Mickey's Very Merry Christmas....worth it ?

Originally Posted By mossy

Is this a must see for kids ?? (ages 8 and 12)

 

Originally Posted By Labuda

not a MUST-see, but it'll be loads of fun.

 

Originally Posted By mickeymad

Hi Mossy, I have just booked this for the 13th of December.
I thought long and hard as our girls are 11 years old and are both at adult prices so it will be over US$160 just for the night. I came to the conclusion that I think I would regret not doing it once we are there.We wont get to WDW again for a long time so we are going to make the most of it while we are there.I think the atmosphere will be lovely and the special parade, hot chocolate and cookies will all add to it.I love christmas so I will enjoy every expensive second of it!!!!!

 

Originally Posted By bobbelee9

^^^Great attitude!

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

No. It's not.

 

Originally Posted By bobbelee9

^^^I like positive thinking, I have to work with too many negative people.

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

^^Me too. I hate it.

 

Originally Posted By nemopoppins

^^^Now that's not being positive.

Anyway, my husband refuses to spend the extra money for our family of seven (especially since he likes to go to bed early). Will we get enough Christmas entertainment throughout WDW to make up for not going to the party?

 

Originally Posted By sassystitch

It is very expensive & very overrated...that is just my opinion, but I really do not feel it is worth the price tag.

 

Originally Posted By trekkeruss

I haven't been to one, but basically, you're paying all that money for... what? A cup of hot chocolate, some cookies? Beyond that, you're paying for what used to be included with the regular pass. So IMO it's a rip-off disguised as something special.

 

Originally Posted By nemopoppins

I haven't been there, but what trekkeruss says makes sense to me. I'd be perfectly happy not spending the extra money on it (especially since we'll be seeing its fireworks from the California Grill one night), but I want to be sure that there will be a lot of Christmassy alternatives, both inside the Magic Kingdom during the days, and elsewhere. Are there a lot of other Christmas celebrations outside of the MVMCP?

 

Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom

As a Christmas present I got my sister and her family tickets to MVMCP two years ago. They said it was the best part of their trip to WDW. I also have attended MVMCP and enjoyed it a lot. I'm gald I did it once. I probably don't need to do it again. December is often the busiest time of the year for me workwise. And attending MVMCP helped me get some well needed Christmas spirit since I often just can't wait for December to be over with. I realize that vacations to WDW can get expensive but I come from the school of thought that WDW is not always enjoyed on the cheap. Since my trips to WDW are typically spaced enough apart ( typically twice a year ) I have plenty of opportunity to save up for little splurges like MVMCP.

Now to answer the rest of the questions. If you want to do Christmasy things for free at WDW, DTD is decorated to the max. Each Disney resort will be uniquely decorated to the max. My personal favorite is the Wilderness Lodge. But my all means visit a few resorts and try your luck on discovering your own personal favorite.

My far the park with the most Decorations/ festivities going on is going to be EPCOT, where there are non-stop events. During the day each land in the World Showcase does unique Christmas events. Its always fun greeting the different Santas, Father Christmas, Pere De Noel, Julenissen and the Three Wise Men in Mexico. You will also find several countries in the World Showcase that do Christmas story telling. Meanwhile the big show stopper is the Candlelight Processional.

<a href="http://www.oitc.com/Disney/WDW/Holidays.html" target="_blank">http://www.oitc.com/Disney/WDW
/Holidays.html</a>

This site mentions a lot of the special things Disney does for the Holidays. I personally really enjoyed the Christmas trees and topiary at EPCOT as well.

 

Originally Posted By davewasbaloo

And don't forget the Osborne Lights at the Studios Tom - they are amazing!

I love the giant gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian and the trees at the Wilderness and Animal Kingdom Lodges. Also you can watch the Christmas Wishes from the Polynesian quite nicely. But don't expect much Christmas cheer at the MK unless you get your wallet out.

DL and DLP do Christmas much better than the MK, but WDW has loads of wonderful christmas choices across the resort.

MVMCP is an abomination that annoys me greatly. I'm with Russ - $50 each for a cookie, hot chocolate, some rubber head shows, and a parade and fireworks that used to be free.

On a December night, you'll find us elsewhere. But it makes the MK so busy in the day because the hours are short for some of us that have already put out $7000 to be there. In comparison $150 is nothing, but why should I?

Next year I think we'll head to California instead.

 

Originally Posted By stitchcrazy

Well I have to admit MVMCP is my favorite Disney day of the year. Since its just my husband and I its probably easier for us to fork over the extra money and not worry about it. I can see where once you're a family of 4+ it can become a major decision as a trip add on.

We've done it 3 years in a row and getting ready to plan for our 4th. Its the only time I've ever been to MK and almost never had to wait for rides and have been asked if I want to immediately re-ride many of them. In fact after 2 turns on Big Thunder this last year I think the extremely nice CM was ready to send us through again and seemed quite entertained by my enthusiasm but my husband said he needed a break.

