MNSSHP HalloWishes Dessert Party - Post tips, helpful hints, and chit chat

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

I am curious about the arrival times for parade viewing, and the area itself. Crowded? Great views?
So far, the MNSSHP reports from lastnight are . Making me a bit more thankful for my decision to purchase the dessert party, as long as reports on the experience are good.
Also want to know if the desserts are yummy.

Oh, and, those who went to the dessert party, when did you squeeze in the Hocus Pocus show? I'm nervous the first show of the night will be way to crowded, thinking we may plan for the midnight show...

 

[nkereina]

I'm hoping someone will comment on the check in process (for the Dessert party itself, and then getting into the parade viewing area and then into the party area itself). Also the herding process from parade area to party area. Those are the biggies for us.

Same here. Still following!

 

[goofygal531]

Anyone find a dessert party review online?

 

[BNM6959]

Hoping to get a little feedback about it before it's too late for me to cancel my reservation for next Tuesday.

 

[Primrose]

Hi everyone,

I was at last night's dessert party so hopefully I can provide some insight.

In terms of checking in for the dessert party, it was a little bit disastrous for my family. We spent the day in MK so around 3:30 pm we started to head towards the front of the park from Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and lanyard for the dessert party. We didn't see any place to get wristbands along the way and things were pretty disorganized on Main Street at this point (rain, many people leaving/coming, changeover of CMs), so we went into Guest Relations. Guest Relations told us that we would need to head back to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands. They said that we would need to check in at Tomorrowland Terrace just before the dessert party started, which we knew was inaccurate because we would need our lanyards to get into the parade viewing area. We went back to Tomorrowland and got our wristbands, but the CMs there also had no idea about where to check-in and receive our lanyards for the dessert party. They redirected us again to Tomorrowland Terrance, but there were no CMs there when we passed through. Finally, I decided to Google search (which I should have done in the first place) and found that I needed to go to Will Call. So, we finally exited the park and finally found the right CMs. We told the CMs in charge of the dessert party that nobody else working in the park knew where to find them. They said that we were only the second group to check in and that there had been some debate about where they should do the check-in, which probably contributed to the confusion. I'm sure check-in will be easier at later parties and we saw CMs passing out lanyards at the entrance to the parade spot, so there were probably multiple opportunities to check in that we just weren't aware of. This whole process is probably easier if you are only coming to the park starting at 4 pm.

The parade viewing spot made the package worthwhile in my opinion. It was located right in town square and there was enough space for almost everyone to have a curbside view. We arrived there around 8:10 pm, but I'm sure that we would have still had a good view had we arrived a little later. It only took us about 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Mansion to the parade spot, with a stop in a very empty Starbucks along the way. It was a little challenging to get around the Main Street and Castle crowds, since the first Hocus Pocus show started at 8 pm, but it obviously didn't hold us up too much. The area was spacious and I have never been so close to a parade before, so I really enjoyed it. We had a great view of the Headless Horseman and the characters made sure to interact with us during the parade. The only thing that I found annoying was that the spot was at the tail end of the parade route, so we didn't see any floats until about 9:00 pm. Phineas and Ferb and some dancers with candy came out in between, but it still felt like a long lull.

In terms of getting from the parade spot to Tomorrowland Terrace, we had no problem at all. There was no herding that I saw. The parade ended at about 9:15 from the spot where we were, and the dessert party didn't start until 9:35. My sister and I tried to squeeze in a quick character meet and greet with Mickey before heading over, but we decided against waiting since the line was 20 minutes. I do think that would be doable though, we just didn't feel like standing in line. Main Street was pretty much cleared out by the time that we had to walk through to get to Tomorrowland Terrace, so it again only took about 5 minutes. People were moving closer to the castle for Hallowishes and the next Hocus Pocus show which started at 9:20. We had to wait on a short line to get in to the dessert party, but the CMs working it were very nice. We were able to see some of the Hocus Pocus show as we waited, but the view wasn't great.

The dessert party itself was a great experience. I tried each dessert on the buffet and they were all delicious. They had vanilla cupcakes with candy corn icing, mummy chocolate cupcakes, ghost meringues, little cups of dirt with gummy worms, tiramisu, candy corn panna cotta (which actually tasted like Mango and was awesome), rice krispie treats, spider whoopie pies, white and dark chocolate strawberries, witches fingers (which were pretzels dipped in chocolate and possibly peanut butter), mickey oreos which had some type of panna cotta on top, and more. My favorites were the cups of dirt and chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes were also really good There was also fruit and some cheese/crackers and an ice cream sundae cart, which I did not try but it definitely looked good. We all got a glass of sparking cider when we checked in, but there was no special toast that I saw. We also all got skull cups with candy inside. The view of Hallowishes was pretty great and it was nice to not have to fight the crowds and stand in one spot for hours. People were really nice about trying not to block one another as well. I was really pleased with the experience.

Overall, I think the dessert party was worthwhile and in some sense saved our night. The crowds were pretty heavy and I think we would have found it stressful to not have a reserved parade and fireworks area, especially since we had already been at the park all day. Not having to line up for the parade gave us a chance to ride the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, whereas we would have needed to worry about staking out a spot far in advance otherwise. After the party, we walked on Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Small World. We probably could have done a few more rides, we just weren't up for running around the park anymore. We left right around 12. We felt that our experience was full, but we didn't do any treat trails, see the Hocus Pocus show, or meet any characters which I know many people prioritize. The dessert party is kind of a 2 and a half hour commitment, which is worth it if your priority is seeing the parade and fireworks. It was our first MNSSHP, so for us it was important to experience the parade and fireworks in full. If you aren't sure that you will definitely want to see the entire parade and fireworks, then I wouldn't recommend the party. However, I think you could definitely arrive to the parade later than we did and take some time before heading over to the dessert party, which could make the experience fuller.

