If you are planning a Walt Disney World trip for the 2025 holiday season, this episode answers the most common listener questions we are getting right now.
Matt and Chip break down the newest changes at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, how to plan park days around Christmas parties, whether MultiPass is still worth it during holiday hours, the best free Christmas activities for families, what crowds look like the week between Christmas and New Years, and how to prepare for Florida’s unpredictable winter weather.
If you want real, practical advice from two dads who do this every week, this is the episode to watch.
In today’s episode, you will learn:
1. The new changes at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
What Disney removed, what the new packages include, and whether the experience is still worth it for girl dads in 2026.
Read more about Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, package changes and dress changes for 2026.
2. Disney World holiday strategy that saves your sanity
How to plan around Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights, which days have the lowest wait times, and how to avoid the biggest holiday mistakes.
Check out the deep dives here:
- How To Plan a Trip Around Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party If You Don’t Want To Buy Party Tickets
3. Why Premier Pass is selling out at $429
What that price spike really means for families and the future of line skipping in the parks.
4. The honest truth about Epic Universe
Why wait times are out of control, why Express Pass is becoming essential, and the simple mistake that ruins most first time visits.
5. The best free Christmas activities at Disney World
Resort decorations, gingerbread houses, the Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll, and how to meet Santa without a park ticket.
6. How to prepare for Florida winter weather
The temperature swings that surprise most families, what to pack, and the simple trick that prevents an emergency trip to Disney Springs for clothes.
7. Listener questions answered
Holiday crowds, MultiPass during party days, why the week after Christmas is one of the worst weeks to visit Disney World, and more.
If you want real, practical, family centered Disney and Universal planning advice without the gimmicks, this is your episode.
Chapters
01:05 What changed at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in 2026
04:20 Is Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique still worth it
09:00 Disney Cruise Line updates and discounts
12:45 Epic Universe warning Should families visit without Express Pass
15:55 Why is Premier Pass selling out Is it worth the price
20:40 Listener Question How to plan park days during Christmas party season
24:50 Listener Question Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party vs Jollywood Nights
28:55 Listener Question The best free holiday activities at Disney
34:20 Listener Question Is Christmas week really that crowded
38:35 Listener Question How to handle Florida winter weather swings
42:20 Final thoughts and trip planning tips
If you’re enjoying the show and want more tips, honest trip advice, and real-world strategies for planning Disney and Universal vacations, you can browse all of our episodes in one place. Head over to the Adventures of a Disney Dad Podcast Hub to catch up on past conversations, listener quenstions, and our most popular planning deep dives.
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Transcript
Matthew Brandabur (00:00)
Welcome back to another episode of the Adventures of a Disney Dad podcast. Matt and Chip are here.
We’re gonna catch you up on all things Walt Disney World. We’re gonna talk a little bit about Epic Universe. We’re happy to be back and it’s Christmas season. Chip, know, normally he’s got the Christmas tree in the background. I know that his wife has their Christmas tree up. The Christmas decorations are up at Walt Disney World. So we’re gonna answer all of your holiday listener questions. The Christmas parties are underway at Magic Kingdom and ⁓ you know, we’re just not Thanksgiving people. So we’re gonna jump right into.
all things Christmas and we’re going to talk about your holiday listener questions. So we’re looking forward to that. But before we jump into it, a few quick news related updates that I want to touch on. A lot of people I know are really excited to go to Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique in 2026. And there were some major changes that happened at Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique. And I want to touch on those really quickly. And then Chip and I are going to talk about a question that I think we get more frequently than any other.
First, the new changes are they adjusted the packages at Bippity Boppity Boutique. So now there’s only two packages. There’s basically one without a dress and then there’s one with a dress. The difference is about $100. So you can do the experience where you bring your own dress. I think you pay $119.99 and you get to do the hair, the makeup, all that fun stuff and you just bring your own dress. And then there’s a $229 option where you get a dress from in the shop. The biggest change that I noticed
is there’s like 11 princesses that got axed from the options at Bibbidi-Boppidi Boutique. There used to be like 20 different princess options. I had them all on the website. I’ll include a link to all the options in the show notes, but there used to be a ton of options. Now princesses like Anna, Merida, ⁓ Elena, Tinkerbell, some of the other like I would call them more minor princesses, they’re gone.
Like they’re not available anymore. Snow White was a big one that’s not available anymore. In addition to Ana, they got rid of one of the Elsa dresses and Chip, they raised the prices a little bit. They made it a little easier. It’s still ridiculously hard to get a reservation. ⁓ It’s one of the most popular experiences at Walt Disney World. The biggest question that I get all the time for 2026 is Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique still worth it to you?
Chip (02:16)
yeah. 100%. I think it’s, I honestly think it’s priceless. It’s one of those things that watching your daughter walk around as a princess in magic kingdom is one of the best things you can experience. ⁓ and my goal is always to do it in the morning. So it lasts, but we’ve had, we’ve had an appointment in the afternoon. ⁓ so it’s just one those things that I think it’s, it’s worth it.
You know, and you telling me it’s only a dollars to get the dress. I would consider it. Um, because I think before I it was like 89 and then it was two 25 or two 30. And that was like a hundred and what? $150 give or take difference. A hundred dollars. like, okay. I’d probably consider that.
