New Disney Very Merriest After Hours Christmas Party Coming to Magic Kingdom
Disney Very Merriest After Hours is a new Christmas party coming to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in November and December 2021. This preview takes a look at the entertainment lineup and dates for the hard ticket event, plus commentary, including how this compares to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, which it is replacing.
This announcement of Disney Very Merriest After Hours comes as part of the Disney Parks “Halfway to the Holidays” event this week. This will feature special announcements, merchandise sneak peeks, previews of holiday food & beverages coming to the parks, and more. (See 2021 Christmas at Walt Disney World Dates & Details: What’s Coming & Cancelled for more relevant news.)
Before we dig into the details, let’s start with the basics. Disney Very Merriest After Hours will be held on select nights from November 8, 2021 through December 21, 2021. The event will be held instead of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, which is cancelled for the second straight year–albeit for a very different reason in 2021 (see commentary below)…
Disney Very Merriest After Hours will offer 4 hours of holiday festivities after Magic Kingdom closes to day guests, running from 9 pm until 1 am. Event tickets will also grant admission to Magic Kingdom park as early as 7 pm. No Park Pass reservations are necessary for After Hours attendees.
Disney Very Merriest After Hours event highlights include:
- Character sightings
- Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Show
- After-hours access to Magic Kingdom park and less time waiting in line for popular attractions
- Holiday-themed attraction overlays
- Cinderella Castle Christmas projections
- Snowfall on Main Street, U.S.A.
- Holiday treats, ice cream, popcorn and bottled beverages–all included with the cost of admission
- Themed food and beverages available for purchase
- Holiday-themed Disney PhotoPass photo opportunities (images available for purchase)
- Special lighting & music
As with other Disney After Hours events, a limited number of tickets will be sold for this event. It’s held after regular park operating hours, with lower wait times and access to more than 20 select attractions. Tickets will go on sale in August 2021, with an early purchase window available to guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels.
Those are literally the only details that Walt Disney World has released thus far. What follows is our commentary, which is very similar to what we’ve said about Boo Bash. Some of the gaps in details are filled with assumptions based upon previous After Hours events, what has been announced for Boo Bash, and details about Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary…
Expect this “Very Merriest” event to follow the familiar formula of Disney After Hours. Which is to say, the selling point of the After Hours events is low crowds and short lines at attractions, with the entertainment being the icing on the cake. By contrast, the heart of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is the entertainment, and short lines for rides are the icing.
The aforementioned entertainment will not be main the reason to purchase Disney Very Merriest After Hours party tickets. (We don’t even know if there will be cavalcades at this point!) Without question, this lack of entertainment is going to disappoint many Walt Disney World fans. Honestly, we are two of them.
We love watching Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade (in full), the Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration stage show, and even A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas. Beyond that, we just love the atmosphere of MVMCP. The snow on Main Street, the weird off-brand Coke bear at dance parties, the memorable background music, cheesy PhotoPass shots, fun projections, endless grocery store caliber cookies that I love.
I could go on and on. It’s partly a nostalgia thing, but we also genuinely love Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It’s one of our favorite events of the year at Walt Disney World.
After Hours is a solid event, but it’s just not the same. Plus, as people with regular access to attractions, it does not resonate the same way. Obviously, that’s a personal thing—an us problem. If you’re an Annual Passholder, local, regular visitor, parent with small children, or taking a longer vacation, it might also be a you problem.
The After Hours events have always been tougher sells for those demographics. That’s because they’re aimed primarily at older tourists whose time is limited and arguably more valuable than their money. For infrequent or once-in-a-lifetime visitors to Walt Disney World, the After Hours events are excellent. Very Merriest should continue that trend.
With that said, there are a lot of inaccuracies or oversights that have come up repeatedly when discussing the After Hours events–at least as they compare to the Halloween and Christmas parties.
Many Walt Disney World fans will likely deride this After Hours event as a cash grab. That’s not entirely accurate. Capacity is capped at a significantly lower level for the After Hours events than for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It’s literally less than half. There’s also the reality that there are usually more MVMCP nights.
Some quick back-of-the-envelope math should thus make clear that Disney Very Merriest After Hours will generate less revenue for Walt Disney World than would offering Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party this holiday season. Even assuming higher costs for the latter (due to labor for more entertainment), After Hours is still less profitable.
