Category — 6. The Christmas Season at Walt Disney World

DISNEY WORLD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS PARTY IN 2012

While Christmas itself is December 25 of course, Walt Disney World provides a special Christmas celebration at the Magic Kingdom many nights in November and December.

This celebration is called “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, or “MVMCP” for short.

At the party, many of the Magic Kingdom’s rides are open, and cookies and hot chocolate, special events, and slightly different Christmas parades and fireworks, and even snow (!) are offered.

The official Disney World page for this event (where you can also buy tickets) can be found here.  For a review of MVMCP, see this.

MORE ON MICKEY’S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY

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CHRISTMAS IS COMING AND SO ARE THE DISNEY WORLD CROWDS…

The busiest days of the year at Walt Disney World begin later this week, and peak next week.

Today, a little less than half of kids are on Christmas break.

More start going on break beginning the 21st, and by the end of this week, the 23rd, about 70% of kids will be off.

By Saturday, Christmas Eve, all kids are off.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the busiest day at Orlando International this holiday season will be Friday the 23rd, followed by Thursday the 22nd.

Later next week, likely more than 70,000 people will visit the Magic Kingdom on an average day, with totals perhaps well above that, possibly leading to park closures.

The hourly ride capacity at the Magic Kingdom is on the order of 40,000 people, implying average waits of 90-120 minutes for the most popular rides.

Bathroom waits may seem as long…as may waits for food, even if you eat early or late.

COPING WITH THE CHRISTMAS SEASON WALT DISNEY WORLD CROWDS

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(This page is one of a series explicating Disney World lingo, abbreviations, and FAQ for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World.)

HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD AT EPCOT

Holidays Around the World is the overarching term that covers Epcot’s key holiday celebrations:

• The Candlelight Processional
• A holiday adaptation of Illuminations, and
• The Holiday Storytellers

In addition to these three special events, Santa Claus is available for visits in the American Adventure, and holiday decorations are everywhere.

The Epcot resorts join the festivities, with special Christmas decorations in their lobbies and grounds.

See the image for the fireplace in the lobby at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, decorated for Christmas.

Other hotel decorations include gingerbread houses and Christmas trees.

All these events and decorations add up to a wonderfully festive atmosphere, and all are worth viewing!

“THE ULTIMATE AMERICANA CHRISTMAS DISPLAY”

Hey–this show had its last run in 2015!

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is the main Christmas season special feature at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Showing at various places in the Studios backlot since the mid-90s, it is now found in Streets of America.

This part of the backlot was once used for actual filming, and was then much more generic than today, so it could stand in for many different communities.

The Osborne lights first were in the residential section of the backlot–demolished to make way for Lights, Motors, Action.

They were then moved to the current Streets of America location, and the Streets were re-staged to convey specific cities. See The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for more.

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is made up of more than 5 million lights that drape the buildings in Streets of America and are synchronized to holiday music, flashing and changing colors with the beat.

It’s difficult to describe, and my photos don’t really do it justice.  You just need to see it.

REVIEW: THE OSBORNE FAMILY SPECTACLE OF DANCING LIGHTS [Read more →]

THE HOLIDAY STORYTELLERS AT EPCOT’S HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD

The Holiday Storytellers are one of the major components of Epcot’s holiday season celebrations–the others are the Holiday Kitchens, the Candlelight Processional and a holiday adaptation of Illuminations.

The overall celebration is called The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays and runs from the Friday after Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving itself in 2018, for the first time) until December 30.

During the season, characters depicting a traditional figure from each of the nations of the World Showcase relates how a holiday (Christmas mostly, but also Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or New Years) is traditionally celebrated in their country.

These characters are the Holiday Storytellers.

REVIEW: THE HOLIDAY STORYTELLERS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD [Read more →]

MVMCP: A REVIEW

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (“MVMCP”) is a special event that takes place during the Christmas season at Walt Disney World.

It requires its own ticket, which is entirely separate from regular Disney World tickets, and is only shown on certain nights from early November through mid-December. (For more on MVMCP tickets and show nights, see this.)

Even though it is expensive (tickets for a family of four will cost over $200) it’s been part of this site’s Basic December Itinerary since the site opened, for a couple of reasons:

• Going to it lets people sleep in an extra morning.  Disney limits the amount of tickets it sells to each show of MVMCP.  As a result, the rides aren’t very crowded.  Going to it and getting some popular rides in saves a morning in the Basic Itinerary for sleeping in that would otherwise have to be used getting up and going to the Magic Kingdom
• Going to it guarantees seeing an evening parade and fireworks.  At the time of year the Basic Itinerary covers, the evening parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom may happen just a couple of times a week on non-MVMCP nights.  Sending people to MVMCP guarantees your family will have the opportunity to see an evening parade and fireworks.
• I recommend people go to Walt Disney World in the early part of the Christmas season…so how can I not send them to this show?
• It’s silly and fun!

In December 2011 I had a chance to see it again, and as a result have updated the Basic Itinerary.  The rest of this entry is the review of that visit. [Read more →]