Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

As most of you know, we don't live far from Disney World. Up until the last few years, I wasn't a huge Disney lover, basically because of the crowds. After we took Rylie there for the first time almost two years ago, though, my feelings for Disney changed. It really is a magical place! The excitement in my kids' eyes when we visit makes me forget about the crowds and I always want to go back for more.

Disney holds various special events throughout the year, and one such event is Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We had yet to go to this event, so we decided to check it out this year.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party features:

• The enchanted Castle Dream Lights on Cinderella Castle
• Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade, complete with a special appearance by Santa Claus himself
• An exclusive holiday fireworks extravaganza — Holiday Wishes: Celebrate the Spirit of the Season
• Live entertainment featuring Disney Characters
• Meet and greet opportunities throughout Magic Kingdom theme park with some of your favorite Disney Characters
• Complimentary cookies and hot cocoa
• A magical snow fall on Main Street, U.S.A.
• Many of the most popular Magic Kingdom attractions

Now, I wish I had done a little research before we went, because we actually missed a lot of the special events. This was Bryce's first time at the Magic Kingdom, though, and the kids were just excited to be there!

We got there after the party had started and had a hard time getting down Main Street because people were already finding their spots for the parade, but we had this to look at the whole time we were walking down Main Street...

Cinderella's Castle was all lit up and looked absolutely beautiful! The kids were just in awe! There was "snow" falling all over us, and it really felt like winter in central Florida.

Do you think Bryce was excited about being at Disney World?

Once we got to the end of Main Street, we headed to the Carousel. Up until just recently, Bryce has not wanted any part of any rides, but he jumped right on his horse and had a great time.

Even though we missed the first parade, the advantage was that the lines for the rides were very short. After the Carousel, we took a spin on Dumbo.

No visit to Magic Kingdom is complete without riding It's A Small World, so after the kids experienced the scary Snow White ride, which they loved, by the way, we headed over to the musical adventure through different countries.

One feature we did take advantage of was the free hot chocolate. As soon as we mentioned hot chocolate, that is all Bryce wanted. They also had free cookies, but since they came with tree nut allergy warnings and Rylie was not able to have one, we all skipped them. The kids didn't care, though, since they had their hot chocolate.

We did have a little mishap with the hot chocolate, thanks to the Disney employees that decided our stroller needed to be moved. Since the chocolate was too hot to drink right away, we put them in the cup holders on the stroller, parked our stroller in an approved stroller parking area, and took another ride on Snow White's Scary Adventures. Well, I guess they were shuffling stroller parking in order to close down some of the streets to get ready for the next parade and they moved our stroller. Unfortunately, they were not careful and the hot chocolate spilled all over our jackets that were inside the stroller. This was the part of the evening I wasn't too thrilled about.

Rylie asked to go on Snow White AGAIN, and as we headed over to get in line, the fireworks started. They were absolutely beautiful and the kids loved watching them!

One of my friends was there with her son, and while we were watching the fireworks she sent me a text asking if Rylie would go on Thunder Mountain. I had no idea she was even tall enough, but she was, so she got to experience her first real roller coaster. She loved it so much she even went twice!

After we were done riding Thunder Mountain, we decided to try to beat the crowds and started walking towards the park exit. The kids were getting tired and it was getting cold. Well, the second parade was going on, and I wanted to let the kids see some of it, so we stopped to watch it. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures since Brian and I both had to hold the kids so they could see. It was pretty amazing, though. The floats were all decked out in Christmas decorations, and Rylie and Bryce got to see all of their favorite Disney characters.

By the time we got to the park exit, Rylie was passed out. Bryce, on the other hand, was still ready to party, and enjoyed the chocolates we were given as we left.

Once we got on the ferry, it didn't take him long to start to drift off. You know it was a good time when you leave looking like this...

If you are in the Orlando area this time of year, you should definitely check out Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! It is just one of those events that you have to attend at least once. We will definitely go back in the future, but next time we won't miss all of the fun. I know the kids would have loved to meet some of the characters, and that will definitely be the first thing we do next time!

This event runs through December 18th, so you only have a few days left to check it out. A separate ticket is required for admission to the event. Visit Disney online for dates and pricing.

Disclosure: All opinions are my own. I received two complimentary tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.