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.

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.

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!

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!

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

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!

Characters

There are a bunch of special characters you can see during the party, too! We can’t wait to hang out with them all, so stay tuned to find out who we see.

Entertainment

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, so keep an eye out for our full coverage of them!

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).

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.

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 Storybook Circus.

Club Tinsel’s rocking party can be found inside Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. 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.

There’s another stage show happening in Tomorrowland —A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas! We’ll be bringing you our full coverage of this year’s Club Tinsel later during the party, so stay tuned.

Get ready to blast off with your pal Stitch as he searches for Santa to get on his nice side and (hopefully) get a few presents this year, too. But that’s not all that is in store for you tonight!

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!

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

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!

The post We’re LIVE at the FIRST 2023 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party — Come With Us! first appeared on the disney food blog.