Matthew Brandabur (02:56)
What’s frustrating, I think, to me from the changes that they made is that the dresses look the same as the ones you can get at the Disney store. And the Disney store dresses are a little bit on the cheaper side. Like our wives would chime in a little bit more about that. But I think they would agree that they the quality is like not there as much. And so I think there’s a lot of different options we’ve had. ⁓ know, Jenny Moyer from Taylor Joel, who founded a company that makes Disney play dresses on the show in the past.
I would rather like bring something high quality like that, that’s more of for play and inspiration and then pay for just the rest of it than to get a Disney store dress.
Chip (03:36)
Well, yeah, I, especially
if you’re going to, if you’re going in the summer, you’re a hundred percent right. know we’re thinking Christmas. And so that’s where my kind of mind went, but yeah, you’re right. And when it’s, mean, we bought one for Kenzie off Amazon and she was sweating the first time she was, she was at Bippity Boppity boutique and she wore a dress for maybe an hour and a half, two hours. And then it was like, we got to this off.
Matthew Brandabur (03:44)
Yeah.
Yeah, but ultimately, no matter which package you get, think we would 100 % agree it’s worth it. And it’s, I think it’s the best experience that you can have, particularly as a girl dad at Walt Disney World. I don’t think there’s anything that comes close. I think if you’ve got kids in that three to like 10 age group, I don’t think there’s a better experience that you can have. And we’ve done it a couple of times. I, the first time that we did it, Chip, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this story.
We went in and part of the, and this is part of why you don’t bring your own dress, I think a little bit, is that you go in there and you want your daughter to have this experience of looking at all the different options and choosing which princess she wants to be. And then she gets the, you know, the chance to look at all the different hairstyles and choose what hairstyle she wants. And part of you like, holds your breath, like, please don’t pick the Ariel seashell, you know, dress or.
Chip (04:49)
you
Matthew Brandabur (04:49)
you know, please don’t pick the unicorn hair because you’re like, I’m going to spend all this money. want, know, you and your, wife and I were like, we want great pictures. You know, we want to do the whole thing. We don’t want her to pick like the most outlandish dress and then the unicorn hair and all this other crazy stuff. So like part of it is, that bit of that experience, right? If you buy it in advance, number one, there’s like less of a chance that they’re going to do that. But also there’s
less of that creativity and fun of selecting your own dress. So I can get that portion of it. But we went in there and Haley, you know, she absolutely wanted Cinderella, which is like, great. Dad’s like, I, you know, there’s not really a better option at that point. I’m all for it. They did not have her size in like the basic one. And she had her heart set on getting Cinderella. So of course there’s the signature dress, which is like,
Chip (05:42)
Ha ha
ha.
Matthew Brandabur (05:42)
the
heirloom quality. I mean, it is a gorgeous dress. It’s really, really high quality. But it was $400. And my wife looks at me and it’s like, it was kind of like a yes day. It was our daughter’s first time that she’s old enough at Walt Disney World. We’re doing Bibbidi-Boppidi-Boutique. This is the thing that we booked. And you’re just like, all right, I just did it. And I think I ended up paying like
four or $500 total for the experience. And granted, that dress is still in our house and it is still really, really high quality. And I do think that the dress is worth the money. I don’t know that I would do that again. And they got rid of that package. So you can’t even get the signature dress package anymore. Those dresses you can buy right next to Gaston’s in the shop there. So it’s, think Elsa.
Chip (06:22)
Yeah.
Matthew Brandabur (06:35)
Aurora, there’s one other one and Cinderella. they’re, Belle, yeah. And the quality on them is, it’s insane. But you could, if you really want those dresses, the really high quality ones, you can go to that store next to Gaston’s Tavern, buy them there and then come and bring it to your appointment, you know, as that base level package and just put it together. And I would recommend it. It’s definitely worth it. But overall, the experience, Chip, you and I agree.
Chip (06:41)
It’s bell.
Matthew Brandabur (07:03)
You gotta do it. I don’t think there’s ever been a scenario where I’ve told someone they shouldn’t.
Chip (07:08)
You know, it kind of are going a little bit of a tangent. First time we took Kenzie, was at the Disney Springs, ⁓ location and my dad and stepmom were at Earl of sandwich and my kids had no idea they were going. And so we’re walking. said, Hey, that, that person looks over familiar. You know, my dad and he’s got the biggest grid on the face and he, he waves and the kids were all excited. best part was I think he paid for it. So even better, you know,
Matthew Brandabur (07:33)
Yeah,
you bring a grandparent and they’re opening the checkbook. That always helps too, 100%. And we get asked that question a lot too, which is like, there’s no reservations in Magic Kingdom all the time. When are they going to open the Grand Floridian and Disney Springs? We talked to Dapper Danielle about that. It sounds like probably never because there’s licensing issues with some of the salons post COVID.
So it sounds like that’s never gonna happen, but I think there’s enough demand for it. We could talk about, you know, there being a downtrend in demand for travel in Walt Disney World in 2026 anyway, which is a fact. So, you know, they might not be looking to add those kinds of services right now, but you can also do it on Disney Cruise Line. And it’s basically the same experience, which is a perfect segue.
Chip (08:25)
Well, before you, know you say segue. I will say on Disney cruise line, they have times available all the time. It’s always open. ⁓ yeah, let’s segue.
