what did you think of MVMCP?

[lorax123]

This was our first extra ticket event at WDW and we were a bit disappointed. We went to the earliest event we could (the 7th) but were really suprised by the crowd level for the event.
It's not that we didn't enjoy the parade, the night before Christmas stage show, fireworks... They were all very good but it starts kind of late to get the kids too and it really required more of a commando style to enjoy; if you were only able to take in one night of the event. We really didn't want to commando it and have to be in line waiting for the next event, while the previous event was style going on.

The crowds were overall very friendly and not pushy, the free cookies and hot chocolate was great, the fireworks spectacular but I left the event wishing Disney just integrated the events into the daily schedule and didn't have a seperate event for the Christmas shows. Of course, they can't make additional $$$ off that.

I'd say the party was probably the one thing on or Disney trip we felt hoo hum about. DW already said, after this event, she wouldn't have any interest in other extra ticket events at Disney. A friend at work felt the same way, she went to the event the week before. But she also was mad that it seemed so many people without wristbands just ignored CMs and stayed in the park (which I didn't see/pay attention too).

What did everybody else think?

 

[cocowum]

We went to the party on 12/16. It was sold out. It was a insanely crowded. We didn't do any attractions really. We saw the shows, which were excellent. We watched the parade and fireworks. Then we went around and met the characters. We felt like the event was a lot of fun but it was way too crowded. I will not go to a sold out event ever again.

On a side note we were a bit irritated by all the parties when we were there. We enjoy AK, we usually spend the day at AK then hop over to MK for some cinnamon rolls at the MK bakery but this trip it seemed like there was a party going on every other night. The podcast team talked about this on the show but it really hit home when we were there. Every time we wanted to hop over to MK it was closed for the party.

 

[ADP]

We went to the party on 12/16. It was sold out. It was a insanely crowded. We didn't do any attractions really. We saw the shows, which were excellent. We watched the parade and fireworks. Then we went around and met the characters. We felt like the event was a lot of fun but it was way too crowded. I will not go to a sold out event ever again.

On a side note we were a bit irritated by all the parties when we were there. We enjoy AK, we usually spend the day at AK then hop over to MK for some cinnamon rolls at the MK bakery but this trip it seemed like there was a party going on every other night. The podcast team talked about this on the show but it really hit home when we were there. Every time we wanted to hop over to MK it was closed for the party.

I have to agree with you. I think the frustrating part is all these parties take away value from our annual passes. When we can't use them to enter the MK because of hard-ticketed events the AP loses it's value.

I do belive the parties are pretty well done; however, I chose not to attend this year simply because the $56 price tag and limited discounts was a bit too much for what you get in my opinion. This year seemed like the largest MVMCP price increase I've seen.

 

[lorax123]

I agree! Admission is about 2/3 the price of a day ticket but you only get 5 hours of park time. Less time if you have young kids! We were only at the party for 3.5 hours. The events are great but that's a lot of loot!
It is very inconvient for park hoppers and APers this time of year. Basically from Sept-January you can count on an extra ticketed event cutting down your park time.
We did notice the event was sold out on the 16th. That had to be crazy. Wouldn't that be upwards of 50k people in the MK?

 

[tiggertabi]

I would say I would have had more fun without my daughter! She was just too exhausted, so we left without even seeing the parade! She took a nap, so I thought she'd be okay, but alas. I felt like I needed my money back, because all we did was have some hot cocoa, ride Buzz Lightyear (for the 3rd time that day though) and then see that Mickey show by Buzz. (which was cute, but not 56 dollars worth of cuteness!)

I dont' think I'll do another hard ticket thing until my kids are much much older. Or not at all with children.

 

[pilgrimr]

We were also there at the 16th party. We enjoyed the events that we did (the dance party, fireworks, and 10:30 parade). We were disappointed by the how big the crowd was. It was hard to move around and do anything. We enjoyed what we did, but I don't think we would do it again.

 

[lorax123]

I would say I would have had more fun without my daughter! She was just too exhausted, so we left without even seeing the parade! She took a nap, so I thought she'd be okay, but alas. I felt like I needed my money back, because all we did was have some hot cocoa, ride Buzz Lightyear (for the 3rd time that day though) and then see that Mickey show by Buzz. (which was cute, but not 56 dollars worth of cuteness!)

I dont' think I'll do another hard ticket thing until my kids are much much older. Or not at all with children.

things are a lot easier with out kids! at some points during the trip both DW and I agreed, 'wouldn't this be better if the kids weren't here?' Like the night we took them to LeCelliar, one got sick, the other couldn't sit still and we took turns taking him outside between courses! Oh and I hate to remember their behaviour at Narcoses. I prefer to remember how great that meal was instead.

But, there where plenty of times we were loving having them with. Those times just aren't coming to mind at the moment! lol

Did anybody else do Grinchmas? We really enjoyed the 'How the Grinch Stole' X-mas show.

 

[DSNY4ever]

We were very iffy about the party and were very hesitant to pay the extra money for it, but after the party we both agreed we had a good time. We went on Dec. 14th. The best part was the low crowd level. It was the first parade that we ever watched without be pushed by people or having all of the last minute squeezer-inners drive us nuts! We didn't think we would have anytime for rides with all of the shows we wanted to see, but we ended up riding tons of things because everything was empty and we just walked on! We stayed in the park till closing and took lots of pretty pictures of the castle and mainstreet. We loved having no crowds. And oh yeah...we ate so many apples and cookies we just made that our dinner, and I think we out drank everyone when it came to the hot cocoa- we loved that! My husband had to take it away from me at the end of the night because he thought I would get sick.