Anyway, I hope this information is somewhat helpful and I am happy to answer any other questions that people have!

 

[patrickpiteo]

Hi everyone,

I was at last night's dessert party so hopefully I can provide some insight.

In terms of checking in for the dessert party, it was a little bit disastrous for my family. We spent the day in MK so around 3:30 pm we started to head towards the front of the park from Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and lanyard for the dessert party. We didn't see any place to get wristbands along the way and things were pretty disorganized on Main Street at this point (rain, many people leaving/coming, changeover of CMs), so we went into Guest Relations. Guest Relations told us that we would need to head back to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands. They said that we would need to check in at Tomorrowland Terrace just before the dessert party started, which we knew was inaccurate because we would need our lanyards to get into the parade viewing area. We went back to Tomorrowland and got our wristbands, but the CMs there also had no idea about where to check-in and receive our lanyards for the dessert party. They redirected us again to Tomorrowland Terrance, but there were no CMs there when we passed through. Finally, I decided to Google search (which I should have done in the first place) and found that I needed to go to Will Call. So, we finally exited the park and finally found the right CMs. We told the CMs in charge of the dessert party that nobody else working in the park knew where to find them. They said that we were only the second group to check in and that there had been some debate about where they should do the check-in, which probably contributed to the confusion. I'm sure check-in will be easier at later parties and we saw CMs passing out lanyards at the entrance to the parade spot, so there were probably multiple opportunities to check in that we just weren't aware of. This whole process is probably easier if you are only coming to the park starting at 4 pm.

The parade viewing spot made the package worthwhile in my opinion. It was located right in town square and there was enough space for almost everyone to have a curbside view. We arrived there around 8:10 pm, but I'm sure that we would have still had a good view had we arrived a little later. It only took us about 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Mansion to the parade spot, with a stop in a very empty Starbucks along the way. It was a little challenging to get around the Main Street and Castle crowds, since the first Hocus Pocus show started at 8 pm, but it obviously didn't hold us up too much. The area was spacious and I have never been so close to a parade before, so I really enjoyed it. We had a great view of the Headless Horseman and the characters made sure to interact with us during the parade. The only thing that I found annoying was that the spot was at the tail end of the parade route, so we didn't see any floats until about 9:00 pm. Phineas and Ferb and some dancers with candy came out in between, but it still felt like a long lull.

In terms of getting from the parade spot to Tomorrowland Terrace, we had no problem at all. There was no herding that I saw. The parade ended at about 9:15 from the spot where we were, and the dessert party didn't start until 9:35. My sister and I tried to squeeze in a quick character meet and greet with Mickey before heading over, but we decided against waiting since the line was 20 minutes. I do think that would be doable though, we just didn't feel like standing in line. Main Street was pretty much cleared out by the time that we had to walk through to get to Tomorrowland Terrace, so it again only took about 5 minutes. People were moving closer to the castle for Hallowishes and the next Hocus Pocus show which started at 9:20. We had to wait on a short line to get in to the dessert party, but the CMs working it were very nice. We were able to see some of the Hocus Pocus show as we waited, but the view wasn't great.

The dessert party itself was a great experience. I tried each dessert on the buffet and they were all delicious. They had vanilla cupcakes with candy corn icing, mummy chocolate cupcakes, ghost meringues, little cups of dirt with gummy worms, tiramisu, candy corn panna cotta (which actually tasted like Mango and was awesome), rice krispie treats, spider whoopie pies, white and dark chocolate strawberries, witches fingers (which were pretzels dipped in chocolate and possibly peanut butter), mickey oreos which had some type of panna cotta on top, and more. My favorites were the cups of dirt and chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes were also really good There was also fruit and some cheese/crackers and an ice cream sundae cart, which I did not try but it definitely looked good. We all got a glass of sparking cider when we checked in, but there was no special toast that I saw. We also all got skull cups with candy inside. The view of Hallowishes was pretty great and it was nice to not have to fight the crowds and stand in one spot for hours. People were really nice about trying not to block one another as well. I was really pleased with the experience.

Overall, I think the dessert party was worthwhile and in some sense saved our night. The crowds were pretty heavy and I think we would have found it stressful to not have a reserved parade and fireworks area, especially since we had already been at the park all day. Not having to line up for the parade gave us a chance to ride the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, whereas we would have needed to worry about staking out a spot far in advance otherwise. After the party, we walked on Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Small World. We probably could have done a few more rides, we just weren't up for running around the park anymore. We left right around 12. We felt that our experience was full, but we didn't do any treat trails, see the Hocus Pocus show, or meet any characters which I know many people prioritize. The dessert party is kind of a 2 and a half hour commitment, which is worth it if your priority is seeing the parade and fireworks. It was our first MNSSHP, so for us it was important to experience the parade and fireworks in full. If you aren't sure that you will definitely want to see the entire parade and fireworks, then I wouldn't recommend the party. However, I think you could definitely arrive to the parade later than we did and take some time before heading over to the dessert party, which could make the experience fuller.

Anyway, I hope this information is somewhat helpful and I am happy to answer any other questions that people have!

Great review thanks going to keep my reservations for it..

 

[jenf22]

Thanks so much for the review! Can you tell me what time you got out of the dessert party? Would we have time to do the trick or treat trails after the dessert party? I'm starting to question if there would be time before the parade. Thanks!

 

[pilferk]

Hi everyone,

I was at last night's dessert party so hopefully I can provide some insight.

