It's difficult to rate the Make Your Mark MLP without comparing it to the Friendship is Magic MLP. I feel like it's getting there though. It took until after the movie, after Chapter 1, and into Chapter 2 for me. Now, there's Chapter 3: Winter Wishday.
When I finished watching it - the day after it released on Netflix - I thought right away 8/10. The few ratings already posted matched exactly! So, it probably is a good, albeit early, indication.
I enjoyed the dialog.
"Frostyshivers back at you, Alphabittle!" - Izzy Moonbow.
More specifically, I liked some of Izzy's timing. Meaning some laughs you have to wait for.
I liked the cookie cottage making montage. The results were inspiring. It made me want to make my own. Especially Izzy's tree-cottage with the swirly lollipops.
I liked the beat-poetry scene, "Requiem for the Fallen Snow," and the animation that goes along with it. The bongos. The spotlight. The reflection of a snowflake coming out of a snowpony's eye dissolving into a thousand more, making one beautifully animated design on your screen.
By the end, I came to appreciate one more subtlety. That the animation does well for a "winter holiday" special. That's because, to this reviewer, it sometimes feels like I'm watching claymation. That's right, like how the classics were done. Not always, but just enough to make me feel a little nostalgic.
I probably won't watch this special as much as I have watched MLP: Best Gift Ever, but maybe somepony else will.