Mickey's Very Merry - Anyone else disappointed??

[firstwdw]

We went 2 years ago and found it to be extremely crowded. We had to watch the fireworks from behind the castle because Main St was so packed even though we tried to get a spot well before the show. Never saw the snow on Main St. Only met Goofy which we could have done in HS. Couldn't get anywhere near the castle lighting. Had to wait 30min for Small World?!?! The only thing we did enjoy was the 10:30 parade but certainly not worth the ticket price in our opinion.

 

[Rajah]

I was a little, but apparently my expectations were too high. They were based on my experience years ago, and apparently Disney is selling more tickets now than they used to. Plus, I *know* there were more, special party-specific decorations in the past.

The parade and fireworks didn't disappoint at all, though, and those are what we really went for.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

I would also like to know. Packing for this trip is very difficult. We are flying Spirit so one checked bag per person (and only 40lbs) is proving to be very difficult!!

We had a range of weather from when we were there. We packed a half and half shorts and jeans. Then all t-shirts and layered with a zip up hoodie with dollar store gloves when it got chilly in the evenings. It worked for the most part as one night got really cold and we were a little chilled that evening.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

I guess it depends on the night. After the parade we went to 7DMT and only had a 15 minute wait (shorter than with our FP during the day). We walked onto Buzz Lightyear and then later went on it again and we were the only three people on it in viewing distance. We each took our own car and I was finally able to figure out some strategy as I was able to see my laser instead of dozens of other people's. We even did the Barnstormer since there was no one in line. I think that Space Mountain was a 15 minute wait. POTC was a walk on. We didn't get in line for the seven dwarves character photos but we watched their anticsfor a bit and got some decent pictures in between people going up for pictures. I would say that there may have been about a 15 minute wait or so. I can't remember what all else we did (other than the fireworks and the final stage show) - all I know is that we got there about 7:30 and didn't leave until the final stage show was over a little after midnight and it seemed like we did pretty much everything we wanted to. We didn't do Splash Mountain as it was a relatively cold night and I didn't intend to get wet.



We must have had a good night. We got the peppermint bark cookies, which were my favourite, the ginger molasses cookies (second favourite), the snow cones, the apple cider (far better than the hot chocolate IMO) as well as the sugar cookies and hot chocolate. We were also given some packaged cookies on our way in.

This was our fourth MCMVP and I think it was probably the best one for us.

As far as non cookies we did get the different drinks/snow cones. My whole family agrees that the cider(which is actually nice and warm) is far better than the hot(not really warm)chocolate. The kids liked the snow cones but I didn't think they had much flavor. And the eggnog wasn't my thing. I make peppermint fudge which is hugely popular so I think my whole family would have loved the peppermint bark, it just wasn't at any of the stations at the times we went. I'm not sure why? We kept getting snickerdoodles and the snowman sugar cookies everywhere.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

Almost all of the cookie stops were snowman cookies when we were there last week.

Exactly, what is with all the advertising of different treats and then some nights not having them?

 

[Mel887]

We went to the party on Dec 13 and had an awesome time. It was the first time I've been to any of the parties. We walked on the majority of the rides, especially during the time of the 1st parade. The longest we waited was 10-15 mins for Space Mountain. SDMT was posted at 30 mins most of the night, but we didn't try to ride it since we had a FP earlier for it. I was surprised when we got an awesome view of the fireworks, just to the right of the castle, only about 15-20 mins before they started. Also got a great spot on main street for the 11:00 parade about 25 mins before the parade was supposed to start (started late). Character lines were really long, but we knew this and didn't have much of a desire to wait. We had gone to MK earlier in the week and it was so insanely busy that it was nice to have a night to get all the rides in since I was with 3 people who had never been before! Had a great time and midnight came way too quickly. Maybe since I had never been before I didn't really have any expectations, but we all definitely loved it.

 

[jascm]

Not disappointed in MVMCP, but I like MNSSHP so much better.

 

[DekrRini]

I've gone the last few years and it seems to get busier and busier every year. On my first MVMCP I actually had an entire boat to myself on POtC. I know that was the exception not the rule, but it was nice. Walking from place to place doesn't seem much less crowded than during the day. I don't think I'll go back again because it's too expensive for what I want to experience.

 

[SuperTink]

Our last time at MVMCP was in 2014. We went several years before that and enjoyed it because it wasn't oversold. In 2014, the crowds were terrible for everything except rides/attractions & we weren't there for that. We were there for M&G (of which we did one due to the lines), parade (because we didn't line up 1 hour early we were many people back deep and I couldn't see), lines for cocoa/cookies were long, & we did see the fireworks at least. It was not worth the cost for us.

