We went to MVMCP on the 7th this year. I thought the crowd was fairly light and the park was very easy to navigate. We literally walked right on to some rides throughout the evening.
We had not been in the park earlier that day, and entered around 5pm with our party ticket without a question or problem. If you are in the park earlier, there is no need to leave and re-enter - they have CM's to give out wristbands. You will be given a wristband for the party either way (if you have or have not been in the park earlier).
I feel that 5pm was a perfect time to enter the park because we had no line at all to enter the park - just walked up and through the bag check and turnstile. We made our way over to Tomorrowland with an easy walk.
After a ride on SM and BL we got in line for the family photo (at the old AE) and we were close to the front of the line. The pictures were taken starting at 6, then went to the show in Tomorrowland - Mickey's Twas the Night Before Christmas. This was a great show, and it did get filled up with latecomers.
After the show, we made our way to Main Street so we could be at the Emporium at 7 (everything on Main Street is closed from 6-7) and purchase our party souvenirs (pins, tshirts coffee cup). I wanted to do this at first opportunity, so I wouldn't have to worry about it, and since we were staying onsite, it wasn't like we had to worry about carrying packages. As we walked toward Main Street, I was now THRILLED that we had entered early! There was a massive amount of people (well anyways it looked like it!) walking down the sidewalk on Main Street (just on the left side as you head out of the park) headed into the park. The CM's were directing all of those now entering the park toward Tomorrowland through the backwalkway (not up to the hub and over). It was at that moment that I started saying THANK YOU DIS! because I had known that we could enter before 7! BTW, by the time we finished shopping, those people had cleared.
We opted for the second parade, doing other shows and rides during the earlier time, and I'm glad we did. We watched right by LTT and I thought that this was a nice spot because there was a group of carolers singing right by the bell - nice way to have the time pass while waiting!
We also enjoyed the hot chocolate, and a great spot to get this was in Adventureland - it seemed almost empty in that whole section.
For the Goofy show (old Diamond Horseshoe) I would suggest getting there early - we were about 5th in line because I practically ran from WISHES to get a spot for the 10pm show. It was worth it though, because there is only seating available upstairs - first come first served. The main floor is the other seating area, but if you were downstairs you were in on the dancing. If you want to do the line dances, you might prefer to sit downstairs - but we enjoyed sitting in chairs and watching!
I would not go on a Friday, and I may even rethink a Sunday. While we were waiting for WISHES, we found out most of the people around us were locals! People would walk by and they would be calling out to each other! I was suprised considering they had small children with them. However, I did notice that the number of people left after WISHES was much smaller (I assume they watched the first parade and were set to go after the fireworks).
Oh one other thing, if you have young children, do the picture early - I heard from a CM that many people waited until closer to 12, and then they were waking up small ones for the picture!
