There are two large vacation season laborious ticket occasions at Walt Disney World: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together in Magic Kingdom and Jollywood Nights in Hollywood Studios. This compares and contrasts MVMCP and DJN to see which is healthier for characters, fireworks, leisure, crowds, and extra.
Now that tickets to each Christmas events at Walt Disney World are on sale for 2024, we thought it will be a great time to make this comparability so you may decide which could be best for you. With that mentioned, it does include a few asterisks. First, Jollywood Nights developed and improved final yr over the course of the season. We’re thus judging it based mostly on the tip of its run final yr moderately than the start.
Second, Jollywood Nights is making much more modifications and additions for Christmas 2024. We’re assuming it’ll be higher because of this, however that basically doesn’t issue into the classes that every get together “wins” and even the final word verdict. However, it’s an incomplete or imperfect comparability, which is pretty much as good as you’re going to get in order for you one thing sensible that will help you resolve which tickets to buy. When you watch for our precise opinions of the 2024 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together and Jollywood Nights, there’s an opportunity your dates will already be offered out.
One last factor we wish to warn in opposition to is baked in biases of Walt Disney World diehards. This cuts each methods. On the one hand, a whole lot of followers maintain super nostalgia for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together, having skilled it over the course of a long time. This consists of us–it’s been annual custom since 2007. We’ve made so many nice recollections on the occasion and maintain a lot sentimentality in the direction of it that I can not think about not doing MVMCP…at the same time as ticket costs explode and never a lot modifications.
Then again, there are those that are, primarily, the precise reverse. They’ve been across the block with Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together, and are prepared for one thing new. Disney Jollywood Nights is new. It is extremely, very completely different from MVMCP. In consequence, a whole lot of longtime followers who really feel that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together is drained or stale could be predisposed to preferring Jollywood Nights on the premise of it being contemporary and new-to-them.
However that’s the standpoint of a blogger, vlogger, or Walt Disney World diehard fan. It’s not consultant of the typical attendee and even the extra informal fan who visits sometimes. Whereas everybody clearly has biases, that’s our viewpoint when making this try at an goal comparability between Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together and Disney Jollywood Nights: which ought to an rare or first-time Walt Disney World visitor attend?
Time: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together – Walt Disney World is transferring in the fitting path with Disney Jollywood Nights, making it a 5-hour vacation get together from 7:30 pm to 12:30 am in 2024, with the mix-in permitting occasion ticket holders to enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios as early as 6:00 pm.
That’s nonetheless not so good as Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together. The occasion period is similar at 5 hours, albeit from 7:00 pm to midnight. The distinction is the mix-in, which permits MVMCP ticket holders to enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4:00 pm. That further 90 minutes offers company time to knock out favourite sights with quick waits, seize a meal, or in any other case discover the park at Walt Disney World with essentially the most issues to do.
Meals: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together – No refreshments are included with the worth of your occasion ticket to Disney Jollywood Nights. That is in sharp distinction to After Hours, a serious promoting level of which is the limitless bottled drinks, ice cream novelties, and popcorn from out of doors merchandising carts.
It’s additionally a departure from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together, which affords “free” limitless Christmas cookies, sizzling chocolate, and different vacation refreshments. MVMCP additionally affords particular menus at numerous counter service eating places and snack stands, though that is hardly one of many predominant options of the occasion.
Oddly sufficient, one of many predominant promoting factors of Disney Jollywood Nights is “shimmering sips and sensational sweets.” The issue is that this can be a promoting level, fairly actually, for Disney. They wish to promote you extra meals when you’re on the occasion. We discovered a few of that meals to be high quality, however truthfully, we’re not paying over $100 or utilizing our restricted get together time to spend much more cash on meals. We doubt many company are. The free cookies and sizzling cocoa at MVMCP are the way in which to go–and what Disney Jollywood Nights needs to be doing, too.
Parade: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together – That is a simple one since solely Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together has a parade within the first place, so it wins by default. When you love parades, MVMCP is the Christmas get together it’s best to select.
However let’s fake, for no matter motive, that you just’re on the fence in regards to the ‘significance’ of this class. Possibly you’re not essentially a parade particular person, however are open to watching one if it’s actually good.
Mickey’s As soon as Upon A Christmastime Parade (MOUACP) is de facto good. It has marching toy troopers, dancing reindeer and gingerbread males, and ever the massive man himself, Ole Saint Nick! Calling MOUACP actually good is an understatement. It has iconic floats, characters, moments and music.
