The holidays have arrived in Disney World — and you know what that means? It means it’s time for the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in Magic Kingdom.

Bring on the snoap, the fun holiday parade, the entertainment, the special characters…we are HERE for it. But more importantly, what we REALLY love to do at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is eat (yes, yes, I know you are SO surprised). So we tried some of the new eats at this year’s party and we’re going to give you our honest thoughts about ALL of them!

Alright, let’s get to eating! We’re heading to Aloha Isle in Adventureland first to try two party-exclusive floats. The Holiday Pineapple-Orange-Guava Juice Float is made with Pineapple-orange-guava juice, coconut soft-serve, and a spiced pineapple tree pop for $9.00. Yep, it’s a POG float with coconut soft-serve, and we were very intrigued! However, while there wasn’t anything wrong with this one, it was just meh. We really didn’t feel it was worth $9, as it didn’t feel very festive other than the Christmas tree cake pop on the side which tasted like gingerbread cake (we enjoyed that!). Overall, it’s not bad, but we just don’t feel it’s worth your money when it’s so basic.

We also picked up the Cranberry Citrus Float for $6.49. It’s made with Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry and fruity boba pearls topped with DOLE Whip. This one was really the standout here, as it felt much more festive and the flavors worked so well together! The popping pearls were a great difference in texture, and overall, out of the two, we recommend this one way more.

Okay, we’re heading into Tomorrowland to stop by Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies. We picked up the Lump of Coal in Your Stocking, which is the only lump of coal we WANT to see this holiday season. It’s $8.49 and it’s a Cookies and cream shake topped with whipped cream, cookies and cream crumbles, and a chocolate doughnut hole. This is just your standard cookies and cream milkshake, so while it wasn’t anything special, it wasn’t bad! We don’t think it’s worth $9 though.

We also picked up the Smoky Chocolate Brownie Sundae for $8.29, which is a house-baked brownie topped with smoky chocolate soft-serve covered in chocolate cone dip topped with marshmallows and festive sprinkles. Stay tuned for tasting notes! This one honestly gets points for just being weird! The chocolate coating is where the smoky flavor comes from, and you really won’t taste the smoky-ness until the aftertaste. It kinda tastes like you’re eating campfire smoke, and while it’s interesting, it’s likely not going to be a winner for a lot of guests.

Okay, time to double back to Main Street, U.S.A. to visit Casey’s Corner for its exclusive party snacks. The Holiday Dinner Hot Dog is an All-beef hot dog with turkey and gravy, fried onions, and cranberry sauce for $12.99. We loved all the flavors on top of this hot dog, they were a real winner, but the bun and hot dog itself took a little bit away from those flavors. If you’re looking for a meal with all these wonderful Thanksgiving flavors, this is the one to go with over the fries, in our eyes.

We paired that with the Holiday Dinner Loaded French Fries for $6.99, which are French fries with turkey and gravy, fried onions, and cranberry sauce. Yes, that is INTERESTING, to say the least. And just like with the hot dog, we LOVED these flavors! The toppings were very generous, and we preferred this flavor profile with the fries over the hot dog by just a little bit. We do think this is shareable if you’re only looking for a snack, but it could also be a meal for one person!

The Candy Cane Tart for $6.29 is a Chocolate tart filled with peppermint ganache topped with festive meringue. We LOVED this snack for its nice minty flavor in the past, but how does it fare this year? We loved how creamy and soft the chocolate filling was, and while the peppermint on top was very light, but definitely didn’t skimp on that peppermint flavor. While we thought it was very good, it’s not something to necessarily go out of your way for when you’re about to get a ton of free cookies.

The Black Currant and Mint Lemonade for $7.29 is new, so we had to try it, too. We didn’t expect to enjoy this, to be honest, but we loved the combination of the tart and sweet, and the mint really helps break up the sweetness of the rest of the slushy. It’s certainly more advanced and complex than most slushy drinks, so while we wouldn’t necessarily say to get it, if you’re looking for something interesting, it’s worth a try!

How about some ice cream? Plaza Ice Cream Parlor is offering a Gingerbread Milk Shake made with vanilla ice cream, gingerbread syrup, and ginger snap crumbles topped with whipped cream and a chocolate piece for $8.99. While this was super soft and creamy, it really just tasted like a vanilla milkshake with something off. It took us a few sips to even notice the gingerbread flavor, and while we thought the toppings were cute, we don’t think this is really worth the spend.

