Mickey’s VMCP - So disappointed

[April2012]

So on our recent visit we were so excited to get tickets to the opening night of Mickeys very merry christmas party but well, what a let down! It was a sell out but in our opinion it was just way too busy!! To start the show outside the castle was the same as we saw on a normal night except the crowds were much bigger, the free hot choccie & cookies were nowhere to be seen (but in fairness that was probably because we didn’t go searching for it) and we couldn’t get a look in for the parade apart from glimpses over shoulders lol although again if we’d queued an hour before, we may have got a good spot. We ended up leaving before the fireworks as our little guy had had enough by this stage.
On the plus side the snow fall on mainstreet was beautiful and it was lovely to see the whole of MK lit up, especially the castle
In general we thought for the cost, it wasn’t worth the money. Anyone else who’s experienced it feel the same?

Sorry to be a bah humbug

 

[BigAlsGal]

So on our recent visit we were so excited to get tickets to the opening night of Mickeys very merry christmas party but well, what a let down! It was a sell out but in our opinion it was just way too busy!! To start the show outside the castle was the same as we saw on a normal night except the crowds were much bigger, the free hot choccie & cookies were nowhere to be seen (but in fairness that was probably because we didn’t go searching for it) and we couldn’t get a look in for the parade apart from glimpses over shoulders lol although again if we’d queued an hour before, we may have got a good spot. We ended up leaving before the fireworks as our little guy had had enough by this stage.
On the plus side the snow fall on mainstreet was beautiful and it was lovely to see the whole of MK lit up, especially the castle
In general we thought for the cost, it wasn’t worth the money. Anyone else who’s experienced it feel the same?

Sorry to be a bah humbug

I'm sorry. That stinks. Hope the rest of your trip was better!

 

[April2012]

I'm sorry. That stinks. Hope the rest of your trip was better!

Oh gosh yeah defo, the rest of our holiday was perfect as usual, just the party was a little disappointing, but not bad considering the rest was awesome

 

[Elise79]

I am sorry you are disappointed but I can totally understand why

We have a rule of not doing sold out parties now as there is just too many people trying to do the few special party things. And the first party is worst as a lot of press/media/bloggers attend and will set up on Main Street to capture the parade and fireworks.

The Castle show during the party is usually the holiday show which you can only see at the parties until they finish then it is the daytime show over Christmas Cookies & hot chocolate are served inside some of the CS restaurants

Unfortunately you missed the best bit IMO which are the fireworks- they are breath taking

However glad it did spoil the rest of your trip

 

[chmurf]

we did the very first MVMCP in 2013 (nov 8th) and it was crowded. We've decided never to do a sold out party again.
crowds, lots of pushing and shoving, I even got pushed in the back and insulted by a drunk guest, spent an hour with disney security, had then to settle for parade viewing in front of the firehouse (front row 20 minutes before parade start, but that was 2nd showing of the parade, that's the one you've got to attend to) after the parade, by the time we walked up main street, lines were shutting down for characters, and we never got the time to do any ride

still cookies and choc from cosmic rays (despite an half an hour line to get them inside the restaurants) we really enjoyed it. There were other distribution points inside CS restaurants, and a few carts around the park (one in front of enchanted tales with belle for example) those are indicated on the party map you get at the entrance.

overall, I can relate to OP's experience. Once it starts going wrong, it keeps on going worse.

I'm sorry to hear from your poor experience.
We also had a very unpleasant experience, but we tried to make the best of it. Still we won't go back to a sold out party, but we'll defo do parties again (actually we have 2 planned for 2015 and maybe a 3rd if I can fit it into our plans)
I also know that we were at the party at the same time as fellow forumers (other forum) and they had the most amazing time, at the very same party, but they went left when they reached the hub, and we went right ... sometimes it's just what makes the difference between a good and a bad experience ...


but as a whole, we find that MNSSHPs are much better value for money than MVMCPs

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

I can totally relate to what your saying. Although we've never done VMCP we did Villains Unleashed this August which IMO and lots of other people's opinions was way too overcrowded,so much so they were giving full refunds to guests on the way out.Personally I would be happier to pay a bit more if that meant crowds could be kept lower and we could see and do more, but alas Disney seem hell bent on packing people in.

