Walt Disney World hosts extra events at their parks during certain times of the year. For Halloween, it's the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and for Christmas, you can find Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom.
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party this year began right after Halloween and runs on selected nights until December 22. After that, the parade that's exclusive to the party, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, will be shown during the day in regular park hours.
We found much of the same things we saw when we last attended this party in 2016.
- The parade was basically the same, but updated for the times.
- The stage shows were similar and again updated.
- The drinks, desserts, and merchandise were all new and different.
But even if some things were the same at the party, there were also a lot of new and different experiences. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party only happens at this time of year, so it's good to be able to attend one, even if it's a second time around.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights of what we found:
The Main Street Christmas tree is the first thing you might notice when entering Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Located in the Town Square, it's usually surrounded by characters and PhotoPass photographers. Of course, the Christmas tree isn't exclusive to the Christmas party. Photo by Donald Fink.
Cinderella Castle is decorated for the holiday season. Photo by Donald Fink.
Christmas ornaments hang along Main Street USA for the holiday season. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
The Country Bears from Country Bear Jamboree are out on the streets in Frontierland, entertaining guests and dancing to the music from the Reindeer Wranglers. This guy is Liver Lips, one of the more popular bears on the street. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
We spend a lot of our time at the Magic Kingdom in Frontierland. It's one of our favorite spots to watch fireworks, and it's long been our favorite spot to watch parades.
Before a parade, there's usually a street show of some kind to keep folks entertained as they wait. This year, the usual group that wanders Frontierland playing country-based music for guests has re-branded themselves for the holidays. They're called the Reindeer Wranglers and they are playing all new (at least new to us) music. Their songs use old, familiar country melodies with new lyrics to fit their show. Here's a sample of their performance. Video by Donald Fink.
Food and Merchandise
During our evening at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, we found that we were busy with the parades, fireworks, stage shows, and all the maneuvering that went into positioning for a good photo of each one. We simply ran out of time to chase down the merchandise and food for the event. Fortunately, Alan Dalinka was at a press event the very next night and shared some of his images.
Sven's Carrot Cake with cream cheese icing is available at Pecos Bills. Photo by Alan S. Dalinka.
New for this year is Olaf's Frozen Hot Chocolate Cake, a gluten-friendly chocolate cake, layered with chocolate crisps, chocolate panna cotta, and marshmallow fluff. It's topped with a Marshmallow “Olaf” with white chocolate buttons and milk chocolate branches for arms. We didn't try this, but anytime you have to say the word chocolate that many times to describe the dish, it has to have potential. This is not exclusive to the Christmas party either. You can get one anytime this holiday season at the Main Street Bakery. Photo by Alan S. Dalinka.
Peppermint iced coffee is available exclusively at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. Photo by Alan S. Dalinka.
The Christmas Cookie Butter milkshake is available throughout the holiday season at Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies in Tomorrowland, and is topped with whipped cream and a Mickey Marshmallow straw. Photo by Alan S. Dalinka.
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Our Alan S. Dalinka speaks with Chef Bobby Rivera—a Chef at Cinderella's Royal Table—about some of the specialty food available this holiday season at the Magic Kingdom. Video by Alan S. Dalinka.
This is a limited-edition Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 2019 Magic Band. There were only 3,000 of these available at the beginning of the season. Photo by Alan S. Dalinka.
Here's a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, 2019, Christmas Tree Ornament. Photo by Alan S. Dalinka.
This table full of Christmas oriented merchandise is an example of what's available during the holiday season at the Magic kingdom. These items are not exclusive to the Christmas Party. Photo by Alan S. Dalinka.
The Parade
Mickey and Minnie are hosting the Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. They're front and center, making eye contact with the guests. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
In the Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, you'll see many Disney characters. Here is Pluto with Peter Pan and Pinocchio. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Here's Pinocchio with Geppetto in the Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade as they make their way through Frontierland. That's Pluto in the background on the left. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Elsa and Anna have been busy with a new Frozen movie, but they have time to visit the Magic Kingdom during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Photo by Donald Fink.
Olaf is right behind Elsa and Anna in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
From the Movie Frozen, Kristoff makes his way through the parade route at Disney's Magic Kingdom during Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. Photo by Donald Fink.
