Update: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party will return in 2022, marking the end of this event. You can read about Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party here.
(Original Post)
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is gone—for 2021 at least. In its place, we’ve got a new event, Disney Very Merriest After Hours. In this post, we discuss what you need to know about Very Merriest After Hours, including our experience at the event and the big question—is it worth it?
Throughout the post we’ll talk about Very Merriest in two ways—as an After Hours event and in comparison to the old Christmas Party. The new event is a hybrid of these two, and it’s important to understand how it is and isn’t like a traditional After Hours or a traditional Christmas Party.
2022 Disney Very Merriest After Hours Information
This post is currently in its 2021 form since no information about the 2022 event has been released yet. Dates for the holiday event are typically announced in August, so expect more information then.
Disney Very Merriest After Hours Basics
We’ll start with the basics of the event including comparison to other After Hours events and the former Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
What Is Disney Very Merriest After Hours?
Disney Very Merriest After Hours is sort of a hybrid of two events that existed before the 2020 closure / reopening phase—Magic Kingdom After Hours and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
The “After Hours” events at Disney World allow guests to access the park and select attractions “after hours”—that is, for a few hours after the regular Magic Kingdom park hours. After park closing, access to the rides is limited to ticketed guests.
We reviewed the former After Hours events:
The last of these, Villains After Hours, was the only one that had unique entertainment / offerings of the same sort that we expect from Very Merriest After Hours (completely different theme, obviously…though a “villains Christmas” theme actually sounds like an awesome idea).
That’s because unlike other After Hours Events, Very Merriest After Hours will also serve as a replacement for the former Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. In its capacity as a replacement for that event, it will also have unique entertainment, food, and character sightings. More on this stuff below.
We also visited and reviewed Disney After Hours Boo Bash, which debuted in August and which also has some elements of a former holiday party (in that case, it was Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party).
Disney Very Merriest After Hours Dates and Times
Disney Very Merriest After Hours will be held select nights from November 8 through December 21, 2021:
November: 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 28, 30
December: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21
The party will be held from 9PM to 1AM, which means it might not be great for little ones.
When Will Disney Very Merriest After Hours Tickets Be On Sale?
Tickets for Disney Very Merriest After Hours went on sale August 20 for most guests. Guests of Disney hotels had early access to purchase tickets on August 17.
How much does Disney Very Merriest After Hours Cost?
Disney has now announced pricing for Very Merriest After Hours:
Tickets range from $169 to $229 plus tax for select November-December nights and $249, plus tax on December 19 & 21.
There is a $10 discount for Disney World annual passholders and DVC members on select dates.
Do I Need a Parks Pass Reservation for Very Merriest?
No, you don’t need a parks pass reservation (or a separate park ticket) to attend Disney Very Merriest After Hours. The ticket for the event guarantees you access to the event, separate from parks pass and the rest of the day.
When can Very Merriest Guests Enter Magic Kingdom?
Tickets to Disney Very Merriest After Hours will grant you entry to the park at 7PM for the 9PM-1AM event. That’s two bonus hours you’ll spend with the day’s other guests.
You don’t need a separate park ticket (or parks pass) to enter at 7PM, but if you want to be in the park earlier you’ll need a ticket for that day (and either parks pass for Magic Kingdom, or you need to hop to Magic Kingdom).
What’s Included With Disney Very Merriest After Hours
As we said, there’s two points of comparison here. We’ll start with a comparison to After Hours and then compare the event to the old holiday party.
How is Disney Very Merriest After Hours Like / Different from Other After Hours?
As mentioned above, the core of “After Hours” is access to select attractions with small crowds during the event. The attraction lineup is pretty similar to other After Hours events, with more than 20 attractions available, including major rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan’s Flight, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Splash Mountain.
The other core component of “After Hours” events, that is a part of Very Merriest, is the included popcorn, ice cream bars, and bottled beverages. You can grab these from the kiosks throughout the park during your visit.
As for how Very Merriest will be different from the other After Hours events. Well, that’s all good news. It will have everything (list of rides maybe varying) a normal After Hours event had, and more! That brings us to…
How is Disney Very Merriest After Hours Like / Different from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party?