 

[saintrob]

We've done MVMCP twice, both on the last night, and although we had a good time, wouldn't do it again. It was way too crowded and apart from the additional characters, we didn't feel that there was much difference from what we could see during the normal Christmas week.

We've also done MNSSHP and much prefer this and would certainly go again.

 

[queendisney]

we was also at the first MVMCP and know exactly what you are saying. I do think they sell far too many tickets to them, it was way to crowded to be enjoyed and we gave up relatively early and left. Last year we went in December and it was much better and we enjoyed it so much more. The hot chocolate and cookies are nothing to write home about so you really didn't miss anything there...

I just LOVE the toy soldiers marching down Main Street and that alone is worth the cost of the party

 

[nighttowll]

I'm sorry you had such a bad time. We went last year and had a great time, but I do agree with a lot of what you said. I think the party itself is overrated and crowded and the decorations once you are away from mainstreet are pretty underwhelming.

We loved that we walked onto almost all the rides and the ones we waited for were 5-10 min waits at longest. IASW actually had one of the longest waits; go figure! It was closed during the regular operating hours. I can't remember why, but they opened it only for the party, so I guess everybody wanted to ride it since they couldn't during the day. We didn't see very much of the X-mas party part of the event, but that was ok with us. We were just there for the rides, anything Christmassy was just a bonus.

I think if you are interested in doing 1 day at MK during the busy holiday season, this can be a good option. A party ticket costs much less than a 1 day ticket does, and the attraction queues are much shorter during the party, so you can fit a lot more rides in.

However, if you are only interested in the Christmas aspects, I think it is a waste of money becuase those parts of the park are way too crowded with extremely long lines.

By best advice to those going is to head as far away from Mainstreet as possible. This is because if you spend the first few hours of the party fighting the crowds in the mainstreet / hub area, you are going to get tired and frustrated very quickly. Instead, look for the smaller less popular shows on the edges of the park. Visit the dance parties which stayed pretty empty our whole party night. The dance parties are a great line-free meet-n-greet option for the kids. Look for the refreshment spots that are away from Mainstreet as these have much shorter lines. We passed one in Frontierland with no line at all. Try for a spot near where the parade starts by the fence. It's a partly obstructed view but can be grabbed at the last minute, and you can sit on the fence, so great for tired kids. Try for the second parade. Focus on enjoying the rides, and stay for the fireworks, but again I'd watch them from the back of the park, and not fight for a spot in front of the castle. Also, if you do not think your kids can last the whole party, maybe try coming later, instead of leaving earlier. It was definately much less crowded at the end of the night, than at the begining because so many people leave earlier.

The party is like anything else. It takes a lot of strategy and planning to really enjoy. And if all you are looking for is to just see the big Christmas shows, the parade, and have some cocoa and cookies, I don't think it is worth the price of the ticket for that.

 

[wayneg]

Done MNSSHP 6 times (plus twice in Disneyland, CA) plus other parties like Pirates etc but never done the Xmas party, seen far too many complaints about it. Very popular though.

 

[April2012]

Elise79 - Yep, a sell out is certainly something we'll avoid in the future too I think but how do you know it's going to be a sell out when you get your tickets??
To be honest we didn't realise the castle show was the same until a few days later when we were back at MK and saw the same one whilst we were waiting for the parade!
Gutted we missed the fireworks but we really did just want to leave by that point They sound amazing!

chmurf - Blimey, yours sounded much worse than ours! We did consider the 2nd parade but again, we had just had enough by the end of the first one that we just wanted to leave. It was simply the sheer volume of people that spoilt it as nothing could be enjoyed.
I think we made a big mistake by not planning and reading into it to start with. Getting some advice from here first would have been a great idea in hindsight! lol

ChipnDaleRule - Totally agree about not minding to pay a little extra so long as crowds are at a reasonable level. This would still ensure Disney didn't lose out whilst giving people a much more pleasurable experience!

saintrob - Lots of votes for MNSSHP which we had wanted to do but were too late booking. This is one we would definitely try in the future

queendisney - Oh you were there too? It was just a total nightmare with the crowds wasn't it? I was expecting busy but it was worse than Asda on Black Friday lol.
At least you got to see the Toy soldiers, we even missed them too dagnabbit!! :0)

nighttowll - I'm thinking that a lot of this was part inexperience and part stupidity on our half as we could have easily planned out a better plan of action and avoided getting swept along with the masses as after listening to yours and everyone else's advice we could have done it a whole lot differently which in turn would have led to a better experience. But as with a lot of things, you live, you learn!

