Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is the happiest party on the planet. This event is filled with all kinds of fun holiday entertainment and is highly anticipated each year. Your family, like mine, will love the special Christmas Fireworks show, “Holiday Wishes – Celebrate The Spirit of The Season”, the complimentary cookies and hot cocoa, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, the Celebrate the Season Castle Show and of course all the unique and fun character meet and greets.

A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas – Buzz Lightyear, Mike Wazowski and Stitch come together with a holiday musical revue. This takes place five times during the party, 7:45pm, 8:45pm, 9:55pm, 10:50pm and 11:45pm at the Tomorrowland Galactic stage between Space Mountain and Carousel of Progress.

Celebrate the Season Show – Celebrate with Mickey and Minnie as he presents her with a most wonderful gift of Christmas. Goofy, Donald and many others favorite, join together in celebration of the season with their own twist on the Nutcracker. It is quite funny and enjoyable for the whole family. You don’t want to miss it. This holiday shows three times during the party, 7:30 p.m., 10:05 p.m., and 11:20 p.m.

A Frozen Holiday Wish – New this year, each night Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf come together in hopes to spread Christmas magic to the Magic Kingdom. Elsa with her awe-inspiring powers frosts Cinderella’s Royal Castle, creating a beautiful and inspiring icy centerpiece for the Magic Kingdom. The Holiday Wish happens twice each night, 6:15 pm, 8:00 pm at Cinderella Castle Stage.

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade – New this year to the parade are the well beloved characters from Disney’s Frozen, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf. Enjoy seeing your favorite Disney Characters along with gingerbread men, elves, toy soldiers, and of course Christmas’ favorite guy, Santa Clause. Each Christmas party has two parades, the first one starting at 8:15 p.m. and the second one starting at 10:30 p.m. I recommend attending the second parade because more guests watch the first parade, making the second parade less crowded.

Celebrate The Magic – Each night Cinderella’s Royal Castle comes to life as Disney Imagineers create a new way of storytelling. They use Cinderella’s beautiful castle as the canvas of telling the stories of some of your favorite Disney movies. Celebrate the Magic is a great preshow to the fireworks. It’s an exciting show the whole family will enjoy and I highly recommend watching it. The show plays nightly right before and after the fireworks spectacular.

Holiday Wishes – Celebrate The Spirit of The Season – These fireworks start at 9:30 p.m. in front of Cinderella’s castle. None other than Jiminy Cricket hosts this fireworks show. Flames, fireworks and a remix of your favorite Disney songs and Christmas theme music all come together to make this a don’t-miss firework shows. These fireworks are different than the regular fireworks done during the week and only those attending the Christmas Party have the opportunity to watch them.

“Celebrate The Magic”/Holiday Wishes – Celebrate The Spirit of The Season Fireworks Tips

For the best view of Celebrate The Magic, stand between the Refreshment Corner on Main Street and the main hub in front of the castle (the circular area where Walt Disney’s statue is). I would not stand between the hub and the castle because the castle will partially block your view of the fireworks. The closer you get to Casey’s Corner, the better your view will be. Main Street U.S.A. is also a good spot to view the shows.

Holiday Treats – With admission into the party comes complimentary holiday cookies and hot cocoa. The treats can be found at seven locations throughout the park, Sunshine Tree Terrace, Tortuga Tavern, Columbia Harbor House, Pinocchio Village Haus, Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café and at the Crystal Palace. One of the great things about these treats, is you can go back as many times as you want. Keep mind each place stops serving at various times, so keep track of the time.

Exclusive Merchandise – Disney sells exclusive merchandise during the parties such as t-shirts, Disney trading pins, new Magic bands and more at the Emporium, Mickey’s Star Traders, Frontier Trading Post, Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe and Big Top Souvenirs. These are the only places that sell the exclusive merchandise. You can buy other Disney Holiday-themed merchandise during the day as well.

 Character Encounters

There are approximately 47 characters that do meet and greets, 11 characters at the Dance parties. In total there are 58 characters that you will be able to visit in some way. Below is a list of the meet and greet characters for the party.

Character Dance Parties – These dance parties are a great way to take a load off and dance the night away with some of your favorite Disney Characters. Select Disney Characters come out and dance with everyone; however, they usually don’t stop and take pictures and don’t sign autographs at the dance parties.

Club Tinsel takes place in Comic Rays counter service restaurant.  Lead by your favorite alien Stitch, this party is all about having fun and showing off your Stitch side. Here you will see Stitch, Pluto, Chip & Dale.