In terms of checking in for the dessert party, it was a little bit disastrous for my family. We spent the day in MK so around 3:30 pm we started to head towards the front of the park from Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and lanyard for the dessert party. We didn't see any place to get wristbands along the way and things were pretty disorganized on Main Street at this point (rain, many people leaving/coming, changeover of CMs), so we went into Guest Relations. Guest Relations told us that we would need to head back to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands. They said that we would need to check in at Tomorrowland Terrace just before the dessert party started, which we knew was inaccurate because we would need our lanyards to get into the parade viewing area. We went back to Tomorrowland and got our wristbands, but the CMs there also had no idea about where to check-in and receive our lanyards for the dessert party. They redirected us again to Tomorrowland Terrance, but there were no CMs there when we passed through. Finally, I decided to Google search (which I should have done in the first place) and found that I needed to go to Will Call. So, we finally exited the park and finally found the right CMs. We told the CMs in charge of the dessert party that nobody else working in the park knew where to find them. They said that we were only the second group to check in and that there had been some debate about where they should do the check-in, which probably contributed to the confusion. I'm sure check-in will be easier at later parties and we saw CMs passing out lanyards at the entrance to the parade spot, so there were probably multiple opportunities to check in that we just weren't aware of. This whole process is probably easier if you are only coming to the park starting at 4 pm.

The parade viewing spot made the package worthwhile in my opinion. It was located right in town square and there was enough space for almost everyone to have a curbside view. We arrived there around 8:10 pm, but I'm sure that we would have still had a good view had we arrived a little later. It only took us about 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Mansion to the parade spot, with a stop in a very empty Starbucks along the way. It was a little challenging to get around the Main Street and Castle crowds, since the first Hocus Pocus show started at 8 pm, but it obviously didn't hold us up too much. The area was spacious and I have never been so close to a parade before, so I really enjoyed it. We had a great view of the Headless Horseman and the characters made sure to interact with us during the parade. The only thing that I found annoying was that the spot was at the tail end of the parade route, so we didn't see any floats until about 9:00 pm. Phineas and Ferb and some dancers with candy came out in between, but it still felt like a long lull.

In terms of getting from the parade spot to Tomorrowland Terrace, we had no problem at all. There was no herding that I saw. The parade ended at about 9:15 from the spot where we were, and the dessert party didn't start until 9:35. My sister and I tried to squeeze in a quick character meet and greet with Mickey before heading over, but we decided against waiting since the line was 20 minutes. I do think that would be doable though, we just didn't feel like standing in line. Main Street was pretty much cleared out by the time that we had to walk through to get to Tomorrowland Terrace, so it again only took about 5 minutes. People were moving closer to the castle for Hallowishes and the next Hocus Pocus show which started at 9:20. We had to wait on a short line to get in to the dessert party, but the CMs working it were very nice. We were able to see some of the Hocus Pocus show as we waited, but the view wasn't great.

The dessert party itself was a great experience. I tried each dessert on the buffet and they were all delicious. They had vanilla cupcakes with candy corn icing, mummy chocolate cupcakes, ghost meringues, little cups of dirt with gummy worms, tiramisu, candy corn panna cotta (which actually tasted like Mango and was awesome), rice krispie treats, spider whoopie pies, white and dark chocolate strawberries, witches fingers (which were pretzels dipped in chocolate and possibly peanut butter), mickey oreos which had some type of panna cotta on top, and more. My favorites were the cups of dirt and chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes were also really good There was also fruit and some cheese/crackers and an ice cream sundae cart, which I did not try but it definitely looked good. We all got a glass of sparking cider when we checked in, but there was no special toast that I saw. We also all got skull cups with candy inside. The view of Hallowishes was pretty great and it was nice to not have to fight the crowds and stand in one spot for hours. People were really nice about trying not to block one another as well. I was really pleased with the experience.

Overall, I think the dessert party was worthwhile and in some sense saved our night. The crowds were pretty heavy and I think we would have found it stressful to not have a reserved parade and fireworks area, especially since we had already been at the park all day. Not having to line up for the parade gave us a chance to ride the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, whereas we would have needed to worry about staking out a spot far in advance otherwise. After the party, we walked on Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Small World. We probably could have done a few more rides, we just weren't up for running around the park anymore. We left right around 12. We felt that our experience was full, but we didn't do any treat trails, see the Hocus Pocus show, or meet any characters which I know many people prioritize. The dessert party is kind of a 2 and a half hour commitment, which is worth it if your priority is seeing the parade and fireworks. It was our first MNSSHP, so for us it was important to experience the parade and fireworks in full. If you aren't sure that you will definitely want to see the entire parade and fireworks, then I wouldn't recommend the party. However, I think you could definitely arrive to the parade later than we did and take some time before heading over to the dessert party, which could make the experience fuller.

Anyway, I hope this information is somewhat helpful and I am happy to answer any other questions that people have!

Thank you SOOO much! That was amazingly helpful!

So, just to be clear: They are NOT escorting you from the parade viewing spot to the dessert party? That, actually, sounds perfect to us. Lets us take our time getting over to TT for 9:35 (assuming the parade ends around 9:15).

This makes me think we're going to keep our ressies, too.

 

[goofygal531]

Thank you for that detailed review. Very helpful.

 

[pilferk]

Thanks so much for the review! Can you tell me what time you got out of the dessert party? Would we have time to do the trick or treat trails after the dessert party? I'm starting to question if there would be time before the parade. Thanks!

It's taken us just about an hour...maybe slightly less...in the past to do the trick or treating.

Our plan is to trick or treat from 7 to about 8:15 (maybe even a tiny bit later, assuming the parade hits town square for 9), then check in at the parade viewing area. Then, stick with the dessert party offerings til Hallowishes is over. After Hallowishes, we want to ride POTC and HM (assuming we don't have enough time to do HM before hand, while trick or treating) and get our "magic shot". Then we want to catch the LAST showing of the castle show (AT midnight) and make our way to the resort bus for the night. We might stop by the dance party at some point, as they are usually a ton of fun

We have zero interest in most of the meet and greets with the characters. If we stumble on one with very little wait, we might jump in to line.

Given the crowd reports from last night....and the fact we're going the Tuesday after Columbus day (we'll see how busy that is...)...I'm thinking we might see similar crowd levels. That makes this, to ME, well worth the price.

