Mickey's Very Merry - Anyone else disappointed??

[Travis B]

We did it for the first time last week and wouldn't do it again. It probably doesn't help that I'm not a big Christmas person, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Halloween party in terms of the show or parade or fireworks, IMO. I would pay to do the Halloween party again - Christmas, definitely not.

 

[sharonabe]

We did it on Nov 13 and LOVED it. Towards the end of the evening 7DMT had a 30 min wait posted, but it was only about 20 min the first time we did it, and then about 15 min the second time. Our focus was the rides and attractions as the party was a personal add-on to our cruise that left the next day. We rode Buzz, Space Mtn, People Mover, Winnie, Peter Pan, IASW, Little Mermaid, 7DMT 2x, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jingle Cruise, Carousel, and Philharmagic. We also had dinner at BoG with an ADR at 6:20. We didn't do any characters and skipped the parade in favor of riding. We did do some shopping, though!

I don't know that it would be worth it to me to do it along with a regular trip to WDW with regular tickets. MNSSHP wouldn't either. The cost is just too high. But when we saw there was a party that night before we sailed, we couldn't pass up adding on a day to our trip to experience it and it was very much worth that.

 

[jwfla422]

My thinking is that it wouldn't be as busy in early/mid November, curious to know if they sell as many tix then as they do in December?

We did it for the first time last week and wouldn't do it again. It probably doesn't help that I'm not a big Christmas person, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Halloween party in terms of the show or parade or fireworks, IMO. I would pay to do the Halloween party again - Christmas, definitely not.

Thought about doing the Halloween party as well-what was different about it (other than dressing up)? We had many opps to do this when my dd was younger but went mostly went with the "free" party at the BW because it was fun for her and when they first started it they had great activities for the kids, not sure what that's like now but even a few yrs ago when we went they began to cut out some of the good stuff there, but it was free so no complaints there

 

[dramadrew]

I was aware of waits for the characters, so that's why I stuck to the minimum for meets. With planning, I met the Pooh gang with ease around 7 PM. I was going off whim for Mary Poppins and Bert and I did get in line at one point. I was told right from the beginning their cut off time and that I could wait in line for their next set 15 minutes later (not an option when I wanted to see the next stage show). Of course, they cut the line off right before me and although I wished for Disney magic since it was only two of us, I did understand the rules. I enjoyed the shows and parade! It also helped to do some rides that night as the next day there was insane with crowds. I just wish we had more time there!

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

Here's my take, we've done quite a few parties and while I prefer Halloween I love them both. You have to go into it with a bit of a plan, meet and greats are generally rare characters so they will have a bit of a wait to them. You could spend your night just doing those I'm sure. We usually pick one or two that are must dos and go from there. I love the special photopass opportunities so those are on my list. There have been years I've completely skipped on the treat aspect either candy or cookies and cocoa, just not that important to me. I always wait for the 2nd parade, it's generally less crazy. Ride wise, you can usually get quite a bit accomplished BUT you can't necessarily go by the posted wait times or even how the lines looks for one big reason - there's no fast passes. So lines generally move much quicker than a normal day. I've never left a party disappointed other than maybe something I forgot I wanted to do or didn't realize was there. I'm sorry you were disappointed, but I have always been quite happy and would go again in a heartbeat.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I think it's a good party for those looking for the Christmas spirit a bit, and are planning a trip JUST to do that.

However, I will chime in and agree that absouelty more new kinds of entertainment and variety needs to spice the party up a bit.

 

[Tucker24]

The more planning and "research" you do the easier it becomes. The longest we waited for a ride was 20-25 minutes for 7 Dwarfs. We used our fast passes in the beginning until 6:30 waited for Goofy and Scrooge without much of a problem. Watched some shows, dance party and grabbed a bite to eat. The best part was a 25-30 minute wait for Sandy Clause right before the firework show. It helps to visit MK on another day and utalize fast passes for the must do's. Prioritize a list but be comfortable with flexibility. And the later shows are MUCH less crowded. We were upfront for the Mickey castle show at 10:30 and front row for 11pm parade right next to the christmas tree. Even got to visit with Mickey at town's square before we left. Our only disappointing thing about the evening is when a whole family cut the line for santa goofy and played it off like they didn't know what was going on. They were beyond obnoxious

 

[ziravan]

Just got back from Tues 12/13 Party.