Matthew Brandabur (08:32)
Yeah, it’s much easier to get on Disney Cruise Line for sure. yeah,
the segue is that, you know, we’ve got the new Disney Destiny. We’ve got new placeholder offers for Disney Cruise Line. So they’ve got a bigger discount on some 2026 cruises. And in general, what we’re seeing from Disney, whether it’s Walt Disney World, Disneyland or Disney Cruise Line, the discounts and the promotions have never been better.
The pricing, like I get it’s expensive. I’m not trying to like diminish that a Disney vacation is expensive, but all things considered, they are running crazy promotions ⁓ in comparison to past years because tourism is down in 2026. So it very much seems like they’re trying to get people on these ships. The Disney Destiny was full of influencers and you we had people there from the Magic for Less Travel ⁓ that were doing the preview cruise and it looks insane.
Chip (09:27)
We had former guests on there. I saw that too.
Matthew Brandabur (09:29)
We did. We had several former guests that were on the ship. I’m just… Everything I saw on that ship blew me away. I saw Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique. It looks gorgeous. The food looks incredible. The ⁓ Black Panther like right in the middle. Just like… It all looks awesome. my gosh. did you see… And the Iron Man suite? Granted, I don’t have 40 grand.
Chip (09:52)
Yeah. Well, I saw the, I saw the,
the infinity stones and I’m sitting here. I’m sitting here thinking like, all right, well, if I’m going to go concierge, I’ve got to go see, I’ve got to go on the destiny. If I’m going to do it.
Matthew Brandabur (09:55)
for the Iron Man Suite.
Yeah.
And you know, that’s actually what’s funny is a lot of the placeholder discounts that they just added are for concierge suites, which they’ve never done before. So I think that’s, you know, a sign of bigger things to come. But putting the discount stuff aside, obviously, if you want to get a quote for Disney Cruise Line or any Disney vacation, my services are free. Reach out. I’ll help you bounce numbers off, whatever. But the destiny, where would it rank to you, Chip? Because you’re our Disney Cruise Line.
Is it in the top three of your ships?
Chip (10:36)
⁓ yeah, I would put it just from pictures. the treasure is what I want to go on. Probably number one. then destiny’s too. And then I’m going to, I’m going to drop the wish a little bit, which might be one of our next trips anyways, but the dream class ships are so phenomenal. And like I’ve been on the dream. ⁓ and it’s such a great ship. that’s where that’s probably three, but destiny is.
Matthew Brandabur (10:42)
Treasure’s gotta be number one still, yeah.
Chip (11:04)
My wife didn’t want to go on it. And when we start watching YouTube videos after football season, I think her mind’s going to change because she’s going be like, yeah, this is sweet.
Matthew Brandabur (11:13)
It does. I think some people, and I even had a guest that booked the Destiny that was like, I don’t know if I’m into like the idea of it being villains themed or it being a little too like adultish. And I was like, don’t I mean, nothing that I’ve seen has like taken away like the Disney magic of it. ⁓ But certainly the theming, you know, it matters to an extent. I love the fantasy, though, so it would probably be my number three.
I think would be treasure, destiny, fantasy for me. ⁓ But obviously we’re way more into Disney Cruise Line than I am.
Chip (11:46)
Well, and I’m,
I, and I haven’t heard anything about the Lion King, ⁓ dining experience. I’m very intrigued.
Matthew Brandabur (11:54)
It was,
I’ve seen videos, I’ve seen photos and it looked incredible. Obviously I would have loved to do the preview cruise. Like me and Chip would have loved to have done it, but I’ve got two babies on the way. like it was never even a consideration for our podcast, but ⁓ it did look awesome. Our friend Jocelyn was on it and you know, just absolutely raved. Everybody raved about it. So if you haven’t seen those, check it out. If you’re looking into any Disney Cruise Line discounts,
definitely reach out and I’d be happy to give you a quote. let’s jump into, you know, one thing that I wanted to touch on before we jump in our listener questions. And I know that the intro here is running long a little bit, but I’ve had a lot of discussion with people lately on social media about Epic Universe and a lot of clients in particular. I am of the mindset and I’ve been to Epic several times now. If you are going with kids and we’ve talked about this more broadly with Universal and kids being
You have to have a lot of ⁓ planning and forethought if you’re taking little kids to any Universal Park. But Epic Universe in particular, they are having a significant problem with wait times and capacity issues. The park is not fully open to capacity, meaning they’re limiting the number of people that they’re letting have tickets each day. And wait times are still a very, very real problem. There’s been several days where, you know, of the 11-ish attractions,
Only one has a wait under an hour. Several will have waits of over three hours, including Battle at the Ministry. And I’m sorry, but like if you are going with kids, you should not be going to Epic Universe without ExpressPass. And we say the same thing on this podcast about Walt Disney World, right? Like we wouldn’t go without Lightning Lanes. We would go as adults without Lightning Lanes. But we wouldn’t go with our kids, most likely without MultiPass or individual Lightning Lanes, right?
Chip (13:33)
100 %
Matthew Brandabur (13:47)
And kids just aren’t built for waiting in long lines these days. And I had somebody on Facebook call me basically soft as a parent for not like forcing my children to wait in long lines. And I think that that is absolutely asinine and ridiculous. And if I’m soft because I pay to skip the lines, like I’ll be soft. I don’t have a problem with that. But the issue that people have is
Chip (13:47)
Yeah.
