MVMCP - is this normal?

[beattyfamily]

Unfortunately, this seems to be the case more and more often every year. Its becoming such a popular event, that disney is selling too many tickets for each night, therefore making it crowded and not worth it.

From what I was told, they used to only sell 25-30,000 per party, but because of popularity, I think they are now selling more.

Actually, the parties started at 18,000 and went up from there. I believe it's at 30,000 now.

 

[shan136]

We attended MVMCP on 11/28 for the first and last time. It was the most expensive parade I have ever attended, because that is all we were able to see/enjoy of the evening. It was too crowded to see the pre-show, or the characters. We had to hold our place to view the parade for hours so we were not able to go on any rides.

Really, what makes it worth 55 $ per head? It's not like the food is free or there are any special perks. I supposed if you were going to use your party ticket as your park ticket, the $55 would be worth it, but otherwise it just seems like a big waste.

 

[RNdisney]

My family and I attended on 11/30.....and i also thought it was a huge waste of money!! At 7pm there were more people there then all day. We got to see the seven dwarfs, the princesses and their princes, we rode the barnstormer and mickeys raceway, had our picture taken in front of the castle, watched the fireworks and the 1030 parade and that was it!! 212.00 was a lot of money in addition to our daily park ticket for those "few" party things we got to do. My son puked in front of the castle and my husband and him left by 9pm and left me and my daughter there. For the price they are charging there was no way we were leaving!

I was soooo excited about the Christmas party which makes the disappointment that much greater!! It was tooooo busy to even get from point a to point b let alone try to do all the "special" things. We bought a hard ticketed event because it was supposed to be easier and less crowded, we found the exact opposite:

 

[sabrecmc]

We went to the 11/19 MVMCP and I wouldn't do it again...at least not with young children. It was really crowded and too much to try to do in a short period of time. We didn't see any characters or dance parties because we had to find a spot for the parade early. My kids would never make the late parade. I thought it was a waste of money. Lesson learned.

Interesting. We were at the 11/19 one as well and had the opposite experience. We saw plenty of characters, including pixies and princesses and Rapunzel, had no problems with wait times (though we were only in Fantasyland) and got a spot no problem for the late parade. We did get there about half an hour early for it, but it wasn't hard. I wasn't trying to find a space for a stroller or anything, just the 3 of us, but it wasn't that crowded for the second parade. We had a great time!

Our first MVMCP was 2 years ago and we went on the last night of it. It was insanely crowded. Last year and this year, we've gone earlier and it has been much better. Same with the Halloween party. Maybe it is expectations or maybe it really depends on which rides you want to go on. We really enjoy ourselves just being there and seeing the parade, fireworks and characters. But, we're AP holders, so go often enough that not getting on a bunch of rides isn't a huge deal for us.

 

[Hollymom1229]

We went on 12/2 and had a wonderful time. The only problem I had was that the stands for food seemed to be understaffed. The parade was great, the fireworks were lovely, we ended up nibbling on sugar cookies the rest of the week because the CMs kept giving them to us all night and giving us napkins to wrap them in to take them back to the resort. As for the rides we had six of them we wanted to do during the party, and we did them all with no wait, including Space Mountain. We also got an extra ride in on the Haunted Mansion and grabbed a late bite to eat at Casey's.

 

[acwsmom]

Wow! We were there on Nov. 16 (like a few other PP) and had a great experience!! We had an easy time finding a spot for the parade, didn't have any problems getting food or finding a place to stand for the fireworks. Even better, my DD decided she didn't want to bother with the lines for the characters so we walked around the whole park - from one end to the other - and rode every ride she wanted, as many times as she wanted. Most of the lines for the rides were non-existent. It was wonderful! And even better, my DD (who was also celebrating her 10th birthday that day) walked out of the park with me at midnight saying, "Mommy, this was the best day ever in my whole life!" I'd totally do it again. Then again, after reading all these other experiences, I'd probably choose to do an early November MVMCP on a Tuesday night again.

 

[Sammie]

Please everyone that is not pleased with the current situation involving MVMCP, write and complain.

Just go to Disneyworld.com and click on Contact Us.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I was there on 12/2/2010. I didn't think it was too bad.

I didn't try to do any rides though so I don't know what the wait times were. I did all the christmas stuff and got some autographs (I wanted to see Mickey/Minnie in their holiday outfits and Princesses/Princes so the quilt made a good excuse. LOL) for the quilt I'm doing for my daughters birthday next year.

Totally Tomorrowland Christmas show was awful and a total waste of time, I should have ridden a ride instead of seeing that show. Blech.

