As of November 9th 2023, the holiday season has begun at Magic Kingdom! On this date, the very first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party has kicked off the season. If you are headed to Walt Disney World between November 9th and December 22nd you are in for a real treat.

This separate ticketed event occurs on select nights and here is the basics of what you need to know:

• This is a separate ticketed event so you will not be able to use your Walt Disney World theme park tickets to enjoy the party. If you are at Magic Kingdom during an event date the Magic Kingdom will close at 6pm and cast members will be checking to ensure you have a party ticket in addition to your day ticket to be able to stay in the park.

• With a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party ticket you will be able to enter the Magic Kingdom beginning at 4pm even though the party does not start until 7pm. Take this time to enjoy dinner, experience Magic Kingdom attractions or participate in the few party offerings that begin before 7pm

• This event has limited availability which means you can enjoy a lot of attractions and party offerings with less crowds and shorter waits. However, because it is limited, tickets do tend to sell out so be sure to get yours well ahead of time.

Now that you know the basics, let’s dive into what you can expect at this year’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party:

Treat Stops
Included with your event ticket are complimentary festive treats. There are 5 places throughout the park you can grab your cookies and holiday beverages:

• Tortuga Tavern, Adventureland: Buttercream Frosted Gingerbread Cookies & Eggnog

• Columbia Harbour House, Liberty Square: Chocolate Chip Cookies & Hot Cocoa

• Pinocchio Village Haus, Fantasyland: Red Velvet Cookies & Hot Cocoa

• Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, Tomorrowland: Snickerdoodle Cookies & Hot Cocoa

• The Lunching Pad, Tomorrowland: Sugar Cookies & Apple Cider

**Allergy Friendly Treats (Homefree Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies) are available at each location

Entertainment
The entertainment selection from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is definitely a huge draw for why people choose to experience it. From stage shows, specialty fireworks, a Christmas parade featuring the big man himself (Santa!) and more it is hard to fit it all into just one night!

Frozen Holiday Surprise: Yooohooo, gather close to Cinderella Castle as your favorite friends from Frozen decorate it for the season! With the help of Olaf and his snowgie friends, Elsa adds some special festive touches to the magical icon. If you enjoyed the holiday short Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, you are sure to enjoy this short stage show featuring Arendelle traditions and songs! It wouldn’t be an appearance from Elsa without a little snow as well.
Showtimes: 6:15pm & 8:15pm

Pure Magic Vacations Travel Tip: As you are able to enter the park beginning at 4pm with your party ticket, you are able to enjoy the first showing of a Frozen Holiday Surprise. However, if you are planning to see the 8:15pm show then we might recommend grabbing a spot where you can also enjoy the 8:30pm Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade.

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade: Join Mickey, Minnie and friends as they bring the holiday spirit Magic Kingdom in the nightly Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. Sing and dance along with classic Christmas characters such as gingerbread men, elves riding on rocking horses and who could forget those talented marching toy soldiers. Make sure to stay until the end of the parade...you just might catch a glimpse of Jolly Old Saint Nick!
Showtimes: 8:30pm & 11pm

Pure Magic Vacations Travel Tip: From start to finish the parade is about 15 minutes long however, if you are seated towards the end of the parade route it will take 20 minutes from its start time to get to you. If you want to save time, watch the parade from a viewing location in Frontierland! Additionally, you can enjoy entertainment from the Reindeer Wrangles festive hoedown while you wait, a perfect way to pass the time!

Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration: Sing along to some of the season's most popular tunes with Mickey and the gang. Enjoy this magical stage show on the centre of Cinderella Castle Stage and celebrate with familiar faces like your friends from Toy Story, the Three Caballeros and more fairytale friends! Let’s just say that Mariah Carey has nothing on Clarabelle Cow when it comes to “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
Showtimes: 7:40pm, 9:25pm, 10:35pm & 11:55pm

Pure Magic Vacations Travel Tip: if you are able to stay at the party until midnight, we recommend viewing the 11:55pm show. The crowds will typically be lighter during this showing and you’ll be able to enjoy it without missing out on other party happenings as all other offerings will end at midnight.

Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Show: This projection and firework show takes place on Cinderella Castle and is hosted by none other than the dazzling Minnie Mouse! The fireworks as always are beautiful and thrilling and the sounds of the season just make you feel all that holiday joy inside! Crowds will form in front of the castle for firework viewing so if you are happy to skip the projections portion of the show, you can find great views of the fireworks from Liberty Square, Frontierland and Fantasyland as well!
Showtimes: 10pm

Pure Magic Vacations Travel Tip: If you are a family who doesn’t always enjoy fireworks then this is the perfect time to enjoy other party offerings that would otherwise have a long wait time!

Reindeer Wranglers, Frontierland: Catch this rocking three man band playing classic Christmas tunes all throughout Frontierland during this event!
Showtimes: 7:15pm, 8:05pm, 9:30pm & 11:40pm

Club Tinsel, Rockettower Plaza Stage: Over in Tomorrowland you can enjoy a Character Dance Party featuring some of your favorite Disney pals like Judy Hopps and Nick Wild! Throughout the night you may also get showings of The Collective 5ive, a boy band singing holiday classics!
Showtimes: Intermittently from 7:00pm - 12:00am

Disney Junior Jingle Jam, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe: Disney loves their character dance parties - and we don’t blame them! At the Disney Junior Jingle Jam indoor dance party you may be able to rock around the Christmas tree with Vampirina, Fancy Nancy, Timon, and Doc McStuffins!
Showtimes: 7:00pm - 12:00am

Character Greetings
Another large draw for guests at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is the wide array of characters that can be met! Here you will find familiar characters around the parks dressed in their holiday best as well as some more rare characters who may not normally make appearances to greet guests. Most characters will have a designated meeting location however, you may find some roaming about the party too! Characters such as the Country Bears and Peter Pan want to be part of the party so find them wandering around Frontierland and Adventureland!

Find a complete list of other character greetings you can enjoy below:

• Mickey Mouse (dressed in his Christmas best) in Town Square Theatre

• Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws & Sally in Town Square Theatre

• Mary Poppins beside Town Square Theatre

• Toy Soldiers along Market Street (only between 4pm - 8pm)

• Santa Claus in Liberty Square Gazebo

• Stitch in Adventureland at the Mele Kalikimaka photo frame

• Princess Tiana & Naveen by the Liberty Square Riverboat

• Donald & Scrooge McDuck with Minnie & Daisy in the Dumbo the Flying Elephant Queue

• Santa Goofy outside The Barnstormer

• Seven Dwarfs inside Pete’s Silly Sideshow

• Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore & Tigger (dressed in their winter gear) at Pooh’s Thotful Spot

• Belle in her iconic Christmas dress in her cottage

• Ariel & Eric by Ariel’s Grotto

• White Rabbit & Alice and Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum by Mad Tea Party

• Cinderella & Prince Charming, Rapunzel & Flynn Rider, Aurora & Prince Phillip, Snow White & The Prince at the New Fantasyland wall

• Jack Sparrow beside Pirates of the Caribbean

• Aladdin, Abu, Genie, Jasmine & Jafar by Magic Carpets of Aladdin in the Agrabah Bazaar

• Mirabel in Fairytale Garden

Be sure to check when these characters will be meeting on your My Disney Experience app as not all characters will be out for the entire duration of the party.
Some of the most popular characters will start meeting before the party officially begins at 7pm. Jack and Sally will begin meeting at 4:30pm while the Seven Dwarfs begin meeting between 6:15 and 7:00 and Pooh & Friends begin meeting around 6:30.

Pure Magic Vacations Travel Tip: The two most popular character greetings are going to be Jack Skellington & Sally as well as the Seven Dwarfs. Due to their popularity, their lines and greetings open before 7pm when the party officially begins. We recommend that if they are on your “must-do” list then you head to their location as soon as you enter the park. These lines can get up to over 2 hour waits - if not visiting them first thing we recommend checking during the firework show or towards the end of the night before 11pm as their lines may close early.