Matthew Brandabur (14:15)
Express pass at Universal is way more expensive than multi pass at Walt Disney World. So it could be $150 per person per day. It’s a lot more like premier pass, right? At Walt Disney World for those that are familiar. And so when you’re already spending over a thousand dollars for tickets for one day at Epic Universe, then you’re like, I have to spend another, you know, $600 or whatever for express pass. It’s like hard to swallow.
But the one thing Chip, you and I are very adamant about is that we’re honest with people and we don’t recommend things that you and I wouldn’t do. So like even though it would make me more money in my business, if you travel to Epic Universe, I will tell you I would not go if I don’t have Express Pass. I will tell you not to go on a vacation. Wait and save the money or the budget until you have the money to be able to get Express Pass. If that’s the issue.
or wait until the capacity issues are straightened out. And from everything I’ve read online, it doesn’t seem like that’s a possibility until they expand to the park with Wicked or more Harry Potter or whatever. But I think you feel the same way, right? I mean, you’re not going to Epic Universe and waiting an hour or two hours in lines.
Chip (15:29)
No, I’m not going anywhere really to wait an hour and two hour line. it’s, I would wait an hour for a couple rides, but one a day. I’m not going to wait for an hour for multiple rides, but, um, it would be hard. mean, my older two, we could probably do it, but the younger three, there’s no chance.
Matthew Brandabur (15:48)
I posted a photo on ⁓ Facebook and it was the wait time for Battle at the Ministry was four hours. And I don’t think there’s anything in life outside of a theme park. There’s nothing in life that I’m four hours for. Right? I just, it blows me away. And you get so many people that are in the comments that are like, you know, all you have to do is have some strategy and, you know, park rope drop and then just go late at night. And then you only have to wait in one or two during the day.
Chip (15:59)
You
Matthew Brandabur (16:15)
And then you get the other people that are like, I went, you know, last week and I didn’t have to wait at all. And I’m like, look, most people that are planning a vacation, if you’re listening to this podcast and you’re going to Epic Universe for the first time, you’re not built that way. you’re not built for taking, and again, this is with taking kids. Like I’m not talking about, you know, taking two 18 year olds, you know, they’re going to college or something. If you’re going with kids, you’re not like trying to plan out a rope drop.
and monitoring the app to maneuver your way through these portals and do all this stuff. That’s not fun. It’s not fun. I was just going to say it’s a perfect segue into the next thing that I want to mention, which is Premier Pass at Walt Disney World. $429 next week at Magic Kingdom. Sold out. Sold out, Chip.
Chip (16:52)
Yeah. You know what? Go ahead.
Do you know what that number is? Like what they’re how many they’re doing?
Matthew Brandabur (17:13)
I don’t know how many they’re doing. It’s a lot, but what it says to me is that people will pay a premium to not have to deal with the nonsense. They will pay $429 per person to not have to deal with the complications of using that app. What does that say about the state of Walt Disney World? And this might get me in trouble, but again, we’re honest here.
What does that say about the state of Walt Disney World if people are paying $429 to avoid the complications of using the My Disney Experience app to book Lightning Lanes? They’re paying for the convenience of being able to do whatever they want and not have to be on their phone. That’s crazy.
Chip (17:54)
I had a, I had a friend who was just down there and I saw him on just on Facebook. I haven’t seen him. I’m to see him Friday. he was on a VIP tour and they only have one child and that’s, think one, maybe I think it’s only one. I think they’re only one or two. And I’m like, all right. But then I see him with other people and I think somebody was holding the baby while they were riding tron. I’m like,
Yeah, you’re probably right. If you’re to go there and you got a big group, they weren’t on property. They were staying off property. like, if you’re willing to pay for it and avoid lines, I get it.
Matthew Brandabur (18:29)
I can get behind a VIP tour, right? Like the VIP tour expense, if you’ve got 10 people, makes a lot more sense than Premier Pass because you get the VIP fireworks seating. Like we’ve talked about that before. I think there’s a better value for a VIP tour than Premier Pass. But either way, you’re talking about a large chunk of money just to avoid, because you’re not getting a different service really than MultiPass.
You’re just getting the ability to do it whenever you want and you get all of them. But like for the most part, you’re going to get almost all of them or all of them anyway. You just are not going to get them in the order and time at your convenience that you want to. But $429 is, I mean, it’s a lot and people are willing to pay it. And I don’t know what that says about the future of these services.
I do think that the more expensive they are like at Universal, the product is better. Like the Universal ExpressPass is a better product than MultiPass because a lot less people have it. So when you go to Universal and you get in the ExpressPass line, there’s nobody else in it really. you’re not waiting, sometimes you get in a MultiPass line and you’re still waiting 30 minutes. And that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you’re, and it’s because
Everyone at Walt Disney World is paying for multi pass, right? The majority of people that go are buying at a minimum that package because it’s not that expensive. It’s going to be more expensive in 2026. But I think that, you know, the price increases mean less people have it. It’s a better experience. So I can understand some of that. But man, Premiere Pass, I think if you listen to this podcast, whether you use a travel agent or not, you can do Walt Disney World without Premiere Pass.
And if you’re considering Premier Pass, just go all the way and do a VIP tour is my thought. And you and I have, I mean, I thought we both have had great experiences on VIP tours. ⁓ you know, that’s, that’s I think worth it every time, but that’s an expensive endeavor to. So let’s jump into all of our listener questions because the inbox has been getting full. Again, I got babies on the way. So we’re trying to make sure that we.
Chip (20:18)
Yeah, sure. I agree.
