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

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As for wristbands getting checked, I got to the point I got used to holding up my wrist anytime I passed a CM. They seemed pretty thorough, at least for entertainment. Now that I think of it, I don't think we got checked going on rides. :)
That is what we did too! I felt like Wayne and Garth with their backstage passes at the Alice Cooper concert (for anyone old enough to get the reference)
 
Wow, so I guess they don't escort out non-party goers anymore after their dining reservations.

I made a reservation at BOG for 5:45 pm on a party night this past Tuesday. Every step of leaving I thought we'd find a CM to escort us out of the park like they used to, but no one ever stopped us. We did see a few lines of CMs at choke points checking wrist bands on the way out, but there were a lot of people hanging out on the BOG bridge and no one ever questioned us. We did make our way out, but we probably could have lost ourselves in the crowds if we had been so inclined.


I was there on the 10th and as we were walking around our bands got checked 3 times, and when we were waiting for the first show cast members were walking around the hub at least two times checking wrist bands. We saw them escort a few people out.
 
Can anyone point me to a recipe for the gingersnap molasses cookie they hand out at the party? I went on Dec. 5th and I am still dreaming of that cookie!
 


We went to the 12/22 party. We had a very good time, but this is a one and done for us unless they stop selling so many tickets. Our party consisted of me, my 12yo daughter and my 79yo MIL who was on a scooter. Our goal was to see the Mickey stage show, castle lighting, parade and fireworks.

4pm - arrived, got our wristbands then did a little shopping for party merchandise. Got discounted shirts. They were also selling the light up Christmas ears for $9.39. I also had the 20% AP discount! Package pickup was available for party guests. The bypass wasn’t open so we were swimming upstream against the crowds leaving.

4:30pm - meet and greet with Cinderella. This is my MIL favorite princess and it was a magical teary eyed moment!

5-6:30pm - dinner at Be Our Guest. After we left we made our way to space mountain which was the only ride my daughter requested for the night. It was very crowded. I expected a sold out party, but this was ridiculous. It felt like any other night at the MK. The line was huge and posted at 25 minutes. TP said actual wait was closer to 35. We left without my daughter riding.

6:45pm - started our way towards Main Street and stopped for sno-cones and the Santa cookie. We had planned on finding a spot in the disabled parade viewing area, but ended up finding a nice area between the hub and Main Street. We were next to a super nice family we had met at the Grand Floridian earlier that day. We did some more shopping! It was a sea of people. There was a proposal and she said yes.

7:40pm - Mickey stage show

8:15 - castle lighting

8:45pm - parade arrived in main street area. It was cute, but I think they did a much better job with the Halloween parade.

9pm - made our way to space mountain. It took about 30 minutes, but my daughter got to ride.

9:40 - got a spot in the hub to view the fireworks. We had watched them from the GF the night before and loved them. It was even better in the MK!!!

10:20-11:30pm - headed towards liberty square and it was not pleasant. My daughter and I tried to walk on either side of her scooter to help guide her through the masses. I never realized how difficult it is for scooter users and the amount of inconsiderate guests. A large family going in the opposite direction elbowed their way between me, DD and MIL and I got separated from them. One of the family members got too close to MIL scooter, nearly fell on top of her and her toes got run over. She started screaming at my MIL. This is the one time I was thankful that my MIL is hard of hearing. We grabbed eggnog and the ginger cookie. My cookie was still ice cold in the middle, but the eggnog was great! We shopped in the Christmas store. My daughter had a cold earlier in the week and still wasn’t feeling 100%. She was getting tired at this point and asked to leave. We stopped for pretzels & sno-cones, picked up our packages and were back to our room just after midnight.

We didn’t do much, as you can see, but still had a good time. I am glad I experienced a Christmas party, but I won’t be back. We attended the CP on 12/21 with NPH. That was incredible and I plan to go again next year to see a different host.
 