 

[jenf22]

It's taken us just about an hour...maybe slightly less...in the past to do the trick or treating.

Our plan is to trick or treat from 7 to about 8:15 (maybe even a tiny bit later, assuming the parade hits town square for 9), then check in at the parade viewing area. Then, stick with the dessert party offerings til Hallowishes is over. After Hallowishes, we want to ride POTC and HM (assuming we don't have enough time to do HM before hand, while trick or treating) and get our "magic shot". Then we want to catch the LAST showing of the castle show (AT midnight) and make our way to the resort bus for the night. We might stop by the dance party at some point, as they are usually a ton of fun

We have zero interest in most of the meet and greets with the characters. If we stumble on one with very little wait, we might jump in to line.

Given the crowd reports from last night....and the fact we're going the Tuesday after Columbus day (we'll see how busy that is...)...I'm thinking we might see similar crowd levels. That makes this, to ME, well worth the price.

Your plan sounds great and maybe we'll do the same. We've got an 8-year old with us, so I'm still unsure as to how long we'll make it. Actually, I'm probably the tent-pole since I'm normally in bed by 8:30! We're going the 29th of October and since the 31st is already sold out, I'm guessing ours will be too. I just happened upon the dessert party reservation while looking around and since it was available I jumped on it figuring I'd cancel for sure later (someone had cancelled a party of 7 right around the time I was looking for a party of 7). But I'm not liking the reports from last night's party so I think I'm definitely going to hang onto this reservation longer.

 

[scdak]

OMG, I am now MORE stoked than I already was about the Dessert Party, thank you Primrose for taking the time to review it in such detail! I am not cancelling now, I think it will be perfect for what we want to do at the party! We added another party our vacation just so we could have as much fun as possible, something we knew would be hard due to having to dedicate so much time to the party! I actually thought we would skip the parade viewing area and watch the later parade on one of the nights but now I think I will take advantage of the special area and then go enjoy desserts.

 

[heidijanesmith]

Hi everyone,

I was at last night's dessert party so hopefully I can provide some insight.

In terms of checking in for the dessert party, it was a little bit disastrous for my family. We spent the day in MK so around 3:30 pm we started to head towards the front of the park from Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and lanyard for the dessert party. We didn't see any place to get wristbands along the way and things were pretty disorganized on Main Street at this point (rain, many people leaving/coming, changeover of CMs), so we went into Guest Relations. Guest Relations told us that we would need to head back to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands. They said that we would need to check in at Tomorrowland Terrace just before the dessert party started, which we knew was inaccurate because we would need our lanyards to get into the parade viewing area. We went back to Tomorrowland and got our wristbands, but the CMs there also had no idea about where to check-in and receive our lanyards for the dessert party. They redirected us again to Tomorrowland Terrance, but there were no CMs there when we passed through. Finally, I decided to Google search (which I should have done in the first place) and found that I needed to go to Will Call. So, we finally exited the park and finally found the right CMs. We told the CMs in charge of the dessert party that nobody else working in the park knew where to find them. They said that we were only the second group to check in and that there had been some debate about where they should do the check-in, which probably contributed to the confusion. I'm sure check-in will be easier at later parties and we saw CMs passing out lanyards at the entrance to the parade spot, so there were probably multiple opportunities to check in that we just weren't aware of. This whole process is probably easier if you are only coming to the park starting at 4 pm.

The parade viewing spot made the package worthwhile in my opinion. It was located right in town square and there was enough space for almost everyone to have a curbside view. We arrived there around 8:10 pm, but I'm sure that we would have still had a good view had we arrived a little later. It only took us about 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Mansion to the parade spot, with a stop in a very empty Starbucks along the way. It was a little challenging to get around the Main Street and Castle crowds, since the first Hocus Pocus show started at 8 pm, but it obviously didn't hold us up too much. The area was spacious and I have never been so close to a parade before, so I really enjoyed it. We had a great view of the Headless Horseman and the characters made sure to interact with us during the parade. The only thing that I found annoying was that the spot was at the tail end of the parade route, so we didn't see any floats until about 9:00 pm. Phineas and Ferb and some dancers with candy came out in between, but it still felt like a long lull.

In terms of getting from the parade spot to Tomorrowland Terrace, we had no problem at all. There was no herding that I saw. The parade ended at about 9:15 from the spot where we were, and the dessert party didn't start until 9:35. My sister and I tried to squeeze in a quick character meet and greet with Mickey before heading over, but we decided against waiting since the line was 20 minutes. I do think that would be doable though, we just didn't feel like standing in line. Main Street was pretty much cleared out by the time that we had to walk through to get to Tomorrowland Terrace, so it again only took about 5 minutes. People were moving closer to the castle for Hallowishes and the next Hocus Pocus show which started at 9:20. We had to wait on a short line to get in to the dessert party, but the CMs working it were very nice. We were able to see some of the Hocus Pocus show as we waited, but the view wasn't great.

The dessert party itself was a great experience. I tried each dessert on the buffet and they were all delicious. They had vanilla cupcakes with candy corn icing, mummy chocolate cupcakes, ghost meringues, little cups of dirt with gummy worms, tiramisu, candy corn panna cotta (which actually tasted like Mango and was awesome), rice krispie treats, spider whoopie pies, white and dark chocolate strawberries, witches fingers (which were pretzels dipped in chocolate and possibly peanut butter), mickey oreos which had some type of panna cotta on top, and more. My favorites were the cups of dirt and chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes were also really good There was also fruit and some cheese/crackers and an ice cream sundae cart, which I did not try but it definitely looked good. We all got a glass of sparking cider when we checked in, but there was no special toast that I saw. We also all got skull cups with candy inside. The view of Hallowishes was pretty great and it was nice to not have to fight the crowds and stand in one spot for hours. People were really nice about trying not to block one another as well. I was really pleased with the experience.

