"Official" Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 2015 Thread - Rockin' Around the Cinderella Castle!

[goopysolelady]

Our wait is down to HOURS before we arrive at the WL. MVMCP on Friday night so I'll have comments and photos in about a week. We're returning the day before Thanksgiving and have to prepare Thanksgiving lunch for DH's family so I won't get to download photos until Friday. Thanks for all the help; I think we're prepared and know what to expect. Looking forward to our first Christmas party; if it's half as good as Halloween we're in for a treat!

 

[goofymom/pop]

Hello...I am sure this is answered somewhere in this very long thread (109 pages WOW). I just bought tickets for Dec 8, and I DO NOT need additional tickets to the park for that day, is this correct? I would hate to get to the gate and find out I needed to have an all day pass as well as the party ticket. Ack! Nervous I just messed up my plans.

 

[dwbrewster]

Hello...I am sure this is answered somewhere in this very long thread (109 pages WOW). I just bought tickets for Dec 8, and I DO NOT need additional tickets to the park for that day, is this correct? I would hate to get to the gate and find out I needed to have an all day pass as well as the party ticket. Ack! Nervous I just messed up my plans.

As long as you are planning to enter the park after 4:00 no you do not need a ticket. If you want a full day at the park, then yes you do.

 

[goofymom/pop]

Thank you!

 

[fanoftigger]

I should also mention that Cast Members were definitely encouraging non-Party ticket holders out of the park starting at 7p. While eating ice cream outside The Plaza, we were asked no less than 3 times to show our wristbands. I couple was sitting there dawdling and finishing coffee so long, a CM finally stood there and waited to escort them on their way. We were also asked to show them 2-3 times as we headed to the back of the park. From what I observed, they were doing a good job.

 

[DVC1991]

does anyone know if they have those santa mickey and minnie mugs again this year? i think they used to give them with ice cream or cupcakes in them?

 

[ustasmom]

We are attending on a Sunday night. Which will be faster, driving or taking the bus? We are staying at AKV.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Loving all the reviews so far! Can't wait to get there

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Guys please feel free to share your photos I can't update the OP next year with old photos!

 

[chelynnah]

We went on the first night. The rain caused a delay for the second parade and some of the floats and acts were changed for safety, but that's a good thing. We watched the first parade in Liberty square, and then the second in front of the trading post in Frontierland. That was the best parade spot ipweve ever had. No, it wasn't in the snow on Main Street, but we had experienced the snow during non-parade times and Main Street was crowded. So if you don't feel you need to have the snow during the parade I strongly recommend Frontierland.

We really. Enjoyed it. It was the first night of our vacation as well as our first party. We head back home Sunday, and today decided we wanted to do one more party, so booked for tomorrow. The forecast is for rain, but fingers crossed it will hold off. If it doesn't, we won't let it ruin the night. Even with some rain at the first party we had a blast.

It's been great reading everyone's experiences

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We are attending on a Sunday night. Which will be faster, driving or taking the bus? We are staying at AKV.

Probably the bus. As long as it isn't a weird situation where buses are running behind. The bus will drop you right at the gate whereas if you drive you need to park your car, get on a tram, take the ferry or monorail then finally your there.

Just be sure to give yourself enough time. The trip to Mk usually ends up taking longer than I thought it would.

 

[Cluelyss]

Long time lurker, first time poster here with some rookie questions about the One-Day Memory Maker package. I've read a lot of info on it, but I just want to make sure I have it all straight before I float the idea to my family. I figured the DIS was a good place to ask, since everyone seems to be in the know!

The scenario: We have tickets for MVMCP on Dec. 8. We'll be arriving for 4:00pm admission and won't be going to any other parks that day. However, the little ladies in our group will be having an early morning makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Disney Springs so they're all done up for party night. The party will be our first time at MK on this trip.

Ideally, I'd like to buy the One-Day MM on our way into the party, as that will be the easiest opportunity to do so without going out of our way. Here are my questions:

- I read that buying the one-day package gets you all Photopass photos for the entire day, not just those taken at the party. So that will include BB Boutique, right?
- Does that still apply if I don't buy the package until we get to MK in the afternoon? ie. If I don't have the package when the photos are done in the morning, will buying the package in the afternoon unlock those morning photos, or do I have to have the package purchased already?
- If I have to have the MM package purchased before we go to BB Boutique, am I able to buy it a couple of days ahead of the party? Where am I able to purchase it?

I think that about covers it. We didn't want to spring for the full MM package, so if this works out, it'll allow us to get all our BB Boutique photos, plus the bonus of whatever we end up getting at the Xmas party.

PS. Is it still $39 like it was last year?

I believe they did away with the PP photographers at the DS BBB. But I do believe they are still offering the one day MM that you could use at the party. And yes, last price I heard was $39

 

[PizzaCat]

I believe they did away with the PP photographers at the DS BBB. But I do believe they are still offering the one day MM that you could use at the party. And yes, last price I heard was $39

Well, if that's the case, that would pretty much defeat the purpose of getting the one-day MM in the first place. Thanks for the heads up.

I think I'll make a separate thread, since this is getting beyond the scope of just the Xmas Party.

 

[TinkinAbout]

I went to Tuesday night, the 17th. Here's a link to my full review, http://wp.me/p6PGfS-tv, but on the whole, I found the party to be VERY quiet and not crowded at all. Attraction wait times were very short and even the more popular character meet and greets seemed less busy than I would have expected. I did see Cast members doing a very thorough job of checking for wrist bands, on the whole and didn't see many non-party Guests after about 8pm.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We are attending on a Sunday night. Which will be faster, driving or taking the bus? We are staying at AKV.

