Thoughts on VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY

[mattpeto]

I think it’s challenging for Disney to lure the out of state customer until quarantine restrictions are removed and Florida numbers flatten.

Demand isn’t there and it’s probably okay with Disney at the moment. Not sure how they would do a parade and nighttime show with social distancing. Just easier to punt everything until 2021.

 

[umichigan10]

I don’t think we get parties until there’s a vaccine. Very earliest I’ve heard for that is October for at risk populations, and hopefully widespread distribution by the spring. And even that’s all far from a sure thing, so I put Christmas party odds at next to zero unfortunately

 

[MATTERHORN]

They also just canceled all the DVC Moonlight Madness events through 2020, so I'd say hope is gone for MVMCP. Sorry!

 

[mattpeto]

I've been discussing this in depth at the main coronavirus thread, but thought it would be better discussed in this thread instead.

I really doubt that Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, like how we know it will occur in 2020. But I'm going out on a limb a little bit, and I'm predicting something modified may be still in play.

MVMCP features a holiday inspired fireworks show, a night parade, meet & greets, specialty food treats (some included), overlay for attractions and tend to have smaller crowds overall.

I don't think Disney can pull off a Parade and Fireworks show at MK right now. People want to be front of the castle or have a vantage point where they can see it.

What I'm suggestion, is Disney shifts the Christmas party to Epcot. Epcot has the space in World Showcase to social distancing fireworks and a parade that travels around the pavilions. Call it Mickey's Very Merry Epcot Once and Forever Christmas Party.

Here's some evidence that some party could still occur:

1. All theme parks closing at 7 pm (Epcot) or earlier. This presents an opportunity for their guests to do something else.
2. With the hours change, there is no opportunity to see any of the parks at night.
3. Disney hasn't cancelled MVMCP yet. If this is going to be cancelled, it should be cancelled in a month.
4. Epcot seems to be suffering the most. World Showcase closing at 7 pm is evidence of this. It also has the most potential to turn a profit, especially with World Showcase having places to consume alcohol.

Now there are good reasons why this won't happen that was mentioned in the other thread. Here are my answers on this:

Can Disney pull together a new party this close to November?
---I would highly speculate that Disney has been working on social distancing planning for fireworks and parades for months. They can re-use parade floats from Festival of Fantasy (and throw some Christmas stuff on it). Transportation will be tricky but not everyone will leave at once. Plus being at Epcot, there are many ways to get there (Skyliner, Walk from Boardwalk Resorts, Monorail, etc).

Can Disney do attraction overlays this close?
---Yes. Add some Santa hats on the animatronics at Frozen Ever After, throw some Christmas lights up. We're not talking about this revolutionary change. Add some theming. They should be able to do this on other attractions (maybe except for Soarin' - not going to be able to add new scenes although they would be pretty amazing).

Is there enough demand for a Christmas Party?
---If the only way to visit the parks at night is through a Christmas Party, I think so. If they don't think the demand will be high enough, they can make it higher by really eliminating the frequency of the event. Have one party once per week or twice at the most. I don't know how many visitors they will have in Nov/Dec. Epcot capacity is 110K. This means they could probably have 30K-50K at the park with pandemic restrictions. Having the only opportunity to see fireworks and a parade, will make it a must for anyone visiting during that stretch. Even at $25-$50/person, there is plenty of profit to be made. World Showcase will benefit the most by pushing the parade and fireworks towards the 10 pm.

 

[skeeter31]

I've been discussing this in depth at the main coronavirus thread, but thought it would be better discussed in this thread instead.

I really doubt that Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, like how we know it will occur in 2020. But I'm going out on a limb a little bit, and I'm predicting something modified may be still in play.

MVMCP features a holiday inspired fireworks show, a night parade, meet & greets, specialty food treats (some included), overlay for attractions and tend to have smaller crowds overall.

I don't think Disney can pull off a Parade and Fireworks show at MK right now. People want to be front of the castle or have a vantage point where they can see it.

What I'm suggestion, is Disney shifts the Christmas party to Epcot. Epcot has the space in World Showcase to social distancing fireworks and a parade that travels around the pavilions. Call it Mickey's Very Merry Epcot Once and Forever Christmas Party.

