For the first time in many years the Magic Kingdom will close to guests who do not have tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at 6pm. Here’s how it will all work:
At 4pm the entrance gates will open for guests with Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party tickets. The far right side tap points will be for party guests only. Party guests will be given their wristband and party map. Regular day guests may continue to enter from the left side entrance.
Guests who used their day tickets to enjoy the low crowds in the Magic Kingdom will be allowed to pick up their wristband inside the park beginning at 4pm. The pick up points are Mickey’s Philharmagic, Tortuga Tavern and Buzz Lightyear Fastpass Kiosks. Those entry points are listed on the EXTRA tab at the top on Character Locator, so you can add that detail to your plans.
At 6pm sharp, all attractions will close to anyone not wearing a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party wristband. Those without wristbands will be directed toward Main Street and the Castle Hub. Those guests will be allowed to remain on Main Street, watch the 6:15pm Castle Lighting and do some shopping until 7pm. At 7pm they will be asked to leave the park.
This new guest flow test should prove to offer party guests lower waits for attractions from 6pm to 7pm and certainly from 7pm to 12am. Fastpass will cease to be available after 5:30pm-6:00pm and the 15 minute late grace period will not be given. As I announced earlier today, the Magic Kingdom will open at 8am for regular day guests to give them the same number of hours in the park as before. That 8am hour would be perfect to visit Big Thunder Mountain for repeated rides too!
What do you think about these changes for the 2017 parties?
This is probably just one of the reasons they changed the closing time to one hour prior to the official party start time. Now non-party guests can get into any queue up until park closing at 6 PM. Therefore, they should be cleared from most lines by the time the party actually starts at 7 PM. As long as you have entered a line by closing time, you get to ride – no different than any other day in the park.
whether it’s halloween party or Christmas party, we have had seen people w/o party bands rush to get in line for 7dmt etc just before 7 and they are not asked to get out of line. will that Change ????
This is great information! Thank you! We will hopefully be at MK earlier than 4 and it is very helpful to know that we do not need to go to the front of the park for our party tickets/bracelets (I have printed out our tickets, so I’m assuming they can scan those at the locations you mentioned). I’ve been trying to find an answer about the SOTMK card… I’m hoping since I can’t find an answer, they are easier to get than I think? Do we need to line up early for the card? Once we have our party bracelets, can we pick them up early or do we have to wait until after 7? Thanks so much!!
I didn’t know that crowds were lower at MK on party days, that is a fantastic tip, will remember that…in 2 years!!! And I will of course refer to your crowd calendars. I hate not being able to plan everything early, but Disney adds so many cool extra things around Christmas, and as we will probably only visit once, I want to DO THEM ALL!!! Will just have to keep updating my plans…or maybe I will need a few personalised plans from Kenny!!!
just went in Oct. and cast members. were doing better job moving non party goers out. BUT last Christmas if non party goers were in line before 7, they were allowed to stay and ride.The line was so long and most did not have party band. Hopefully the the 6pm change will help.
I’m an MK cast member.
She 100% will be allowed inside to dine. Attractions will be the only thing closing hard at 7pm.
We have non-party guests dining at table service restaurants for the duration of MNSSHP and have a procedure in place to assist these guests out of the park.
Which party day because it was either the day 7DMT was down for 3 hours, or when PPF and 7DMT were down at the same time for 2 hours.
We were there last week on a party day and the Mine ride was 3 hours long as was Peter Pan’s flight. Multiple rides were hours long at Magic Kingdom the place was nuts with people during the day.
Yup, Insane Crowds week due to Fall Breaks.
Can you travel to the other 3 parks without a problem? It’s just MK you have to leave..
If you have a park hopper ticket, you could hop to other parks. Their closing times are on my Crowd Calendars
If you’re already at the park you can most likely go to your dinner. As long as you are in before they close to non party tix.
What I think Kenny is that you are the most knowledgeable & organized person on Earth! I’m always so amazed by what you know & what you have to say! So now you know what I think.
You HAVE to have the tickets to go to your dinner. At least I did for the Halloween party. We ate at Cinderella’s castle though so depending on your reservations it might be different. They also didn’t do the party every night so you might have gotten lucky with your reservation.
If i pay for the regulat ticket how much more will be for the party? I dont like the change, what about the traditional castle parade everyday at 9pm???
Main st electrical parade was retired long ago. Party ticket prices are on my MVMCP guide linked in this article.
Kenny, I agree. Even though we do MNSSHP one night we do go on Sunday (a party day). We get more rides and less crowds and are able to get in and out of the park to rest quickly.
Hi KTP! We have dinner reservations at 6:20 on a party night, but don’t have tickets to the party … what do you think?
I think they won’t let you in. It should have stated that on the reservation. Check with Disney
What is the 6:15 lighting? I’ll be there for two party days and I’m happy to hear we can stick around to see the castle and do shopping and pin trading on Main Street!
Castle lighting takes place twice on party nights.
Same here, we were allowed to enter at 4 but wrist bands were definitely checked
Very, very true! But I hope people continue to avoid the “short” days. :-)
Having been there as a regular guest for the recent Halloween party, I saw that there was only a 20 min wait time for the Mine train ride.
Looking forward to the Christmas party, as we had to choose between the two.
Is it SIGNIFICANTLY lower? Like… for instance? Mine train on a “regular” crowd day might be approx 90 minutes right? What would you say a party day would be? Approx?
Depending upon when you go, posted wait is between 10 and 45 minutes. Lowest around fireworks and near closing. One party day I walked past around 6pm and the posted wait was 120 minutes, but there was NOBODY in line though.
Hi I visited MK for the MVMCP in 2016 and I thought this was already going on,I mean I bought a ticket exclusively for the party so we arrived at maybe 6pm and many people were leaving , the park indeed was less crowded and we enjoyed a nice evening ( NOTE it was our first visit ever to DW we are from argentina so I have no experience with previous years )
so weren’t cast members checking wristbands last year?
Yes, wristbands have been checked. The difference relates to the park closing at 6pm, not 7pm.
I really hope this eliminates the families who party crash.
They did a pretty effective job at the Halloween parties
We try to avoid MK on Party Nights. I don’t like being asked to leave hours early when I paid for a whole day ticket. So we plan around it.
Only problem with that theory is that you’re missing the least crowded days of the year and trading them for some of the most crowded days of the year. You’ll do more from 8am to 6pm than you would from 9am to 9pm.
Thanks for this great info, Kenny!!!
Thanks
I meant will my new window become 5:20-5:30?, or would they just leave it be with 5:20-6:00? Losing 7DMT will be devastating to our family. We had wanted to do EMM this trip so my kids could get their 7DMT fill, and were so sad when they didn’t offer it at all in November and December.
Is it safe to make party fpp from 4-6 now that we know the procedure?
It should be safe to go from 4 to 5:30
We currently have fast passes booked with a window of 5:20-6:00 pm. If I’m reading you post correctly, does this mean my fast passes will be cancelled? Or will my new window by from 5:20-6:00 pm.
Incorrect. I stated that the last distribution time for a party days is 5:30-6:00pm. They won’t change them to that time.
If you have dinner reservations at 5:50 at BOG. Will you now need to have a party ticket or is it still okay to eat and than leave afterwards before 7.
Should be fine