Mickey's Very Merry - Anyone else disappointed??

[3Gsandme]

Here's what I liked;

Holiday Wishes was spectacular. Since I love Wishes like one of my children, it was a real treat.

The parade was great.

We did encounter short lines. We didn't even bother looking st the Mine Train (we rode via FastPass), but just about everything was walk on. I think we waited ten minutes for Peter Pan, but since we always fastpass that, I hadn't seen the new queue and it's adorable.

I didn't like that seeing everything was impossible. I wanted to see the show and the dance party, but there was just no time. Same with a character meets. My niece wanted to meet the poor characters, but no time. :/ That could have been due to me not organizing my plan well.

ETA: Myself and my two older girls stayed until midnight, so it wasn't like we cut out early.

 

[AngiTN]

I didn't like that seeing everything was impossible. I wanted to see the show and the dance party, but there was just no time. Same with a character meets. My niece wanted to meet the poor characters, but no time. :/ That could have been due to me not organizing my plan well.

ETA: Myself and my two older girls stayed until midnight, so it wasn't like we cut out early.

I don't think it was your lack of planning. It's hard, if not impossible, to get it all in over a single party.
There is almost too much to see/do, even if they had no lines it would be hard.
We opted to make a list of things we wanted to get done and concentrate on them and then fill in with the rest.
Sandy Claws was #1, so we got in line for him before the party started. Unfortunately for us, our night was one where he didn't come out till 7:00 on the nose. We were still done by 7:30 and it was worth the wait. But he was our only rare character to wait for. We passed on 7 Dwarfs and Nick/Judy. Would have been nice to see them but I'm not sure it would be possible and get anything else done.
We caught Wishes from behind the castle and then scooted on in to meet the Princesses with their Princes. They had no lines following fireworks. Then on to more rides, cookies, etc. Caught the last parade and ate at Casey's right as they closed up, letting the crowds head to the buses in front of us.
All in all I was pleased with what we got done but we had plenty of other times to get in rides so that helps a lot with freeing up party focused things

 

[phillymummer]

I went to it this year (11-10) and was not impressed, . The lines for rides were short though during the party (they seemed long between 4-7). Between 7 and 9 we rode HM and then Splash twice- both walk-on. I liked the parade, but I didn't think it was anything grand. I like the Halloween parade much better. I thought the fireworks were just ok. I think Wishes and Hallowishes are much better. Sometime later in the night, 7dmt, the Carousel, and winnie the pooh were all closed. 7dmt didn't re-open. I never did get any hot chocolate. I didn't get in line for any M&Gs. After the fireworks, we walked on IASM and Little Mermaid. The Jingle Cruise, and PP had about 20 minute waits. So.... there is still some hope for a party with rides that are walk-on. That was the best part. I wish I hadn't spent the time waiting around on Main St to see the fireworks (we had a good spot on Main street for the first parade, so we didn't move for the fireworks).

I don't know how to explain it. I just wasn't impressed. I thought snow fell on Main street all the time- not just in spurts. The only time I saw snow fall was while waiting for the parade and fireworks. Even though the Jungle Cruise was cute.... I wouldn't need to do to again. I'm glad I did it once. I don't think I would do it again.

 

[Accident]

I wouldn't say I'm disappointed with it but I also didn't go in the first time expecting the most extreme party there was. It is just a parade, fireworks show, stage show and some characters and when you go in with that expectation it's what you get. It once was so much more and a must do, but not lately and it seems with higher ticket prices they have also increased the number of tickets they sell lessing the experience even more.

I would call it a do it at least once but don't expect too much from it. If characters are your thing at disney then it's more of a don't miss event.

 

[kiford]

Rides, well, they are usually much shorter than during operating hours but not as short as 15 min max.

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 went to all the treat locations both nights and never found the chocolate peppermint cookies which we might have liked and only found the ginger ones one night(they were pretty good compared to the others)
So the treats were definitely not worth the hype.

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.

