MVMCP Questions

[lynzi2004]

Thinking about heading down for MVMCP, but I have a few questions about what you can realistically get done during party time. I think for us, priorities would be meeting the 7Dwarves and meeting the princes with their princesses. I would also like to see the stage shows in front of the castle/fireworks and parades. So basically a lot!

Just looking at the timeline of things though, it seems that if you really want to experience the castle shows/parades, you would spend the majority of your time camped out somewhere on Main street/Hub. Is this the case or can you enjoy other parts of the park while still coming back to Main street and getting a decent spot. We would have a 3 and 5 year old.

Ideally, we would be spending one day in each park plus the party. So I'm sure that there would be a few rides we would want to get in prior to the party starting. We would do the party on our last night, so hopefully would cover the majority of the park on another day. I would ideally get FP for Splash, 7Dwarves, and probably Buzz or Jingle Cruise lined up before hand from 4-7.

 

[BarbieGal457]

I believe FPs stop at 6:30 on party nights, so I would suggest trying to line them up between 2-5 instead of 4-7, if that is also your MK day. For meeting the Dwarfs though, I cannot stress how crucial it is that you line up as early as you can. We got in line at 5pm right after meeting Jack Skellington and we were probably the 10th group....well, in just 15-20 minutes after that, the line EXPLODED and was already in the switchback stanchions very quickly. We met the Dwarfs at 6:58pm (I purposely looked at my phone) and we were done with them by 7 when the party actually started. I can't imagine how long the wait was for the people who arrived only a little bit later than us to the line, and for the ones who got in line after 6 it must've been quite a long time they waited. I was amazed - the DIS did not exaggerate when they said the line gets crazy! If you take a picture with them, I suggest sitting in the front row of them. My boyfriend and I both stood in the second row of Dwarfs and we look like little ants! You can barely see our faces haha!

We saw both parades and the fireworks with very little camping out, but we watched from "quiet" locations. The first parade we saw from outside Diamond Horseshoe and the second from the hub by the bridge into Tomorrowland. We felt the second parade was much less crowded as well. If you can comfortably see over most heads, you might have a better time finding a good viewing spot closer to parade time, but if you are shorter of stature or have small children, I would definitely get a spot sooner. We didn't meet any princesses with their princes, but the Dwarfs seemed like the absolute highest priority to get in line and meet first to almost everyone. I would imagine the princess lines are considerably shorter than the Dwarfs though I can't offer first-hand experience there.

Also, for Jingle Cruise, 7DMT, etc, they were basically walk ons that night! From 7-8pm, we walked on Pirates, Jingle Cruise, HM, and something else that is currently escaping me. I was shocked how much we were able to ride and see, but then again we didn't line up early for parades or fireworks so while everyone was sitting there, we had the advantage of nearly-empty rides. As EasyWDW tends to say, on a day when MK closes for a party, crowds during the actual day are lighter and we did find that to be true. We got a ton done during that whole day!

 

[BarbieGal457]

Also when we got in line for the Dwarfs, the stanchions actually were not set up yet so we on our own formed an orderly line and then the line formed behind us with the stanchions then being put in place. When you get to the area where they meet, ask around to see if anyone else is already waiting for them like they were when we got there, and then try to form a line if it's possible to do so. I would think it saved us all a lot of trouble in regards to "well, I don't care you say you were here first, you didn't make a line!" We were maybe 20 people at that point in 8-10 families/groups, and the line just easily fell into place behind us.

 

[Serenebean]

We also got in line for Jack a little before 5pm and were maybe the 5th group. He came out early (5:45 I think?) so that helped. We then went over to the 7 Dwarves and got in line around 6pm (maybe later). The line was decently long already, and I think they came out at 6:45. We probably waited 30 minutes to see them once the line started moving. They seemed to be trying to cut down on people who wanted multiple pictures (like, oh one of just the kids, now one of us with the kids, now one of us without the kids...)

 

[SaintsManiac]

Also when we got in line for the Dwarfs, the stanchions actually were not set up yet so we on our own formed an orderly line and then the line formed behind us with the stanchions then being put in place. When you get to the area where they meet, ask around to see if anyone else is already waiting for them like they were when we got there, and then try to form a line if it's possible to do so. I would think it saved us all a lot of trouble in regards to "well, I don't care you say you were here first, you didn't make a line!" We were maybe 20 people at that point in 8-10 families/groups, and the line just easily fell into place behind us.