Just wanted to do a quick review of our party, which was the 22nd (last night and sold out). First, let me say that this did NOT feel like a sold out party to me! We've been to several sold out MNSSHPs and MVMCPs and this was one of the least crowded party nights I've experienced. We also had a pretty loose plan and were expecting the worst, knowing it was sold out, so that probably helped.

We took a Minnie Van from POFQ and arrived at MK just before 4. We grabbed our SOTMK cards, cut down the bypass for cookies then headed to our first FP (Jingle Cruise). Unfortunately, the FP line was super long, and we stood there debating whether or not to hop in it, as we had an ADR at BOG at 4:35 and knew we'd be late if we waited. Leah, the super sweet CM working the FP line overheard us and saw how visibly upset DS was at the idea of skipping the ride, and told us to go to dinner, but stop back later and ask for her and she'd make it up to him.

So we headed to BOG and by some stroke of fate were seated right next to @monique5!! They could not have been a sweeter family and our daughters really hit it off. We all headed to SDMT together after dinner then lined up for Snow/Aurora and their princes. This was our priority M&G for the night so we got in line around 6:20. We were only about 10 groups back and I was shocked that the line had barely doubled by 7. I expected a much bigger crowd, especially on a sold out night.

We were done by 7:15 and headed to ride some rides. We caught some of the Reindeer Ranglers' show on our way to BTMRR, then rode Pirates and stopped for a sno cone and snowman soft pretzel before heading back to JC. We asked for Leah and had to wait a bit for her boat to make it back to the dock - otherwise it would have been a walk on like BTMRR and POC had been. Once on board, Leah let both of my kids take a turn and driving the boat and my daughter even got to tell a joke! Then she gave them both honorary skipper licenses at the end of our ride. They were in heaven and it definitely made up for us missing our FP earlier.

Unfortunately, this put us a little behind schedule and we ended up getting stopped by the parade in the hub trying to get over to the Tomorrowland Terrace to check in for the dessert party. So we took a few pictures while we waited (in front of the castle, with the huge ornament) and watched a bit of the parade. Again, I was shocked at how un-crowded the party felt. In the hub, at parade time, and there was still room to move around!

We got checked in for the dessert party about 9:10 and enjoyed the desserts until just after 9:30 before making our way down to the garden. The garden was pretty full at this point, as a lot of people had headed down to watch the 9:25 stage show (which had been my plan, too, until we got caught by the parade), but we still managed to get a great spot against the railing in the back and my kids had plenty of room to lay down in the grass. I had splurged for the dessert party, assuming the last MVMCP would sell out, and wanted to be guaranteed a good spot for the fireworks (though I've a hunch we could have grabbed just as good a spot in front of Casey's, for free, given how the crowds felt). But it was still a nice break and we were able to sample all of the treats for sale during the party "for free."

After the fireworks we headed back to meet Minnie and Daisy. I grabbed a spot in line while DH took the kids on the Barnstormer (walked on 2x). Our total wait for Minnie and Daisy was 25 minutes, and would have been less had they not gone on break as soon as I got in line. Again, shocking for a sold out party. Then hubby took the kids on Space Mountain while I went to grab a spot for the second parade. This was the only ride we waited for all night (though they were on and off in less than 20 minutes, so still not bad!). And I managed to grab a curb-side seat in front of the train station at 11:10, right across from the Christmas tree. I knew this spot tends to fill up last, but I was still shocked that curb seats were available that late. After the parade DS and I went to meet Mickey while DH took DD on one last ride. We were done at 12:10, took a family photo by the tree and headed out of the park.

All in all, a pretty productive evening! And had I not known the party was sold out, I would have never guessed it. We never felt crowded in any of the walkways and not even the few times we found ourselves near the hub. We only waited for Space Mountain (though we never tried to get on SDMT or PPF during the party, so those waits were likely longer), but everything else was a walk on. We also didn't wait long for any of our M&Gs. Hopefully this will give some hope for those attending next year that even on a sold out night, having a plan makes all the difference. I've no doubt that we could have accomplished a lot more, had we tried, but as this was our only stop in MK during our short trip, we wanted to make sure we worked in some rides in addition to the party events. We've also already met the dwarfs, Sandy Claws, Scrooge McDuck and Nick and Judy on prior trips, so didn't have to try and work in several of the longer wait characters, which helped as well. But we managed to accomplished everything on our must-do list, and then some, which felt great!
 
