With every special event Disney does, you'll find special eats and treats that are exclusive to just the event.  Special beverages, cupcakes, even holiday beignets were just some of the special treats we tried!

There are also some rare characters that make appearances!  I had never seen Abu in the parks before!

What kind of Christmas would it be if we didn't get some snow?!?  I know I always dream of snow on Christmas Day!

We especially love the special holiday fireworks and parades that occur during the party.  Disney is famous for their parades and it doesn't get much better than a Christmas parade.  And as the world's top purchaser of fireworks you know they put on a heck of a show!

While you don't get hugs and pictures with the characters, you do get to talk to them and interact with them.  These performers are pretty top notch.  Cid did not disappoint.  He perfectly portrayed the little psycho from the first Toy Story film.

This is just a piece of the parade but we got to see a lot of characters.  There's the Headless Horseman, Mickey and Friends float, Nightmare Before Christmas, and of course the Villains.

We were right by Oogie Boogie and Ernesto de la Cruz so popped by their trails and made our way to see the big bad himself, Hades!

There were only a couple of villains to catch that we had missed but during our last visit we didn't get to go into the Villian's Grove before  the kids were tuckered out.  So we had to make it there this time.  The whole  Redwood Creek Challenge area is transformed into a spooky walk-through feature, with music and lighting inspired by many of Disney's classic Villains.

We finally got to see Madam Mim (Sword in the Stone) and then walked through Avengers Campus to go see Agatha Harkness from WandaVision and her own series that just started.

We saw so many characters during our party time, here's a ton of our photos of most of them.

We had an exhausting night, but boy was it a lot of fun.  My favorite part was just seeing all the people dressed as their favorite characters.  I saw several people dressed up as Perry the Platypus, some characters from Gravity Falls, and even a few Owl House characters.  The kids opted for comfort rather than elaborate costumes this time.

The night started out with a musical celebration of fan favorite Pride-themed music including classics like Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", Shania Twain's "Feel Like a Woman" and Cher's "Believe." The ambience was fantastic. People were singing along and dancing, laughing and dressed up taking photos together.  

The musical celebration was followed up by ​Disney's special Pride Nite fireworks display (video above), which started with classic Disney songs about being yourself, believing in yourself and loving yourself as you are and then transitioned into the tune of "This is Me" from the Greatest Showman soundtrack. There's something magical about being in a crowd of Disney fans just absorbing the show. People were singing along and I felt my eyes water a bit watching it all and just taking in all the feeling and joy around me.

About 15 minutes later the Welcome Pride Cavalcade (video below) came thru with colorful floats and lots of fun dancers and music.  The character's outfits were spectacular and they were so animated and having so much fun  - it was infectious!

I am always amazed by the different treats that Disneyland cooks up for their customers.  We had several sweet treats throughout the night.  The Cereal Funnelcake was some of the best I've ever had.  It was loaded with lucky charm marshmallows and whipped cream.  The Watermelon Beignets were oddly delicious, like a sour-patch beignet.

Pride was everywhere to be found in the parks.  Rainbows were being projected everywhere. 

The mood was uplifting at the park and everyone was there to have a great time.  Main Street was lit up with wonderful moving rainbows, even the Matterhorn had a rainbow cape tonight.

Final Verdict? We loved it and can't wait to celebrate PRIDE NIGHT next year!! Count us in!

It was nice and chilly during our visit, so we came prepared with warmer clothes.  We even packed some silk undershirts to keep us nice and toasty during our visit.  It sure beats sweating in the summer heat!

We saw several great parades and shows.  Disneyland's parade was huge and of course featured Santa and his reindeer.  Over at California Adventure we got to ring in the New Year watching their Feliz Navidad show with lots of bright colorful cultural dancing.

photodump!

The Paradise Gardens had been transformed into La Plaza De Familia making the whole area dedicated to the film Coco.  We stopped to take a picture with a marionette puppet of Miguel.   We rode all of the rides California Adventure had to offer before heading back to our room for a quick break before the real party began!

and his laugh was just haunting.  I expected him to be jovial not scary, in a good way.

Seeing Minnie and company in their Sanderson outfits was the longest line we waited in all night.  We waited roughly 30-40 minutes, which was not bad considering they were new to the Bash this year.  We saw Maleficent, the new Cruella de Ville, Oogie Boogie, and Mother Gothel along various treat trails.  We even got to do a character meet and greet with Bruno from Encanto, he was so very sweet.