DD9: "Best night of my life."

We FP'd before the Party so got BTMRR, SM and 7DMT out of the way. We let DD9 do the PinQuest Scavenger Pin Hunt criss crossing MK while also snagging egg nog, sno cones etc from various locales while tracking down pins and riding what was in the area.

Found the perfect spot for parade 15 min before start right at the parade entrance point in Frontier Land just as CMs were roping it off.

Fireworks were awesome.

Ride times were great but again, we weren't trying to ride E tix. Buzz, People Mover, Barnstormer, Carousel etc all walk ons. I noticed 7DMT at 30 min and all other E tix 20 min.

10 min wait for Cinderella and Elena and DGS3 was ecstatic about meeting Elena.

Bought Party TShirts at Big Top.

Watched a guy propose to a girl and her 4 yr old son on Main Street just after fireworks.

For what it was, with reasonable expectations and perfect weather (mid 80s at 4pm, upper 60's when we left at 11), we had a really good time.

I like MNSSHP better because I like the parade better, but, MVMCP tonight was a solid 7/10. A little cheaper and a little less oversold and it'd be close to a 10.

 

[bryanb]

We are odd in that we do think the parade is worth it almost all by itself. It's the most special thing Disney does.

I remember with fondness growing up when Disneyland would hold its nighttime Christmas parade. All of the floats seemed more alive with celebration under the lights. Unfortunately, I believe these days all of the Disneyland Christmas parades are held during the daylight (due to Paint the Night in the evenings). This might be a chance to see a nighttime Christmas parade.

(Edit: I realized after watching YouTube that the Magic Kingdom parade is different than Christmas Fantasy at Disneyland.)

 

[pmaurer74]

Just got back from Tues 12/13 Party.

DD9: "Best night of my life."

We FP'd before the Party so got BTMRR, SM and 7DMT out of the way. We let DD9 do the PinQuest Scavenger Pin Hunt criss crossing MK while also snagging egg nog, sno cones etc from various locales while tracking down pins and riding what was in the area.

Found the perfect spot for parade 15 min before start right at the parade entrance point in Frontier Land just as CMs were roping it off.

Fireworks were awesome.

Ride times were great but again, we weren't trying to ride E tix. Buzz, People Mover, Barnstormer, Carousel etc all walk ons. I noticed 7DMT at 30 min and all other E tix 20 min.

10 min wait for Cinderella and Elena and DGS3 was ecstatic about meeting Elena.

Bought Party TShirts at Big Top.

Watched a guy propose to a girl and her 4 yr old son on Main Street just after fireworks.

For what it was, with reasonable expectations and perfect weather (mid 80s at 4pm, upper 60's when we left at 11), we had a really good time.

I like MNSSHP better because I like the parade better, but, MVMCP tonight was a solid 7/10. A little cheaper and a little less oversold and it'd be close to a 10.

Thanks for your review. The weather sounds like what we will be having Sunday. Were you in short sleeves or long sleeves in the evening?

 

[jkh36619]

I bought both Halloween and Christmas party tickets. I was so disappointed with the Halloween party that I got a refund on my Christmas party tickets. Just too many tickets sold to these events.

 

[Missyrose]

My thinking is that it wouldn't be as busy in early/mid November, curious to know if they sell as many tix then as they do in December?

That first week of parties are very crowded for a number of reasons:
*People trying to do the last MNSSHP and the first MVMCP
*Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend
*Jersey Week
*Last gasp of F&W

But, the good news is, Disney sells the same number of tickets to each party.

