Oh, there’s no place like home for the HOLIDAYS!

Disney World wastes no time saying goodbye to spooky season and hello to sweater weather festivities. We’ve already had a look at themed decorations and spotted the first of the wintery merchandise, but now it’s time to deck the halls with Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! Follow along with us as we check out OPENING NIGHT of Disney World’s exclusive after-hours Holiday event!

We’ll be updating this post throughout the night as we experience more of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so keep checking back for the latest!

Before we really get things started for tonight’s fa-la-la-la-la fun, here’s a little background on the event. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is a separately ticketed event that happens on select nights in Magic Kingdom from now through December 22nd. It takes place after the park closes to regular guests for the day (the park closes early on party days, at 6PM) and requires you to buy a separate ticket to attend.

If you don’t have to have a regular Magic Kingdom ticket for the day, no worries — your ticket to the party will get you into the park. However, if you’re already planning on being in Magic Kingdom earlier in the day with your park admission and a Park Pass Reservation, you can get into the park three hours before the party starts!

Although the parties officially start at 7PM, you can get in as early as 4PM with just the event’s ticket.

Tickets start at $159 and go up to $199, depending on the date you choose to buy tickets for. You can take a look at all of the dates and pricing right here! There are a lot of things returning to the party this year and some new stuff, so let’s get into it.

Click here to see all of the DATES and PRICING for the Christmas Party!

Getting Started

As we mentioned earlier, if you have a ticket to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, you can get into Magic Kingdom starting at 4PM on the day of the party without having any other kind of park ticket or a Park Pass Reservation.

Once you scan into the park, you will be given a wristband by a Cast Member.

This year’s wristband is pretty plain-looking. Make sure you keep your wristband on throughout the night as that’s how the Cast Members will know you’re there for the party!

If you’ve already used a park ticket earlier to experience Magic Kingdom for the day (meaning you’ve scanned a separate park ticket for entrance earlier in the day), you can pick up your wristband at different spots around the park — like this one in Adventureland.

It’s also important to keep in mind that certain food and merchandise locations may have limited hours tonight. For example, Aloha Isle is open until 9PM, Pecos Bill’s is open until 11PM, and Market Street is open until 8PM.

Crowds

When we arrived right before 4PM, there were already a LOT of people lined up waiting to get inside the park.

We made our way over to the entrance and joined the line of other people waiting to get into the party like us!

We’re here in Magic Kingdom for the very FIRST NIGHT of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! Here’s what crowds are looking like about 30 minutes before the gates open to guests with party tickets. Stay tuned for ALL of the festive fun! 🎄✨ pic.twitter.com/jVqETmxpUQ

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

Once we were in, we stopped to take it all in — and saw all the crowds that were still in the park. Before Magic Kingdom closes to regular park-goers is typically the busiest part of the night, but once people clear out things get a little bit roomier.

Over toward the castle, plenty of people were milling about, so we trudged on and made our way around the rest of Magic Kingdom to see what this party has to offer.

Here comes the wave of party-goers!

See What Crowds Look Like During a SOLD OUT Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in Disney World

Party Map

As you make your way inside the park for the party, you can find party maps with all of the important info for the night!

This map will show you a revised version of the park map specific to the party offerings along with which attractions are open, entertainment info, cookie stops, and more.

The other side of the map has useful info, like the specialty treats available for purchase only during the party.

Food

You can snag FREE cookies and drinks at the event like sugar cookies and apple cider!

Look for big peppermint-printed inflatables to find all the free treat locations.

See Where You Can Find Free Treats at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

There are a whole lot of new snacks and treats at this year’s party, and we’ll be updating this post as we try them all out! Although there are lots of holiday-themed treats in Magic Kingdom available during the day, we’re focusing on the party-exclusive treats here — stay tuned to see what we find!

We kicked things off with the Letter to Santa from Main Street Bakery.

Party-exclusive treat time! This is the Letter to Santa – a flourless chocolate cake, hot cocoa mousse, and marshmallows topped with chocolate pieces for $5.49! pic.twitter.com/UTWi4YClco

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

This is made with flourless chocolate cake, hot cocoa mousse, and marshmallows topped with chocolate pieces.

