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My family and I attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party on November 17th this year for the first time. We had a wonderful experience, but as a first-timer, there were some things I wanted to pass along to anyone else who might be in the same boat! I’ll break down what to expect and what you need to know! If you need some outfit ideas, you can check out our previous post where we share 5 outfit ideas for the night.
MVMCP Information
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is held at Magic Kingdom on select dates from November - December. This is a special ticketed event, which means that even if you have tickets for Magic Kingdom during the day, if you’re there during a party day, you must make a separate ticket purchase for this event. Tickets for the 2024 year ranged from $169-$219.
The good news is that you may enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4 p.m. even though the party doesn’t officially start until 7 p.m. This will give you plenty of time to knock out some attractions and enjoy the park during regular park hours.
Even with early admission, the cost of this party is pricey, especially if you have a larger family. Disney does offer discounts for Annual Passholders and DVC Members, but if this is your once in a lifetime trip to Disney, making the choice to attend can be a very big decision. I do think it was worth it for our family of 4, however, I wanted to share some information that might help you navigate the party to the best of your ability, so your party experience can be worthwhile. If you want to check out our vlog on our first party, click the video below!
You Can’t Do it All
The most important bit of information I can offer is that you can’t do it all. Even as a seasoned Disney veteran, it’s not realistic to think you’re going to get everything in. This might be hard to hear for some of my friends who suffer from FOMO, but even without kids, it’s impossible to see and eat everything at this party.
Disney does a wonderful job of scheduling shows, characters, dance parties, ride overlays, and more. You will NOT be bored at this event. However, it might feel overwhelming as you want to make sure you’re seeing enough to get your money’s worth.
My best piece of advice? Pick 5-7 must-dos and make a plan. Like not a loosey goosey plan, I am talking about an actual schedule. This is coming from someone who hates planning anything that’s not outfits. Why is this important? Well, I want you to learn from my mistakes. While this is the first time we attended the Christmas Party, my family attended the Halloween party back in 2022. We did NOT do our homework, and I feel like we wasted our money. We walked around aimlessly and waited WAY too long for character lines. Creating a realistic plan will help with tired and crabby children (or adults!) because remember, this party goes until midnight.
There are some fabulous vlogs and guides out there to help you plan if you aren’t using a travel agent. Some of our favorites are Mammoth Club and Polka Dot Pixie. The party doesn’t change too much throughout the years, so if you’re planning for next year, you can still head to these sites and gather enough information to create a plan that works best for you and your family.
If you are stressed about what to wear, we can help with that! We offer customized outfit planning services for magical vacations, and Lauren and I love planning for the Christmas season at Disney. You can head here to check out our services.
Specialty Treats and Allergy-Friendly Options
Exclusive drinks and food are a big part of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Disney creates delicious seasonal treats that are ONLY available during party hours. These items will often be released a month or so before the first party begins in November.
The list is extensive, so once again, making a plan is best! We sat down with the kiddos and had them choose one item each they wanted to try. And remember, select cookies are included in your ticket, so don’t feel pressured to go crazy with the snacks!
Yes, you read that correctly, hot cocoa, cider, and cookies are also included in your purchase of your party ticket. My daughter has a lactose intolerance, so I was a little nervous about what Disney would offer as far as the free cookie stations were concerned.
During the Halloween party, we were given a token and then had to head to a different location at the end of the night to collect our allergy-friendly candy. It was a bit anti-clamatic when you’re little. Upon doing a little digging, it seemed like the party would offer just one type of cookie for the allergy-friendly option which seemed like a bummer, as part of the fun of the party is collecting different types of cookies.
So, I am very happy to report that there were a few different types of cookies available for your allergy-friendly folks! We collected Gingerbread, mint, and gingerbread snaps! All were approved by my allergy-friendly daughter.
