MVMCP is it really worth the extra money?

[twinone]

I can't decide if we should do the MVMCP, we'll be there the Dec 1st and it sounds like fun but is it really worth the extra $250? Kids are 4 and 8 and I wonder how late we'll be able to stay in the park without them falling over LOL

My plan was to go to the park for rope drop and then back to the hotel after lunch till around 5pm and then we have an ADR at CP for 625pm so since were already in MK would/could stay for the MVMCP. Are all of the rides open at this time and wondering how are the crowds??

 

[gaunce78]

We are going to the Christmas party for the first time year, but have done the Halloween party several times. I would pay it! We have never waited more than 10 mins on party night (think Peter Pan or Space Mountain rides), but usually we walk right on the ride. The first party we did was when my girls were 5 & 6, they were able to hang. We did get a double stroller, but we got there as soon as we could, which is normally 4 and stayed as long as we could. There's always that possibility things won't work as planned, but I believe there's too much pixie dust flying around for that too happen!

 

[smiths02]

I don't know your kids, but my son (5 at the time) and I went to Epcot at rope drop on an evening EMH and were chosen family of the day for the seas. We had no plans to be there at night, but we couldn't pass up preferred Illuminations viewing, so we rested in the afternoon and he made it until midnight.

 

[fabulousfive]

My kids were 4 & 6 when we did it last in 2011 & I felt it was a perfect age. We're doing it again this year. It's always my little one now age 2 I worry about. I think the party is so much fun that the kids run on excitement. For us the party was a last minute thought last time & this trip it's a priority. We already have the tickets!

With that said, we experienced the highest crowd level of our entire trip at MVMCP. It was so quiet in the parks all week & then the party was a little crazed with crowds. Obviously, that didn't ruin our time because we had a blast!

If you do go, research the activities you want to see or do as the night goes fast. We just kinda wandered around and while we had a blast, there's so much more we could have experienced had we known what was available that evening. And yes, we always bring a stroller or I should say two strollers in the parks day & night. My kids would fall apart without them!!!

Have fun!

 

[lucyem]

Our first MNSSHP my youngest was barely 5. We slept in that day, hung out at the pool etc. When we got to MK he crashed and all our daylight photos are of him asleep in a stroller. We ate a quick dinner and then he was good to go. We stayed well past the second parade.

Crowds can vary for parties. That night we were there it was super packed. Trying to get across the park was insane. We found rides not quite as walk on as we had been told. If anything I found it to be one of the most crowded I have seen MK. And it was a not sold out Sunday in early October.

The cost being worth it, well thats such an individual thing. You will find people on the boards who go yearly and people who will never do it again. I kind of fall into the middle. I would go to the MNSSHP again but not yearly. I would wait a couple more years. We are going to MVMCP this year as we have never been to that party before. I expect I will feel the same way about it. It is a lot of extra money for a family after paying for a vacation.

 

[no1steelerfn]

My daughter is 5 and we are trying to decide too. Thought it would be great ending to our last night in Disney and drive us into the holiday season since we are going in November. Just can't decide though. Help!

 

[supernova]

To me, it's worth doing once. Check it out, experience it, and move on. The price keeps going up and there really isn't a whole lot new added. Unless you're going to eat $70 worth of free cookies, there's no incentive to return.

That being said, one thing I WILL recommend is that you do NOT visit any other parks that day. Don't waste a full day's ticket on going somewhere 3:00 and then going to the Christmas party at 4pm. It's a total waste of time and money. Go somewhere, anywhere, else than the parks.

 

[no1steelerfn]

To me, it's worth doing once. Check it out, experience it, and move on. The price keeps going up and there really isn't a whole lot new added. Unless you're going to eat $70 worth of free cookies, there's no incentive to return. That being said, one thing I WILL recommend is that you do NOT visit any other parks that day. Don't waste a full day's ticket on going somewhere 3:00 and then going to the Christmas party at 4pm. It's a total waste of time and money. Go somewhere, anywhere, else than the parks.

Even with a hopper pass?

 

[brymolmom]

IMO - no, it is not worth the extra $$.

We did it several years ago...once. It is very pricey for a 5 hour party...and with little ones who might not be at 100% starting at 9 or 10pm - it's even a shorter party.

We really liked the show in tomorrowland...liked the parade but it's not a huge difference from the regular one and had to wait for a good spot for 40 minutes (wasting almost 15% of our party time just hanging on the curb) and the snow was very cool.

Other than that the cookies were gross...crowds were IMO too large for the price we paid to get short lines (ie: not any shorter than evening EMH).

Only way I would recommend it is if you're big into unique characters...But my family doesn't do characters so that wasn't a selling point for us.

I think they need to make this party longer AND add a few extra shows AND sell a few less tickets to make it worth it for me.

 

[ChitownFamily]

That being said, one thing I WILL recommend is that you do NOT visit any other parks that day. Don't waste a full day's ticket on going somewhere 3:00 and then going to the Christmas party at 4pm. It's a total waste of time and money. Go somewhere, anywhere, else than the parks.

