disney4metoo
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2009
- Messages
- 442
Any Reviews on the DVC Top of the World Dining Package?
- Thread starter disney4metoo
- Start date
DenLo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,576
This package just started January 14th, https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-p...offers-dinner-plus-reserved-fireworks-viewing, so I doubt many have done it yet. It would be interesting to hear some comments about it.
Jrpbabe2003
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2006
- Messages
- 185
I would love to hear about it as well
CarolynFH
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2000
- Messages
- 20,211
As promised, here’s my report.
When we booked we were told to check in at The Wave at 6:30 PM, but on Saturday we received an email asking us to check in at 6:00 to avoid feeling we had to rush through our meal. So we checked in right at 6:00 and after a short wait were taken to our table. We were seated by ourselves - this is not a group dinner, so at The Wave we were essentially normal guests like everyone else there. That was good and bad, because the kitchen wasn’t necessarily focused on getting food to us and the other event participants within the event time constraints.
When we sat down there were two blue wristbands on the table for us to put on so that we could enter the reserved area at TOTWL. There was a special menu card, but the items were selected from the normal Wave menu, and we could each choose one of 4 appetizers (soup, salad, Caesar salad, or the Wave’s unique Bacon & Eggs), 7 entrees (beef tenderloin, beef short rib, chicken, pork tenderloin, noodle bowl, gnocchi, or fish) and 2 desserts (a Chocolate Flight or creme brûlée). Non-alcoholic beverages were also included.
Our waiter Ron explained that he would take our order for the full meal at once but would pace the courses so that we didn’t feel rushed. He recommended that we head over toward BLT around 7:30. It was around 6:20 when he told us that, so it sounded reasonable, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way. There were delays between courses (seemed to be kitchen related), and by 7:30 we had just finished our entrees. Rachel, the manager, had come by to greet us shortly after Ron had told us the overall plan, and she returned to offer us the choice to stay and eat our desserts (which hadn’t been served yet), take them with us, or return after the fireworks to enjoy them. We chose the last.
The walk over to BLT was quick, and we waited in a short line to show our wristbands to the CM at the first floor TOTWL podium outside the north elevator. When we reached the lounge, there were standing tables set up behind railings at the far right and the far left of the balcony. We went to the left; I didn’t see any CMs checking wristbands at either one. A CM came by shortly before start time for the fireworks and gave each person a little gold box containing 2 chocolate truffles, then during the fireworks another CM came by with flutes of champagne. Again, no formal wristband check, but the viewing area was not crowded at all (probably because the temperature was in the low 50s/high 40s!). TOTWL was bustling!
After HEA was over we joined the long but quickly moving line for the elevator and returned to The Wave, where we enjoyed our desserts and some coffee.
Overall we enjoyed the event and felt it was worth the cost. In addition to the chosen courses, we were also served an amuse bouche of shrimp prior to the appetizers and a small scoop of amazingly delicious mango sorbet between appetizers and entrees. It was a great start to our visit (just checked in to CCV today!).
While we were back at The Wave eating dessert afterwards, Rachel came by again and we chatted about the timing issue. She said that we weren’t the only ones during this first week who had not had time for dessert before the fireworks, so they’re thinking of making the after-HEA dessert a routine. I recommended that they have dinner at The Wave, watch HEA, then serve TOTWL’s famous chocolate cake with the champagne! In any case, Rachel indicated that they’re evaluating this every night and will be making changes and adjustments and improvements as time goes on.
If anyone has questions, please ask!
When we booked we were told to check in at The Wave at 6:30 PM, but on Saturday we received an email asking us to check in at 6:00 to avoid feeling we had to rush through our meal. So we checked in right at 6:00 and after a short wait were taken to our table. We were seated by ourselves - this is not a group dinner, so at The Wave we were essentially normal guests like everyone else there. That was good and bad, because the kitchen wasn’t necessarily focused on getting food to us and the other event participants within the event time constraints.
When we sat down there were two blue wristbands on the table for us to put on so that we could enter the reserved area at TOTWL. There was a special menu card, but the items were selected from the normal Wave menu, and we could each choose one of 4 appetizers (soup, salad, Caesar salad, or the Wave’s unique Bacon & Eggs), 7 entrees (beef tenderloin, beef short rib, chicken, pork tenderloin, noodle bowl, gnocchi, or fish) and 2 desserts (a Chocolate Flight or creme brûlée). Non-alcoholic beverages were also included.
