Christmas Party Worth The Cost?

[Tk0021]

We are planning an early December 5 day trip this year and I have run into this question. We want to do 3 days at MK, 1 day at EPCOT and 1 day at Hollywood Studios but at the time of year 3 days at MK runs us into a Christmas party. We could do 2 days at MK but my kids really love it, so I am thinking of putting the extra money out and going to the party. I have never been, but we just did a MNSSHP this past September and after that I said no more parties. It was over sold and we spent waiting an hour for characters you can meet everyday. The only way I can justify to myself is that we would not meet characters this time. We would just take advantage of the shorter ride lines. Anybody go to the party before?

 

[JohnD]

If you intend to go to the party, I think you already get having one less day for a multi-day ticket as you would spend money on the party tix itself. If you've never been, it's always worth doing at least once. I see that you also understand it's similar to MNSSHP party but with different theming. It too has a parade (Once Upon A Time Christmas Parade) , fireworks (Holiday Wishes), castle show (Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration), and a variation of trick or treating (free sugar cookies and cocoa). It has the Frozen castle lighting, "snow" on Main Street, and character greetings. If you hadn't done Jingle Cruise on any other day, this would be a good time to do it. Don't spend too much time doing rides if you can manage to do them on your other days in MK, though.

 

[MOUSEGIRL]

I have done both MNSSHP and MVMCP. This year was our first doing MNSSHP and I was not impressed. We love MVMCP so I was very excited about doing MNSSHP. In my opinion MNSSHP party is not worth the money but MVMCP is worth twice the price. However i am not a Halloween lover I don't hate it but its not my favorite holiday. I do love Christmas and Christmas decor.

 

[21stamps]

We’ve gone the past 2 years and loved it.

 

[Tk0021]

I have done both MNSSHP and MVMCP. This year was our first doing MNSSHP and I was not impressed. We love MVMCP so I was very excited about doing MNSSHP. In my opinion MNSSHP party is not worth the money but MVMCP is worth twice the price. However i am not a Halloween lover I don't hate it but its not my favorite holiday. I do love Christmas and Christmas decor.

Thanks for the reply. What did you like better about the Christmas party than the Halloween party? Did you try to meet any characters at either?

We like Halloween and my daughters dressed as Belle and Moana who were doing meet and greets. We waited over an hour for Belle and we got nowhere near Moana. They did get to meet Ariel at the end of the night.

I said no more parties after that, but then my wife said she wants to see it snow on Main Street so there goes that.

 

[Worldlover71]

I attended the Halloween party last year and the Christmas party this year, both for the first time. I enjoyed the Halloween party but loved the Christmas party. The Christmas parade, fireworks and stage show are all truly wonderful. Without attending the party, the only way to see these is to go the week before Christmas when it can be very crowded.

The M&G lines can indeed be very long and you have to think of them like any other ride or attraction and prioritize what you want to do. I did notice that ride and M&R wait times were a bit lower at the Christmas party but that might have to do with the specific dates I was there. For example, I went for Halloween on a Friday and Christmas on a Tuesday. At Halloween, the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train never went below a 50 minute wait and the dwarfs' M&G was well over an hour. At Christmas the mine train was 30 minutes and the M&G was 45 minutes.

I also never had to wait at all for any of the Christmas treat stations unlike the Trick or Treat trails which had long lines.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tk0021]

I attended the Halloween party last year and the Christmas party this year, both for the first time. I enjoyed the Halloween party but loved the Christmas party. The Christmas parade, fireworks and stage show are all truly wonderful. Without attending the party, the only way to see these is to go the week before Christmas when it can be very crowded.

The M&G lines can indeed be very long and you have to think of them like any other ride or attraction and prioritize what you want to do. I did notice that ride and M&R wait times were a bit lower at the Christmas party but that might have to do with the specific dates I was there. For example, I went for Halloween on a Friday and Christmas on a Tuesday. At Halloween, the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train never went below a 50 minute wait and the dwarfs' M&G was well over an hour. At Christmas the mine train was 30 minutes and the M&G was 45 minutes.

I also never had to wait at all for any of the Christmas treat stations unlike the Trick or Treat trails which had long lines.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your input. That sounds like what our Halloween party was like. If we choose to go to the Christmas party, which is how I am leaning, I think we are going to focus on the parade and other party activities and avoid the meet and greets. What will help is my girls will not be dressed as characters and want to meet them. Haha.

Plus we will be in the park during the day as well. With the Halloween party, we arrived that day but only went to the party. This year we plan on going to MK in the morning and I think that will help as well.

 

[Worldlover71]

There is plenty to do without ever going on a ride or meeting a character! Have a great time.

 

[MOUSEGIRL]

Thanks for the reply. What did you like better about the Christmas party than the Halloween party? Did you try to meet any characters at either?

We like Halloween and my daughters dressed as Belle and Moana who were doing meet and greets. We waited over an hour for Belle and we got nowhere near Moana. They did get to meet Ariel at the end of the night.

I said no more parties after that, but then my wife said she wants to see it snow on Main Street so there goes that.

Yes we did do the meet and greats at both parties but I found MNSSHP to have much longer wait times than MVMCP. The parades and fireworks are far better at the Christmas party. Plus watching it snow on Main Street you just cant replace that. we are planning to go to the Christmas Party again we probably wont do any of the charters this times because i want to make sure we see every parade and special event.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Agreed. If you choose your priorities right during MVMCP, it can be amazing! Like any other Disney day, it requires planning and prioritizing. Wait times are long for the characters and some rides like SDMT and Space Mtn but it's fun to see it snow and the Christmas parade. Good luck! We love being able to have a lazy morning and then go in about 4. It's almost like an off day for us!

 

[Tk0021]

Thanks for all the replies. I think we are going to do the Christmas party and the way our trip will fall we can do it on a Tuesday, so hopefully it will not be that busy.

 

[harryk]

Did the Christmas Party this year (2017). Our family goes to it every other year. Management must have upped the number of tickets sold because the MK was very, very crowded and the lines were long for many of the rides. MVMCP still has the best parade and the fireworks are very good. This year we waited for the second parade and took the rides while the first was going on. - Still had very long wait times. This is why I believe that management has sold too many tickets.

 

[macefamily]

Totally agree about 2017 Christmas Party. We hit some rides during the first parade, and we walked on the first four rides. After the parade ended everything was close to :30 minute or more wait. We also did the Halloween Party for the first time this past year. I thought it was awesome. The decorations and the park are beautiful at night. The Hocus Pocus show was really good too. I'd swear by both of them and sacrifice a whole day in the park for those 5 or 6 hours at night.

 

[disneygirl76]

We have done both parties and love them both for very different reasons. MVMCP has a slower pace since there is not the trick or treating aspect. We are looking forward to taking our son this year for his first Christmas Party.

 

[correcaminos]

Thanks for all the replies. I think we are going to do the Christmas party and the way our trip will fall we can do it on a Tuesday, so hopefully it will not be that busy.

I think that's smart. The last MVMCP I went to was on a Friday. It sold me on never going to one again as it was that bad. I have been mid weeks and they weren't near as bad as that Friday was. I hope you enjoy!