We were really hesitant because we usually go to Disneyland for Christmas and they don't do a Christmas party- the Christmas parade runs twice a day, the holiday fireworks are everynight, the characters are ALWAYS in their holiday garments, it snows on mainstreet everynight, the Haunted Mansion Holiday and Small World Holiday are two of our favorite things, and they have the Santa's reindeer roundup activity area. Overall we thought the decorations were not nearly as good as Disneyland and California Adventure, but for the time we were there it was worth it to have the low crowds in the Magic Kingdom on the night of the party. The next night we went to the magic kingdom for Spectromagic and regular wishes and it was packed due to the problem other people discussed- the Magic Kingdom isn't open enough because of the parties.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I've done the party in past years, and like many, I wish they'd stop closing down the park to regular ticketholders to sell a more expensive event. I think the special presentations are great, but should be incorporated in a regular day's admission.

If it's a matter of cost, then maybe they should just offer special events on EMH evenings to onsite guests and AP holders.

 

[beachwarmer]

Mickey's Twas the night before Christmas Show was always so packed on Party nights that we ended up seeing it the first day it was showing during regular park hours. We went to the first showing of the day and had our choice of seats. It is however, much easier to see the parade during the party than during regular park hours after the party nights are over. The parade is also a lot different at night than during the day. Alot of the other events are offered during regular park hours once the parties are over....the crowds can just be bigger.

We have done MVMCP a couple of years. One year we were searching for Prince Phillip and he only comes out at the party and not all of them. It took two parties to find him but my daughter who was turning 3 that year still talks about it.....and she was free to get in. Last year we had good time but I am not sure if I was staying over Christmas we would do the party as well. It is a lot of money for the same thing you can get as early as the next day if you attend the last party.

 

[CinderellasSister]

We were there on Dec 16th as well, and boy was it crowded. We were at a sold out MVMCP last Dec, and it wasn't nearly as crowded. Frankly, I was disappointed not only at Disney's glaring greed by selling more tickets, but at the rudeness of so many guests and cast members this year. I came home knowing that as much as I love Christmas, we'll never go again at that time of year. It was just ridiculous. Bus drivers were rude, waiters were rude, and let's not even talk about that cast member serving food at Goods in OKW!!! She would only grunt!

I was glad I finally got to watch the fireworks this year, and they were nice, but everyone is right, these things are not worth the extra $$. It has made us think twice about attending any future hard ticket events. That night, the park was more crowded than it was during the day.

 

[mrzrich]

I decided a few years ago that the hard ticket parties don't work for my family. We've been to them all. As AP holders we stopped being commando years ago. The parties forced us to get back into the commando mode, and I don' like the person I become when I'm in that frame of mind. I undestand that some people love them, but for us we'd rather not spend the extra $$$$.

 

[exwdwcm]

we did it a few years back and really enjoyed it. We plan to do it again. We went during the first week of December and crowds were not bad. We did not see any of the christmas shows, other than the parade and fireworks. We saw the later parade and half our party was wiped out by then (adults!). but we loved it. We rode a TON with minimal lines. I guess it just depends on the night you go and whether it is sold out or not. We didn't attempt to see the shows, the lines were long for them. We enjoyed the cookies and hot chocolate and characters though. we will be doing it again, hopefully it is as good as the first time.

 

[doctorhead]

We went to the party on 12/18. This is the 3rd party we have been to (the others being the halloween party and a pirate and princess party). I have to say that this one was the least enjoyable of the three. This night was not sold out, so it was not over-crowded. Compared to the other parties I felt this had less going on than the others. With the halloween party, you could dress up and go trick or treating. At the pirate and princess party you could dress up and go looking for treasure. You could also attend lessons on how to be a pirate hosted by Captain Jack Sparrow. The christmas party just seemed to be lacking activities. Sure there were the typical special parade and fireworks, but they were also available for viewing the next day for free. Disney is very smart in that they get people to buy tickets for these events and then offer merchandise that is "only available" during the event. During your 5 hours of party time, you spend over an hour fighting crowds in stores to get your exclusive merchandise. I said "only available" because we found most of the exclusive christmas party pins at downtown disney the next day. Overall, I had fun, but I didn't think it was as good as the other 2 parties.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

We went the week before Thanksgiving and it was desserted. I mean empty boats going down Splash Mountain, no wait times for any rides. Kind of crazy how dead it was. I left scratching my head like how are they making any money on this. I loved it but it seemed less festive this year for some reason.

 

[doctorhead]

we took the yuletide fantasy tour which took up backstage to where they store the christmas supplies and decorations. it was less festive this year because the storage area was full of decorations with labels saying "do not put out this year due to reductions." i guess they went light on the decorations this year to save money.

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

We went to the MVMCP on the 14th. It was a Sunday. Crowds were very managable after the day crowds left the park by 7:30 to 8pm. We rode rides, saw shows, met characters, and generally enjoyed ourselves. I know that everyone talks about how bad the crowds are on a Friday and Sunday, but since the Sunday was not a discounted night, I think that I got a better deal by paying full price and having the lower crowds.

We did MVMCP twice in 2003 and twice in 2005. We only did it once this year. I still would have loved to have gone to another one and we almost did go to the one on the 16th, except that my MIL totally messed up the majority of my plans and kept us from it, kind of like she kept us from the TSM Meet , but I digress.

I will still do MVMCP's in the future. I think that with the right night, the right plan, and the right attitude, that it's totally worth it.

 

[DisnyMama]

We went to MVMCP 2005 and enjoyed it but were a bit disapointed. It just didn't seem very special considering it being an additional ticket. However, we feel totaly different about MNSSHP. Now that was a real treat and absolutely will go back for that.

Never say never though, we might give MVMCP another try sometime in the future.