MNSSHP & MVSCP worth it

[Suzie13]

Hi so I know if money was no option I'd be jumping on this however I need to get my head into reality so I really need to know peoples thoughts on this and what your experience was like. I'll be staying in orlando from 27th October to the 17th of November so I can attend both. In many ways the reason we are staying at this time is to get the Halloween feel and get the beginning of Christmas so I feel like I may want to do these events. I don't think I'll plan on ever staying this time of year again since I can get February/march much cheaper. Thanks for your advice. I think we would probably attend the halloween party on the 30th and the Christmas on the 10th if doing this.

P.s I wasn't sure if this was the right fourm to post in but I would see this like a attraction so I thought I'D post here. Many thanks

 

[tristyp]

I was also wondering the same except for Halloween only as i am going to be there at the end of September beginning of October. I guess my question would be at the cost of 65 per person for a family of 5 would it be better to do this or some other attraction such as Seaworld or Busch Gardens even at a bit more cost? My kids will be 9,8,4 at the time of travel.

 

[Spanky]

Like everything else in life it is a judgment call. You can enter the park at 4pm with your MNSSHP ticket so that gives you 8 hours of MK time but can the 4 year old last until midnight? Do your kids love to dress up? Is trick & treating a fun thing to do? How do you feel about Villains? My family thinks this is the best thing that Disney does - but they are older and past the normal age to trick & treat. The parade is great but the fireworks are over the top - the very best the park does we think. We do a lazy day - hanging out at the hotel, swimming - maybe go to DTD and then put on our costumes around 3:30 and head toward the MK. You may also need to plan a relaxed day the next day depending on how your kids handle being up late. I think there is a smaller crowd if you do a party during the week as opposed to a Friday party. Oh - and in the past the candy has been really good stuff. Now Disney will tell you the party starts at 7pm but for all the previous years they have allowed you to enter the park with only the party ticket starting at 4pm.

 

[HopperFan]

Like everything else in life it is a judgment call. You can enter the park at 4pm with your MNSSHP ticket so that gives you 8 hours of MK time but can the 4 year old last until midnight? Do your kids love to dress up? Is trick & treating a fun thing to do? How do you feel about Villains? My family thinks this is the best thing that Disney does - but they are older and past the normal age to trick & treat. The parade is great but the fireworks are over the top - the very best the park does we think. We do a lazy day - hanging out at the hotel, swimming - maybe go to DTD and then put on our costumes around 3:30 and head toward the MK. You may also need to plan a relaxed day the next day depending on how your kids handle being up late. I think there is a smaller crowd if you do a party during the week as opposed to a Friday party. Oh - and in the past the candy has been really good stuff. Now Disney will tell you the party starts at 7pm but for all the previous years they have allowed you to enter the park with only the party ticket starting at 4pm.

Agree with this. The Halloween Party is a not miss for us and we will do it twice in one trip. The entire park is transformed with lights and fog and it's great fun!

The Christmas Party has the special parade, some light snow on Main Street and some holiday shows but otherwise it looks just like it always does that time of year. The cookies are like mass produced kind so not a perk for us. The only really pluses for us are the parade and the shorter lines to the rides. I would rather spend my money elsewhere than do this.

SeaWorld - We returned last month after a disappointing visit a few years ago and it is much better. If you love sea animals and would spend an entire day looking at them it would be something different. My younger nieces love it here, I find it relaxing as there is less to do. Two coasters are cool but not sure I would go out of my way for them, if I want coasters I'd head to Busch Gardens.

Busch Gardens - Enjoyed very much with big kids. It's big, spread out and there are plenty of coasters, some rides and animals. We did get two day tickets for that because we simply couldn't get it done in one day as we wanted to ride them all. Would I drive there for a day on a tight trip - probably not unless I picked up a great discounted ticket. I would def read up on it before I make the trek to make sure it fits your family.

 

[Dduckmom]

We have attended both of these events over the past few years. Personally, we liked the Christmas party better. Can't really explain why but we were with 9 family members and everyone agreed that it was the best event that we had done in Disney.
We did enjoy the Halloween party too -kids had fun wearing costumes to the MK and trick or treating. It just seemed crazy to me and not as "special" as MVMCP. That is just my opinion and I am sure that not everyone would agree with me.
When we went in November, we spent a relaxing morning by the pool and had a large, late lunch (2:30 or so) at Whispering Canyon. Then, we headed to the MK for a 4 pm arrival. We just snacked for dinner since lunch was filling. Personally, no matter which event you choose, I would not want to waste time going for a sit down meal while I am there. Not sure of your kids ages but I agree that you get more out of it if your kids are able to stay up pretty late.
It is really dependent on how much your budget will allow but I think that both of these events were worth the extra money and we really enjoyed them!!

 

[DISNEYWITHCHILDREN]

As others have mentioned it's a judgement and personal opinion kind of thing. As a blogger I got 4 comped tickets to both events last year. Even with my comped tickets-I still PAID to go twice more to MNSSHP. My daughter and I just LOVE it! Until Festival of Fantasy came out, the Boo to You Parade was hands down my favorite parade.

Or let me put it this way, in 2012 it was like the year of torrential rainstorms. My daughter and I had a BLAST, even while, I kid you not, trick or treating in a steady rain!

Now for MNVMCP I was just kind of ehhh on. I went for the first time with my comped tickets. It was ok. I had a good time. I then went with my daughter, and again I was just not impressed. BUT I also live here, and have an AP. I can go during Christmas week to see the Christmas Parade. But if I was going to choose one-MNSSHP hands down!

 

[disneyfan55]

We have attended both of these events over the past few years. Personally, we liked the Christmas party better. Can't really explain why but we were with 9 family members and everyone agreed that it was the best event that we had done in Disney.
We did enjoy the Halloween party too -kids had fun wearing costumes to the MK and trick or treating. It just seemed crazy to me and not as "special" as MVMCP. That is just my opinion and I am sure that not everyone would agree with me.
When we went in November, we spent a relaxing morning by the pool and had a large, late lunch (2:30 or so) at Whispering Canyon. Then, we headed to the MK for a 4 pm arrival. We just snacked for dinner since lunch was filling. Personally, no matter which event you choose, I would not want to waste time going for a sit down meal while I am there. Not sure of your kids ages but I agree that you get more out of it if your kids are able to stay up pretty late.
It is really dependent on how much your budget will allow but I think that both of these events were worth the extra money and we really enjoyed them!!

I as well enjoyed the Christmas party better. But I will say the headless horsemen ride at the beginning the the Halloween parade is pretty neat! The costs, as everything with Disney, have gone up quite a bit. I really don't think these parties are worth the cost for the most part but they are nice if you really want to do them.

 

[sympatico]

We've been to both a couple times and although I'm not a big Halloween fan I did like that party better than the Christmas one. We liked the trick or treating and see people in costumes, the fireworks and just the general atmosphere. The Christmas decorations are nice and we love the castle lights but you can see that on a regular day ticket. What I actually liked better than the Christmas party was going to DHS and seeing the Osbourne Lights which usually start the same night as the Christmas parties and it's part of your regular ticket.

 

[JustPeachy2014]

I have never done the halloween party, but I did the christmas party for the first time last year. I really enjoyed it, mostly because the ride lines were so short. The cookies were nothing to get too excited about, but they were fine. I liked that the christmas party price was cheaper than a regular one day pass to MK. I maximized my money by entering as early as I could and leaving when they kicked people out.