It should go without saying, but cost to the consumer is not the only relevant factor in revenue and profits. If it were, Club 33 memberships and VIP tours would be more lucrative than single day tickets for Walt Disney World. In reality, the latter is significant and the former are a drop in the bucket.
As for why Walt Disney World is holding the After Hours event this year instead of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, some might assume it’s because of lingering health safety modifications. That was the rationale last year, and for changes to earlier events this year.
Going forward, that’s not a reasonable assumption. Look at everything that has changed or been relaxed in the last two months and extrapolate what Christmas entertainment will be possible by November based upon that. The answer should be pretty much everything.
Turning to the substance of the event, one unexpected curveball with Disney Very Merriest After Hours is that Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks will be shown during the event. Our strong expectation is that this means there will be twice-nightly fireworks on Disney Very Merriest After Hours nights–Disney Enchantment during normal hours and Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks during event hours.
If that ends up not being the case and only Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks are shown on those nights (a highly unlikely scenario for all of the reasons discussed below, plus past precedent), it’ll render the following commentary moot.
Back when Boo Bash was announced, we speculated that a major issue would be a potentially new fireworks show coming to Magic Kingdom and the problem with putting a paywall around that for several nights per week. No need to speculate here, as the Disney Enchantment fireworks show has since been officially announced.
Imagine putting a paywall around Disney Enchantment for several nights per week. This is exactly what happens with fireworks shows on the Halloween and Christmas Party nights, when the regular park guests only see fireworks 3-4 nights per week. It is not what happens on After Hours evenings–fireworks are shown to everyone 7 nights per week before Magic Kingdom ends its regular operating hours. That’s a huge difference.
While many Walt Disney World fans are understandably upset about missing out on Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for another year, many more people–including casual visitors who don’t pay close attention to daily schedules–would be disappointed or downright mad if the brand-new, highly-touted fireworks were not shown on their one day in Magic Kingdom.
Putting a paywall around the centerpiece 50th Anniversary entertainment for half of the week would be a recipe for disaster. How do you think that would be perceived by guests? How would you perceive it?! Equally as important, what do you think it would do to crowd patterns?
That brings to another core issue, which is the opening months of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. We probably don’t need to rehash this, but the last three months of the year are going to be bonkers at Walt Disney World. Hotels are already sold out and all signs point to it being incredibly busy.
Due to the anticipated crowds alone, running an After Hours event in November and December makes more sense than Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Normal park hours will need to be much longer due to attendance forecasts during the kick-off months of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, it’s simply not feasible to close Magic Kingdom early so many nights of the week.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party requires closing Magic Kingdom at 6 pm either 3 or 4 nights per week. Even in a normal year, this creates a logistical nightmare. As you can probably imagine, most guests don’t want to spend their day in Magic Kingdom during the holiday season if they won’t be allowed in the park after sunset.
That early closing is enough to push crowds away from Magic Kingdom on those dates–and to Magic Kingdom on non-party nights. Suffice to say, that party artificially manipulates attendance patterns to an extreme and almost unmanageable degree.
In fact, this is precisely why Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party does not occur the weeks before Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Instead, the parade, fireworks, and some of the shows switch to daytime ops, and are shown to all guests without an upcharge.
That’s not because Disney is suddenly embracing the spirit of the season. It’s because those two weeks are much busier than the prior ones and it’s simply not feasible to close Magic Kingdom early those weeks and displace day guests. This is the same reason Disney Very Merriest After Hours ends on December 21, and why Disneyland has never done a hard ticket Christmas party.
One viable alternative would’ve been moving Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party to another park. That’s exactly what Disneyland did two years ago when introducing Oogie Boogie Bash. That move was motivated by the debut year of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and the expectation that closing early several nights per week for a hard ticket event would be too much of a burden on Disneyland crowd dynamics.
With Harmonious debuting at Epcot, the only other Walt Disney World park that could conceivably host a holiday party would be Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That could work–there’s a parade route, space for a stage, plus options for projection shows and fireworks. However, it would have its own problems with crowding and congestion. It would also result in a lot of the same complaints. The crux of the issue is that nostalgic fans making a homecoming to Walt Disney World for the 50th Anniversary want Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, not something new and different. Literally anything that isn’t MVMCP is going to be greeted with an icy response.
