Category — 6. The Christmas Season at Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: CHRISTMAS 2015 AT DISNEY WORLD

The Christmas season at Walt Disney World includes both the best and the worst times to visit, with both prices and crowds at both lower and very high levels over the period.

Decorations, special Christmas shows, programs, and events, and Christmas trees are everywhere, making Disney World as special a place to celebrate the holidays as you can find.

THE CHRISTMAS SEASON AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

December crowds at Walt Disney World begin at lower levels. They will begin to build on 12/19, and by 12/23 will hit their highest levels of the year, where they will stay until about January 2, 2016

Walt Disney World resort hotel December prices at the beginning of the month are at one of the lower levels of the year.

On 12/11 they go up a lot at the moderates and values, to 33-45% higher than the lowest of the year, and on December 18, 2015, they increase to 55-85% higher than the lowest levels of the year.

Deluxe prices go up some the 11th, more the 18th, and even more the 25th.

December weather is cooler and variable. While the average daily high is 73, this masks tremendous variability.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Each of the parks has wonderful Christmas decorations, and most have special Christmas events, which begin in early November or right around Thanksgiving.

• At the Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party—a special event that requires its own ticket—runs on many nights through the first two-thirds of the month. Later in the month, its signature events—a special Christmas parade, and special Christmas fireworks—are available to all guests. Christmas decor is in place by the night of the first party–in 2015, November 8
• At Epcot, the evening fireworks show Illuminations has special Christmas additions. In addition, most nights Christmas carols are sung by massed choirs in the Candlelight Processional. Many of the countries in Epcot’s World Showcase have special Christmas events as part of Epcot’s Holidays Around the World program. Epcot’s special events usually begin the Friday after Thanksgiving–November 27 in 2015
• At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Christmas celebration is the Osborne holiday lights in the Streets of America area. The evening opening ceremony is 6p. These typically begin in early November. 2015 will be the last year for the Osborne lights…

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2015/2016 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

New Year’s Eve festivities will occur December 31, 2015 at Disney World’s Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios theme parks, and also at the Magic Kingdom on December 30. The Animal Kingdom in the past has had no special New Years events.

Nothing is official yet, but based on the past, the schedule will look like this:

• Epcot likely will be open until 1a on New Year’s Eve; Disney’s Hollywood Studios until midnight for the general public, and 2a for Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests; and the Magic Kingdom until 1a or later
• The Magic Kingdom likely will have Wishes at 7.30p and special New Year’s Eve fireworks at 11.50p
• Epcot likely will have its Illuminations fireworks show at 6p and 11.40p, plus DJs in various pavilions.
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios likely will have fireworks at midnight, and several sets over the evening from “Mulch, Sweat and Shears,” a live band
• Note that alcohol is not available at the Magic Kingdom, but is available at Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios

The Magic Kingdom likely will have the same fireworks at the same times on 12/30. This date will likely be a little less crowded than 12/31.

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DISNEY WORLD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS PARTY IN 2015

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.  I attended the first 2015 party, on November 8. For a review of the 2015 version of MVMCP, see this.

MORE ON MICKEY’S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY

This party occurs from 7p-12MN on certain evenings at the Magic Kingdom in November and December.

The 2015 dates for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party are as follows:

• November 2015: 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, and 29
• December 2015:  1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 18

You need to buy a special ticket for this party. This ticket is different from regular Walt Disney World park admission tickets.

• The special party ticket does not allow you to enjoy the rides and attractions of the Magic Kingdom before the the Party starts–you need a regular ticket for that (note that you can usually enter and enjoy the rides as early as 4p–although your ticket will say 7p)
• Regular tickets used to enter the park earlier the day of a Party do not give you access to the Party–you need to have the special Party ticket

The party tickets are expensive, so why would first-time visitors be interested? A couple of potential reasons

• Evening parades and fireworks shows are rare this time of year, so going to one of the parties is a way to guarantee you can see them
• Operating hours at the Magic Kingdom are shorter this time of year, so the Party allows you more time there within the same visit
• Walt Disney World sells only a limited number of tickets to each party, so the evening can be less crowded, particularly compared to whenever the Magic Kingdom is doing evening Extra Magic Hours that week

Many families go the first time for one of these reasons…and then going becomes a tradition!

