F! dessert, yea or nay?

[interstate70s]

I 'm thinking of splurging on F! Dessert seating for our upcoming trip. I have never felt it was worth the cost before, but I find that the convience is starting to become more appealing as the planning for this trip goes on, but I can 't make up my mind. To those of you have purchased those very expensive cupcakes, is it worth it?

 

[Maddysdaddy]

I 'm thinking of splurging on F! Dessert seating for our upcoming trip. I have never felt it was worth the cost before, but I find that the convience is starting to become more appealing as the planning for this trip goes on, but I can 't make up my mind. To those of you have purchased those very expensive cupcakes, is it worth it?

If you like dessert, it's worth it, since you'll have enough for the next 5 nights (provided you have a mini fridge to put the box in to).

 

[jojomojo]

It was not worth it for my family. Take my opinion with a grain of salt though, because that was the only time I've ever seen it. I've never had to stake out a spot.

...edited to elaborate...

If it was just my husband and I, it would have been totally worth it (I might even do it again when just my husband and I make a trip for our anniversary). As it was though, we did this for 4 kids as well (5,8,12 & 14) - none of them were thrilled with the desserts. It was a waste I didn't feel seating alone was worth it. Also, we were staying at PPH and our mini fridge was already packed, we had nowhere to put the extras.

 

[interstate70s]

If you like dessert, it's worth it, since you'll have enough for the next 5 nights (provided you have a mini fridge to put the box in to).

I didn't think about that. That might be a good way to introduce the idea to my DH. I think that might be more appealing. to him than the seats. hmm ...

 

[TheZue]

I've always wanted to do and I am VERY tempted to do it for this trip. I don't have the patience to stake out a spot and with kids we are rarely in the park for the second show. My only hesitation this time is my four year and the fact he tends to get scared easily...for example the ads for ParaNorman are completely freaking him out and we had to leave Brave. I might wait for our next trip; but I think it would absolutely be worth it. It's expensive to get to Disneyland and spending hours of my trip on the ground waiting for a spot is not my idea of fun....just think if you spend 1/3 of a day waiting how much that is costing you...1/3 the cost of your night's hotel, 1/3 the cost of your ticket for that day, 1/3 the cost of your inflated food prices that day...the $60 starts to look pretty reasonable in terms of how much each hour in the park is worth.

 

[interstate70s]

It was not worth it for my family. Take my opinion with a grain of salt though, because that was the only time I've ever seen it. I've never had to stake out a spot.

...edited to elaborate...

If it was just my husband and I, it would have been totally worth it (I might even do it again when just my husband and I make a trip for our anniversary). As it was though, we did this for 4 kids as well (5,8,12 & 14) - none of them were thrilled with the desserts. It was a waste I didn't feel seating alone was worth it. Also, we were staying at PPH and our mini fridge was already packed, we had nowhere to put the extras.

Why were the kids unhappy with the dessert? Just not good option for kids, ours will be 7 and 9. I have one gormet foodie and chocoholic.

 

[Escape2Disney]

It is totally worth it for us! Since I can't sit on the ground and my daughter HATES crowds, we are able to alleviate both of those issues by reserving seats. We always plan to do this the first or second day of our trip so we can take all of the uneaten desserts back to the room. We snack on these each night instead of paying for treats in the parks.

 

[jojomojo]

Why were the kids unhappy with the dessert? Just not good option for kids, ours will be 7 and 9. I have one gormet foodie and chocoholic.

If you've got a gourmet/foodie, they'll probably love it. My kids just didn't find anything they liked. My youngest two are not picky though. I suspect it was a case of the older two influencing the younger two (parents know what I'm talking about lol). It (the show) also didn't hold the kids attention, which shocked me...that's not like them at all. For my family, it could have just all been due to the fact that our family dynamic was a bit off (the 12 yr old isn't mine, niece we only see once every couple of years).

It wasn't that any part of the experience was bad, it just didn't feel "magical".....like I told myself it would when I was forking over the $340

TheZue....as far as being afraid of it, my 5 year old was okay with it. She snuggled up in my lap a bit, but was generally okay with it. Brave on the other hand terrified her, gave her nightmares.

 

[TheZue]

If you've got a gourmet/foodie, they'll probably love it. My kids just didn't find anything they liked. My youngest two are not picky though. I suspect it was a case of the older two influencing the younger two (parents know what I'm talking about lol). It (the show) also didn't hold the kids attention, which shocked me...that's not like them at all. For my family, it could have just all been due to the fact that our family dynamic was a bit off (the 12 yr old isn't mine, niece we only see once every couple of years).

TheZue....as far as being afraid of it, my 5 year old was okay with it. She snuggled up in my lap a bit, but was generally okay with it. Brave on the other hand terrified her, gave her nightmares.

Okay that's good to know, it's so hard to gague these things sometimes. Maybe I will go ahead and do that then

 

[jojomojo]

Okay that's good to know, it's so hard to gague these things sometimes. Maybe I will go ahead and do that then

You could probably watch a youtube video of it, see what the whole show is like just to be sure

 

[BayGirl22]

I didn't vote because we haven't done it yet, but I just forked over a nonrefundable $170 for DH, Me, a 3 yo and 1 yo so I feel it will be worth it. We'll have limited opportunities to see the show and I'd rather have minimal wait and then sit in a chair. With kids I rank convenience very high, and if I'm only going to Disney every few years this is a drop in the bucket.

