Is MVMCP Worth It?

Short answer: Yes!

Last Thursday night, I went to MVMCP (Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party) at Magic Kingdom with my two youngest kids. This special Christmas party costs extra and includes some things not available to guests during a regular day. I went back and forth a lot about whether or not to buy tickets to this special event. In the end, for the specific date we went, I do think MVMCP was worth it.

Atmosphere

The Magic Kingdom was filled with a little more magic during the party hours. Of course, the park is already decked out in Christmas decorations. For the party, there were snowflake projections on trees and actual snowflakes on Main Street USA!

We saw many people wearing Christmas pjs to the party, and the Christmas music playing throughout the park filled everyone with holiday spirit.

 

Ride Holiday Overlays

While the Jungle Cruise turns into the Jingle Cruise during the holidays for all guests, some rides received special holiday overlays just for the party hours. We rode on the Tomorrowland Speedway and loved all the holiday lights.

We also saw the special Christmas lights on the Mad Tea Party, and the awesome Christmas music and effects in Space Mountain.

The one Christmas overlay I really didn’t care for was in the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. The jokes were holiday-related, which sounds fine. But I just don’t care for the attraction with or without the special Christmas overlay.

Ride Wait Times

Our MVMCP was one of the dates with the cheapest tickets, and it did not sell out in advance. We entered the park at 3:40 p.m. and were able to get on 8 rides/attractions and eat dinner before the party officially started at 7:00 p.m. We used FastPass+ for 3 of those rides.

Most rides posted very short wait times between 5-15 minutes. The longest wait was the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 35 minutes (which we skipped). Even the rides with a 15-minute wait seemed to be overstated, as we waited around 5 minutes for most of them.

Special Characters

Many people attend MVMCP for the characters. Some characters are wearing special Christmas outfits, and other characters are not normally available in the parks.

Overall, the characters lines were longer than I expected. I knew the line for the Seven Dwarfs would be long and we didn’t even attempt it. Another party goer said he waited 2 hours for a photo with the dwarfs.

We got in line to see Daisy, Minnie, Donald and Scrooge. However, once we stood in line with no movement for a few minutes, we asked how long the wait was. It was 45 minutes! We got out of line and waited about 20 minutes to see Goofy in his Santa outfit.

Later, when we were getting off Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, we saw a short line for the characters from Zootopia. We only waited about 10-15 minutes for a photo with them.

If you really want to see all of the special characters at MVMCP, you should plan on not seeing anything else. I recommend picking out your top 1 or 2 characters to meet.

Free Treats

At MVMCP, cast members handed out “free” (included) snacks and drinks at 11 locations throughout the Magic Kingdom. When we first entered the park, we received our first freebie, a Minnie shortbread cookie.

While we didn’t make it to all the freebie stations, we did enjoy peppermint cookies, gingerbread cookies, apple cider and hot chocolate. The cookies were soft and delicious! We revisited the gingerbread cookie station a few times.

Christmas Parade

My family isn’t big on parades in amusement parks. If we happen to walk by when one is happening, we might stop to watch for a while. But we never plan our schedule around a parade.

But for MVMCP, my kids wanted to see the special Christmas parade. We planned to watch it at 11 p.m., but we were still on a ride. We walked toward the exit and managed to snag a couple of curbside seats close to the train station. We loved the parade more than I thought we would!

Our favorites were the marching nutcrackers. They actually play music! We were mesmerized. (See this video).

Fireworks and Shows

We watched the fireworks show while on board the People Mover. So we didn’t get the full effect of the castle projections. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see any of the special shows like A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas or Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration.

Bottom Line

My family had a blast at MVMCP. We enjoyed the festive atmosphere, the Christmas overlays on rides and the Christmas parade.

If we had picked a different night that was more popular or sold out, my opinion on MVMCP might be different. We lucked out with good weather and lighter crowds.

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