years they have been so crowded that we changed our vacation schedule to avoid them. Disney has become so money grubbing that I decided that we will be cutting our trips to once every two years to WDW and just using our dvc as a place to stay every other year. It is cheaper to go to Universal than Disney even with car rental.
They have completely lost sight of why Walt built DL & WDW. He wanted a place families could go together and all enjoy without putting them in debt.

This is so true…. your not the only who thinks like this, we to have cut our WDW visits to once every two years also, just not worth it anymore…very depressing

 

[brertoad]

I have to say, I think that attendance # for the Halloween party definitely varied by night. We went early Oct this year (5th) vs 16th last year and it was much much quieter.

We went on Oct. 14th. this year. We should try doing an earlier party and see. As far as the candy lines, we did okay. I noticed some lines were enormous, and others not so much. We would just go back in the same line a couple times, then move on.

The stage / front of castle, was too crowded for us. We don't normally see any stage shows because we don't have the patience for that. We don't like to camp out spots and wait, and be surrounded by walls of people.

We caught the parade both times, with fair visibility. But, it was quite crowded.

 

[lucyem]

We were there for the MVMCP on Dec 3rd. Everyone kept saying that the first week of Dec is slow. Not this year. Our party was sold out. It was a crazy madhouse on main street. So not worth it for the parade and fireworks. People were practically being trampled. I saw a woman kicked in the head. People climbing over other people. And this was for the second parade after tons of people left. The best part was getting back to the room and finding a note that we would have no water all night.

We have not crossed the parties off our list yet because of FP+. We had a ton of fun going on rides that night with the short lines. So in the future I could see paying for a party ticket for that night just to get in the park and then staying far far far away from all the action in the middle.

 

[nabi]

We were there for the MVMCP on Dec 3rd. Everyone kept saying that the first week of Dec is slow. Not this year. Our party was sold out. It was a crazy madhouse on main street. So not worth it for the parade and fireworks. People were practically being trampled. I saw a woman kicked in the head. People climbing over other people. And this was for the second parade after tons of people left. The best part was getting back to the room and finding a note that we would have no water all night. We have not crossed the parties off our list yet because of FP+. We had a ton of fun going on rides that night with the short lines. So in the future I could see paying for a party ticket for that night just to get in the park and then staying far far far away from all the action in the middle.

we were there that night too....chaos! It was just weird how people were behaving. We plan to do the same as you if we ever do it again. No way will we ever be right in the mix again.

 

[wdwlover25]

Attended the party last night and have to say the crowds didn't seem that bad. People lined up before 7:00 for the parade which was a little surprising but I wanted a Main Street spot so I grabbed a space and waited about an hour. They were playing awesome Christmas music and with the snow I had no problem with the wait. Crowd dispersed no issues after parade and before the castle show / fireworks. Again no issues with the crowd afterwards.