Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Guide

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) may get most of the headlines, but Disney hosts another wonderful ticketed event each year. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is accurately named and joyous to attend. Let’s take a look at all the fun stuff you can do. Here’s a guide to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
The Basics
Ticketed events at Walt Disney World aren’t free. You’ll pay a lump sum to gain special admission to a park. In this case, it’s Magic Kingdom. While the park will close early for everyone else, you can show up at 4 p.m. on the day of the event and then stay until it closes at midnight. Disney doesn’t have the party every night. Here are the remaining 2018 dates:
• November: 25, 27, 29, 30
• December: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21

The schedule here is easy to figure out. Disney hosts the party on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The cost of attendance varies by the date, just as surge pricing impacts all Walt Disney World admission tickets now. The price is $99-$125, depending on when you visit. Annual passholders and card-carrying Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members receive discounts. Once again, it pays to be in DVC!

For the cost of admission, you gain private access to the most popular theme park on the planet. Generally, Disney limits attendance at these events, selling a few thousand tickets. With so few people in the parks, you’ll enjoy the rare opportunity to ride all of your favorite Magic Kingdom attractions. Plus, Disney includes holiday-related treats “free of charge” (ignoring the expensive admission ticket) and special character greetings, many of which are rare.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is generally less busy in November than December. Still, we’ve reached a point where it’s likely to sell out independent of the date of your visit. Like so many other Disney offerings, demand has skyrocketed in recent years. You should pick your date and book immediately to avoid getting shut out.

Disney officially closes Magic Kingdom at 6 p.m. As frequent guests know, it takes a while to clear out the park, but you’ll notice smaller crowds by 6:30. At 7 p.m., the event officially begins, but many of the character greetings open their lines at 6 or soon afterward. As a DVC member, you can enter without a park admission ticket at 2 p.m.! You’ll get a wrist band that identifies you belong at the party, too.
Technically, you should get the wristband right after you pass the entrance kiosks, the ones where you tap your Magic Band and use the finger identification. Alas, snafus occur on occasion. You need that wristband to avoid later issues. So, remember that if you forget at the start, you should go back and get one. It’ll save you some aggravation.
The Shows
In the brochures, Disney lists eight different shows and performances at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party. Two of them are dance parties, one of which is skewed toward children.
The kid-friendly one is called Storybook Circus Disney Junior Jingle Jam, and it runs for the entire evening. The description indicates that kids can dance with their favorite Disney Junior stars. Be advised that it’s not the type of event where you can drop off your children and do something else, though.
The other dance party is Club Tinsel. It’s run for many years now at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. Imagine if Disney replaced Sonny Eclipse with a mediocre DJ, and a bunch of costumed cast members danced awkwardly to the music. You’ll get the gist.
Should prefer a live concert with some spectacular vocals, visit Rockettower Plaza Stage. This show is called The Edge Effect; it’s an a capella holiday performance featuring some of the most talented cast members Disney has. Imagine Pitch Perfect if it were all holiday music, and you’ll get the gist. The show repeats at 8:10, 9:00, 10:20, and 11:10, giving you plenty of opportunities to watch some of it.
The same stage is also the setting for A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas Show. It’s supposed to be a futuristic version of a Disney Christmas show. Gifted singers will share the stage with Disney/Pixar characters like Buzz Lightyear, Mike Wazowski, and Stitch, the latter of whom engages in a search for Santa Claus via a giant digital display monitor. It’s an adorable show that plays at 7:45, 8:35, 9:25, 10:45, and 11:35. It is almost 20 minutes long, so it will take up a lot of your party time to watch the full performance.
The most famous shows are the ones that take place at the Cinderella Castle Stage. A Frozen Holiday Wish is exactly what you’d think, a stage show involving characters from Frozen. You’ll only have one opportunity to catch this one at 8:15.
The “main” presentation is Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration. You can watch a video of the 2018 show here. Again, it’s what you’d expect, a dancing and singing stage show starring Mickey Mouse and friends. You will have several opportunities to watch it, with presentations at 7:40, 9:25, 10:30, and 11:55.
The other main gathering at the castle is the nighttime fireworks display. Holiday Wishes isn’t the Wishes show that you know and love. This one is 100 percent yuletide in nature. It lacks the villainy of the MNSSHP, making it a bit too straightforward and blasé for my tastes – and I say that as someone who is watching a Hallmark movie right now. I don’t think of Holiday Wishes as a must-do event during the party, but your mileage may vary.
Conversely, the crown jewel of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is the accompanying parade. Mickey’s Once Upon a Time Christmastime Parade will have you so ready for Christmas that you’ll want to open your presents right then and there. The holiday floats shine bright with winter colors and Christmas lights, and the cast member dancers wear adorable seasonal costumes. This parade runs at 8:30 and 11 each evening. You should take the time to watch it, and you might even want to attend both parades. It’s that good.
Delicious Snacks!
Another similarity with MNSSHP is the tasty treats! While you’re technically celebrating Halloween by trick-or-treating at the fall party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is more like visiting your favorite aunt. She’s going to load you up with all the best desserts she can make.
The Christmas event includes seven different snack areas across four different lands. You’ll find three in Fantasyland, two in Tomorrowland, and one each in Adventureland and Liberty Square.
Classic holiday staples like egg nog, hot cocoa, snickerdoodles, and chocolate chip cookies are available. Each location has one item, so you’ll need to know where to go to satisfy that sweet tooth. Here’s what you’ll find at the snack outlets:
• Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies: Chocolate Chip Cookie & Sno-Cone
• Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café: Snickerdoodle Cookie & Hot Chocolate
• The Friar’s Nook: Chilled Apple Cider and Dove Chocolate
• Liberty Square Ticket Office: Ginger Molasses Cookie & Eggnog
• Pinocchio Village Haus: A Variety of Holiday Favorites
• Storybook Circus Snacks: Peppermint Crunch Cookie
• Tortuga Tavern: Snowman Soft-Pretzel and Sno-Cone
Three locations offer Special Foods, delicacies that you’ll want to try no matter what. Two of them are at Main Street Bakery. Here, you’ll find a Sugar Rush Jumbo Cupcake and a Mickey Ornament Gingerbread Cookie. At the back of the park in Fantasyland, Gaston’s Tavern gives out Vanellope Eclairs. Seriously, make the effort to eat of these.
PS: The best part of a Disney theme park visit is that you’ll burn so many calories that you can eat desserts guilt-free!
The Characters
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party features so many character meetings that you’re unlikely to do all of them during a single evening. Since some of these characters are rare, the lines could be longer for them than at popular attractions such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I’ve waited 90 minutes for a Pooh & Friends meet-and-greet, which is 30 percent of the entire allotted time for the event.
To avoid such nonsense, you’ll want to prioritize the character meetings that matter most to your family. Here’s a list to help you decide:
Main Street, U.S.A.
• Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws
• Mickey Mouse
• Sally
• Santa Claus
Adventureland
• Aladdin + Abu, Jasmine + Genie
• Captain Jack Sparrow
• Moana
• Peter Pan (roaming)
Fantasyland
• Ariel and Prince Eric
• Aurora and Prince Phillip
• Belle
• Cinderella and Prince Charming
• Daisy and Donald Duck
• Elena of Avalor
• Flynn Rider and Rapunzel
• Mary Poppins and Bert
• Minnie Mouse
• Pooh and Friends
• Santa Goofy
• Scrooge McDuck
• The Seven Dwarfs
• Snow White
• Tiana and Naveen
Frontierland
• The Country Bears
Tomorrowland
• Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde

The Rides
Most but not all Magic Kingdom attractions are open during the event. You’ll have an opportunity to ride all of the following:
Main Street, U.S.A.
• Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
• Town Square Theater
Adventureland
• ¬¬Jingle Cruise
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Swiss Family Treehouse
Frontierland
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Country Bear Jamboree
• Splash Mountain
Liberty Square
• Haunted Mansion
Fantasyland
• The Barnstormer
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• It’s a Small World
• Mad Tea Party
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Princess Fairytale Hall
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Under the Sea~Journey of The Little Mermaid
Tomorrowland
• Astro Orbiter
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Space Mountain
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
The one thing to keep in mind about the rides is that holiday-related ones tend to be more crowded. In other words, the line for Jingle Cruise might surprise you, although it shouldn’t be as crazy as Haunted Mansion during MNSSHP.
Guests who aren’t enthusiastic about character meetings will have the run of the attractions during the party. Keep in mind that the listed wait-times are usually (but not always) exaggerated. If you see something posted as 15 minutes, you may discover it’s virtually walk-up.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party presents you with a rare opportunity to ride most if not all of Magic Kingdom’s best attractions in a brief timeframe. There’s no right or wrong way to approach your evening. If you like shows and parades, plan to spend most of your time on them. If you’re into character greetings, choose your favorites and do as many as you can. If you favor rides, the lack of lines will make this a dream park visit.
Personally, my family tends to balance the three options, which seems like the most conventional approach. Whichever one you prefer, you’ll discover that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is one of the best experiences at Walt Disney World.