"Official" Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 2017 - Believe in the Magic

Status
Not open for further replies.
So I think this is the itinerary I'm going with, let's hear some critiques:

Character Wants: Country Bears, Sandy Claws, Mary Poppins and Bert, Nick and Judy, Aurora/Phillip and Snow/Prince, Tiana/Naveen and Rapunzel/Flynn, Scrooge/Donald.

Parade 830. Fireworks 10. Most Merriest 11:55.

I'm a bit torn for what to do at the start. I really want to line up for Scrooge/Donald at 6:15. I'd like to line up at 4 for either Sandy Claws or Nick/Judy, but Nick and Judy don't meet until 615. So I'd have to be first for them and then really move it over to the ducks.

So maybe...

4 pm or a bit earlier: Sandy Claws
6:15: Scrooge/Donald line, meet them close to 7
7: Aurora/Snow: does anyone know how long the line has been to meet them? An hour? More, less?
Whenever that ends line up for parade in Frontierland or by Main Street train station. If Frontierland see if Country Bears are roaming
Would this be a good time for Nick and Judy?
Fireworks. If we don't see them in front of the castle we don't mind that much.
Find Mary and Bert, we've never seen a huge line for them.
Get in line for Rapunzel/Tiana before midnight.
If we miss the Most Merriest at 11:55 it's no big deal, was just going to do that if we aren't waiting for something else.


Any thoughts?
We booked it to Nick and Judy right after fireworks last year, and only encountered about a 20 minute wait.
 
Went to MVMCP on December 3. I absolutely loved the atmosphere - and I am not usually a parade or character person!!

We arrived around 4:30. There were tons of tapstiles set up to handle the party guests - they moved quickly. Got our wristbands, got a photo and went through the bypass. Got our Santa cookies. There were a lot of photopass photographers out to take pictures with the props. There was a cart selling some party merchandise.

We went to our FP for Jingle Cruise, the standby line was over an hour - even the FP line took 20 minutes. They were selling party exclusive t-shirts and merchandise in the Pirates gift shop. We wasted a little too much time and got on the line for Dwarves later than I had planned - around 5:40.

The line was pretty long and the CM was having a little freak out. The 7 came out at almost exactly 6:15. The line took almost twice as long as the CM guesstimated - it did not take 45 minutes (once they came out), but rather 90 minutes. It seems the amount of character interaction is all over the place based on reports on the board. In our case, there was a lot of interacting that night and it made the process take a really long time. My advice to anyone would be to get on the line as close to 5:00 as you can, or wait until later in the evening. As a matter of fact, the line was not that bad when we finally were done at almost 8:00 pm.

Ride waits were not long. 7DMT was posted as 40 minutes when we got in line, we were off the ride in 30. All other posted waits were around 20 minutes or less.

Found a spot for the fireworks in the grass area in front of Casey's about 15 minutes before it started. It was more crowded than I anticipated, but definitely with more room than out on the street - there was lots of elbow room. Everyone stood once the fireworks started.
We made our way to the hub after the fireworks and had photos taken in front of the castle and then moved over a little bit for another set in front of Walt. Lines were not very long since most people were either starting to leave the park or sitting and waiting for Mickey's Merry - which was cancelled for some reason.

For the second parade we got a spot on the curb in front of Town Square Theater - at the far corner, closest to The Chapeau shop. This was only about 15-20 minutes before the parade started. It turned out to be a perfect spot to watch - still had the snow, low crowds, and the big Christmas tree is a great background for the parade photos and videos you take as it goes by you.

After that we fought traffic to get to the Christmas tree for a last photopass photo and then it was an easy walk out of the park since most of the crowds were behind us.


IMG_2994.jpg
 
Back from our Disney trip :sad1:.
We attended the Sunday December 3rd party. Thought i would share how our night went.

We started at MK around 1:00pm.
FP+ Jingle Cruise.
FP+ Pirates of the Caribbean
Made our way to the hub and caught the Mickeys Royal Friendship Fare show.
Y0kuDb0c8p0uBlgfSp0gqXAKbdf5lEueOPFZpPTWA2_g6N-WGLFIJgA1MIr98pKM-kv3bDrdYRArYg=w849-h637-no

Headed through Tomorrowland and did Monsters Inc laugh floor. On our way out we noticed Wristband Distribution point was already open next to Buzz at about 3:30 so we went ahead and got ours.
To Fantasyland ....
FP+ 7DMT 4:15pm
On to Pecos Bills for Quick Service meal...
Then straight to Sandy Claws line at about 5:00pm
Sandy Claws came out at exactly 6:06pm and with Approx. 50 people ahead of us we were done with M&G about 7:00
Made our way to Tortuga Tavern for Snowman Pretzels & Sno Cones
Then to Splash Mountain..... Walked on no wait.
Big Thunder Mountain....about a 10 minute wait....onward towards Haunted Mansion... caught Photopass spot near Liberty Square Riverboat with Giant MVMCP ornament.........Walked onto Haunted Mansion and then did the Photopass Lantern shot and Magic Shot with Zero the dog at HM exit.....

