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

[Aljo]

Went to 12/7 party. It was our first ever Christmas party. Weather was perfect, we were in short sleeves all night. Was on line for Jack/Sandy Claws 4:30 and was done by 6:30pm. Went to the ducks much later, can't remember the time and took a gamble after the 11pm parade from Main St to the Dwarfs, arrived at the Dwarfs 11:50 and got a photo with 6 of them. I say 6 because my daughter was in front of one and they took the photo anyway. I would have thought the CM would have told the dwarf to move to the side................I didn't look at the photo until we were on the bus back to resort. Still grateful for the photo....

was quite crowded by the hub for the fireworks. The castle is breathtaking.

Loved seeing the parade from Main st. We were by the bakery.

Did a few rides, saw Merriest Celebration, stopped 2 min at club tinsel, picked up a few snacks (would have like a few more stations)

 

[Moramoon]

Seems like a silly question when I think about it, but are there any characters that meet during the party who don't have a photopass photographer with them? I'm debating on the 1 day photopass for the party, but if there are a lot of characters we plan on meeting who don't have one we may pass on it.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

Went to the party this past Tuesday... Had a great time! We saw Jack Skellington, Snow White and her Prince, Aurora and Philip, Scrooge and Donald, caught both castle shows, the parade and the fireworks, and had every single free treat available.

My planning DO NOT DO: We were told to try to catch the first Merriest Christmas party show, then stay for the 8:15 Castle lighting, turn to the street and see the parade, then turn around again and you've got a spot for the fireworks. DON'T DO THIS!!! The hub was absolute madness after the castle shows. We were right in front of the castle at the curb when a man started trying to SHOVE his stroller through the crowds waiting for the parade rather than going around the crowd to a crossing. He shoved a woman who fell over her child, and there was a lot of language used on both sides. The man's wife even tried to go for the first woman- who went right back at her with an elbow to the throat. It was a VERY nasty scene, people were screaming for security and nobody came over. Finally the man and his family left.... two minutes later Guest Control came over to move everyone off the street -eyeroll- So glad they were there to help decompress the situation sooner.

Anyways, avoid the hub at all costs near the castle at that time. You're welcome.

 

[twinklebug]

The hub was absolute madness after the castle shows. We were right in front of the castle at the curb when a man started trying to SHOVE his stroller through the crowds waiting for the parade rather than going around the crowd to a crossing. He shoved a woman who fell over her child, and there was a lot of language used on both sides. The man's wife even tried to go for the first woman- who went right back at her with an elbow to the throat. It was a VERY nasty scene, people were screaming for security and nobody came over. Finally the man and his family left.... two minutes later Guest Control came over to move everyone off the street -eyeroll- So glad they were there to help decompress the situation sooner.

We just returned back home last night from an 8 day trip. I hate to say that what you experienced seemed to be happening all over Disney property at all times of day. Guests seem to have a chip on their shoulder this year as opposed to prior years when the overall feeling was one of cheer. I did my best to avoid confrontation, but it was everywhere around us. This trip scored a 4 out of 10. It came in at the same level as the year we had the flu for the bulk of the trip. I certainly Disney figures out what they can do to help the situation (crowd flow on the buses has become a huge issue with many, many nasty words tossed about. Seriously made my heart break.)

I finally opted out of going to the Party due to predicted low temps, but was at the MK one afternoon prior to a party to enjoy the lower crowd levels in the park that day. Saw many families and individuals coming in for the party all decked out in their most festive outfits. (That alone looked fun.) Caught a glimpse of Moana starting her M&G early, line was growing fast. While in line for POTC there was a family in front of us comprised of 4 adults and 2 children (one was a tiny girl). They were prepared for the party with wristbands and the kids dressed up as elves. The women in the group were very drunk as they passed around a large opaque bottle they'd brought in. No one was minding the little 2 year old as she was almost lost on them down the line several times. I did mention what was going on to the cast member filing us into our seats and hope they were able to pull the group aside and let them sober up before allowing them back in.

 

[Cluelyss]

Seems like a silly question when I think about it, but are there any characters that meet during the party who don't have a photopass photographer with them? I'm debating on the 1 day photopass for the party, but if there are a lot of characters we plan on meeting who don't have one we may pass on it.

Peter Pan and Mary / Bert do not. No others that I can think of?

 

[lchuck]

Warning - This came out much longer than I expected!