Chip 'n' Dale have been around since 1943, but they're not too old to have fun in the Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. Did you know that these guys were named after the famous 18th Century Cabinet maker, Thomas Chipendale? We can't prove that, but it seems plausible. By the way, Chip is the one on the left. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Goofy appears in the Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade riding a tall bicycle of sorts, pulling a giant candy machine. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
The Seven Dwarfs are part of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. Here you can see three of them, Doc (left), Dopey, and Grumpy. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
We'll call these guys Candy Cane Elves. They appear in the parade just before the Toy Story unit. Our thought is, while those boxes can't really weigh much, it must still be exhausting to dance the entire parade route throwing them into the air. And they do that twice for each Christmas Party. Photo by Bonnie Fink
Here's Ralph, from the 2012 animated film, Wreck-it Ralph. Ralph also starred in a sequel called Ralph Breaks the Internet, which was out in 2018. You might be interested in knowing that both of these movies are available for streaming at the new Disney+ streaming site. Photo by Donald Fink.
Vanellope von Schweetz appears in both the 2012 Movie Wreck-it Ralph and the 2018 sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet. She also appears here in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. We were amused that we didn't know who she was when watching the parade since we didn't see the movies, but every child standing near us was absolutely delighted to see her. Photo by Donald Fink.
Woody and Little Bo Peep are on a Toy Story themed stage as they appear in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
The Toy Soldiers are in the parade too, but you can see them all around the Magic Kingdom, and even Disneyland, during the Holiday season. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Santa's Reindeer appear in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. They're just ahead of Santa. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Santa is one of the last to appear in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. We thought it was a nice touch that Santa, no doubt with the help of some very sophisticated Disney magic, was able to call out the names of a few children in the crowd as he went by, thanking them for being nice. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
The Stage Show
There's a stage show during Mickey's Very merry Christmas Party called Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration. The show brings the Christmas party to the stage with many Disney characters, lots of singing and dancing. It's certainly worth seeing. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Cinderella's Castle makes a perfect backdrop for Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration. Photo by Donald Fink.
Woody and Jessie join Mickey and Minnie on stage for Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration. This segment, as you might imagine, was set to country dance music. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistoles provide the Latin music portion of Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration. They are joined by Donald Duck, the third member of the Three Caballeros. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Characters appear on stage with Christmas Bells. Here you see Pinocchio, Chip, and Dale, with Woody and Goofy on the right. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Mickey and Minnie make several appearancees in Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration, but in the finale, they appear as Santa and Mrs. Claus. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
In the Stage show, Mickey's Most Merriest Celebration, Mickey invites his friends over for the Christmas holiday as the fun begins. Here's a brief moment from that performance. Video by Don and Bonnie Fink.
Fireworks
During the nights of the Christmas Party, guests are treated with a special fireworks show. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
If you make it to front and center for the 9:25 pm stage show at the castle, stay right where you are when the show is over. You'll be in good position to watch the fireworks at 10:00 pm. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
Just like any other fireworks display at the Magic Kingdom, Cinderella's Castle is every bit a part of the show, with the facade changing every few seconds, it seems. Photo by Donald Fink.
Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Show ends with Cinderella's Castle going full circle as its lighting returns to its normal state. Photo by Bonnie Fink.
And Finally
So, what does a special event like Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party bring to the table for an average guest? For us, it's not about the free cookies and eggnog, or even the specialty desserts. What it's about for us is the special shows, the parades, and the fireworks that can only be seen at one of these events.
For folks that don't have an annual pass, it can even pencil out to be more economical than a regular day pass. It usually costs a bit less than a regular day pass but still allows you into the park for a reasonable amount of time. Some will say that the parks are less crowded than at regular hours too, and indeed, that's the idea. On our visit to prepare this Photo Tour, the park was less crowded. Wait times for rides were pretty much non-existent.
There's a lot to do at these events too. We missed quite a bit in this Photo Tour because there was simply not enough time to do it all and still get the photos and videos we needed. So if you come, be sure to get a guide on your way in and plan your night. If you don't, you might end up with a chocolate chip cookie and a cup of eggnog when you really wanted Olaf's Frozen Hot Chocolate.
