Official 2013 MVMCP Information

[dancerwith4kids]

Can you see the parade from the dessert party or is it just a good view for the fireworks?

 

[dancerwith4kids]

Sorry if this was asked, haven't had time to read through all the posts. Where is the best place to watch the parade? I have heard go to the 2nd one. We did that last year & went to the hub for the 2nd parade & it was mobbed & a bad view. I was disappointed. Anyone know if the railroad is running during the party & if I could ride it to town square for the parade? Or is it better to go to Frontierland to not waste as much time? Any tips would be great, thanks!!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Sorry if this was asked, haven't had time to read through all the posts. Where is the best place to watch the parade? I have heard go to the 2nd one. We did that last year & went to the hub for the 2nd parade & it was mobbed & a bad view. I was disappointed. Anyone know if the railroad is running during the party & if I could ride it to town square for the parade? Or is it better to go to Frontierland to not waste as much time? Any tips would be great, thanks!!

We have never been to MVMCP, but we have been to MNSSHP a lot and we always watch the parade from Frontierland. Much less mobbed and we are usually able to get a front row curb seat about half an hour before the second parade.

Personally, I think Main Street doesn't add a lot to the parade. I kind of think it takes away from it since you have all the bright lights of Main Street.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Can you see the parade from the dessert party or is it just a good view for the fireworks?

not really, the trees block most of it! is good for the fireworks though!

Sorry if this was asked, haven't had time to read through all the posts. Where is the best place to watch the parade? I have heard go to the 2nd one. We did that last year & went to the hub for the 2nd parade & it was mobbed & a bad view. I was disappointed. Anyone know if the railroad is running during the party & if I could ride it to town square for the parade? Or is it better to go to Frontierland to not waste as much time? Any tips would be great, thanks!!

we like being in Frontierland for all the parades!

 

[dancerwith4kids]

Thank you guys. Looks like I will try Frontierland this year!

 

[Disneychica18]

I've read on the crowd websites that the 17th will be one of the busier Sundays for some reason. It was ranked as having higher crowds than even Friday. So we tried to work it out to go on Friday instead, but we couldn't make it work for our schedule. So, like many others on these boards, our family is going on the 17th.

What crowd websites are you checking. We are thinking of going on the 17th. We may rework our plans and go another day.

 

[serene56]

What crowd websites are you checking. We are thinking of going on the 17th. We may rework our plans and go another day.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2013/06/05/disney-world-magic-kingdom-christmas-party/


I see Dec 1 as the most crowded.
there are 19 parties--

 

[serene56]

W
Personally, I think Main Street doesn't add a lot to the parade. I kind of think it takes away from it since you have all the bright lights of Main Street.

I have to agree with you--- but only on the regular parades-- for the christmas parade it will be snowing on main street/

 

[mom2rtk]

http://blog.touringplans.com/2013/06/05/disney-world-magic-kingdom-christmas-party/


I see Dec 1 as the most crowded.
there are 19 parties--

I thought TouringPlans' crowd predictions for the hard ticket parties were pure rubbish.

There will be a number of sold out parties. That Sunday after Thanksgiving may or may not be one of them. One of the reasons that one sold out last year was probably because of New Fantasyland. They have a habit of using historical events to predict crowds this year, and it's very faulty logic.

And why would they rank that one the worst when it sold out one day before the parties and others sold out even earlier. Besides, sold out is sold out.

Here's the deal on parties:

1) Avoid Friday nights closest to the holiday itself

2) Avoid Discount nights and CM nights

3) Avoid other Friday nights

4) Avoid nights near another holiday (Columbus Day, Veterans Day)

5) Parties on a school night are always preferable (school the next day)

6) Any party the last week can sell out.

Beyond that, sold out is sold out.

Sundays are fine, Tuesdays are fine, Thursdays are fine. I would choose the Tuesday or Thursday after 12/1 if possible, but still have no reason to believe that one will be much worse than anything you'll get on opening night or the entire last week.

 

[Kathymford]

I thought TouringPlans' crowd predictions for the hard ticket parties were pure rubbish.

There will be a number of sold out parties. That Sunday after Thanksgiving may or may not be one of them. One of the reasons that one sold out last year was probably because of New Fantasyland. They have a habit of using historical events to predict crowds this year, and it's very faulty logic.

And why would they rank that one the worst when it sold out one day before the parties and others sold out even earlier. Besides, sold out is sold out.

Here's the deal on parties:

1) Avoid Friday nights closest to the holiday itself

2) Avoid Discount nights and CM nights

3) Avoid other Friday nights

4) Avoid nights near another holiday (Columbus Day, Veterans Day)

5) Parties on a school night are always preferable (school the next day)

6) Any party the last week can sell out.

Beyond that, sold out is sold out.

Sundays are fine, Tuesdays are fine, Thursdays are fine. I would choose the Tuesday or Thursday after 12/1 if possible, but still have no reason to believe that one will be much worse than anything you'll get on opening night or the entire last week.

