Reviews of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (Magic Kingdom)
Reviewed by Gingy160 Review Date: 12/06/2017
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
We decided that since we would be at WDW when the party was happening, we'd fork over the cash to experience it once. I did not feel that it was worth the money -- we had a great touring plan, but because of the crowd level we were unable to accomplish anything; and we were all so tired and frustrated by 8pm that we were done. We managed to stick around for a Totally Tomorrowland Christmas, a Frozen Holiday Wish, and the fireworks. My husband said that the fireworks alone were worth the money. I'm cheaper than he is, so although the fireworks *were* amazing I'm not so sure. We are glad we did it once, but we will not be doing it again.
Pros:
Um, the fireworks?Cons:
Expensive, crowdedReviewed by disneyrn77 Review Date: 12/13/2014
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
So not worth the money. Ridiculously overcrowded (attended Tuesday 12/2) and couldn't enjoy anything. No one ever checked our wristbands (we had on long sleeves so they weren't visible). Clearly many people were not wearing bands but got to stay for free. It's very frustrating to spend the amount of money we did and see so many people without bands not being asked to leave. They should do it like the old days where they close the park and empty everyone out. The re-open for people with a ticket. This was defintiely a huge disappointment for us. We had much more fun during the day in the park. It was much less crowded and more enjoyable for all of us.
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ChaosReviewed by Disney Ranlin Review Date: 12/07/2014
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
This was the first time we attended MVMCP (12/2)and I'm sad to say it will be the last. While we enjoyed the parade, the park was too crowded. We were in place to see the first parade at 6:00, before the event even started. We waited in the same spot for over 2 hours. The younger children ages 7 and 8 were unable to see the castle shows. It seemed that the Disney cast members kept filling the area in front of the castle and it was difficult to clear the area before the parade started. We did enjoy the parade. The performers were amazing and the floats were beautiful. We were all so looking forward to this event and the adults were disappointed. I feel like the event is oversold. While I will continue to love Disney and keep coming to the parks, I honestly cannot recommend this event to anyone.
Pros:
ParadeCons:
CrowdsReviewed by MissDawn Review Date: 11/08/2014
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
We went to the opening night this year. The crowds were terrible. It was like a regular park day. We have gone to the Party before and it was much less crowded.
At the beginning of the night, every time we took a step, we were being asked to show our bracelets. After about an hour, no one asked anymore, and people clearly did not have one. I noticed many people not wearing bracelets in the lines.
The fireworks were nice, but again, with being such a crowded night, finding a space to view was nearly impossible. We arrived at the park around 5, and people were already camped out for the night in front of the castle for the evening.
The cookies were not very tasty, and the hot chocolate was gone in about three sips. Also, the lines were extremely long everywhere for snacks.
The snow on Main Street was very pretty and so was the castle after Elsa "froze" it.
I don't think I will personally return to the party due to the large crowds and the high price tag...
Pros:
Special parades fireworks musicCons:
Expensive CROWDEDReviewed by Fitzboyzmom Review Date: 12/17/2013
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We attended the party on December 12th (second time we have attended). It was less crowded than I have seen in the past, but still pretty difficult to maneuver around. We loved the snow on main street and ended up with a very good spot for the parade (we never attempted to find a spot on main street because it was just too crowded).
We were excited to go for 2 reasons. One, for the special sorcerer card and for the event pins. We went to the fire house with our ticket for the card. We were told that we had to have our ticket and our wrist band. We went to ask the cast members near the Christmas tree for a wrist band and were told that we had to either go to the rose garden or adventure land or go out of the park and back in...really? So, some nice cast member took pity on us and asked someone to go get us wrist bands. We got our card and headed down to find pins. There are no more individual pins...at all, anywhere. There was a set if you chose to pay that much or wait in the VERY LONG line. We did not. When I asked the cast member, he just said they were all limited editions and they are gone...sorry. That is absurd on December 14th. As an aside, I purchased the 2 pins I wanted on ebay from people who were selling multiple of the same pins...gee, wonder how they ran out so fast. Perhaps Disney should limit the number of pins you can buy. There were also monstrous lines for all the merchandise locations. Not fun.
While we attended, we were asked many times to show our wrist bands and could not do anything, including enter a store without showing our bands. We saw some people being escorted out and thought they had stayed without a ticket and were being shown out. Not so. 3 nights later, we had a 7PM reservation at Be Our Guest. I did not even realize that it was another party night. It was our last night and we had a really lovely dinner. Totally ruined when we walked out and were not able to leave because there were about 10 cast members outside the door blocking our way. They asked us if we were going to the party. When we said no, one of them told us that they would escort us out. We felt like criminals being lead out because we had done something wrong. It was humiliating and just left such a bad taste in my mouth.