Ditto. Over a short period of time the price doubled and so did the crowds. Not worth it.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I wonder how uncrowded parties in previous years were. We did the Fri, Dec 9 party, which was sold out, and we thought there was a lot of elbow room in the park. In fact, the park was far more crowded in the early afternoon than it was as 7pm approached. During the party, headliner lines were really short (SM 20 minutes, iasw a walk-on, etc,), and it was easy to walk across the park to hit the cookie stations--where lines were only a couple of minutes each. We didn't do any character meets, and we do agree that the hot cider was better than the lukewarm (at best) allegedly hot chocolate. But we also thought it was chintzy that the same blue-snowman sugar cookie appeared in more than one location. We had no problem standing in the middle of a relatively uncrowded Main Street to watch the fireworks, and no problem sitting down on the curb after the fireworks to watch the 2nd parade. In fact, we've done a couple of Disneyland Halloween parties before and thought Magic Kingdom's Christmas party was much less crowded than those and much better organized. Our only real problem was the hour we spent sitting on the curb. Dec 9 that evening was in the mid-50s (and falling--we and everyone else were bundled up), and sitting beneath the nonstop, blasting fake snow after the fireworks was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g!

I bet there's a law of diminishing returns, though, as the ticket prices rise and you've already seen the parade multiple times year after year. We felt that same thing in just two years of Disneyland Halloween parties. But for us as first-timers, the MK Christmas parade alone was worth it. I've wanted to watch those toy soldiers march down Main Street forever, and to me it was almost as enchanting as my all-time favorite Disney parade (DL's Soundsational.) So overall for us, MVMCP was definitely expensive but also very manageable and magical.

 

[DisneyFan119]

The last time I was at disney at Christmas time was in 2005. This year, we went to mvmcp on Dec 13 (three adults, one on electric scooter). I was not disappointed at all. We went in with a plan, focusing on shows, parade, fireworks, treats, and few rides.

We saw all shows, dance party, fireworks, late parade, and visited all treat locations (except circus one) multiple times. They all had different drinks/treats. In fact, they had EXTRA treat stations set up, and those were the ones that had repeat snowman cookies. Also, I think they purposely make the "hot" chocolate not so hot so people don't get burned and you can chug it faster. I had at least 5 cups of hot chocolate lol. The egg nog was yummy to me, and the sno cone was refreshing.

We got on a few rides in between the shows with very little wait. And after the 11:00 parade, which was delayed, we went to SDMT and only waited at most 15 min (I can't remember exactly, but it felt short).

I also agree that main street is very crowded, but we were expecting that, so it was manageable. But once you spread out from there, it was not busy feeling at all. Overall, I loved the party, it really put me in the Christmas mood - the special lighting everywhere, endless treats, festive and cheerful cast members, etc. Also, we had tremendous weather (I wore shorts and a light weight shirt). If I wanted to include some character meets in there, I'm not sure we would have been able to do it all. But since we're not into meet and greets, it worked out and we felt like we got the most use of our time for our money. If I could do the party again, I would.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Dh and I did the party on Dec. 13. I do think its a little overpriced.

My favorite was watching the parade. The fireworks were good and dh favorite thing was the new show in front of the castle It really had a lot of characters in it.

The only rides we went on were It's a Small World and Peter Pan.

We had the blue snow cone and blue snowman cooks at Friars Nook.

The line for the eggnog was crazy busy. We were waiting for the parade across from there in the handicapped section.

We happened upon Mary Poppins and Bert and took a pic with them. Was not planning that.

Bonus for the night: We got to see one of ds old hs friends, his wife and 8 month old triplets. They live in Fl. and we just happened to be walking past them. Totally great surprise! Made my night.

 

[hoffman1]

We did the party on Dec. 9th. I don't think it was a sold out party but it was extremely crowded!
We only got the snowman cookies as we walked in and the molasses cookies with eggnog (the eggnog cup was only filled a quarter of the way--literally only two swallows).
We were able to get on the Jingle Cruise with only a 5 minute wait at the beginning of the party.
We got our picture with Mickey immediately after the first parade with no wait (we were the first ones in line after the parade).
We saw the second parade in a relatively uncrowded area near the barber shop.
I waited in line at Cosmic Ray's for 50 minutes.
I am not sure we will do the party again. It is so expensive and the crowds were just overwhelming for us.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas party than when we went on 12/15 (ok, maaaaaaaybe I wish it was a little warmer). Our goals were rides and the late parade, along with hitting every treat spot at least once. No interest in character meets.

