Jennifer:
Tickets for this year's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party went on sale at the end of April, if memory serves me correctly.
Keep an eye on www.disneyworld.com's special events link
here. This year, the parties generally occur on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights with the last one a good 5 days or so before Christmas Day. For your dates, I'm sure you will have at least one, if not two dates from which to choose.
Wilderness Lodge and The Contemporary could not be farther apart--well, in theme that is, since even I could probably swim the distance between them on Bay Lake. What they do have in common are good full-service restaurants on the up side and noisy rooms from the open lobbies below as a downside.
What the Contemporary lacks in terms of theme, it makes up for in the fact that any kid thinks it's cool to get onto the monorail
inside their hotel. Having a Magic Kingdom view certainly beats one of the woods, but I have to question the price if I've got a family that won't be back in the room to see the fireworks to appreciate it... If you have younger kids through junior high, I actually would recommend Wilderness Lodge for its cabin feel and hidden Mickeys that my 10- and 12-year-olds can't get enough of. Yes, the Contemporary has monorail service to Magic Kingdom, but the ferry service that WL provides is another attraction for my kids... My pet peeve, though, is the bathroom layout of the Contemporary. Unlike WL where the double sinks are separate from the tub and toilet area, those in the Contemporary are all in the same room. Fine for toddlers, but not for a family with older children and certainly teenagers.
Without knowing the makeup of your family, it's hard to give concrete advice, as I loved my stay at the Contemporary last year. If I've missed the mark, come back to visit me via my bio page.
Whitney