Switching gears, Disney Very Merriest After Hours also includes much—but not all—of the magic that made Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party special. These include:
Mickey & Minnie’s Very Merry Memories (new castle stage show)
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade (but see below)
Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Show
Club Tinsel dance party in Tomorrowland
Reindeer Wranglers (western music trio)
Holiday-themed attraction overlays (but see below)
Free Holiday treats (but see below)
Special Character “sightings” (but see below)
Special lighting / decorations / castle projections
Snowfall on Main Street, U.S.A.
Exclusive themed food and drink (at an extra cost)
Holiday-themed PhotoPass
Okay. Lots to process here. Let’s start with what’s missing. First, two shows that occurred on the Tomorrowland stage as part of the old Christmas Party are not returning. Second, there’s no party-exclusive merchandise. There is holiday merchandise available, but nothing unique or reserved only for event guests.
Next, we’ve got all the things I put “but see below” on above. These all come with important notes that distinguish them from the old Christmas Party.
First, the Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade has been scaled back, with nearly 90 performers cut from the old version. I’ll be totally honest—I had no idea when I watched the show.
The Holiday-themed attraction overlays are basically cut. The only active ones are Jingle Cruise—which is available all day anyways—and Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. Space Mountain and Tomorrowland Speedway (which had an amazing overlay) are just their normal versions. To us, this basically means no holiday overlays.
The Free holiday treats are significantly scaled back. Instead of a variety of beverages and cookies, it’s only hot chocolate and snickerdoodles. Not a huge loss because you can only stomach so many sweet treats anyways.
But the big one—as of our visit on November 8—the character sightings had essentially no special or holiday characters. There were small exceptions—the Pooh characters wore scarfs, Stitch was in a Santa hat (as part of his Club Tinsel experience). But the princesses? Mickey Mouse? Just in the same outfits they greet in all day.
My Very Merriest After Hours Experience
Very Merriest officially started at 9PM, but there’s sort of three start times to know about. Event guests are allowed into the park at 7PM. If you have a park ticket for the day (I’m an annual passholder) you can enter whenever you normally could (subject to parks pass / park hopping rules).
At 8PM today, the park “closed,” meaning no non-event guests were let in and only event guests could get on rides. At 9PM the event officially started.
I arrived at about 6:30PM. The crowd outside was pretty huge. The right set of gates were just for guests waiting to enter the party at 7PM. Since I’m an annual passholder park hopping from Hollywood Studios, I was able to use the left set of gates to walk right in.
To enjoy the perks of Very Merriest, you’ll need to get a wristband. If you’re entering the park at or after 7PM on a Very Merriest ticket you can get your wristband when you enter. If you’re inside the park, you’ll need to go get your wristband in either Adventureland or Tomorrowland.
Both these spots had long lines before 7PM and you don’t need a wristband until 8PM when the park closes to day guests. I hung out a bit before finally getting a wristband around 7:40 at a short line in Tomorrowland. This was also where I got my event map, though you could also grab those freely at the front of the park.
Disney Enchantment was at 8PM today, so if you had an After Hours ticket you could watch the show. I opted instead to ride PeopleMover, something I often do at the start of events in order to read the map and come up with a plan.
As we touched on above, 8PM to 9PM is a sort of “extra” hour for event guests. The rides are closed to day guests, but you’ll still have some waits because the rides just closed to other guests. Another quirk of this hour is that wait times aren’t posted in the app for this time. You can expect most rides to have little-to-no wait, but Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan’s Flight might have significant waits.
From PeopleMover I headed to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, arriving a bit behind some of the firework-watching crowd. I waited 15 minutes (posted was 20) and boarded at 8:33PM.
Heading out I noticed a Photopass photographer set up for a Magic Shot a bit early. I personally have no interest in Magic Shots, definitely not when I’m solo, but at events I like to try and fit in a sampling of everything. I waited 13 minutes for about eight groups in front of me. The shots included holding an A-ticket and a magic shot with Tinkerbell.
At this point it was 8:55PM, five minutes before the official event start and I decided I’d head out west to catch the Reindeer Wranglers (9:25PM) and the start of the parade (9:45PM). Along the way I got sugared up.
First I stopped at Harbour House for a snickerdoodle and cup of hot chocolate. This is the free holiday treat included with the event. In the old Christmas Party, there was a variety of combinations available at different stops, but this event had the same options everywhere. I don’t think the reversion to a single option is a huge loss.
