MVMCP Questions

[Dean]

We're thinking about going this year and I'm asking here because a portion of my question is directly DVC related. I'm wondering when they tend to announce the dates and start ticket sales. Does DVC offer a discount on all dates or just some and if some, which ones tend to be excluded? Are the discounts available initially or is there a lag between availability of the tickets and the discount? Lastly, does anyone know what the criteria is for the last event to be on Sunday rather than Friday before Xmas? Thanks in advance.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I'm not exactly sure when they go on sale, but if I remember correctly from last year, none of the December dates past Dec 8th gave the DVC discount. We went on Dec 13th (sunday night) and no discount. During the month of November I believe there was a discount for every date. As far as the last date before Christmas tends to be a weekday? I think it all depends on what day Dec 25th falls on. I know they usually have the last party date @ Dec 18th. We've done the party 3 times (2012, 2013, 2015) and I can say I used the calendar from prior years to accurately predict how the following year was going to be. No guarantees, but it worked out for us.

After doing 3 parties, and one halloween party I will say that if you can go during the LEAST crowded time, you will get the most bang for your buck.

 

[CarolMN]

The tickets have usually gone on sale in May. Based on past years, there's really no hurry to buy them - they don't sell out until much closer to the actual dates. The parties closer to Christmas sell out more quickly than the earlier parties. The discounted nights have always been the earlier ones. If you look at last year's dates, you can probably get a very good idea of when they will be scheduled for this year and which dates might be discounted. The November & December calendars should be out in a couple of months - you can pretty much predict the MVMCP dates by looking for the 7 PM close for the MK.

If your stay includes 5-6 nights (between mid-November and mid-December), it's a good bet that there will be a party scheduled for your stay. There haven't been parties the week of Thanksgiving. As I remember, party nights have included Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Fridays.

We haven't gone for several years - IMO, the price now exceeds the value. That said, I still think everyone should go at least once if they are able. The parade, atmosphere and special fireworks are truly magical!

 

[Dean]

I'm not exactly sure when they go on sale, but if I remember correctly from last year, none of the December dates past Dec 8th gave the DVC discount. We went on Dec 13th (sunday night) and no discount. During the month of November I believe there was a discount for every date. As far as the last date before Christmas tends to be a weekday? I think it all depends on what day Dec 25th falls on. I know they usually have the last party date @ Dec 18th. We've done the party 3 times (2012, 2013, 2015) and I can say I used the calendar from prior years to accurately predict how the following year was going to be. No guarantees, but it worked out for us.

After doing 3 parties, and one halloween party I will say that if you can go during the LEAST crowded time, you will get the most bang for your buck.

Thanks, I had looked back at previous calendars and there were a couple on the 18th Sunday when Xmas was on Sunday as it is this year. The rest of the years the last one was on a Friday. I was suspicious there would not be a discount for then and the only way we can go is if they do it on Sunday the 18th this year. Since the last day tends to sell out IIRC, I'll just book when/if it comes out and not wait to see if there's a DVC discount. Thanks.

 

[Dean]

The tickets have usually gone on sale in May. Based on past years, there's really no hurry to buy them - they don't sell out until much closer to the actual dates. The parties closer to Christmas sell out more quickly than the earlier parties. The discounted nights have always been the earlier ones. If you look at last year's dates, you can probably get a very good idea of when they will be scheduled for this year and which dates might be discounted. The November & December calendars should be out in a couple of months - you can pretty much predict the MVMCP dates by looking for the 7 PM close for the MK.

If your stay includes 5-6 nights (between mid-November and mid-December), it's a good bet that there will be a party scheduled for your stay. There haven't been parties the week of Thanksgiving. As I remember, party nights have included Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Fridays.

We haven't gone for several years - IMO, the price now exceeds the value. That said, I still think everyone should go at least once if they are able. The parade, atmosphere and special fireworks are truly magical!

Thanks Carol, I saw some indications they were on sale in early March last year but couldn't find specific info. Good to know they don't tend to sell out too early.

 

[cvjw]

Last year, the DVC discount for Halloween party tickets was like $5 per ticket. Not a huge amount when you consider the fact that the tickets are getting into the $70 per ticket each range. I know that every little savings helps, but the savings amount was so small that there was barely a difference in the prices of the discounted and non-discounted tickets

We have found that the discount tended to be offered for the first parties, and the non-weekend parties.

 

[disneynutz]

The don't sell out early but it seems to me that more dates are selling out. DVC discount dates are projected lower attendance dates.

Bill

 

[jerseyduke]

You do not need to jump on them, but pay attention to when they go on sale.

If you are going close to Christmas, they will not be discounted.

I tend to always go the first or second Tuesday of December, it is usually a discounted day and does not sell out.

That being said, I wish Disney would double the cost of the tickets one night a week, and only sell 60% as many.

Even the non sold out parties are pretty crowed, for an "exclusive" event. And by exclusive I mean requiring an extra ticket, it is anything but exclusive of course.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Thanks, I had looked back at previous calendars and there were a couple on the 18th Sunday when Xmas was on Sunday as it is this year. The rest of the years the last one was on a Friday. I was suspicious there would not be a discount for then and the only way we can go is if they do it on Sunday the 18th this year. Since the last day tends to sell out IIRC, I'll just book when/if it comes out and not wait to see if there's a DVC discount. Thanks.

