MDE is My Disney Experience - it is now an account you set up online through the Disney site, where all your info is stored and where you can make your dining reservations and fast passes ahead of time. You download the app onto your phone to use in the park, to see any plans you have made, and check wait times, character locations, etc. If you were staying onsite it would also include the hotel reservation you had made. Do you have a regular Disney account online? If so, you would login under that on the Disneyworld site, and then you would see the My Disney Experience pull down menu on the right side. If not, you would of course have to make one first. If you buy
MVMCP tickets, they can be linked there, and everyone's names listed under Friends and Family, and then you would be eligible to make FP for that day - you would choose the date and park(MK), and then pick the rides you wanted that are available at the times you can make FP. Hope that makes sense! If not, feel free to ask more questions! You would want to try and make those as soon as you have tickets, since onsite people could make them at 60 days out, and offsite at 30 days. AKL is Animal Kingdom Lodge, where a PP mentioned starting with Boma brft. if you wanted to start resort tour there, and check out animals as well. You would tour any resorts before entering party, during the day. If you don't want to go to AKL, you could just tour resorts adjacent to MK, by parking at TTC, and then riding the resort monorail to visit Poly, GF, and/or Contemporary, and could take the boat over to WL. Good places to eat at each of those, both Table Service and Quick Service, if you want to have lunch along the way, so once you know what you want to do, we can help you with those if you want!
The park is technically less crowded during the party since only a certain number of tickets are sold for each night, and other patrons have to stop rides at 6, and leave by 7, so when you arrive(usually start letting in around 3:45, so be there by 3:15 to get through security/get in line) there will still be a full park. So you should be able to schedule FP from say 3:30-4:30 and 4:30 to 5:30, to be in shorter lines. During the party, some people get in lines for more rare characters that are out, like 7 Dwarfs, Moana, Jack Skellington(Sandy Claws), and will get spots ahead for parade and fireworks, while others try to ride more rides. Seems like 7 Dwarfs Mine Train ride( most popular new ride) and Peter Pan still tend to have longer lines, but others generally are very reasonable. Most advise going to second parade, supposed to be less crowded, and can ride things during 1st parade. Check out this thread for info. on the party, and what events happen at which times, so you could plan any you might like to see, like parade or fireworks:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/o...tmas-party-2017-believe-in-the-magic.3587769/
Let us know what other questions we can help you answer!