MVMCP or CP Dining Package?

[olliesmom]

We are going to Disney in early December this year for our first Christmas trip. We have room in our budget for either the CP dining package or MVMCP.

Our family includes myself and DH and our baby who will be 8 months at the time.

MVMCP pros: longer event, only opportunity to see Christmas fireworks and parade during our trip, DH wants specifically to go to Disney to see all the festivities and this seems like a pretty festive event!

MCMP cons: not sure about a late night event with a baby (although we hope he'd be able to nap in his stroller?).

CP pros: we love the Christmas story, love to eat and it looks like a beautiful event. Lining up with an infant without the package looks like it might be tricky.

CP cons: not sure if it'll capture the attention of a baby, wouldn't be as fun if we were trying to calm a fussy little one throughout the show. Also, technically we could see the CP without the package.

Would love to hear the thoughts of those who have done one, the other or both!

 

[dachsie]

you don't have to have a package to see CP, just get in line early. But if you book a breakfast package, its less expensive and you may can do both

 

[disneydreamer1980]

MVMCP, I think the baby may enjoy it more. I’ve done both literally at least 20 times, and they’re both enjoyable in their own way. CP is more somber and beautiful, MVMCP is more fun and playful. You can always do CP without the package, but the line can be quite long.

 

[matheke]

You don't really need to be in the theater to enjoy CP. You can hear all of it by just hanging around the area. You can see parts of it by going to the back of the theater area and look in.

We don't go in every year, but we never miss the CP.

 

[Nancyg56]

If you must make a choice, choose the party. As others have already suggested, the CP can be enjoyed from outside the pavilion. You muight be standing, but you can still see and hear it. It is lovely.


The Holiday season has a lot of experiences that do nto need additional money to enjoy, or if there is any, it is very little. For instance, a wagon ride around FW is about $8 per person and is so much fun! The campsights are decorated, and they are wicked awesome!

The WS in Epcot is a day in itself if you wnat to see and hear the Storytellers, and the decorations are nice.

Magic Kingdom is decorated beautifully.

THe resorts are decorated and worth visiting.

I am not sure how Jingle BEll Jungle Bam is, I missed it on our last trip, but I hear it is worth an evening vist to DHS.

There should be a Christmas Tree Trail in Disney Springs.

 

[Bete]

I would do both. Cut corners in a different way.

 

[Nancyg56]

I would do both. Cut corners in a different way.

I honestly do not think it is necessary to do both, and still enjoy the CP. I have gone to teh CP and not had a dining package. It was as lovely as if I had had the dinner before the show. If you want to enter you do need to plan for that, and be in line early, however if it saved up to 160 for a couple, it may be worth the time. I usually just hang in front of the pavilion and watch it from there. I do nto feel the need to have a seat every show.

 

[GPC0321]

As long as you aren't there for a really popular narrator (Neil Patrick Harris), and maybe if you go to the earliest performance of the evening (which I think is less popular because it isn't fully dark yet), you should be able to get a seat for CP without a dining package. It's a marvelous concert, and I highly recommend it. We went when NPH was narrating and had a dining package for the 8pm show. The line for dining package folks was stretched all the way to Morocco and doubled back on itself. I have no idea where the non-dining package line went to, but we walked past part of it and the people near the beginning of it looked like they'd be camped there for most of the day. So do your homework and see who is narrating while you are there. And as someone else mentioned, the CP dining packages for breakfast are significantly less expensive (or were last year), so that might be an option if you want to guarantee a seat.

We went to MVMCP for pretty much the same reasons your DH wants to go: parade, fireworks, castle show, snow on Main Street. I'm glad we saw all of that, but it's probably a one and done for me. The fireworks are great, but if I go at Christmastime again, I'll book Narcoosee's or Cali Grill for dinner and watch from afar. The parade and the castle show are cute, but not worth $100 a person. I'm sure those who enjoy meeting characters and short ride lines get more out of it than we did. It was very, very crowded when we went. The only character we met was Mickey towards the end of the night (after fireworks) and we stood in line about 30 minutes to meet him.

We thought the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam dessert party was a highlight, which was an unexpected surprise. The dessert party was very well done, and the VIP viewing area was perfect we thought. It's cheaper than MVMCP, includes good eats, has fireworks and a festive projection show that should dazzle your little one and your DH (LOL). And you get a meet and greet with a special someone.