You can also get a Peppermint Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich for $7.49. It’s peppermint ice cream sandwiched between two oatmeal-peppermint chip cookies and rolled in candy cane pieces. This is 100% shareable, despite what you may think at first. The peppermint ice cream was fantastic with maximum peppermint taste, but we did with there were candy cane pieces mixed into the ice cream, not just on the outside! We also really loved how unique the cookies were — they weren’t necessarily fantastic, but they were so unique, which earned it points in our book. If you’ve got someone to share it with and you like BOTH oatmeal cookies and peppermint ice cream, give this a try, but otherwise, just stick with the holiday treats!

We stopped by the Main Street, U.S.A. pretzel cart to try the Festive Pretzel, which is a Jumbo pretzel with chocolate-hazelnut drizzle, caramel sauce, TWIX Cookie Bar Pieces, and festive sprinkles for $12.50. Yep, this baby has a LOT going on, but we loved it! The savory and sweet combination was incredible, even though the pretzel was slightly stale. It was SO messy with all that hazelnut spread and they don’t skimp on the toppings, but it’s certainly shareable, and we overall recommend this one!

We also HAD to try the Gingerbread Cola for $5.00, which is Coca-Cola served with gingerbread syrup. Okay…we were curious, but we have to tell you — this thing is WEIRD. It’s sickly sweet and reminds us of a medicine, if we’re honest. The gingerbread syrup is a hint of cinnamon and sugar, but again it has a syrupy sweetness like it’s trying to hide a bitter taste. If you’re looking for a pick-me-up, we just recommend a regular coke.

On to Fantasyland. At The Friar’s Nook, you can pick up the Holiday Pot Roast Hot Dog for $12.99. This is an all-beef hot dog topped with braised pot roast, Swiss fondue, horseradish mustard, and crispy onions. This was one of our reporter’s favorite thing she had! She loved the horseradish mustard and the crunch of the onions, but our other reporter thought it was dull and thought it just tasted like a normal hot dog.

The Italian Beef Tots certainly sound good. They’re $11.29 and are tots topped with braised beef, cheese curds, zesty giardiniera, and red wine gravy. So they’re sorta’ like poutine, but with tots. These are heartier fries than what you’ll find at Casey’s Corner during the party, and we love how the pot roast truly tasted homemade. We do wish there were more cheese curds, but overall, it was solid!

Gotta’ try something sweet, of COURSE, so we ordered the Sugar Cookie Hand Pie for $6.29. It’s sugar cookie dough wrapped in a flaky crust with icing and festive sprinkles. This was controversial for our team — it’s such a strange treat with how crispy it is on the outside (thanks to that glaze on the outside), but since it was so warm, the glaze was melting down our hands! It was a little too messy and sticky for us, but for one of our reporters, it was worth it because the inside literally tasted like licking sugar cookie dough off the spoon. It gave her those warm holiday feelings you want from treats like this, but for our other reporter, it wasn’t worth the mess. If you’re sensitive to being slightly sticky and/or getting messy, this likely will NOT be the treat for you, but if you love sweets and you’re willing to brave it, we say go for it.

The Toasted Marshmallow-Panna Cotta Tart with graham cracker, ganache, and a macaron for $6.49 certainly got our attention. This was NOT great in our opinion. It was super thin and watery in our opinion and the marshmallow topping reminded us of a strange frosting. While the salted caramel macaron was good, it wasn’t enough to save the whole treat.

Our final sweet treat here was the Eggnog Shake, which is made with eggnog soft-serve with ginger snap crumbles topped with whipped cream and festive sprinkles for $8.49. This was one of our reporter’s favorite ice cream of the night! It truly tastes like straight eggnog (without the liquor, of course). It was super refreshing but also heavy and comforting like eggnog is. If you’re a fan of the drink and like ice cream, definitely give this a try!

The flatbreads at Pinocchio Village Haus are always hit or miss, but we had to try the special party-exclusive Baked Brie Flatbread for $13.29. It’s made with a brie-cheese spread, mango chutney, green apples, arugula, almonds, and a honey drizzle. This was fantastic! A perfect mix of sweet and savory and the Brie is melted really well, is super creamy, and has a great flavor. The mango chutney reminded us more of orange marmalade, but it was delicious nonetheless, and the mango flavor wasn’t overpowering. The fruity chutney really complements the Brie, and the apples were a wonderful texture, adding a bit of crunch and tartness to the dish. The arugula was a little sparse but when you did get a piece it worked really well with all the flavors. The sweet honey drizzle was the perfect finish and we were just so impressed with how well all the flavors worked together. We highly recommend for slightly more adventurous eaters!

We also grabbed the Black Forest Parfait, a flourless chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and cherry chantilly topped with brandy-cherry compote and chocolate popping candies for $5.99. This was really tasty as well, but we wished there was a bit less whipped cream on top. The chocolate cake and chocolate mousse had a wonderful deep chocolate flavor and the cherry compote was fantastic. The compote has full soft cherries mixed in that add a pop of tartness, but we will say we didn’t notice any popping candies on top like the description says. If you’re a fan of Black Forest cake, this parfait does not disappoint, it has all the flavors and they combine perfectly!