On the other hand, families following one of the standard 8-night itineraries on this site will see the fireworks and evening parade, and have plenty of time at the Magic Kingdom. For that reason, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is not designed into this site’s pre-Thanksgiving itineraries.

It is, however, built in to this site’s Christmas-oriented Basic Itinerary, which works for the three weeks beginning the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

For details on what the party offers, suggested approaches, etc., see this!

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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 save a lot of time. 

Disney limits the amount of tickets it sells to each show of MVMCP.  As a result, waits for the rides are low–most typically 10 minutes. For just how low, see Josh’s post here. Going to it and seeing some really popular rides with hardly a wait saves a ton of time that can instead be spent sleeping in or at the pool.

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.

Moreover, the parade and fireworks are unique. The fireworks are tied with those of the Halloween party as best of the year, and the parade has a fun Christmas theme!

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 November 2014 I had a chance to see it again, for the sixth time. The rest of this entry is the review of that visit.

MICKEY’S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY

There’s a couple of components to MVMCP.

Noted already are the parade and fireworks, both in special Christmas versions.

The parade, called Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, happens twice each night, at 8.15 and 10.30p. (Go on rides during the first parade, and watch the second one.)

The parade begins with a bunch of characters…

…then Minnie and Mickey.

Frozen has taken over three floats.

Other floats include princesses…

…Santa Claus…

…and much more.  Lower ranking princesses evicted from their floats by the Frozen crew have to walk.

The fireworks, called Holiday Wishes, happen between the parades at 9.30, preceded by a special holiday version of Celebrate the Magic at 9.15p.

Also noted already are the rides.

• Not all rides are open, but all of the most popular ones are.
• Because of the limit on tickets sold, the rides are pretty easy to get on to without major waits. The park will feel very crowded on Main Street and near the Castle, but this is because of all the people lining for the castle shows and the parade route.  Away from Main Street and Frontierland the park opens up and ride waits are quite short.

There’s some shows, some unique to this event.

Castle shows Celebrate the Season…

…and A Frozen Holiday Wish are the same as on regular MK evenings. The first is OK but not worth seeing at the mobbed 7.30 showing (the 10.05 or 11.20p show is the better choice), and the second skippable.

Only shown during the party are A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas in Tomorrowland…

…and dance parties in Cosmic Ray’s in Tomorrowland…

…and the Diamond Horseshoe in Frontierland (I took this during the fireworks–it’s more hopping at other times). The first of these is quite lame, the other two are cute ways for your kids to burn off energy if they need to.

There’s some fun other business: free cookies, free hot chocolate (locations on the map, and marked by candy canes), and snow!

Both sides of the 2014 MVMCP brochure are below–as always, click them to enlarge them.

Even though the party starts at 7p, Disney traditionally lets people holding tickets for it through the turnstiles beginning at 4p. Show up early, see some of the lower wait rides, and have dinner.  If you show up around party time, Main Street will be mobbed.  If the train is still running–the last run will be 6.45p or so–take the train to Frontierland or Fantasyland to avoid the crowds here.

FastPass+ is not available to those using party tickets–but it’s also not needed, as only Anna and Elsa and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train see major waits. If you want to see these, do them as late as you can stay up.

WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE NOT FOLLOWING THE BASIC ITINERARY?

As noted, this show is expensive, but worth considering if one or more of the following apply to you:

• You otherwise won’t see the evening parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom
• Your plans otherwise leave you short on Magic Kingdom time, and/or
• You are really a fan of Christmas

With kids old enough to be focused on rides, the right plan for MVMCP is to

• Show up early, and eat before the party
• Do rides until a little before 9, and then
• Position yourselves near the Castle for Celebrate the Magic, Holiday Wishes, and the second showing of the evening parade.
• After the parade, do more rides or see the shows!

