Christmas is a special time for Central Florida theme parks – each park hosts Christmas events and is adorned in beautiful holiday decorations. Walt Disney World, of course, is no exception and hosts Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom. This special night-time event is not included with regular Magic Kingdom admission, but is an event that you and the kids will love.

We were able to enjoy the festivities again this year via a media invitation to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Baby boy was able to enjoy a lot more this time since he’s now walking and able to partake in the fun. He and his big sister enjoyed riding several rides, meeting some characters, and of course, snacking on cookies and hot chocolate. I always enjoy seeing Magic Kingdom decorated for Christmas and just walking around taking in the sights. Christmas and Disney World make a good combination, don’t you think?

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party began on November 9 this year and continues through December 21, on select nights. A very family-friendly event, this Magic Kingdom Christmas party includes various holiday-themed fun:

• Cinderella’s Castle is decorated with Christmas lights that change color.
• Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade will be enjoyed by the little ones and they’ll love seeing Santa Claus at the end!
• Exclusive holiday fireworks – Holiday Wishes: Celebrate the Spirit of the Season - can be seen during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
• Special shows and entertainment featuring Disney characters are scheduled each night of the party.
• Disney characters dressed in their holiday best are available for pictures and autographs. Special characters also tend to make an appearance that normally are not in the parks, such as Donald Duck’s Uncle Scrooge.
• Complimentary cookies, apple slices and hot cocoa are provided throughout various locations in the park.
• Walking down Main Street, U.S.A. with “snow” falling on you is always fun, especially for the kids!
• Several of the Magic Kingdom rides and attractions are open for you to enjoy with less lines.
• Kid-friendly dance parties with a DJ and Disney characters dancing too!

If you’re local to the area or plan to visit Walt Disney World this December, consider attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party; you still have time as the event will be held several nights in December this year and goes from 7 p.m. until midnight. Several other holiday events are also happening throughout other Walt Disney World parks – see Disneyworld.com/holidays for more information!

What do you enjoy most about Christmas at the theme parks?

Disclosure: We received complimentary admission to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party to experience the fun as a family.

The last week of April began what has been a month of travel, conferences, and fun. It kicked off with a bang, though, as it all started with a trip to Walt Disney World to attend Disney’s Social Media Moms Celebration!

This was our third year attending this family-inclusive conference and as always, we had a great time. It’s great to be able to take the family along and have events that are for the whole family! It definitely makes it easier when trying to balance work and life.

Speakers at this year’s Social Media Moms Celebration included Chris Brogan, Peter Shankman, Ramon De Leon, Amy Jo Martin, and Lisa Druxman. They each spoke on a variety of topics, ranging from how they use social media in their businesses, to how they balance out their lives. It’s fair to say that the overall message from the speakers was that you need to create your own success and find the fun in life.

Here are some of the snippets I shared via Twitter from the presentations we heard:

The Social Media Moms Celebration also included a day of mini-sessions, of which I attended a Doc McStuffins presentation. I was able to learn more about this new show on Disney Junior and hear from the show’s creator about the inspiration behind Doc McStuffins – she saw a need for helping children learn about doctor visits after being in and out of the hospital with her son his first year of life. It was also very interesting to find out that when she pitched the show to Disney, her son was about 8 months old and the show did not premiere until he was almost 5 years old!

Between pirate-themed family dinners, a night-time visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and a sneak peek at the new resort, Disney’s Art of Animation, my family really enjoyed themselves. Personally, I was able to reconnect with many friends from our blogging community and learn more about how Disney world provides families with many opportunities to create memories. One of the strongest statements made during the conference that resonated with the majority of attendees was that we only have eighteen summers with our children to make lasting memories before they leave our house (traditionally). Wow, right?! Eighteen years! That’s it!

What are some of the more special memories you’ve been able to create with your children so far?

I encourage you to search the #DisneySMMoms hashtag on Twitter to find links to more posts from other Disney Social Media Moms Celebration attendees. I’m sure you’ll get a variety of stories from the conference and a wealth of information about Walt Disney World!

Photo: Josh Hallett

Our Disney princess patiently waiting to arrive at Disney’s Animal Kingdom for a night of fun during the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.

