Despite how great our little Christmas vacation was earlier this week, I must admit that I did leave the Happiest Place on Earth with one little bee in my bonnet that I feel the need to air my grievances about here. My beef is in regards to all of the extra parties held at the Magic Kingdom for an added admission fee (i.e. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, etc…) and their impact on the rest of the “day guests” that didn’t even dawn on me up until now…
It dawned upon me as I was looking through the park schedule that SpectroMagic and Wishes weren’t on the agenda for that evening, which while somewhat normal for SpectroMagic as of recent, seemed odd for Wishes because it was my understanding that the park always did a fireworks show to wrap up the day. It was shortly thereafter that I realized the reason behind this adapted schedule – Thursday was one of the days for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, which resulted in the park closing at 7:00pm for “day guests.”
And to be honest with you, the more I milled about this, the angrier I got. I mean, I’m a huge fan of both of these shows – there are times when aside from dinner and maybe a quick ride on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, enjoying these two shows were our evening highlights at the Magic Kingdom, so to learn that some guests are being “shorted” with regards to these shows if they pick a day that also features a party is just very uncool in my book.
I mean, it’s clear that Disney makes a pretty penny on these parties, hence the introduction of the Pirate & Princess Parties last year for an extra boost during non-holiday seasons, but is the extra $50 / head worth the dissatisfied customers who get shooed out the door at 7:00pm without having enjoyed fireworks over Cinderella Castle? Sure, these Christmas and Halloween parties are great fun for those families willing and able to pony up another big chunk of change outside of their normal park tickets to be able to meet Santa Goofy or go trick or treating down Main Street USA, but what about the rest of the guests who are still paying $75 to get into the park, only be turned away come nightfall?
I’ve got to tell you that this realization really put a damper on my previous thoughts of these events – what seemed like a neat bonus event before now just seems crude to the average guest who won’t be paying extra to stick around for the parade and fireworks. And yes, I know that technically one could just as easily schedule their day at the Magic Kingdom on a day sans party to ensure that they’ll get the full experience, however just as I’m none too thrilled about Fantasmic! being scaled back at the Studios next month, I just think that these shows are an essential part of the Disney magic when visiting Walt Disney World and should be offered every day of the week.