A photo tour of the Christmas Decorations at Walt Disney World in Orlando during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - including main street decorations, the fireworks show, and our favorite spots!
Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party
We recently visited Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida for the first time with my kids.
While it was hectic (I will be sharing my top Disney World tips soon, especially for the Anti-Disney parent) with a three and five year old, we did love how magical Disney World at Christmas is. We stayed at The Four Seasons Orlando at Disney World and loved it!
The entire park is spectacularly decorated, and it all comes alive. It is so charming and magical - it definitely one of the best times to visit!
One of the nights we were there, we opted to buy tickets to the special Mickey Very Merry Christmas Party. The party is a fun celebration full of parades and special appearances, and closed to anyone who doesn't have a ticket to the event.
Hot tip: Love Disney? Visit Fort Collins and see the town that helped inspire main street!
While most people who attend the party opt to watch the parades and meet characters, we decided that the pouring rain and cool temps (not complaining- we are from Colorado and to us the 70 degree weather was amazing, though many people around us were not quite so pleased with the temperature) meant that we should head straight for the rides.
We literally walked on almost every ride all night- it didn't matter much that Fast Pass Plus isn't offered during the party time, since so many people are there for the unique experiences- while we just wanted to do as many rides as possible!
I love the way Main Street is all lit up, and bustling with holiday decorations. It is so dreamy!
My kids love that Elsa had "frozen" the Cinderella castle.
The decor changed throughout the night, but anytime my daughter saw the icicles out, she would exclaim "Oh! That naughty Elsa froze the castle again!! It's sooooo preeeeeety!"
I can't tell you how much I love this castle. I grew up outside of L.A. and have been to DisneyLand numerous times, but this was my first time at Disney World. The Cinderella castle here is definitely much larger, and so beautiful!
We timed our trip to be leaving right during the nighttime fireworks show. We didn't want to have to fight crowds on the monorail home- so we walked with our kids in a stroller backwards towards the exit as we watched the fireworks.
It sounds silly- but it helped us leave so quickly, and by that time we were all soaking and exhausted.
If you're with kids and want to watch the fireworks, but don't want to deal with throngs of people afterwards, make your way to the exit as you watch!
There is really no place on earth who does a fireworks show like Disney. It was full of music, crazy long, and spectacular. There were also lots of character appearances during the show!
The weather was a little less than ideal, so we didn't do everything that was on our list-- and we were pretty exhausted from spending the day hanging out at our hotel's fabulous pool (with lazy river!!!), but we were so happy we went to the party!
Next time we will wait a few more years before going though-- and use a lot of really helpful tips we figured out along the way. Stay tuned here this week to see my best tips for surviving Disney!
Looking for a magical, Disney-feeling towing to visit in Europe? Head to Cesky Krumlov in Czechia!
Patty K
Walking backwards towards the exit? Great tip!
Courtney ODell
Obviously slowly, and look where you are going... but it worked really well for us to watch the fireworks while walking out! Most of the walkways are clear, as the staff makes sure if you're on them you are moving. This was a perfect solution for us! 🙂
Courtney ODell
And I'll add, it was perfect since we rented a stroller. My kids would have not kept up! LOL.