After that I stopped at Golden Oak Outpost, the at the far end of the park between Frontierland and Adventureland. There are a few event-exclusive treats available for purchase here. I bought the Gingerbread Almond Cake Pop ($4.99) and the To Be Jolly Float ($6.99). They were both good, but it was a bit chilly for the latter.
With about 10 minutes until the Reindeer Wranglers started, I moseyed around Frontierland. The Country Bears were on their balcony in holiday scarves:
The Wranglers perform on the balcony over the walkway connecting Adventureland and Frontierland, right next to Country Bear Jamboree. The set is about 15 minutes long, ending just before the parade begins.
At long last, 9:45PM brought a huge moment—the first true parade to pass through Magic Kingdom since March 2020. Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade is a gem, filled with unique floats and characters in unique holiday costumes. I was disappointed to later read the parade saw a number of performers cut this year, but to be honest I didn’t notice (I’ve never claimed to be a parade expert).
From my spot in Frontierland, the parade ended at about 10:02PM. At this point I’m basically trying to fill time until the 11:15PM fireworks. It’s a good time for rides, and if the characters were in unique outfits you’d also budget some of this time to visit them (so far this year, they aren’t).
There are basically two approaches from here. You can ride things in Frontierland / Adventureland or you can follow the parade and ride Haunted Mansion / rides in Fantasyland. You can go all the way to Tomorrowland, but if that’s your plan you’d be better off just watching the parade from that side of the hub.
I opted for Fantasyland, first stopping by Peter Pan’s Flight but then moving on to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh when I decided the Pan line was too long. I walked right on at 10:12PM. I followed that up by walking right onto Space Mountain at 10:24PM.
I took a quick stop at Club Tinsel, the now outdoor dance party in Tomorrowland. The map indicates a character sighting near here, too, but that’s actually just Stitch, who is on stage as part of the Club. At 10:36PM I walked on to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.
By 10:40PM the hub still had plenty of space, so I had no worries about finding space for firework viewing. I headed down Main Street, taking pictures of the very quiet scene along the way:
I walked right into a the Mickey greeting, and I was literally the only guest in the building as far as I could tell. I’m all for the 50th anniversary outfit, but c’mon, he needs to be greeting in holiday gear for this event.
Back in the hub I grabbed some popcorn (one of the snacks included with After Hours) and took in the crowds of the hub. I ran into some friends and settled on a viewing spot right at the front of the hub. I haven’t been this close to fireworks in a long time, as Enchantment regularly packs the entirety of Main Street well before it begins.
I like Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks, but the short is sort of a hodgepodge of fireworks, projections, and Christmas music. That makes for great entertainment, honestly, but it’s also probably fitting for an After Hours event and not the sort of design you’d want for a full time show…ahem…
The fireworks are only about 12 minutes, but I just hung around for the next 18 until the 11:45PM showing of Mickey & Minnie’s Very Merry Memories began.
This is one of the tough things about these events—you don’t want to waste 18 minutes, but it’s hard to fill every small gap with something special. In the old Party setup there would have been a show on the Tomorrowland stage you’d catch (in part, at least) in this gap.
Mickey & Minnie’s Very Merry Memories was a ton of fun. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what I liked so much, but I think it’s the range of characters you get. There’s numbers led by the Three Caballeros and Clarabelle Cow, fan favorites who don’t make many appearances in the parks.
The show ended at 11:59PM, which left me an hour for any rides I wanted. Peter Pan’s Flight was top of my list, so I headed there, walking on at 12:09AM.
There are plenty of ways to end the night. Jingle Cruise would have been my next choice if it was on my list. My goal would have been to finish the night near Fantasyland / Tomorrowland. This would have allowed me to hustle from one ride to another—covering things like Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Barnstormer, etc.—until the event ended at 1AM.
I had a long day ahead of me, so I opted instead for one last ride before heading home. I waited 13 minutes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train—longer than I expected—boarding at 12:29AM. There’s no reason I’d ever recommend riding something twice at this event, I just mostly wanted to see what the wait was like at this hour.
I don’t often leave events early, but at 12:43AM I left, quickly boarding a bus back to Port Orleans Riverside.
Here’s the itinerary from my visit. This is basically how I’d approach the event in future visits, with the last hour of rides varying as necessary (I just re-rode Mine Train and left early).
