A comment on MVMCP if you choose to go later in Dec. We went this year from the 17-23 of Dec. We went to the party on the last night - the 17th. Well, the next week, all the things we did at the party were going on during regular hours. Consider this before you dish out the extra money. The only thing we got special at the party was a cookie and hot chocolate....mind you, it was really good hot chocolate and a yummy cookie, but not worth the price of the ticket when we could see all the shows, parade, snow, etc. for free the next week. SO....moral of the story, if you are going to be around while the parties are going on AND after....dont' pay for the parties, you can do all the same stuff once the parties stop. On the other hand...if you are going beginning of Dec. like the original post said, the parties would be the only time to see all the Christmas stuff, and worth it.