There’s plenty to dislike about Disney Very Merriest After Hours. It’s an inadequate (indirect) replacement for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. There are ways it sets a potentially concerning precedent. I get all of that. Complaining about the event is certainly your prerogative. I’d simply advise gaming out the alternative and broader implications (including the negative ones for your own trip) before making snap judgments.
Start by looking at this from the perspective of a non-attendee, which you almost certainly would be some other day during your trip. On a Disney Very Merriest After Hours night, Magic Kingdom will have fireworks and nighttime entertainment for day guests, the park will close at 9 pm, and it won’t screw with crowd distribution over the course of the entire week. On a MVMCP night, there would be no fireworks or nighttime entertainment for day guests, the park would close at 6 pm, and crowds would be miserable on non-party nights. One of those scenarios is objectively better for Walt Disney World guests who choose not to pay upcharge prices.
Ultimately, this is why we’re neutral about Walt Disney World replacing Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party on a one-off basis for 2021. If there were actually an accompanying announcement that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party will definitely be back in 2022, I’d be downright positive on this. I think it’s the right move from a logistics and operations perspective, I’m just personally disappointed and slightly worried about precedent-setting.
Regardless, we’ll be doing this Christmas-themed After Hours event. While it doesn’t appeal to us nearly as much as MVMCP, it still has the potential to be a fun holiday event. It should be especially good for those willing and able to splurge, wanting to buy their way out of crowds, and not expecting Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (again, they’re nothing alike). That’ll be especially true if November and December end up being bonkers during the day and you need a respite from the crowds. In that scenario and for that type of guest, Disney Very Merriest After Hours might be a breath of fresh air that is well worth the money.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your thoughts about all of this? Does the added explanation here make you less apprehensive or angry about Disney Very Merriest After Hours running instead of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party this year? Pleased that, at minimum, you’ll get longer park hours on non-event nights? Will your family be buying or sitting this Christmas-themed event out? Do you agree or disagree with our perspective on this? Are you disappointed that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party won’t be happening, or is Disney Very Merriest After Hours a superior (or at least sufficient) alternative for you? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Sad but understandable. Any word on the Candlelight Processional?
I read this as GREAT NEWS! We always go in November and the years when we don’t have park hoppers we have to plan our entire vacation around the 2-3 days in the week when the MK is doing fireworks and not closing super early.
Will any Christmas decorations start going up week of Nov 1st?
The parade is the best party of the party. I was going back only for the parade, which was one of my favorite memories. This is very disappointing.
I’m still holding out a small sliver of hope that no parade or cavalcades were mentioned because something is planned for the daytime hours. Otherwise, that’s a really weird “oversight” given that Boo Bash is offering cavalcades.
Don’t want to get ahead of myself or create false hope, but that particular omission strikes me as really odd.
Another Disney take away. Its definitely apparent that all Disney is concerned about is money. Christmas is the most spectacular time in Disney and now they are ruining it. This is all about cutting costs and nothing else. This is sure to be a precedent for Disney and not for this year, I doubt you will ever see the MVPCP back again or any of the other things they have canceled for this year. I am so disappointed for my trip Oct. 28-Nov 18. So many things have already have me reconsidering my trip. My 1500 worth of tickets can’t even be used on where and when I want t use them, and combined with no fast passes which I am sure will come back as a paid option and the Disney Dinning plan will surely be scaled down with a higher price if its brought back. Universal is looking better and better.
We keep hoping Boo Bash will also add an hour before the dates beginning August. Also hoping our twice “sold out” date (10/12) does not become open again for more capacity.
Ugh! Saved for 3 years for this vacation and an event starting at 9 doesn’t work for our party of 9.
We had gotten there for 4pm in the past and left by 10. So disappointing.
“Tickets will go on sale in August 2021, with an early purchase window available to guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels.”
I assume we do not know yet which resorts will have an early purchase window? My guess would be Deluxe/Villas, but curious to see if there are any others.