Sadly we missed the Villain Grove and a couple of villains that night.  I had hoped to see Dr. Facilier and Sid from Toy Story but I wasn't going to push the kids when they were tired.

Ask us any questions for all your Disney travel needs.  We're here to make that next trip a memorable one loaded with the magic of Disney.  When it's time to plan for Disney:

There is Halloween fun to be had all over the Magic Kingdom.  We visited some monsters at the Monster's Inc. Dance Party.

Here's an extra little gallery of pictures from this years Mickey's Not So Scary Event.

We often have guests ask "Are the holiday parties at Walt Disney World worth it?" Like so many other things at Disney, it really depends on your family's likes, needs and budget. Traditionally, the holiday parties are Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). During the pandemic, these two parties were modified to be After Hours parties but this year, they have returned to their original time frame and glory.

​These parties are considered special events and have their own separate ticket cost. They also have their own capacity limits. They take place AFTER the park closes and have a limited number of guests allowed. In these cases, Magic Kingdom generally closes at 6pm and the party officially starts at 7pm and goes till about midnight. Some dates have been known to sell-out, particularly Halloween night for MNSSHP and dates close to Thanksgiving and Christmas for MVMCP. Even though we went when the event was considered an After Hours party, there are still many similarities. In general, I believe these parties are a must if they fall within budget and your kids are old enough to partake of the later hours. 

As if all the reasons above weren't enough to make you want to go, here are some other cool things to know about these parties. 

• Limited Tickets - Each event has the capacity to sell out because only a limited number of tickets are sold for each date. This keeps the crowds lower during these special events.
• Special Merchandise & Food - Each event has special themed food and drink you can only enjoy during the party hours. They also often sell party-specific souvenirs like shirts with the party design and date.
• Low Wait Times - At each special party event we went to, the ride wait times were drastically shorter than during the day because of the party capacity limits.

The cost of party tickets can be a splurge. They tend to range from $129 - $199 per person depending on the holiday party and date. I think this is where your family needs and budget come in. The most common way I've seen to "get the most" out of these parties to work your itinerary so that you arrive and head into the party or go to a different park in the morning (like Animal Kingdom) and then head to Magic Kingdom for the party.

During these events, the party doesn't start till 7pm; however, you are allowed to enter as early as 4pm. From 4pm to 6pm, the park will be, for intensive purposes, "normal". The park then closes at 6pm and anyone who doesn't have a party wrist band is asked to leave. As soon as 7pm rolls around, the party is ON! Music and lights and all the fun begins. What this means is that if you are flying or driving in and arriving in early afternoon, you don't need a regular park ticket to enjoy Magic Kingdom you can use your party ticket to enter as early as 4pm and you can stay till Midnight. So, in this way, it's like getting an extra day of tickets that are themed to a cool event.

Another thing we've helped clients plan is if the party falls during the middle of their itinerary, they sometimes choose to do it on a "rest day" where they relax and head into the park at 4pm and do not use a park ticket that day at all, OR, they visit a park that is NOT Magic Kingdom for the morning and then "hop" over to Magic Kingdom for the party at 4pm. Most commonly, I see this with an Animal Kingdom morning, rest after a late lunch, then head back to resort to change for the holiday party at 4pm. There's no rush to show up till 7pm when it starts, so you can take as much time as you like before hand or show up right at 4pm to be let in.

If you are thinking of spending the week of a holiday in the park, then you should expect crowds.  Historically the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years are the BUSIEST weeks, with Magic Kingdom always hitting max capacity.  If you plan your trip for the other weeks of November and December though you can find the crowds to be pretty sparse.  We went the week after Thanksgiving and crowds were low and ride times were all mostly short.

There is SO much holiday merchandise in every park, I know we went a tad overboard with purchases this time around.

This was one of my favorite trips to Disney!  It was certainly nice to visit when the weather was cold.  We had to buy my daughter a new jacket because she had underestimated how warm her jacket was.  We created a bunch of fond memories from this trip and came back with a suitcase of holiday loot.

Let us know if we can make your next trip as Merry as ours.
Remember when it's time to plan for Disney. It's Mouse O'Clock!

This was another fun trip to Disney!  Another great reason to visit Disneyland and take in the other side of Disney.  Keep in touch with us here at Mouse O'Clock for travel deals and reviews!