Update: see screenshots at the end for prices and dates.
Today I received an unexpected email announcing that I would be able to purchase tickets for something called “Disney’s Very Merriest After Hours” starting August 17th. This purchase date seems to be based on the fact that I have a resort reservation during the holiday season (mid November). When you click the details link, it states that tickets will go on sale August 20th for the general public.
A few interesting things to note. They aren’t calling it Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, indicating that it will clearly be different from the typical holiday event that they hold every year. Also, they do explicitly use the word “parade” in describing one of the features of the event. They’ve been really sticking with the whole character cavalcade deal during regular park hours, so it is nice to see something called a parade. For the Boo Bash Halloween After Hours events currently going on, Disney still refers to “cavalcades” in their marketing. So this is the first mention of a parade since the reopening last June/July as far as I’m aware.
This event will be one hour longer than Boo Bash, (4 hours vs 3 hours), and will be held on select dates from November 8th through December 21st.
Included in the cost of the event will be select snacks and beverages throughout the park. They specifically reference ice cream, popcorn, and a seasonal treat. This brings back memories of my dad getting super pissed off one year (the only year) when we paid to go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and it was basically cancelled due to inclement weather (basically a flood of rain), so all we really got was a cookie. All of the entertainment was cancelled. From then on we swore off these holiday parties. We didn’t swear off all after hours events though, and participated in any extended hours offered at MK (I believe they called them e-ticket nights and kept a handful of rides open late?).
There is also reference to “character sightings”…aka still no character meet and greets in November/December.
Overall it sounds alright. The parade is intriguing. Fingers crossed it means that they may bring back regular hour parades for the holiday season as well. I’m not a fan of after hours events because I think we pay enough for park passes to begin with. Also based on the length of time, I’d venture a guess that it may actually cost more than Boo Bash. The price of Boo Bash has had even the most loyal after hours events fans squirming this year, so that would really be saying something.
