HEA Dessert Party Review (Plaza Garden Viewing)

[Megsie1000]

So, I will start with the negatives and then end with the positives.

We had tickets for Saturday Nov 11 (Vet's day). We knew the night we chose was going to be crazy. There are Christmas parties surrounding the day, extra magic hours, extended park hours, Saturday, Jersey Week. Yeah. Well, we were right about the crowds, but we did not sweat it since we had the party tickets.

Now for the negatives: We arrived a good 10-15 minutes before the time we were supposed to "report" to the party. We arrived at 7:30 for a 7:45 reservation. There was already a huge line and it moved slowly. If we had known this was going to happen, we would have arrived much sooner. There was no warning or information given about this. The queue was also on the upslope of the Tomorrowland Terrace, which makes it very difficult to stand in the line if you are pushing someone in a wheelchair, which we were. We did not get seated until well after 8:00. Our hostess warned us that we needed to be ready to go over to the Garden Plaza by 8:30 because after that the crowds got too condensed after that. Well, gee, that gives us about 20 minutes to shove desserts down our throats and be ready to go. We waited in long lines to get desserts and then had to eat and drink quickly. It was not a very magical experience.

When it came time to go to the Plaza Garden, we had to wait (again on a slope with a wheelchair) for someone to come and "escort" us over to the viewing area. We were ready to go by 8:30. We waited, and waited and waited along with a lot of other people. Finally ONE cast member with a light came and, bless her, tried her best to get us through those crowds. My uncle was pushing my mom in a wheelchair and ended up being cut off by roughly 100 people. He could not see or figure out where we went. One of us had to go out into the crowds to try and rescue them and bring them back. Again, not a magical experience and VERY stressful. I am not sure what the solution to this should be, but they need to fix this issue. These dessert party tickets are EXPENSIVE and it should not be a harrowing experience to attend the dessert party.

My guess is that they need to start the party about an hour earlier and get people into that plaza garden much, much sooner. The way this all went down was unacceptable to me (and yes, I do plan on telling Disney directly). I would not book this party again unless these issues are fixed. And if you already have tickets, I suggest you be ready and in line by 7:00 no matter what your ticket says.

Now for the good: The desserts were delicious and plentiful. I would have enjoyed them immensely if we had more time to consume them. They said there were "to go" boxes around, but I did not see any. I did not feel like I had the time to pursue finding any with our already stressful situation.

The viewing area is really great. We stood against the back railing and it was a great place to view the fireworks and the projection show. There are a lot of people in the plaza garden with you, but nothing like what you would experience outside the gates with people right up in your business. So, if you want a viewing area that allows you a lot more space, this is it.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I agree with you about how they take you down to the garden. My thoughts were that there weren't enough CMs taking people down. The night we went, the line from the dessert party to the garden was too long and I think there were one or two CMs only at the front. I think they need smaller groups to properly escort people down.

We got to the garden and there was a stream of people coming against us as we were trying to turn into the garden and the CMs weren't visible enough/great enough in number to control the traffic. People thought we were cutting them off, but there was nothing else we could do.

 

[kniquy]

You have me worried now -- we are booked for a dessert party in April so that we don't have to brave the crowds and can get a good spot and enjoy some desserts. We were planning on arriving for close to starting time (7:45 for 9p show), but now i'm wondering if we should plan to arrive earlier.

I'm just curious -- if the people from the dessert party are just escorted through the crowd of people then whats to say someone doesn't just sneak into the line of people heading towards the garden area?

It does sound like they should take people in waves - i have no clue how close the viewing area is to the actual dessert area, but maybe a path needs to be roped off for dessert party attendees to be able to walk comfortably to the viewing area. Might not be feasible if it is a distance. For what we are paying for our party of 7 you would think they could afford a few CM to manage the crowd better.

I'll be interested to hear if others ran into the same problem.

We stood against the back railing

Was this even a good viewing spot for your mother in the wheel chair? I am wondering how my 4DD will do or if we will need to pick her up to be able to see anything. I certainly don't want to be one of those people putting her on my shoulder (nor could i physically handle that).