Just back from our quick Christmas trip and we went to the 12/10 party. I'm not sure about crowd size, this being my first party, but it may have been down due to the lower temperature that night. We decided to split line standing duties between my wife and I. I took the character lines, she took the treats. The kids enjoyed riding the rides while dad was waiting in lines and dad enjoyed seeing his kids eyes light up while meeting the 7 Dwarves, Scrooge & Donald, Sandy Claus, and Mickey. We enjoyed all of the cookies and the pretzel. The hot chocolate was very good, but it wasn't very hot and the glasses were a bit on the small side (I know, less waste). We did the 7D and Scrooge immediately (I got in line for 7D at 4:30 and was 3rd in line). The time in line passed quickly because of some friendly and talkative people around me who had no issues with letting the kids and my wife in line once it was closer to the meeting time. We found some food and a place in the garden/hub area to watch the shows and planted ourselves down for a rest. We watched the castle lighting show and then Mickey's show, then because of the massive crush of people lining the streets for the parade, we called an audible and went to meet Sandy, with only about a 20 minute wait. After Sandy, we went back to the same Hub/garden area to grab a spot for the fireworks.

RANT
The fireworks were great with the music, but seriously, how hard would it be for everyone to just SIT DOWN! If we all just agree to sit down for 15 minutes, everyone would have a wonderful view of both the castle and the fireworks no matter what the show is.
/RANT

After the fireworks, we made our way back to Frontierland, grabbed some nachos from Pecos Bills and were gifted with some very hot, very large, free hot chocolates that they were handing out to random people who were purchasing food in PB. We parked ourselves on the nice elevated curb near PB and enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. The Country Bears were wandering around, joking with people and we also received a personalized serenade from the Reindeer Wranglers, who picked my wife's favorite Alabama song to parody. The time flew by and it was quickly time for the parade to start. I know people love to watch the parade on Main Street with the snow, but if you're looking to "plus" the parade, I would recommend watching the 2nd one in Frontierland. There were very few people there and we were singled out 6-8 times throughout the parade because we were wearing matching shirts and Santa hats. My youngest enjoys blowing kisses to the various characters and almost every one of them was able to see him doing so and respond in kind, because of the lack of people along that part of the route. My oldest fell in love with the Toy Soldiers and marveled that they were able to march and play instruments inside of those suits. I enjoy a good parade and that is a great one! We hustled over to Jingle Cruise after that, hopped on a boat with no wait, and finished off the night with a Mickey M&G. We could definitely have crammed a couple more things in, but the kids were shot at that point. They were such troopers, they even indulged us with some pictures in the GF lobby when we arrived there and NOBODY was around (1am?).

All in all, it was a wonderful evening and we felt like we got our value from the experience.

 

[Sbunit81]

My planning DO NOT DO: We were told to try to catch the first Merriest Christmas party show, then stay for the 8:15 Castle lighting, turn to the street and see the parade, then turn around again and you've got a spot for the fireworks. DON'T DO THIS!!! The hub was absolute madness after the castle shows. We were right in front of the castle at the curb when a man started trying to SHOVE his stroller through the crowds waiting for the parade rather than going around the crowd to a crossing. He shoved a woman who fell over her child, and there was a lot of language used on both sides. The man's wife even tried to go for the first woman- who went right back at her with an elbow to the throat. It was a VERY nasty scene, people were screaming for security and nobody came over. Finally the man and his family left.... two minutes later Guest Control came over to move everyone off the street -eyeroll- So glad they were there to help decompress the situation sooner.

Anyways, avoid the hub at all costs near the castle at that time. You're welcome.[/QUOTE]


So I actually employed this strategy and it worked out for me. However, as the previous poster stated it is quite chaotic. I was able to get a seat on the curb right in front of the castle ( basically the curb where the castle is). My family and I were essentially trapped in the middle of a sea of bodies trying to push their way towards the castle and stage. Strollers trying to wedge between people, people trying to slyishly sneak their way in front of you, it wasn't for the faint of heart. Thankfully there wasn't any major confrontations around me but I was really questioning if it was worth the time and money to put myself and my family through such an uncomfortable ordeal. Really takes the magic out of the experience

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My planning DO NOT DO: We were told to try to catch the first Merriest Christmas party show, then stay for the 8:15 Castle lighting, turn to the street and see the parade, then turn around again and you've got a spot for the fireworks. DON'T DO THIS!!! The hub was absolute madness after the castle shows. We were right in front of the castle at the curb when a man started trying to SHOVE his stroller through the crowds waiting for the parade rather than going around the crowd to a crossing. He shoved a woman who fell over her child, and there was a lot of language used on both sides. The man's wife even tried to go for the first woman- who went right back at her with an elbow to the throat. It was a VERY nasty scene, people were screaming for security and nobody came over. Finally the man and his family left.... two minutes later Guest Control came over to move everyone off the street -eyeroll- So glad they were there to help decompress the situation sooner.

