MK on Christmas party night?

[magicwdw]

We are going in November and not going to a party at MK. We have been to the party in the past and enjoyed it though. Is it better to go to MK on a non-party night when the park closes at 11pm with fireworks show and higher crowds or a party night when MK closes at 6pm or 7pm with lighter crowds? I know in the past we didn't like getting herded out that early when we didn't attend the party. I guess its a tradeoff with getting more things done but an early park closing or more Disney magic at night with higher crowds. What do others think?

 

[Skallywag Steph]

I guess it depends on what's more important to you. If you really want to see the fireworks you should go on a non party night. For what it's worth I think lots of people with hoppers go to MK on party days then hop over somewhere else. Also, party guests can get in as early as 4 so I'm not sure how low the crowds may be on party nights.

 

[sharonabe]

Assuming you don't have hoppers, but have 4 or more days, I would plan two days at MK and do one of each. The non-party days are VERY crowded, and those nights are even more crowded since there are only a couple nights a week to see fireworks. But if you want to see HEA inside the park, you deal with it.

This is one reason we always have hoppers if going during party season. We use the party night days to do all our touring and just hop to MK on the evening we want to see the fireworks. I can handle the crowds for an hour or so in order to see the fireworks, but don't want to deal with them all day.

 

[Disnsyncey]

Just to give you some of my experiences, this past weekend, we went to MK 3 times, 2 AMs on party nights (Friday and Tuesday), and then Saturday PM (like 3 or so?) for the dessert party for HEA...

We did AK for rope drop and AM and early afternoon, then hopped over to MK for Saturday night, and we literally just did all the shows, CoP, Country Bears, Tiki Room, and Philharmagic (and even that had a 20 min line!) because all the other lines were SOOOOOO stupid long....I hate going on non party days because there SO many more people.....Friday, we did most of MK before noon.....drastic difference.....I would rope drop on a party day and then leave when you need a break, and then come back on a fireworks day as close as you can cut it to find a spot for the show, I absolutely hate the crazy crowds on non party days!

 

[anomamatt]

Assuming you don't have hoppers, but have 4 or more days, I would plan two days at MK and do one of each. The non-party days are VERY crowded, and those nights are even more crowded since there are only a couple nights a week to see fireworks. But if you want to see HEA inside the park, you deal with it.

This is one reason we always have hoppers if going during party season. We use the party night days to do all our touring and just hop to MK on the evening we want to see the fireworks. I can handle the crowds for an hour or so in order to see the fireworks, but don't want to deal with them all day.

This. Great answer and exactly how I feel.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

We don't go to the parties anymore. We love MK on party days. I usually try to plan a dinner on the monorail at the Poly or CR. After dinner we watch the party FW from the beach at the Poly or the deck at the CR. That gives us a chance to relax.

You can't beat watching HEA in the park though and as sharonabe said, if you have hoppers or can do a pm EMH at MK, it is worth dealing with the crowds IMO.

 

[Yarbogash]

This is one of the last scheduling issues that I am trying to sort out. We arrive on Dec 2. Should we do MK Sunday Dec 3 party night or Wednesday Dec 6 non party night? Would it being midweek somewhat mitigate the extra crowds expected for a non party night? We have no interest in the fireworks show but coming from the west coast we will likely be up late. We do not have hoppers; we’ve got the 8 day convention tickets and I don’t think those can be upgraded.

 

[mamamelody2]

If you don't have hoppers, and you really want to see the new fireworks, go on the non-party day. Otherwise, I would definitely go on the party day.

 

[jvz82]

Last year we did one day at MK to stay late and see fireworks, and did one day on a party day. It was our last day of our trip so it worked out well to leave early because we were spent. Next trip we have only one day planned for MK and I really want to see the fireworks so we'll have to plan carefully to make sure we don't go on a party day.

 

[Carla1183]

Assuming you don't have hoppers, but have 4 or more days, I would plan two days at MK and do one of each. The non-party days are VERY crowded, and those nights are even more crowded since there are only a couple nights a week to see fireworks. But if you want to see HEA inside the park, you deal with it.

This is our plan! Hoping it works out!