The only problem I had was for the fireworks. Every time I'd find a spot I liked, someone would come in front of me and put their kids on their shoulders so it was going to be a problem to take fireworks pictures. I started looking for a spot 30 minutes before the show when I discovered my favorite spot was taken already.
I finally found a spot that worked just before they started the fireworks though.

 

[skullsplitter]

Wow! We were there on Nov. 16 (like a few other PP) and had a great experience!! We had an easy time finding a spot for the parade, didn't have any problems getting food or finding a place to stand for the fireworks. Even better, my DD decided she didn't want to bother with the lines for the characters so we walked around the whole park - from one end to the other - and rode every ride she wanted, as many times as she wanted. Most of the lines for the rides were non-existent. It was wonderful! And even better, my DD (who was also celebrating her 10th birthday that day) walked out of the park with me at midnight saying, "Mommy, this was the best day ever in my whole life!" I'd totally do it again. Then again, after reading all these other experiences, I'd probably choose to do an early November MVMCP on a Tuesday night again.

We were there that night too. The only long wait we had was the 7 Dwarves. Ride waits were low. We had a good spot for the late parade without staking it out. Same with the fireworks. A few more dining options would have been nice though.

 

[dolphindan1]

If it takes 20 minutes to go from frontierland to tomorrowland, it's crowded.

If you can't avoid banging into more than 100 people along the way, it's crowded.

If you've been to Disney World 4 times at different seasons over the last 10 years, and the crowds were 2-3X the worst you have ever seen, it's crowded.

Geez, we had to fight our way through the turnstiles up to the wristband folks.

Sorry, there's no room to be subjective here.

But yes it is subjective...If a person went this year in early Dec or Mid Nov after going the previous years say the week before New Years or Spring Break then yes its not gonna feel crowded However if you have gone this time for several years and seen the crowds grow then it will feel very crowded...

 

[reactortrip]

I was at the 11/30 party. I rode space mountain 5 times in a row without a wait period, this was before it shutdown around 10pm. I rode thunder 2 times with no wait. The longest wait I saw was at Peter Pan, I didn't go near it. I only do that ride with fast passes. Longest I waited all night was like 15 minutes and that was inbetween parades. All the crowds I saw were along the parade route and not on the rides.

 

[tinkerbellmamma]

We went on Sunday 12/5 and it wasn't sold out because we saw they still selling tickets at 4:30. It was just not worth it for my family with 3 young kids (under 9). It was crowded and my kids were not impressed. We got a great spot in Liberty Square for the parade and at 5 minutes to the start a family tried to squeeze in front of us - umm ***?? Are you kidding me!! We got some hot chocolate and sugar cookies and then my 5 yr old fell asleep on my husbands shoulders so they left and headed to the car. My daughters and I tried for Dumbo and a few others and the lines were long and so we headed to Toon Town and they ended up riding Goofy's Barnstormer over and over and over. No line. So I paid $$$ for them to ride GB?? They got tired and we saw the fireworks as we were walking toward the exit but we were hit with a traffic jam packed in front of the castle/Main St and couldn't get out!! They need an alternative way out to get to Main St from tomorrowland- we were trapped!!
So overall - next time I think I will skip it!!

 

[NJShoreDad]

We went on 11/30, and in general it seemed to work out okay. It all depends on what you want to get from the night. My wife and I both agreed that you can't possibly see all of the shows, all of the characters, and take advantage of the rides. So we made the best of it - we saw a parade when we could, a show if we were around, and hopped on a ride if it looked like a reasonable wait, as well as Holiday Wishes. We did not really spend time with the characters, because those waits would have eaten up the whole night. 5 hours is not nearly enough time to do it all.

What I can't answer is whether it was worth the money or not. My practical side says "no", that it isn't worth the price of a whole day ticket for 5 hours of activities. However, I would say that we had a good night, so it is a push.

I am glad that we did not decide to do the party on 12/3. We were in the park during the day and heading out of the park at 7PM was quite an adventure. I couldn't believe how crowded the park was! It would not have been worth it if I had to deal with that crowd!

 

[sumsmommy03]

Interesting. We were at the 11/19 one as well and had the opposite experience. We saw plenty of characters, including pixies and princesses and Rapunzel, had no problems with wait times (though we were only in Fantasyland) and got a spot no problem for the late parade. We did get there about half an hour early for it, but it wasn't hard. I wasn't trying to find a space for a stroller or anything, just the 3 of us, but it wasn't that crowded for the second parade. We had a great time!

Our first MVMCP was 2 years ago and we went on the last night of it. It was insanely crowded. Last year and this year, we've gone earlier and it has been much better. Same with the Halloween party. Maybe it is expectations or maybe it really depends on which rides you want to go on. We really enjoy ourselves just being there and seeing the parade, fireworks and characters. But, we're AP holders, so go often enough that not getting on a bunch of rides isn't a huge deal for us.

