As of November 8th, 2024, the holiday season has begun at Magic Kingdom! On this date, the very first Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party took place. If you are headed to Walt Disney World this holiday season, 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: Red Velvet Cookie & Apple Cider

• Columbia Harbour House, Liberty Square: Caramel Pretzel Cookie & Hot Cocoa

• Gaston's Tavern, Fantasyland: Gingerbread Cookie & Eggnog

• Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, Tomorrowland: Classic Iced Sugar Cookie & Hot Cocoa

• The Lunching Pad, Tomorrowland: Peppermint Frosted Cookie & Apple Cider

**Allergy Friendly Treats (Homefree Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies, Homefree Mini Gingersnap Granola, Homefree Mini Chocolate Mint Cookies and Safe+Fair Gingerbread 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!

NEW! Santa’s Christmas Carnival 
A must-visit destination for families filled with joyful Christmas cheer and North Pole Friends. Meet Santa and share your holiday wishes with him. Take part in crafts and activities for young partygoers, including writing a letter to Santa.

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! 

 

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!

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, Chip n' Dale or Santa Goofy & Max! 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! 

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
• Princess Elena at Town Square Theatre exit
• Gingerbread Men along Market Street (only between 4pm - 8pm)
• Captain Jack Sparrow beside Pirates of the Caribbean
• Moana at the Enchanted Tiki Room
• Friends of Aladdin in Agrabah
• Mary Poppins in Liberty Square Gazebo
• Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen at Liberty Square Riverboat
• Anna & Elsa (in their holiday dresses) at Princess Fairytale Hall
• Cinderella & Prince Charming and Rapunzel & Flynn Rider at Princess Fairytale Hall
• Princess Aurora and Prince Philip in Fantasyland Courtyard with Snow White & the Prince
• Belle (in her Christmas dress) at her cottage
• Ariel and Prince Eric outside of Under the Sea: Voyage of the Little Mermaid
• Minnie, Daisy, Donald and Scrooge at Pete’s Silly Sideshow
• Friends of Winnie the Pooh at Pooh’s Thotful Spot
• Friends from Alice in Wonderland at Mad Tea Party
• Mirabel and Bruno in Fairytale Garden
• Stitch across from Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor 

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.

Pure Magic Vacations Travel Tip: The two most popular character greetings are going to be Jack Skellington & Sally. 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:

Holiday Dinner Loaded French Fries (Casey's Corner): French fries with turkey and gravy, fried onions and cranberry sauce
Holiday Pineapple-Orange-Guava Juice Float (Aloha Isle): Pineapple-orange-guava juice, coconut soft-serve and a spiced pineapple tree pop
Fried Ice Cream Christmas Tree (Golden Oak Outpost):  Peppermint ice cream rolled in cereal topped with green cookie butter whipped cream and festive sprinkles

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 1 hour after the party ends) and Mickey’s Star Traders in Tomorrowland! Be sure to keep an eye out at select popcorn stands for exclusive popcorn buckets as well!

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.