I have never been to the Christmas parties, but tend to agree with you about the TP. Thursday Dec 12th is one of their least desirable and I cannot fathom why. I'm going anyway. LOL

 

[mom2rtk]

I have never been to the Christmas parties, but tend to agree with you about the TP. Thursday Dec 12th is one of their least desirable and I cannot fathom why. I'm going anyway. LOL

I absolutely would. I find their rankings to be utter hogwash.

Will the 12th be busy? Yes, they all are. But it won't be one of the worst.

 

[STILLWISHING]

I am going on the 22nd and could not be more excited, crowds or not. It will be my first time for the Christmas holiday parade and lights. 18 days

 

[Lavitz]

I absolutely would. I find their rankings to be utter hogwash.

Will the 12th be busy? Yes, they all are. But it won't be one of the worst.

Is there another site besides this with more accurate info?

 

[Itinkso]

Is there another site besides this with more accurate info?

I don't think any other site attempts to predict crowd levels for parties. I've checked easywdw and kennythepirate and no predictions there. Everyone just states that Fridays are usually the busiest due to more locals attending.

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

http://blog.touringplans.com/2013/06/05/disney-world-magic-kingdom-christmas-party/


I see Dec 1 as the most crowded.
there are 19 parties--

Wish someone would define crowded in a way that made sense. Is it crowded like "the park gets closed during regular busy park days" or are the crowd levels controlled to a less crowded because they sell hard tickets vs someone with Hopper passes and such just showing up. On a given day they can't know how many people are going to come to the park. They can guess, but with the parties and hard ticket sales, I would think there is much more control and they can keep it reasonable.

I thought TouringPlans' crowd predictions for the hard ticket parties were pure rubbish.

There will be a number of sold out parties. That Sunday after Thanksgiving may or may not be one of them. One of the reasons that one sold out last year was probably because of New Fantasyland. They have a habit of using historical events to predict crowds this year, and it's very faulty logic.

And why would they rank that one the worst when it sold out one day before the parties and others sold out even earlier. Besides, sold out is sold out.

Here's the deal on parties:

1) Avoid Friday nights closest to the holiday itself

2) Avoid Discount nights and CM nights

3) Avoid other Friday nights

4) Avoid nights near another holiday (Columbus Day, Veterans Day)

5) Parties on a school night are always preferable (school the next day)

6) Any party the last week can sell out.

Beyond that, sold out is sold out.

Sundays are fine, Tuesdays are fine, Thursdays are fine. I would choose the Tuesday or Thursday after 12/1 if possible, but still have no reason to believe that one will be much worse than anything you'll get on opening night or the entire last week.

I absolutely would. I find their rankings to be utter hogwash.

Will the 12th be busy? Yes, they all are. But it won't be one of the worst.

And again what does worst mean. At Disney I never expect to walk right on a ride. If I do I'm rather surprised. Leaving on the 16th and returning the 23rd. I'm hopeful the week will be reasonable but will just go with the flow.

I am going on the 22nd and could not be more excited, crowds or not. It will be my first time for the Christmas holiday parade and lights. 18 days

 

[mom2rtk]

Wish someone would define crowded in a way that made sense. Is it crowded like "the park gets closed during regular busy park days" or are the crowd levels controlled to a less crowded because they sell hard tickets vs someone with Hopper passes and such just showing up. On a given day they can't know how many people are going to come to the park. They can guess, but with the parties and hard ticket sales, I would think there is much more control and they can keep it reasonable.





And again what does worst mean. At Disney I never expect to walk right on a ride. If I do I'm rather surprised. Leaving on the 16th and returning the 23rd. I'm hopeful the week will be reasonable but will just go with the flow.



If you mean November 22nd, I'll be there too. We bought our tickets figuring that was our last night there and since we will be leaving the next morning on the later side, we were just sleeping in and having breakfast at the resort before airport. Never gave a search for what party would be most crowded a thought. Like I said I figured hard tickets limit the size of the crowd easier than regular park full days.

So with that said, looks like I didn't pick the most crowded but I picked the next to most crowded. Any tips on what I should expect for wait times.
We do have dinner reservations at Tony's for 7:45 so I'm not worried about the crowd level for that first parade.

Thanks

I stand by the list of criteria I put above in terms of choosing the lesser crowded party. I don't say least crowded, because it is very rare to find one any more that is not at least moderately crowded. And I stand by saying to ignore the Touring Plans rankings for most crowded parties. I have been to 14 hard ticket parties, including 9 Christmas parties, a few of which were indeed sold out. My personal favorites are Sunday nights, although I do see their point about the first one after Thanksgiving being more crowded than a typical Sunday night party. But the fact remains that locals have school and work the next day. And that party might have sold out last year in the midst of the FL expansion preview, but I don't believe it typically sells out. Lots of crowds clear out that Sunday and head home so they can be at work the next day.

You really can't compare crowds to regular park crowds because they behave so differently from a regular park crowd. During a regular day, crowds are pretty evenly dispersed throughout the park. While people do rides during a party, most do not pay $65 a head to do things they can do during a regular park day. They are mostly there for the parade, fireworks, shows and special character meets...... much of which takes place on Main Street. So Main Street will be very crowded and the rest of the park will not feel crowded. Even on a sold out party night, ride lines will feel short (usually...... occasional Space or another headliner might back up a bit more but in general ride access is very good).

