Jingle Bell Jingle BAM Show at DHS with Dessert Party Details POST 8

[DisneyWishes14]

I realllly wish our Travel agent would have informed us about this before it was completely booked!

I would just keep checking for cancellations. Honestly, you will get information must faster on these boards. TA's typically get news of new entertainment options about a day or two after they are actually released. So, unless they are on these boards or another forum, they are at a booking disadvantage.

 

[tinkerhon]

I would just keep checking for cancellations. Honestly, you will get information must faster on these boards. TA's typically get news of new entertainment options about a day or two after they are actually released. So, unless they are on these boards or another forum, they are at a booking disadvantage.

There has been a 12/1 ressie on-line for a few days now, so people have been cancelling --- don't give up

 

[Nhebron]

We attended the party last Wednesday.

This is our second dessert/fireworks party at Disney. We did the SW party last year during SWW. Last year was a disaster for us and I promised my husband we wouldn't do any more dessert parties. But he caved. I think it's because he loves Christmas.

I knew going in that we wouldn't get our money's worth ($177 for 2 adults and a 6 year old) but wanted to try it anyway. I really didn't care for anything but the meatballs, spinach dip, and gingerbread cocktail. My husband had cake and ice cream and my son would only eat the cupcakes and only once I scraped the mint icing off. So it was even more of a poor value than I originally thought. They really need to do better with the desserts. Way too much mint.

Here is the one thing that I will add that might be different from some of the other comments. My son has sensory issues and for us, this was a much more manageable experience than the SW's party. Last year, my son got way overstimulated (loud techno music, crowded area with standing tables only, lots of sugar) and then freaked out screaming and crying when the fireworks started. This year, things just seemed so much more chill. Christmas music vs. techno. Santa Goofy was a hit with him and the fireworks were a bit muted (if that makes sense) vs. SW. We actually stayed until the end of the Jingle Bam show vs. having to leave because my son was screaming and crying like we did last year. We had a good enough view of the show. We chose to wait until a few minutes before the show to go to the reserved area. We were tired (it was a travel day) and my priority was to not be crowded and be able to lean against a railing. There was plenty of room to do that towards the back of the reserved area.

My husband said he would want to do this again. I am not sure whether I would want to shell out money for this again. The SW party was more my speed (better drinks, music, and food!) but not sure if that works for the family right now.

 

[Luisfba]

I've read through the whole thread and the only thing I have a concern about is the apparent lack of options without mint. Both my daughter and myself aren't big fans of mint.

Anywhere I could call or email to just put in a request they add more non-mint options?

 

[yulilin3]

We attended the party last Wednesday.

This is our second dessert/fireworks party at Disney. We did the SW party last year during SWW. Last year was a disaster for us and I promised my husband we wouldn't do any more dessert parties. But he caved. I think it's because he loves Christmas.

I knew going in that we wouldn't get our money's worth ($177 for 2 adults and a 6 year old) but wanted to try it anyway. I really didn't care for anything but the meatballs, spinach dip, and gingerbread cocktail. My husband had cake and ice cream and my son would only eat the cupcakes and only once I scraped the mint icing off. So it was even more of a poor value than I originally thought. They really need to do better with the desserts. Way too much mint.

Here is the one thing that I will add that might be different from some of the other comments. My son has sensory issues and for us, this was a much more manageable experience than the SW's party. Last year, my son got way overstimulated (loud techno music, crowded area with standing tables only, lots of sugar) and then freaked out screaming and crying when the fireworks started. This year, things just seemed so much more chill. Christmas music vs. techno. Santa Goofy was a hit with him and the fireworks were a bit muted (if that makes sense) vs. SW. We actually stayed until the end of the Jingle Bam show vs. having to leave because my son was screaming and crying like we did last year. We had a good enough view of the show. We chose to wait until a few minutes before the show to go to the reserved area. We were tired (it was a travel day) and my priority was to not be crowded and be able to lean against a railing. There was plenty of room to do that towards the back of the reserved area.

My husband said he would want to do this again. I am not sure whether I would want to shell out money for this again. The SW party was more my speed (better drinks, music, and food!) but not sure if that works for the family right now.