It’s prolonged and satisfying, with no filler–each unit is superb, making for a parade that by no means overstays its welcome and really leaves you wanting extra. About the one “weak point” of Mickey’s As soon as Upon A Christmastime Parade is that 90% of it existed a decade or two in the past. So for some Walt Disney World followers, it feels drained and overdue for a substitute. To that, I say don’t repair what isn’t damaged. What number of Walt Disney World followers imagine the substitute for Vacation Needs is an precise improve? In brief, watch out what you want for.
Mickey’s As soon as Upon A Christmastime Parade is likely one of the finest items of leisure at Walt Disney World, and is an absolute must-see. From the toy troopers marching in formation to the pleasant character costumes to reindeer dancing in entrance of Santa–and a lot extra. Mickey’s As soon as Upon A Christmastime Parade is cozy and charming, a enjoyable and memorable parade that’s bursting with vacation spirit.
Fireworks: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together – It is a nearer name than it needs to be. 9 occasions out of 10, fireworks at Magic Kingdom will win over these at Hollywood Studios as a result of the straightforward actuality is that explosions over Cinderella Fortress have baseline enchantment.
Fireworks above Cinderella Fortress is likely one of the definitive experiences at Walt Disney World, and as long as the music is sweet sufficient, the vast majority of company will take pleasure in it. That’s how Disney Enchantment managed first rate visitor satisfaction scores total regardless of being very low relative to previous Magic Kingdom fireworks exhibits.
Comparable story right here. Minnie’s Great Christmastime Fireworks are a latest addition, and showcase pyro plus projections. Whereas longtime followers would possibly argue that this present is inferior to Vacation Needs in some methods, it’s ok. Just like the tune “Great Christmastime,” it’s schmaltzy and foolish. (My unpopular opinion about each the fireworks and the tune is that they’re good, truly. However I do know there are many haters on the market.)
It’s an analogous story with the Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! fireworks at Disney Jollywood Nights. This nighttime spectacular based mostly on “Prep & Touchdown” has its moments and is polarizing amongst followers. Personally, I like Minnie’s Great Christmastime Fireworks much more–however by no means say no to both of those exhibits.
It additionally helps that Minnie’s Great Christmastime Fireworks has much more pyro–together with perimeter bursts that encompass Cinderella Fortress. On steadiness, not solely is Minnie’s Great Christmastime Fireworks the superior present, however in a contest between two nighttime spectaculars that garner blended opinions, the Magic Kingdom fireworks will all the time beat the Disney’s Hollywood Studios fireworks.
Stage Reveals: Disney Jollywood Nights – Now we flip to the simple win for Disney Jollywood Nights, which has three stage exhibits to the one at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together. With regards to DJN, the third of those stage exhibits is described by Walt Disney World as a blinding new skating spectacular set to vacation tunes, that includes grace and talent of worldwide champion skaters in an awe-inspiring twist on the standard ice present.
It is a wild card, with its high quality, scale and scope all being unknowns. Nevertheless it doesn’t matter. Disney Jollywood Nights wins even when we fake the ice skating present doesn’t exist, as its different two stage exhibits are each excellent to nice.
The spotlight of the stage exhibits throughout DJN is Holidays in Hollywood, a vignette selection exhibiting that includes appearances from particular visitor stars, together with Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Tiana, Belle, Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse—accompanied by a proficient solid of singers, dancers and jazz musicians. Holidays in Hollywood is unbelievable. Nice choreography, music, staging–all the pieces. It’s one of many high 3 seasonal stage exhibits in all of Walt Disney World.
The opposite stage present at Disney Jollywood Nights is “What’s This? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Earlier than Christmas Sing-Alongside.” That is admittedly a bizarre one, because it’s what quantities to a excessive idea sing-along plus puppetry. An odd combine, if I’ve ever seen one. Regardless of that, What’s This? is manner higher than you would possibly anticipate. The silent performers are very good, seeing the Jack Skellington puppet in a theater setting is superior, and Oogie Boogie steals the present. As somebody who hates sing-alongs and is detached to all issues Tim Burton (so I’m hardly goal), I used to be stunned to take pleasure in this a lot.
Over at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together, the lone stage present is now Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration. That is the tried and true Cinderella Fortress musical medley stage present, the premise of which doesn’t a lot matter. Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration is the most effective stage present on this record (and #2 total after Hocus Pocus Villains Spelltacular) and it rises to that spot because of a superb combination of sentimentality and custom plus popular culture and wonderful tune alternatives. It’s directly precisely what you’d anticipate and delightfully surprising with one thing for everybody, from children to adults.