Overall, I think the dessert party was worthwhile and in some sense saved our night. The crowds were pretty heavy and I think we would have found it stressful to not have a reserved parade and fireworks area, especially since we had already been at the park all day. Not having to line up for the parade gave us a chance to ride the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, whereas we would have needed to worry about staking out a spot far in advance otherwise. After the party, we walked on Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Small World. We probably could have done a few more rides, we just weren't up for running around the park anymore. We left right around 12. We felt that our experience was full, but we didn't do any treat trails, see the Hocus Pocus show, or meet any characters which I know many people prioritize. The dessert party is kind of a 2 and a half hour commitment, which is worth it if your priority is seeing the parade and fireworks. It was our first MNSSHP, so for us it was important to experience the parade and fireworks in full. If you aren't sure that you will definitely want to see the entire parade and fireworks, then I wouldn't recommend the party. However, I think you could definitely arrive to the parade later than we did and take some time before heading over to the dessert party, which could make the experience fuller.

Anyway, I hope this information is somewhat helpful and I am happy to answer any other questions that people have!

Thank you so much for the great review!

What are your thoughts on entering the parade viewing area closer to 8:45 than 8:15. DH does not like to sit around and wait much, he is impatient! He normally skips the parades and fireworks at MK as the crowds are too much for him to handle. I booked this desert party especially for DH to have a reserved spot for both areas. He does not need front row, just a little elbow room. Wondering if we could even navigate through the crowds to enter the reserved area a little closer to the arrival of the floats??

 

[Aurora0427]

Hi everyone,

I was at last night's dessert party so hopefully I can provide some insight.

In terms of checking in for the dessert party, it was a little bit disastrous for my family. We spent the day in MK so around 3:30 pm we started to head towards the front of the park from Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and lanyard for the dessert party. We didn't see any place to get wristbands along the way and things were pretty disorganized on Main Street at this point (rain, many people leaving/coming, changeover of CMs), so we went into Guest Relations. Guest Relations told us that we would need to head back to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands. They said that we would need to check in at Tomorrowland Terrace just before the dessert party started, which we knew was inaccurate because we would need our lanyards to get into the parade viewing area. We went back to Tomorrowland and got our wristbands, but the CMs there also had no idea about where to check-in and receive our lanyards for the dessert party. They redirected us again to Tomorrowland Terrance, but there were no CMs there when we passed through. Finally, I decided to Google search (which I should have done in the first place) and found that I needed to go to Will Call. So, we finally exited the park and finally found the right CMs. We told the CMs in charge of the dessert party that nobody else working in the park knew where to find them. They said that we were only the second group to check in and that there had been some debate about where they should do the check-in, which probably contributed to the confusion. I'm sure check-in will be easier at later parties and we saw CMs passing out lanyards at the entrance to the parade spot, so there were probably multiple opportunities to check in that we just weren't aware of. This whole process is probably easier if you are only coming to the park starting at 4 pm.

The parade viewing spot made the package worthwhile in my opinion. It was located right in town square and there was enough space for almost everyone to have a curbside view. We arrived there around 8:10 pm, but I'm sure that we would have still had a good view had we arrived a little later. It only took us about 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Mansion to the parade spot, with a stop in a very empty Starbucks along the way. It was a little challenging to get around the Main Street and Castle crowds, since the first Hocus Pocus show started at 8 pm, but it obviously didn't hold us up too much. The area was spacious and I have never been so close to a parade before, so I really enjoyed it. We had a great view of the Headless Horseman and the characters made sure to interact with us during the parade. The only thing that I found annoying was that the spot was at the tail end of the parade route, so we didn't see any floats until about 9:00 pm. Phineas and Ferb and some dancers with candy came out in between, but it still felt like a long lull.

In terms of getting from the parade spot to Tomorrowland Terrace, we had no problem at all. There was no herding that I saw. The parade ended at about 9:15 from the spot where we were, and the dessert party didn't start until 9:35. My sister and I tried to squeeze in a quick character meet and greet with Mickey before heading over, but we decided against waiting since the line was 20 minutes. I do think that would be doable though, we just didn't feel like standing in line. Main Street was pretty much cleared out by the time that we had to walk through to get to Tomorrowland Terrace, so it again only took about 5 minutes. People were moving closer to the castle for Hallowishes and the next Hocus Pocus show which started at 9:20. We had to wait on a short line to get in to the dessert party, but the CMs working it were very nice. We were able to see some of the Hocus Pocus show as we waited, but the view wasn't great.

The dessert party itself was a great experience. I tried each dessert on the buffet and they were all delicious. They had vanilla cupcakes with candy corn icing, mummy chocolate cupcakes, ghost meringues, little cups of dirt with gummy worms, tiramisu, candy corn panna cotta (which actually tasted like Mango and was awesome), rice krispie treats, spider whoopie pies, white and dark chocolate strawberries, witches fingers (which were pretzels dipped in chocolate and possibly peanut butter), mickey oreos which had some type of panna cotta on top, and more. My favorites were the cups of dirt and chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes were also really good There was also fruit and some cheese/crackers and an ice cream sundae cart, which I did not try but it definitely looked good. We all got a glass of sparking cider when we checked in, but there was no special toast that I saw. We also all got skull cups with candy inside. The view of Hallowishes was pretty great and it was nice to not have to fight the crowds and stand in one spot for hours. People were really nice about trying not to block one another as well. I was really pleased with the experience.

