MVMCP 2003 different from 2002, my thoughts

[strawberryblonde]

We went to MVMCP Thurs. night (Dec. 4, 2003) and had a great time . Some things were different, some I liked, some I didn't.

I LOVED the changes to the parade! Sleeping Beauty was in her pink dress riding a horse - gorgeous ! The other princesses (with their princes) were riding in horse drawn carriages. Cinderella's coach pulled by 6 little while ponies (or miniature horses, I'm no expert). No freaky clowns this year. Big plus, as my DD3 is scared by them.

Disapointed in ToonTown. Last year there were big bulb christmas lights on both mouse houses, not so this year. Didn't feel as "christmasy" in Toontown this year. We just loved it last year. Characters were in reg. costume, not Christmas costumes for the party (at least when we got back there). They really should have been in Christmas costume all night IMO.

Wishes is beautiful but I missed having the red nosed reindeer fly instead of Tink. Tink is a wonderful thing to see but we really enjoyed Rudolph last year.

Missed having Cinderellas coach out for photos. Realize this was a trade off so it could be in the parade but still missed it. I loved it being in the parade so I don't have a solution for this one. Had planned on taking a photo this year as we didn't get it done last year.

Last year, we got our photos taken near POC with little wait. That station wasn't available this year so we used the one near IASW and the wait wasn't much longer.

These are the differences we noticed. Loved the party as a whole. We entered with just our party tickets just after 4 pm, so were alot of other people. Very organised, party people to the right , reg. guests to the left. Even though I had just fed the kids, they hollered "hungry!" first thing. We ate at Cosmic Ray's and nearly had the place to ourselves. We went over to Fantasyland because we knew it would close at 6pm and then we could ride rides in Tomorrowland. Snowwhite and the 7 dwarves came marching out , so we videoed them, very cool to see. Fantasyland was a bit crowded but we were able to ride Pooh and see Mickey's Philharmagic before heading over to Tomorrowland at 6pm. We rode the Speedway cars with no wait then rode Astro Orbiter twice in a row with little wait (our first time in the dark!). Rode Buzz next , nearly a walk-on. It was about 6:45 now so we went to Star Traders to see if they were selling the Christmas pin early, they were. We bought one for each of us (plus extras to trade) and wore them for the rest of the party. We did what you aren't supposed to do, sat on the curb on main street for an hour waiting for the first parade. It is worth it to me because I love watching the people come in and sitting in the "snow". My DH and DS went off and brought back hot chocolate and cookies for us to munch on. We took photos of our kids in front of castle and tree with the snow falling. Parade was truely wonderful. It was really warm this night and we didn't put on our matching sweaters. Kids had to use the restroom next. Bad timing, long waits, very crowded. We stood where we were to watch Wishes. Hurried over to watch "Twas the night before Christmas" 9:30 show and there was still seating left (it went fast though). Great show, we missed this last year. The ending looks like a postcard, make sure to get a photo. When show ends, everyone pours into Buzz. We were sitting in back so we were among the first into line. Rode Buzz . Rode TTA. Rode Tea cups. Rode Peter Pan. Got our photo at It's a Small World with about 10 min. wait. Went to Toon Town and saw the characters with no wait. No christmas costumes though. Saw Cinderella, Belle, Mickey, Minnie, Chip + Dale, Pluto. This was in the judges tent and painless. Loads of interaction. Rode Barnstormer and then saw Donald in front of his trees. He did have on a winter hat, perhaps this was his costume. Getting late now so we walk through Fantasyland on our way to Haunted Mansion. Notice Dumbo has no line and all the Dumbos have on cute Santa hats. I want to ride and get great photos, I'm voted down (no one wants Dumbo now that they have ridden Astro Orbiter ) We hustle to HM and breeze through the non-line, waiting by the doors to be first in. DS6 sees the face move on the tombstone and changes his mind. We retreat and go to TMR. DD3 is in her red dressy shoes that match her Christmas dress so she measures high enough (she didn't in her sandals on Mon.). She runs through the line so proud of herself for being tall enough. As we ride she tells me gleefully that the ride tickles her tummy. It is midnight as we pull into station but there are a few folks waiting to get on our train so we get an extra ride. Wonderful end to a fun night. We catch the end of the show in front of the castle. Snow is falling on Main street as we leave. Mickey is saying goodbye from the train station wearing a top hat, nice touch.