I remember your report from last year, i'm glad it went better this year

 

[J-Dog]

Well, based on the, ummmm, not-so-gleaming reviews about JBJB, we decided to cancel our spot for 3 on Dec 7th. We only have 2 days at WDW, and I was looking forward to going to HS mostly for the Star Wars stuff. But now that SWaGS is on hiatus, a decent amount of HS is under construction, and the holiday replacement for SWaGS sounds like a big let-down, we have decided to change our second day to Epcot for Holidays around the World.

 

[JenB1104]

Well, based on the, ummmm, not-so-gleaming reviews about JBJB, we decided to cancel our spot for 3 on Dec 7th. We only have 2 days at WDW, and I was looking forward to going to HS mostly for the Star Wars stuff. But now that SWaGS is on hiatus, a decent amount of HS is under construction, and the holiday replacement for SWaGS sounds like a big let-down, we have decided to change our second day to Epcot for Holidays around the World.

I think I am going to cancel ours too and spend more time at Epcot.

 

[PlutosUnDr8d]

If anyone decides to cancel on 12/3, could you PLEASE let me know?

My sis decided to join us for the day, and I would love for her to join in the fun at the JBJB party!
I need one more ticket, though, and it currently reports to be full. TIA!!!

 

[Lisa F]

If anyone decides to cancel on 12/3, could you PLEASE let me know?

My sis decided to join us for the day, and I would love for her to join in the fun at the JBJB party!
I need one more ticket, though, and it currently reports to be full. TIA!!!

I think this one is a 24 hour cancellation so definitely check the day before! one HAS to open up!

 

[tinkerhon]

We are gong to keep our 12/2 ressie, but not going in with high expectations --- have not read any wow!" Review yet -- most are negative to good--- plus, just returned from "Santa"s Fireside Feast" at SW -- they do such an amazing job for the holidays, and although we missed the "Polar Express" experience this year, the Rudolph and Friends M & G made up for it --!! Know this belongs on the SW board, but posting just as a comparison -- for our family of 4 --- DW and myself, DD9 and DS5 --- paid $216 for JBJB --- paid $112, incl tax, for Fireside Feast --- AYCTE holiday buffet ( great kids choices as well) -- great desserts-- unlimited drinks --- including beer and wine, and pictures with Santa, the Elves, and MRs C --- plus a complimentary family photo --- really can't beat it for the price !!!

 

[tinkerhon]

 

[thebs19]

We went last Friday (got the Reservation Tuesday night - I was checking constantly the week leading up to it and it appeared as though reservations would open for each day, at least temporarily do you have to be diligent, 1-2 days before without exception, even during the busy holiday week). We are Disney vets but dessert party novices, with this being our first, mostly because we have never been people to stake out show/parade spots well ahead of time but figured this one would be a hit with kids and obviously viewing spots need to be optimal for full enjoyment. So I really did it to eliminate the stress of trying to squeeze into a space, and hoped the food and whatnot would be good enough to justify it.

I have no comparison points to other parties, and I knew going in I wasn't going to "get" $70 in "value" for the food/drinks consumed, but we had a GREAT time. Myself, wife, son (9), daughter (3). We didn't even get a sit down table as while I got on line early while they did TSMM, they opened up the seating before they got there and I felt bad holding a table by myself over other families when I wasnt sure when they'd get there. Of course, the rest of my party arrived literally seconds after I made the decision to forgo "holding" a table, but oh well. We stood in the back by the children's activity table, which got almost NO traffic, and the attendant was happy to let our little ones sit there. A family left a good 30 minutes early to get a viewing spot and gave us their table at the end. Overall, I didn't find this to be much of a deterrant, as we were constantly shuttling around to the bar, food tables, Santa Goofy, getting another look at the nitro-station, etc.