Check Out Our Review of This Treat Here

We stopped by Sleepy Hollow Refreshments to try a few treats there — the Holiday Waffle Sundae and the Milk and Cookies for Santa!

This waffle may be one of our new favorite snacks in Disney World.

See Our Full Review of These Treats

Over at Friar’s Nook, we grabbed quite a few treats to try.

We got the Holiday Ham Fried Pie, Italian Beef Tots, Peppermint Snowman, and the Winter Milkshake.

Find Out What We Thought of These Eats Here

And at Casey’s Corner, we tried the Candy Cane Tart!

Over at Casey’s Corner, you can find the Candy Cane Tart: Chocolate tart filled with peppermint ganache and topped with festive meringue for $5.79! ✨ pic.twitter.com/sxloKT3OiB

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

This one reminded us of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies! Check out our full review below.

See Our FULL REVIEW of This Treat Here

The Magic Holiday Tree from Cool Ship is made with coconut, pecans, and M&M’s chocolate candies on a graham cracker crust.

Not the prettiest treat, but this is the Magic Holiday Tree! This is coconut, pecans, and M&M’s chocolate candies on a graham cracker crust for $4.25! pic.twitter.com/gH8il5KrEH

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 10, 2023

This one was definitely made for the Grinch.

See Our Full Review of This Treat Here

At Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn, we grabbed the Chocolate Eggnog Reindeer Tart.

We found Rudolph! At least in this treat! 😅 This is the Chocolate Eggnog Reindeer at Pecos Bill Tall Inn & Cafe for $6.99!

It’s a Chocolate Tart topped with Eggnog Mousse and Chocolate Antlers! pic.twitter.com/nhMQlr1L0R

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 10, 2023

Check out our review of this treat at the link below!

See Our Review of the Reindeer Treat Here

Santa’s Belt Buckle is a gorgeous treat that you can get from Sunshine Tree Terrace!

How pretty! This is the ALL-NEW Santa’s Belt Buckle! It's pistachio mousse with a dark chocolate truffle center and a chocolate buckle for $5.79!

📍 Sunshine Tree Terrace pic.twitter.com/835a3tWIh1

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 10, 2023

This might be the prettiest dessert of the night!

Check Out Our Full Review of This Treat Here

Check out all the goodies we got from Friar’s Nook! We tried the Holiday Ham Fried Pie, Italian Beef Tots, Peppermint Snowman, and the Winter Milkshake.

Ok, we've got MORE food! This is all from The Friar’s Nook:

⭐️Holiday Ham Fried Pie
⭐️Italian Beef Tots
⭐️Peppermint Snowman (Chocolate brownie topped with cookies ‘n cream peppermint mousse)
⭐️Winter Milk Shake (coconut-flavored) pic.twitter.com/IaVVKoz0vi

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 10, 2023

We also tried a bunch of goodies at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe!

There’s more where these came from!

See Our Full Review of These Eats Right Here

We also grabbed the Orange Gingerbread Shake from Golden Oak Outpost (non-alcoholic), which is an orange cream slushy layered with gingerbread cookie crumbles and topped with whipped cream, and gingerbread spice… 

…along with the  Gingerbread Cake.

Read Our Full Review of These Treats by Clicking Here

Over at Storybook Treats, we grabbed the Sugar Plum Sundae. It’s made of sugar plum soft-serve atop sugar cookie crumbs and topped with whipped cream, crisp pearls, and cotton candy.

Would you try this one?

See Our Review of the Sugar Plum Sundae Right Here

Characters

There are a bunch of special characters you can see during the party, too! Check out this line to meet Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The line to meet Jack and Sally is GROWING FAST! The other line you see here is to meet Mickey! ✨ pic.twitter.com/N9Cefi3638

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

Hey there, Jack!

You can also snag a photo with the Toy Soldiers from Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade.

The toy soldiers (and a photo op) can be found on Market Street! ✨🎄 pic.twitter.com/zzTOdJqtAo

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

Princess Belle was also meeting partygoers, so we stopped by.