And if you are saying you are eating at Tony's at 7:45 during a party, then that is going to be one very expensive dinner. I always try to eat before the party starts so we can make the most of the exclusive party offereings in the limited time they are available.

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

I stand by the list of criteria I put above in terms of choosing the lesser crowded party. I don't say least crowded, because it is very rare to find one any more that is not at least moderately crowded. And I stand by saying to ignore the Touring Plans rankings for most crowded parties. I have been to 14 hard ticket parties, including 9 Christmas parties, a few of which were indeed sold out. My personal favorites are Sunday nights, although I do see their point about the first one after Thanksgiving being more crowded than a typical Sunday night party. But the fact remains that locals have school and work the next day. And that party might have sold out last year in the midst of the FL expansion preview, but I don't believe it typically sells out. Lots of crowds clear out that Sunday and head home so they can be at work the next day.

You really can't compare crowds to regular park crowds because they behave so differently from a regular park crowd. During a regular day, crowds are pretty evenly dispersed throughout the park. While people do rides during a party, most do not pay $65 a head to do things they can do during a regular park day. They are mostly there for the parade, fireworks, shows and special character meets...... much of which takes place on Main Street. So Main Street will be very crowded and the rest of the park will not feel crowded. Even on a sold out party night, ride lines will feel short (usually...... occasional Space or another headliner might back up a bit more but in general ride access is very good).

And if you are saying you are eating at Tony's at 7:45 during a party, then that is going to be one very expensive dinner. I always try to eat before the party starts so we can make the most of the exclusive party offereings in the limited time they are available.

I'm rather clueless as to what I'm going to miss. Must be why I was able to get the reservation. I figure if I'm lucky enough to score a seat that I can see the parade, it would be more comfortable than sitting on the curb.
I'm quite sure I will have gone on the rides I "must do" on one of the other evenings of the park. Of course I'll be looking for shows, but again people at that time are either doing rides or lining up for the parade.
It's our last night there and I've never been so I have no idea what to expect.
Being just adults, I don't have a child wishing to be in a certain character line.

Enlighten me if I'm missing something.
And if I miss something, I'll be hopeful that there will be "another" time to do it again.

 

[mom2rtk]

I just read through the description of how TP ranks their party crowds. This is really misguided. It's based on ride wait times, which I noted above is really a minor piece of the party experience.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm rather clueless as to what I'm going to miss. Must be why I was able to get the reservation. I figure if I'm lucky enough to score a seat that I can see the parade, it would be more comfortable than sitting on the curb.
I'm quite sure I will have gone on the rides I "must do" on one of the other evenings of the park. Of course I'll be looking for shows, but again people at that time are either doing rides or lining up for the parade.
It's our last night there and I've never been so I have no idea what to expect.
Being just adults, I don't have a child wishing to be in a certain character line.

Enlighten me if I'm missing something.
And if I miss something, I'll be hopeful that there will be "another" time to do it again.

You 'may' see part of the parade, but I wouldn't count on it. The tables at Tonys aren't all right next to a window! The parade really is best viewed outside. It's one of the really fun things at the party. Of course, you can always catch the second parade.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm rather clueless as to what I'm going to miss. Must be why I was able to get the reservation. I figure if I'm lucky enough to score a seat that I can see the parade, it would be more comfortable than sitting on the curb.
I'm quite sure I will have gone on the rides I "must do" on one of the other evenings of the park. Of course I'll be looking for shows, but again people at that time are either doing rides or lining up for the parade.
It's our last night there and I've never been so I have no idea what to expect.
Being just adults, I don't have a child wishing to be in a certain character line.

Enlighten me if I'm missing something.
And if I miss something, I'll be hopeful that there will be "another" time to do it again.

It might be that you will love just soaking up the atmosphere including dinner at Tony's that night. If you don't plan to do any character meets, then that certainly frees up a lot of time. The rare characters are one of the reasons many people go. I know it's the main reason we go not just once, but at least twice per trip.

I would say the most important piece of the night is the parade. I would make sure you see it. My DH likes Disney but does not go crazy over it like I do. But even he just loved the Christmas parade. And I don't think he's ever felt that way about a Disney parade before. I would highly recommend making the parade a priority that night, as I think the odds of watching from Tony's are not high.

The fireworks are also first rate, including perimeter bursts. Very much worth seeing.

There is a seasonal show on the castle steps that is really adorable.


IMG_5869B by mom2rtk, on Flickr



IMG_5845B by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_5806B by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_5666B by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_5891B by mom2rtk, on Flickr

And although you can have this view any night in the MK that time of year, I just can't resist posting. Just to get everyone in a Christmas frame of mind. And as an FYI, this was one of the lowest crowd nights we have ever done a party. There had been heavy storms earlier in the night that really cleared the place out. Sort of.


IMG_5619B by mom2rtk, on Flickr