The space in the area vs. the amount of overall people is about as "open" as any spot you can find in all of Disney World, in my opinion (maybe other than the Circle of Life theatre my daughter and I sat in after rope drop while wife/won did Soarin!). I found it to be as much of a "low key" event as you can get at Disney, my kids tried literally 20 different things and got a kick out of that, my wife and I enjoyed the specialty drinks, Santa Goofy was a hit, and we were the last ones to leave the party area and had a perfectly fine, and very comfortably "open" viewing spot towards the back center of the preferred viewing area. My kids got such a kick out of the 3D glasses too - wore them around at night at other parks for the rest of our trip and brought them home for viewing christmas decorations.

Its a lot of money, and not sure I need to do it for every night show, but if its a new one or one where I'm concerned about needing a viewing spot without stressing, I'd do it again. I found it extremely well run and organized for something that I was very afraid was going to be chaotic. One of our best experiences of our trip. Just my two cents, whatever that is worth.

 

[Lisa F]

We went last Friday (got the Reservation Tuesday night - I was checking constantly the week leading up to it and it appeared as though reservations would open for each day, at least temporarily do you have to be diligent, 1-2 days before without exception, even during the busy holiday week). We are Disney vets but dessert party novices, with this being our first, mostly because we have never been people to stake out show/parade spots well ahead of time but figured this one would be a hit with kids and obviously viewing spots need to be optimal for full enjoyment. So I really did it to eliminate the stress of trying to squeeze into a space, and hoped the food and whatnot would be good enough to justify it.

I have no comparison points to other parties, and I knew going in I wasn't going to "get" $70 in "value" for the food/drinks consumed, but we had a GREAT time. Myself, wife, son (9), daughter (3). We didn't even get a sit down table as while I got on line early while they did TSMM, they opened up the seating before they got there and I felt bad holding a table by myself over other families when I wasnt sure when they'd get there. Of course, the rest of my party arrived literally seconds after I made the decision to forgo "holding" a table, but oh well. We stood in the back by the children's activity table, which got almost NO traffic, and the attendant was happy to let our little ones sit there. A family left a good 30 minutes early to get a viewing spot and gave us their table at the end. Overall, I didn't find this to be much of a deterrant, as we were constantly shuttling around to the bar, food tables, Santa Goofy, getting another look at the nitro-station, etc.

The space in the area vs. the amount of overall people is about as "open" as any spot you can find in all of Disney World, in my opinion (maybe other than the Circle of Life theatre my daughter and I sat in after rope drop while wife/won did Soarin!). I found it to be as much of a "low key" event as you can get at Disney, my kids tried literally 20 different things and got a kick out of that, my wife and I enjoyed the specialty drinks, Santa Goofy was a hit, and we were the last ones to leave the party area and had a perfectly fine, and very comfortably "open" viewing spot towards the back center of the preferred viewing area. My kids got such a kick out of the 3D glasses too - wore them around at night at other parks for the rest of our trip and brought them home for viewing christmas decorations.

Its a lot of money, and not sure I need to do it for every night show, but if its a new one or one where I'm concerned about needing a viewing spot without stressing, I'd do it again. I found it extremely well run and organized for something that I was very afraid was going to be chaotic. One of our best experiences of our trip. Just my two cents, whatever that is worth.

Thanks for taking the time to write your review! This is about what I had hoped for. I think the "meh" reviews are due to a couple of things: 1) it's not SWaGS and I really liked SWaGS a lot better 2) It's not SWaGS and I REALLY wanted to see SWaGS 3) too much savory and not enough sweet variety (which I actually prefer) 4) too much mint in the dessert choices. Having never seen SWaGS and not super hot to one way or the other (i'm just as happy with christmas) that takes out 1 and 2 for me, 3 is a benefit and 4 I will live with, you can't please everyone. Hoping for a nice, low key evening with some of my best internet friends and sounds like we'll get it!

 

[saskdw]

We went last Friday (got the Reservation Tuesday night - I was checking constantly the week leading up to it and it appeared as though reservations would open for each day, at least temporarily do you have to be diligent, 1-2 days before without exception, even during the busy holiday week). We are Disney vets but dessert party novices, with this being our first, mostly because we have never been people to stake out show/parade spots well ahead of time but figured this one would be a hit with kids and obviously viewing spots need to be optimal for full enjoyment. So I really did it to eliminate the stress of trying to squeeze into a space, and hoped the food and whatnot would be good enough to justify it.

