Am I the ONLY one that didn't think MVMCP was great?

[susy]

We were there Nov 30 for the first party. I am just not a late-night type person.

We enjoyed walking on Main Street in the "snow" and saw Mickey's Twas the Night before Christmas. Great show!!!
We did notice however, that this show was going on in the daytime at Mk for anyone to see.

Parade was awesome. WISHES was amazing!


downside:

It was REALLY cold. I am from south FL and we had a cold front, so I was shivering the whole night. I found it to be VERY crowded. Remember that we had just come through thanksgiving weekend. I didn't think there would be that many people there (at MVMCP). The crowds were the worst we'd seen all weekend.

LONG lines for pictures (never made it) and long lines for hot chocolate and cookies (really long).

We were so wiped out that we left at 10pm.

IF (big IF) I did this again, I would: make a dinner PS at LTT ( not early) for warmth and passing the time and wear a parka. I would TRY REALLY HARD to stay up late. This would be the hard part, since the two first days of our trip I was passed out at 8:30.

 

[CarolA]

I was there for the same party.

The lines for photos were long, but I got Hot Chocolate and cookies with no wait several times. I did not think the crowds were bad at all, I walked on Big Thunder Mt, Space Mt., Alladin, HM and a few other things. If you had made it past the second parade you would discover that the place becomes practically empty.

I love this event and go every year.

And by the way, it was cool, but I did not even have my coat on when you left. I think that the fact that I am from Nashville may have influenced the way I felt about the weather vs. your experience.

My suggestion is to make sure you get a nap next time and stay late!

 

[dutton]

I totally agree!! We went Friday night (Dec.5) and I will never go again on a Friday night! We have been the last 2 years during the week and it was great!! I think wishes was fantastic!! We were having to get fast passes to ride some rides, it was awful!! I knew better, but it was the only night we could go. I also has read that some people will stick around thanksgiving thru that 1st party so that is probably what you experienced. We were very disappointed!! But if you go during the week it is awesome! We stayed for 2nd parade last year, and we were the only family in front of the castle!! It was very nice!

 

[capegirl]

We were there on Dec.2nd. We were lucky to enjoy a very mild night. There were virtutally no lines for the rides, but the crowds on Main St. and for the parade were awful!!! We had close encounters with alot of rude people...pushing, shoving, etc before and during the parade. However the parade itself was awesome, and we really did enjoy it! Putting a few issues aside, we thought it was a very special night.

 

[abwdreaming]

Sorry you were so cold. Glad to hear you enjoyed the parade and Wishes! Would you tell where (what area) you viewed the parade and Wishes from? We are going on Friday Dec 19th. WDW is famous for their crowd control - so Why haven't they worked out a better crowd control system for parade and firework viewing?

 

[jeankeri]

We were there too! Didn't notice big crowds- walked on Space Mountain & Buzz 6-7:30. Saw parade from Fronteirland- crowds not so bad, and nice too! Didn't bother with pictures or cocoa, so can't comment on those. The Christmas show was scheduled for Saturday only on the park times. Would definately do it again!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

The Thanksgiving weekend MVMCP is what we are planning on doing next year. I was surprised to her it was crowded. Being a Monday night following Thanksgiving, you would think it wouldn't be?

HBC

 

[goofygal1975]

I am so sorry to hear you didn't have a good time!! We checked in Fri 12/5 and took a hr and a halfnap before we headed out to MVMCP. It *was* cold, but being from Fla (tampa) i really enjoyed it. I just put on a shirt and sweat shirt and put on my minnie mouse santa hat and I was good to go. We did get there around 430and had dinner at LTT. We went straight to Tommorwland and only had a 10 minute wait for our free pictures. We rode BUzz two times in a row with no wait and TTA. (I am posting this for any future party goers so they know where to go first for the pictures...all other areas don't open the picture area until 7pm, but tommorow land was open by 6pm when we were in that area. )

We saw a few shows and rode jungle cruise and aladdins ride and shopped some. We watched the 2nd parade which i think helped crowd-wise, even though main street was packed, no more so than any other day. The only crowds we noticed that were bad, were when the parades were finished and everyone was trying to move elsewhere at the same time. We also found all the characters at Toontown dressed up and there was only a 3 minute wait to get their autographs and pictures.

I went in expecting crowds because it had been sold out, but even though it was sold out, it was no where near as bad as it can get around noon or 1pm on a regular day!

I hope that you do get the chace to go again, and maybe try to take a late nap like we did, I know that helped us enjoy it a lot more and we stayed and watched the midnight show at the castle!(and I'm usually in bed by 10pm!)

 

[georgina]

Originally posted by Happy Birthday Cat
The Thanksgiving weekend MVMCP is what we are planning on doing next year. I was surprised to her it was crowded. Being a Monday night following Thanksgiving, you would think it wouldn't be?

HBC

My impression is that they are usually Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I could be wrong, but I would recheck your dates.

 

[Kallison]

We didn't enjoy MVMCP either. Often people are afraid to post their negative experiences because the pixie dust patrol will jump all over them. Personally I like to hear the good and the bad so I know what to expect.