The Holiday Wishes fireworks are another big favorite of mine. We usually catch some of the parade but its not a super priority for me. This last year I got a big kick out of seeing the Twas The Night Before Christmas show with Mickey which was super cheesy but it was the cheese factor that entertained me.

I love the snow on Main Street and and the way everything looks all lit up and snowy and the castle in the background.

The treats are just that, snacks. We liked that this last year they added juice and apples. We ended up getting hamburgers with no fries at Cosmic Rays, then got our juice and apples around the corner and had hot chocolate and cookies for dessert. At least it made for a less expensive meal.

I wasn't upset when they stopped doing the free photo, we got one the first year, skipped it the 2nd and didn't miss it last year when it was gone. It was the only long line we waited in that first year we went and while a cute picture it wasn't the most exciting thing ever. I can just as easily take a picture with my own camera.

Anyway in the end that night for us is part of our early Christmas together and so for me its worth it. Not that I don't still love the actual Christmas holiday but my Disney Christmas is just for my hubby and I when we do our early December trip, so we try to really do things up nice and go all out and MVMCP is a big part of that.

 

Originally Posted By nemopoppins

Wow, thank you so much for your answers! You probably can't imagine how helpful you've been and entertaining too!

Tom, thank you for reminding me about the resort decorations (I remember seeing a pictorial about them on the web last year). Dave, yes, Disneyland's Christmas is great! But we only get our AP's every other year for savings purposes (so, silly us, this year we're spending even more and trying WDW). Stitch, we're a family of seven so you're right, it's a pretty major cost. I love your experiences though.

 

Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder

My wife and I went to Orlando last year (from California) specifically during Christmas time. Despite her and our travel agent's meticulous planning, we did not know you had to pay $50 extra per each adult to re-enter the park after 7:00 p.m. for this MVMCP. Since we were there, we paid it.

NEVER AGAIN. What we paid for was a parade and the opportunity to buy Christmas shirts that were trotted out after 7:00 p.m. THAT'S IT. The fireworks one can see from any number of places. We felt it was a complete rip-off, especially when we live within 30 minutes of Disneyland and can see a Christmas parade with fireworks, plus the opportunity to buy Christmas clothing that had been out all day without having to pay extra to spend even more. It's unconscionable.

As others have said, there's sooooooo much Christmas around the resort that you'll get more than your fill without having to pay for MVMCP.

 

Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom

Dave, certainly the highlight of the December trip was meeting your family as well as, ukfan's family, Doobie, Rebecca and Em. We had a blast just meeting everyone. I can't wait to do it again regardless of what coast ( or shore ).

 

Originally Posted By wendebird

We went last year, IMO, it's way overpriced. The only thing extra we really got to see & do was the holiday fireworks, again, IMO, weren't really that spectacular. The Christmas parade & loooong lines to get hot cocoa & cookies.

We felt the lines were longer during MVMCP than during the day. It didn't help that Mansion & Space were both down almost the entire 5 hours.

One piece of advice, make sure you make dinner reservations! The place was slammed.

Also, if you want to experience MVMCP for just a little while, make dinner reservations for say 6:30 or so. A CM will escort you to Main Street after your meal where you can experience the snow & music on Main Street. We did this twice on our trip at Liberty Tree Tavern (where I had THE best cup of coffee in the world) & Crystal Palace.

FWIW, we encountered the rudest CM's during the switchover to the VMCP. We were treated like we were sneaking into a private show or something.

 

Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS

Boy do I have mixed emotions after reading this thread!!

Piratebrittany and I have tickets for this year. We had gone in 2002 and absolutely had the best time of our lives. This was when you still got the free photo, which actually was one of our favorite photos from any year that we've visited. The lines were really short for the rides, which was a plus.
I don't believe there was a parade, but I'm sure there was two special Xmas shows at the castle.

At least now I know to be patient this year, don't look for my free photo, and don't get within ten feet of a cast member handling the switchover. We did make 5:30 reservations at Liberty Tree so maybe that will help not having to exit the park.

No matter what, I'm still looking forward to it. Maybe the day after I'll be kicking myself

 

Originally Posted By jodiefra

We did this last year and LOVED it. We went on a Tuesday in early December, which I'm told is a relatively low night for the party, and it was great!!! We walked on many rides, watched the fireworks from Fantasyland, saw the later parade from a great spot on the curb, and had no wait for cocoa and cookies in Tomorrowland. Everyone was wearing their Santa hats, the music was wonderful, and there were carolers and bands and (of course) snow on Main Street.

As far as dinner, we ate a big lunch that day and just had turkey legs for dinner -- short wait and no wasted time. We sat on a bench and ate them while watching everyone and listening to the music. I should probably mention that we were on a parkhopper for the length of our stay, so we didn't feel the need to get to the party the minute it opened -- we heard it would be crowded right when it opened so we waited a little while.

The short version: DEFINITELY worth it for us!!