Disney 2017 (Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party)

On our last day at Disney we attended Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  It takes place at Magic Kingdom and requires a separate entrance ticket.  The party is held at night from 7:00 until midnight but you can enter the park with your ticket beginning at 4:00 p.m.  We arrived around four and began our night of fun.

I wasn't sure what to expect.  I had read a lot of reviews and they seemed to be very mixed. Most people either loved it or thought it was a waste of time and money.  I personally loved it and would do it again if given the chance.  The park closed at 6:00 that day to the regular crowd.  Once the park closed the crowds did die down and most of the ride lines were extremely low.  We were able to ride many things back to back.

Once the party starts the park really turns in to a Christmas wonderland.  It is so beautiful and festive.  They have Christmas shows and entertainment.  They even give out complimentary holiday treats at locations all throughout the park.  It is just a fun evening and really gets you in to the Christmas spirit.

We chose not to do a regular park day that day so that we could sleep late and be ready for a long night at the party. It worked out great for us and I am glad we did it that way.   We were there from 4:00 p.m. until 11:30 p.m.

The first thing we did after arriving was walk through the party welcome entrance and have our picture taken by the park photographers.  Afterwards we enjoyed our first free cookies of the night.

what a fun moment

our group at the party

This is probably my favorite picture of the week.  We really did have a fun time together with our friends.  I am so glad we got to do this trip with them.  Our family will never forget it.

Cruz and Sara Madalin ready to party

We started out by riding several rides.  Here we are on Space Mountain.   We rode it back to back.  David and I rotated kids and got to ride it with each of them.  The pictures on top show us riding with Ben and the pictures on the bottom show us riding with Cruz. The boys had looked forward to that ride all week long and loved it. 

Splash Mountain had been closed since August for refurbishments and had just opened back up the day of the party.  We were eager to ride it.  The scenes in the ride were really cute but what we loved the most was the big waterfall drop you go down.  It was so much fun!  We did get a little wet but thankfully had put our rain jackets on before we rode.

having a blast on Splash Mountain

Cruz ready to ride Astro Orbiter.   It was another fun ride but the round and round made a few in our group a little queasy.  The night views of the park from that ride were great.

We enjoyed getting to ride Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin again.  It was one of the boys favorite rides.

We rode Seven Dwarfs Mine Train back to back which is crazy considering the long wait time the ride usually has all day long. We loved this ride. 

We packed a picnic meal and took it into the park with us for our supper. 

While in Tomorrowland we enjoyed watching A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas show.  It featured Buzz Lightyear,

Mike from Monster's Inc.,

and Stitch. 

At the end of the show it snowed.  It was so fun and cute.

While we were off riding Malinda had gone to the parade route and saved us all seats for the evening parade.  When it was time to start we worked our way through the crowds to our seats.   We ended up right on the front and had perfect views.

Ready to watch Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade.  We were so excited!

Here comes Mickey and Minnie!

Anna and Elsa from Frozen

Olaf

The Glitch from Wreck it Ralph

Goofy is one of my favorite Disney characters

Cinderella and Prince Charming

Jesse and Woody

Here comes Santa!

Ready to watch the evening fireworks spectacular Holiday Wishes.  It was breathtaking!

David and Reagan enjoying a little coffee while we waited

The beautiful castle lit up for the night. 

Snow on Main Street.  It was magical.

That night (and week) will always be one of our best Christmas holiday memories.  We put a lot of planning into that trip and we enjoyed all that we could squeeze in.  It was a great vacation and definitely one of our all time favorites.  I hope that one day our family will get to return and do it all over again.  Until then we will treasure the memories and photos we have from our trip.  It was amazing!