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

We did the Plaza viewing dessert party for Wishes back this past May. We arrived about 15 minutes before like advised and didn't wait in any long lines. We were seated right away and after we ate our plates of desserts were escorted by 1 CM to the plaza viewing area. If I recall correctly we had wristbands on and there was a cast member standing by the plaza entrance checking wristbands making sure nobody who didn't belong would enter. We had a great time and are doing the HEA dessert party again next month.

 

[RichSp]

Agree with above. Just did it 2 weeks ago. Got there at 7:30 and no lines. No rush to eat/drink and easy to get to garden at 8:25.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

You have me worried now -- we are booked for a dessert party in April so that we don't have to brave the crowds and can get a good spot and enjoy some desserts. We were planning on arriving for close to starting time (7:45 for 9p show), but now i'm wondering if we should plan to arrive earlier.

I'm just curious -- if the people from the dessert party are just escorted through the crowd of people then whats to say someone doesn't just sneak into the line of people heading towards the garden area?

It does sound like they should take people in waves - i have no clue how close the viewing area is to the actual dessert area, but maybe a path needs to be roped off for dessert party attendees to be able to walk comfortably to the viewing area. Might not be feasible if it is a distance. For what we are paying for our party of 7 you would think they could afford a few CM to manage the crowd better.

I'll be interested to hear if others ran into the same problem.

Was this even a good viewing spot for your mother in the wheel chair? I am wondering how my 4DD will do or if we will need to pick her up to be able to see anything. I certainly don't want to be one of those people putting her on my shoulder (nor could i physically handle that).

They give you wristbands when you check-in. There’s always someone at the Plaza Garden entrance checking them.

Sounds to me like the crowds on these non-party nights lately must have been pretty stout for folks to have such a hard time getting over to the garden. The two times we’ve done it this year, we’ve just told the CM we didn’t need an escort and walked right over ourselves with no problems - the crowds weren’t nearly at a level on the path to cause any problems going against the flow. Sounds like lately it’s been more (not surprising given the supply/demand of HEA during party season) - which to me emphasizes one of the main benefits of the dessert party to begin with (once you actually get to the plaza garden, of course!).

FWIW, when we do these things we actually purposely arrive late - more like 8-8:15, vs standing in line and waiting to be seated/checked-in before the 7:45 start time. That does take away some dessert time, but that’s OK with us.

OP - sorry you had a few bumps in the road on your night, but thanks for taking the time to come share your experience.

 

[mom22boys]

They give you wristbands when you check-in. There’s always someone at the Plaza Garden entrance checking them...The two times we’ve done it this year, we’ve just told the CM we didn’t need an escort and walked right over ourselves with no problems.

How did that work? Did you go after the large group was escorted over? Thanks!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

How did that work? Did you go after the large group was escorted over? Thanks!

Unless procedures have changed recently, when I’ve done it there hasn’t been a large group migration at any one point in time. You leave the dessert area and head over whenever you want. Some do it pretty soon into the event to grab specific spots in the garden, some do it later. Really more of a slow trickle of people heading over than anything else.

Hope that helps.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

That sounds stressful, @Megsie1000, especially as you were trying to ensure an easier experience amongst the crowd! My experience last April was similar to @GADisneyDad14. People went over in smaller groups. We waited for a couple of minutes for a CM to shuttle back and then were escorted over with another party or two. I wonder if it's understaffed at times. We didn't wait long to check in, but I don't remember how early we arrived...