Anyways, avoid the hub at all costs near the castle at that time. You're welcome.

[/QUOTE]So I actually employed this strategy and it worked out for me. However, as the previous poster stated it is quite chaotic. I was able to get a seat on the curb right in front of the castle ( basically the curb where the castle is). My family and I were essentially trapped in the middle of a sea of bodies trying to push their way towards the castle and stage. Strollers trying to wedge between people, people trying to slyishly sneak their way in front of you, it wasn't for the faint of heart. Thankfully there wasn't any major confrontations around me but I was really questioning if it was worth the time and money to put myself and my family through such an uncomfortable ordeal. Really takes the magic out of the experience[/QUOTE]

Wow. Thank you and to the OP who posted their experiences in the hub. I am now so glad we are planning on watching the parade in Frontierland and doing the plaza garden dessert party. My DS10 would probably have a panic attack if we attempted to watch any of this in the hub. Thanks again for the report.

 

[lolly2ga]

I agree with others about the mob around the hub. The party was bad but Wednesday night at MK was even worse! The past couple of times we’ve been here there were many cast members helping with crowd control. Hardly saw any this time. The whole castle projection thing with Happily Ever After has made it worse as you have to be close to see. Fireworks alone are great from a distance. We watched the first parade in Frontierland and loved it! Watched the second right next to the Christmas tree.

 

[aspen10]

I would love to hear opinions on watching the party fireworks from behind the castle, or in Frontierland or Fantasyland, since they don't rely (as heavily) on projections.

 

[GoofyK]

Seems like a silly question when I think about it, but are there any characters that meet during the party who don't have a photopass photographer with them? I'm debating on the 1 day photopass for the party, but if there are a lot of characters we plan on meeting who don't have one we may pass on it.

Bert and Mary poppins meet at Philharmonic ride near giftshop and it's dark. Small line but my wife took photo.

 

[GoofyK]

I would love to hear opinions on watching the party fireworks from behind the castle, or in Frontierland or Fantasyland, since they don't rely (as heavily) on projections.

We watched the Xmas fireworks from behind and it was unique and neat to see them over Bells castle. We missed some of the loghting on the castle but my DW e joed it and we didnt have any crowds to deal with either.
However you do feel like an owl with how often you may turn your head to see the fireworks since they do shoot off from all over.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Thanks for the report! How crowded was the grassy fenced in area in front of Casey's for fireworks? Also going on a sold out night and that's one of the spots I was considering for watching.

There were definitely spots right up until the fireworks started.

 

[clippers6]

We went on the 8th which was probably the slowest party of the year as rain was in the forecast (ended up not being as bad as predicted). Plan was to arrive at 4 but that turned into 5:30 due to luggage arriving late and a bus delay. Started by getting our SotMK card and then getting our Santa cookie in the bypass. We went to Cosmic Ray’s to see Sonny Eclipse before it became Club Tinsel. I got the Bah Humburger and Very Merry Berry Slush. For whatever reason the burger was not advertised anywhere and the first CM had no idea what it was and said it might be in a different ordering bay. I went to the next bay and tried explaining it to the CM who thought I wanted a chicken sandwich. Eventually they rang me up for “the special” and I got what I wanted. I also purchased a side of cheese dip because I knew snowman pretzels were in our future. We ate, watched Sonny, and left around 6 just as they were making the announcement for day guests to leave.

First stop was Big Thunder as I had missed it my last few trips. It was a walk on. Forgot how fun the MK version was. Then we hit PotC and Jungle Cruise; both walk ons. Got pretzels and snowcones next. They were great with the cheddar cheese dip from Cosmic Ray’s. I think it was just before 7 or had just turned 7 at this point since we noticed Jack Sparrow was not out yet. We decided to head to the hub for the first show of Merriest. Along the way we saw a family without wristbands argue their way past two checkpoints. It began raining lightly at this point so we stopped to put on our rain gear. Before we were even finished, the rain stopped. We got a Photopass in front of the castle with the snow globe Magicshot. Unfortunately, this would be our only one of the night as many of the photographers relocated during the rain. We ended up waiting for Merriest beside a planter in the hub which worked out well since no one could stand in front of us. There were so many children on shoulders it would have been hard to see almost anywhere else. The rain had stopped but the stage was too slippery so the show was delayed while they dried it. Eventually the show began about 20-30 minutes late. This caused it to cut into the time for the Frozen show so they did an abbreviated version right after Merriest in which Elsa just showed up and lit the castle by herself. By the time that was over, it was already time for the parade. We decided to just stay put even though we had dessert party reservations. They started it about 10 minutes late. Personally I liked the Disneyland version better; the song for the MK parade wasn’t as catchy.

