Least Crowded Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 2014 Dates

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 again to review the information from last year and give you an even better projection for 2014. 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.

In short, if you’re looking for the best 2014 Very Merry Christmas Party to attend, we recommend Monday, November 10, 2014. Last year we recommended Tuesday, December 10, 2013, and it turned out to be the party with the 2nd lowest wait times by our calculation. The equivalent party for last year’s recommendation, Tuesday, December 9, 2014, comes in second on this year’s list.

Since I’m sure you’re wondering how we did with our recommendations last year, the answer is…eh, okay. There were several predictions that we nailed, but we had a few errors that we have fixed for this year’s recommendations. Here are the top 5 from last year’s recommendations:

As you can see, our numbers 1, 4, and 5 performed almost exactly like we thought they would. What we underestimated was the impact of the Thanksgiving break. Since there are no parties during American Thanksgiving week, the first party after the break (December 1 in 2013) is always one of the busier nights. In addition, the opening of New Fantasyland in 2012 skewed many of our 2012 Christmas Party numbers, which is what we based the 2013 rankings on. The new area’s official opening was December 6, 2012, the date of 2012’s busiest Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. We mistakenly thought the crowds we saw during that week were an anomaly created by New Fantasyland. We have not made the same mistake with this year’s predictions.

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 (and no, there are no Tuesday parties before Thanksgiving). With the exception of Tuesday, December 9, and Tuesday, December 16, our top 8 parties to attend are all before Thanksgiving.

If you are considering other dates, here are our predicted rankings of attraction wait times at each of the 2014 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parties.

[Please note that the military discount ends following the November 20 party, and the Annual Pass and Disney Vacation Club discounts end following the December 9 party, but are also not available for the party on December 7.]

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 11 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. Erin Foster wrote an amazing overview of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party 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 2014 trip to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. This blog post will help you find all of the party dates and prices.

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

Thanks!