Ive done both parties and they are both fun.
We did the Christmas party 2 years ago and we are going back at thanksgiving and doing it again. We went to the first one of the season, and it was crowded and I wasnt very prepared and we didnt get to do everything... BUT.....
It was great! To walk down Main Street at night with the Christmas decorations up, everyone dressed in their holiday wear, and then to have it snow!! Its just truely awesome. That alone was worth going to the party for!!! The characters are decked out in winter wear.. scarfs and stuff, and Goofy had on a santa hat. We saw the show at the castle and waited for the fireworks ( which didnt work and then were postponed until 11:30 so that kept us from doing other things too) then we saw the 2nd showing of the parade. The parade was great!!! I really loved that parade. Better than the halloween parade I thought! We took advantage of the hot chocolate as it was pretty chilly out when we were there! We saw the special fireworks that go all the way around the park in a circle and the kids loved that tinkerbell flying from the castle was replaced by rudolph!! Like I said, we missed alot of the shows, and didnt get our free picture, due mostly to poor planning on my part, and it was crowded and we lost over an hour waiting for the fireworks...But we liked it soooo much that we will be back in 3 months!! woohoo
We did
MNSSHP last year and we thought that was fun too. I was much better prepared, got there early, got our pictures and did a lot of trick or treating. It was REALLY HOT that night.. i mean.. we were still sweating at midnight on our way out of the park. I liked the headless horseman at the start of the parade, and i liked the flying bat and witch they showed on the main street buildings too. The characters that were dressed up were fun! We actually go to see the parade twice as Main street was pretty dead by the second one.
I personally would do the christmas one every year if i could. I thought the halloween party was fun, but I dont think we will be going back at that time of year again. You got tickets for a Thursday night and that will be a great time. It shouldnt be too crowded that night. Just plan to be done eating BY 6:00. We ate early for the halloween party and waited back in tomorrow land for at least an hour but we got our picture then with no wait, and they had a DJ playing with blowing ghosts and hula hoops for the kids.. it was great! We ate at TOny's for the first christmas party ( remember, i didnt plan well) and we walked out on main street at about 6:45. I thought noone else would be in the park yet as it doesnt start until 7. We walked out to huge crowds that were lined up 3 people deep already for the parade. By the time we walked down main street, enjoyed the snow, walked through the confectionary, and made it behind the castle, it was packed. Eat early and get to the back of the park where the rides are as early as possible. Try to get a plan together with your party scheule so you can do as many holiday shows as possible. Our timing was always off, so it seemed like a show would be starting , we were as far away from it as possible , and wouldnt get to it in time.. lol But hey. we are going back and this time.. I'll be ready!!