Fireworks
Disney is known for their Happily Ever Fireworks at Magic Kingdom. However, on party nights this show is not available. The park closes to the general public at 6 p.m. and because there are frequent shows on stage at the castle, there is only time for one fireworks display.
Don’t fret, because you are still able to catch Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks at 10 p.m. There isn’t a big castle projection show like there is for Happily Ever After, so you really don’t need to secure a prime spot for these fireworks, which is really nice! We didn’t get to our spot until 9:45 and still had a wonderful view. Plus, we caught the end of Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration, which was really cute!
The Parade
I cannot hype up Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade enough. This parade was by far my favorite moment of the entire night. From start to finish, it is pure Disney and Christmas magic. The good news is that there are two parade times during the party!
For the 2024 party, the times were 8:30 pm and 11:00 p.m. While our family was able to make it until the 11:00 parade, that’s not always the case with each family. If your kiddos aren't used to staying up late, or if you’ve done an entire park day before the party, give yourself some rest and catch the first one. It is the exact same parade, so you’re not missing anything by skipping the later one.
Main Street is definitely the most sought-after viewing spot, and it is pure magic with the snoap, but in my opinion, it’s not worth losing precious time securing a spot for this. Remember, you only have 5 hours for the party! If you can plan your night around making this work without having to sit an hour for prime estate, then great. But, we grabbed a snack at Sleepy Hollow around 10:30 and then mosied on over to Frontierland around 10:45 and had a wonderful viewing spot.
The other plus side to catching the parade in Frontierland is that this is where it starts! That means you’re waiting less time to see it. If you are waiting on Main Street, the parade may not get to you until around 8:50 or 9. This means less time doing party activities and more time just waiting. After the parade finished, we were able to hop on Pirates of the Caribbean and grab our last cookies for the night. It was the perfect way to end the evening.
Lines Are Still Long(ish)
Is this party less crowded than a normal park day? Yes. Does this mean that lines will be much shorter for everything? No. A perk of this party is that you’re not having to deal with as many people, as it’s an event that can sell out, which means Disney caps the amount of people who can attend. However, it doesn’t mean that everything will be walk-on or walk-up.
Ride times for our night were not terrible. They seemed to average around 20 minutes for most attractions. But, the bigger ticket attractions such as Tron, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and Space Mountain still had wait times around 45 minutes. Although, Space Mountain did drop to 5 minutes during the first parade time. And weirdly enough, the Winnie the Pooh ride had a solid 30 minute wait all evening.
But, the longest lines seemed to be characters. Disney likes to utilize rare characters or costumes during party events. Jack Skellington, Sally, and the 7 Dwarves are just a few characters that you can only meet during the party. Just like the snacks, I would suggest picking one or two characters and see how it goes. These lines can get up to an hour or more, which can really cut into your time.
The good news is that Disney provides you with other opportunities to meet characters in more non-formal ways, such as the Disney Jr. Jingle Jam and Club Tinsel. These are fantastic options and are a really fun way to interact with characters. On our night, we danced with Santa Goofy, Max, Nick, Judy, and Chip and Dale! My kids loved being able to see these characters in a non-traditional way, and it didn’t eat up a lot of our party time!
Another hit for us was Santa’s Christmas Carnival. We hopped on over there around 9:00, and it was pretty empty…except for the traditional meet and greets. Meeting Scrooge and his pals was still an hour wait. Side note, this is also the spot where you can meet Santa. But, we ran into some new characters and they were so fun.
My kids talked to the elves on stilts for quite a bit. They were so sweet and funny and kept coming back to my kiddos while we were still in the area. We also met the Polar Bears, Snowball and Blizzard. The line took about 5 minutes, and my kiddos loved getting to hug polar bears!
Even though this party experience is somewhat exhausting, I think it was worth the cost for us. We are big Disney fans, and getting to see the parks during the holidays was really special for us. If you make a plan ahead of time, I really think it could be magical for you too! I hope this is helpful, and if you make it to the party, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Have a magical holiday season!
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