Holiday Hootenanny! Takes place in Frontierland in the Diamond Horseshoe. Lead by your favorite classic Disney Characters, this party is all about showing off your countryside. Here you will get to see Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck, Horace Horsecollar and the four country bears. These characters only come out for the Christmas party.

 Extremely Popular Characters

“Sandy Claws” AKA Jack Skellington – Located in Storybook Circus next to the large tents in the back; Greeting Tip: Jack will start to meet guests about 5:30 p.m. If you wait until the party starts you could spend up to 2 ½ hours waiting to see them, which will take up half of the party.

Seven Dwarfs – Located in Fantasyland next to the great walls in Fantasyland beyond the Carousel; Greeting Tip: The line to meet the Seven Dwarf’s starts about 6:00 p.m.  The line can extend up to 2 hours. If you want to see both Jack & Sally and the Seven Dwarfs, wait to do the meet and greet for the dwarfs later in the evening; however, don’t wait too long, because they will cut off the line early.

Captain Jack Sparrow – Located in Adventureland across the pathway from Pirates of Caribbean attraction; Greeting Tip: The line to meet Jack starts about 6:15 p.m. The line will extend up to about 2 hours. Great time to meet Jack is during the parade. I would skip the first parade and meet Jack and go to the second parade, which usually has the smaller crowds.

Princess Anna & Queen Elsa – Located in Fantasyland at Princess Fairytale Hall; The princesses meet and greets here all day. If you want to meet them I would do it during the day before the party starts. Their line will be at least 2 hours long.

 Moderately Popular Characters 

Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet & Eeyore – Located next to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction; They typically don’t start meeting guests until about a half hour after the party starts. These characters are dressed up in their Christmas outfits.  Only Winnie the Pooh and Tigger do meet and greets during the day.

Peter Pan & Wendy – Located in Fantasyland to the right of Peter Pan’s attraction, towards the Tangled themed area.

Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu & the Genie – Located in Adventureland in the building across the path from the Swiss Family Treehouse; Aladdin & Abu come out together, and Jasmine and the Genie come out together.

Santa Clause – Located in Main Street, U.S.A. next to City Hall

Easier To Meet Characters

Mickey Mouse – Located in Main Street, U.S.A in the Town Square Theatre; Mickey meets here regularly, but during the Christmas Party he dresses in his Christmas outfit.

Minnie Mouse – Located in Fantasyland near the entrance of Storybook Circus; Minnie Mouse is dressed in her Christmas outfit for the party.

Goofy – Located in Fantasyland near Goofy’s Barnstormer; Goofy is dressed up like Santa Clause for the party

Donald & Daisy & Scrooge McDuck – Located in Fantasyland near the entrance of Storybook Circus near Dumbo; Daisy & Donald are dressed in their Christmas outfits for the party

Belle – Located in Fantasyland in Marcie’s Cottage – Enchanted Tales with Belle location; Meets guests during the regular day here.

Cinderella w/Prince Charming & Rapunzel w/Flynn Rider – Located in Fantasyland at Princess Fairytale Hall; Meets guests during the regular day here

Snow White w/Snow Prince & Aurora w/Prince Philip – Located in Fantasyland next to the great walls in Fantasyland beyond the Carousel (Near the Mine Train); Meets guests during the regular day in Town Square.

Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen – Located in Liberty Square behind the Christmas Shop; Meets guests during the regular day here.

Marry Poppins, Bert & Mr. Penguin – Located in Fantasyland near the Carousel

Tinker Bell – Located in Main Street, U.S.A in the Town Square Theatre; Meets guests during the regular day here.

Ariel – Located in Fantasyland next to Ariel’s Grotto; Meets guests during the regular day

Merida- Located in Fantasyland at the Fairytale Garden; Meets guests during the regular day

The Country Bears – Located in Adventureland; They don’t have a set location but they’re roaming throughout the area all night.

Phineas & Ferb – Located in Tomorrowland near the exit of Buzz Lightyear’s Astroblasters

Additional Meet and Greet Tips – I would meet the characters that are out during the day before the party starts and get the rare characters during the party. There really isn’t enough time during the party to see all the characters. Your tickets get you into the park starting at 4:00 p.m., which gives you an extra 3 hours in the parks. Remember to get into line early for those really popular characters so you don’t waste your whole party waiting for only a couple of characters.

There you have it one of the Happiest events at the Magic Kingdom. This event is worth the extra cost and I highly recommend going. If you want more information on the event or want to plan a trip to Walt Disney World, please contact me.

– Cody Woodbrey