Despite the fact that Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration is #1 total, the truth that Disney Jollywood Nights has (a minimum of) two excellent to nice stage exhibits to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together’s lone present cements it with the win right here.
Atmospheric Leisure: Disney Jollywood Nights – Disney Jollywood Nights options quite a lot of dance events, swinging soirees, and intimate lounges–with the highlights being Vacation Fiesta en la Calle, Twilight Soirée on the Tip Prime Membership, and Jazzy Holidays at The Hollywood Brown Derby. These three issues, particularly, are a whole lot of what offers DJN its extra refined and refined vacation vibe. I might think about spending a complete night dressed up, dancing the night time away and having fun with these grownup experiences. There’s completely nothing like several of that at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together.
In contrast, MVMCP does have character dance events like Membership Tinsel and Disney Junior Jingle Jam. Then there are different atmospheric acts, such because the Reindeer Wranglers in Frontierland. Personally, I don’t suppose any of those choices are pretty much as good as Twilight Soirée on the Tip Prime Membership, however the audiences are completely completely different. I’d give the sting, objectively, to Disney Jollywood Nights, however I might see loads of households preferring the atmospheric leisure at MVMCP.
Characters: It Relies upon – It is a robust one. Whilst a longtime Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together attendee with a whole lot of fond recollections of the occasion, I really feel the character lineup is stale–and has been for the final decade. It’s downright unhappy that Walt Disney World hasn’t refreshed–or totally overhauled–it. However, once more, I’m making an attempt to be goal.
Even that’s troublesome, although. Objectively talking, there are far more characters at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together. There are roughly two-dozen distinct meet & greets, with about three-dozen characters complete. In contrast, Disney Jollywood Nights is promoting a dozen distinct meet & greets for a complete of “greater than 20 character experiences.” So it appears fairly open and closed, proper?
I’m not so positive. Loads of the characters at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together are additionally obtainable throughout a daily day at Magic Kingdom (typically they’re merely “enhanced” with the addition of scarves). MVMCP has a couple of dozen uncommon characters–which means characters who seldom seem in the course of the day or have distinct costumes (for instance, we’d depend Belle in her winter costume) for the get together.
That’s roughly the identical quantity as at Disney Jollywood Nights. And whereas it’s virtually not possible for me to be goal about this, I’m personally extra excited in regards to the uncommon character lineup at DJN. There’s Santa Duffy, Phineas and Ferb, Three Caballeros, Toy Story friends who don’t usually seem, Disney Afternoon characters, Mickey & Pals in distinctive outfits, and extra. Most first-timers may not care about this eclectic lineup of deep cuts, although, and thus would possibly favor Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together. It’s a extremely robust name.
Ambiance: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together – Just by advantage of being within the fort park as a substitute of the studios park, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together has the instant edge to win this. There’s simply one thing about seeing Most important Avenue remodeled for the vacations, with an additional layer of lighting and music on high of the tree, lights, and day by day decor.
One of many issues we routinely discuss up about Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together is the distinctive ambiance–our favourite factor in regards to the occasion is just being there. Seeing the snowstorm on Most important Avenue, listening to Jolly Previous Saint Nicholas in Fantasyland, having fun with the moody lighting and particular projections, free-roaming characters having enjoyable–all of it simply places a smile on my face.
None of that’s nostalgia speaking. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together has mastered its temper, and that’s a giant motive why so many individuals love that get together. Even the lands that aren’t very Christmassy–like Adventureland and Tomorrowland–get into the temper by way of projections, music and extra.
The most important misfire of Disney Jollywood Nights for me final yr was the vibe. A number of areas of Disney’s Hollywood Studios felt like full ghost cities. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge felt like a barren planet. Toy Story Land had nearly nothing happening for Disney Jollywood Nights. The 2 hottest elements of the park supplied nothing.
Even lands that ostensibly had been taking part in Disney Jollywood Nights had been fairly unhappy. We don’t usually spend a lot time in Animation Courtyard–as a result of why would we?!–and this occasion was a great reminder of that. It felt like a lifeless mall making an attempt to reinvent itself by including a Spirit Halloween Christmas.
Echo Lake was a brilliant spot, however not due to Disney Jollywood Nights–it’s all the time a sleeper in the course of the vacation season. Identical goes for Sundown Boulevard, however that’s as a result of nearly all the substantive choices had been on this space of the park. Hollywood Boulevard was additionally completely nice, however nothing like Most important Avenue.
