Last week we attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It is my favorite. Of course I am head elf so it is easy to love since we are combining Disney and Christmas.
We headed into the park a little before 4. With a party ticket guest can enter the Magic Kingdom at 4 pm without a separate park ticket. Often times they start letting people in a few minutes early. We grabbed our wrist bands and headed to the right towards the street behind Main Street. Here you can grab a cookie and exclusive photo opportunities. 
We grabbed three Fastpasses. I have read some people have a hard time getting Fastpass with party tickets but we have not had a problem. You do have to strategically time them to fit in three. For example, Ryan’s Space Mountain was 305-405 use that grace period! Then we moved up the times of our other Fastpasses.
Around 6 they start clearing the park. They will ask to see your party arm band while you are getting into ride lines and walking around the park. It took til about seven for the crowds to decrease.
We grabbed a front row Main Street spot for the first parade around 7 or 715ish We literally grabbed the last front row spot. Ryan took the big girls to eat while Amy and the little girls held our spot with me. Amy and her family ate while waiting for the parade and holding our spot. Ryan and the big girls brought me my food. After I ate we did some shopping in the stores on Main Street. The Christmas parade is my all time favorite. It is magical and smells like cookies, for real.
Amy and her family left after the parade. If you have big kids who can hang I recommend doing the later parade and riding rides during the first parade. We ran and did the cars after the first parade then grabbed a spot for fireworks. Fireworks and parades at Disney trump rides in my mind but my little ride loving family disagrees. 
The girls grabbed cookies and snow cones. There are stations set up throughout the park with special cookies and drinks that are included in your party admission. The ginger molasses cookie and eggnog is one of my favorites. They definitely had more variety this year than two years ago when we went. There was chilled cider, hot coco, snow cones, mini soft pretzels and different cookies. 
Holiday Wishes was spectacular as always and reminded me how much I miss regular Wishes, not that Happily Ever After is not great in its own way.
After Holiday Wishes we tried to rush back to Mine Train but the line was crazy so we did tea cups the Mine Train. We stood in line for about 30 minutes the first time, which as many of you know is short compared to normal. The girls wanted to circle back again to do Mine Train as their last thing. We did and spent about 20 ish minutes in line that time. When we left the wait was back up to 45 mins already because the second parade had just finished.
We took our time leaving the park, taking some photo opportunities. I do recommend leaving the park a few before midnight if you are using the Disney buses, monorail, or boats. The lines get long at closing. Or if your family can hang even later, then get in line for one last ride about 10 minutes before park closing and in order to let the transportation crowds clear out and you will have some magical pictures with less people in them.
Happy 2018. The older I get the more I love the fresh start of a New Year. A renewed sense of excitement for a year ahead full of possibilities. If you haven’t thought about your goals or maybe just have not started what you intended, do not be discouraged. January 1st is in reality no more special than any other day. You can use any day, hour, minute or second to declare a fresh start and conquer your dreams. But yet there is something magical and refreshing about a New Year. I hope you have the day to reflect back on where you have been and dream of where you are going. May 2018 bring you love, hope, courage, strength and wellness.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. 
The Barefoot Mermaid 