On to Pinocchio Village Haus for assorted cookies and Apple Cider. We each went up twice and stocked up on cookies in our ziploc bags we brought.
From there we made it to the hub just in time to get a decent spot for A Frozen Holiday wish at 8:15pm. Even though i had seen pictures and videos of this, i must say, it was truly breathtaking to see in person.
b9qAmpag6dP_YfeJI2LtGRrsQpCjyEEcE9HWy6GPK2A3g6XfWD7Lz7g7KSz4yHB82N9Qhl9QMu2aKW1lBKxX394sPBoz2AR7lhFqsPPP7XvhAt3ZmxKyl6xyNJarRkW0rSkf4sNb3KegtvdX54VUliQHC49ioP-M6KGMZF9jABC1dwOeTBB7nbWnAlPhpe5MXmWt489EENH4cO_j8UxDuNGMRJ2iuapv5vUpzT9aMlPer0yT_VPgh9PcvemIO_-31ya4LvLT9PpGaXlQjoGoVH1cYd-O-JhU_RihVgsllHXHhdDqCWPp_Aj_njD8Xl2aH7sSltZj1-To3iclR1h4YjDgLQhdHpU3p0_XbSZQF9x_ze0mqIsG-3gn6mw4_Nmr5N9o1pmVeMGAPLzL6wmhzCCAbA64UVu4A8HMge03oP-F2zkCigaCdaFT4lJj0AEEB2fHhrM4jk8qPvcjYAEIvDaqSlDNxBiMG88DLxP9rxrRe798idZtsZjEGmfqcRj2n46L4vlGfyts-U-JA6-yaGr1lMtjDKL5lX0Vic2SIxerVsAMZYUvkMiyV9ceBftQdr3GoTrx0gudILQvFZRQ5h-6V44TdyI892OckDQmbg=w478-h637-no

After the Castle Lighting we headed for Club Tinsel @ Cosmic Rays to see the dance party. It was pretty packed there so we did not stay too long, plus we wanted to stake out a spot on Main St for Holiday wishes & Parade.

Once we reached Main St we grabbed a spot near the curb in front of Plaza Ice Cream. The whole length of Main St was full of people sitting on the curbs so we thought our chance of having a curb seat for the parade might not come to fruition, however, right after Holiday Wishes at 10:00pm the group right in front of us who had been waiting on the curb left, so we jumped right in for our front row parade seats on the curb :rainbow:.

Waited until 11:00 plus the time it took them to reach Main St and watched the parade....It was Awesome!! as was Holiday Wishes!!
6u51BYMX-o0M8R5XW78K8UXEdRFVO1hOPIb-2KwKRg3BeqnORmeM7BwWCfjArhRK7XFD5uQKE4l7CGujlq_ZS6jLl2HbsHYDKYAWHHv_4Xnt4KAqI6m1wJ0MCvqTcbX9wJ3iq6ZwRh7sPquoaYzkts5ybUq6sLU1EDD2EkMyX9MnduXUjrP0MKJzr2nyTVPrK07FH26rKZUXgiGKKQp2M3QqeTie8kgOJgmNMHhvtoQwmIYkA8e9_uXEFwPTqC3CziA90rfGlVav2_D6VG-VyIkHm9oQIFgQrR5XsR78ExaW9UvTtkA7I68yQwz6_Krp1ZEsteVqo9id-axvhwUGQeW8PNrqF8ezgpCaw6LZmY0Sf8rU1LpNyvuDmS6NnBINu-OXxJDiKKiabHxzls7b0PhjuesQgP5HK_hdlW4A43HGmWr78TkbEsUwIIZQK3Nb4RzzPqx1GxYUIP_LXK8mjstITPnRV4-TCM7OFZvqDwecgdKs7j-kextgA9TAZsEpE8D2NCzxQBh6v4ccf5jE50BIetObWgE-fUZkWd8gYySGXKWfAG18wobfw65b4g5o1883rejKs9EvorTeilnwOFuXmnqYV7CunIftW4xefg=w640-h360-no


JiHM4FIifraIo7O13

E
ven though we were out of gas we went ahead to Buzz ride and walked on.......
As we exited the buzz ride i happened to look over to see Nick & Judy M&G with absolutely no one in line:yay: ........needless to say we were right in there to meet them!!
One last ride.....we did Astro Orbitor and then made our way toward exit.
On our way out we hit Emporium and each got the 3/4 sleeve baseball style MVMCP shirts.
Finally left MK at approx. 1:00 am .
We did so much and had such a good time. I'm getting tired just typing all of this out and thinking how much we did, and all with a 6 year old DD.