I’d be surprised if it’s actually “select” hotels. They used the same verbiage for Boo Bash, and it was all hotels. That’s a pretty typical hedge Disney uses for reasons beyond me.
Hi Tanya
Not sure there is a difference whether the nights are taken up with after hours events or party nights. They both impact on those attending MK but not the events
I guess the cost is going to be the same as Boo Bash, which, IMO, is expensive for what it is. I can’t imagine that toddlers and small children will get too much from the event either as they will probably sleep through most of it. Plus, I don’t trust that Disney won’t increase capacity at a later date, and after guests have purchased those high cost tickets thinking there will be shorter lines. Disney, like other businesses, is trying to make up for lost income and we are the target audience.
On our trip in April, I noticed significant increases in prices. Plus it was difficult to get food. Many nights we ordered food from off-site restaurants. Hotel room prices have also increased. A moderate hotel room can cost approximately $400/night (tax included). While transportation is still free, it sucks, and we now rent a car.
Perhaps I’m being too frugal, negative or off track, but those are my thoughts.
I’d actually expect this to be more expensive (on average) than Boo Bash by about $15 to $20 per night, with pricing for most dates mirroring peak October dates for that event.
Between what they’ve seen with high demand for Boo Bash and pricing trends for MNSSHP v. MVMCP, I’d be shocked if that isn’t the case.
Does that mean you don’t need park reservation to get into this? You just need to pay for this and you get in?
For all the reasons you pointed out about the impact on non party goer guest experience, I’ve always been annoyed at how many nights at MK are sucked up by seemingly nonstop parties from August through end of year. I find this to be a welcome change, though I think there’s probably room for a compromise in the future where some nights are after hours and some (less than previously) nights are party nights.
Thanks Tom.
The week I reas your original post was putting it down to the 50th celebrations and people visiting for that and then being disappointed that visiting was being cut short because of parties. If there are extra crowds, from October, it will invariably be because of the 50th and those 18 mths. We have booked to visit from the UK for next Christmas so are interested in what happens
Do you think the Cinderella Castle projections likely mean no Cinderella Castle Dream Lights this year as well?
Thank you for the update, Tom. I sure do miss MVMCP. Does this mean no castle dream lights again this year?
Unfortunately this leaves us out again. We have a 14 month old and there’s no way he can stay up for this. I’m very sad because we are locals and have to miss the Halloween event as well. I really wish they’d offer something during the day or earlier for those of us with younger children
Bah Humbug…
My husband considers the VM Christmas his personal birthday party (he’ll be 73 12/2) and we go yearly. We are booked at BLT for a week…..now what? Go? Cancel?
We are planning to go back to Disney a week or so before the Christmas holiday. I have always wanted to the Very Mery Christmas party but I believe the after hours event would just as fun for my family as we aren’t frequent visitors and since we never did any type of special event at Disney, it will be a fun thing for my family of 4 to do.
I’m just not buying your explanation of why this is supposedly better. It’s only “better” if you present the false choice pre-Covid between paying for party tickets or avoiding MK on party days. But those were never the only options–you could always (as you frequently endorse) zig when others zag. We used to love doing MK as a ghost town on party days until 6pm, seeing the “free” elsa show at the castle around 6:15, and then hopping to another park for fireworks after dinner, or getting dinner at a monorail resort and then watching the party fireworks from there. I will for sure miss that option for beating holiday crowds at MK.
I understand why it works logistically better this way for Disney, but don’t try to persuade me this is better for guests. It’s like when people say Disney is better without fastpass because you only have to wait one hour for everything instead of two–that’s only true if you didn’t know how to work the system and get additional fastpasses all day long.
It’s better for the guest experience as a whole, especially in a year that’ll bring unprecedented crowds and new anniversary entertainment. An uneven system that some people can leverage to their own advantage will always be better for those individuals–that doesn’t make it a net positive.
With that said, I also don’t think this is subjectively better. I would far prefer Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party to this.
I notice the hours listed are 25% more than for the Boo Bash (4 hrs vs. 3). Would like an extra hour for the Boo Bash.
My guess–and this is just a guess–is that means Disney intends to sell more tickets for this event than for Boo Bash.
That and a few other details here are signals of that. I guess we’ll see how quickly this After Hours event sells out.