After the parade, we went to Tomorrowland Terrace for the dessert party. It had already started, but there were also several people like us that watched the parade first and were now arriving late. One woman in an ECV got impatient waiting in line to be seated and drove her ECV into the people waiting in line. People ended up grabbing her and forcing her to stop. Eventually we were seated (not sure what happened with the ECV woman) and took our time eating since we knew the viewing area would not be crowded. The fireworks started on time and since it was a slow party we probably could have had an as good or better view without the dessert party, but we would still totally do the party again just for the simple, unadvertised fact that almost every treat from the event, both the complimentary and paid ones, were available at the party. We were able to get all the cookies, the Jack cake pop, red velvet Mickey waffle, eggnog custard with Scrooge McDuck coin, chocolate buche de Noel, and some treats exclusive to the party. I wish the regular dessert party would take a similar approach and offer a “best of” spread of MK desserts.

After the fireworks we went to Pecos Bill’s to get a side of queso which we took to Tortuga Tavern for another pretzel. The queso didn’t work as well with the pretzel as the cheddar did. We did all rides after that. Jack Sparrow was not there when we walked by. There were some people hanging around, but it didn’t look like there was a line. Perhaps he was done for the night already. We never did see him or the Country Bears. We did Buzz Lightyear next. It was a 5-10 minute line and once again some random people’s picture got sent to our Magicband. Space Mountain was next. Line was to the door with a 25 minute posted wait. The wait was accurate and we were on after 25 minutes. We did the photobooths in the gift shop. It was about 11:15 at this point so we decided 7DMT would be our last ride for the night. On our way we took a detour to Storybook Circus because I wanted some chocolate milk. There was no line and plenty of milk. Character lines looked pretty short, but we decided to push on to mine train. It began to rain heavily at this point so we went into the tent and shopped a little hoping the rain would pass quickly. By 11:30 it was still raining so we decided to just head to mine train. Posted wait was 50 minutes. The rain picked up while we were in line but we only saw about 2 groups leave. It ended up being only a 25 minute wait and we were done and on our way out of the park by 12.

Overall, I had a good time and would do the party again, but I’m in no rush to do so. I know we got lucky as the forecast kept people away and then the actual weather didn’t get bad until the end of the night. I don’t think I would have enjoyed myself as much on a busier night. I enjoyed the short lines and food, but the overall atmosphere was not as festive as I expected. I wasn’t a fan of the music they played and it wasn’t loud enough.

 

[mamaofsix]

Is the party main street bypass open all night (could we use it as a shortcut to get to town square for parade viewing)? Thanks.

 

[monique5]

Squee! DD is so STINKING EXCITED!

 

[Cluelyss]

After the parade, we went to Tomorrowland Terrace for the dessert party. We were able to get all the cookies, the Jack cake pop, red velvet Mickey waffle, eggnog custard with Scrooge McDuck coin, chocolate buche de Noel, and some treats exclusive to the party .

Thanks for the detailed review!

Just want to confirm....ALL of these treats were offered at the dessert party?!

 

[Cluelyss]

View attachment 288721 Squee! DD is so STINKING EXCITED!

Have a great trip!!!!!!!!!!

 

[monique5]

Have a great trip!!!!!!!!!!

I really hope to see you!!!!

 

[Rich M]

We went to the party on Dec 10th. Crowds were not bad at all. Average wait time was 20 mins but most rides didn't even take that long. We got the GS on Dumbo, Pooh, Aladdin Carpets, and Jingle Cruise. Biggest disappointment was Haunted Mansion was down. We stopped to get the GS some food since he slept through dinner. We enjoyed the cookies and hot chocolate. I really loved the egg nog. We went to Peco to get some tacos for the GC and the fireworks were starting. I grabbed the GS and went right outside to watch them with him and although I couldn't see the stuff happening in front of the castle but it was still great. I got to hold my GS and he just kept saying over and over beautiful. It was such a great moment for me that I will never forget.