Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 2014 Trip Report
I recently had a work conference in Orlando, and Brad and I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and squeeze in a visit to Disney World. Luckily there was a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) on my last day of the conference. This worked out perfectly for us. Below is some of the information about the party and what we did.
What is it?
MVMCP is a hard ticket event held at the Magic Kingdom select nights in November and December. Ticket prices range from $62-$74/person. You can purchase tickets before you go or at the parks. There is a risk of sell outs, but there is also the risk of rain. We decided to buy our tickets before hand so that we knew we had them. The very first party of 2014 did sell out. You can enter the park as early as 4pm, but the party does not officially start until 7pm. Most rides will be open, but you cannot use a Fastpass+ after 7. You can, however, book Fastpass+ between 4pm and 7pm 30-days before you arrive if you wish. One perk is the unlimited hot chocolate and cookies. They have several stations located throughout the park. Only select restaurants will be open during the party time as well. They have a special parade, fireworks, and shows throughout the night. In mid-December, these events are a standard part of Christmas at the Magic Kingdom, so if you plan to visit closer to Christmas, the hard ticket may not be worth it.
What did we do?
We arrived at the ticket and transportation center around 3:45. I wanted to get the 1-day Memory Maker, so I added it here before taking the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. {Side note, the Memory Maker is approximately $42 after tax and comes with one MagicBand. With the purchase, we received digital copies of all of our Photopass pictures, attraction photos from certain rides, and sometimes videos.} When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, there was a special entrance on the right for MVMCP attendees. We also were given a special wristband to wear to show casts members we were allowed to be there.
At the 30-day mark, I made Fastpass+ reservations to use from 4-7. I scheduled Peter Pan's Flight from 3:30-4:30, The Haunted Mansion 4:30-5:30 and Space Mountain from 5:30-6:30. As soon as we walked in, we went straight to Peter Pan's Flight. Word of warning, it may seem very crowded. The park doesn't technically close until 7, so you will see many park guests who won't be staying for the party. After PPF, we went and had an early dinner at Columbia Harbour House. They close at 5, so beware. A lot of the restaurants closed early. After dinner, we used our Fastpass for the Haunted Mansion. Then we headed back to Tomorrowland. I wanted to see the Carousel of Progress since it isn't open during the party. We did that, then waited in a short line to meet Buzz Lightyear. Since we purchased the Memory Maker, we wanted to take advantage of character meet and greets.
Next, we used our Fastpass at Space Mountain. At this point it was about 6 and the castle lighting ceremony was about to begin. I decided to wait until the second showing, and we went and rode the Peoplemover. Now it was approaching 7, and we were hoping the crowds would die down. They did some but not much at first. We decided to get in line to meet the Seven Dwarfs. We walked through Fantasyland trying to find them. I didn't really research where they would be. We stopped along the way for a few photos, then we stumbled across them at the other entrance of Fantasyland. We might have waited in line 45 minutes at most. That seems like a long time, but it's rare to meet all seven of them. They don't sign autographs though. Some sites will advise getting in line before the party starts to be the first person and not miss any party time. However, to accomplish this, you may be in line for 2 hours because they do not start meeting people until around 7. The line wasn't more than 45 minutes long all night when we were there, so it is a complete judgement call.
After the wait, we went and had our first hot chocolate and cookies. The cookies were just ok. They were snickerdoodle with a hint of orange (or so it tasted to us). Kind of weird honestly. Now we went to see the second light ceremony. We didn't watch the actual show (I had seen it online prior to going and cried, so it was best I not cry again there. Brad didn't care either way). Instead we listened to it by a photopass photographer so that the moment the castle lit up we could get a picture and not wait in line. Afterwards, we went and watched PhilharMagic. I love it! It was closed in September so I had to watch it this time!
We walked over to Big Thunder Mountain, but it was closed for technical difficulties. So now onto Jingle Cruise. Yes, you read that correctly, they changed it to a Christmas theme, and it was great. And a side note, if you haven't, you should ride the cruise at night. It is a million times better! It was about 9 now, and we were going to go to Fantasyland for the fireworks but my shortcut was blocked off, so we decided to walk down Main Street and see if we could get a spot. We got lucky and got a spot front and center outside of Casey's Corner. We were just in time for the projection show. Then fireworks!
After the fireworks, we walked through the shops. Brad was cold and was looking for a hoodie. He ended up passing on buying one at that moment. Since lines were short, we went and met Tinker Bell. After meeting her, we walked out of the building and noticed Mary Poppins was meeting people. Brad has been wanting to meet Mary Poppins for some time now, so this was the perfect opportunity. They do not have photopass photographers there, but there is a nice Disney Castmember who will take your picture with your device if you wish.
After those character meet and greets, we visited the other side of Main Street and the shops. We stopped at the Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant to get more hot chocolate. Now, the lines are non-existent for rides. So we rode Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain again. At this point, I went to the Frozen store to buy my cousin a Christmas present from my mom. We took a few pictures then noticed the line to meet Sleeping Beauty and Snow White were short, so we took advantage of this. A castmember was kind of rude because they were only letting people in line that had kids. Finally they gave up on pushing adults away and let us in line. At this point we checked on the Mine Train. The line was still 60 minutes long, so we passed. We rode it in September and were not impressed. I would have given it another shot if the wait was like 10 minutes, but we were definitely not waiting an hour!
Our last ride of the night was our second attempt at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Luckily it was open this time! It is also one of those rides that is really neat at night. After BTMR, we headed back to Main Street to do some last minute shopping. At this point it was getting close to midnight. Our shuttle for our hotel picked us up at 1 am. So we had time to kill. Brad finally bought his hoodie, and I bought a cute sweater (which I LOVE). Brad was really thankful for his hoodie when we arrived at our bus stop. We took the hotel monorail to the T&TC so we arrived much quicker than I really had planned. We had about 45 minutes to wait in the cold until the bus arrived. Luckily he showed up 30 minutes early and we were able to sit in the warm bus.
Any suggestions?
- Definitely try and get to the Magic Kingdom by 4 and take advantage of Fastpasses between 4 and 7.
- Purchase the Memory Maker! We ended up with a total of 50 photos and only paid $42. That's quite a deal to me.
- PLAN! Know what you want to accomplish during the few hours you have. If you can get there by 4, you have 8 hours of park time. Prioritize what is important.
- Ride the PeopleMover, Jingle Cruise and BTMR at night!
- Don't expect everything to be open. If there is a ride you want to do or a place you want to eat, plan ahead, see if it will be open, and if not, do it before it closes.
- Don't expect low crowds until close to 8. Lines were still long at 7 when the party officially started. They are still weeding the non-partygoers out. Be patient.
- Have fun and take advantage of the gorgeous castle and the great Christmas card opportunities!