Maybe that's it...we don't go to WDW often. Actually we took my son 3 years ago and this trip we took both of the kids (7 and 4) and it will likely be our last trip to WDW if not forever for a VERY long time. We all had a much better time in the parks and especially MK during the day with low crowds and low wait times to see the characters. We got to MK for the MVCP around 5pm. We got something quick to eat, went on POTC, BTMR and another ride then walked around Adventureland. My daughter wanted to see Jasmine but if we had waited in the line we never would have seen the early parade. I wanted a spot on Main St so we could experience the snow. In retrospect I would have watched somewhere else.
I thought the fireworks were great but my son and DH missed them because they couldn't get through to the circle where I was after riding space mountain My daughter was sleeping in the stroller so I watched the fireworks alone. We left right after that. The only good thing about leaving then was an empty bus back to POR.

 

[browniemtb]

We went to the MVMCP on 12/3.

I feel like I need to shake Mickey's hand because he absolutely pulled one of the best con games on me ever.

We paid $50 a head * 5 people, and couldn't run from the park fast enough.

The crowds were so thick you couldn't move. Forget the rides - Space Mountain was a 50 minute line.

Although the parade was nice, I thought that MVMCP was a waste of money --- they probably sold 4x too many tickets.

Anyone else feel this wasn't worth the $$$? Are all of these a crowd nightmare, or did we just get caught in the wrong party?

Felt the same way a couple years back......

 

[micksterlee]

We did the party back in 2005 and I really just didn't get what the big deal was. We were there the week before Christmas so they had the holiday parade running daily. The only benefit I got at the party was a free cookie and some luke warm hot chocolate.I love WDW but I think I will save my money for something else like maybe another meal or souvenier.

 

[tinkerbell313]

Wow...such a wide range of experiences...and for the same nights.

I did the MVMCP on November 30th. Outside of the parade and the fireworks...there were no crowds and no waits for any ride when I went on the rides. I walked on to every ride...Space Mountain, Buzz (several times), SW, PP, WP, Tea Cups, BTMRR, SM, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise...this was starting at 4pm. I stayed until around 10:30. I did not do any character meet and greets...but I did notice the lines...they did not look longer than usual.

I saw the parade, Mickeys Celebrate the Season Greeting Show, the fireworks, Cinderellas Wish, and Tomorrowlands Christmas Show

I watched the first parade which was crowded...but after being there in mid to end of September 2010 when people said you will have no crowds...Nov. 30th was a breeze compared to September 2010. In Sept. people line up 1.5 hours prior to the parade to see the parade. Ughhh...

I felt Sept. to be more crowded at MK than November 30th. But that is just my opinion.

 

[Laketravis]

I went ahead and wrote them using Contact Us on their website:

"Hi. We just returned from Disney World (11/27 thru 12/4) and while our experience was overall positive, I wanted to comment on something that really ruined the experience for us.

We made reservations for the Mickey Party at Magic Kingdom on 12/3. We were looking forward all week to the additional hours in the park. Unfortunately, it was SO crowded that it was nothing but a miserable 4 hours.

I understand it was a "sold out" night, but what that indicates to me is that you are allowing the sale of far too many tickets. I also couldn't help but notice the large number of park guests without wristbands - upwards of 1 out of 3 people we observed. The park employees seemed to be doing their best in checking for wristbands, but the reality was that as long as those people did not try to board any rides they were able to mill around with the rest of the packed crowds.

In short, this was a complete waste of money for us. Considering that the expenditure itself constituted less than 2% of the total cost of our stay but impacted the majority of our enjoyment, you really should rethink these events.

Thank you."

 

[dizcraze1]

We went to the first MVMCP this year and except for the parades and fireworks show - not as crowded as MNSSHP, I thought. We really enjoyed it since it was our 1st. Would we go again? Maybe. I am sure it helped that our party date was a Monday on Nov. 8. People just aren't that ready for xmas yet, I guess. Thank goodness! It makes my expierence that much better.

 

[happymommy]

I'm so sorry that it was so crappy for you. I have a friend who swears by it, but in all our visits to WDW, including the holidays, my family has never gone. We go the the parks for a few hours during the day, and my kids are spent (DD has sleep issues and DS has asthma, so we get a pass to allow him to sit while waiting for rides). We've never seen wishes (ever, shocking as to how many times we've gone) but a very few times seen Illuminations.

I have heard from so many folks what a waste it is, for "free" cookies and hot cocoa.

We only do MK in the morning, as it seems so crowded in the afternoon, even over spring break, so I can't imagine the Christmas party.