I believe the number of tickets until "sold out" will go up and down according to how Disney has the night staffed, and that is all determined by their analysts looking at historic and current average daytime attendance. If so, then Fridays will always have a higher number of tickets permitted to be sold and even if not sold out may feel more crowded than say a Tuesday.

I was watching ResortTV1's livestream from the party last night (he and his sister did a great job) and I felt the party was considerably more crowded than an EMH evening. Although he was excited to be there and claimed that the party was well worth the price of admission, I suspect they got their tickets for free from a sponsor whom he mentioned many times. Who wouldn't feel it was worth it if their tickets were free? :D
Thanks for the kind words! By the way, we actually did pay for our tickets to the party. Our sponsors pay us a monthly fee for 3-4 mentions on our live streams and links to their websites in our descriptions. It does help us cover expenses, but we pay for our Annual Passes, Meals, and Party Tickets just like all other guests. :-) Thanks for watching!
 


Can anyone point me to a recipe for the gingersnap molasses cookie they hand out at the party? I went on Dec. 5th and I am still dreaming of that cookie!

I would love to have it as well. So delicious. I did use this recipe a few times this holiday season, and I received many compliments on them. I don’t think they are the same, but could be because I wasn’t in Magic Kingdom eating them. I do add vanilla extract to the wet ingredients: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/chewy-ginger-molasses-cookies/
 
We (my wife, three adult daughters, and I) attended on 12/22 - the last night of the party. As such, this summary won't help anyone this year, but some 2018 folks might benefit.

We drove to Orlando that morning and we checked in at our hotel over near Universal - we were only going to Disney for the party and were going to Universal the rest of the week.

We went to Disney Springs for a late lunch. The family chose T-REX. It took longer than expected and we were running a bit late.

We stopped at Customer Service in Disney Springs and asked to convert our paper passes to plastic so that we could use the FP+ that we had booked. There, they told me that we would not be able to use the FP+ since we didn't have a day pass. The CM even asked a supervisor and got the same answer.

On our dive to MK, I figured I'd cancel the FP to let someone else pick them up. I kind of wish I would have held on to them to see if they would have worked.

We made it to the MK tapstiles a bit after 4:00 and entered using the paper passes - they handed up plastic in return and we also got our party wristbands.

If the Main Street bypass was open, we didn't see it and we walked right down Main Street. It was crowded, but not crazy.

We decided to hit Pirates first. I didn't write down the times so I don't remember exactly, but I think it said a 30 minute wait, and we waited about 15.

Next, we went to Splash Mountain. That one was probably listed as 45 minutes, and we waited 20 or so. The ride stopped a few times, once for about 8 - 10 minutes, so it took us a while to get through it.

Big Thunder was a walk on.

I don't remember our order after that but we hit just about every ride we wanted to: Space, iasm, 7DMT (marked at 45 minutes, we waited about 10), Haunted Mansion. Most were very short waits. We hit a few of the cookie stations - they were fine, but we weren't overly impressed.

We aren't fast walkers, but we were still able to do a lot of rides on a sold out night. We weren't interested in the shows or character meets.

We could have done a few more rides, but we were all pretty tired from driving most of the day, so we left before the fireworks. We saw the tops of the fireworks from the TTC.

We must have gotten lucky with some of our short waits. We walked past 7DMT a few times and it was showing 90 minutes and the line was out to the walkway. It was crowded, but not as crowded as we had expected.

Overall, we felt it was worth it and we'd do it again under the right circumstances. We didn't have MK day passes - if we had a day at MK, I don't think the party would have made sense for us considering we didn't really care about character meets, shows, 'free' cookies, or fireworks.
 