8PM — PeopleMover (Walk On)
8:30 — Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (posted 20, actual 15)
8:53 — PhotoPass Magic Shot (13 minute wait)
8:56 — Snickerdoodle and Hot Chocolate (free)
9:15 — Exclusive treats at Golden Oak Outpost ($12+tax for beverage and snack)
9:25 — Reindeer Wranglers
9:45 — Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade
10:11 — Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Walk On)
10:25 — Space Mountain (Walk On)
10:33 — Club Tinsel (just for a minute or two)
10:37 — Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (Walk On)
10:48 — Meet Mickey (no Holiday outfit) (Walk In)
Popcorn and walk around
11:15 — Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks
11:45 — Mickey & Minnie’s Very Merry Memories
12:09AM — Peter Pan’s Flight (Walk On)
12:28 — Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (again) (posted 20, actual 13)
Should I Attend Disney Very Merriest After Hours?
We’ll handle this question in three ways. First, we discuss whether or not Very Merriest is worth it. Second, we discuss whether or not it fits into your trip. Third, we discuss alternative ways to get similar value to the event.
Is Disney Very Merriest After Hours Worth The Price?
If I have to pick a side—Very Merriest isn’t worth the price. Of course the truth is more complex and it’ll always be that it’s worth it “for some people on some trips.” Let’s discuss more, using a $200 per person price point (your visit might be more or less expensive).
The problem is that Very Merriest is priced well above either the old Magic Kingdom After Hours (about $140) or the old Christmas Party (about $127). In theory you might think “ah! but it’s a combination of these!” but in practice it doesn’t play out like that.
At four hours, Very Merriest is an hour longer than the old Magic Kingdom After Hours event and an hour shorter than the old Christmas Party. Four hours is a nice amount of time, particularly if you’re heavily focused on rides, but it’s not enough to experience anywhere near everything the event has to offer (mainly because it offers so many rides).
If you looked at it specifically as a rides-focused After Hours event, is the extra hour worth the higher prices than previous events? Definitely not. With low enough crowds, you can accomplish a lot in three hours at Magic Kingdom. This event as slightly higher crowds than an old After Hours event, but even if it didn’t the extra hour just means you’ll have time to ride a handful of rides you’d have no problem fitting into a regular day at Magic Kingdom, anyways.
That is, most of the value of a traditional After Hours event is in the two hours or so you’ll spend getting on the most popular rides that are a struggle to fit into a regular park day. Extending the event from three to four hours doesn’t itself justify a price increase.
There’s also this awkward situation where Disney has priced access to low waits on these rides during the day at about $15 for Genie+ and $15 for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. So if you start talking just about rides…you’ve got a lot of explaining to do to get to $200 per person. Sure, Lightning Lanes during the day might have longer waits than most After Hours rides. Maybe you can’t fit a full day at Magic Kingdom into your trip. And so on. But still, it’s a big gap from about $30 per person to about $200 per person.
Okay, but this is also a holiday event. Surely that additional value justifies the price? This is where I start to get frustrated, because the thing is this isn’t really a combination of After Hours and the Christmas Party. In practice, it’s bits of After Hours and bits of the Christmas Party—and you need all the bits to really get value.
The old Christmas Party was five hours long and it filled that five hours. If this event was a true combination event, it would at least be easy to fill four hours with holiday activities—but it isn’t, because of the cuts.
When you’re looking to fill an evening with Holiday magic, losing the two Tomorrowland shows, the two great ride overlays, the variety of holiday treats and, most importantly, the unique character experiences is a tremendous loss. You’re left with a trimmed down four-hour event that costs 50% more. We have to draw the line somewhere.
Okay, so combine the two. You can’t fill four hours with just holiday things, but if you reach the perfect balance of holiday content and rides, then maybe you can get to $200 value. Maybe.
Again, Genie+ and an individual Lightning Lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train come out to around $30 per person together. That’s just about the maximum you could say you’re “saving” by coming to this event. Those purchases are enough to put together a great day at Magic Kingdom with all the major rides and lots of short waits (and minus the stress of shoving it all into four hours).
During the event, you ride Mine Train, Peter Pan’s Flight, Jingle Cruise, maybe one or two other rides, and otherwise focus on Christmas activities. That means you need about $170 of value from the holiday exclusives…which again…it’s just a stretch when you’re now talking about 2-3 hours focused on holiday content, when you used to get five hours for $130.