 

[kbkids]

We went Thursday night for our first time. We had a great time, but I doubt that we would do it again. It wasn't too crowded, and we did love the parade. We enjoyed Mickey's Twas the Night Before Christmas, but that was the only show we had time to see. The fireworks were spectacular!! And my DD had a ball in the snow - we live in Florida. That being said, we were at MK the next day, and we could have seen the show then. My DD figured out the snow wasn't real afterwards when she said her mouth tasted like bubbles - yes, she was trying to catch the snowflakes on her tongue. So, I doubt seriously we would spend the extra money for it again in the future even though we had a good time. I don't see that much different than what you experience from a normal December day in the park.

 

[Grumpy37]

Originally posted by Happy Birthday Cat
The Thanksgiving weekend MVMCP is what we are planning on doing next year. I was surprised to her it was crowded. Being a Monday night following Thanksgiving, you would think it wouldn't be?

We went on 11/30 (the first one for this year), it was PLENTY crowded. (It was cold, but we're used to that. ) We missed Wishes b/c we were in line for Haunted Mansion, that was OK, we'll see Wishes in Feb. The cookies and cocoa thing didn't go like I thought it would (the cocoa was too hot to drink until you let it cool down a 1/2 hour, DS5 thought the cookies were stale). I didn't like how hard it was to find something other than the cocoa and cookies.

FWIW, my DW *loved* the parade and we liked the fake snow.

But MNSSHP was so much better for some reason. Maybe it wasn't as crowded (we went the first night of that, too). We'll do that again, but probably not MVMCP. It was fun once, but not worth the extra $$$ again.

 

[CarolA]

That is the great thing about Disney. I went to the Halloween Party this year and decided NEVER again. It just did not do it for me, but I had a great time at BOTH Christmas parties I went to. Different things for different people.

 

[momof2OH]

We went on Dec. 2 and had a GREAT time!!! We loved everything about it. Thought it was worth every penny. We also weren't cold at all. (were from northeast Ohio) Can't wait to go in Oct to go to the Halloween party!!

 

[andrabell]

We were at MVMCP on Nov. 30th (our first time) and we thought it was just fantastic. I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was so festive. We arrived at 4:15pm and walked on to Pirates, had Dole Whip, walked onto Haunted Mansion, walked on to It's A Small World and then moved over to Tomorrowland where we walked on Space Mountain and rode the TTA. We watched the opening show at the Castle and then did all of Fantasyland with little or no waiting. I'm very surprised at how uncrowded the park felt. The only lines that we felt too long to stand in was for the photos. We enjoyed Wishes, watched the parade and shopped on Main Street. We tuckered out near to 11pm so we took off as we had an early day at Epcot planned.
I'm really sorry that some of you didn't enjoy it, but I have to say it was a highlight of our trip.

---Andra
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

 

[April76]

Just a suggestion for the Christmas parade:

Don't crowd onto Main Street ---- head over to the Frontierland area instead --- it wasn't crowded at all last night and this is where the parade starts!

 

[Maridw]

We were there on the 30th and walked right into get our picture taken in Liberty Square. There was a short line in Columbia House for cocoa & cookies. We walked into HM & SM. Had a 5 min wait for BTMRR & Buzz. Didn't even go into Fantasyland.

We missed Wishes because we went to Country Bear. But they announced that Wishes was going to be showing at the same time as the next show, anyone wanting to see the fireworks could catch the next show. We decided to see the show & skip the fireworks. Came out just as the last few fireworks were going off.

This was the first time we didn't have to stand in a long line for photos.

It was a bit cool, but I am one that usually gets cold and I was comfortable with just my fleece pullover on. We had jackets in a locker in case it got too cold, but we were fine.

I think the longest wait we had was to buy the MVMCP pins. But we had anticipated that and got right into line once we got into the park.

We have gone since 2000 and I think this was one of the best years.

 

[ktglads]

I was at the 11/30 MVMCP and thought that it was no busier than the normal e-ride nights in the summer. Maybe we happened to be going opposite of what the crowds were doing, but we never encountered any lines, except for the last ride on SM. Being at the park since opening, we spent the majority of the day riding all the rides. We ate dinner at Pecos Bill during the first parade and there were maybe a grand total of 10 people there at the time. We then walked over to Adventureland to get our picture taken and had absolutely no wait for pictures or hot chocolate. In fact, we had cm's arguing over who got to help us. I would say that the longest line we waited in was for 10 minutes for the last ride on Space Mountain at midnight.

Also, I did not find it cold at all, but from a girl from Buffalo, it would all be relative.

 

[susy]

Hi! I am the OP....

We did take naps before we went , but it did no good. I think that it beign the last day of our trip had a lot to do with it. We didn't really care about doing the rides, so the crowds I am referring to were just the ones walking around.

Has anyone tried the strategy of just arriving late? I could not have made it to 10pm if we had arrived at 4:30. I think we were just wiped out from the trip in general. I think I would do it again, but with maybe having a dinner in there to take up some time. Also, I would not do anything that day.

 

[jeankeri]

We arrived at 5, but only stayed till after the fireworks (actually watched them from the boat launch). It was the boys first time in MK (first full day of our trip.). We were in DQ till 4, then went to MK. If we go again we would probably do the same, just head over to Adventureland earlier. We did not know the Night Before Christmas show was happening at 6:15; we saw the 7:15 show. Could not have made it any later with the boys (6&8). In a few years, we'll be on the last SM ride !