Is there anyone yet to attend a Christmas Party that can help me out... I am looking for the Christmas Party Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom SOMK card for my son and daughter for Christmas. Trying our luck to see if anyone can grab me a spare or two? (Also I am in Canada) Thanks.

(please let me know if this is inappropriate).

I've got a couple extras (a little late for Christmas). Maybe we can trade! :)
 
Thanks to everyone on this thread who helped make our party on Dec 22 awesome. We had so much fun we plan to go again next year. In terms of crowds, we found it to be remarkably not crowded, but we avoided the Hub and Main Street like the plague. We found a great out of the way spot to watch the shows, on the walkways in between the hub and adventures there are some islands within plants inside and a seat height ledge with a rail. Kids were able to stand on the ledge to see with nothing but plants immediately in front of them. There was no one over here. Then we simply escaped into Adventureland. We saw the 6:15 castle lighting and 7:40p show this way walking up just as they started.

We did a 4:00p ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern which was delicious and a good call for us strategy wise. We entered the park when they opened the gates at 3:45 and had no problems walking up Main St. After dinner we hit 7DMT for our only fast pass.

Our main focus were the rides since this was our only access to the park for the trip. We never waited longer than 20 minutes and that was for 7DMT just before the party ended. We hit all the major rides we wanted to with some extras thrown in. Found the treat lines moved very quickly. We brought Ziploc baggie and are still enjoying them.

The only crowd we encountered the whole time was after the parade leaving Frontierland to head to haunted mansion. We watched the fireworks from in front of Beast's castle and it was great. After midnight we leisurely made our exit and marveled at our day and the neat experience of being in an almost empty park. The kids were beat (age 8 and 5) but loved every minute of it.

We would recommend the party for everyone. With that said, when do they release the dates for the party each year? We will take our big trip after Thanksgiving next year and want to hit the party again.
 
Does anyone recall their wait times to see Rapunzel/Ryder/Tiana/Navene during the party? If so what time did you line up? Thanks!
 
Does anyone recall their wait times to see Rapunzel/Ryder/Tiana/Navene during the party? If so what time did you line up? Thanks!

12/22: ~15 minutes, a little after 8pm. Then to see talking Mickey, 5 minute wait & saw 1st parade in front on Town Square Theater.

I will post more later. Back home but now sick.
 
12/22: ~15 minutes, a little after 8pm. Then to see talking Mickey, 5 minute wait & saw 1st parade in front on Town Square Theater.

I will post more later. Back home but now sick.
Really hope you feel better!!
 
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful time during our Disney Christmas Vacation and a blast at both parties, 12/19 & 12/22. I wasn't really on the boards during our trip, last day felt a little sick, returned to freezing cold weather and had the flu! Yuck!

I did want to report on the 2 parties. 12/22 was sold out but didn't feel sold out to me. IMO, crowds on 12/22 or more manageable than on 12/19, but both were bearable, what I expected & what I planned for on both nights.

12/19
Arrived around 1:30pm. Used 3 FP+. Dinner @ CP.
1. 1st in line for Moana, ~3:55pm, Woo-hoo! (DH & DD rode a few rides and meet Jasmine & Aladdin while I was in line), she came out promptly @ 4pm. Great interaction with her, as well as, with CM and PP behind me while waiting.
2. Nick & Judy (DH waited in Line, DD & I went to check on party merchandise & went to 2 treat stations)
3. Pooh & Friends (stopped @ another treat station, DD split Hot Cocoa, meltdown, so we all stood in line)
4. Minnie & Daisy (DD & DD rode Barnstormer 4X, Dumbo, Tea Cups & treat stop)
5. Cinderella & Prince Charming: Elana, 10 minute wait, sweet!
6. DD decided wanted to ride, so we got off schedule, Did BTMRR, HM, Magic Shots, Meet Jack Sparrow & Peter Pan, rode PotC
Then head to Main Street for fireworks & 2 parade, spot by trashcan on curb, ~9:45pm. After fireworks, DH held spot, we looked in the stores. Only wanted Raglan Gray/Red shirt, they had every size but 2XL. Other shirts were available in 2XL. Didn't check on pins, but lots of merchandise in all locations.
After parade meet Sandy Claws. We did get most of the Magic Shots this night too.
Rode WtP @ some point.

