On Thursday, November 10, Walt Disney World officially kicked off their holiday festivities with this year’s first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! The separately-ticketed events are always extra special, and this one was no exception! The magic began as soon as I entered the parking gate and was met by these little cuties! The inflatable Mickey and Minnie snowmen appear around 4:00 to greet guests on their way into the party. They are so stinking adorable!
Upon entering Magic Kingdom, I was directed to a special line at the far right of the turnstiles. There, I received my party wristband and event map.
I also grabbed one of the special photo ops available to party guests. I went for the frame option, while the Disney Fashionista (and her husband, Chip) chose the button shot. (Aren’t they adorable?!)
Michelle and I represented the Fashionista community well, if I do say so myself. Our ears were definitely the hit of the evening . They came from Magic Mouse Ears. Michelle’s skirt came from The Brave Little Tailor, and my skirt is from Paper Cuts. Magic Mouse Ears and The Brave Little Tailor are Etsy shops, while Paper Cuts can be contacted through Facebook.
Magic Mouse Ears
Paper Cuts
Merchandise is always one of the first priorities at these events, and Michelle was quick to find all the best party items. You can read about all the event merchandise HERE, but here are a couple of my favorite things.
There is a vintage vibe carried through the merchandise designs that is just precious! It’s really hard to walk away from this party empty handed. If you can do it, you have a lot more self-control than I have!
While merchandise is always my favorite part of the party, (I mean, I do write for a fashion blog!) party treats run a close second! The Christmas party has so many yummy snacks, both free and specialty items. The free items are available at certain restaurants, but only during the official party hours. If guests arrive at 4, they still can’t partake of event foods until 7. My personal favorites were the snowman pretzel from Tortuga Tavern and the sparkling apple cider from The Friar’s Nook.
Sparkling apple cider and Dove chocolates from The Friar’s Nook
Apple juice and a variety of cookies from Pinocchio Village Haus
Soft snowman pretzel and sno-cone from Tortuga Tavern
Snickerdoodle and hot chocolate from Cosmic Ray’s
I recommend bringing a ziploc bag or small container for treats. As you can see, there are a lot of treat stations and you can visit them multiple times during the party. You may not want to eat everything in one night, so take a few home and have a magical, sugary breakfast the next morning!
In addition to the free treats, specialty snacks are available for purchase. We tried the Sandy Claws dessert and Red Velvet Waffle Sundae, both from Sleepy Hollow. These were both amazing and well worth the extra fee. The Sandy Claws push pop is a festive concoction of orange vanilla cake, cranberry-cherry mousse, cream cheese buttercream, and decorations of white chocolate pearls, sprinkles, and a Sandy Claws white chocolate decoration. This one is really sweet and best shared. We’ve seen the waffle sundae in various incarnations during different parties from the last few years. It’s always a guest favorite, and this year is no different. After trying these, we didn’t have a lot of room left for the other specialty snacks, but there is also a Belle themed dome dessert, an eggnog custard treat, and various Yule logs found through the park.
After completely stuffing myself with sugar, I found a nice spot for the castle lighting called A Frozen Holiday Wish. This happens twice each night: once at 6:15 for non-event guests and then again at 8:15 during the event. The 8:15 shown is much less crowded. This is a beautiful production done on the castle stage and features our favorite Frozen friends. It ends with Elsa covering the castle with icicles and making it snow on Main Street. Even if you aren’t a fan of Frozen, this one is sure to make you smile. The castle looks gorgeous all lit up!
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade is THE can’t miss event of the night. It occurs at 8:30 and 11:30 each night. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it both times! The best viewing spots are on Main Street (and it snows there!), but these can be hard to find. Frontierland also offers good spots and lower crowds.
Holiday Wishes fireworks show is also amazing! It’s at 10:00 and takes place over Cinderella Castle. It’s festive and happy and nostalgic and emotional all at the same time. Main Street offers the best views of this show, but it can be seen from almost anywhere in the park.
Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration is presented on the castle stage as well. This one is presented several times each evening and features lots of classic Disney characters performing some modern classic Christmas carols. (Think Clarabelle Cow singing “All I Want for Christmas.”) This show is pure fun! I saw plenty of people dancing and singing along, and everyone was smiling from the beginning to the end. The very last show of the evening is usually the least crowded and a nice way to end your party experience.
The special event parties usually bring out some hard-to-find characters for meet and greets. The most popular one at Very Merry is probably Sandy Claws, otherwise known as Jack Skellington in his holiday best. The line for this one gets long in a hurry and guests usually start lining up by 4:30. Other characters don’t require quite that much of your time, but lines can still be pretty long.
There is so much to see and do at the special events! I had a full and exciting night, but I still didn’t quite make it to everything. If you have ever wondered if the parties are worth the price of admission, I can assure you that they are. There is more food and more entertainment than you can possibly do in one night. Added to that are the special characters, event exclusive merchandise, and shorter attraction wait times. And SNOW! To be honest, Disney could just give me snow on Main Street, and I’d be pretty satisfied.
A very special thanks to everyone who followed our Christmas party adventures on Facebook and Instagram. We hope you enjoyed sharing the evening with us. Lindsay will be back at it on Friday night, so tune in for even more Christmas fun!
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