B: Gracie Swind, Contributing Writer
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party held its first bash of 2019 on Nov 8th, and Saint Leo students were among the first to get a taste of Disney’s holiday season.
Starting around 6:30, park workers began checking for event wrist-bands and daytime guests without them were ushered soundly out of the park. With the first night of the season-long event being completely sold out, the park was packed with families and couples decked out in Christmas colors and Mickey ears.
Unfortunately, some of those guests might have left the park last night wishing they had picked a different day to be Walt Disney’s guest.
Club Tinsel was one spot where guests could sit down and have something to eat and the party didn’t stop all night, with reindeer and polar bears dancing with the patrons of the club.
Rain began sprinkling down at the beginning of the night-long affair and only grew stronger as the night continued. Ponchos and umbrellas sold just as well as popcorn and hot chocolate as guests tried to enjoy the night festivities despite the rain.
Food and drink prices, while not cheap, were actually more reasonable than comparable events, such as Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town at Busch Gardens, and there were plenty more food options to be had around Magic Kingdom.
The Edge Effect, an acapella group from the Orlando area, posted up in Tomorrowland, singing Christmas tunes to whomever wandered by or gathered during their shows.
Wreaths decked out the lamp posts, Christmas trees and lights, and snowflake projections covered the park; Christmas music from Disney character covers to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra played from loudspeakers at every corner. However, it was somewhat disappointing to see that Christmas lights became sparser the deeper one went into the park.
In some large stretches of Frontierland, the only lights to be seen were normal, undecorated street lamps that, while beautiful in the fading darkness, weren’t exactly merry and bright. Guests didn’t seem to notice, though, as their shirts, sparkling necklaces, and glowing ears lit up that area with greens and reds as they passed through.
Some rides received a Christmas-themed makeover for the occasion. Space Mountain, the usually pitch-dark space rocket roller coaster, featured a laser light show on the inside of the dome and a rock version of ‘Deck the Halls’ blasting in the background.
Projections of the ‘Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party’ logo were scattered around the park near the entrances to the different sections of the park.
Cranes were also visible from some points in the park near Tomorrowland and the silhouette of a huge new roller coaster looming in the distance. A work-in-progress track for the People Mover was visible diverging from the main track near the construction site, so it’s likely that the People Mover will feature a new stretch of track to include the new coaster.
Main Street’s shops were wreathed in garland and lights and full of Christmas apparel and souvenirs. One of the shops featured glass figurines and Swarovski crystal statues, with a worker pulling glass reindeer figures in the middle of the shop.
With the release of Frozen 2 in late November, it was no surprise that the Frozen floats garnered a lot of attention at the parade.
Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks gathered a massive crowd in front of the castle for a show that was, unfortunately mostly obscured by smoke and rainfall. The fireworks and lights show featured a collection of classic Christmas songs and uplifting holiday messages from Minnie herself; a live replay of the fireworks show can be found on Disney’s blog.
A little earlier in the night the 8:30 parade went off without a hitch despite the rain, with characters smiling and acting commendably excited and happy despite being rained on rather heavily at that point. Sadly, the 11:30 parade was cancelled due to the downpour, prompting guests to flood the exit points in an early departure.
Although slightly dampened by the deluge, the first night of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party was largely successful. Park-goers and Saint Leo University students alike found that the Christmas cheer in Magic Kingdom was more than enough to overcome the weather.
The massive Christmas tree at the entrance to Main Street in the middle of Town Square made for a gorgeous silhouette against the night sky; the tree is iconic for Disney Christmas events, reaching an impressive 65 feet in the air.