Matthew Brandabur (20:41)
Stay up to date on the podcast and we’re going to be giving you as many episodes as we can. But we’re on Baby Watch.
Chip (20:41)
Hey.
And we I’m playing
he’s on baby watch. I’m in the middle of playing for regional championship this week and final four hopefully next week and then it will calm down for me.
Matthew Brandabur (20:54)
Yeah, so
you’re three games away from being a state title, right? For the Maddison Tigers. Yeah, so let’s hope our Tigers make it there and we’ll talk about that on a different episode and we’ll follow it. one of the most common questions we get, and this is the first one that we’re gonna answer, is how do you plan a trip around Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party or Jollywood Nights if you do not want to buy party tickets?
Chip (20:59)
Currently, yes, when we record this, yeah.
Matthew Brandabur (21:22)
So you’re going down to Walt Disney World November, December. They’ve got Christmas parties at Magic Kingdom. They’ve got a Christmas party at Hollywood Studios. You don’t want to go. You don’t want to spend that $200, $229 per person for this ticket. I get it. I can understand it. I think they’re worth it, but that’s a different discussion. Chip, how do you plan a trip when there’s a party day going on and you don’t want to go?
Chip (21:46)
I think the biggest thing is you probably should have park hopper. Um, because the crowds at magic kingdom on Sunday were not very busy. Um, and then they had, they they had one Friday and Sunday and I had friends there both days and they said it was low and it’s, one of those that go on the go in the morning rope drop magic kingdom.
Matthew Brandabur (21:55)
And that’s Sunday was the day of a party.
Chip (22:10)
About four o’clock when party guests are coming in, leave and go, go take a break and then hit up close another part. ⁓ because then you’ve got all the party guests that were maybe at Epcot earlier in the day, going to magic kingdom. maybe can get Matt Epcot and get on some rides easy or go. I think that’s the biggest thing is just his park.
Matthew Brandabur (22:28)
Yeah.
Yeah, and the data is clear every single year that the day of a party, whether it’s at Magic Kingdom or at Hollywood Studios, during the day, the wait times are way lower than they are any other day of the year. So you should absolutely, if you’re not planning to go to a party, go to that park that’s having the party during the day and then leave and park hop. Even if you’re not, I think even if you don’t go get park hopper, I agree with you, park hopper to me is like a must. If that’s your plan.
But even if you’re not going to like making it an early evening where you just get a dining reservation and go back to your resort and do like a night swim is better than trying to like navigate a different park because that benefit of not having, you know, the crowds there is really, really great. And, the biggest thing that the biggest mistake I think people make is they make these dining reservations or they make a bivy, bopty boutique reservation and then they forget that there’s a party schedule.
So then they have to redo all of their plans because they don’t realize that they can’t be at Magic Kingdom at 6 p.m. or whatever. So they’ll make, you know, a Hollywood and Vine reservation at 6 p.m. and they don’t realize there’s a party. So they’ve got to change their reservation.
Chip (23:41)
Well, and you got to hope that maybe John Stavos is with the beach boys at Epcot that day. And you go to the front of Epcot and you write every ride. Cause there’s no way. the line was to Mexico or our listener, max was down there. He said, I’m not getting in line. It’s past Mexico.
Matthew Brandabur (23:57)
Yeah, I
mean, I, I, I, that’s a discussion for a different day. But man, the obsession amongst Disney adults with John, with that man is on a different it’s on a different planet. I, I, I don’t I mean, he’s Uncle Jesse. I get that. But like, I don’t know. I’ve never I’ve never understood that one. ⁓
But if you get the John Stamos thing, let us know in the comments because that one I’m not buying. I’m not understanding it. What are the big differences between Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Jollywood Nights and who should choose which? Chip, think who is the target audience in your mind for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party? And then I’ll talk about Jollywood Nights a little.
Chip (24:45)
think it’s families, ⁓ families and really everybody is probably who I would say for Mickey’s very Merry Christmas, but they’re targeting families. they’re trying to get you in the parade. It’s, ⁓ one of my, my best friends was down there for the party on Sunday and he got 43 cookies. I’m hoping to have one on my desk tomorrow. He’s a guy to teach with. ⁓
And, it’s, one of those things like, I want to take my kids to see the snow falling on main street, ⁓ during the parade. think that’s, that’s just something I, that’s a goal of my wife and I, ⁓ to see the parade, see Santa Claus come down main street and it’s families. think that’s, that’s the biggest one for Mickey’s very Merry Christmas.
Matthew Brandabur (25:33)
Yeah. so that’s the biggest difference. I think Jollywood Nights, while it’s good for kids too, has more of a focus on like young adults and teens and adults. So there’s a little bit more of a cocktail focus. You’ve got the Tip Top Club at ⁓ Hollywood Tower of Terror. There’s a little bit more of a focus on different alcoholic drinks, different cocktails that you can get. Whereas Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, there’s a lot of focus on the snacks and
you know, the food and the drinks and the cocoa and the cookies that you can get at the different cookie stations. Jollywood Nights, I think, is more of an adult vibe and there’s more of a focus on the cocktails and adult eats and things like that. And it’s got that, I don’t know, like Gatsby vibe to it because of the Tower of Terror, obviously.