This but different. I wouldn't use a park ticket for the MK that day. Sounds like that was your original plan. We went 11/30 last year, we had an ADR at akershus's at 10am (it was the only available date/time,) we spent the morning/afternoon in epcot then entered the party at. 5pm. We stayed until midnight! (7 yr & 5 yr old) the next day was our scheduled break day. For us, it worked out great!


ETA: did you know you can enter the MK at 4pm with your party ticket?

 

[OneLittleSpark1]

My 5 year old (at the time) made it all the way through till midnight! We did do an afternoon break though.

I think the MVMCP is awesome!!! It's my favorite, and I have been to MNSSHP 2 times...for me MVMCP wins hands down!

The snow on Main St., the castle, the fireworks....the PARADE! Spectacular, all of it! If you haven't been, I highly recommend it.

 

[mousehunter3]

We did MVMCP when my kids were 1, 4, and 6. They LOVED it! We stayed until the very end and they all did fine. IMO, the best part was getting to go on so many rides since there were little/no lines! To me that is a HUGE plus, especially considering what a challenge it is to stand in long lines with little ones. On the day of the party, we ventured around DTD and took it easy. The kids had a nap before we went.

This time, we are going to MNNSHP and my kids are 5, 8, and 10. We are SO excited! We too debated whether to spend the money, but we so rarely have to opportunity to be at Disney, and I know it will be a blast, so it is worth it to us.

 

[MSSANDRA]

A couple points:
You can not enjoy the party without a ticket. After you finish your dinner at CP, you will be escorted to the exit gate. The will not let you shop, or sometimes even stop at the rest rooms!

If you do not do the party, I would rethink your day at MK. If you leave for a long break, and return just for your ARD and have to leave afterwards, you are not getting a lot of park time for that day's ticket.

If you do decide to get the tickets, I would try to get an earlier ADR. Don't want to waste party time eating. You may want to rethink the whole day and even not do a park that day to save your energy for the party.

My thoughts on the party. We have done it and we had a GOOD time. We will do it again, but not every year. It is fun, and we loved the special shows and we enjoy MK at night. We did however, choose not to take our DS when he was younger. You really need kids that can last most of the party to get your money's worth. We hope to take DS this year for the first time. He will be 7 this month.If you have kids that can take a 3 hour nap and last to mid-night.....that may work well for you.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

Yes, it's worth it! My family and I love it so much! We actually do it twice when we go around Christmas. Once to enjoy all the special holiday party things; shows, parade... and then the second time we enjoy the special characters and little to no wait on some of the rides. The special character lines can take a big chunk of the time.

Last time we went my girls were 9, 6, and 1. If memory serves me right they all stayed up for entire party both times. I think they were running on pure excitment!

 

[twinone]

Thanks for the info, still on the fence. Were only in WDW for 5 days so I feel like to hit everything we'll need atleast 2 days in the MK even with the MVMCP at night, I think my 8 yr old will be fine, my 4 yr old might be tired but we will have the stroller. Another option which might be better for us is going on a Tuesday night that week, I've heard it's less crowded and were in AK that morning which closes at 5pm that day. We have an ADR at 540 PM at Cape May Cafe so I'm assuming we'd go right from there to the party or maybe do a TS in the MK that night instead

 

[fabulousfive]

Thanks for the info, still on the fence. Were only in WDW for 5 days so I feel like to hit everything we'll need atleast 2 days in the MK even with the MVMCP at night, I think my 8 yr old will be fine, my 4 yr old might be tired but we will have the stroller. Another option which might be better for us is going on a Tuesday night that week, I've heard it's less crowded and were in AK that morning which closes at 5pm that day. We have an ADR at 540 PM at Cape May Cafe so I'm assuming we'd go right from there to the party or maybe do a TS in the MK that night instead

Last time we did the party we were in Epcot all day, went back to our room for a quick change, & headed straight to MK. We weren't sure if we could keep going on as we were so tired but we got our second wind & had a great time!

This year however we will be out late the night before & since its midway though our trip think we will need a bigger break. So the morning of our party we are sleeping in, having a leisurely TS breakfast at a resort & hitting the pool all day. We are excited to do the party refreshed & ready to go.

Just two ways we've done the party for you to consider.

 

[happymommy]

To us it wouldn't be worth it. We've never done it, and we still have so much fun when we go around the holidays. We tend to go less hours to the parks than some folks do, enjoying the resort a lot too, so most evenings we tend to call it an early night (usually watch Illuminations once a trip or so, but that's about as late as we stay out).

When my kids were little, we would pretty much stick to a close to normal bedtime for them, so we wouldn't have considered a late party.

 

[Sirtet]

I'm hoping our plan of going back to the hotel every afternoon for a nap will work out. Our kids are still pretty young, so we know they won't last all day any day. We're also banking on the fact that our family normally keeps fairly late hours, so hopefully we can keep the kids up to really enjoy the whole MVMCP.