Solely small pockets of Disney’s Hollywood Studios felt like they had been open for enterprise, a lot much less actively celebrating Christmas. Once more, this can be a common ole DHS downside, nevertheless it’s amplified once you scale back the park capability and fake there’s a celebration taking place. It simply didn’t have the vitality. A few of this seems it’ll be mounted for the 2024 Disney Jollywood Nights, nevertheless it’s laborious to fathom it’ll be sufficient to tip the scales.
Crowds: Disney Jollywood Nights – It’s exceeding troublesome for the typical attendee of both of those events to do all the pieces in a single night time. Chances are high, you gained’t be capable of meet each single character, see the stage exhibits, fireworks, different leisure–by no means thoughts doing rides along with the party-specific stuff. However which is extra difficult? The place are crowds worse?
There’s a model of this the place the reply is “it relies upon.” Somebody on the market may need very particular priorities that make Disney Jollywood Nights the more severe of the 2 occasions for crowds. This may doubtless be the case if consuming or particular meals are your high precedence, because the worst strains final yr throughout DJN had been for the bars. I don’t suppose that’s the typical first-timer, although. (Particularly the typical first-timer debating between the 2, since MVMCP doesn’t actually have a consuming element.)
For the overwhelming majority of attendees, Disney Jollywood Nights goes to be the much less crowded and laid again expertise. On common, there’s much less congestion, it’s simpler to see the leisure, experience wait occasions are minimal, and there are not any areas of the park which have wherever close to the extent of congestion as Most important Avenue at Magic Kingdom between the primary and final parade.
Even MVMCP isn’t as unhealthy as its notion, which relies on 2018-2019 when events had been arguably oversold (see final yr’s publish, Is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together Much less Crowded?!). Regardless, Disney Jollywood Nights is mostly decrease stress and decrease stakes, extra like an After Hours occasion with a Christmas twist.
General: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together – Finally, our ‘verdict’ could be that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together is the superior occasion for first-timers or Disney followers who get to the parks on an rare foundation. It’s truthfully not even a remotely shut name. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together is the quintessential vacation time expertise at Walt Disney World.
A lot in regards to the occasion is iconic, and the premise for advertising and marketing supplies for Christmas at WDW. There’s a motive the get together hasn’t modified all that a lot within the final decade–since you don’t mess with perfection. Positive, this has resulted in some WDW diehards who’ve gone repeatedly to grow to be burnt out and wish one thing contemporary–however when you’re studying this and are on the fence about which to attend, that in all probability doesn’t describe you!
To make sure, Disney Jollywood Nights has its promoting factors. It’s a extra refined and complicated get together, in some methods, that will enchantment to sure segments of parkgoers, even rare ones. When you’re on the lookout for an Previous Hollywood occasion with the glitz and glamor of Tinseltown in the course of the holidays–full with extra grownup choices and consuming, then a robust case might be made for Disney Jollywood Nights. There’s additionally one thing to be mentioned for its upstart nature, and the chance that it’ll be markedly improved in 2024 as Disney appears to enhance perceptions (and ticket gross sales). There’s no resting on its laurels in terms of Disney Jollywood Nights, that’s for positive!
It’s not simply doubtlessly greater upside, although. As we realized final yr, there’s additionally extra draw back threat to Disney Jollywood Nights. There’s quite a bit about it that’s taste-specific that will sound nice on paper, however could not resonate with you in particular person. Not solely that, however in solely its sophomore season, there are additionally a ton of unknowns. Amongst these are precise attendance, potential good & unhealthy modifications, strains for the characters and stage exhibits, and doubtless extra I haven’t even thought-about.
Possibly Disney Jollywood Nights is price it to you from a risk-reward perspective. It definitely is to us, and we’re actually trying ahead to making an attempt this Christmas get together once more in its second yr. Actually, we’re each extra enthusiastic about Disney Jollywood Nights than we’re MVMCP. However I additionally know that I had been a Walt Disney World first-timer and had thus by no means attended both occasion, the one that might be proper for us would, certainly, be Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together. It’s not even a remotely shut name. MVMCP is so clearly the secure and proper alternative for first-timers that this complete publish appears superfluous. Then once more, not everybody has our preferences and priorities, so the point-by-point breakdown will hopefully be useful in serving to others make their determination about which to attend.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together or Disney Jollywood Nights? Which did you suppose had the higher ambiance, characters, fireworks, meals, leisure, and so forth? Would you moderately spend the night doing an occasion in Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios in the course of the vacation season at Walt Disney World? Do you disagree with any of our recommendation and assessments? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