Chip (26:20)
Well, how, how
I, how I describe it to people is Mickey’s very Marius family Christmas. It’s, it’s going with grandma. It’s going with going to see the cousins. haven’t seen Jollywood nights is, ⁓ I was going to say office Christmas party. Like you gotta think like you’re going with your employees. you’re going to have a cocktail. You’re going to go maybe.
Have, I don’t know, do like a, a, a career. want to call Yankee swap from the office, a white elephant type. It’s just more, it’s more adult friendly. ⁓ kids are more than welcome to go to it, but I just think they’re targeting the Disney adults or like they’re the adult, the adult adults.
Matthew Brandabur (27:00)
Yeah, 100%.
100%. And you know, the biggest, I think, draw for a lot of these is the character meets. And the character meets, I think, are great at both. And they both hit the, I think they hit all age levels at both. at Vicky’s Very Merry Christmas Party, the biggest one, in my opinion, is Anna and Elsa. It’s the only time they ever meet at Magic Kingdom. So they’ll be in Princess Fairy Tale All.
You get Belle, it’s in her like Christmas dress, which is a lot of fun when, and she’s in the Enchanted Tales with Belle. ⁓ Again, that’s a draw for both, you know, kids and adults. Over at Jollywood Nights, they’ve got different characters. Chewie is celebrating, I think it’s Life Day or Light Day. I’m a Star Wars nerd, so I should know that, but I can’t remember what the reference is for Christmas. But they’ve got Chewbacca there, and then they’ve got like Jiminy Cricket.
Chip (27:46)
think it’s light day.
Matthew Brandabur (27:52)
A lot of the Toy Story characters, Lazo and then, know, Bo Peep is usually there. So there’s a lot of fun. I think the new one was Miguel and Rex at Jollywood Nights. And, you know, the biggest thing to understand is that once you do these parties, they’re pretty much the same every year. They don’t make any drastic changes usually.
Chip (28:11)
Let me ask this as I’ve not been either. I’m asking you, which one are you going to?
Matthew Brandabur (28:17)
With my kids, it’s Mickey’s very Merry Christmas party.
Chip (28:19)
Uh,
no, I’m saying like, you’re going, you’re, I say, Hey, I got a ticket to which one it’s both on the same night, which one are you going?
Matthew Brandabur (28:24)
You know,
I probably Mickey’s very Merry Christmas party. And it’s more of like that vibe of like Main Street with the snow and just being there, it gives more of the Christmas spirit to me. Whereas Jollywood Nights is more for ⁓ like, I wanna get stuff done kind of
Like I want to go meet the characters. I want to go ride the rides. I’m not as focused on the vibes, so to speak. But Mickey’s very Merry Christmas party, like just being there and hanging out is, it gets you in that Christmas spirit, which you and I love Christmas so much that that to me is part of why I would want to do that one more. But again, like I think I’m not sure what my kids prefer because
Chip (29:08)
on ⁓
Matthew Brandabur (29:13)
They love the rides at Hollywood Studios so much and the lines are, you know, in general, they’re a little bit shorter at Jellywood Nights. Mickey’s very Merry Christmas party. The lines are like normal. They’re not lower than you’d get during a normal park day. So, you know, what I think my kids would maybe say, I’d love to ride Tower of Terror 10 times straight. And you don’t get that opportunity to do that at other studios anymore. So.
⁓ It’s an interesting dilemma, but I think if you’ve got little kids like under seven, Mickey’s very Merry Christmas party is the easy answer. If your kids are older than seven, then you start to consider Jollywood nights. You think that’s fair? Yeah. The next question was a pretty easy one and it was, is multi-pass still necessary during holiday party days when Magic Kingdom closes early?
Chip (29:53)
Yeah, I agree.
Matthew Brandabur (30:05)
And Chip touched on this quite a bit, that the wait times are so low at Magic Kingdom, it’s probably the only time I would ever consider not buying multi pass. Is if you’re going during the day, you’re not gonna hop somewhere else, so you don’t need it in the evening. Then you can consider not getting it, but I would still get it. Like if you’re gonna hop somewhere else, like just pay the money and don’t risk it is the upshot.
Chip (30:24)
Yeah.
Well, especially
if there’s something you want to ride, like, I mean, what’s it cost nowadays? I imagine it was a 25, 30.
Matthew Brandabur (30:36)
I mean, around December, it’s going to be, you know, 50 bucks a person.
Chip (30:41)
I would probably do it just so I can guarantee that I’m gonna ride I can ride those three rides you want to ride I mean honestly
Matthew Brandabur (30:49)
I agree. To me, my view on multi pass and if you’ve listened to our podcast before, I think this comes through. It’s just not worth it for the majority of people going once a year or once every two or three years to like try and ⁓ hold down your budget for line skipping stuff. Like if you want to reduce your budget on your Disney vacation, do it in your room or do it in your resort or do it in your
you know, your travel or do it in your food. Like don’t do it in the line skipping stuff because it’s just not, there’s just way too much strategy and luck. There’s so much luck involved. You get unlucky on the day that you didn’t buy multi-pass and it’s just a, it can ruin your vacation, you know? ⁓ Like saving money on not doing a dining reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table basically covers multi-pass for two days. So
Chip (31:42)
Yeah. ⁓
Matthew Brandabur (31:44)
you know, do skip that instead of skipping multi pass because skipping Cinderella’s royal table is not going to run your vacation. Waiting an hour and a half for Slinky Dog will, right? ⁓ But the other thing I get a lot is multi pass is not available during a party. So if you buy it at Magic Kingdom or you buy it somewhere else and then you’re going to the party, they don’t use multi pass during a party. So it’s just all standby. ⁓
This is one I love Chip and I think you and I feel pretty strongly about some of this stuff. What are the best free holiday festivities at Walt Disney World? Let’s each give one. I think I know what you’ll say and I don’t think they’re going to be the same. So let’s give, let’s each give our favorite free holiday festivity or mention a couple at Walt Disney World.
