Is MVMCP worth the money?

[tinkmom2]

The Christmas party is magical. As the PP said we enter the park at 4. Usually that day we go to the other resorts and look at the Christmas decorations. My favorite is the castle lighting and the parade. The Halloween party was fun but not all our costumes got there. We shipped ahead of time and they didn't arrive unitl we were on our DCL cruise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOc9PEc_nkM

 

[Colleen27]

I'm waffling over the same thing - adding a day to DD's ticket for a MK day vs. going to MVMCP. It is a short trip all about the Christmas stuff so I'm leaning towards the party, but still having a hard time with $120+ for one evening for the two of us.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Ok I am not sure the details of your stay so I don't know if this would work for you, but this is what we have done in the past when we budget to the penny!! We have scheduled the MVMCP for the evening we get there and don't by tickets for the parks that day. Usually our flight arrives early afternoon so we get to the resort, freshen up and head to the party. I have always thought the money was worth it and found the crowds to almost be nonexistent after about 8pm on those evenings. There is a party for the evening you arrive so it could be an option depending on your other plans. Also, if you have Disney Visa, you can usually get a discounted ticket although I have not seen the offer come across yet (probably still a little early).

Hope this helps!

 

[mmouse1239]

We went once. It was nice, but way too much money for what we got IMHO.

 

[CaryHaven]

We did this one time - a week before Thanksgiving, just like you. I thought it was wonderful! But then again, it was my first visit to Disneyworld and everything was wonderful for the most part. I loved the lights all over the castle and the dance party for my toddler at Cosmic Ray's (except for a thirty year old woman cutting in on my dancing two year old who was trying to dance with Chip - still galls me.) Honestly, the very best thing for us was that all seven dwarves were taking pictures and we just barely got in line in time. I heard that it's rare for them all to be together. Not sure if that's true or not. If I had to do it over again - maybe. I would use it as a park day and go in around 4 or 5, whenever they'd let us in. I think at the time, it cost us around $50 each. Our toddler was just on the verge of being 3, so we didn't have to pay for her. The snow was cool, but it was literally 90 some degrees that night. The refreshments were subpar. HTH in some way.

 

[Q-man]

Only if you're a geek for pix with the characters in holiday outfits, want to see the seven dwarfs, or have to see the holiday themed shows.

We will be there at RD that morning(11/22) and have 6:20 dinner ADRs at CP. This will allow us to walk out after the holiday lights are on and while the 'snow' is falling on Main St.

 

[HM]

The only time I did one was back in 2001. I think it was worth it then. Probably cost us half of what it costs now and we got a free photo with Santa (or was that Mickey?).

 

[jm0925]

I have asked this on the celebration's board, but for those who are budget minded like me.........

We are flying down the Thursday before Thanksgiving, got FD and used points for airfare. This is our makeup trip from Christmas, 2 years ago, DS went into the hospital the day we were leaving. So, we are trying to do a lot of Christmas events.
Friday, the 22nd is the only day we can go to the party. I have heard it will be crowded. We aren't going for the characters, we want to see the parades and shows. I just don't know if I will be thinking, "We paid an extra $500 to fight THIS crowd!" or is the party so magical I won't think of the money. LOL

I think these tickets are really worth the money but only if you go to the park for the event. I wouldn't buy a one day pass and then the event ticket for the same day. You would be amazed how much of the park you can experience in 8 hours (if you arrive at 4PM) The great thing about the events is that come 7PM they start kicking out people who don't have the wristbands. This really lightens the park crowd which makes the lines to the rides almost non-existent. You mentioned going around Thanksgiving time. I'm surprised you heard the crowd level might be bad because my understanding is that the park crowds are low around Thanksgiving in comparison to Christmas and New Years.

I honestly didn't find any issue with the crowds either times I went to the Halloween Party and the Christmas party. Both times I went were Friday nights also. Believe me I've experienced crowds at MK. I went there for their 24 hour summer kickoff event. Two Words....Never AGAIN! LOL

My recommendations honestly to get the most experience in those few hours is 1) Skip the character meet and greets and 2) Skip the first parade time and go on the rides during that parade. Most of the crowd likes to see the first parade of the evening so that makes it a really convenient time to hit up of the rides. The same parade repeats itself a second time right before the fireworks show. 3) Take advantage of the 3 extra hours and get to the park at 4PM

You will have a great time. Don't go in worrying about the crowds.

 

[v.t.]

We are still trying to decide. My main concern, besides the crowds, is that our plane arrives at midnight the night before, so you know we will be tired. But I was planning on napping at 2:00. And looking at the schedule, I think we are going to MK for the day. So, we won't be utilizing the tickets as a park hopper. But, I did budget the price of the tickets into the trip, and DM has even offered to pay for them.
Sometimes I hate being this frugal!

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

DH and I will be going to MVMCP this November 14th (no kids this trip) Dh saw pictures of the party on Google images and said he would like to go. Otherwise I never would have even thought about going with no kids with us.

