MK "Happily Ever After" Dessert Party (Parties) Discussion

[MinnieMSue]

Is it possible to purchase tickets for the fireworks party as a surprise for someone else? Can I make the reservation in my name but let them check in by themselves (using my name with my permission)?

Yes that should work. They have a list of names and mark you off when you check in. They didn’t scan magic bands or check ID or anything

 

[crazycheryl]

Hi! Just back from our trip and wanted to write a little bit about the dessert party (terrace) we attended on 1/27. This was the day it rained and rained and rained and once evening hit, it was cold and windy. We checked in around 6:30 and we were escorted to our table - they did not let us choose where to sit. All the tables were pulled in out of the rain. The desserts were the usual fare (we have done the before party before) and everything was fully stocked.

While Disney cannot change the weather, they can make it more comfortable. Portable heaters and blankets would have gone a long way in helping everyone stay warm. Also, we asked them to turn off the ceiling fans and they told us the lights and fans are tied together so we had to keep the fans on with the lights. When we walked by the dessert party on 1/31, the ceiling fans were off, but the lights were on. Not sure if we were told the truth about them being connected.

Where we were seated on the terrace, we could not see the fireworks at all without going out in the rain. There really wasn't anywhere else to go either since everyone further along were pulled up to just under the overhang and you can't really step in front of them. I am not even sure their view allowed them to see everything.

While I anticipated loving this dessert party, it is just not worth it in the rain. At least a steady, non-stop windy rain.

 

[glocon]

For a 9:15 showing of HEA, what time can you get checked in for the “After” party, and where do you do that?
Thanks!

 

[LSUfan4444]

Just curious but have you done Garden Viewing as well and if so how would you compare the two having just done the Terrace?

Ive done both and prefer the plaza garden viewing, towards the back of the area. Get a spot up against the railing all the way in the back and you can easily find a great view with alot of room around you.

 

[grannyminnie]

I would really like to do the plaza garden viewing and while I am doing so principally for the view of the castle and fireworks, I also would like to enjoy the food. That being said, most of the items offered seem to be chocolate or partly chocolate. I would not be able to eat much of that at night and would love to carry what I don't back to the room to enjoy the next day. A PP said that carry-out boxes were not available. I'm thinking about taking in a couple of plastic containers or bags to bring my goodies back with me.

 

[Repeates]

If we book the After Party and fireworks are at 8pm, we would need to be there at 7:15? Also, if the park closes at 9pm would we still have time to possibly go on another ride after the dessert party ( with either the before or after party)?

 

[QueenElinor]

Hi! Just back from our trip and wanted to write a little bit about the dessert party (terrace) we attended on 1/27. This was the day it rained and rained and rained and once evening hit, it was cold and windy. We checked in around 6:30 and we were escorted to our table - they did not let us choose where to sit. All the tables were pulled in out of the rain. The desserts were the usual fare (we have done the before party before) and everything was fully stocked.

While Disney cannot change the weather, they can make it more comfortable. Portable heaters and blankets would have gone a long way in helping everyone stay warm. Also, we asked them to turn off the ceiling fans and they told us the lights and fans are tied together so we had to keep the fans on with the lights. When we walked by the dessert party on 1/31, the ceiling fans were off, but the lights were on. Not sure if we were told the truth about them being connected.

Where we were seated on the terrace, we could not see the fireworks at all without going out in the rain. There really wasn't anywhere else to go either since everyone further along were pulled up to just under the overhang and you can't really step in front of them. I am not even sure their view allowed them to see everything.

While I anticipated loving this dessert party, it is just not worth it in the rain. At least a steady, non-stop windy rain.

Thanks for posting this. One of the reasons we wanted to book the terrace was in case of rain. When you say "everyone further along" who exactly was that? What happened to the Plaza viewing group? Even if we can't see the fireworks well, I'd at least like to be out of the rain.

 

[jaysmom4285]

For a 9:15 showing of HEA, what time can you get checked in for the “After” party, and where do you do that?
Thanks!

I will start by saying I have only been to a "before" party. You should be able to see, either on your MDE or on a confirmation email, what time check in officially is. When we've done the before party, HEA was at 9, and check in was 7:30, but they started checking people in shortly after 7. I imagine check in for the after party would run about the same interval. There's a check in desk at the bottom of the ramp leading up to Tomorrowland Terrace on the hub side.

If we book the After Party and fireworks are at 8pm, we would need to be there at 7:15? Also, if the park closes at 9pm would we still have time to possibly go on another ride after the dessert party ( with either the before or after party)?

