Anyone NOT going to MVMCP?

[NurseNoa]

Well, that's a tough one. If it reaaaallllly will be their only trip to WDW (Never say never. You have no idea what kind of monster -a good monster- you're about to create) then I might be inclined to say pay the big bucks and go to the party. BUT. That's so much money. You know what else is super magical at Christmas time? Epcot. Other resorts. Animal Kingdom. I am willing to bet you have so much fun that no one, even you, will regret not doing the party.

Thank you. It's true, none of us will know what we're missing. We're going to all the parks. For a fraction of that $500 (which I wrote elsewhere here is equivalent to my monthly grocery bill in our country) I was thinking I could take the family to one or 2 of the deluxe resorts to see the decorations and then hop over to Disney Springs for Ghirardelli hot chocolate and cookies/desserts. We will have a rental car.

We actually are Jewish and live in Israel so my kids haven't celebrated Christmas ever and only know of the holiday through TV and movies. And we keep kosher so would be unable to eat most of the refreshments at MVMCP. And for the final reason...I am in treatment for breast cancer. By the final night of our trip, I imagine I'm going to be the most tired family member. The description of the party crowds here doesn't sound fun.

Thank you for your sage advice.

 

[turtlechick6]

We will be at WDW Dec 19-26, so we overlap the last two parties. I keep waffling btwn going or not to MVMCP. We had a not great experience at MNSSHP late Aug...rain and crowds threw us. Wondering if anyone else stuck on this decision.

we are going Nov 6-9 and not do christmas party. We did it already once and feel no need to do it again. I still have the Halloween party on my bucket list though to do someday

 

[lundve]

We are going 12/17 - 12/27 and are fairly sure we aren't going to one either even though there are 4 to chose from I believe.

I can't get over the $500 price tag for my family of 5 (my older two boys are 10 and 12) and since we have premium APs it's just too much to justify based on how much we spent on tickets this year already. My boys don't like standing in line for characters, they'd much rather go on rides. We've been in 2009 and 2014 so I'm ok with missing it this year.

I wanna see the parade but know we can do that another day

 

[randumb0]

I'd say that most people won't be doing the parties

 

[StephenM84]

My family and I are considering going this year for the first time. I see a lot of people don't enjoy the experience or not enough to return for a 2nd time.

How are the wait times for the rides? Is it crowded to where you wouldn't enjoy the shows, parades and the rides during the party time?

If we go it would be on Dec 17th

 

[SaintsManiac]

My family and I are considering going this year for the first time. I see a lot of people don't enjoy the experience or not enough to return for a 2nd time.

How are the wait times for the rides? Is it crowded to where you wouldn't enjoy the shows, parades and the rides during the party time?

If we go it would be on Dec 17th

I cannot speak for last year, but we went in 2015. We didn't try to ride anything after 7pm, so I am not sure about the lines. 2nd parade was not crowded. We watched Wishes from the old FP area and it was perfect. We had a good time, but do feel one and done due to the cost.

 

[agavegirl1]

I go in October and have never gone to MNSSHP and don't think I will this time either. Years ago, there were fewer parties and they really were "limited" in ticket sales to the point it would have been an advantage ride wise. I don't need to trick or treat or meet and greet so the only reason to be there would be the parade and the rides. Not worth the money for that.

 

[karrit2000]

My family and I are considering going this year for the first time. I see a lot of people don't enjoy the experience or not enough to return for a 2nd time.

How are the wait times for the rides? Is it crowded to where you wouldn't enjoy the shows, parades and the rides during the party time?

If we go it would be on Dec 17th

It's more a case of a lot of us who have been going for years just don't think it is worth the extra $ to attend the parties anymore. I always enjoyed them but the first MNSSHP I attended the tickets were $16.95. We did MVMCP the following year & those tickets were less than $20. Back then the park hard closed prior to the parties so there weren't day visitors hanging out on Main Street attempting to see the parades & such. There used to be a special photo op & they mailed you the pictures for free. They had free face painting for everyone. I believe they also had another special show on a stage in Tomorrowland near where they now have the Buzz Lightyear M & G, it was a small theater with benches for seating that is gone now. They limited the # of guests so that every ride was a walk on and the only place tha really seemed crowded was Main Street for the First Parade & the Fireworks. I didn't do the Character M & G's back then but some have always had long lines and it's just gotten worse over the years. In my experience if you attend the parties you need to make a choice to attend either the special shows & parade or some of the special M & G's. You just can't do everything during one party. I think a lot of rides are still walk on but it's much easier later on in the night. We also always tried to avoid the first parade because we found it much easier to find a good viewing spot for the second one. If we did watch the first one it was always in Frontierland rather than on Main Street. On party nights the rides were never a priority for us as we felt we were paying for the special entertainment that you could only get at the parties. We did do some rides but that was just filler. I remember the Pirate & Princess parties the M & G's were the big draw for me because that was the only way you could get a photo with Jack Sparrow. Each year the price goes up as do the crowds. It's been at least 5 years since I've attended one. Each year I'm tempted but now I choose to spend that $ on other smaller special events such as the themed Dessert Parties & the Sleepy Hollow event @ Ft. Wilderness.

 

[turtlechick6]

My family and I are considering going this year for the first time. I see a lot of people don't enjoy the experience or not enough to return for a 2nd time.

How are the wait times for the rides? Is it crowded to where you wouldn't enjoy the shows, parades and the rides during the party time?

If we go it would be on Dec 17th

We did Christmas party back in about 2012 and the wait times were pretty good. We did an early November party. The wait times were about 30 minutes and under. We did not do any characters. We did watch the parade and get a spot for that because we wanted to see it along with the special fireworks and projection show. The parades are probably the best part. Since they are special parades they only do at the parties and they all have special costumes and floats.

So mostly we rode rides and saw the parade and fireworks and that was it. Got cookies and the drink at one spot.

 

[TwinkleKS]

We go some years, we don't go some years on our annual Christmas trip. Normally if we go it is because we get there mid-day and do it arrival night. We like to ride some favorite rides with little to no wait while others are in line to meet the characters.

 

[dreiwhit]

We didn't go to the party last year on our week after Thanksgiving trip. We thought about it, but the cost was too much.

Keep in mind that the crowds really start picking up around 4:30pm. It surprised me how crowded MK became. It was hard to walk down Main Street to exit the park because of all the people coming in.

 

[tmoo]

Fooled me once, shame on you Disney...fool me twice...nope I will be at another park on party nights.