Overall, I think the dessert party was worthwhile and in some sense saved our night. The crowds were pretty heavy and I think we would have found it stressful to not have a reserved parade and fireworks area, especially since we had already been at the park all day. Not having to line up for the parade gave us a chance to ride the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, whereas we would have needed to worry about staking out a spot far in advance otherwise. After the party, we walked on Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Small World. We probably could have done a few more rides, we just weren't up for running around the park anymore. We left right around 12. We felt that our experience was full, but we didn't do any treat trails, see the Hocus Pocus show, or meet any characters which I know many people prioritize. The dessert party is kind of a 2 and a half hour commitment, which is worth it if your priority is seeing the parade and fireworks. It was our first MNSSHP, so for us it was important to experience the parade and fireworks in full. If you aren't sure that you will definitely want to see the entire parade and fireworks, then I wouldn't recommend the party. However, I think you could definitely arrive to the parade later than we did and take some time before heading over to the dessert party, which could make the experience fuller.

Anyway, I hope this information is somewhat helpful and I am happy to answer any other questions that people have!

Thank you for the awesome review. We have reservations for the 10/25 party, and your comments were exactly for what I was hoping. I staked out a spot 2.5 hours in advance for the parade at MVMCP, and I'm hoping to avoid that this year at the Halloween party. I'll be 6.5 months pregnant, so I was really hoping the reserved parade viewing went smoothly!

 

[Jing]

Hi everyone,

I was at last night's dessert party so hopefully I can provide some insight.

In terms of checking in for the dessert party, it was a little bit disastrous for my family. We spent the day in MK so around 3:30 pm we started to head towards the front of the park from Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and lanyard for the dessert party. We didn't see any place to get wristbands along the way and things were pretty disorganized on Main Street at this point (rain, many people leaving/coming, changeover of CMs), so we went into Guest Relations. Guest Relations told us that we would need to head back to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands. They said that we would need to check in at Tomorrowland Terrace just before the dessert party started, which we knew was inaccurate because we would need our lanyards to get into the parade viewing area. We went back to Tomorrowland and got our wristbands, but the CMs there also had no idea about where to check-in and receive our lanyards for the dessert party. They redirected us again to Tomorrowland Terrance, but there were no CMs there when we passed through. Finally, I decided to Google search (which I should have done in the first place) and found that I needed to go to Will Call. So, we finally exited the park and finally found the right CMs. We told the CMs in charge of the dessert party that nobody else working in the park knew where to find them. They said that we were only the second group to check in and that there had been some debate about where they should do the check-in, which probably contributed to the confusion. I'm sure check-in will be easier at later parties and we saw CMs passing out lanyards at the entrance to the parade spot, so there were probably multiple opportunities to check in that we just weren't aware of. This whole process is probably easier if you are only coming to the park starting at 4 pm.

The parade viewing spot made the package worthwhile in my opinion. It was located right in town square and there was enough space for almost everyone to have a curbside view. We arrived there around 8:10 pm, but I'm sure that we would have still had a good view had we arrived a little later. It only took us about 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Mansion to the parade spot, with a stop in a very empty Starbucks along the way. It was a little challenging to get around the Main Street and Castle crowds, since the first Hocus Pocus show started at 8 pm, but it obviously didn't hold us up too much. The area was spacious and I have never been so close to a parade before, so I really enjoyed it. We had a great view of the Headless Horseman and the characters made sure to interact with us during the parade. The only thing that I found annoying was that the spot was at the tail end of the parade route, so we didn't see any floats until about 9:00 pm. Phineas and Ferb and some dancers with candy came out in between, but it still felt like a long lull.

In terms of getting from the parade spot to Tomorrowland Terrace, we had no problem at all. There was no herding that I saw. The parade ended at about 9:15 from the spot where we were, and the dessert party didn't start until 9:35. My sister and I tried to squeeze in a quick character meet and greet with Mickey before heading over, but we decided against waiting since the line was 20 minutes. I do think that would be doable though, we just didn't feel like standing in line. Main Street was pretty much cleared out by the time that we had to walk through to get to Tomorrowland Terrace, so it again only took about 5 minutes. People were moving closer to the castle for Hallowishes and the next Hocus Pocus show which started at 9:20. We had to wait on a short line to get in to the dessert party, but the CMs working it were very nice. We were able to see some of the Hocus Pocus show as we waited, but the view wasn't great.

The dessert party itself was a great experience. I tried each dessert on the buffet and they were all delicious. They had vanilla cupcakes with candy corn icing, mummy chocolate cupcakes, ghost meringues, little cups of dirt with gummy worms, tiramisu, candy corn panna cotta (which actually tasted like Mango and was awesome), rice krispie treats, spider whoopie pies, white and dark chocolate strawberries, witches fingers (which were pretzels dipped in chocolate and possibly peanut butter), mickey oreos which had some type of panna cotta on top, and more. My favorites were the cups of dirt and chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes were also really good There was also fruit and some cheese/crackers and an ice cream sundae cart, which I did not try but it definitely looked good. We all got a glass of sparking cider when we checked in, but there was no special toast that I saw. We also all got skull cups with candy inside. The view of Hallowishes was pretty great and it was nice to not have to fight the crowds and stand in one spot for hours. People were really nice about trying not to block one another as well. I was really pleased with the experience.

Overall, I think the dessert party was worthwhile and in some sense saved our night. The crowds were pretty heavy and I think we would have found it stressful to not have a reserved parade and fireworks area, especially since we had already been at the park all day. Not having to line up for the parade gave us a chance to ride the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, whereas we would have needed to worry about staking out a spot far in advance otherwise. After the party, we walked on Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Small World. We probably could have done a few more rides, we just weren't up for running around the park anymore. We left right around 12. We felt that our experience was full, but we didn't do any treat trails, see the Hocus Pocus show, or meet any characters which I know many people prioritize. The dessert party is kind of a 2 and a half hour commitment, which is worth it if your priority is seeing the parade and fireworks. It was our first MNSSHP, so for us it was important to experience the parade and fireworks in full. If you aren't sure that you will definitely want to see the entire parade and fireworks, then I wouldn't recommend the party. However, I think you could definitely arrive to the parade later than we did and take some time before heading over to the dessert party, which could make the experience fuller.

Anyway, I hope this information is somewhat helpful and I am happy to answer any other questions that people have!