Chip (32:32)
Mine are the resorts and I put in the S well, you know, it’s funny. I think I know what yours is too, but, ⁓ it’s so mine is the resorts and going to see the tree. ⁓ having stayed at both animal kingdom lodge and at wilderness lodge. ⁓ my wife, I told her like how big the tree is and she just like, there’s no way. I’m like, I’ll bring you back to show you some day, but.
Matthew Brandabur (32:33)
I knew that’s what it would be and I knew that it wouldn’t be the same. Perfect.
Yeah.
Chip (32:54)
just going to the different resorts. ⁓ like the one I’ve always wanted to see, like, know everybody’s excited about the gingerbread house at grand Floridian, but I want to go see the carousel that they make out of chocolate. And, ⁓ I think it’s at beach club or beach or yacht club. of the two. ⁓ but I think that that intrigues me a lot is just seeing that. So I think going to all the different resorts and seeing how they decorate, because they all decorate different.
because they’re all different resorts. And then if they get a new manager or a new general manager of their resort, they’re decorating it differently. So that’s something to look at over time too.
Matthew Brandabur (33:28)
Yeah.
Yeah, the resorts and the gingerbread houses at the different resorts, the resort hopping is probably, you know, one of the best free activities you can do between now and like the first week of January because of how the different resorts decorate and the different stuff that they have there. You know, definitely check out the different gingerbread houses. To me, like once you’ve seen them once, I don’t know that I like, I want to see them again.
But the decorations in general, beyond the gingerbread houses, I think are worth going back to hang out. Like I’d go hang out at Wilderness Lodge again, just for the vibes.
Chip (34:07)
dude, it’s gotta be the best one. Like with the fire, the giant fireplace, it’s gotta be the best resort for around holidays.
Matthew Brandabur (34:13)
And I don’t ever
need an excuse to go to Animal Kingdom Lodge. So like, like I’ll just go and hang out. So that’s not a problem for me. My favorite free holiday activity at Walt Disney World is the Christmas tree stroll at Disney Springs. I think that that thing is an absolute blast. I went last year with my brother-in-law and we went and did it and it’s awesome. You can go and pick up a map at several different locations at Disney Springs. And then they’ve got different themed trees.
Chip (34:17)
True that.
Matthew Brandabur (34:42)
that you kind of do like, it’s almost like a hide and seek, but they’re not really hiding. But like you go and you fill out the map and you match the tree to the location and they’ve all got different themes. So there’s like a Haunted Mansion theme tree and a Toy Story theme tree. And they usually change, you know, a little bit each year and the decorations and like just seeing the different theme trees, it really gets you into that, that spirit of Christmas and kids have a blast with it and it’s free.
You know, you don’t need a park ticket. You don’t need any significant transportation. That’s the one downside about doing like, ⁓ you know, the resort hopping is that transportation can be a pain. ⁓ So that you’re just taking a bus or whatever transportation over to Disney Springs. And then you’ve got the Christmas tree stroll there. And to me, it’s awesome. There’s also, you can meet Santa for free at Disney Springs. So you don’t have to go into the parks.
I think that’s the only location that you can do that for free, which is awesome.
Chip (35:35)
does he mean that?
Where’s he meet at at Dizzy Springs?
Matthew Brandabur (35:42)
I don’t know if it’s changed this year, ⁓ but I think it’s usually the co-op, if I remember correctly. ⁓ sometimes it changes. I actually haven’t looked this year, but you can see it on the app as to where Santa’s located. And you can get a different style Santa, and they usually also have a virtual queue. So you’ll see signage for that at Disney Springs, but it will also be available in the app. who, like, to me, you can’t really beat
Chip (35:48)
That’s what I was thinking too, yeah, in the middle of it, yeah.
Matthew Brandabur (36:10)
a day of doing like the Christmas tree stroll, going to World of Disney and absolutely blowing out your wallet and meeting Santa. Like there’s, yeah, exactly. I know him. And then you watch that down with like a Gideon’s Cold Brew and some cookies to take home. it’s like, I think that might be the perfect non Disney parks day that you can have during the holidays. So, ⁓ you know, that would be our advice for sure. ⁓
Chip (36:17)
I know him.
⁓
Matthew Brandabur (36:38)
The next question is, I mean, this is another one we get all the time. So there’s several of you guys that asked this question and sent it in. Is the week between Christmas and New Year’s really as crowded as people say?
Chip (36:50)
Yeah.
Matthew Brandabur (36:50)
Yes.
It’s the busiest week of the year at Disney, every year, not even close to anything else.
Chip (36:58)
You know what’s,
you know, what’s funny. I looked at like looking at a cruise between there because it’s one on the promotion. was like the wish for three nights. He left on the 26th. It was about four grand more than if you booked it like two weeks later.