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A Frozen Holiday Wish is the new-for-2014 version of the holiday Castle lighting show.

Up til this year, the holiday lights of Cinderella’s Castle were lit by the Fairy Godmother who was joined by Cinderella, Mickey, Minnie, etc.

The Castle is stunning in its holiday garb, but the lighting show itself was a very minor attraction—something worth watching if you happened to be there, but not worth a walk.

In the new version, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf of you-know-what take over the lighting duties.

The show is insipid, with dull filler material, crowds are high, and it’s only worth viewing by the most die-hard of Frozen fans. The Frozen Sing-Along at Hollywood Studios is much better, and the Castle will light whether or not you see this show.

(For a more positive take on this show, see this.)

A Frozen Holiday Wish begins with Anna, Elsa and Kristoff taking the stage, with a bit of so-so banter.

Olaf joins, reminds us that he likes summer and hugs in case we have forgotten, and the conversation turns to the beauties of the winter landscape. If only the Castle were decorated with ice and snow…but who could do that?

The obvious answer emerges, and Elsa goes to work. However, it takes her a while…This presents the opportunity for some so-so graphics to show up on the castle, but is out of character. We know that Elsa could do this in a second if she wished to, so the delay in achieving it creates not the intended feeling of suspense, but rather worries about Elsa’s health.

She is eventually successful…

And the results, as always, are spectacularly lovely.

The show happens twice a night, at 6.15 and 7.30p on nights the park is open late, and at 6.15 and 8p on party nights. (On party nights, the second show is only for MVMCP attendees.)

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DISNEY WORLD CROWDS FROM LATER DECEMBER 2014 TO EARLY JANUARY 2015

Disney World usually sees its highest crowds and prices of the year in the later third of December and the beginning of January, in the week that includes Christmas, and the next week that includes New Year’s Eve.

This is for a pretty basic reason: kids are out of school these weeks.

However, not every school district has the same break schedule.

In 2014/2015, more kids are out  New Year’s week than early in Christmas week, but there’s still plenty enough on break Christmas week to wildly crowd the parks…

SCHOOL BREAKS AND DISNEY WORLD CROWDS

Most years, there two typical sorts of breaks:

• Long breakers–districts that take at least 2 full weeks (and three weekends) off
• Short breakers–districts that take off as close to only December 24 to January 1 as they can

In 2014, a Thursday Christmas, and the patterning of school breaks around it, will make it easy for many families to head to Walt Disney World either week.

But the Thursday New Years Day results in next to no schools re-opening Friday January 2 for a one-day week.  Wouldn’t be prudent.

So almost all kids will be off all of New Years week, and unlike some years–like 2013–both weeks will be really lousy all week long.

ACTUAL 2014-2015 CHRISTMAS SEASON SCHOOL BREAKS

The chart above illuminates this.

It’s based on data from a weighted sample including more than 160 of the largest relevant US public school districts.

(For how the database is built, see this.)

The weekends are in black and the two holidays–Christmas and New Year’s Day–in red.  Click the image enlarge it.

You can see that many breaks begin Saturday the 20th, with hardly any kids on break before then, but almost 30% of kids are still in school the first two weekdays of Christmas week. By Christmas Eve, though, everyone is out, and pretty much everybody stays out of school through January 4, 2015.  A few–very few–breaks continue past January 4.

So I’m classing both weeks as 11/highest crowds, but of the two, New Year’s week will be a little worse.

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OVERVIEW: DECEMBER 2014 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews December 2014 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Early December, with lower crowds, lower prices, and wonderful Christmas decorations and events, has the best weeks of the year to visit.

Later December with Christmas and New Year’s weeks has the highest crowds and prices of the year.

Park closings to additional guests are common in this period, as are 8a openings and daily morning Extra Magic Hours.

December also has a special party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, a special evening event–with its own ticket–that has become a family tradition for many. [Read more →]