Thanks much! Parade and fireworks with elbow room are our priorities for MNSSHP. Looking forward to hearing about other stratagies to maximize the benefits of the reserved space

 

[THEDISNEYTHREE]

Thanks for the awesome review!

 

[PAdislover]

Thank you for the awesome review. We have reservations for the 10/25 party, and your comments were exactly for what I was hoping. I staked out a spot 2.5 hours in advance for the parade at MVMCP, and I'm hoping to avoid that this year at the Halloween party. I'll be 6.5 months pregnant, so I was really hoping the reserved parade viewing went smoothly!

I have the dessert party reserved for 10/25 too! see you there if we keep the reservation!

 

[PAdislover]

Hi everyone,

I was at last night's dessert party so hopefully I can provide some insight.

In terms of checking in for the dessert party, it was a little bit disastrous for my family. We spent the day in MK so around 3:30 pm we started to head towards the front of the park from Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and lanyard for the dessert party. We didn't see any place to get wristbands along the way and things were pretty disorganized on Main Street at this point (rain, many people leaving/coming, changeover of CMs), so we went into Guest Relations. Guest Relations told us that we would need to head back to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands. They said that we would need to check in at Tomorrowland Terrace just before the dessert party started, which we knew was inaccurate because we would need our lanyards to get into the parade viewing area. We went back to Tomorrowland and got our wristbands, but the CMs there also had no idea about where to check-in and receive our lanyards for the dessert party. They redirected us again to Tomorrowland Terrance, but there were no CMs there when we passed through. Finally, I decided to Google search (which I should have done in the first place) and found that I needed to go to Will Call. So, we finally exited the park and finally found the right CMs. We told the CMs in charge of the dessert party that nobody else working in the park knew where to find them. They said that we were only the second group to check in and that there had been some debate about where they should do the check-in, which probably contributed to the confusion. I'm sure check-in will be easier at later parties and we saw CMs passing out lanyards at the entrance to the parade spot, so there were probably multiple opportunities to check in that we just weren't aware of. This whole process is probably easier if you are only coming to the park starting at 4 pm.

The parade viewing spot made the package worthwhile in my opinion. It was located right in town square and there was enough space for almost everyone to have a curbside view. We arrived there around 8:10 pm, but I'm sure that we would have still had a good view had we arrived a little later. It only took us about 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Mansion to the parade spot, with a stop in a very empty Starbucks along the way. It was a little challenging to get around the Main Street and Castle crowds, since the first Hocus Pocus show started at 8 pm, but it obviously didn't hold us up too much. The area was spacious and I have never been so close to a parade before, so I really enjoyed it. We had a great view of the Headless Horseman and the characters made sure to interact with us during the parade. The only thing that I found annoying was that the spot was at the tail end of the parade route, so we didn't see any floats until about 9:00 pm. Phineas and Ferb and some dancers with candy came out in between, but it still felt like a long lull.

In terms of getting from the parade spot to Tomorrowland Terrace, we had no problem at all. There was no herding that I saw. The parade ended at about 9:15 from the spot where we were, and the dessert party didn't start until 9:35. My sister and I tried to squeeze in a quick character meet and greet with Mickey before heading over, but we decided against waiting since the line was 20 minutes. I do think that would be doable though, we just didn't feel like standing in line. Main Street was pretty much cleared out by the time that we had to walk through to get to Tomorrowland Terrace, so it again only took about 5 minutes. People were moving closer to the castle for Hallowishes and the next Hocus Pocus show which started at 9:20. We had to wait on a short line to get in to the dessert party, but the CMs working it were very nice. We were able to see some of the Hocus Pocus show as we waited, but the view wasn't great.

The dessert party itself was a great experience. I tried each dessert on the buffet and they were all delicious. They had vanilla cupcakes with candy corn icing, mummy chocolate cupcakes, ghost meringues, little cups of dirt with gummy worms, tiramisu, candy corn panna cotta (which actually tasted like Mango and was awesome), rice krispie treats, spider whoopie pies, white and dark chocolate strawberries, witches fingers (which were pretzels dipped in chocolate and possibly peanut butter), mickey oreos which had some type of panna cotta on top, and more. My favorites were the cups of dirt and chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes were also really good There was also fruit and some cheese/crackers and an ice cream sundae cart, which I did not try but it definitely looked good. We all got a glass of sparking cider when we checked in, but there was no special toast that I saw. We also all got skull cups with candy inside. The view of Hallowishes was pretty great and it was nice to not have to fight the crowds and stand in one spot for hours. People were really nice about trying not to block one another as well. I was really pleased with the experience.

Overall, I think the dessert party was worthwhile and in some sense saved our night. The crowds were pretty heavy and I think we would have found it stressful to not have a reserved parade and fireworks area, especially since we had already been at the park all day. Not having to line up for the parade gave us a chance to ride the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, whereas we would have needed to worry about staking out a spot far in advance otherwise. After the party, we walked on Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Small World. We probably could have done a few more rides, we just weren't up for running around the park anymore. We left right around 12. We felt that our experience was full, but we didn't do any treat trails, see the Hocus Pocus show, or meet any characters which I know many people prioritize. The dessert party is kind of a 2 and a half hour commitment, which is worth it if your priority is seeing the parade and fireworks. It was our first MNSSHP, so for us it was important to experience the parade and fireworks in full. If you aren't sure that you will definitely want to see the entire parade and fireworks, then I wouldn't recommend the party. However, I think you could definitely arrive to the parade later than we did and take some time before heading over to the dessert party, which could make the experience fuller.

Anyway, I hope this information is somewhat helpful and I am happy to answer any other questions that people have!

