mvmcp worth the money??

[ThreeMusketeers]

......thoughts?

 

[CTdiznymom]

When DH and I went we found it to be worth it as far as ride time. Some we just rode and got right back on. Only bad thing was trying to find something to eat. Lots of places were closed or only by ressie. The crowds the next day were unbearable so we were glad we did it.

 

[nefritz]

We leave in 25 days and debating the same thing!! Theres 6 of us, so 360 is a lot!

 

[Southernmiss]

Family of 6 too.

Our very first Disney experience was MVMCP the night we arrived--the Friday before Thanksgiving. It was magical!

Crowds happened to be light, it was cold that night, but we were able to ride several rides multiple times. Enjoyed the parade and hot cocoa and atmosphere and liked closing down the park and feeling like the last ones to walk down Main Street.

Did a MVMCP last year the week before Christmas and it was much more crowded and didn't get to do as much, but we still had a great time.

 

[karliebug]

We went and though I loved it I am not sure we would spend the $$$ to do it again. YOu can get in around 4 with your party ticket, which is a plus. The castle lit up with dancing lights to Christmas tunes was great, the cocoa and cookies and watching the parade was magical. My kids are older, so we didn't stand in line to see characters. Got to ride our favs several times. My advice is to not go on a Friday or Saturday night because they will be the most crowded as locals will go then.I think everyone should experience it once.

 

[tinkmom2]

Yes! We used that as a park day. You can get in at 4. I like that there is no waiting to get on the rides after the park begins to clear out at 7. We did make a ressie because that is something always should do for table service. We ate at before the party because we like to try something new every time we go but for the Halloween party we ate at CRT. You really can't starve at WDW. They do have plenty of quick service areas open too as well as hot chocolate and special photo op stations throughout the park.

I think that the parade is the best!
Sometimes we were the only people on the rides. Entering later gave us a chance to relax back at our resort and we also went to see the decorations at the other resorts.
http://youtu.be/GOc9PEc_nkM

 

[TomD]

We've done the Halloween Party many times and Christmas Party just once. For some reason the Christmas Party just seemed so so to us. We were glad we did it but it is not a must do like the Halloween party. At least for my family.

 

[Marionnette]

It was worth it about 10 years ago. I'm not so sure now. The price has really gone up considerably. If I had one day to spend in Disney during the holidays and the party was being held that night, I would probably buy a ticket and enter the MK at 4:00 just because it's cheaper than buying a 1-day ticket.

We did it for a second time in 2009. It was the weekend when they were filming the Christmas parade. The park was packed and the weather was so-so. Lots of rain but they held the first parade anyway. They canceled the second one. Lines for the attractions were long. Lines for the cookies and hot chocolate were even longer. I think that Disney oversells tickets to the event. The park was more crowded for the party than it was during the day!

I won't be doing it again any time soon, even if we are in Disney at the time.

 

[bankgirl05]

I think it really depends on your family. We did the first one of the season this year (last week!!!)and it was our second time and here is what I got out of it:

my kids are 4&6 and we also spent the WHOLE day in MK, so take it for what it is worth.

8:00 parade very crowded, even though we tried to find a place before 7:30, we were still a couple people back and couldn't really "see" it all. (between others heads/bodies etc)

9:15 fireworks were beautiful, but my 4yo was asleep by that time!!!

Lines for rides: none, but that day, the park was mostly not too crowded so most lines (except barnstormer, peterpan and pooh) were only 10 minutes.

lines for hot choc./cookies: long in the beginning, not so long after fireworks.

Lines for characters:LOOONG!!! we didn't do any!

Snow on Main Street: AWESOME!!!! Castle Lights etc. AWESOME!!! (but I think I got more out of that than my kids did)

For us it was definitely NOT worth the money, but like I said, we were there all day, so we were really tooo exhausted to get our money's worth. If I were to do it again it would not be a Friday, and I would have spent the morning/afternoon as a down day relaxing or just checking out other resorts etc.

FWIW, we also did the Halloween party the week before, and I kinda feel the same way about that too. I think, until my kids are a bit older, and can "hang" longer to be able to see the second parade (which is always lighter crowds) it just is a time suck for us trying to find a "good place" to view an hour before it starts!!!

If you are playing (or collecting) the Sorcerer's of The Kingdom game, you can get a pack of cards, plus a bonus card on party nights with your party ticket. We did not play yet, but we have begun collecting all of the cards to play next year!!!

 

[gillenkl]

Our family has tickets for 12/18 - tickets were $$$ but it's my anniversary gift and most likely a one-time treat for us.

 

[holden]

We went to the first party this year (11/9) and I wouldn't do it again. It was so crowded that it was hard to enjoy anything. I"m sure you could do a lot of rides during the parade, but our kids wanted to see the parade. Lines were long for hot chocolate, characters, Santa, etc.

It might be nice to do it once, but I don't think you'd need to do a repeat visit.

 

[nefritz]

Well I'm still undecided! The only plus would be to eliminate one day on our pass eliminating 60$ so just at $300 extra. We wouldn't go on our arrival day, so they would either be too tired or overly excited! Ugh back and forth back and forth!

 

[manning]

Awful expensive hot chocolate.

 

[bankgirl05]

Well I'm still undecided! The only plus would be to eliminate one day on our pass eliminating 60$ so just at $300 extra. We wouldn't go on our arrival day, so they would either be too tired or overly excited! Ugh back and forth back and forth!

How old are your children? Is this your first trip? Do you plan on going back? What days are your options for the party? (you can check the crowd calendars to see what is expected.) What would you do that day before you are able to be admitted at 4pm?

These are questions you really need to ask yourself. Like I said, my kids are too young to really get our money's worth out of it (expensive Hot Chocolate. Thanks, manning) Plus we tired them out being in the park all day, and expecting them to wait 45 minutes -1hr or more for a good spot for parade and fireworks + about 1/2 hr or more between end of parade and fireworks) really just not worth it for us.

 

[powelweb]

We've done it a couple of times with DD (now 9), but we usually plan to do something else during the day and use the party ticket only that night, with everyone taking a nap during the early afternoon to help us make the most of it.

Last time she was 7 and braved Big Thunder Mountain for the first time (and 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th times, etc. lol) and loved it because there were no crowds at the rides during the first parade at all.

We avoid the filming times and also the weekends, which seem to help with the crowds.

 

[Anastasia]

I didn't feel like it was worth the money. It was very crowded, and to me, too expensive. We were also there the week before Thanksgiving, (not the week of, the full week before), so crowds were light during the day, and it wasn't a problem to get on rides, so "no lines" was not a benefit for us.

 

[Mouseless2Long]

Magical!! I absolutely loved it and would do it again....in fact I am planning a trip next Christmas and this party will definitely be on my list. Love, love, love it!!

 

[LekiaHall]

Going for the first time this year. I doubt the cost, in itself, is worth it ($404 !!!), but other factors will hopefully make it special:

-First time at Disney for Christmas
-My DD's 4th birthday is day of party
-Last "big" family trip before oldest DD goes off to college
-Love Christmastime and I wanted us to get some special magic on the last day of our family trip. Will hopefully keep the jovial mood right through Dec 25!

 

[osu2k1]

For us we are planning on going 12/11 (Tuesday) and we are not going to any parks that day. We will be hitting the pool, if it's not too chilly. I am going to do a load of laundry too that day. Then we'll head to the park around 5-6. We've never been, so it will be fun to see how they do (4&7 yrs).

 

[honeydiane1953]

No!