A good reason why we had so much fun was all the great tips and insight we got right here on the Disboards.:disrocks: :thanks:
 
Last edited:


Any advice for someone going to the party without a day pass to MK? We'll be there on 12/22 - a sold out night.

How early should we arrive in the parking lot to get in at 4:00? Any chance they let people in a bit earlier?

What are the advantages/disadvantages to 'taking the bypass' if we have the choice?

We're mostly interested in the rides and Holiday Wishes. The treats are probably next priority and the parade is of moderate interest. No interest in character meets.

We have FP+ booked for Space Mountain (3:30 - 4:30), Big Thunder (4:30 - 5:30) and small world (5:30 - 6:30).

How 'wet' is Splash in the winter?
 
Went last night. Was pretty crowded. Set up for the 10:00 Mickeys merriest and 11:00 parade at 9:45. Late viewings busy put doable.
5:00 for seven Dwaves. In at 6:40. Second last before they took a break.
 
Here is a Hollywood Studios question. Is it possible to see a Jingle Bells,jingle jams and make it in time to see Fantasmic?
 


I just have to say this, I don't know why I feel the need to write this in a public fourm but perhaps it is therapeutic to get it out.

2009 I took my family of four to WDW for the first time ever. We fell in love with the parks and went back yearly,sometimes twice in one year. We took a break last year mainly for financial reasons and decided to see what else FLA had to offer. This year we are heading down to FLA again for the holidays but again we decided to stay in a Condo. I told the kids we would not be going to the parks this year partly due to cost and mostly due to holiday crowds however I thought it would be very nice to take them to MVMCP December 21st to get our Disney fix and some Christmas spirit. That was however until I went to buy tickets and saw the pricing. My lord have these prices skyrocketed. Our first year attending we paid less than $50 each to go, the last year we went in 2015 we paid around $60 per person, this year it is $109 per person. That is more than double the first year we went and pretty close to double 2015's prices. I thought surely there must be something new and fantastic that could justify the enormous price increase, so to the disboards I go to get caught up after a couple of year hiatus. Low and behold besides a wider variety of snacks, it is still the same party.

I think my family has officially been priced out of Disney. As much as I Love everything Disney has to offer and it truly is the place where my family and I are at our happiest I can not justify spending over $600 Canadian for one night in the park. I made the mistake of telling the kids last night that we would go to the party to get our fix in now I am going to have to tell them perhaps we will do a resort tour instead lol.

Sorry rant over but somehow I do feel a little better getting it out there. Merry Christmas everyone. One positive is my research got me back on disboards for the first time in over a year, I enjoy reading others experiences and seeing the fantastic folks in this community share their knowledge with others. Our first ever trip was so much better because of the people from this site.
 
Went to the party on Dec 3rd brought ziplock bags thanks to someones suggestion on here best thing ever we had cookies all night and the next day lol

My mom happened to have one so we put a few cookies in it to take home. Yesterday I enjoyed an afternoon cup of coffee with a molasses cookie from the party. It helped with the post-Disney blues.
 
Hello! My family just completed our Disney trip and we were also at the sold out MVMCP on 12/5. We were a group of 10 with a total of 3 strollers, so we moved a bit slower than most, but we did accomplish a lot during the party. Not as much as we would have liked, sure, but there's just too much to do in a limited amount of time! We arrived earlier in the day with a regular park hopper and after we picked up our MVMCP bands over near Philharmagic, we headed over to the 7 Dwarfs line. We were about the 6th group back! Since we had a large group and the 3 strollers, we kept 2 or 3 adults along with all strollers in the line at all times, and we traded off going to the restroom or taking the kids just to nearby attractions. We did tell everyone near us that we were getting only a large group photo - everyone seemed just fine with this. While waiting in line, the 4 older kids got to see Donald, Goofy, Daisy & Minnie (all at Pete's Silly Sideshow), and they rode the Barnstormer once. The 2 women in front of us were unfortunately familiar to us - on our 2nd trip day, we went to AK and were behind them to see Mickey & Minnie in the holiday sweaters there. They took SO LONG and then complained to the photographer about wanting to see all their photos right away. It was frustrating and we were disappointed to see them literally right in front of us again for the Dwarfs! Again, they also took a LONG LONG time posing for multiple photos and taking pix of the Dwarfs. Easily 7 or 8 poses each! It is certainly people like this who make it tough for everyone else, and we were wishing there was a timer to be hit for each group - something more fair.

