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We attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party for the first time this year. We’ll share with you here why we’re happy we did it, the tips we have to share, and why we might wait a bit before we attend again.

Let me start by saying that we are glad we went. It was fun to get decked out in Christmas outfits and Christmas Mickey and Minnie ears (did you know they make a Mickey ears Santa hat?), and head to a Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom. The complimentary cookies they hand out were fun to track down, and they were individually wrapped so we didn’t feel like we needed to eat them right away. The likewise-complimentary hot cocoa, snowballs (snow cones for those not from the Baltimore area), and eggnog was festive and fun, and provided more than enough of a sugar rush without the cookies! The “snow” (tiny bubbles) on Main Street USA was so fun, and the kids were thrilled to spot Santa in the parade. The lines for the rides were short, and the kids had fun riding on them after dark. The best part of the evening without question was the 360 degree fireworks show, which is unlike anything we could’ve imagined or anticipated, and frankly worth the cost of admission to us alone. We literally turned in a full circle with our eyes to the sky and watched fireworks from every direction. Absolutely. INCREDIBLE.

We did, however, take away a few tips from our experience:

• Make sure your clothing (specifically long sleeves) doesn’t cover your arm band, or you’ll be asked to show it several times;

• Take the opportunity to go on the rides with shorter lines —we wish we’d done this more;

• There was a location with all the cookies (the last one we went to, unfortunately) that could save some time if you just want to pick up cookies to go;

• The second parade of the night is much less crowded than the first, so it’s a great opportunity to see the parade with fewer crowds; and

• We recommend avoiding opening week and weekends, if possible, to reduce the crowd size.

So, with all of this in mind, why are we not planning to attend next year?

Toddlers. Toddlers who hadn’t napped. Toddlers who hadn’t napped, and then refused to sleep in the stroller because they were too excited to be at Magic Kingdom. Our little ones were honestly exhausted, and we left shortly after the fireworks show because we knew it was the right thing to do for them. We’re still glad we went, and we’d make the same decision if we had to do it over, but this is the first experience we’ve had while traveling that we’ll probably wait to attend again until they’re a bit older. If you’re thinking about attending with young children, I’d recommend going toward the end of your trip (preferably the last night) so that any sleep disruption is minimized. You’re likely traveling quite a distance to visit WDW, and you’re likely not at Disney everyday — we think it’s best to set yourselves up for success just in case!