Specialty Food & Beverage
As with any Disney event you can expect the culinary teams have gone all out to provide delicious festive food and beverage options all throughout the park!
You can find a full list of offerings with the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Foodie Guide here.

To highlight a few, take a look at what can be found:
Candy Cane Tart (Casey’s Corner): Chocolate tart filled with peppermint ganache and topped with festive meringue 
Italian Beef Tots (The Friar’s Nook): Tots covered in slow-cooked beef, cheese curds, zesty giardiniera, and pot roast gravy
Orange Gingerbread Shake (Golden Oak Outpost): Orange cream slushy layered with gingerbread cookie crumbles and topped with whipped cream, gingerbread spice

Festive Photo Ops
Whether it’s a photo in front of the giant Christmas tree on Main Street USA, Cinderella Castle with holiday lighting or with one of your favorite characters - this is a night you will want to remember! Throughout Magic Kingdom you will be able to find fantastic photo ops where you can step into fun frames! Additionally, Disney Photopass Photographers offer festive magic shots exclusive to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party so be sure to ask them for Magic Shot!  If you haven’t added the Memory Maker photo package to your vacation, you will definitely want to make sure you do that before attending this event.

Holiday Twists on Attractions
If you are a family who loves to spend time on the rides then listen up because there are some rides at Magic Kingdom that add a fun and festive holiday twist to them during the party. Both Space Mountain & Mad Tea Party will offer a holiday overlay that includes some festive music to enjoy while riding! Monsters Inc Laugh Floor is another one that changes during party hours. Guests who choose to sit in on the best comedy club around, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor are in for a holiday treat as the monsters come up with fun festive jokes to tell. If you choose to take a ride on Tomorrowland Indy Speedway you will be delighted to see that the track has been lit up with Christmas light displays along the way!

Lastly the most iconic and notable attraction layover is over at once was known as the Jungle Cruise however, once the holiday season hit it immediately became the JINGLE Cruise. The Jingle Cruise is available all season long and is not a party exclusive offering. Known for their witty humour, the Jungle Cruise skippers will now incorporate holiday-themed jokes and puns into their narration during the Jingle Cruise. As you are laughing all the way, keep your eyes peeled for holiday decorations within the scenes and animatronics celebrating the holiday season!

Another attraction we want to discuss is the newest one at Magic Kingdom, TRON Lightcycle/Run. If you are attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party you will have the opportunity to join this virtual queue at 6pm via the My Disney Experience app. This ride does not offer a standby queue and therefore, if you do not receive a boarding group via the app you will not be able to ride.

Pure Magic Vacations Travel Tip: If TRON Lightcycle/Run is not a must do for you or you have another day during your vacation to Magic Kingdom you may want to skip riding during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. We say this because even with the virtual queue you could be waiting 45+ minutes to ride this attraction while you could be enjoying party exclusive offerings!

Exclusive Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Merchandise
It just wouldn’t be Disney if there wasn’t exclusive merchandise being offered to party goers. This year you can choose from a variety of different items in the collection. There is a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party spirt jersey, mug, trading pin, t-shirt and so much more. You will be able to shop this collection at both the Emporium on Main Street USA (which stays open slightly after the party ends) and Mickey’s Star Traders in Tomorrowland! Additionally, there is an exclusive popcorn bucket available during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. The Mickey Toy Soldier bucket can be found at select popcorn carts throughout the event.

With so many special offerings going on throughout the party it is impossible to get it all done. We recommend taking a look through the above mentioned offerings or discussing with your Pure Magic Vacations travel agent what your must-do’s would be to ensure you don’t miss out! If you have read this far into the article, we can only assume you are experiencing some major FOMO right now (fear of missing out). Tickets are selling out fast so be sure to reach out to your Pure Magic Vacations agent to get yours reserved!

Our Pure Magic Vacations agents are ready to help make your next vacation magical and memorable. The magic is calling you, so reach out to an agent today  for a no-obligation quote.

Planning magical vacations for families since 2011, Pure Magic Vacations is an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner Travel Agency - EarMarked Platinum Producer.