Matthew Brandabur (37:12)
Yeah,
mean, the huge difference there with the cruise line, I mean, it’s the same Walt Disney World in the cruise line. Like the reason it’s so busy is because then you don’t have to your kids out of school and people don’t realize that it’s going to be that busy. But it is it is the absolute busiest time of the year. It clears out a little bit. You know, the like I would say like January 3rd is usually when it starts to clear out and then it gets back picked up.
really busy for marathon weekend, the two weekends later. So I think the marathon is like January 13th or something this year. like, you know, the eighth, it’ll start to really pick up again ⁓ for, you know, the marathon weekend stuff. And that January used to be like the hidden gem. That used to be my favorite time to go. And now everybody’s going to January. Like that second, third week of January is the pricing is just.
phenomenal. The weather’s phenomenal. Like everybody wants to go during that period now. But, you know, I’ve had people with little kids that, you know, I’ve told them, I’m not sure going on that week is a great idea. Like I would I would rather go on spring break. Which sounds crazy, because if you’ve listened to this podcast for a while, know, Chip and I are not we’re not huge on
Disney spring break, you got to have a really good plan for that time period. But that week between Christmas and New Year’s is tough for sure. ⁓ gosh. Let’s the I think we talked about the resort gingerbread houses. So we got that covered. The last question that we’re to answer tonight is how do you prepare for temperature swings between morning and night at Disney during winter? Chip, what’s your what’s your go to advice here?
Chip (38:58)
You live, you live in,
you live in Ohio. I think that’s the biggest thing. Cause Matt, you and I growing up, grew up in Southwest Ohio. We woke up, we wore a winter coat to school. And by the time recess came around, you were in shorts and a t-shirt. ⁓ now, you know, it’s true. It’s so funny. ⁓ I think one of the things is, is you just gotta like, I’m a big weather person. So I’m watching. ⁓
Matthew Brandabur (39:17)
It is true. It is true. It is true.
Chip (39:26)
You layer. think that’s the biggest thing is you take a couple of hoodies. Um, you take some t-shirts and you prepare for everything. Um, and you hope that it’s warm, but it’s not guaranteed to be warm. Um, but I would always just take a hoodie, put a t-shirt underneath. And if I have to take the hoodie off, I’ll take the hoodie off. Um, I would wear shorts, but that’s cause I’m crazy and insane. Um,
because I don’t like wearing pants very often other than teaching because I have to. ⁓ I just, I’m a shorts guy, but yeah, he, that dude, it’s unbelievable. He wears jeans everywhere. It’s, it’s my man. We love that guy, but where’s jeans everywhere. I love it. But, ⁓
Matthew Brandabur (39:55)
Don’t tell our friend Chris that, because he only wears pants at Walt Disney World.
You know Chip, I’ll
tell a quick story. The first time that we took the kids in January, this would have probably been like 2021, like our first trip post-COVID. We had to rebuy everyone in our family’s wardrobe because we went and it was marathon weekend. I was, or no, I don’t think this was marathon weekend. This would have been.
Chip (40:28)
you when you ran?
Matthew Brandabur (40:29)
Yeah, because I ran the marathon 2023. So this was 2021. So we were just going down post COVID. It was like the first time we could travel. And we got hit with a cold spell. It was so bad that my wife and I took the kids to Disney Springs and we literally bought jackets for everybody in the family. And we were all wearing pants and sweatshirts and winter coats the entire week. And it’s because like the weather changes very, very quickly.
So like you can look, you know, the week before your vacation and you’re like, all right, it’s going to be pretty much a high of 70 every single day in January that we’re there. We don’t need to take all the winter coats. And then your second day in your vacation, the forecast switches and it’s like a high of 49. And every night you’re worried about whether or not it’s, you know, the iguanas are going to fall out of the trees. So, uh, you know, it’s, it’s one of those things where like, even if your forecast, especially if you’re going
December to like early January. And I think just the other day, they had it in the thirties in Florida, just a couple of days ago. So like if you’re going November to January, bring the layers that you may need just in case, or be prepared at least to go spend some money at Disney Springs if you have to, ⁓ because it can change really quickly. So I would keep that in mind, ⁓ but that’s really the only advice that I think we would have.
Chip (41:31)
Yeah.
Matthew Brandabur (41:52)
because otherwise you’re just, ⁓ the benefit is I’d rather be cold than hot. I think you’re kind of the same way.
Chip (41:59)
Yes, at Ruby Colman High, yeah. But I would also…
Matthew Brandabur (42:00)
Yeah, so like I’d rather be in January
in a hoodie and like shorts and a hoodie than be in July 106 and wishing I could just be walking around with no clothes.
Chip (42:13)
And listen, a hat and gloves, throw them in because you just never know. And it doesn’t take much room in the suitcase.
Matthew Brandabur (42:20)
Yeah, agreed. That’s going to wrap it up for us this week. Again, if you want a quote for your vacation, feel free to get one on our website. I got the link below in the show notes and every all my services are completely free to you to get a quote for your next season vacation. People have asked if there’s other ways that you can help support the site. ⁓ You can click any of the links for Disney Store or Amazon. Those are affiliate links. Any time you make a purchase, we get a portion of those that we greatly appreciated. But otherwise,
read an article, keep up with the blog, stay up with the newsletter. All those things help support just, you know, checking out the content, reading the podcast or watching the podcast on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast is always greatly appreciated. And Chip, best of luck to the Massillon Tigers this week. And, you know, we’ll see you guys in the parks.
Chip (43:09)
See you when we see ya.