 

[Pooh67_68]

Glad you had such a wonderful time. We arrive in Disney on the 13th and are going to the Christmas party on the 14th can't wait.

Heidi

 

[jacksonsmom]

What a wonderful written report.
Sounds like a great time. I love reading all these trip reports to MVMCP!!!
Kind of a bummer the characters were not in Holiday outfits in Toontown, you would think they would be

sound like a lot of fun & can not wait to experience it myself

 

[DISFANSHAN]

I attended MVMCP on Dec. 4 also. I was also disappointed that Toontown was not decorated like last year. And I didn't see any characters dressed up, except Donald by his Christmas trees. We didn't necessarily seek out the characters this time, but I am curious to know if any of them were dressed up. Last year Minnie and Mickey were dressed up by the Expo Hall. Did anyone see them this year?
On another note, we were SUPPOSED to attend MVMCP on Dec. 2. I got on line to get our pictures taken in Adventureland at 6:45. (no one else on line) The CM came out to tell me that they were not taking any pictures before 7pm, to come back. I told her that I would prefer to wait , at least near by, so I could be one of the first on line. My DS4 has zero patience waiting on lines, especially if there is not a ride at the other end! I was going to have my husband walk him around to occupy him while I waited till 7pm. The CM told me that would not be necessary, as this was a new area to take pictures at, and not alot of people were aware of it, and she was not expecting a line by 7pm. So we left. We returned at approximately 6:57, only to find a line of at least 40 people. My son flipped out and carried on, jumping up and down because he didn't want to wait. He fell and smacked his face on a concrete planter. We went to first aid, then the hospital where he recieved stitches. I know alot of people are going to say I should control my son, or forgot about the picture, but this literally happened in a matter of seconds, I didn't know he was going to throw a fit until he was actually throwing it. And I just feel, not to place blame, but that if the CM had just let me wait there at 6:45, none of this would have happened.

Thanks for letting me vent. By the way, guest services let us come back for the Dec. 4 party, and first aid was very helpful.

 

[strawberryblonde]

Sorry about your DS and his stitches - ouch! I'm also sorry that you were told to leave the line, I can't see the harm in you standing there for 15 min. until it opened. Most likely the next person who came along to stand on line, didn't budge when asked to please leave and come back later. All it takes is one person to start a line and everyone lines up behind them. I'm glad they had you come to the next party, so not all was lost. Disney does try to keep us all happy . I wonder if it would help for us to write Disney and let them know how the decorations in ToonTown were missed? I really did miss them..........

 

[TheDailyBuzzherd]

... but, such is life. We took the day "off" and hung out at
The Caribbean, but we failed to alot our 6 year-old proper
nap time. Evidently, 1 1/2 hours didn't cut the cheese.

So, we arrive 45 minutes late to our dinner buffet at
1900 Park Fare at The Floridian. Great food! Enjoyed
Cinderella, the mice and Prince Charming. We were
getting up to leave, when our daughter pitched.
Though my wife caught some of it with a plate,
it went on the rug, my jacket. Not only were we
late getting to the Christmas Party, this canceled
it. Shame on us. Oh well, we cleaned up and
proceeded defeated to the monorail to connect
back to the CBR. The kid was bummed. The only
recourse was to get her a toy the next day,
but that's no exchange for another chance
at The Magic Kingdom ... ESPECIALLY at
night during the holidays! Well, back to
the hotel and an early bedtime.

Another reason I was bummed leaving 1900
Park Fare this way is my wife got a picture with
the Prince. I was waiting for Cinderella to come
back around where I was going to reveal the
Prince had cheated on her! "... yup, French-kissed
my wife and everything. How's THAT for Charming?"
Would have been funny to see the look on her face.



Can anyone please provide pix and post 'em
so we can have a taste of the proceedings?
The Buzzherd would truly appreciate it!