Illuminations Sparkling Dessert Party

[Boo Bear]

I want a full review & photos!

Actually since posting that I was going to keep it, I decided to cancel and add an extra night to the beginning of our stay. We are actually here now!

 

[twinspluscade]

We did it in June and loved it. It helped that we had never stayed long enough at Epcot for Illuminations -- don't know how that happened, but we tend to save our late nights for the MK.

The Illuminations party has a bit of an international flair, which is nice. However, fear not, these are not challenging desserts. Just good stuff, with sparkling wine. My kids loved the desserts. Even the picky ones aren't picky about dessert!

I did not enjoy standing, but when we grabbed a spot for the show, we plopped down on the warm concrete (it was June) and were plenty comfortable.

Comparing the Illuminations and Tomorrowland Parties:

We have done the Tomorrowland party 3 times, and the two are very different. The Tomorrowland party has more variety, but the desserts are not quite as interesting. The Tomorrowland party is less roomy, but much more comfortable with seating and a roof. We have been glad of that roof 2 out of 3 times we went. The Illuminations party was on a beautiful night, and I appreciated the chance to move around under the night sky with plenty of room.

I think finding a comfortable spot for the MK fireworks is harder than finding a good spot for Illuminations. I find the the Tomorrowland party to be much more of a relief.

We are going back to Disney in February. We are going to the Tomorrowland party, but not to Illuminations. I would gladly book it if I could, but we will be with an older relative, and we don't think she'd appreciate the lack of seating at the Illuminations party.

I don't think you'd be able to book it anyway in February: from what I've read, they're cancelling it after the end of this year.

 

[J and R's mom]

I don't think you'd be able to book it anyway in February: from what I've read, they're cancelling it after the end of this year.

Well TOOT! I had a feeling something was up. I have noticed that no dates are live to click on on-line after December 30th of this year. For a few weeks, Jan 1st-3rd, 2015, had live links, but no longer do. I was hoping to give this a try in April 2015. I'm still torn on whether or not it's worth it since they don't even have seats (the tomorrowland party spoiled me). I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore. Oh well....

I called last month to see if I could book it over the phone since I couldn't on-line. The CM seemed surprised that she was not able to book it either. She told me to just keep checking back.

I went ahead and booked an Illuminations cruise instead, but that's not always the best viewing spot...especially if the wind is not in one's favor. I've seen those boats (and the people on the IG bridge) completely covered in the fireworks' smoke before.

But, it's our anniversary night. We were married at Sea Breeze Point on the Boardwalk almost 16 years ago and ended the night of our wedding with an Illuminations fireworks cruise and it was awesome (no smoke in our faces). Hopefully this will be the same for us this time.

 

[skripples]

I loved it. I was on the fence about booking it because of the mixed reviews, most of them bad. But in our previous trips we were never able to get a good view and we aren't ones to camp out and wait for hours just to get one so I took the plunge. Glad I did. The desserts are fabulous, the drinks are yummy too. One guest found the drinks too sweet so he requested just rum on the rocks (they keep white rum for the rum punch) and got it. There's no seating but we don't mind standing anyway. It was questionable weather the night we went so the dessert party was brought indoors, but the set up was still very nice. Pretty blue light and nice music. It is more expensive than the wishes dessert party but I found it worth the price. We loved the desserts, and my boys can pack it away! And me and my husband enjoy a few drinks at the end of a Friday night. They'll close up the food and drinks before the fireworks but you are welcome to grab extra so you have treats during the show. We found it very worth it. However, If you're not a big eater or won't have a few drinks then trying at a fastpass is a better option.

 

[Crystal824]

I have a friend that just went. I asked her about it. We haven't done it mostly because I have read so many negative reviews. She told me it was ok....it wasn't terrible the desserts were good but she didn't think it was worth the cost.