So, if trying to get the biggest holiday bang for my buck on a budget, I'd suggest trying for CP at the earliest performance time and a less-popular narrator without the dining package OR doing a breakfast dining package at a much lower price if that's possible. I'd personally skip MVMCP and maybe do dinner at Narcoossee's or Cali Grill...or ooooh! You could book the Pirate Fireworks Cruise for an MVMCP evening and watch the fireworks from the middle of the Seven Seas Lagoon. That includes snacks and meeting some special characters too. Magic Kingdom will be decked out and festive on all the days, not just at the party. And I'd do JBJB dessert party at HS.

Whatever you wind up doing, you're going to love Disney at Christmastime!

 

[Bete]

I honestly do not think it is necessary to do both, and still enjoy the CP. I have gone to teh CP and not had a dining package. It was as lovely as if I had had the dinner before the show. If you want to enter you do need to plan for that, and be in line early, however if it saved up to 160 for a couple, it may be worth the time. I usually just hang in front of the pavilion and watch it from there. I do nto feel the need to have a seat every show.

With a baby you don't want to wait in the stand by line for CP. Everyone doesn't necessarily get in. More than likely you will have a meal in the park anyway. There are more reasonable meal packages available for CP. You can do the breakfast package or go to Biergarten. We always do Biergarten ourselves.

There's a back area to the theater on the outside, no package needed in this area. You can see most of the CP show there. You certainly can hear it there. It does get crowded there. With a baby it may be too hard to stay for the 50 minute show and at least you could get a taste of it this way.

In the end you have to decide what's best for your family.

 

[Nancyg56]

With a baby you don't want to wait in the stand by line for CP. Everyone doesn't necessarily get in. More than likely you will have a meal in the park anyway. There are more reasonable meal packages available for CP. You can do the breakfast package or go to Biergarten. We always do Biergarten ourselves.

There's a back area to the theater on the outside, no package needed in this area. You can see most of the CP show there. You certainly can hear it there. It does get crowded there. With a baby it may be too hard to stay for the 50 minute show and at least you could get a taste of it this way.

In the end you have to decide what's best for your family.

I agree that it is more convenient to purchase a package, and would suggest garden grill fir breakfast. I just wanted the op to know that it is possible to enjoy the cop if they cannot justify the cost of the package.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I agree that it is more convenient to purchase a package, and would suggest garden grill fir breakfast. I just wanted the op to know that it is possible to enjoy the cop if they cannot justify the cost of the package.

Garden Grill is my favorite character meal. Just love it, it’s so under appreciated. And if you get a PPO time, you can run over to Soarin after you eat with little to no wait, and that saves you from having to use a tier1 FP for it. Off topic I know, but I can’t miss a chance to love on GG!

 

[olliesmom]

Thank you all so much for the responses! I think we will go with MVMCP and listen to the CP from afar if needed.

It's so hard with Disney budgeting as I'm sure we could find the money for adding on both MVMCP and CP... after all, the breakfast packages look like they start around $35 per person or so. However, I find it so easy to fall into the mindset of "we are going all the way there, surely we can fit in _____." But there are just SO MANY extras... from TS meals to dessert parties to ticketed events to tours and souvenirs. Everything becomes "just this extra" and suddenly the trip is thousands more than I planned to spend. We have certainly had trips like that before where I ended up startled by the cost once I added it all up so this trip I promised myself I'd set a budget and stick to it!

 

[Nancyg56]

Thank you all so much for the responses! I think we will go with MVMCP and listen to the CP from afar if needed.

It's so hard with Disney budgeting as I'm sure we could find the money for adding on both MVMCP and CP... after all, the breakfast packages look like they start around $35 per person or so. However, I find it so easy to fall into the mindset of "we are going all the way there, surely we can fit in _____." But there are just SO MANY extras... from TS meals to dessert parties to ticketed events to tours and souvenirs. Everything becomes "just this extra" and suddenly the trip is thousands more than I planned to spend. We have certainly had trips like that before where I ended up startled by the cost once I added it all up so this trip I promised myself I'd set a budget and stick to it!

Look at your narrators when they are released. Some are less popular than others, do you may find it easy to get a seat from the stand by line.

 

[Nancyg56]

Garden Grill is my favorite character meal. Just love it, it’s so under appreciated. And if you get a PPO time, you can run over to Soarin after you eat with little to no wait, and that saves you from having to use a tier1 FP for it. Off topic I know, but I can’t miss a chance to love on GG!

We are doing exactly that. PPO breakfast and then off to Soarin’