MVMCP for a 5 & 3 year old...

[mrsgoose8]

as a relative newbie, i hope i got that acronym right

so one night of the Christmas party is actually ON DS 's 3rd birthday. I think it would be fun to go to on his birthday, but I'm kinda wondering if it would be a waste because my kids are used to going to bed at 7 or 8. Should we save this for a trip when they are older?

Also worth noting, we have APs this trip so we couldn't "save" on a day's worth of parkpasses...

 

[MSSANDRA]

We choose to not take our boys when they were preschoolers. In order to make the party worth the money, we feel you need to spend the majority of the time in the park and that just would not happen when they were that little. We did the party when DS21 was school age and we will take DS7 to his first MNSSHP this year at 7.

 

[handicap18]

The last trip we did with the kids (2007) they were 5 1/2, 3 and 17 months. We did MVMCP with no problem. My kids were also used to going to bed between 7 & 8 at the time, but to be perfectly honest, bed times go out the window at Disney.

The day we did MVMCP we didn't do anything in the morning or early afternoon except hang out at the hotel and let the kids nap. You can get into MK at 4pm with a party ticket. We had an ADR for Crystal Palace around 5, then stayed the rest of the night. The kids loved the parade. Youngest DS was blowing kisses to Mrs Claus and she was blowing kisses back to him.

The 2 youngest didn't make it to the end of the night so we just let them sleep in the stroller. At one point we had to let the 5 1/2 year old in with them as he was getting tired.

We had a great time and have no regrets about doing it.

Here are a few pictures:

Me and DD (3) meeting Cinderella & Prince Charming:

Me and DD meeting Princess Aurora & Prince Phillip:

Mrs Claus blowing kisses to youngest DS:

All 3 kids in the stroller meeting Abu and Genie, though oldest DS (5 1/2) was the only one awake:

Here are the 3 kids in the stroller while DW and I shopped for pins in Frontierland:

 

[Derby]

We will be there during MVMCP with our 6 and 3 year olds and are choosing to skip it. When DH and I realized we would be there at the same time as the party, it seemed like a "must do" but as we thought about it, it made more sense to skip it now and wait until they are older and when it is fun and not torture to be out that late. We are not super strict about bedtime being the same time at Disney as it is at home (7:15 would be pretty difficult to do there!) but a party like that in the middle of our trip would be a disaster for our girls. It is much cheaper to have another day of park tickets than to pay for MVMCP. Of course, I'm sure there are tons of 3 and 6 year olds who are just fine!

 

[rachael95]

The last trip we did with the kids (2007) they were 5 1/2, 3 and 17 months. We did MVMCP with no problem. My kids were also used to going to bed between 7 & 8 at the time, but to be perfectly honest, bed times go out the window at Disney. The day we did MVMCP we didn't do anything in the morning or early afternoon except hang out at the hotel and let the kids nap. You can get into MK at 4pm with a party ticket. We had an ADR for Crystal Palace around 5, then stayed the rest of the night. The kids loved the parade. Youngest DS was blowing kisses to Mrs Claus and she was blowing kisses back to him. The 2 youngest didn't make it to the end of the night so we just let them sleep in the stroller. At one point we had to let the 5 1/2 year old in with them as he was getting tired. We had a great time and have no regrets about doing it. Here are a few pictures: Me and DD (3) meeting Cinderella & Prince Charming: Me and DD meeting Princess Aurora & Prince Phillip: Mrs Claus blowing kisses to youngest DS: All 3 kids in the stroller meeting Abu and Genie, though oldest DS (5 1/2) was the only one awake: Here are the 3 kids in the stroller while DW and I shopped for pins in Frontierland:

I LOVE those pictures. That is so adorable the way all three are piled together, like puppies. Your oldest looked so in on the joke with Abu and Genie.

 

[mrsp1030]

We did it when our boys were 4 And 2 and it is still one on our favorite evenings. Our kids loved it and stayed awake until 10pm! The fireworks and parade alone are the best I've ever seen at WDW.

 

[handicap18]

I LOVE those pictures. That is so adorable the way all three are piled together, like puppies. Your oldest looked so in on the joke with Abu and Genie.

Oh yeah. He totally got it. Abu was AWESOME! He was harassing a few 12 year olds in front of us before our turn. Very funny to watch. I think he stole their cell phones 2 or 3 times each. Only time he comes out is for the MNSSHP and MVMCP.

We did it when our boys were 4 And 2 and it is still one on our favorite evenings. Our kids loved it and stayed awake until 10pm! The fireworks and parade alone are the best I've ever seen at WDW.

The parade at MVMCP is by far my favorite of all the parades. Holiday Wishes is awesome too.

 

[Maleficensational]

I'm on the fence about this one. This year we'll be there during that time and my kids 9 and 5, are also used to going to bed around 8 or 8:30. But on the other hand, this is an opportunity we seldom get and I want to take advantage of it. Plus, Christmas means a lot to my family so I think that makes it worth the late evening. If we're really zonked we'll just sleep in the next day.

 

[GWhitten98]

We took our 3 kids(15 months, 3 and 5) last year on our first night at Disney, they were cranky by the end and our youngest took a nap through a good chunk of the evening activities, but we had a really good time. Even with that being said if you are likely to return when they are older I would skip it till then. Although fun and amazing I think it would have been even better a few years older.

 

[Happyjen27]

We skipped MVMCP both times so far.

My kids were up late on a regular Wishes night in the park, and sometimes watched the fireworks from our balcony at night. But, that was a play it by ear kind of thing based on how they were feeling, and how well they napped. If they were seeming run down, we could easily change plans and go to bed early.

But, with a hard ticket thing like this, there is no playing it by ear. If they are run down, or don't nap, I will feel compelled to push them through, perhaps pushing them past their limits. We'll do the party some day, but not yet at ages 5 or 6.

The other aspect of it is that it will kind of consume that day, because we would plan our activities around making sure they aren't exhausted, and it kind of consumes the next day, because my pair would sleep in, and maybe still be a bit tired after staying up so late. I am not willing to trade 2 days of my vacation for 1 party night quite yet.