Our waiter Ron explained that he would take our order for the full meal at once but would pace the courses so that we didn’t feel rushed. He recommended that we head over toward BLT around 7:30. It was around 6:20 when he told us that, so it sounded reasonable, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way. There were delays between courses (seemed to be kitchen related), and by 7:30 we had just finished our entrees. Rachel, the manager, had come by to greet us shortly after Ron had told us the overall plan, and she returned to offer us the choice to stay and eat our desserts (which hadn’t been served yet), take them with us, or return after the fireworks to enjoy them. We chose the last.
The walk over to BLT was quick, and we waited in a short line to show our wristbands to the CM at the first floor TOTWL podium outside the north elevator. When we reached the lounge, there were standing tables set up behind railings at the far right and the far left of the balcony. We went to the left; I didn’t see any CMs checking wristbands at either one. A CM came by shortly before start time for the fireworks and gave each person a little gold box containing 2 chocolate truffles, then during the fireworks another CM came by with flutes of champagne. Again, no formal wristband check, but the viewing area was not crowded at all (probably because the temperature was in the low 50s/high 40s!). TOTWL was bustling!
After HEA was over we joined the long but quickly moving line for the elevator and returned to The Wave, where we enjoyed our desserts and some coffee.
Overall we enjoyed the event and felt it was worth the cost. In addition to the chosen courses, we were also served an amuse bouche of shrimp prior to the appetizers and a small scoop of amazingly delicious mango sorbet between appetizers and entrees. It was a great start to our visit (just checked in to CCV today!).
While we were back at The Wave eating dessert afterwards, Rachel came by again and we chatted about the timing issue. She said that we weren’t the only ones during this first week who had not had time for dessert before the fireworks, so they’re thinking of making the after-HEA dessert a routine. I recommended that they have dinner at The Wave, watch HEA, then serve TOTWL’s famous chocolate cake with the champagne! In any case, Rachel indicated that they’re evaluating this every night and will be making changes and adjustments and improvements as time goes on.
If anyone has questions, please ask!
js
Been around since before the disboards 90s crash
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2000
- Messages
- 9,272
When we booked we were told to check in at The Wave at 6:30 PM, but on Saturday we received an email asking us to check in at 6:00 to avoid feeling we had to rush through our meal. So we checked in right at 6:00 and after a short wait were taken to our table. We were seated by ourselves - this is not a group dinner, so at The Wave we were essentially normal guests like everyone else there. That was good and bad, because the kitchen wasn’t necessarily focused on getting food to us and the other event participants within the event time constraints.
When we sat down there were two blue wristbands on the table for us to put on so that we could enter the reserved area at TOTWL. There was a special menu card, but the items were selected from the normal Wave menu, and we could each choose one of 4 appetizers (soup, salad, Caesar salad, or the Wave’s unique Bacon & Eggs), 7 entrees (beef tenderloin, beef short rib, chicken, pork tenderloin, noodle bowl, gnocchi, or fish) and 2 desserts (a Chocolate Flight or creme brûlée). Non-alcoholic beverages were also included.
Our waiter Ron explained that he would take our order for the full meal at once but would pace the courses so that we didn’t feel rushed. He recommended that we head over toward BLT around 7:30. It was around 6:20 when he told us that, so it sounded reasonable, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way. There were delays between courses (seemed to be kitchen related), and by 7:30 we had just finished our entrees. Rachel, the manager, had come by to greet us shortly after Ron had told us the overall plan, and she returned to offer us the choice to stay and eat our desserts (which hadn’t been served yet), take them with us, or return after the fireworks to enjoy them. We chose the last.
The walk over to BLT was quick, and we waited in a short line to show our wristbands to the CM at the first floor TOTWL podium outside the north elevator. When we reached the lounge, there were standing tables set up behind railings at the far right and the far left of the balcony. We went to the left; I didn’t see any CMs checking wristbands at either one. A CM came by shortly before start time for the fireworks and gave each person a little gold box containing 2 chocolate truffles, then during the fireworks another CM came by with flutes of champagne. Again, no formal wristband check, but the viewing area was not crowded at all (probably because the temperature was in the low 50s/high 40s!). TOTWL was bustling!