There are pictures of the dessert box in the F! thread (or some thread). I can't imagine my kids not loving it. There's a good amount of cake/cheesecake/chocolate like things, a giant cookie, and a bunch of Baby Bel and Tillamanook cheeses and crackers. The cheese alone is almost worth it for us! My kids eat those cheeses as snacks so we will be stocked for the whole week. Plus drinks like hot chocolate, milk, soda. I intend to get enough kid drinks to make it worthwhile too (within reason of course). The bigger challenge will be rationing out the sweets for all of us.

 

[Rhonna]

As adults we did it so we didn't have to stake out an area on our own and stay there until the show started. We don't like to deal with people crowding into our space. Plus the older you get it's nice to sit on chairs. We liked the convenience and we got front row so it was well worth it for us. We checked in and went off to do other things until closer to showtime.

If I had kids with me I would think twice about the cost.

Personally the snacks were nice but they weren't the main thing for us. I wouldn't book it just for the dessert box.

I didn't vote in the poll since there were only two choices. To us it isn't so black and white. I'd say yes depending on your situation.

 

[nancy drew]

We've done it in the past and I didn't feel it was worthwhile. Last night we picked up dinner at around 7:45 and headed toward the Rivers. Since we are a small party of 3, we found a little corner toward the last light tower and asked a family (very politely) if we could squeeze between them and a roped off area. I assured them it was just myself and 2 kids, we didn't have 15 other family members who would join us. They said yes, and we chatted a bit. We waited an hour, eating, talking, etc. Oh and we had candy we had bought earlier which helped pass the time. The candy was about $15, and dinner was about $20, so still less than the cost of the dessert seating. We had the best view of Fantasmic! We have ever had, even better than the view from the dessert area. We even had a little extra room so I asked a family behind us if they wanted to let their DD stand in front. They were behind kids, and the adults could see but their little girl couldn't. They were so happy, and I was glad to pay it forward and let someone else share our space.

In the past we've walked up and had a decent view 5 minutes before showtime, but this was the best view and worth the 1 hour of eating dinner (you'd be sitting anyway) and making new friends.

 

[jojomojo]

Personally the snacks were nice but they weren't the main thing for us. I wouldn't book it just for the dessert box.

I definitely agree with this I hope I didn't give off this impression. For me, all components made it worth it to buy the tickets (seats w/o waiting, great view, dessert box, hot cocoa, etc). I still think it would be worth it for just my husband and I

I just didn't feel $340 worth of "magic" with the 4 kids lol

 

[interstate70s]

I think I 'm leaning towards yes. My DD9 loves that show and I 'm thinking that it would be a good bday thing for her on our trip. Unfortunately, we won't be able to save the treats all week as F! is only going to be playing on the weekends which will be one of the last days we're there. I am tired of staking out a spot, and defending it from pushy people. Gosh you all are convincing!

Zue - I like your math of time vs money. I think that 's how I 'm going to pitch it!

 

[Aust]

I did it once last year with my sister and neice, and for the amount of dessert you get and the seat it was worth it when I was only paying for myself. I wasn't going to fork out for this trip as I have to pay for our family of 5 - but my 11 year old really wanted to do it, and given how far we are travelling to get to DL at all, and how long it will be until we make another trip there, I figure we may as well splurge a bit. Also with a 3 year old anything to reserve a spot and cut out some waiting time is a bonus.

 

[marybaby08]

I've always wanted to do and I am VERY tempted to do it for this trip. I don't have the patience to stake out a spot and with kids we are rarely in the park for the second show. My only hesitation this time is my four year and the fact he tends to get scared easily...for example the ads for ParaNorman are completely freaking him out and we had to leave Brave. I might wait for our next trip; but I think it would absolutely be worth it. It's expensive to get to Disneyland and spending hours of my trip on the ground waiting for a spot is not my idea of fun....just think if you spend 1/3 of a day waiting how much that is costing you...1/3 the cost of your night's hotel, 1/3 the cost of your ticket for that day, 1/3 the cost of your inflated food prices that day...the $60 starts to look pretty reasonable in terms of how much each hour in the park is worth.

My 5 yo is completely scared of the Paranorman ads, the poor guy runs to cover under something and covering his ears.

 

[Virgoinab]

For me it's worth it. I like the desserts and I like having a seat

Now, it is not for everyone, but for me, and my family, I pay for it because they all appreciate it.

We enjoy the show, we always have an early and light dinner so we can enjoy the dessert (even doing that, we still have at least three days of snacks left, plus I have two teenage boys who can eat!) and we like to sit in chairs to watch the show. Part of that is that I do have a leg disability so getting up and down off the ground is a real challenge for me, plus standing for a long time is not going to happen no matter how much I my love the show.

We always get the first show so I can sit a watch the fireworks as well, again for us it is worth it.

 

[revwog1974]

I think I'm doing it in October as I'll be there with a 6-year-old and I really want us to see Fantasmic. If I was there with another adult, I probably wouldn't do it, but will be just us. I can just see us sitting there on the ground waiting for the show for an hour when she has to go to the bathroom, and then we lose our spot! For me, it's worth it to know we have a seat, we can go to the bathroom before the show starts, and we get food!

I'm not sure Brave should be our standard. Wow. I was almost scared at Brave! I think it was scarier than it needed to be! My daughter was scared and she's never, ever been scared by any movie or TV show before.

 

[luvsmickey1968]

Our family did it once and totally thought it was worth it!
My husband will not attend anything at Disneyland where you have to stake out a spot because he doesn't like having to wait and then the fact that people come at the last minute and invade your space unless you adamantly defend it makes it unenjoyable for him.
Having a seat is heaven and then the hot cocoa, bottled water and the yummy dessert box is just an added bonus!
We don't do it everytime but every couple of years it is worth the splurge!
As our two children are no longer "children" in Disney's eyes, we would rather do this than a character meal!