 

[JJ2017]

Here was our experience from this past Saturday night (11/11). We knew the desserts wouldn't be a huge draw for us, but still wanted to eat. With a 4 and 6 year old, we didn't want to get to the dessert party too early and have too much time waiting around. So DS rode Space Mountain and DD and I went to the dance party. We headed to Tomorrowland Terrace at 8:00 and were sitting at a table at 8:15 (no line to check in). We ate until 8:45 which was more than enough time. We lined up right around 8:45 to get escorted. This is when I started to get nervous. As we were being escorted to the garden, the mass of people was INSANE. We had our double stroller and were next to a family with a scooter. There was no room to budge. The Cast Member screaming to the masses was just making matters worse for my anxiety. I couldn't see in front of myself or to the left or right. I bailed on my husband and kids and pushed my way to the garden to avoid having some sort of panic attack. I got to the garden and stood up on the ledge to at least make contact with my husband. He finally made it to the garden with the kids and we took a big breath. Thankfully the garden was nice and open and we went to a back railing and had a lot of space to ourselves. The show was AMAZING. So, while there was some anxiety involved, the viewing part was worth it and that's what we signed up for. But man, that mass of people was crazy!

 

[kniquy]

4 and 6 year old,

Would you say your kids had a good view at their height? I'm short and we will have our 12 yo boys and 4DD. I'm worried that despite paying for this better viewing area that the little ones might still have trouble seeing. Or do you feel they book the party so as it is not totally packed in the viewing area?

 

[JJ2017]

Would you say your kids had a good view at their height? I'm short and we will have our 12 yo boys and 4DD. I'm worried that despite paying for this better viewing area that the little ones might still have trouble seeing. Or do you feel they book the party so as it is not totally packed in the viewing area?

DS, 6, finally asked to be held during it so he could see better. DD, 4, was terrified, ha, ha, so she felt "safer" in her stroller. I got down at her level a couple of times and she was definitely still able to see the castle. There is definitely space to move around to find a good view, even once started.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

I don't disagree with you about your negative comments. When MK is crazy busy, they need a different way to get guests to the garden viewing area. We attended a party on a Saturday in October between MNSSHPs, so MK was nuts. They took about 10 of us down to the garden at the same time, 1 in a scooter and 1 with a stroller. We quickly got separated from the CM, and the woman in the scooter was starting to panic a little. I told her not to worry, we would get her to the garden and we all had wristbands so she didn't need to be afraid they won't let her in. It was chaotic.

In all honesty, if you have a wristband I don't understand why they don't just let you head to the garden whenever you want. Maybe put lights around the entrance so you know where it is, or give everyone a map or something. I just don't understand trying to get a line of people through a mob.

 

[mom22boys]

In all honesty, if you have a wristband I don't understand why they don't just let you head to the garden whenever you want. Maybe put lights around the entrance so you know where it is, or give everyone a map or something. I just don't understand trying to get a line of people through a mob.

Good point. Where exactly is the entrance to the Plaza Garden viewing spot?

 

[gillep]

When we did the party, yes they were escorting parties across, but DH and were easily able to just head over whenever we wanted, he CM at the entrance checked our bands and let us in, so the escort was provided but not necessary to use.

 

[Gehrig1B]

We have the party scheduled for NYE. We have always found the dessert parties less than good value but thought this might make the madness of MK NYE a bit more tolerable? Guess we shall see.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We have the party scheduled for NYE. We have always found the dessert parties less than good value but thought this might make the madness of MK NYE a bit more tolerable? Guess we shall see.

Which one that night? Might see you there!

 

[aviva5675]

We went on 11/6 and had no issues with lines or crowds- tho we went quite early. Then was escorted around 8 into the viewing area. I agree- if you have wrist bands, why cant you just go over and the CM at the entry can check it and let you in? Its not that far from the dessert area, so if they send you back its not far. If I were to go again I'd try that method.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We went on 11/6 and had no issues with lines or crowds- tho we went quite early. Then was escorted around 8 into the viewing area. I agree- if you have wrist bands, why cant you just go over and the CM at the entry can check it and let you in? Its not that far from the dessert area, so if they send you back its not far. If I were to go again I'd try that method.

FWIW, both times we've done it this year we told the CM we were fine to go on our own and they were happy to let us go by ourselves. To me it seemed the escort is really just more of a courtesy than a requirement.

 

[Tigerlulu]

What time do they start seating people usually?