MVMCP Trying to decide if it's worth it?

missmickey

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We are planning an early November trip for this year and I'm trying to determine if MVMCP is worth it. Honestly when I started planning for Nov. I thought for sure we would do MVMCP, but I'm already spending more than planned so that we can stay at the Poly for part of our trip, so I'm looking at other ways to cut costs. We have 8 day park hoppers and will probably already be at MK 3 of the days. So what I'm wondering is what do you get to experience at MVMCP that you don't get from a regular Magic Kingdom day? Thanks!
 
I'm considering Christmas and balancing costs and value of MVMCP too. I'm interested what everyone has to say! Thanks :)
 
I'll probably be the only naysayer here, but I did not really enjoy MVMCP. Have you done MNSSHP before? Because if you have, like us, you might be disappointed. There just seemed like there was far less party specific fun things to do. If you're into character meet and greets, then it might be worth it, but we are not really M&G focused people, so without that element, the only difference between it and a regular park day was the snacks, parade, and fireworks. The snacks are mediocre at best. Personally, I didn't care for the parade. It features a lot of the same floats as Boo to You, but redressed for Christmas, and the song is SO. ANNOYING. I mean, maybe worse than IASW level annoying. On the other hand, the fireworks are absolutely amazing. BUT, I feel like there are other ways you can see them without spending the money on a party ticket, whether it's at one of the resorts/restaurants that pumps the music in, or just plain standing out front of the park near the ferry dock. We sort of accidentally did this another night on our way back to the bus station, having taken the boat from Fort Wilderness after a sleigh ride through the campgrounds. We ended up in front of MK right at fireworks time for one of the parties and it was pretty spectacular from there too. Also some parties will have great wait times for rides, but the party I went to was just as crowded as it is during the day, so wait times were pretty similar. We went to the Dec 6th party last month, which according to predictions should have been one of the least attended, but it felt slammed.

But that is just purely my experience, so take it with a grain of salt. I know other people go and have a fabulous time, including a good friend who went to a party two days before me and had the time of their life, but for me, it was not something I would do again. I'm glad we went, but it was not what I was hoping for or expected.
 
Personally, I think every Disney fanatic should go at least once. We loved how special it felt and loved the parade. Can't beat snow on Main Street too! But I think my favorite part were the rides. My DD and I went for her 10th birthday and she decided she didn't want to worry about any of the special characters. So, instead, we walked from one side of the park to the other and rode every single ride she loved as many times as she wanted. The crowds were busy with the characters and the rides were fairly empty. I will say that it was mid-November so crowds were low anyway, but we had the best time. She and I both agree it's one of our favorite memories.
 

We have done it before and can take it or leave it.

The snacks aren't the greatest. Lines aren't any smaller than the super late EMH at MK. If you are a huge character fan, there are extra characters such as the 7 dwarves, but be prepared to be in lines for awhile as they stack fast. The fireworks are amazing as previous poster mentioned, so this last time we book Cali Grill and watched them from there.

The parade is nice, but other than it being Christmas themed, it's another parade. You could watch it on you tube and see if it is something you would miss.

I have a hard time justifying the price, but that's just for our family. Every family is different.
 
I really love MVMCP, it's one of my very favorite things to do at Christmas time. I know everyone doesn't love it, but to me the atmosphere can't be beat. We don't do the characters anymore since my youngest is 14, but we love the special parade, the decorations and my very favorite thing-the snow on main street. Christmas music, everyone dressed in their Christmass-y clothes...I just love it! We can't afford to do it every time, but we try to go about every three or four years. I vote yes!! :santa:
 
We don't have kids so don't do the character meets but have been 3 times and love it! They did change the treats this past year so depending on what location you go it will be different types of cookies or a snow cone and different drinks like eggnog and apple cider along with the hot chocolate. We really enjoy the parade and shows and snow on Main Street. We also go on some rides.
 
I think that you should try to do it at least once, but honestly if you are already splurging this trip on the poly maybe you should do it on a future visit. We go to Disney often in the fall when both MNSSHP or MVMCP are going on and we don't always do them. They are fun, but it could also be a great excuse to go back ;)
 
We are planning an early November trip for this year and I'm trying to determine if MVMCP is worth it. Honestly when I started planning for Nov. I thought for sure we would do MVMCP, but I'm already spending more than planned so that we can stay at the Poly for part of our trip, so I'm looking at other ways to cut costs. We have 8 day park hoppers and will probably already be at MK 3 of the days. So what I'm wondering is what do you get to experience at MVMCP that you don't get from a regular Magic Kingdom day? Thanks!