 

[Tattylou]

Having never gone at Christmas before, we went to MVMCP for the 1st time on Dec 1. I think maybe it has to do with what you go in expecting. I knew the character waits would be long and there were no must see characters for us as my 6 yr old DS Fmdavorite is Mickey and he's easily seen at other times/places . We had very short waits for rides (15 min for space mountain, 5 min for jingle cruise, Buzz was basically walk on at one point). For me, it was worth it to see the fireworks and snow on Main St. It was just a magical half hour that I guess I paid close to $400 for my family of 4 to see. However, being there at Christmas time has been a wish of mine since I was about 7 years old so I was pretty sentimental and happy just to be there.

 

[Mom3girls]

Thanks for your review. The weather sounds like what we will be having Sunday. Were you in short sleeves or long sleeves in the evening?

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!!

 

[TeamH5]

I was disappointed in that the cookies seemed to be the same snowman sugar cookies.. we got snowcones instead of hot chocolate? Mayve because it was 80 last night. Lol
My husband and daughter went on 7DMT at 11 pm tho and the posted wait time was 40 min, but they were in and done in 20. I was shocked and tried to get them and the rest of our crew to do it again as I know how long the wait usually is and we couldn't get a FP either for our upcoming park day. Speedway was just as long a wait as 7D after the fireworks so I dunno.

But Winnie the Pooh both ride and M&G were ridiculous. We wasted an hour on that but have a 2 yr old so....

Other than that, we saw Mickeys Christmas celebration by tmrw land terrace, I took my daughter and we walked up to the castle to watch Frozen holiday wish, then walked immediately to the train station to meet my husband and other kids for a front row seat for the parade. Then we shopped for a minute and found a front row seat about 15 min before the fireworks on Main Street.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

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.

 

[revdon64]

I'm pretty sure I wrote this before - we went last year in early December and were less than pleased. Positives - Saw Sandy Claws (Jack Skellington) before the actual party started and he was great. The parade is definitely the best part of the night. Ride lines were mostly shorter, but we weren't really at the party for the rides. Snow on main street, even if you're not there for the parade. Negatives - hot chocolate was lukewarm and probably nothing more than powdered mix. Cookies were stale or something, just not right. It was much more crowded than we expected. Overall, I think it's worth experiencing once but I doubt that we'd do it again.

 

[ziravan]

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!!

Shorts and short sleeves mostly but one night dipped into 40's with high that day in mid 50's.

Our experience with Nov/Dec WDW weather is you must be prepared for both extremes. We've gone from winter to summer like weather and and back during this time more than once.

Except for the one cold day that started with an overnight rain, the weather was beautiful. The only rain the whole trip was while we were sleeping.

 

[Seeker615]

We did it a couple of years ago as I wanted to see the MK decorated for the holidays. We were at Universal for the week but took a Mears shuttle into MK for the party.

Overall we did enjoy it. At first I thought it was going to be a bust because we had long waits to even get into the park. Once we got into the park it was so crowded that I was ready to just forget it. Main street was just a cluster of people. You could barely walk. Once we got further in it was a little better but still crazy. Lines were super long for everything so we ducked into Pinocchio's for a quick bite to eat.

Things were looking better after that. I think the pre-party crowd thinned out. we were actually able to do all the rides I wanted to do and we saw the parade and castle show without any hassle. I was disappointed that we didn't meet any characters but the lines were just insane. I did run to a queue for Winnie the Pooh characters but I was too late and they were heading out for a break.

We were there mainly to admire the decorations and ride some rides and see the parade. We did accomplish that. We did have fun singing along to the piped in Christmas music and eating cookies and drinking cocoa.

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

I was disappointed in that the cookies seemed to be the same snowman sugar cookies.. we got snowcones instead of hot chocolate? Mayve because it was 80 last night. Lol

Each treat station had different treats, there were several types of cookies offered.

• Tortuga Tavern (Adventureland) - Hot Chocolate and Snickerdoodle cookie
• Heritage House (Liberty Square) - Eggnog and Gingersnap Molasses Cookie
• The Friar's Nook (Fantasyland) - Snow Cone and Snowman Sugar Cookie
• The Lunching Pad (Tomorrowland) - Hot Chocolate and Peppermint Bark Cookie
• Pete's Silly Sideshow (Fantasyland) - Spiced Apple Cider and Snowman Sugar Cookie