 

[April2012]

Done MNSSHP 6 times (plus twice in Disneyland, CA) plus other parties like Pirates etc but never done the Xmas party, seen far too many complaints about it. Very popular though.

The annoying thing is, we wanted to do MNSSHP but was too late. Some friends of ours highly recommended it so we assumed MVMCP would be the same! Weird how they could be so different

 

[nighttowll]

Definitely, a live and learn thing.

I think we made one attempt at the hub / main street area where everything was going on. It was like Black Friday. Like a level 10 day. My sister has some health problems and bruises and breaks really easily, so it only took us about a minute to realize that that area was not the place for us.

It was really weird; though, the rest of the park felt deserted. Like it was a level 1 day. You seemed to have either the one extreme or the other.

 

[Elise79]

Elise79 - Yep, a sell out is certainly something we'll avoid in the future too I think but how do you know it's going to be a sell out when you get your tickets??
To be honest we didn't realise the castle show was the same until a few days later when we were back at MK and saw the same one whilst we were waiting for the parade!
Gutted we missed the fireworks but we really did just want to leave by that point They sound amazing!

We won't buy tickets before we get there! I would rather pay full price than waste money on a sold out party. However as a rule the first couple of parties (both Halloween and Christmas) and the last few will be sold out. The last ones to sell out and best bet at lower crowds would be a Tuesday.

The sold out parties we did have been MNSHHP - waiting for over an hour so we could see the parade and waiting in lines for the trick or treat stations is not a great way to spend my evening when I have paid so much for the tickets.

 

[Kath2003]

Like Wayne, I have to say I've never really heard good things about MVMCP, which is a real contrast to MNSSHP. A shame really when you think how much it costs
We have never been at Christmas - though we would love to - but certainly wouldn't go out of our way to attend a MVMCP given the feedback I've seen.

 

[queendisney]

Like Wayne, I have to say I've never really heard good things about MVMCP, which is a real contrast to MNSSHP. A shame really when you think how much it costs
We have never been at Christmas - though we would love to - but certainly wouldn't go out of our way to attend a MVMCP given the feedback I've seen.

I must admit I loved it last year but we went on a 'not so busy' night and that definitely makes a massive difference. This year was horrendous but it wouldn't stop me going again. I still prefer it loads more then MNSCHP by far, that does absolutely nothing for me and I've given that several goes just to make sure it wasn't just a 'bad day'!

 

[joolz1910]

Because of the time of year we went, we could only do the last MNSSHP and the first MVMCP. We enjoyed both but preferred MNSSHP. You don't get much 'extra', considering the ticket prices, although I am sure it would be better if each night hadn't been sold out.

 

[Rain]

We did it a few years ago but would not do it again.
I think it is a waste of money and time. It was very busy, very cold and like a previous poster said we did not even find the hot chocolate. The best bit was the snow on main street it somehow felt magical even though we can get enough of that stuff at home!

 

[chmurf]

I'll try not to be harsh with those who didn't find the hot choc and cookies (so don't take it personnal, I'm just saying for future guests' reference)

you get a map at the entrance, and cookies&choc locations have a 12 foot candy cane and signage in front of them.

 

[April2012]

I'll try not to be harsh with those who didn't find the hot choc and cookies (so don't take it personnal, I'm just saying for future guests' reference)

you get a map at the entrance, and cookies&choc locations have a 12 foot candy cane and signage in front of them.

this doesn't surprise me in the slightest that I missed it. I'm the sort that could walk past my own mother in the street and not realise....flamin oblivious