Read time: about 2.75 minutes. Published 2025-12-01

In 2023, we went on a Disney vacation, and it was (mostly) amazing! It was just the two of us, and Adam had never been. Victoria hadn’t been since she was a kid, so it was almost a new experience for her as well.

One of the things we booked for the trip was Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, a special event where the park closes early to regular ticketholders and only those who got tickets for the Party are allowed to stay in the park. If you have a Party ticket, you can enter the park after 4pm, even if you don’t have a regular ticket for the day. At 6pm, they stop allowing regular ticketholders to get on rides, and by 7pm they are all made to exit the park. Then the park stays open late for the Party, which runs until midnight. 

There’s a bunch of Disney character shows and fireworks displays throughout the night, plus free Christmas themed food and drinks at special locations across the park. Plus, with fewer people in the park, you can find it much easier to enjoy your favorite rides over and over!

Now, we do have some personal thoughts on our experiences with this, but first I need to set the scene – we are two adults around 40 (give or take a few years) with no kids. So your experiences may vary quite a bit from ours. That being said, while I did enjoy some parts of the Party, I won’t be doing it again.

An important note - It's crucial that you get your wristband once they start handing them out. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get on any of the rides or access certain parts of the park. This was a detail we weren’t aware of, and found out the hard way after making our way to a ride, only to find out we needed to backtrack across the park to get a wristband first.

The time between about 6:00pm and 7:30pm demands a smart strategy. This is when thousands of regular ticketholders are being ushered out of the park while the Party guests are flowing in. This transition creates serious congestion. Unfortunately, Disney’s crowd management during this time is challenging, with parts of major walkways roped off, causing massive bottlenecks. Our advice? Use this chaotic window for an early, peaceful dinner in a less-trafficked area, or explore the side paths until the crowds thin out around 8:00 pm.

The parade routes are another logistical hurdle. They are roped off long before the parade begins—and while that's necessary for families who want a prime viewing spot, it effectively cuts the park in half. We were doing the savvy thing by hitting the best rides while most people were waiting, but if it takes 45 minutes to get from Tomorrowland to Frontierland due to all the closed-off paths and masses of parade spot campers, the ride strategy isn't working out well. They really need to have frequent crossover points for people who don't need the best vantage point. Also, the Railroad is shut down for the party, taking one of the better ways to get across the park out of commission.

The holiday food is okay. It’s mostly pretty basic stuff like pre-packaged cookies and small dixie cups of cider, eggnog, or hot coco. It’s not bad, but not great. And often the lines to get them are too long to make it worthwhile.

The shows are the heart of the party, specifically designed for young children, but honestly are pretty underwhelming if you’re a child-free couple. With some of the families we passed, the kids were disinterested, and the parents were exhausted. So even if you are bringing your kids to Disney, this late-night event with a lot of waiting around for the shows to start might not be the best way to enjoy your family vacation.

Overall, if you’re an absolute Disney SUPERFAN, or parents of kids who DO want to watch Chip & Dale dance around for 20 minutes, and you don’t mind standing around for an hour to see it, then I say go for it! You’ll have a blast! If you’re just looking for a good way to enjoy your Disney vacation, skip this and spend another day at Epcot or Hollywood studios.