Here's some evidence that some party could still occur:

1. All theme parks closing at 7 pm (Epcot) or earlier. This presents an opportunity for their guests to do something else.
2. With the hours change, there is no opportunity to see any of the parks at night.
3. Disney hasn't cancelled MVMCP yet. If this is going to be cancelled, it should be cancelled in a month.
4. Epcot seems to be suffering the most. World Showcase closing at 7 pm is evidence of this. It also has the most potential to turn a profit, especially with World Showcase having places to consume alcohol.

Now there are good reasons why this won't happen that was mentioned in the other thread. Here are my answers on this:

Can Disney pull together a new party this close to November?
---I would highly speculate that Disney has been working on social distancing planning for fireworks and parades for months. They can re-use parade floats from Festival of Fantasy (and throw some Christmas stuff on it). Transportation will be tricky but not everyone will leave at once. Plus being at Epcot, there are many ways to get there (Skyliner, Walk from Boardwalk Resorts, Monorail, etc).

Can Disney do attraction overlays this close?
---Yes. Add some Santa hats on the animatronics at Frozen Ever After, throw some Christmas lights up. We're not talking about this revolutionary change. Add some theming. They should be able to do this on other attractions (maybe except for Soarin' - not going to be able to add new scenes although they would be pretty amazing).

Is there enough demand for a Christmas Party?
---If the only way to visit the parks at night is through a Christmas Party, I think so. If they don't think the demand will be high enough, they can make it higher by really eliminating the frequency of the event. Have one party once per week or twice at the most. I don't know how many visitors they will have in Nov/Dec. Epcot capacity is 110K. This means they could probably have 30K-50K at the park with pandemic restrictions. Having the only opportunity to see fireworks and a parade, will make it a must for anyone visiting during that stretch. Even at $25-$50/person, there is plenty of profit to be made. World Showcase will benefit the most by pushing the parade and fireworks towards the 10 pm.

Disney won’t do a party at Epcot. They just won’t. They haven’t done a true parade there since Tapestry of Nations in 2003. There just isn’t enough space around world showcase with social distancing measures to do a full parade around the lagoon.

As for the half hearted theming on rides. This isn’t a local zoo that can just throw some Santa hats on the animal statues and call it holiday theming. Disney doesn’t do half hearted decorations or overlays. The time is would take to do an overlay on a ride like FEA would be years. They would want to change the songs, which would require new voice recordings, new animations to match the mouth movements on the animatronics, new sets, etc. Way too much to conceivably be done in 2 months. Even if Disney had been working on something like this, we would have heard about it.

They also wouldn’t do a party at Epcot solely for the alcohol aspect. They wouldn’t want people wandering around a crowded Christmas party with a beer or wine and having their mask down. If they were going to do a party, it would be a scaled down MK Christmas party without fireworks or a parade, which are 2 of the main attractions.
If Disney wants the parks open at night, they’ll expand the hours. The main thing hurting Epcot right now is the 1 Park per day rule, and not many people want to lock in Epcot as their choice, so the night gets less crowded. But as the other parks fill up, people will choose Epcot.

I personally think Disney doesn’t want to keep the parks open later. They want to close them early. Be able to get the cleaning crew in and scrub things down, work on rides, etc. This is going to be a very different end of the year.

 

[wdwoutsider]

They are not doing that this year.

December is just way too soon at this point. Even if we have a vaccine approved which is a huge stretch the general public won't have it by then. I would put the chances at close to zero. The priority would be to get some type of fireworks back first and that seems like a stretch too for December.

We are just going to be treding water here for a while ,don't expect things to change even under the best case scenarios , December is super close. Disney's goal is probably just to stay open and somehow get California open.

 

[mattpeto]

Disney won’t do a party at Epcot. They just won’t. They haven’t done a true parade there since Tapestry of Nations in 2003. There just isn’t enough space around world showcase with social distancing measures to do a full parade around the lagoon.

As for the half hearted theming on rides. This isn’t a local zoo that can just throw some Santa hats on the animal statues and call it holiday theming. Disney doesn’t do half hearted decorations or overlays. The time is would take to do an overlay on a ride like FEA would be years. They would want to change the songs, which would require new voice recordings, new animations to match the mouth movements on the animatronics, new sets, etc. Way too much to conceivably be done in 2 months. Even if Disney had been working on something like this, we would have heard about it.