12/22
Arrived around 2:30pm. Used 2 FP+. Dinner @ BoG, sat by @Cluelyss. Awesome meeting her & her family!!! Arrived @ 7DMT a little after 6pm, they let us use our FP+.
Then we headed to line up for Snow White & Prince and Aurora & Prince Phillips. Kids went to ride Carousel & go to treat station. A few in front of us, meet them @ 7:10pm. then headed to meet Ariel & Prince Eric. Stopped for a fee Magic Shots, DH & DD rode UtS-VotLM, Barnstormer 2X & Dumbo.

Then we met Tiana & Naveen and Rapunzel & Flynn. Stopped @ a few treat stops & for Magic Shot. Then met Talking Mickey, 5 minute wait (8:41pm). 1st parade was about to start. Found spot in front of theater behind a couple of families with strollers, so great view. Then more Magic Shots.

Then Scrooge McDuck & Donald. DH & DD rode Barneter 4X & Dumbo & Tea Cups.
Then 7D. DD & I rode Barnstormer 4X, Dumbo & met Santa Goofy while DH stood in line.

More Magic Shots. Watched 11:55pm show of Merriest Celebration. More Magic Shots leaving MK.

We did get all of the Magic Shots except the Giant Bulb, totally my fault, a couple of times (both nights), and duplicates down Main Street.
 
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Great report Monique5.

As a married couple, that enjoys going to the MVMCP 2x per trip, I can appreciate everything you did. But it seems like you got more done than we did. We usually dedicate 1 night for merch and 1 night for meet & greets. With rides, fireworks and 2nd parade mixed in on both nights.

I was sorry to hear about the lack of XXL shirts that you wanted. I run into that once in a while myself. But, BDLsgal has a way of taking lemons and making lemonade. I am strictly a XXL t-shirt guy. No smaller sizes, no long sleeves. So, when there are only smaller sizes, we get 1 and she makes a pillow out of it. When there are only long sleeves, she will tailor them to short sleeves for me.

We weren't able to go this year, but we hope to see some of you next year.
 
Great report Monique5.

As a married couple, that enjoys going to the MVMCP 2x per trip, I can appreciate everything you did. But it seems like you got more done than we did. We usually dedicate 1 night for merch and 1 night for meet & greets. With rides, fireworks and 2nd parade mixed in on both nights.

I was sorry to hear about the lack of XXL shirts that you wanted. I run into that once in a while myself. But, BDLsgal has a way of taking lemons and making lemonade. I am strictly a XXL t-shirt guy. No smaller sizes, no long sleeves. So, when there are only smaller sizes, we get 1 and she makes a pillow out of it. When there are only long sleeves, she will tailor them to short sleeves for me.

We weren't able to go this year, but we hope to see some of you next year.

I hope to go to 1 party this year!

Every other shirt was available in 2XL, Ugh! Oh, well! I wasn't expecting it on the last week, but when all others were available, it sucked. Then a few CMs mentioned they had started to sell to all guests that prior weekend since so much stock. The next day & week I still saw 2XL, just not the one I wanted.

I didn't plan on doing as much on 12/22 knowing it was a sold out party. I had planned on 2 character meets, 7D, Princess w/Princes, stage shows & the other Magic Shots. Only thing I missed was VoicePlay, Totally Tomorrowland Christmas Show & Reindeer Wranglers; they were not high priority for me, so no biggy. 12/22 was better crowd wise & ride wise, IMO, so all that was done with no true plans except not to walk back & forth across park, just go in "circle" & we had a blast, and never waited more that 5 minutes for Magic Shots.
 
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