We went from AKL Jambo house on a Tues night and ordered a Lyft (or Uber?) which dropped us off at TTC and we took the ferry over. It was our first time going to MK, I didn't want to risk a bus taking forever and the buses we'd seen depart that time of afternoon the day before were PACKED... and I had zero regrets. No idea if we saved or lost any time but the trip was kind of relaxing. I DID regret riding the bus back that night! It was just before midnight and as I'm sure you're aware it was a solid 25min ride with everyone packed in like sardines and I was beginning to get motion sick (I'm super sensitive) by the time I got back to AKL- never again will I bus between MK and AKL if I return someday.

 

[elgerber]

I went to Tuesday night, the 17th. Here's a link to my full review, http://wp.me/p6PGfS-tv, but on the whole, I found the party to be VERY quiet and not crowded at all. Attraction wait times were very short and even the more popular character meet and greets seemed less busy than I would have expected. I did see Cast members doing a very thorough job of checking for wrist bands, on the whole and didn't see many non-party Guests after about 8pm.

I haven't read your review yet, but I would agree.
We didn't do any character meets, and of course Sandy Claws line looked crazy, but the crowds were great. We did not feel squished or packed in at all for fireworks, or the castle lighting. We rode everything we wanted to, BTMRR twice in a row (they were running almost completely empty cars) with no wait at all. Except of course the Mine Train, that took twenty minutes, but we were totally fine with that.

 

[KayKayJS]

Quick question.. How late do the meet and greets go? Our main goals right now (in the order I think they should be completed...) are:

-Sandy Claws @445
-Eat
-Rapunzel/Flynn
-Castle Lighting
-Reindeer
-Voiceplay
-Fireworks
-Parade
-Aladdin
-Rides (Splash, Space Mtn, Buzz)

 

[SureAsLiz]

Quick question.. How late do the meet and greets go? Our main goals right now (in the order I think they should be completed...) are:

-Sandy Claws @445
-Eat
-Rapunzel/Flynn
-Castle Lighting
-Reindeer
-Voiceplay
-Fireworks
-Parade
-Aladdin
-Rides (Splash, Space Mtn, Buzz)

The only problem you might run into is Aladdin after the second parade depending on where you watch. Most of the characters seemed to be gone by 11:30. For that specific line, he rotates with Jasmine so the timing may be hard to get right.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I'm late but I attended the Tues party on Nov 10. It was not sold out, we felt we got to do tons of rides. Our only days at the World were Mon and Tues for doing Epcot Food and Wine and then we threw in MVMCP so we could see MK on Tues night. Our goals were: rides, more rides and shopping. I'll bullet point the highlights!

• Arrived MK 4:15pm did our FPs: 3:30-4:30 Pirates, 4:30-5:30 Peter Pan, 5:30-6:30 Haunted Mansion. Worked great, FPs were all loaded on our magic bands as were our party tickets (but I had brought our emailed paper tickets just in case there were problems but there weren't!)
• Also Tiki room, IASW, Mickey's Philharmagic before 7pm
• Be Our Guest at 7:15pm: my dream restaurant and it was decorated for Christmas!! Tree, garland, I'll try to post a pic. We only did drinks & dessert then took pics at the tree and wandered around the castle, met the Beast with no line, it was AMAZING, no regrets there even though it took party time. Seriously how can a Beauty and the Beast lover regret having the Grey Stuff with a glass of champagne? I felt like I was being pixie dusted the entire time
• Wristbands/non-party guests: I've seen this mentioned a couple times, my experience- the park seemed packed to the gills in the time leading up to the party, by the time we came out of BOG (around 8pm) everyone non-party had cleared out & our wristbands were checked upon exiting BOG. It seemed practically deserted back in New Fantasyland! They had CMs outside BOG to escort any exiting guests who did not have party wristbands. I never noticed guests without bands the rest of the night.
• 8pm-10:45pm: Checked out Gaston's Tavern and the Beauty and the Beast shop, rode Tea cups, Space (3 times), People Mover (because if you ride Space 3 times you'll be pretty sure the people mover is the best most relaxing ride ever), Buzz, fireworks were watched from back of park near Gaston's tavern, Haunted Mansion, Runaway Train, Jingle Cruise, Pirates. Most everything was walk-on, I think we waited 5 mins at the Teacups and was our longest wait during MVMCP.
• 10:45pm onward: browsed Main St for shopping, caught glimpses of parade from the shops, grabbed some Starbucks, saw LOTS of snow fall on Main St while there and it was still falling when left around 11:30pm
• *Tip* climb up Main St's train station before you leave at night for a beautiful view of all the Christmas cheer, from the tree to the Castle (and the tree was up btw, people had said they didn't think it would be up by the 10th due to parade taping or something but there was a big 'ol xmas tree right there at the entrance to Main St). This is also a great spot for pictures with the tree and castle in the background. I'll try to post a pic of the view from here. The train was down so the station was empty.
• Value: there is a lot of discussion if the price of the party is worth it. IMHO it depends on everyone's individual situation. It was 100% worth it to us. We only had 2 days for WDW and while we were beyond exhausted after Sat at Seaworld, Sun at Universal and Mon-Tues at F&W, MVMCP is what I remember as being the most "magical" part of our trip. Otherwise we would have skipped MK entirely and I know we would have regretted it (at least I would have, as a Disneyland vet I was very curious about MK).
• This was a girls trip for 2 young adults and we had a blast, the party is totally for all ages!

 

[EUmickey]

Not one day has been sold out so far.. Maybe it is becoming less popular