But hold on, we’re JUST getting started. It’s over to Frontierland to hit up Golden Oak Outpost next. Here, we tried the Holiday Chicken Nugget Platter. For $11.29, you get crispy chicken nuggets with sage butter and cranberry barbecue glaze served with mashed potatoes and corn. While we didn’t dislike this, we’ll be honest and say we don’t think it was worth the price. It’s more of a kids meal size, and for $11, that’s a LOT to pay for something that won’t fill you up. We also couldn’t taste a lot of the barbecue sauce because it was only drizzled only the chicken nuggets. Overall, it’s okay if you want something savory, but we don’t think it’s worth it.

You KNOW we weren’t going to pass up the Festive Beignets for $7.29. You get 3 light and fluffy beignets dusted with blue sugar cookie dust and served with cookie butter icing. Um…YUM? We LOVED these! We didn’t think you could make beignets any better, but these DO! We loved the cookie butter icing and the sugar cookie dust — it was very messy, but totally worth it to us. If you love sweets, this is something you’ve got to try!

You know that fried ice cream you can get at your local Mexican restaurant? Well, Disney has a Fried Ice Cream Christmas Tree and it’s made with peppermint ice cream rolled in cereal topped with green cookie butter whipped cream and festive sprinkles for $8.79. This was just weird, and our reporter usually loves a good friend ice cream. It fell apart so easily, and it was nothing to write home about. It was essentially mush, and while the peppermint flavor came through, we don’t think it was worth the price.

Yee-haw! Let’s get on over to Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe to see the goodies available there. We were pretty stoked to try the Carne Asada Loaded Fries for $11.99, which are seasoned french fries with carne asada, chipotle queso, caramelized onion, avocado salsa verde, and queso fresco. Unfortunately, these weren’t our favorite. They’re very seasoned and were delicious themselves but the carne asada was very tough and had a very strong smoky/chili pepper flavor. The chipotle queso was similar to plastic cheese with a bit of chipotle flavor. We liked the creaminess the queso fresco added and the avocado salsa verde added additional creaminess, and chili pepper and chipotle were definitely the overwhelming flavors in this dish, but the meat just wasn’t great because it was so tough.

We paired those fries with a Salted Caramel Horchata for $5.49. Okay, so we LOVE horchata, so what did we think of this take on the classic Mexican drink? This, on the other hand, was fantastic! Definitely a very sweet drink but the combination of milk, cinnamon and caramel was wonderful. The balance between all the flavors was great and they melded together really well. A delicious horchata!

Okay, one more stop on our Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party snacks trail. We’re at Liberty Square to enjoy the party offerings at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments. The Orange Chicken Tenders for $10.99 are fried chicken tenders with orange-soy glaze, glass noodles, green onions, and crispy garlic. These were…okay. The glass noodles in this dish were crunchy and hard, which we’re not sure was a good thing, and while we didn’t mind that the orange sauce on the tenders was your “regular” orange sauce, the tenders were almost dry. They’re hard to cut up in the box, but they’re too saucy to pick up with your fingers, so while we didn’t hate these, we didn’t love them either.

We also ordered the Szechuan Cauliflower, which is spicy breaded cauliflower tossed in szechuan-soy glaze for $8.99. Spicy? We’ll be the judge of that…and the verdict is that while this was our favorite of the three items here, it still wasn’t great. The cauliflower was soft on the inside and had a nice breading, which paired well along with the sauce that had actual spice to it (so definitely may not be great for kids or picky eaters). This would be what we’d recommend over the other meal here, but there are so many better options at the party.

The last thing on our list? The Brownie Peppermint Bark with peppermint candy pieces for $5.49. WOW y’all, we won’t sugarcoat it — this was bad. It was immensely hard and tasted so stale it was practically inedible. Our reporter took one bite of it and had to fight the urge to spit it out. It has the potential to have a nice chocolate flavor, but it was entirely masked by how stale it was.

There are also several returning items that we tried in previous years. For example, the iconic Letter to Santa treat is back at Main Street Bakery. This is made with flourless chocolate cake, hot cocoa mousse, and marshmallows topped with chocolate pieces. And how adorable is it that it’s shaped like a mailbox for all the letters to Santa?!

This flour-less chocolate cake might be deceiving as it holds its form so perfectly, but it is really chocolate MOUSSE! The smooth and fluffy mousse was amazing. There’s marshmallow in the middle (that almost looks like a hidden Mickey!) which adds so much to the chocolate flavor. It’s a little messy if you’re picking it up to eat because all the decorative sugar, icing, and white chocolate pieces tend to fall off.