 

[WDWNY]

We did it the first time this year. I personally was soo excited to go. We all agreed that it was a cool experience to do once but we wouldn't do it again- at least not at the price. We don't think it's worth more than $50, if that.

 

[BrookeMQ]

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

 

[jolene63]

We went to the MNSSHP last fall and felt the exact way you felt about your party. I was so disappointed in the whole experience and regretted spending all that extra money for my family to go to it.

 

[poppinspenguins]

I have never done this party myself, but I am scheduled to do it this year for the first time on 12/22. I've read this event is now sold out and I am *very* nervous as to what is in store for us.

However, I had a Disney newbie ask me my advice and I actually recommended that instead of paying for a full day of park time with a toddler that they do the MVMCP instead because lines and crowds were guaranteed to be shorter and smaller.

Well, I should have kept my mouth shut because these first timers came back horribly disappointed and I felt awful. The little girl didn't get to see Minnie because the wait was over 30 minutes and the baby didn't have the patience to wait that long. Ride times were 30-45 minute waits, and again, toddler with no patience was in tow, and while they did say they got to see the parade and enjoyed it, that's as about all they got to enjoy. Now, one side of the coin says, "great time to teach your kid patience", but the other side of the coin feels bad for telling these people that they should do this party over a regular park day with fastpass+.

So no, you're not alone in your disappointment.

We went to the mk on Dec 1. It was a party day and we have toddlers so we were hoping for low crowds. It.was.awesome. probably the best mk day we have ever had. I put this in another post, but we got there late, about 1030ish (we all had a bit of a cold).

We got my daughter's first haircut (walk in)
Jingle cruise
Big thunder
Speedway 4 times
Barnstormer
Tea cups (no wait)
Dumbo twice (no wait)
Small world
Donald, goofy (no wait)
Tinker bell.

We didn't wait longer than 10 minutes for anything.

We got to see castle lights and snow on the way out. There were way more people as the party started than during the day.

We as a family really don't care about fireworks...and the kids are tired by then. we usually just watch from the ferry on the way back.

So, if you like short lines and don't really care about the special parade and fireworks, I highly reco going on a party day.

If we are lucky enough to during the holidays again, I will only go on a party day and skip the party (i have never been, but based on the offering and what we are interested in, I can't justify it)

 

[mikeyg1479]

Yeah, I just find the whole concept silly. Don't know why regular parkgoers can't enjoy holiday fun. (I know, money, but at least they should offer a $30 upgrade or something, if you already have a day pass.

 

[mom2rtk]

We went to the mk on Dec 1. It was a party day and we have toddlers so we were hoping for low crowds. It.was.awesome. probably the best mk day we have ever had. I put this in another post, but we got there late, about 1030ish (we all had a bit of a cold).

We got my daughter's first haircut (walk in)
Jingle cruise
Big thunder
Speedway 4 times
Barnstormer
Tea cups (no wait)
Dumbo twice (no wait)
Small world
Donald, goofy (no wait)
Tinker bell.

We didn't wait longer than 10 minutes for anything.

We got to see castle lights and snow on the way out. There were way more people as the party started than during the day.

We as a family really don't care about fireworks...and the kids are tired by then. we usually just watch from the ferry on the way back.

So, if you like short lines and don't really care about the special parade and fireworks, I highly reco going on a party day.

If we are lucky enough to during the holidays again, I will only go on a party day and skip the party (i have never been, but based on the offering and what we are interested in, I can't justify it)

That's exactly why I love visiting WDW during hard ticket party season. It's harder and harder to find low crowd days, but the presence or absence of parties is one factor that continues to help.

Yeah, I just find the whole concept silly. Don't know why regular parkgoers can't enjoy holiday fun. (I know, money, but at least they should offer a $30 upgrade or something, if you already have a day pass.

Try Disneyland. The full holiday experience is included with every ticket. No Christmas party there. It's a different clientele, and different management.