Belle is meeting guests in her festive gown during #MVMCP! 🌹💛 pic.twitter.com/IpDrxS8up0

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 10, 2023

There are so many different characters you can meet at this party!

Entertainment

There’s a DJ and emcee on Market Street this year!

There’s an emcee and DJ on Market Street this year! #MVMCP ✨ pic.twitter.com/25GRohyNA2

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks return as this year’s nighttime spectacular! It’s a holiday-themed fireworks display that includes projections, special effects, special lighting, fireworks, and Disney characters. The fireworks happen at 10:15PM each night!

✨⭐️✨⭐️ pic.twitter.com/qk8agU55R6

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 10, 2023

This is one of our favorite parts of this event, and you can check out our full coverage below.

See Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Here

Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade is also making a return this year! The parade will be offered twice nightly, first at 9:15PM and again at 11:15PM (we’ve found that the second parade is usually less crowded than the first).

Here we goooo! 🎶 pic.twitter.com/1W7zvBsdB0

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 10, 2023

We can’t get enough of this parade!

See Our Full Coverage of the Parade — Click Here

Get ready to have a jolly holiday with some of your favorite Disney pals!  Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration Show returns once again to the castle forecourt stage at 7:40PM, 9:25PM, and 10:35PM.

The Fab Five are here for Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration! pic.twitter.com/zwu5Poe09u

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 10, 2023

This is a fun stage show that’ll get you in the spirit!

See Mickey’s Most Merriest Stage Show

Disney Junior Jingle Jam is back for another year of festivities! Your little one will love dancing alongside Disney Junior friends singing a merry tune! You can find this hopping party in Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.

Club Tinsel’s rocking party can be found at the Rocket Tower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland. Here you’ll be able to jam along to some of the season’s holiday hits with a DJ and dance crew that keep the beat going.

Don’t forget that there are also PhotoPass Photographers set up along with special Magic Shots throughout the night.

Attractions

A few of the daytime attractions have special ride overlays during the party. These special overlays are ONLY available during the party, so make sure to check them out!

Check Out Our Coverage of the Holiday Overlays Here

But other rides are open, too! Here’s the list of rides available during the party:

Adventureland

• Jingle Cruise — featuring a Holiday overlay!
• Swiss Family Treehouse
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Pirates of the Caribbean

Fantasyland

• “it’s a small world”
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Mad Tea Party
• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
• Under the Sea — Journey of The Little Mermaid
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Frontierland

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Liberty Square

• Haunted Mansion

Storybook Circus

• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• The Barnstormer

Tomorrowland

• Space Mountain — Holiday Run — featuring a Party-exclusive Holiday overlay!
• Tomorrowland Speedway Race Through the Holidays
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Holiday Show
• Astro Orbiter
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• TRON Lightcycle / Run — Disney’s website says that TRON Lightcycle / Run will be open with Virtual Queue Access Only for the 2023 Party. The site states that “An opportunity to request to join the virtual queue will be available at 6:00 PM for Guests attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Guests will need to use the My Disney Experience app to enter this attraction. A standby queue for this attraction will not be available during the event. Each Guest can request to enter this virtual queue no more than once per event.”

Merchandise

We’ve already mentioned before that we’ve had a sneak peek of the holiday merch that would be available for this year’s party and we’re excited to see it all in person, so stick with us for more.

We’re getting our first glimpse of party-exclusive merch at the Emporium! pic.twitter.com/63UV8ELTZY

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

You can grab this year’s party spirit jersey for $79.99.

The party-exclusive spirit jersey will run you $84.99 this year! ✨ pic.twitter.com/QgIjs6Kdpp

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

We also snagged the Mickey Toy Soldier Popcorn Bucket!

The Toy Soldier Mickey popcorn bucket is HERE! ✨🍿 pic.twitter.com/1Zrc59CPnR

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) November 9, 2023

There is SO much Holiday fun to be had at this year’s party. We’ll continue to update this post as the night goes on!

Click here to learn how to join the virtual queue for the party!

Stay tuned for more holiday news!

ALL the Rides Open During Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in Disney World

Are you planning to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party this year? Tell us what you’re looking forward to most in the comments!