The very first 'Disney Very Merriest After Hours' took place last night, continuing Disney's current strategy of offering higher-priced after-hours events in place of the original Magic Kingdom party nights.
Disney raised some eyebrows when the pricing for 'Disney Very Merriest After Hours' was announced, significantly increasing the price of the already expensive 'Disney After Boo Bash.'
Tickets begin at $169 plus tax and go up to $249 plus tax closer to Christmas. The last 'Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party' in 2019 was priced between $99 and $139 plus tax depending on dates.
So you may be thinking that you get much more at the new 'Disney Very Merriest After Hours' event. Well, that all depends on your point of view.
Anyone who went to either the Halloween or Christmas party in 2018 or 2019 knows how crowded they had become. Standing on Main Street began to feel a lot like a hectic summer day. Moving out of Main Street, things got better, but the park still felt busy, and there were some waits for rides. Disney After Hours events operate at a lower capacity, with fewer people on Main Street, and most rides are almost walk-on with no wait.
Crowds on yesterday's sold-out opening night were very manageable. Finding a parade viewing spot didn't require much time, and the parade route mainly was only one or two rows deep and mostly empty in the Town Square area.
Firework viewing was a pleasure last night, with empty space around the hub and no being packed into a shoulder-to-shoulder mass of people.
The castle stage shows were also easy to watch. Busier than the other entertainment offerings, at least for the first 2 shows, but still manageable. The last show close to 1am had lots of empty viewing space in front of the castle.
Treats on offer include pre-packed snickerdoodle cookies and hot cocoa, along with the usual included ice cream snacks, popcorn, and soft drinks. Wait times for the snacks were minimal, and some mobile stations were moving through the park handing out items.
So the takeaway here is that the higher price tickets gets you into a less-crowded park, and you can easily hit the majority, if not all of the attractions in the park. So if your objective is to experience as many rides as possible, the after-hours events are superior to the original party nights.
You may be asking why 'Disney Very Merriest After Hours' costs more than the 'Disney After Hours Boo Bash,' because that event also carries the same ride benefits. The answer is that the Christmas version offers more entertainment, which is where things then start to become a bit more complicated in working out if there is value in this event for you.
Watching entertainment takes time, and 'Disney Very Merriest After Hours' is only 4 hours long. 'Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade' takes 15 minutes, 'Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks' takes another 15 minutes, and the new 'Mickey and Minnie's Very Merry Memories' show takes 15 minutes. And these times don't include the time taken to get into position and possibly stake out a prime spot. When all is said and done, you are looking at spending at least 1 to 2 hours on entertainment if you plan to see everything on offer. That may leave you with only 1 to 2 hours for rides, severely cutting into the value of the ticket for experiencing rides. It should be noted that your event ticket gets you into the park from 7pm, but the park will be full of day guests at that time, so don't expect to do a lot of rides before the park is cleared at 9pm.
Then there is the issue of the quality of the entertainment on offer. Before commenting on this aspect, it should be made clear that the entertainment department is still delivering the same high level of performance that they always have, and this is in no way a criticism of the performers. But, it has to be said that none of the entertainment in 2021 is at the level that it was in 2019. Every entertainment offering shows signs of cuts, and it isn't just super fans who will notice; it is glaringly apparent.
'Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade' is probably the best example of cutbacks. The dozens of performers that would fill in the gaps between the floats are no longer present, which leaves the parade looking more like a series of cavalcades than the huge parade spectacle that Disney is known for.
'Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks' has seen a reduction in the number of fireworks. The new castle stage show 'Mickey and Minnie's Very Merry Memories' isn't on the scale or scope of Disney's best stage shows that the party nights came to be known for.
Character meet and greets or sightings are rare, you have to be looking hard to find any, and if you do, they are not in special outfits or rare. Remember the Seven Dwarfs and other rare characters that would appear during the party nights of the past?
Looking at the overall picture, 'Disney Very Merriest After Hours' is expensive and does not surprise or elevate the experience from what many will have seen before. If anything, it is a reduced offering at a higher price point.
Disney has not said what its long-term plans are for these types of ticketed events or if we will ever see a return of the original party nights. What we are seeing now may be the new normal, but those of us who remember what used to be on offer will find it difficult to accept, especially at an asking price above $1000 for a family of four in December.
Learn more about 'Disney Very Merriest After Hours.'
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