We will go to AK that morning until around lunch, have lunch then go back to the room and nap until around 3:30 then head back to the park at 4. We will ride everything by 7 when the party starts.

I don't really care about the characters or dance party part of it. I just want to see a few shows and the parade and fireworks.

 

[Planogirl]

Do I understand correctly that you don't need to use a day from your regular passes if you have party tickets?

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Do I understand correctly that you don't need to use a day from your regular passes if you have party tickets?

Depends. If you do not want to go to a park during the day no. On party nights they have been letting the guests in to the MK at 4 pm

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Do I understand correctly that you don't need to use a day from your regular passes if you have party tickets?

Yes, you can enter at 4pm with a party only ticket!

 

[It'sOffToDisneyWeGo]

My daughter and I went one time. We entered at 4. I felt like it was worth it for a one time experience.

 

[pigletto]

I'm in the "try it once" crowd. The way I am looking at it is that this is our long awaited, first ever holiday trip. Who even knows if we'll ever go back during this time frame? I want to see and do as much as I can (within reason) and MVMCP has been on my Disney bucket list for years. If it's miserable weather, and mobbed with people I will be disappointed of course, but I will simply know it's not something we want to do again. If I don't go I will always wonder what it's like. The cost for the four of us was within "reasonable" limits for this special trip. I also know we've gone during leaner times when the Haloween party was running and we skipped it. We were just so happy to be there that we didn't care at all. So really, I don't think it will make or break the trip and that ultimately you have to decide how much of a sacrifice the cost is.

 

[johde]

I'd have to agree with this 100%. Do it at least once, but beyond that, might not be worth it. In full disclosure, we've done it two years in a row. But that second time I could really start to see the value of it disappear quickly. But there is something so cool about being on Main Street when it snows. Nothing like that. If you go close to Christmas, I believe you can get most of the MVMCP perks without paying separate admission...

So, yes the Christmas parade is show during regular park hours but only on the peak attendance days before Christmas through Dec 31st. According to EasyWDW, the parade starts being show Dec. 23 which is a little bit later than when it was a few years ago. Back when they had the free admission day on your birthday, I planned a mid-late Dec. trip ending on my Birthday just before Christmas. I was there for the first day of Christmas Parades shown during the day, Dec 21st. It was crazy packed. It was probably the 3rd busiest I'd ever seen the parks. The first 2 were on my last vacation where I was at Epcot on New Years Eve 2012, the second was then the MK on Jan 2nd, 2013.


I have also been to MVMCP several years ago when it was much cheaper. We enjoyed it quite a bit. The first year, we even purchased a second ticket for later in the week. At today's price, it's a harder price to justify. At one time, I had a trip planned for this December and I was planning on doing MVMCP again but, I have 3 days left on my non expiring tickets and MVMCP would be a 4th park day. If I was buying new tickets, adding an extra day can be much cheaper than MVMCP.

 

[leeholmes1]

The only time we have done hard ticketed events was when we were in the orlando area but not going to Disney. We wanted to get a taste of Magic Kingdom without paying a full day's worth of admission. I wouldn't go if I had multi-day tickets. It doesn't make that much sense to me as far as cost analysis. However we live in Atlanta so we are able to get down south pretty frequently and at least once a year to Orlando as a non-Disney trip.

Last Oct we went to Vero Beach for three days and OKW for 2 days and only went to MSSSHP. It wasn't in the budget to buy any more tickets. We had a blast!!

 

[gorkt]

I honestly did not really care for it, but I'm not really the type who likes the parades and shows. I did like the fireworks and decorations but it was overpriced for the enjoyment I got imo.

 

[antree]

We were just talking about this over the weekend. Half of our traveling party are going to it on opening night. They asked if it was worth it, out of the mouth of my 11 and 19 yr old who loves Disney to death say, no. My DH says no, I say it's worth it to see the parade. I LOVE that parade. We went last Nov. and when we were going back to the room my father and I was talking about it and we both agreed we can't believe we paid to go to that again. I said, at least we did it one last time to realize it was not worth it anymore. We left there feeling like we did nothing, the crowds were so bad.

With all that said, to be honest, if DM is offering to pay then go, no money out of your pocket. You'll be glad you did it at least once.

Tip: Do not eat while at the party, the time it takes to eat, will take up too much time and you will not be able to see and do everything. If this is a one time shot then you want to experience it all. See all the shows first, then watch the last parade and then fireworks. If there is time in between or at the end then do rides. Again, rides take up too much time and you will miss the shows. We still haven't seen the shows and we have been there 3 times over the yrs. Sad thing is we wont see the shows because we will not pay to do it again. We rather go spend the night at the Osborne Lights in HS.

 

[Promomx2]

It's just dh and I on this trip and we figured it would be cheaper for us to do MvMCP than additional day on our passes. We're planning on getting there at 4 to ride the few rides that won't be open during the party.