After HEA was over we joined the long but quickly moving line for the elevator and returned to The Wave, where we enjoyed our desserts and some coffee.
Overall we enjoyed the event and felt it was worth the cost. In addition to the chosen courses, we were also served an amuse bouche of shrimp prior to the appetizers and a small scoop of amazingly delicious mango sorbet between appetizers and entrees. It was a great start to our visit (just checked in to CCV today!).
While we were back at The Wave eating dessert afterwards, Rachel came by again and we chatted about the timing issue. She said that we weren’t the only ones during this first week who had not had time for dessert before the fireworks, so they’re thinking of making the after-HEA dessert a routine. I recommended that they have dinner at The Wave, watch HEA, then serve TOTWL’s famous chocolate cake with the champagne! In any case, Rachel indicated that they’re evaluating this every night and will be making changes and adjustments and improvements as time goes on.
If anyone has questions, please ask![/QUOTE]
Thank you very much for your detailed review. I'm all for trying new dining and event options at Disney and don't mind spending the extra
money for the experience but just wondering what makes this any different than your going to the Wave for dinner and up to Totw for drinks/dessert?
I'm trying to figure out if I want to do this but cant see why I wouldn't just have dinner and then up to Top of the World for dessert and fireworks and it wasn't
even a group experience (although I would prefer not but I do enjoy Highway in the Sky and the group experience).
Thanks so much!
When we sat down there were two blue wristbands on the table for us to put on so that we could enter the reserved area at TOTWL. There was a special menu card, but the items were selected from the normal Wave menu, and we could each choose one of 4 appetizers (soup, salad, Caesar salad, or the Wave’s unique Bacon & Eggs), 7 entrees (beef tenderloin, beef short rib, chicken, pork tenderloin, noodle bowl, gnocchi, or fish) and 2 desserts (a Chocolate Flight or creme brûlée). Non-alcoholic beverages were also included.
Our waiter Ron explained that he would take our order for the full meal at once but would pace the courses so that we didn’t feel rushed. He recommended that we head over toward BLT around 7:30. It was around 6:20 when he told us that, so it sounded reasonable, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way. There were delays between courses (seemed to be kitchen related), and by 7:30 we had just finished our entrees. Rachel, the manager, had come by to greet us shortly after Ron had told us the overall plan, and she returned to offer us the choice to stay and eat our desserts (which hadn’t been served yet), take them with us, or return after the fireworks to enjoy them. We chose the last.
The walk over to BLT was quick, and we waited in a short line to show our wristbands to the CM at the first floor TOTWL podium outside the north elevator. When we reached the lounge, there were standing tables set up behind railings at the far right and the far left of the balcony. We went to the left; I didn’t see any CMs checking wristbands at either one. A CM came by shortly before start time for the fireworks and gave each person a little gold box containing 2 chocolate truffles, then during the fireworks another CM came by with flutes of champagne. Again, no formal wristband check, but the viewing area was not crowded at all (probably because the temperature was in the low 50s/high 40s!). TOTWL was bustling!
After HEA was over we joined the long but quickly moving line for the elevator and returned to The Wave, where we enjoyed our desserts and some coffee.
Overall we enjoyed the event and felt it was worth the cost. In addition to the chosen courses, we were also served an amuse bouche of shrimp prior to the appetizers and a small scoop of amazingly delicious mango sorbet between appetizers and entrees. It was a great start to our visit (just checked in to CCV today!).
While we were back at The Wave eating dessert afterwards, Rachel came by again and we chatted about the timing issue. She said that we weren’t the only ones during this first week who had not had time for dessert before the fireworks, so they’re thinking of making the after-HEA dessert a routine. I recommended that they have dinner at The Wave, watch HEA, then serve TOTWL’s famous chocolate cake with the champagne! In any case, Rachel indicated that they’re evaluating this every night and will be making changes and adjustments and improvements as time goes on.
If anyone has questions, please ask![/QUOTE]
Thank you very much for your detailed review. I'm all for trying new dining and event options at Disney and don't mind spending the extra
money for the experience but just wondering what makes this any different than your going to the Wave for dinner and up to Totw for drinks/dessert?
