Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Review (Our Experience in 2025)

If I were going to write a love letter to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, this review would be it. As someone who’s attended the party as a guest and an observer for over a decade, I have to admit I love it. From the perspective of a Disney fan, the party has so many elements that I find endearing. A few of them even make me tear up. As someone who writes about these things to help others, I find that while the party has some flaws, most guests will be able to find the value they are seeking.

It’s been a while since I’ve written a review of this nature. With so much going on, it’s difficult to cover everything to the extent that I would like. So even though it’s taken me a few weeks to get to it, I wanted to put together some thoughts on the party, our experience, and looking forward to next year. If you’re on the fence about whether a future party is worth the investment, I hope this will help you gain some clarity. Instead of a play-by-play of everything, this review is more of an outline of standouts (big and small) that I felt were worth mentioning.

Setting Expectations

If you’ve been to a previous party, you probably have an idea of what to expect. Those darn expectations are really something, though. They can make or break anything if we let them. I say this because you should expect crowds. As I write this, it’s a few days before Thanksgiving, and all 2025 party dates are completely sold out. The demand is there, and apparently so is the money to pay for it.

If you’re going to the party, you should expect a line for cookies, a line for rides, and extreme lines for characters. You might find some low waits and lulls here and there, but overall, it’s going to be busy. When my son was younger, we used to go to the party strictly to experience low waits for attractions. You will find some low waits, especially later in the evening or if you elect to skip some of the major entertainment. These days, I would recommend purchasing tickets to a Disney After Hours event or splurging on Lightning Lane options on a regular park day to experience shorter waits.

As far as expectations, the only other major issue that comes to mind is being realistic about how much you can do in one evening. So many people buy a ticket for the party so they can enter at 4:00 p.m. and stay until midnight. They arrive early and get in the massive line that we’ll discuss more below. It is such a long day, and if you’re not used to staying up that late regularly, you could be running low on fumes by the end of the night. I have tried it many ways over the years and have found that I do so much better when I arrive at about 6:00 p.m. and stay until midnight. For me, that is manageable, and I prefer more of the party atmosphere later than over the period between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m.

Obviously, I don’t know what’s best for you. This is, however, something a little outside of the box that you might consider. Because…if you arrive at 3:00 p.m. and then end up leaving by 10:30 p.m. or 11:00 p.m., you might regret not shutting the party down. I like to shut the place down whenever I can. It’s so much more fun than being early.

Standing In Line at the Entrance vs. Wristband Distribution

As an annual passholder, I have the opportunity to walk into the park on party days and pick up my band at one of the wristband distribution centers. This is 1000% the way to go.

You do not want to stand in the party pen, shown below, for an hour or more waiting to get inside when the clock starts at 4:00 p.m. For reference, the picture below was taken on the night of the first party at about 2:00 p.m. By 3:45 p.m. on party nights, it’s so busy that it can be difficult to walk down the monorail platform to get to the regular turnstiles.

While we’re on this subject, I’ve been at the park on party days when rain seemingly comes out of nowhere. I have seen hundreds of people stand there in the pouring rain with no place to go. You are literally stuck there in a mass of guests, completely subject to the weather. (The only real reason to enter the party here at 4:00 p.m. is if you want to meet Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws and Sally. They begin meeting at 4:30 p.m., and their line starts at 4:00 p.m. You have to have a party wristband to join their queue. You will not be able to secure your wristband elsewhere in the park and get back to this location before a long line has formed.)

I rest my case for arriving at 4:30 p.m. or later if you only have a single party ticket. Now, if you have a ticket that allows you to enter the park earlier, you can always pick up your wristband and complimentary party gift at one of the wristband distribution centers inside the park. We tested this process at the location in front of PhilharMagic this year, and it worked well. Here is a photo of the small line of guests at 4:00 p.m. We waited less than five minutes to get our band.

Here is a look at the party band that was distributed on the evening of our party. You will have to show these throughout the first half of the evening to move between lands and board attractions.

We also received a complimentary party ornament and a holiday marshmallow along with our party band.

This year’s ornament features Mickey and Minnie Mouse in a red truck carrying a Christmas tree. It’s a nice touch.

The Market Street Welcome

Whether you enter the party at the park’s entrance or pick up a wristband in the park, I do recommend taking a moment to walk through the Market Street Welcome. This area is exclusive to party guests. It’s also where most guests will receive their complimentary gifts. The Omnibus is usually parked out front with a sign that points guests in the right direction.

It’s a festive entrance that starts to get you in the party mood.

Disney has a DJ spinning tunes along with festive decor.

We saw a few stiltwalkers posing with guests for photos.

The gingerbread men that are part of the Christmas parade were also out greeting guests. I was a little bit shocked to find about 40 guests standing in line to meet them. I’m not sure why I was shocked because I cover many meet-and-greets, and long lines are often the norm.