Anyway, we wrapped up with the Dwarfs early enough that treat stations weren't even open yet! So we booked it as fast as possible for our second priority, which was viewing the first parade on Main Street. It was quite packed but we managed to squeeze in near the Emporium. We watched A Frozen Holiday Wish from here also - really lovely! We also took turns going to the Firehouse for our SOTMK cards, and the dads in our group grabbed food & drink from Casey's Corner.

shrink soldiers.jpg

The parade was probably my favorite part of MVMCP - although it's a hassle to get on Main Street & find a spot, I encourage you to try for it. It really was magical to see the snow & have our kids be on the curb to see everything up close! After the parade, we went to ride Winnie the Pooh and the line for Pooh & Friends was still really long. Fireworks started to go off soon after we exited that ride, but we had watched them from a pontoon boat earlier in the week & decided the kids would be happier riding, so that's what we did. We hit up some treat stands, went to the Cosmic Dance Party for a bit, rode Buzz 2x, People Mover, then hit Tiana & Naveen and Rapunzel & Flynn Ryder. Then hopped over to Mary & Burt, although they did not have a photo pass photographer. We walked over to Snow White (my son's favorite), but they closed the line for her and Aurora and their princes just a few moments earlier. Thankfully we had already met Snow White and my son (age 4) was consoled with a ride on 7DMT. After that we headed back to the hub & caught most of Mickey's Most Merriest show. We then did a good number of photo shots before leaving around 1am!!! My 6 year old daughter was asleep in the stroller but my 4 year old held out!

Things we missed that I had hoped to accomplish - Pooh & Friends, and we never made it over to get the snowman pretzel. It was a hot night though, so the blue ice actually hit the spot a lot even though we hadn't originally planned to get that one. We also didn't get over for the Magic Shot with Zero near the Haunted Mansion. Overall though, I was satisfied with what we did do. It's just too much to accomplish in the time available! Despite the sold out night, I would go back & do this again, even with the hassle of so many strollers and trying to navigate in a large group. You really MUST have a solid plan for your priority items though! Thanks for the feedback here on these pages!

shrink castle.jpg
 
Any advice for someone going to the party without a day pass to MK? We'll be there on 12/22 - a sold out night.

How early should we arrive in the parking lot to get in at 4:00? Any chance they let people in a bit earlier?

What are the advantages/disadvantages to 'taking the bypass' if we have the choice?

We're mostly interested in the rides and Holiday Wishes. The treats are probably next priority and the parade is of moderate interest. No interest in character meets.

We have FP+ booked for Space Mountain (3:30 - 4:30), Big Thunder (4:30 - 5:30) and small world (5:30 - 6:30).

How 'wet' is Splash in the winter?
Yes, when we go for the party, we go just on the party ticket that day. We also drive in and park. I would arrive between 3:15 and 3:30 in the parking lot. At our last party, they started letting us in at about 3:45.
I'm sorry...I don't know what the bypass is, but would love it explained!
Sounds like you have a good plan with your fp's. We go the beginning of December and have not run into real cold weather on our years there so Splash wasn't a problem. You still got a little wet even at night, but not soaked or anything.
If you are looking for short ride lines, you are in for a treat! It is great!
 
Ok so if we want to see the 7 Dwarves, Sandy Claws and Scrooge, would it be wiser to get in line before the party for Jack or the Seven? I'm guessing Scrooge has a consistently decent line through the night.

I'm going this Tuesday and I'm too excited to sleep!
 
We attended the MVMCP on Tues Dec 5'th and it was sold out. IMO it was a waste of $. Jingle Cruise had 30 min wait at 6:45pm, a 35 min wait at 7:15Pm and 65 min wait about 7:35pm. Pet Pan was down all night. Waited a half hour in Frontier land for the first parade. After parade hightailed it to HM and got in quickly, when we came out the line was backed up well past the entry gate. Most lines for PP were exceptionally long and not worth waiting in. Upon entry to park they routed us to the pass through behind Main street, not very magical IMO, cheesy backdrops for PP there. Just too crowded for the $ we paid.

Do you recall what time you got to Frontierland to find your parade spot?

Wow! You had to find a spot for the parade 2 HOURS before? Ugh. Is this just for the hub area? If we went down near the train station or went to Frontierland, could we show up later?
We showed up 1/2hr before first parade.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top