This! We were first for Rapunzel and Flynn (lined up 45 mins early). The line was "open" yet. Well 5 minutes before they open the line a family of 3 just come and stand right in front of us. They never asked why 20 other people were in a line right there. I didn't say anything, because they had a little girl and she was excited. It bugged me though lol. They kept saying "Look we are FIRST!!!"

 

[SaintsManiac]

Thinking about heading down for MVMCP, but I have a few questions about what you can realistically get done during party time. I think for us, priorities would be meeting the 7Dwarves and meeting the princes with their princesses. I would also like to see the stage shows in front of the castle/fireworks and parades. So basically a lot!

Just looking at the timeline of things though, it seems that if you really want to experience the castle shows/parades, you would spend the majority of your time camped out somewhere on Main street/Hub. Is this the case or can you enjoy other parts of the park while still coming back to Main street and getting a decent spot. We would have a 3 and 5 year old.

Ideally, we would be spending one day in each park plus the party. So I'm sure that there would be a few rides we would want to get in prior to the party starting. We would do the party on our last night, so hopefully would cover the majority of the park on another day. I would ideally get FP for Splash, 7Dwarves, and probably Buzz or Jingle Cruise lined up before hand from 4-7.

Besides my above post I will tell you what we did. We used FP from 4:30-6:00 and then got in line for Rapunzel and Flynn. After we met them we grabbed our cookies and cocoa and walked around a bit. We decided to go ahead and get a spot on the Hub grass (formerly the FP Wishes area) and waited for the shows and parade. We had a great view for everything BUT the parade, because we were too far back. We caught the 2nd parade on Main St near the exit. We did not ride anything after the use of our FP.

 

[BarbieGal457]

We also got in line for Jack a little before 5pm and were maybe the 5th group. He came out early (5:45 I think?) so that helped. We then went over to the 7 Dwarves and got in line around 6pm (maybe later). The line was decently long already, and I think they came out at 6:45. We probably waited 30 minutes to see them once the line started moving. They seemed to be trying to cut down on people who wanted multiple pictures (like, oh one of just the kids, now one of us with the kids, now one of us without the kids...)

Yes, we noticed this too! Our group was only my boyfriend and I and we've perfected how we do photos if we want multiples. I go first, take a quick photo then he jumps in with me, another quick snap, then I jump out and they take one of him. We've had CMs actually comment on how quick and efficient we are at it! We've gotten it down to where, if the photographer is ready to go, we can get it done in like 20-30 seconds so that the line doesn't get held up. We got in line for Jack at about 4:30 and he was out maybe 4:50-4:55 and he was AWESOME with interaction and it still gave us time to head to the Dwarfs early.

 

[MaleficentRN]

You can get a lot done before the party starts. We arrived at 4 and before 7 we rode 7DMT (fp) PP (fp) IASW then got line for Jack around 5. He came out about 6:15 and we did our M&G at 6:30ish. We then rode AT (fp) and then Buzz. Finished all this by a little after 7. We walked over to Main Street at this point and could have chosen many spots to watch the parade, but we are more ride than parade people so we went on Jingle Cruise, PotC, listened to the pirate carolers then and walked over to Frontierland to see the parade. We ended up with a half view of parade and fireworks at Sleepy Hollow while we had a pumpkin spice waffle.
I don't know the stamina of your little ones, but the later shows and parades have less of a crowd. And I suggest the Tomorrowland show and the dance party in Golden Horseshoe. Crowds at those are minimal at every party I've been to.

 

[lynzi2004]

Thanks everyone! Do I still get to use FP if we aren't planning on already being at MK that day? We were there in April and the kids made it from PPO Breakfast till about 10ish before they crashed in the stroller. In order to avoid them being worn out prior to the party, we thought we might just hang at the resort for that day and then go at 4pm, but I'm wondering about FP use now? We aren't opposed to going into MK earlier that day and getting an extra ticket, but with the added cost of the party, was kind of just counting on the 4-12 time.

 

[bcinohio]

So Jack Skellington does meet & greets before the 7pm party start time? Is he dressed like Santa? DH and I did the party a few years ago but didn't see Jack. We lined up at 6 for the dwarves and they came out around 7. I would like to get picture with both this year.

Where does Jack meet?

One character that we really like was Jack Sparrow. He was great.