 

[Missyrose]

Yeah, I just find the whole concept silly. Don't know why regular parkgoers can't enjoy holiday fun. (I know, money, but at least they should offer a $30 upgrade or something, if you already have a day pass.

In addition to @mom2rtk's DL suggestion, you could also visit WDW during the last two weeks of the year. The Christmas stuff gets added to the regular park day, along with the biggest crowds of the year.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

It's kind of sad because these parties really can be crowd and luck dependant.

I often do 2 parties a season, whether it be the Halloween or Christmas party. I went to 2 of the Halloween ones this year, neither was sold out. However, one was a lot more crowded. The less crowded one was so much fun, we just went from character to character and got lots of candy and lucked into several short ride waits and got a great spot for the parade and fireworks.

The other party was still OK but it wasn't the great experience of the first.

It just kind of sucks that you basically need a lot of luck to enjoy these parties. You can have the best plan and attitude ever and still have a bad time.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I have gone multiple times in the past starting around 2003 and it seems each year we have gone (roughly 6 times to the present) it seems that something from the past party is removed. It was amazing early on, but recently I have not been able to justify the cost. This year my parents went, but I didn't take my finacee because the cost seemed too high. 2 years ago I waited almost an hour to ride the Mine Train at the end of the party after the 2nd parade. The atmosphere is fun and I enjoy seeing the special parade and fireworks, but it is hard to justify the cost for those 2 items.

 

[prprincess]

Attended years ago, and agree that it was nice to do it once, but I don't think we'll be doing it again.

 

[Selket]

We went to both the Halloween and Christmas parties this year. I had been to both before several years ago but never done both in the same year. Both I and my 14 year old son agreed that we enjoyed the Halloween party a lot more - the parade and fireworks and castle show were better and the trick-or-treating was fun. We actually went to 2 Halloween parties on our Fall trip. We didn't do characters except I (alone) waited to see Jack as Sandy Claws at the Christmas party this Sunday past (the wait wasn't bad and he was awesome in character). It also seemed like there were more lights and theming up in the parks for the Halloween party but maybe I'm imagining that? There didn't seem to be so much except on Main Street for the Christmas party. I think eating during the party wasn't that appealing because we weren't that hungry so the cookies and stuff...never tried any of it - lol! At least the Halloween candy we took home and snacked on for awhile.

I'd go back for Halloween over Christmas personally (for the party).

 

[jekjones1558]

We used to go every year until they did away with "Mickey's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas." We loved that live show. The parade and Wishes are great but not enough to get us back. It is just so crowded now and that takes away from the enjoyment. Definitely would recommend everyone see this once, however.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

We went exactly a year ago and we will not go again... it wasn't one thing in particular, it just wasn't good. We loved MNSSHP so we figured MVMCP would be great, nope. We always try and do something special on each trip and there are so many options now, it looks like behind the scenes tours now.

 

[skipfierce]

While I will say that we enjoyed the Halloween party better, we were not disappointed with the Christmas party.

 

[Phdmama06]

I went this year (and for the last five or so years as well) and still truly enjoy it. We tend to make our MVMCP evening on a day when we don't otherwise go into the parks, and tend to show up at 4 and stay until nearly closing. Even being there that long, it is difficult to get to everything. We're not really into stage shows or parades, so we don't usually do those. We don't tend to do a lot of character photos either, so most of our time is focused on riding the rides, seeing Fireworks, eating the treats, and seeing the castle all lit up. I appreciate that it's a time when it's not hot and sunny, and if you happen upon the right night, the crowd levels are lower. It's fun seeing the cast members and guests in their Christmas clothes and enjoying the atmosphere. I would love to see it more decorated - beyond main street - as that's one area where I feel like they fall short. Maybe I just haven't been paying enough attention but I don't see significant cutbacks in offerings from (recent) previous years? Though I agree that it's just impossible to do absolutely everything - because even though we cut out quite a few things, we were still busy the ENTIRE time. I wasn't thrilled with the price increases but this event hasn't yet crossed the "this is too expensive for what it is" threshold for me. So I will keep going back.