Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (or MVMCP for short) is a special ticketed event held in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando every November-December. This year’s first party starts on November 7 and the last party date is December 22. Ticket prices vary depending on party date, a breakdown can be found at wdwinfo. The event officially begins at 7 pm and ends at midnight. You can enter the Magic Kingdom at 4 pm (sometimes a little before) with your MVMCP ticket. Just to be clear, so long as you use your event ticket you do not need to use a day on your regular park tickets.
There are a couple different things you can do to make sure that you have the best party experience possible. First, you have to consider which date to attend. The parties usually happen on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Thanksgiving week and the first party are exceptions. Parties have a hard attendance cap, no one is quite sure how many tickets constitute a sold out party but sell outs do happen frequently. This means two things. The first is the worry that your party will be crowded, and the second is that your party might sell out.
The best way to combat the latter worry is to buy tickets as soon as you have a date picked out. This can be problematic for some who like to wait closer to the event date to check things out, like the weather. It is a roll of the dice whether your chosen date will sell out or not. I like to follow this strategy: pick two dates during your trip that you’d be willing to attend. Check the official Disney website each day to see if either of your dates sells out. If one of the dates sells out, I would go ahead and buy tickets for the other option right away so you don’t get shut out. If neither of your dates sells out too far ahead of time then you should be able to take your pick once you are a few days out and know the weather forecast.
Predicting which parties will have the highest attendance is a big deal, and very difficult. Some websites will lay out a list of which parties were busiest from years past, but that is not always a good indicator of whether that specific party this year will be busy or not. It is safe to assume that the last several parties will sell out with the Christmas crowds. Besides that, just use common sense. Tuesday and Thursday parties are often less busy, with locals having work and school the next day. Fridays are usually (but not always) the busiest. Sundays can fall somewhere in the middle. The best thing to do is just pick a day and hope for the best, but try not to worry about it too much. A lot of fun can still be had at sold out parties.
Don’t overlook opportunities to get a discount on tickets. Slightly discounted tickets are offered to annual pass holders, DVC members and cast members. There is also a small upcharge if you wait until the day of the party to purchase the tickets.
Now that you’ve chosen your date(s) and purchased your tickets, what’s next? Let’s take a look at the party exclusive events.
The first is the Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. This parade features the ever popular toy soldiers, Santa Claus and many classic Disney characters as they celebrate the season. While Once Upon a Christmastime is not my favorite Disney parade, it is still very well done and will definitely get you in the holiday spirit. The parade runs two times during each party. It follows the classic parade route at the Magic Kingdom. It starts in Frontierland and travels into Liberty Square, down past the castle and finishes at the end of Main Street. Seats along Main Street are typically claimed an hour in advance of the parade. Many people prefer Main Street because of the festive decorations, the beautiful view of the lit up castle and the fact that it snows during the parade. For those reasons you have a better chance getting a curb side spot in Frontierland if you don’t wish to wait that long.
A special Christmas themed fireworks display called Holiday Wishes: Celebrate the Spirit of the Season starts at 9:30 pm. Prime spots for the fireworks will go early. If you are lucky, you’ll be able to find a seat in the fenced off astro turf areas that used to be FP+ exclusive viewing. These are located in front of Casey’s and the Plaza. It must not be common knowledge that these areas are now for everyone. Often there is space in one of these areas right before the fireworks begin.
The party also features several other special Christmas themed shows. Voice Play, an acapella group, performs in Tomorrowland. Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration is a new show in front of the castle. Last but not least we have another show in Tomorrowland, the Totally Tomorrowland Christmas. Also exclusive to the event are various cookies and beverages like hot chocolate or apple juice, all included with the price of the event. These locations are easy to find, giant lit up candy canes mark the spot.
MVMCP is known for its exclusive characters. The party is the only time to meet characters like Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws, Scrooge McDuck,Prince Phillip, Flynn Rider, Snow White’s Prince, Bert from Mary Poppins and Nick and Judy from Zootopia. A lot of classic Disney characters are also dressed in festive holiday outfits. Lines for these characters can get very long, I’ll go into that below in a little bit.
Get into the spirit and dress up. While these parties may not be as much fun as Halloween for people to dress up, you can still find ways to dress into the spirit. Some people like to wear the party specific t-shirts, Santa hats, elf ears, reindeer antlers, or the ever popular giant bulb light up necklaces (pro tip: purchase these from your local Party City or holiday store before your trip, you’ll save a lot of money). You can pull out that ugly holiday sweater that’s been lying at the back of your closet. You can wear matching red and green hats and scarves and mittens. Another plus to wearing Christmas gear is that you can plan to take your Christmas card photo in front of the beautiful castle (guaranteed to make all your favorite, or not so favorite, relatives jealous).
If you have a lot that you want to accomplish at these parties, have a plan. Or not. You can still have a ton of fun without a plan by just enjoying the Christmas spirit and wandering from event to event. For those who feel better having a plan, I’ll try to help you out. For more help planning, check out the MVMCP thread on the DISboards forums. The thread is full of helpful, kind posters who can assist you in planning your night.
Arrive a little before 4 pm. You are able to schedule FastPasses with your party ticket so long as it is linked in MDE. You cannot scheduleFastPasses during the party, so you will need to arrange the 3 carefully. Lately,FastPasses haven’t seemed to be available after 6:30 so I’d suggest making them for: 3:30-4:30, 4:30-5:30 and 5:30 to 6:30. If you are just attending the party for short ride waits, you should have a pretty good time when the park clears of day guests after 7. Usually the only rides with longer lines are Peter Pan and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It’s a good idea to ride these during the parade or fireworks, if you have no interest in those events. Jingle Cruise (Jungle Cruise) will most likely see long waits as well since it is the only holiday themed ride.
Choose which shows you would like to see. The DIS Unplugged has many beautiful YouTube videos of everything at the party. Once you know which shows you want to see, check show times and choose what works for you. Now that you have those times down, you can start to get an idea of what your night will look like.
Are characters important to you? Choose which ones are a priority for your family. Kenny the Pirate’s website can help you figure out who will have the longest waits. A couple characters will most likely start to meet early. Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas will probably start to meet around 5 in his Sandy Claws outfit (they do check for party wrist bands in line). Line up for him as close to 4 as possible if he is a priority. His line gets very long and this way you can meet him before the party even starts. The Seven Dwarfs usually start to meet before the party starts too. Expect them to begin sometime around 6 pm. Nick and Judy from Zooptopia will be meeting for the first time in Orlando at MVMCP, so expect their line to be huge. The princes with their princesses are also a very popular meet. Rapunzel and Cinderella meet inside Fairytale Hall with Flynn and Prince Charming. In previous years, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty met outside with their princes. Now that Elsa and Anna have moved to Epcot, it will be interesting to see if Aurora and Tiana meet inside Fairytale Hall with their princes as well.
Don’t forget to pick up your party exclusive Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom card. These can be found at the Main Street firehouse. Once you get one, they will mark your party band, so everyone needs to be present to get a card.
There you are, by now you should at least know the fundamentals of MVMCP (along with a few insider tips). Whether you decide to plan or wing it, enjoy the party and let yourself feel the spirit!