Is Disney Christmas magic priceless? Are these unique shows worth $100? $200? $500? For some people, yes. But I thought the old price around $130, maybe up to $150 per person was a reasonable price for the entire five hours of the Christmas Party. Maybe by next year I’ll have to re-evaluate, but I simply can’t find enough value in the new Very Merriest event.
Does Very Merriest Fit Your Trip?
Okay, if you’re happy with this price point for what it sounds like you’ll get, let’s talk about whether or not the event will fit well into your trip. The core issue here is just time.
First on my mind—as a new parent—is that 9PM to 1AM is tough with little ones. If you watched all the earliest times of the core entertainment, you’d watch:
9:25PM Mickey & Minnie’s Very Merry Memories
9:45PM Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade
11:15PM Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks
Leaving at 11:30PM you’ll maybe be back to your hotel by midnight.
Even without young kids, a 2AM bedtime on party night could very well render your next morning, well, worthless. You aren’t going to be up 6AM to be at a park for rope drop. So the day after Very Merriest should best be reserved for a resort day, or at least a resort morning (late breakfast, relax by the pool).
If you’re staying at a Disney hotel, that lost morning is a lost visit to Early Theme Park Entry. The solution here is pretty simple—don’t plan Hollywood Studios the day after your After Hours event. After Hours is a fine replacement for a morning at Magic Kingdom. At Epcot and Animal Kingdom you don’t really need Early Entry.
Finally, if you’re staying at a deluxe Disney hotel, you might miss out on a night (at a different park) of Disney’s new evening hours exclusively for deluxe resort guests.
Alternatives to Very Merriest If You care Most About Rides
There’s no way to get the holiday experience you’ll get during Very Merriest as part of regular park hours. Christmas week sometimes has some of the unique offerings during the day, but it’s no guarantee and not announced far in advance.
If you want to get on as many rides as possible and you’re willing to spend a little to do that, you’ve got as few options.
If your goal is getting on the most rides, the main alternative is to simply purchase Genie+, which will cost you only $16 per person per day. Even with two expensive Lighting Lanes, you’ll be under $50 per person for a day at Magic Kingdom with no lines. This is sort of a no brainer if what you care about most is rides.
Another option would be to upgrade your stay to a deluxe hotel, giving you access to the evening hours for deluxe hotel guests. This isn’t a cheap option, though, as it’ll probably run you at least $150 per night. Of course, if you did a split stay and upgraded only two nights of your stay, you might be in the ballpark of the Very Merriest cost. Unfortunately, as of right now the Extended Evening Hours schedule is thin and only includes two parks (Magic Kingdom and Epcot).
Another alternative to a ticketed event is adding a day to your trip. If you’re paying around $150-$200 per person, even a couple is going to be in a position where it might make sense to add a day to their trip.
A five night sample November stay for two people at Coronado Springs (Water View) without park hopper starts at $2878. Adding a sixth night (with another day of park tickets) costs $3248, or $370 more. That’s about what you’d expect for two people to pay for Very Merriest, and I’d definitely take an extra full park day over a ticketed event.
Two things though. First, that’s just our view. Park days can be a slog, After Hours events are a delightful breeze, so I can understanding picking the latter. Second, you might not have the day to spare. After Hours is a good way to fit more rides into a shorter trip.
If you’re planning a non-Disney hotel because of price, you could switch to a Disney hotel and unlock Early Theme Park Entry, which will get you 30 minutes of bonus time every day at every park. This is definitely a useful perk and will probably improve your overall trip more than Very Merriest, but I’d bet the memories you get from Very Merriest won’t be matched by waking up extra early to spend time in the parks.
Conclusions
Yes, there’s a sense in which Disney Christmas magic is priceless. But in practice we have to draw the line somewhere. In total honesty—I’m just a bit offended that at $200 per person this event saw so many cuts from the Christmas Party, the loss of unique characters being the least justifiable cut.
That aside, Disney has boxed themselves in as far as how rides are valued. Genie+ and a Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Lightning Lane will cost you about $30 per person. Are these as quick as an After Hours event? No, but the After Hours event can’t cover an additional $170 of value.
No matter how I slice it, I can’t find $200 of value here. That doesn’t mean the event won’t be worth it for everyone. It definitely doesn’t mean I didn’t have a wonderful time (I did). But if budget is on your mind, this might be a good time to pass and put the $800 for a family of four into a trip fund for a future year.