The Peppermint Brownie Sundae features peppermint ice cream, hot fudge, and candy cane pieces served on a brownie. The brownie was heavy on the fudge in a good way and there was also a lot of hot fudge on top of it! Do beware though that this treat melts very quickly, so eat it fast! It’s also very sweet, so if you don’t have a sweet tooth and love chocolate and peppermint, this isn’t for you. But if you do like those flavors, you should really enjoy this!

On Main Street and at the popcorn cart by Cinderella Castle, you can once again snag the Red Velvet Christmas Wreath Doughnut. The cake was moist and delicious, but we weren’t the biggest fan of the frosting — it just tasted like sugar with crunchy sprinkles!

In Frontierland at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, the Chocolate Eggnog Reindeer returned as an exclusive sweet.

This treat is a chocolate tart topped with eggnog mousse and chocolate antlers. If you’re not an eggnog fan, just know right off the bat that when they call this an eggnog dessert they mean it. The eggnog mousse definitely tastes like eggnog. But it goes really well with the thick and rich chocolate tart it sets on top of. We would consider the chocolate more of a dark chocolate; it’s more bitter than it is sweet.

Sleepy Hollow brought back a couple of sweet treats this year. First is the Holiday Waffle Sundae, which is a house-made red velvet waffle topped with M&M’s chocolate candies, peppermint ice cream, and hot fudge.

It is a great size — easily shareable with two or three people. The waffle fills up the whole plate! It was a very dark red velvet cake waffle with a good chocolatey flavor. Along with the chocolate syrup on top, we loved the minty, cool, peppermint ice cream. The ice cream melts quickly, since the waffle is hot, which makes it something you want to eat rather fast. The red and green candies on top are a fun addition and add an extra texture and crunch.

You can also grab the Milk and Cookies for Santa, which is a brown sugar cookie cake topped with chocolate chip cookie dough mousse, milk mousse, and chocolate chip cookies. 

This one is definitely a single serving — not something we’d share. The portion size seems a bit pricey for what you get compared to the waffle sundae. It has a milk mousse on the top that really does taste like milk, along with a brown sugar cake in the center, and on the bottom is a chocolate chip cookie dough mousse. Altogether this tastes rich and decadent — like a grown-up version of eating raw cookie dough. The cookies on top are nothing special. The cake has a really light texture and the brown sugar flavor is very enjoyable. It’s the best part of the dish.

The adorable Santa Belt Buckle (made with pistachio mousse with a dark chocolate truffle center and a chocolate buckle) moved this year from Sunshine Tree Terrace to the Pretzel Cart near Storybook Circus. We were surprised by how much we liked this! It was absolutely incredible and possibly one of the best desserts we had all night. It was light and airy and leaned heavily on the pistachio flavor. We didn’t find it to be overly sweet but the chocolate in the middle did give it a nice sweetness. The shortbread gave the dessert a buttery flavor and a nice texture too. We wish we had ordered more!

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe had ALL returning menu items this year — here are our thoughts on those!

The Holiday Pot Roast Melt is a hearty sandwich with slow-cooked beef on thick toast with cheddar and provolone cheese and beef gravy. We LOVED this sandwich. The pot roast was so savory and fatty, it just melted in our mouths. It really was just like a homemade pot roast that we’d make in the Crockpot! The cheese was really good, and the bread was soft and warm. We could’ve used an acidic element to balance out all the heavy, warm flavors, but we’d definitely still get this sandwich again. Overall it was a delicious snack and the epitome of comfort food.

The Holiday Turkey Burger is a burger with a turkey patty topped with traditional stuffing, provolone cheese, and cranberry chutney on a brioche bun. First of all, we need to talk about how HUGE this burger is! It’s a bit of a monster, with the stuffing building it up so high that it’s pretty difficult to get a whole bite of all the elements. The burger itself was fairly basic, but the stuffing was loaded with flavor. It was a bit on the mushy side, but the flavor was great and the cranberry made for a perfect sweet-and-savory bite.

The Christmas Cookie Cake is a Christmas cookie cake roll with buttercream and topped with holiday sprinkles. This treat is WILD. If you’re a fan of those “break and bake” sugar cookies from the grocery store, you’ll absolutely love this. That’s exactly what the “cake” part tasted like! The icing really reminded us of real buttercream icing. Overall this was a super fun, tasty, and high-quality treat.

Okay, y’all, we are TIRED. We ate a LOT, but we wanted to make sure you knew about everything available at the party! We’ll be here all NIGHT, so stay tuned to DFB for more.

How To Ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Which snack are you looking forward to trying the most at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party? Let us know in the comments!