Yeah, no discount for that day. If they offer a party on that date and it's the last one, it will sell out. Probably not in May, but it will and if you do plan on going there is no sense waiting to purchase. Our last party this past December I was able to purchase our ticket the week prior. IF there was a DVC discount (and there isn't for those late dates) it doesn't matter when you purchase May or November, you just need to log into the My Disney Experience to get the discount.

In Sept of 2014 we did a weekend getaway (my kids and wife have birthdays all in a 3 week span) so it was a birthday gift to them all. Just so happened to get a room at SSR last minute (literally 10 days out) and a roundtrip flight on Spirit for $90 round trip pp. I bought halloween party tix through MS and had to pick them up at will call. Didn't know I could have gone on the WDW site and ordered them through the MDE login. They can be loaded right onto your account and band unless you want to card as a keepsake.....but being DVC I'm sure you have enough disney things that you don't need more "keepsakes" cluttering up the place.

 

[luckyman_apd]

You do not need to jump on them, but pay attention to when they go on sale.

If you are going close to Christmas, they will not be discounted.

I tend to always go the first or second Tuesday of December, it is usually a discounted day and does not sell out.

That being said, I wish Disney would double the cost of the tickets one night a week, and only sell 60% as many.

Even the non sold out parties are pretty crowed, for an "exclusive" event. And by exclusive I mean requiring an extra ticket, it is anything but exclusive of course.

I've been to 3 MVMCP parties in since 2012 and I can tell you they have absolutely sold more tickets than in the past. The first time we went it was on a friday of Jersey week. I was "told" (who knows how true) that the party was close to sold out that night, but if you weren't near main street it wasn't crowded at all. The 2nd time in 2013 I felt it was a bit more crowded, and it was a sunday @ Dec 10-11. This past December we were there also on a Sunday. We chose Sunday over Friday as we thought we might not get as large a crowd on Sunday vs Friday....but I can tell you both those years with this past year feeling the most crowded. It's reached the point where we've done it enough....my youngest will remember it for a while. We probably will do the Halloween Party next Sept one more time as Sept crowds are usually low and since it's food and wine opening weekend, everyone will probably be at Epcot lol.

 

[jerseyduke]

I've been to 3 MVMCP parties in since 2012 and I can tell you they have absolutely sold more tickets than in the past.

I share the same thoughts about crowd increases. That is why i would love to see a more expensive night(one night per week), with less people. It would give couples, or people willing to pay the extra, a nice opportunity, without pricing out families who would still have all the other nights to take advantage of. Not that I think it will ever happen.

Also, park attendance is rising, so that is simply more potential people wanting to attend

 

[Dean]

Thanks all. I'll just buy for our core group if the day we need is included and at the time they are available. It's good to know we should be able to add other later if needed. I don't think we've ever been this close the Xmas before.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Just a observation from this past season. We were scheduled to check in @ VCF on Sun. 11/29 and were traveling to WDW and getting close around 2PM when I thought I'd check the website from the car to see if tickets were still available for MVMCP that night. They were available but I'd figured I'd wait just to make sure we got there in time to check in & get to the MK without missing anything. We did check in around 4PM and I asked about purchasing the tickets but was told it was sold out. Even had another MS person assist the check-in desk person and he concurred that it was in fact sold out. Went to the room and fired up the notebook to check the ticket website since I thought it was odd (yet possible) that they had sold out that quickly. Sure enough there were tickets available and I purchased them and we went and had a fabulous time. At the entrance to the MK there was also a booth that had a sign saying that tickets for that night's party were still available. Not sure what system the check-in desk was using but obviously it wasn't correct.

 

[jpwest]

What's the conventional wisdom on whether to visit MK vs other parks during the day you are attending MVMCP? I'm leaning toward getting tickets without park-hopper, and if I am thinking about this correctly, I could get a "free" park hop by going to AK in the morning before the party.

Or am I better off spending the day at MK so we will be ready to jump in line when the party starts?

 

[CarolMN]

What's the conventional wisdom on whether to visit MK vs other parks during the day you are attending MVMCP? I'm leaning toward getting tickets without park-hopper, and if I am thinking about this correctly, I could get a "free" park hop by going to AK in the morning before the party.

Or am I better off spending the day at MK so we will be ready to jump in line when the party starts?

You will be allowed into the MK at 4 pm with just your MVMCP ticket, even though the parties don't officially start until 7 pm. So you can do whatever suits your personal touring style before then. No need to spend the day at the MK to "get a jump", although those days are usually less crowded than others, so yo might want to be there in the morning, anyway. When we went, we preferred to go to a park in the morning, then lunch & rest at our resort until it was time to go to the MK for the party, We usually tried to arrive shortly after 4 pm.

 

[pangyal]

We went on the 15th of December last year and it wasn't discounted, nor was the party before it. I believe only the first two parties in December usually qualify for the spectacular $5 discount.