Today’s the day! We’re heading to Walt Disney World for the Social Media Moms Celebration!

Learning, fun, family, and friends? Yes, please! We’ll share insights with you soon, but in the meantime, follow along with us on Twitter and Facebook!

Helping folks find their way to Cinderella’s Castle. Icons on parking lot floor of Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World.

My family and I recently attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. We were part of a media group invited to attend as guests of Disney and were able to join the fun of celebrating Christmas Disney-style. This is our second year attending Mickey’s Christmas Party and it was just as fun as our first time attending!

Some of the highlights of attending the holiday events at Disney World are special character sightings, special event merchandise for those who collect Disney merchandise, and event-only parades and other activities. During Mickey’s Christmas Party, we got to see Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmastime Parade, which has a special appearance from Santa at the end. You can also catch a holiday version of Wishes, Magic Kingdom’s fireworks show. There were also a couple of character-themed dance parties for the kids; baby girl got to dance with Jessie from Toy Story!

Throughout the night, we spotted some new characters we had never run into in the past: Abu from Aladdin, the bears from Frontierland’s Country Bear Jamboree, and Captain Jack Sparrow. I’m not sure if these characters are normally out and about at the parks and we’ve just missed them, but I know that it was our first time being able to get their autograph and picture. We actually had something really nice happen to us as we were waiting for Abu’s autograph. As is normal for character greetings, Abu and Aladdin were switching out with Jasmine and the Genie. The only character my girl was missing was Abu, since she’s met the others at previous park visits. As she was getting close to the front of the line, it was announced that only one more person would meet Abu and Aladdin, as Jasmine and the Genie were about to come out. So, baby girl was going to miss her chance to meet Abu! But, the very nice little boy in front of her told her it would be okay to switch places since he was fine with meeting any of the characters!

Something my girl was really looking forward to was the complimentary hot chocolate and cookies that are provided to guests throughout the park. The night we attended, it was actually pretty cool out and windy, so hot chocolate came in handy. The snow on Main Street is also a fun treat! Another bit of Disney magic that happened for us that night was not being charged for baby boy’s skullcap; the cashier told my husband as he went to pay, “I can’t let the baby be cold!”

We had a nice evening out and enjoyed seeing Magic Kingdom decorated for Christmas. It’s always fun to visit the parks during these special events because you see them in a whole new way. In the coming weeks, we plan to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

Have you ever visited Disney World or Disneyland during the holidays? What is your favorite part?

Photos © ModernMami.com

New Magic Kingdom parking lot set-up.

In time’s past, families could make an evening of taking kids to the movies and have dinner while they watched the latest release. Drive-ins may be a thing of the past, but AMC is bringing back the movie dining experience. At the AMC Downtown Disney 24, several screens have been transformed with dining tables, very comfortable seating, and table-side food and drink service, now named Fork & Screen, Dine-In Theaters.

Ticket prices for the movies in the Dine-In theaters are just $2 more than the regular screens, but the comfort of the upgraded chairs and ample seating room more than makes up for the difference in price. The over-sized chairs rock like most modern-day movie theater seats, and the extra room in front of you with the table makes for no one to interrupt your line of sight to the projection. Even if you’re not in the mood for a meal, the extra seating is worth the extra bucks.

Menu pricing is typical for the Disney World area: no more, no less. Considering you’re eating a meal, appetizer, or dessert from a wide menu selection that’s brought to you by an on-call server, the convenience more than outweighs any price difference you’d find away from Disney World. The menu of offerings ranges from typical “bar-type” food to creative options for more attuned tastes. Crab Rangoon dip, Angus cheeseburgers, and (a very delicious) brownie sundae are just some of what is offered.

For more information on the new AMC Downtown Disney 24 Dine-In Theaters, visit the AMC website. Look for show-times that are listed as “Fork & Screen” for those movies being shown in the newly designed theaters.

Do you have any dine-in theaters in your area? Do you and your family enjoy them more than traditional movie theaters?

Disclosure: Angie was provided a complimentary visit to the AMC Downtown Disney Dine-In Theatres to experience the dining and a movie screening in order to facilitate this review. No compensation received.

Photos by: angie lynch