It’s a Very Merry Christmas Party and a Happy Birthday gift to me. This is the second time I’ve been able to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and it was as magical as I remembered. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party is an Enchanting Extra and well worth it.
Trip Report Posts look a little different from regular posts. They’re usually sorted by time and read like a report, but with fun notes from me.
Overview
- Who/Travel Party: 2 adults (Me and my good friend and travel agency owner, Jill)
- When/Dates: December 11 – 12
- Where/Resort: All Star Music, Standard Room
- Why/Trip Theme: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Ticket Cost: $192.60 with taxes.
- How/Transportation: Uber to the resort on arrival and Mears Connect to return to the airport. Cost – $16.
I used online check in for All Star Music the week before arrival, but wanted to get a room as soon as possible since we arrived very early after disembarking a cruise ship that morning. (We were invited on a travel agent only cruise with Royal Caribbean – more on that later.) So we checked-in in person as well, and got a room right away in Building 4, Rock Inn. This group of buildings is one of the furthest from the entrance but we were only there one night and not too worried about the walk. It’s an All Star – so they aren’t that large. Here are the highlights from the day.
Want to know how to choose a Disney resort for your vacation – check out this post.
What We Did
- Arrived at the resort around 10 am, settled in the room.
- (Noon-ish) Bus to Disney Springs. Lunch at Chicken Guy! Our first time and a friend/Orange Grove Agent always tells me how fantastic it is – so it was time to try it. I was impressed! While it’s a little hectic and busy, the food was great and made greater by all the dipping sauce options. Bring on the condiments. I had three tenders and fries with Hot Nashville Honey sauce (my favorite!) and Donkey sauce (a classic). I’m not sure what spice is on the chicken and fries, but it is super good – kinda sweet, spicy, and smokey.
- (2:30 pm-ish) Bus to Polynesian for pre-party drinks at Trader Sam’s; too bad the wait time was 3 hours. We opted for drinks at Tambu Tambu Lounge and enjoyed them on the Trader Sam’s Patio. I had the Pina CoLAVA and it was a delightful cocktail.
- (3:15 pm-ish) Monorail to Magic Kingdom for the party. The queue for the party was separate and looked super long, but didn’t take too much time to move. They started letting guests move about 3:45pm. We tapped in and got our party bands.
- We were only looking for low wait rides: starting with Pirates of the Caribbean. Funny part: I got doused by the spitting camel at Magic Carpets.
- (5 pm-ish) Mobile ordered dinner at Casey’s Corner. Tried the Holiday Dog – which was surprisingly delicious!
- More low wait rides: Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea.
- Holiday shows were important to us for this visit.
- We did not do the Tomorrowland Christmas show – but heard that littles would enjoy it. Same for Storybook Circus Disney Junior Jingle Jam, but we did walk past this during show time and it was full of littles and giggles. Club Tinsel also has a show at Cosmic Rays – that we skipped.
- (8:30 pm) Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. We staked out a spot along the hub – to the right if you’re looking at the castle. We sat low on the parade edge and stayed seated mostly with a good view. There were little children behind us. We watched the first run of this parade at 8:30pm (I think). There is a second run at 11, which is MUCH less crowded, so next time I’d opt for that if everyone in the group isn’t too sleepy.
- (9:30 pm) We watched Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration – the stage show. It was cute, but I don’t know that I would go out of my way for it again, unless I had littles who are all about characters. There are 4 times for this show. We chose the middle one, around 9:30 pm.
- (10 pm) Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks. So much more than fireworks because Christmas Castle projections are AH-Mazing! Spoiler – Tinkerbell kicks it off with a great flight from the Castle.
- (11 – 11:30 pm-ish) SNOPE! This is my favorite part of MVMCP and I made Jill stay late so we could enjoy it. It “snows” down Main Street (it’s soap, but don’t tell anyone). Such a magical experience to look down at the Castle and see it floating about. It really does look like snow.
Things You Should Know
- We made time to hit all the Cookie and Hot chocolate spots. The cookies are all delicious, I especially loved the gingerbread with cream cheese frosting. Whoa. I stashed some cookies in my fanny pack to bring home for the kiddos and husband.
- After the parade wait times for rides dropped significantly, so if that’s your thing, this is your time.
- We didn’t do any of the character meets this time, but I’ve done those in the past. Arrive early – lines are long.
- There are some rides with holiday overlays: Jungle Cruise becomes Jingle Cruise, Space Mountain – Holiday Run, and Tomorrowland Speedway – Run Through the Holiday.
- We took a Minnie van back to the resort – because they pick up super close to MK and we didn’t want to wait for a bus or go to the TTC for a Lyft. Our driver was delightful and encouraged me to do “birthday princess wave” out the window – which I absolutely did and it was worth it.
- Attempted to schedule an Uber for a 4am pick up and a 7am flight to the airport, but the cost was high (over $60). Jill reminded me about the Mears Connect bus. I booked this while waiting for the snope around 11pm, for a 3:45am pick up. Confirmed right away and had no issues hopping on the bus in the morning. It was only $16 and the email confirmations and text arrived perfectly on time. I was happily surprised since I booked it so last minute.
Need more Christmasy things to do at Disney World – I’ve got you. Staying home for the holidays but want some movies and family friendly activities – I’ve got that too.
