Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

[frozonefan]

I'm interested in your reviews for this. It's pretty expensive for just a few hours, but we are considering doing it the everning we go to AK since it usually closes earlier. Does Mickey's VMCP take place every night in December or just the week before Christmas (We will be there the first week of December)? Also, what do youknow about extra magic hours. I know they used to open the park an hour earlier for resort guests, but I heard they were extending hours after official closing as well? How do they enforce this? How long do the parks stay open for evening hours?

 

[DisneyWisher]

I'm interested in your reviews for this. It's pretty expensive for just a few hours, but we are considering doing it the everning we go to AK since it usually closes earlier. Does Mickey's VMCP take place every night in December or just the week before Christmas (We will be there the first week of December)? Also, what do youknow about extra magic hours. I know they used to open the park an hour earlier for resort guests, but I heard they were extending hours after official closing as well? How do they enforce this? How long do the parks stay open for evening hours?

MVMCP begins the Sunday after Thanksgiving til about the 17th or 18th of December. Its typically Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Not every day. You are able to get into MVMCP at 4pm even though it doesn't begin til 7pm. Considering Advanced tickets are usually $35 I don't think its expensive at all. Just enjoy your resort, the pool if its warm enough, maybe DTD, and arrive at the Christmas Party at 4pm, you'll have 8 hours to enjoy. Evening Extra Magic Hours (EMH) allows the park to be open 3 hours later than normal closing. The way they enforce it is by giving wristbands for resort guests to wear showing they are allowed to be there. I'd go to Disney's site for a complete list of calender days for which park and what rides are open. Not all rides are open during EMH. MK has the most but from what I've read it gets very crowded there.

 

[Linzybrooke]

My husband and I went to MVMCP during our Honeymoon and it is certainly worth the extra ticket fee. There are characters everywhere, especially ones that are harder to find, and cast members know where they will be, the lines for the rides are pretty much nonexistent, the show in front of the castle is pretty cute, the parade is amazing, you get a free photo and you get free cocoa and cookies!

Let me know if you want to know anything specific!

 

[frozonefan]

What rides are typically open and does the parade run twice. Seems like the crowd would thin out after the first run. Thanks.

 

[Linzybrooke]

The parade did run twice and we watched it the second time from a spot right on Main Street. Pretty much everything we wanted to ride was open...I actually can't think of one that wasn't... I know we did all of Fantasy Land and Tomorrow Land as well as Pirates and Haunted Mansion. I believe others were open as well.

 

[lpbm4]

Where do you buy tix for this? We'll be flying in on Sunday, December 3rd. Someone suggested to me that we buy tix to this event and not bother with a park hopper ticket for our arrival day, which was our original plan. Just buy the MVMCP tickets and go into the park at 4pm for this. Anyone else do this? If so, I think we'll try to get a later flight in and save a little cash on the park hopper.

Are all tickets $35 or are they cheaper for children?

 

[Kycha]

One ride that I know is closed during MVMCP is The Jungle Cruise. I think that it is well worth the money to go. They have a lot of special shows, and the parade is fun.

 

[Straitlover]

I looked up the prices for the 2005 parties. Per Allearsnet, they were:

Advance Purchase Sun, Tues, Thurs Adult $41.49, Child (3-9) $31.90

Advance Purchase Fri nights and Day of Event (Sun, Tues, Thurs) Adult $46.81, Child $37.23

Annual Passholder Discount (only valid for certain dates) Adult $35.10, child $27.64

I went to the 12/13/05 party (Tues). We (my sis and I) did not go to another park that day. We resort hopped and then got to MK around 4:30 or so. We had a great time!!! I am thinking of doing a solo trip to Mousefest this Dec. If I do, I will definetly be going back to the party!

 

[slapwhitey]

I'm also all for MVMCP. We did this a few years ago and it was probably the best money I spent all trip. There were times in Adventureland and Frontierland when we were literally the only people around. Almost as though we shouldn't have been there. Would absolutely do it again.

 

[karaeric]

Where do you buy tix for this? We'll be flying in on Sunday, December 3rd. Someone suggested to me that we buy tix to this event and not bother with a park hopper ticket for our arrival day, which was our original plan. Just buy the MVMCP tickets and go into the park at 4pm for this. Anyone else do this? If so, I think we'll try to get a later flight in and save a little cash on the park hopper.

Are all tickets $35 or are they cheaper for children?

First off, let me say that we have been to MVMCP twice and loved every minute of it. Absolutely worth the money.

That being said, I will caution you on doing this the day you arrive. Now, you won't be traveling as far as we do from CA, but it sure makes for a long day. We attended MVMCP the first year on the day of arrival. Although we enjoyed it, we were exhausted and left earlier than we had wanted to without experiencing the parade. Second time, we waited until we had gotten settled at the resort for a day or two. Way more fun, and we saw and did everything we wanted to.

Did anyone mention there is a free photo also included? We take ours every time with Santa Goofy/Tiger hats! Lots of fun, could be used for holiday cards if you wanted.

 

[2giddy4wdw]

Mickey's Toontown is also closed during the party. I have been quite a few times, we went twice last year. I love going. I think it's a great time. And we always end up with good seats for the 2nd parade without waiting. Most people I noticed leave after the first one!! Which is great for us!! Hope you have a great time if you decide to go!!!

 

[lpbm4]

Thanks Karaeric!!! GOod to know! I'm sure my kids will be extremely excited as it is to be on their 1st plane ride that day as it is...then adding a trip to Disney and expecting them to stay up later is asking a lot!

 

[helenm29]

Hey Frozonefan, it was very nice at the MVMCP. We figured it would be very crowded and that we wouldn't be able to ride anything but it wasn't too bad. We actually let the kids ride most of the rides while we listened to the live bands in Tomorrow Land. Be careful when you get your complimentary hot chocolate...it's really HOT! you will love it I'm sure and it's well worth the money in my opinion.

 

[goofy4tink]

One thing to be careful of with MVMCP is to try and decide what is more important to you...rides or shows. It's really hard to try and do both. Some of the shows are really wonderful. I have done it three times now and planning on doing it again next Dec.
As far as the extra magic hours go...yes, they are still doing this. A particular park will open to resort guest only, one hour early on a set day. And there is usually a park that is open to resort guests for 3 hrs at night, after the park closes to the general public. The morning EMHs aren't any different..just show your resort room key and in you go, with your park pass of course. At night, there are certain areas in the parks where you go to get wristbands. Your room key will be scanned and you will have a colored wrist band put on. They start passing these out about 2 hrs. before the park closes. I understand that if a CM does not see that wrist band on you, and the park has closed to the public, you don't get into that attraction.
You should be able to find a listing of which parks are having EMH mornings and evening either at the official WDW site or here on the DIS , under park hours.

 

[princesspiglet]

BTW, tickets went on sale last year on April 30. it will probably be the same this year. It is best to buy in advance via the WDW website or over the phone. It would suck to wait until you get there to find out it is old out! They only sell 20k tickets to each party, so it doesn't feel crowded at all. We have been to the party every year we have gone in December and would never even think of missing it!