Thank you for the review! How many people do you think in total were in the parade viewing area and at the dessert party? was the line at the dessert buffet really long? if they don't let you in until 9:35, that doesn't seem like much time to get food and eat before the 10pm firework show. I will be very interested to read continued reviews on this. We also will already be in the park during the day and have BBB at 4:10 and then a fpp for 7DMT to get to right after. I really don't want to walk all the way back to the entrance to "check in" for this. Hopefully they will improve that process. We will be entering the park around 2pm that day and I'd love to be able to stop and get the lanyards on the way into the park or somewhere in the park in the evening.

 

[ChadInOKC]

We have a reservation for the 10/13 desert party. Haven't decided if we are keeping them for sure, but so far, it sounds like it might be worth it.

 

[NicholeB630]

Hi everyone,

I was at last night's dessert party so hopefully I can provide some insight.

In terms of checking in for the dessert party, it was a little bit disastrous for my family. We spent the day in MK so around 3:30 pm we started to head towards the front of the park from Tomorrowland to get our wristbands and lanyard for the dessert party. We didn't see any place to get wristbands along the way and things were pretty disorganized on Main Street at this point (rain, many people leaving/coming, changeover of CMs), so we went into Guest Relations. Guest Relations told us that we would need to head back to Tomorrowland to get our wristbands. They said that we would need to check in at Tomorrowland Terrace just before the dessert party started, which we knew was inaccurate because we would need our lanyards to get into the parade viewing area. We went back to Tomorrowland and got our wristbands, but the CMs there also had no idea about where to check-in and receive our lanyards for the dessert party. They redirected us again to Tomorrowland Terrance, but there were no CMs there when we passed through. Finally, I decided to Google search (which I should have done in the first place) and found that I needed to go to Will Call. So, we finally exited the park and finally found the right CMs. We told the CMs in charge of the dessert party that nobody else working in the park knew where to find them. They said that we were only the second group to check in and that there had been some debate about where they should do the check-in, which probably contributed to the confusion. I'm sure check-in will be easier at later parties and we saw CMs passing out lanyards at the entrance to the parade spot, so there were probably multiple opportunities to check in that we just weren't aware of. This whole process is probably easier if you are only coming to the park starting at 4 pm.

The parade viewing spot made the package worthwhile in my opinion. It was located right in town square and there was enough space for almost everyone to have a curbside view. We arrived there around 8:10 pm, but I'm sure that we would have still had a good view had we arrived a little later. It only took us about 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Mansion to the parade spot, with a stop in a very empty Starbucks along the way. It was a little challenging to get around the Main Street and Castle crowds, since the first Hocus Pocus show started at 8 pm, but it obviously didn't hold us up too much. The area was spacious and I have never been so close to a parade before, so I really enjoyed it. We had a great view of the Headless Horseman and the characters made sure to interact with us during the parade. The only thing that I found annoying was that the spot was at the tail end of the parade route, so we didn't see any floats until about 9:00 pm. Phineas and Ferb and some dancers with candy came out in between, but it still felt like a long lull.

In terms of getting from the parade spot to Tomorrowland Terrace, we had no problem at all. There was no herding that I saw. The parade ended at about 9:15 from the spot where we were, and the dessert party didn't start until 9:35. My sister and I tried to squeeze in a quick character meet and greet with Mickey before heading over, but we decided against waiting since the line was 20 minutes. I do think that would be doable though, we just didn't feel like standing in line. Main Street was pretty much cleared out by the time that we had to walk through to get to Tomorrowland Terrace, so it again only took about 5 minutes. People were moving closer to the castle for Hallowishes and the next Hocus Pocus show which started at 9:20. We had to wait on a short line to get in to the dessert party, but the CMs working it were very nice. We were able to see some of the Hocus Pocus show as we waited, but the view wasn't great.

The dessert party itself was a great experience. I tried each dessert on the buffet and they were all delicious. They had vanilla cupcakes with candy corn icing, mummy chocolate cupcakes, ghost meringues, little cups of dirt with gummy worms, tiramisu, candy corn panna cotta (which actually tasted like Mango and was awesome), rice krispie treats, spider whoopie pies, white and dark chocolate strawberries, witches fingers (which were pretzels dipped in chocolate and possibly peanut butter), mickey oreos which had some type of panna cotta on top, and more. My favorites were the cups of dirt and chocolate covered strawberries. The cupcakes were also really good There was also fruit and some cheese/crackers and an ice cream sundae cart, which I did not try but it definitely looked good. We all got a glass of sparking cider when we checked in, but there was no special toast that I saw. We also all got skull cups with candy inside. The view of Hallowishes was pretty great and it was nice to not have to fight the crowds and stand in one spot for hours. People were really nice about trying not to block one another as well. I was really pleased with the experience.

Overall, I think the dessert party was worthwhile and in some sense saved our night. The crowds were pretty heavy and I think we would have found it stressful to not have a reserved parade and fireworks area, especially since we had already been at the park all day. Not having to line up for the parade gave us a chance to ride the Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, whereas we would have needed to worry about staking out a spot far in advance otherwise. After the party, we walked on Space Mountain, Peter Pan, and Small World. We probably could have done a few more rides, we just weren't up for running around the park anymore. We left right around 12. We felt that our experience was full, but we didn't do any treat trails, see the Hocus Pocus show, or meet any characters which I know many people prioritize. The dessert party is kind of a 2 and a half hour commitment, which is worth it if your priority is seeing the parade and fireworks. It was our first MNSSHP, so for us it was important to experience the parade and fireworks in full. If you aren't sure that you will definitely want to see the entire parade and fireworks, then I wouldn't recommend the party. However, I think you could definitely arrive to the parade later than we did and take some time before heading over to the dessert party, which could make the experience fuller.

Anyway, I hope this information is somewhat helpful and I am happy to answer any other questions that people have!

Thank you so much for this review!! I was so worried about trying the party next year after hearing how crowded it was but this seems to make it so much better!! Not being all cramped for parade and fireworks. I hope they continue this into next September!!! How soon did you buy tickets for this?