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Least Crowded Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2015 Dates

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Last year I wrote about what we expected to be the least crowded Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It proved to be a very popular topic, so here I am once again to review the information from last year and give you an even better projection for 2015. Make sure you check out our dedicated page for a complete list of dates as well as a thorough description of what the Christmas party is.

christmas mk lightsIn short, if you’re looking for the best Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2015, we recommend Tuesday, November 10, 2015. Last year we recommended the exact same date; Monday, November 10, 2014, and it honestly didn’t turn out great, being only the 11th least busy party by our calculation. However, we think that was an aberration, since over the past 3 years combined, that date still ranks number 2 overall. Being that the November 10th party this year is on a Tuesday, the least busy day historically, we are comfortable recommending it.

Since I’m sure you’re wondering how we did with our recommendations last year, the answer is…not too bad. There were several predictions that we nailed, but we had a few that were a little off that we have fixed for this year’s recommendations. Here are the top 5 from last year’s recommendations:

Party Date Projected Wait Time Rank Actual Measured Wait Time Rank
Monday, November 10, 2014 Lowest Wait Times 11
Tuesday, December 9, 2014 2 5
Thursday, November 20, 2014 3 3
Sunday, November 16, 2014 4 7
Thursday, November 13, 2014 5 8

 

As you can see, our numbers 2 through 5 performed pretty closely to what we thought they would. As I mentioned before, we believe the higher ranking for November 10, 2014 will prove to be an outlier. What furthers that belief is that overall wait times were down last year. The average peak wait time during the Christmas parties is around 11 minutes, while the average wait for the 2014 party was only 9, a significant decrease. The reason this decrease is being mentioned with regard to that November 10, 2014 ranking is that the average wait was exactly 9 minutes during that party. That would have been within the top 2 in any other year.

[As a quick aside, it’s interesting to note that the average wait times have gone down each year that we’ve monitored them. We have no reason to believe that the parties’ attendance is declining, as evidenced by all the sellouts, so we assume that people are increasingly focusing on all of the non-ride entertainment. Aside over, back to the best Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2015.]

What we have noticed is that much of the Christmas party crowds can be boiled down to a simple two-step generalization: go either a) on a Tuesday or b) before Thanksgiving. You’ll notice that our top 9 parties to attend are all following these rules. If you are considering other dates, here are our predicted rankings of attraction wait times at each of the 2015 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parties.

 

Party Date Attraction Wait Times Rank Advance Purchase Price for an Adult Ticket Notes
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 Lowest Wait Times $74
Tuesday, December 8, 2015 2 $74
Thursday, November 12, 2015 3 $74
Tuesday, November 17, 2015 4 $74
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 5 $74
Sunday, November 8, 2015 5 $74 First party of the year.
Sunday, November 15, 2015 6 $74
Thursday, November 19, 2015 7 $74 Sold out 2 days in advance in 2014.
Friday, November 13, 2015 8 $74
Thursday, December 3, 2015 9 $74 Sold out 1 day in advance in 2013 and 2014.
Thursday, December 10, 2015 10 $74 Sold out 1 day in advance in 2013.
Friday, November 20, 2015 11 $79 Sold out 1 day in advance in 2014.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015 12 $74 Sold out 2 days in advance in 2014.
Sunday, November 29, 2015 13 $79 1st Party after Thanksgiving break. Sold out 1 day in advance in 2013
Sunday, December 6, 2015 14 $74
Monday, December 14, 2015 15 $74
Thursday, December 17, 2015 16 $79 Sold out 2 days in advance in 2014.
Sunday, December 13, 2015 17 $74 Sold out 1 day in advance in 2014.
Friday, December 11, 2015 18 $79 Sold out 1 day in advance in 2013 and 2 days in 2014.
Friday, December 4, 2015 19 $79 Sold out 1 day in advance in 2013 and 2014.
Friday, December 18, 2015 Highest Wait Times $82 Final Party of the year. Sold out 7 days in advance in 2013 and 20 days in 2014. Lines for character greetings and parade viewing spots will be long.

 

To determine all of the above, we looked at posted wait times from key attractions including Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world, and The Barnstormer. We narrowed it down to times between 7pm and midnight, which is when the park is limited to party guests. Some quick notes about our research:

  • Our wait times only include attractions−not character meet and greets, special shows, or parades. The characters, in particular, often have long lines, especially for rare characters like the Seven Dwarfs. Regardless of which party you attend, some of the character lines will be long. If those are a must do, do them as early in the evening as possible.
  • In general the wait times during the Christmas parties are quite low, averaging only about 10.5 minutes. If there are any attractions that you have really been wanting to do, experiencing them during the Christmas party might just be the time.

Looking for more information? Good, because we have a lot for you. Savannah Sanders wrote a post full of savvy tips that will help you whether this is your first trip or your 100th (and if it’s your 100th, you might have a problem…being too awesome).

If meeting characters is your main priority, the bossman himself, Len Testa, wrote a fantastic (yes, I’m kissing up) piece about strategy for character meets during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party. If you haven’t decided if the cost is worth it you should read Kristina Murphy’s post about that very subject.

Now that you are armed with the most powerful weapon…knowledge, you can plan your trip to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2015. This site will help you find all of the party info.

Hopefully this analysis will help you choose the best Christmas Party to attend. Merry Christmas (a little early)!

Thanks!

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Brian McNichols

In addition to blogging, I also do some analyzin' here at Touring Plans. I am a travel nut, planning nut, Disney nut, wall nut. Husband of 1, father of 2. Hilariously funny in my own mind. Find me on Twitter @YesThatBrian if you like really dumb jokes.

8 thoughts on “Least Crowded Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2015 Dates

  • Why do some sellout dates have longer wait times than others? Does Disney make more total tickets available some days than other days?

    I’m trying to decide between 12/17 and 12/18. The equivalent dates both sold out last year but the final date shows longer wait times.

    Reply
  • Please update the list to include the December 1st party. Thank you so much for the post and analysis.

    Reply
    • Done. It seems every year I inexplicably miss a date. Thanks for picking that up and sorry about the oversight.

      Reply
  • What is the difference between wait times as you move from say the 9th ranked date to the 13th (Dec 3 to Dec 6)? Those are my two choices. Should I sweat it or is the difference pretty small? Thanks!

    Reply
    • The average wait time for December 6 is about 10% higher (which is only about 1.3 minutes) than December 3. Probably not significant enough to move a trip around, but it is…something. 🙂

      Reply
  • Any chance the November 10th Party was busier than you thought since next day is Veterans Day? If so, could that higher than thought crowd continue this year ? Trying to choose between Tuesday Nov 10th and Thursday, Nov12… Maybe Veterans Day does not affect crowds when on a Wednesday. Thoughts?

    Reply
    • I also think Veteran’s Day had something to do with it. Veteran’s Day seems to have caught everyone off guard last year. I remember the parks had to extend hours and I do believe DL hit capacity. Something crazy happened.

      Reply
    • Yes, that is probably true. It was hard to quantify, but we did see larger crowds that weekend. I’m assuming that people won’t take a 5 day weekend with the holiday falling on a Wednesday.

      Reply

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