I'm trying to figure out if I want to do this but cant see why I wouldn't just have dinner and then up to Top of the World for dessert and fireworks and it wasn't
even a group experience (although I would prefer not but I do enjoy Highway in the Sky and the group experience).
Thanks so much!
Last edited:
KAT4DISNEY
Glad to be a test subject
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
- Messages
- 28,450
Champagne is a non-thing for me and I had expected there was something more to the desserts than a little box with 2 truffles. Booking our own dinner and then going over to TOTWL on our own sounds just as enjoyable without the requirements of Disney timing. And do we still get a discount off of dining at the Wave? For those with TIW it definitely doesn't sound like it would make sense.
CarolynFH
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2000
- Messages
- 20,211
Yes, I agree there’s not much difference financially or logistically between making your own ADR at The Wave and then going up to TOTWL for HEA, drinks and dessert. The real benefit would be having a guaranteed viewing area for HEA. It didn’t make much difference last night when it was so cold that relatively few people were outside, but I’m sure there are nights when it would be useful. And the price wasn’t exorbitant for what we got. So it was a nice start to our trip, and we’d consider doing it again especially if they revise the schedule to put dessert after HEA. Going back to the Wave and leisurely enjoying dessert and coffee was probably our favorite part of the night!
js
Been around since before the disboards 90s crash
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2000
- Messages
- 9,272
We stayed at BLT two weeks ago and dined at the Wave prior to our MK After Hours event and used TiW. Thinking I am not going to book this event
for next September if still available.
Thank you again for your detailed review. I am happy you enjoyed yourself but after reading, I do not think I will be booking. We did our second Highway in the Sky Dinearound two weeks ago and that was just as great as the first time, although I am sure the prices were much different than your event.
We always go in September but added January on a couple of months ago and have to say that TOTW was much more crowded during our January trip than September (but it was the end of Christmas/New Years and the beginning of Marathon Weekend) so not sure if that is how it always is during a more crowded time.
recmouse
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2010
- Messages
- 817
We did this package last week and were disappointed. The event is nothing like it's explained on the DVC website. It makes it sound like it's a group thing and it's not. We sat at 6:30 and were done by 8pm. Dinner was phenomenal but we had an hour to kill before going up for the fireworks. We were really aggravated that no one was checking wristbands and people that didn't pay for the package were in the viewing area and getting champagne. (I already sent an email to DVC and am waiting for a response) You can do this yourself as most viewing spots on TOWL are fine!
keishashadow
Proud Redhead...yes, I have some bananas!
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
- Messages
- 32,544
I missed this announcement. Does anyone have a link? Curious, if it’s available on the few ‘blackout’ nights such as 4th of July, New Years, etc.
crvetter
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2018
- Messages
- 3,394
https://disneyvacationclub.disney.g...vents/top-of-the-world-lounge-dining-package/
It currently is only scheduled to run until 6/30 this year.
keishashadow
Proud Redhead...yes, I have some bananas!
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
- Messages
- 32,544
Thank you. Since i see it’s blacked out for Easter weekend & Mother’s Day, even if extended the 4th likely excluded.
ksromack
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2012
- Messages
- 4,523
This. We have TiW a d you cannot use it for the package which is, I believe $115 pp for the while thing. We dont really need a 3 course meal at The Wave and if ordering directly without of the package we CAN use our TiW and also for drinks at TotWL too. Actually I'm pretty sure we could eat at The Wave and order a piece of that chocolate cake and have a bottle of wine at TotWL and still come out ahead or at least break even. I just dont want to get upstairs and find that we cant get into the Lounge! We"re going the first week of Sept this year.
-
New Oogie Boogie Bash Lunch Discount in Downtown Disney at Disneyland
-
Dark Universe Soundtrack from Danny Elfman Now Streaming
-
Jock Lindsey's HALLOWEEN Hangar Bar Full Menu Review at Disney World
-
New Disney Character Sweaters Now at Disney World
-
3 'Dumb' Disney Questions That Aren't Dumb at All
-
Disneyland Shares FIRST LOOK at Character Costumes for Halloween
-
Epic Universe Express Pass Now Includes Two Huge Attractions!
