Is Mickeys Christmas party worth the cost?

[Dakota731]

when the shows and parade are open to the general public. QUOTE]

When is that?

 

[melanielll]

The party parade becomes the day parade after the last Christmas party.

 

[westie55]

I did the Xmas party last year for the first time. My son was 16 months old so we basically stayed for the parade and left. The special character lines (like 7 dwarfs) can be an hour long and he just wasn't capable of that kind of wait. The free cookies were very underwhelming. I will go again someday, but I will wait till my kids are old enough to make it later into the night. We are expecting another so it could be years before I try again. The toddler is what makes me hesitate for you. $100 is a lot to spend per person to see a parade, but then again if your toddler is older or is a night owl, it may work out fine. There are definitely babies and toddlers in the parks until closing, that just hasn't happened for us yet and I've had my son there 4 times.

 

[lovethattink]

The party parade becomes the day parade after the last Christmas party.

The parade is usually shown twice in the afternoon.

The stage shows are usually shown as well throughout the day.

Only downside is a lot more people than during the parties.

 

[portcityw]

We take our annual trip during the holidays. We love the atmosphere, so we love the party. To me, it's worth it just for the parade.

 

[Babsy]

No, not anymore. When they first started, they were worth the money. Now, with more tickets sold and higher prices, I would wait until you can stay for the entire party or just skip it altogether.

 

[ols386]

I think it's worth it for at least one time. Any more than one time would be questionable, for me personally.

If you have a toddler who would not stay awake for at least half of the party, then I'd skip it till next year.

 

[Bete]

First, let me say that Disney has let party guests in early at 4 pm. This helps to justify the cost and you don't need to be there until midnight.

We really like to start our Disney vacation with the party on our arrival night. You will get the most park hours in going to the park that arrival day.

If you get your toddler to take a long nap you have a good chance this will be fine with your child, too.

To me, it's always worth seeing a special event at least once; it's an experience to share with one another.

You get a wonderful Christmas feeling doing the party; it's not just about the rides. You get cocoa and a snack included with admission, too.

The one drawback is it can get cold in the evening. We come prepared with layering our outfit to be safer. Bring a blanket for the stroller. You can go inside at times; so, you can warm up that way.

 

[twoplustwins]

Ticket prices have gone up so much that IMO it's not worth it anymore.
I might be able to justify it if it was just me, but we have six people in our family.

 

[goofy4prez]

I'm glad I did it once, but I doubt I will do it again. Is it overpriced? Yes. Is it worth it? It would be if Disney didn't oversell this doggone thing. I was not prepared to see the place packed the way it was when I went a few years ago. Sell fewer tickets to the event and I may be willing to do it again.

 

[dslynn552]

Hoping its worth it as well. We are going mid december and have a group of 8 ranging from 3-70. Our plan is to do Ohana for breakfast and then spend the morning shopping at disney springs before heading back to the room for an afternoon nap. I am hoping that is the kids nap for a couple hours right before we head to the park that they will make it through.

 

[MichelleAMouse]

I think if you have concerns about your toddler making it all night maybe save it for a future trip. Awesome experience, but too pricey to leave early IMO.

 

[GeneralTso]

For us, no. We did it once and we literally left the park saying "never again" as the crowds are insane and what you actually GET with the party are not worth it.

Cheap cookies, watered down cocoa that is luke warm--truly not worth it.
It was the crowd situation that turned us completely off. It felt beyond capacity and you could barely maneuver around.
It's too expensive for what you actually experience.

The Halloween party is so much better.

 

[dslynn552]

They limit the tickets to 25,000. Average attendance is around 52,000 and max is 80,000.

 

[Dakota731]

If tickets are limited to 25000 how is average attendance 52000?

 

[Skywise]

Okay - here's the breakdown.

Christmas Parade
Christmas Fireworks
Castle Lighting
Free cookies and hot chocolate throughout the park
See certain characters in their Christmas outfits (and some characters that don't usually appear)

Getting a decent view of the parade means getting a spot at least an hour in advance. Can your toddler wait that long? If not, have you've got someone to hold a space for you while you take the toddler around?
Same with the fireworks and castle lighting shows.

ANY time I've tried to get cookies and hot chocolate it's been a zoo and another long wait (and the cookies really aren't worth it)

Where the parties work out is doing the stuff the partiers are NOT doing - like hitting rides and such which have far shorter lines during the average night.

Also note that the "Christmas" decorations/events are almost all exclusively on main street where the crowds will be. Which is great because there's lights and Christmas music and snow, etc; but it still adds to the crowd density.

 

[jkh36619]

I still go to the Halloween party and consider it not worth it anymore. Christmas Party is completely not worth it to me.

 

[dslynn552]

If tickets are limited to 25000 how is average attendance 52000?

52,000 on an average day. 25,000 max for ticketed events

 

[Seeker615]

We did it once a few years ago as I wanted my Disney Fix when we were at Universal for the week.
We arrived around 5pm and it was very crowded and confusing as far as trying to get into the park. When we made it to Main Street it was just a wall of people. It felt like a salmon swimming against the current!
Once we got passed Main Street we attempted a few rides but they were really packed as well. We finally ducked into Pinocchio's for a quick bite to eat. once we left there the crowd had thinned out a bit. We managed to ride everything we wanted to and found a good place to watch the castle show. Queuing for the parade was a bit of a mess but we managed an okay spot.
Cookies and cocoa were nothing special.
We did love the atmosphere and the piped in Christmas music. I loved Main Street with the snow falling. We did have a good time but it was not quite what I was expecting. we never got any photos with the characters. Lines were very long.
I don't know if we would do it again.

 

[Hisgirl]

We've done the Halloween parties twice and the Christmas party once. We were walking in a monsoon the first one, had super fun dressing up for the second one, then attended the Christmas party because we had out of town guests and it was the only night we could see the fireworks and projection show so we kind of had to buy tickets.

The Halloween party feels different because were were dressed up and felt like a part of the celebration. The Christmas one just felt like a regular night but with a different parade. If you are able to attend a night time show some other night, I would save the money and do something else special