I know that Disney has been criticized for allowing people to stay without tickets. But this time you basically could do nothing except see the parade and fireworks. Why in the world would they treat people like that? I think they should risk a handful of people maybe staying to see the parade or fireworks instead of humiliating all of them.
I won't say I will never do something, but as a DVC member and annual pass holder who spends tons of time and money in Disney World, I am extremely disappointed. I took my step mother on this trip and was embarrassed.
Pros:
Snow on Main StreetCons:
Treatment of Park GuestsReviewed by Lovethesouth Review Date: 12/10/2013
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Visit WDW often (FL resident)....This was our 4th MVMCP and probably our last until Disney can fix the crowd problem. We attended 12/5/13 (sold out). We have visited many times and know that there are always going to be crowds in the MK, but what we experienced this night was completely unacceptable. The crowd on Main St and around the castle between the parades and during the fireworks was unimaginable! Standstill is a big understatement. NO ONE was able to move. Walkways completely blocked, people pushing, yelling, and cursing. Disney can't control people's actions but they can and should create a better environment for these events, considering the cost. For a starter, reopen those two paths on each side of the castle so that there are more avenues to move people in and out of the area. Unbelievable that the management continues to disregard this matter. For this reason, we will spend our money on other things.
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Cost/lack of crowd controlReviewed by nursenita Review Date: 11/29/2013
Rating: (4) Not Recommended
I was disappointed, the night was no different then a regular night at Christmas time. You can only eat so many cookies and it was the same cookie at every location. Also it only limited the people without bands to the rides, other then that everyone just walked around freely. I saw no one ask anyone to leave or attempt to ask.
Pros:
snow on main street, smaller crowdsCons:
no diferent then a regular night at christmas timeReviewed by fireman Review Date: 11/25/2013
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
We went on Nov. 21, not really crowded but the park was actually less crowded before party. I won't waste my money on this again. The fireworks were ok and parade was same ol same ol. I'd rather save my money next time and do something less crowed and more fun.
Pros:
free hot chocolateCons:
no differnet than any other dayReviewed by Ohiost13 Review Date: 11/20/2013
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
We didn't feel the wristbands were policed very well. The character lines were long and most times were closed. The stage in Tomorrowland needs to be higher so everyone, especially children can see without looking at the back of heads. The projection show on the castle was not different than the night before. It did NOT snow on Main St. And, the 2nd parade was delayed twice and then CANCELLED! Then our daughter cried the rest of the night and never got to see Santa. It was a very light rain, but stopped by 11 p.m., so they should've gone through with the parade. It didn't rain hard, it didn't pour, lightning or thunder. We, Disney customers, were out in the elements, the Disney cast members should've been too. Including the photo pass photographers with tripods. They could've held an umbrella or clipped an umbrella to their tripod, but they all went indoors. This party did not deliver on their promise. We are very disappointed. We could've added an extra day to our passes a lot cheaper and stayed in the park and watched the parade, the projection show on the castle and the fireworks, just like a lot of people did, without having to spend the extra money for the party.
Pros:
NoneCons:
No snow and cancelled Christmas paradeReviewed by Bailey Review Date: 11/17/2013
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
We had a wonderful vacation at Disney this year with the exception of MVMCP. We attended this event on 11-14-13, the last day of our trip. Crowds are awful. It is our opinion that asking guests without the special bands to leave is simply not working. It seems the only thing it truly keeps them restricted from is riding rides. We noticed many there without bands. I am also handicapped and we were unable to even move thru crowds because walkways were not kept clear. Putting masking tape on the sidewalk to keep the paths clear wasn't helpful. The cast members trying to help just seemed to give up at some point. It was just too much for them to handle effectively. My husband at one point was both verbally and physically assaulted by another guest for doing nothing more than trying to move us thru the crowd. People thought we were trying to steal their spot. While Disney can't control rude behavior of guests we did feel they had a responsibility to at least keep the walkways open for safety reasons at best. We love Disney and will recover from this unpleasant experience to vacation there again but will not buy tickets for special ticketed events again until Disney can figure out a better way to clear the park of those who didn't pay to stay. One last note, we did talk to Guest Relations. Their attitude is pretty much we already have your money stay, don't stay...whatever. We didn't stay. Upon returning to our hotel we spoke with other guests who also chose not to stay. Terrible waste of our money.