Personally, We Love MNSSHP. We Aren't Really Fans Of MVMCP, Because Of The Snope. (Soap Snow, I Mean REALLY?! :crazy2:)
 
We're going in December, and I've had the same struggle with whether or not to do MVMCP. The thing that finally tipped the balance for me was the change up in the castle show. I had watched the previous version on Youtube several times and adored it. This new one? Not so much! I watched it more than once TRYING to like it, and I just can't. I loved the other one so much and really wanted to see it.
So then I had to ask myself what were the reasons to pay $300 for the three of us to go (we're there 12/17-12/20)? The parade, sure. It looks really cute, but I've watched it on Youtube enough now that I feel like I've already seen it, LOL. The snow on Main Street and the Christmasy atmosphere sounds great, but I'm not sure it's $300 great. Some of the character meet and greets seem cool, but not if we have to stand in line for a long time. Paying $300 to stand in a bunch of lines seems silly. The snacks don't sound that enticing, and we have park-hoppers for the entire stay so can go to MK and ride rides whenever we want. We're staying at the Grand Floridian, so we can watch Holiday Wishes from there for free.
In the end, it just didn't make sense to shell out the cost of a full-day park ticket for MVMCP on top of our park-hoppers. We'll get our Christmasy fill at the resort and Epcot when we do Holidays Around the World stuff and the Candlelight Processional. We'll still try to be in MK when they light the castle, and to catch the trolley show and philharmonic because I know they do Christmas stuff too.
 
We went Nov 2015 and had a great time. We only did 2 rides, one of them 3 times. Watched the parade then the stage show & fireworks. We also got a family picture with Dash, Santa's "other" reindeer. My kids were 1.5 & 5 years old so we only stayed till 10:30pm.

It was just such a good vibe there. Felt different (more special) than a regular evening at MK. I'm also a Christmas nut so that may have helped.

I would definitely recommend going but if you have plans to come back another time, maybe it's not a must do this trip.
 
It was worth doing once, but we probably won't do it again unless it changes drastically. Snow on Main street is pretty magical.
 
I did it once, and wasn't impressed. I was shocked to see how many tickets they sell for a supposedly limited ticket event. Never again.
 
My husband and I are going this November for the first time during the Christmas season so we are going to do MVMCP. We have done MNSSHP twice and loved it. We do the rides because there's are no lines. There is something truly magical about being the only 2 people on Its a Small World!
 
So I would check with Disney on this but when I went the Christmas parade wasn't available unless I bought tickets for MVMCP. I personally LOVE the Christmas parade and didn't want to miss it. Things could have changed since then as it was in 2012 so, call and ask if the parade is important to you. As far as the party it depends on your family's preferances. Hot cocoa and Apple cider and cookies aren't a big deal to me however, my DD loved it. Also, I'm not too big on the character meet & greets. Will I do it again? Only if I can't see the parade as I feel the Christmas parade was amazing! Am I sorry I did it? Absolutely not! It was a good experience as any Disney experience. It was cool seeing the 7 dwarfs as well. I prefer the Halloween party which we attend at DL every year. And others think that's a waste so, it just all depends on your prefrence.
 
You get the parade, the "Christmas show" on stage (not castle lighting that you can see w/o party), and "free" cookies & hot drinks. Also it snows on mainstreet and there are some special characters out for M&G with VERY long lines but they aren't out the rest of the time. To get a front row spot for the parade you still have to stake out a spot about 1 hour ahead. If your budget is tight in my opinion this can be skipped.

Also, if you ever go the week before and/or after Christmas you can see the Christmas Parade & show then without going to a party. We went the week between Christmas and NYE this year and I got to see the parade twice with pretty good views & didn't even stake out a spot ahead of time. It ran twice a day each day that week.

Here's our video from 2014 in mid-November at the party - we did not wait for the parade so you can see how far back we were and my husband who filmed it was up on a ledge. I was not and I am short so I couldn't see anything but the top of the floats. I honestly don't see us ever going again unless they lower the amount of tickets sold.

 
We are going the week before Thanksgiving and are planning on booking the party. We have only been down one other time during the Christmas season, arriving Christmas afternoon, and I don't recall the party going on after Christmas. I know we did not go to it, so we will give it a try this time.

We've done MNSSHP many times, but opted out the last couple of trips due to the cost and crowds.
 
Thank you all so much for responding! I wish I could say I made a decision, but I'm just still so unsure! I'm going with my sister's family and my parents, so I want to see what they think. I know I still have time to decide!

What other characters are there besides the 7 dwarfs that can't be seen in the parks?
 
I saw scrooge mcduck the last time we went we will be going to it in late November me and my wife enjoy it
 
Last years characters:

Nick Wilde & Judy Hopps
Captain Jack Sparrow
Peter Pan and Wendy
Aladdin with Abu, Jasmine with Genie
Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws
Donald, Scrooge McDuck, Daisy, Minnie
Santa Goofy
Tiana and Naveen
Big Al, Liverlips, Shaker and Wendell
Seven Dwarfs
Princesses with their princes
Tigger and Friends
Santa Claus
Mary Poppins, Bert, and Penguin
Mickey Mouse
Tinker Bell
Merida
Gaston
Ariel
 

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