We were let in at 3:45 p.m. and we were on our first ride, Space Mountain with a fast pass, at 4 p.m. In the eight hours that we were in Magic Kingdom we were able to ride every attraction that was open once, and we even did some rides twice (Space, Buzz, Astro, & Splash). We got in line for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 7:45 p.m. with a posted wait time of 30 minutes and we walked out of the ride at 8:08 p.m. We walked to Main Street from Pooh at 10:45 and were able to get a second row seat for the parade. The people on the curb sat down the entire time so we had a perfect view and lots of character interaction. We walked out of Magic Kingdom as the parade ended and we were able to get on a waiting bus for All-Star Movies and we were back at our resort Buy 12:20.

We actually flew down just for that one event. It was my daughter's birthday and I figured it was "worth" it for us to get party tickets vs. a 1 day ticket, and I really think it worked out in our favor. I've never been to the Halloween Party so I can't compare the two.

 

[Virtucomp]

We were at the Christmas Party on Dec 2nd. The lines for anything but Fantasyland were short. BTMRR was a walk on most of the time we were in that area. I have not ridden the speedway in years but the wait was so short we went on.

We notice that there seemed to be a high number of people camping out the entire night in the circle in front of the castle. Each time we cut through the hub we saw the same groups either watching the stage show or waiting for the parade. Not the best use of the extra party cost.

We thought the show on the castle stage was great. The parade was extra long and had lots of characters. The fireworks for Wishes are always great so the Holiday ones were no disappointment.

We tried the snacks at all of the stations but started getting full towards then end. We should have skipped dinner. The flavored ice in Fantasyland was really the only lame treat but it was a warm night.

We were an adult couple so I think it would be worth going back with some grandchildren in future years but there are none on the way so it will be a while.

 

[mom2rtk]

We were at the Christmas Party on Dec 2nd. The lines for anything but Fantasyland were short. BTMRR was a walk on most of the time we were in that area. I have not ridden the speedway in years but the wait was so short we went on.

We notice that there seemed to be a high number of people camping out the entire night in the circle in front of the castle. Each time we cut through the hub we saw the same groups either watching the stage show or waiting for the parade. Not the best use of the extra party cost.

We thought the show on the castle stage was great. The parade was extra long and had lots of characters. The fireworks for Wishes are always great so the Holiday ones were no disappointment.

We tried the snacks at all of the stations but started getting full towards then end. We should have skipped dinner. The flavored ice in Fantasyland was really the only lame treat but it was a warm night.

We were an adult couple so I think it would be worth going back with some grandchildren in future years but there are none on the way so it will be a while.

And some would say that doing rides you can do during the regular park day is not a good use of party cost. It's really just a matter of what one values most and how your trip is structured. I wouldn't want to camp out all night for a view of the parade, but once you decide to camp, you might as well do it for a while so you can see stage show, parade and fireworks from the same spot. We sometimes did 2 parties so we could concentrate on characters one night and shows and such the other night without feeling stressed for time. Lots of great options.

 

[tiggerluver12]

We went to MVMCP in 2006 - back when it wasn't quite as popular as it is now. All rides were walk on. Did Space Mountain a dozen times in a row. Plenty of room to watch the parades. Lots of characters and it was fantastic. Knowing how crowded MK can get now that Disney sells out most nights - we won't do it again. Going to keep my memory of 2006.

 

[nicole88s]

We were at the party on 12/8 and 12/15. I thought both were extremely uncrowded. Neither sold out. We rode Big Thunder 5 times in a row and requested the back each time, we rode Space 4 times in a row and each time the wait was basically how quickly you could walk the line. We found an almost front row, seated spot in the hub grass at 9:58 to watch the fireworks at 10. We don't meet characters, but we could see the line to Nick and Judy from the Peoplemover and it didn't look long at all.

The last party I attended was either 2012 or 2013 the first week of December and that party did sell out. I think the higher prices are making it so many nights don't sell out. Each night we were there that had a party, we got a voicemail on our hotel phone telling us about the party and how we could buy tickets.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

It was ok. I went on Thursday Dec. 8th. The party wasn't sold out. I didn't care for the new castle show, loved meeting Nick and Judy, loved the parade and fireworks.
Made several rounds of all the new treats and put some cookies in a small tupperware container that I brought in with me to have as my breakfast the next morning. Had the cupcake from Gastons and rode some of the attractions. Listened to the Cowboy Caroler's in Frontierland (that's what I called them - not their real name). And did my shopping - picking up a tshirt and pins. I didn't care for the ornament design.

Because I've been in the past, I didn't bother with other characters and really didn't have much time for them anyway. I still prefer MNSSHP way more.

 

[christianweecare]

DH & I had done several Christmas parties a number of years ago. The last one that we attended wound us up. It was so packed that we could hardly do anything. We came for the special Christmas events, not the rides. We have been going to the MK for 41 years so the rides are not an issue for us. The cost kept going up and the crowds expanding. No thanks!