I have no comparison points to other parties, and I knew going in I wasn't going to "get" $70 in "value" for the food/drinks consumed, but we had a GREAT time. Myself, wife, son (9), daughter (3). We didn't even get a sit down table as while I got on line early while they did TSMM, they opened up the seating before they got there and I felt bad holding a table by myself over other families when I wasnt sure when they'd get there. Of course, the rest of my party arrived literally seconds after I made the decision to forgo "holding" a table, but oh well. We stood in the back by the children's activity table, which got almost NO traffic, and the attendant was happy to let our little ones sit there. A family left a good 30 minutes early to get a viewing spot and gave us their table at the end. Overall, I didn't find this to be much of a deterrant, as we were constantly shuttling around to the bar, food tables, Santa Goofy, getting another look at the nitro-station, etc.

The space in the area vs. the amount of overall people is about as "open" as any spot you can find in all of Disney World, in my opinion (maybe other than the Circle of Life theatre my daughter and I sat in after rope drop while wife/won did Soarin!). I found it to be as much of a "low key" event as you can get at Disney, my kids tried literally 20 different things and got a kick out of that, my wife and I enjoyed the specialty drinks, Santa Goofy was a hit, and we were the last ones to leave the party area and had a perfectly fine, and very comfortably "open" viewing spot towards the back center of the preferred viewing area. My kids got such a kick out of the 3D glasses too - wore them around at night at other parks for the rest of our trip and brought them home for viewing christmas decorations.

Its a lot of money, and not sure I need to do it for every night show, but if its a new one or one where I'm concerned about needing a viewing spot without stressing, I'd do it again. I found it extremely well run and organized for something that I was very afraid was going to be chaotic. One of our best experiences of our trip. Just my two cents, whatever that is worth.

Thanks for the very informative and helpful review.

From a few people now it seems just going to the back of the viewing area is the stress free way to go.

Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[FastPasser]

.

 

[seshat0120]

My sister and I are going on Sunday.

 

[Lisa F]

Other than Lisa's crazy group, anyone else going this week?

I am doing a full dining report as we are also doing the dxddp (yes we are crazy!) but I will try to get a review posted here sooner rather than later for anyone who might be on the fence. But warning... I am a "funmaker" meaning I can have fun wherever I go. Add a couple of gingerbread martinis and . I am getting SO excited about my trip right now, combined with stress at work has me a bit lightheaded. I hope by the time I get on the ferry thursday night for the first leg of my trip all of work stuff is resolved.

I am glad to hear the viewing area isn't so crowded that you can stand back a bit. I don't think the view is significantly better from 10 feet forward but distance from the people in front of you could make it far less obstructed.

Now maybe if they could do something about adding a few more non mint dessert items aw heck as long as there is no mint in the gingerbread martini i am good.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I'm camping out a spot right now and a CM just told me they take the walkway tape up closer to the show, so there's pretty much no place I can park my walker to not have people directly in front of me.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

Same CM came back just now and told me she was wrong and they'll "probably" leave the walkway in place. She was really nice but seemed really poorly informed.

 

[areno79]

I am doing a full dining report as we are also doing the dxddp (yes we are crazy!) but I will try to get a review posted here sooner rather than later for anyone who might be on the fence. But warning... I am a "funmaker" meaning I can have fun wherever I go. Add a couple of gingerbread martinis and . I am getting SO excited about my trip right now, combined with stress at work has me a bit lightheaded. I hope by the time I get on the ferry thursday night for the first leg of my trip all of work stuff is resolved.

I am glad to hear the viewing area isn't so crowded that you can stand back a bit. I don't think the view is significantly better from 10 feet forward but distance from the people in front of you could make it far less obstructed.

Now maybe if they could do something about adding a few more non mint dessert items aw heck as long as there is no mint in the gingerbread martini i am good.

I actually love mint so I don't mind. And I too prefer savory over sweet, so I'm excited about the menu (although wish they had the Nutella to try.)