Disney’s Very Merriest After Hours Party Review. For the First time in Forever, Magic Kingdom felt complete. Stage Shows, Parades, Fireworks, and Santa Claus all have returned after a 600-day hiatus, to all happen in one 4 hour time span. You could tell this night was going to be special from the moment we walked under the Main Street Train Station and entered Town Square, where we were greeted by enthusiastic Cast members who could not stop smiling as they actually danced around.
Disney Very Merriest is the newest After Hour party and is a separately ticketed event. With prices ranging from $169.00 for some early dates, to $249.00 during the Holiday week. Hopefully, this article will help you decide if it is worth that price point, because to us personally paying $189.00 for opening night was worth it.
Related: Ginger Apple Funnel Cake is a must-try at Disney’s Very Merriest After Hours Party
Entrance is permitted at 7:00 PM, for the 9:00 PM start time, we used this extra 2 hours to get the lay of the land and rode Jingle Cruise. Also, we found a perfect spot behind Cinderella Castle to enjoy Disney’s Enchantment. The park was closed immediately following the fireworks, and it gave a 45-minute transition between day guests and Disney Very Merriest After Hours Party. By the time the party started, the park was empty around the perimeter and it was lightly crowded in the Hub as we all waited for the first real stage show in over a year to start.
Mickey & Minnie Very Merry Memories stage show started at 9:25 and has shows 4 times during After Hours. The show is a flashback to past shows with songs and characters from years past. Music, dancing, and all-around a great fun time. We really enjoyed singing along. Seeing Mickey and Minnie and the gang, with an appearance by the Three Caballeros made this a special show you do not want to miss.
Immediately following the stage show Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade starts making its way from Frontierland, through Liberty Square, around the Hub, and down Main Street USA where snow is falling as the Parade passes. For those who have never seen the Holiday Parade, it features all your favorites with Mickey leading the way. Wooden Soldiers, Gingerbread people, Princesses in Holiday Outfits, and the smells of the Holidays are all part of a 15-minute parade. It ended with Santa and his reindeer, which made us feel all the feels.
Related: New Celebrity Narrators announced for Candlelight Processional at the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays
The big draw of the night though was Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Show. The Hub and Castle Stage area was full, but not the shoulder to shoulder full that we are used to during Enchantment. It was “I can breath and enjoy this, without being touched by a stranger” full.
With the minimal projections, except for some great holiday image overlays, this was all about the Fireworks. Including lighting off some on the perimeter that is saved for special events like this. The show itself is well choreographed to the music and images. Also, I personally think this was the most intense, loudest fireworks show to happen at the Magic Kingdom, not including the July 4th spectacular.
Disney Very Merriest After Hours so far had lived up to the hype and the price. We still had not even gone around the perimeter and seen Club Tinsel Dance Party, which when we finally did, was great for kids. As an Adult, the allure of Stitch in his Santa Hat is the only reason I would go to that area. Dance music and waiting for the beat to drop is not my thing, but if you enjoy dancing and seeing Stitch then do not miss this.
Finally, we got a chance to breathe after all the excitement and walked around. We got ourselves some Hot Cocoa and snickerdoodle cookies, which are included in the ticket cost. I will include the video below so you can see just how amazing the Cast Members are when we entered Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe.
Disney Very Merriest After Hours
Our next major goal was meeting Characters dressed in Holiday attire. We had a hard time being in the right spot at the right time. We missed out on most of the meet and greets, but did get to see Eeyore and Piglet. That made my night extra special and loved the images we got. Photopass and Magic Memory Maker are good things to have during Disney Very Merriest After. Having someone else take your photo and have it look good is essential to us. Plus the special MagicShots are so worth it. Including the special Christmas Present magicShot on Main Street at the Tree is awesome.
Keep an eye out for Smee and Hook at the Adventureland Stage, Pooh and Pals are at Crystal Palace. Also, Tweedle Dee and Dum are around the Tea Cups. Stitch in Tomorrowland, and that is all we could find during Very Merriest After Hours or we knew about and missed. Furthermore, do not forget Santa Claus is taking pictures with all the good boys and girls in Liberty Square behind the Christmas Shoppe.
Prior to the second Disney Very Merriest After Hours Parade we paid for the Ginger Apple Funnel Cake and Apple Float at Sleepy Hollow. The Funnel cake is only available during Disney Very Merriest After and may become available to day guests the closer it gets to the Holidays. The flavors are excellent and reminded us of back home in the North East. Unfortunately, the texture was bad, by midnight they had started overcooking the funnel cake and crunchy cake is not a good cake!
We did get to finish our walk around the perimeter and get over to Frontierland to watch a few minutes of the Reindeer Wranglers, but only just caught the end. From what we saw, this looked like a good show and the singers were on tune and sounding good.
Our evening was coming to a close at 1:00 AM, and we were tired but happy. Walking down Main Street USA to the exit, watching all the decorations on the buildings, and the wonderful Christmas Tree Disney puts up every year and with snow falling on us, gave us time to reflect on Disney Very Merriest After Hours. We are so happy to see the Cast Members back at work, the Entertainment come back, and the feeling of the Holidays does not escape us during Disney Very Merriest After.
We truly had an amazing time, we did shed some tears during the stage show. We laughed a whole lot. We got to see some friends that we only run into during these events. There was a feeling of joy in the air, and I hope you get that feeling also if you are going. Disney Very Merriest After Hours is Magical, with some small flaws that we made the choice to overlook.
Disney Very Merriest After Hours is available on select nights until December 21st.
Check out our videos from Disney Very Merriest After Hours Here!
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