They also wouldn’t do a party at Epcot solely for the alcohol aspect. They wouldn’t want people wandering around a crowded Christmas party with a beer or wine and having their mask down. If they were going to do a party, it would be a scaled down MK Christmas party without fireworks or a parade, which are 2 of the main attractions.
If Disney wants the parks open at night, they’ll expand the hours. The main thing hurting Epcot right now is the 1 Park per day rule, and not many people want to lock in Epcot as their choice, so the night gets less crowded. But as the other parks fill up, people will choose Epcot.

I personally think Disney doesn’t want to keep the parks open later. They want to close them early. Be able to get the cleaning crew in and scrub things down, work on rides, etc. This is going to be a very different end of the year.

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Jingle_Cruise
This isn’t that sophisticated either. It can be done.

 

[skeeter31]

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Jingle_Cruise
This isn’t that sophisticated either. It can be done.

It can, but not in 2 months. Jingle Cruise, as it currently is, took years of planning. Even that initial year there was a written script, new sets for the land areas, etc. That took longer than a year to produce, not 2 months. And Disney has set a precedent now for holiday overlays with Jingle Cruise and Haunted Mansion in DL, they‘re not going to take the bad publicity by doing a half hearted throwing on of hats and lights on a marquee attraction like FEA. Especially in this climate.

Even the overlay on The Land is intricately planned.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

My prediction is Disney World closes with the rest of the country in three weeks and does not reopen for a year at least. There will be no vacation travel worldwide for five years. So, get to know your neighbors, cherish your friends, teach your children well and embrace the new normal...a world without Disney World. Oh, BTW I am keeping my July 2021 GF just in case I am wrong.

 

[RAD]

I say yes, mainly because Disney needs the revenue. They already limit attendence and have gone to earlier park closing hours. A plus would be they can open attendance to the locals without a resort hotel reservation.

 

[rteetz]

My prediction is Disney World closes with the rest of the country in three weeks and does not reopen for a year at least. There will be no vacation travel worldwide for five years. So, get to know your neighbors, cherish your friends, teach your children well and embrace the new normal...a world without Disney World. Oh, BTW I am keeping my July 2021 GF just in case I am wrong.

 

[Alynw]

I just wonder how much the government funding is playing a part in all this. Its no secret Disney and every other big corp is getting billions in relief funds for closing and having restricted reopening.

 

[mattpeto]

I reached out to a few insiders and sources out there.

One responded to me:

"But I agree - I think Disney is already planning some type of Christmas event. EPCOT - is a good idea - I just don't know if they could make it Christmas enough except for the fireworks"

 

[skeeter31]

I reached out to a few insiders and sources out there.

One responded to me:

"But I agree - I think Disney is already planning some type of Christmas event. EPCOT - is a good idea - I just don't know if they could make it Christmas enough except for the fireworks"

Was it Sven at the call center? Or a bus driver?

 

[mattpeto]

Was it Sven at the call center? Or a bus driver?

It was an insider...

 

[gharter]

I don't expect to see any of the parties this year.
They cancelled MNSSHP, all of the DVC events and I can't see them doing MVMCP

 

[wdwoutsider]

No chance of parties in 2020. I think Disney will do its usual amazing holiday decorating job which is very expensive for how down attendance is. Maybe scaled down a tad , everything is gonna be watched by the accountants hard but all the resusable decorations I expect to be used.

 

[mattpeto]

No chance of parties in 2020. I think Disney will do its usual amazing holiday decorating job which is very expensive for how down attendance is. Maybe scaled down a tad , everything is gonna be watched by the accountants hard but all the resusable decorations I expect to be used.

We will see. When Disney reduced the park hours, I really think it’s an open door.

 

[Marionnette]

We will see. When Disney reduced the park hours, I really think it’s an open door.

I don’t think enough people are willing to pay for an after-hours event that consists of a couple character cavalcade, animatronics in Santa hats and some holiday lights strung about (especially in the construction zone known as EPCOT).

 

[maryj11]

Epcot would be the only park that would have enough room to social distance for fireworks on the lagoon. They also could do a parade with boats on the lagoon.