My favorite things about the welcome area were these signs that served as attraction posters for the party. The one below mentions Santa’s Christmas Carnival at Storybook Circus.

Another one advertises the holiday overlay at the Tomorrowland Speedway.

How We Handled Dinner + Party Snacks

I am of the strong opinion that most people will want to eat dinner before the party’s official start time and snack as desired throughout the evening. Over the years, we’ve tried everything, including one year having dinner at Be Our Guest at about 7:00 p.m. on a party night. (I would not recommend doing that unless you’ve done everything else.) For me, what works best is enjoying a meal outside of the park by 5:00 p.m. or dinner inside the park by 6:00 p.m.

This year, I went to the second party alone, and I planned to eat at Wailulu Bar and Grill at the Polynesian by about 4:30 p.m. and then head to the park. We had some unseasonably cold weather that week, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to deal with the cold weather for long after it got dark. So, last minute, I decided to head on to Magic Kingdom and grab a bite to eat.

When it comes to dining at Magic Kingdom, I often labor over the options. Most (not all) of the park food is underwhelming, which seems so odd when parks like Animal Kingdom and Epcot have so many great options. I’m a member of the Cosmic Rays fan club, and often you’ll find me munching on a chicken tenders kids’ meal out of what feels like pure desperation. Anyway, after scrolling through options in the My Disney Experience app at least 10 times, I realized I hadn’t dined at Gaston’s Tavern in years. To make this long story short, it was great. I had the ham and Gruyère cheese croissant sandwich and the Crème Brûlée Croissant. 10/10 would recommend.

Another surprise factor was the lines for complimentary cookie locations. While these lines move rather quickly, they are extreme and intimidating. That said, most of the cookies I was able to try were quite tasty. I also picked up a few allergy-friendly options. As the evening passed, the cookie lines died down. It was so busy, however, that some places had run out and were offering flavors we’d picked up at other locations.

My 2 Must-Do Meet-and-Greets at the Party

Okay, if you’ve read over our character guide for this year’s party, you know we waited in some long lines. This is nothing new. So if I had to pick two characters that were worth the unique photo op this year, it would be Daisy Duck, Scrooge, and Donald Duck. They meet at Pete’s Silly Sideshow during the party.

The other option I would choose would be to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse together at Town Square Theater in holiday costumes. If you’re a fan of classic characters, these are undeniably the best.

The Most Underrated Thing at The Christmas Party

Normally, I would go on and on about the entertainment offerings at the Christmas Party. Namely, the parade, fireworks, and stage show. They are truly the highlight of the evening for most, and I love them. That said, these are experiences I’ve had many times with little to no changes in recent years. So they aren’t necessarily something I have to do. This year, I missed the first parade because I was meeting characters. I watched the Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime fireworks from the bridge in front of Be Our Guest, and I missed the second parade because I was too cold to wait outside for it.

That said, I was blown away by all the holiday decorations in Santa’s Christmas Carnival, aka Storybook Circus. I walked through this area a couple of times during the party this year and found it delightful. I kind of feel like this area, in general, is geared more towards kids, and that regular park guests don’t always make it back here. So make sure to check it out on the night of your party.

The Little Things

As if Santa’s Christmas Carnival wasn’t enough, I felt like I noticed more and more little things this year that brought a smile to my face. For instance, the holiday overlay at Mad Tea Party with the projection of the Cheshire Cat slowly disappearing, only to resurface seconds later.

The area around the Tangled restrooms was also lit with pretty purple and green colors.

Other attractions feature special overlays during the party, like Haunted Mansion and the Tomorrowland Speedway, which has a special Christmas overlay called The Tomorrowland Speedway Race Through the Holidays. Again, these are just a few of the little things that stood out.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I was very happy to attend this year’s party and thankful that it went smoothly, even with the chilly weather. As you probably can tell, I almost entirely toured the party as an observer this year. But I still had a great time and felt good about what I was able to get out of it.

My intentions for going, though, are likely entirely different than yours. So you’ll want to think about what you perceive as value and form a loose plan of how you want to lay your evening out. If you’re standing in the Magic Kingdom at 4:30 p.m., looking at the party map for the first time, you might be in trouble. As someone very comfortable with the ebb and flow of the party, I still had a list of priorities for the evening. Most of them got checked off, a few things changed over the course of the night, and some things simply didn’t happen. And that was perfectly okay.

I hope this review helped with your thought process and maybe even helped you realize some hard truths. I would never want anyone to read the words I had a great time and base it on their own idea of a good time. If you would like to learn all the ins and outs of the party not discussed in this review, our guide is a good place to start:

In the Comments

Did you find our review of this year’s party helpful? What did you take away from it? What advice would you give based on your experience? Let us know below in the comments or on our social media.