IMHO, there's really no reason to check in really early for the after party, since all you can do is go sit or stand in the reserved plaza area and wait for the fireworks. Unless you're very picky about where you sit or stand, you can go over just a few minutes before the fireworks and be assured of a good view. When we do the before party, we linger over the desserts and relax at the table til about ten minutes before HEA, then we go over. I figure there's no sense to just stand around. We don't care where we stand, and, even with the after party people added, there's personal space and room to maneuver. The railing spots, front and back, tend to be claimed early, but otherwise there's room to stand most anywhere. If you're doing the after party with HEA at 8 and closing at 9, you wouldn't have much time to ride after HEA, unless you really short changed yourself on the dessert part. With the before party, you have the desserts first, so, when HEA is over, you'd have the hour to ride before park close.

 

[crazycheryl]

Thanks for posting this. One of the reasons we wanted to book the terrace was in case of rain. When you say "everyone further along" who exactly was that? What happened to the Plaza viewing group? Even if we can't see the fireworks well, I'd at least like to be out of the rain.

We were seated closer to the entrance of the terrace where the roof is further in. I only took one picture from our seats but you can sort of see what I mean. Everyone else further along was able to move their chairs out for the fireworks while still being mostly covered. If you go in the rain, do not let them seat you where I took this picture from.

I am assuming plaza went to the garden still.

 

[Trip planner]

Just checking in with a report from the 12/30 early show (6:30pm) special fireworks and the Plaza Garden Viewing dessert party. I did this same party/time in 2017 as well and jumped on the opportunity when reservations opened this year, which was at 180 days out if my memory is correct.

For those that don't know, they do a special fireworks show at MK on 12/30 & 12/31, 6:30pm and 11:50pm. It's the same "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks show with a new years countdown at the end for all four shows. My kids are younger, so the 6:30pm show works perfectly for us.

There are Plaza Garden and Tomorrowland Terrace dessert parties for all four shows. There was no After Party offered for any show.

Check-in time for the 6:30pm dessert party was the standard 1.5 hours pre-show, so 5pm. I don't like to show up early or even on time for the Plaza Garden party, but the MK was pretty darn crowded and we found ourselves wanting to go ahead and relax for a bit. We arrived at 4:56pm, at which point they had already seated folks in 100% of the "middle" tier of the Tomorrowland Terrace and maybe 10-15% of the upper terrace. Always amazes me how many people show up so early.

Check-in was uneventful and we were quickly given a tour of the offerings, then escorted to our table. We were a party of two and had this primo "corner" spot... like we were in trouble of something.

View attachment 373233

Food/beverage offerings were the standard MK dessert party items. My opinion of the current state of the food/dessert offerings at the MK dessert parties is a bit negative, but we've also done these things on/off for a few years now so familiarity has bred contempt to some extent - someone doing the dessert party for the first time, or not having done one in awhile, may very well fully enjoy the offerings.

But I was a bit bummed they didn't have anything specially themed for new years. Heck, the chocolate covered strawberries had the Happily Ever After logo on them. Not that the party on 12/30 and 12/31 costs any more, just thought it'd be nice to maybe have 'something' for the occasion.

Anyways... I don't 'really' do these for the food anyway... for me it's all about the convenience of the view. We headed over to the garden at 5:19pm (reminder, 6:30pm showtime). Situation in the garden at that moment. Sorry for the edits - I don't like to post pics of strangers.

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You see two security guards in the pic above. From what I saw, security was very visible and active in the garden all night. Lots of eyeballs from security and CMs on wristbands. This was good to see.

I settled in to my personal favorite spot - back rail, towards the left (if facing the castle). View at 5:20pm while sitting.
View attachment 373237

We relaxed, played some rock-paper-scissors, chatted with some neighbors, etc, etc.

A Frozen Holiday Wish was at 6pm, so a nice pre-show for the fireworks. This was the scene at 5:55pm below. Pics don't really tell you how the garden feels as crowds build in. To me, these pics 'look' worse than it felt. Outside the garden at this point is jam packed... everyone in the garden is mostly sitting and enjoying themselves. I was surprised to see so much green left. It didn't change much from here until showtime. There were materially more people in the garden last time we did this party (After Party back in Oct), almost to the point of being too much. This evening was downright pleasant from my perspective.

View attachment 373239


The Plaza Garden is a bit too far to fully appreciate the stage portion of A Frozen Holiday Wish, but it's good enough for me and they play the audio throughout the Hub. Everyone pretty much stood for the show, you couldn't really stay seated and see much of anything.
View attachment 373240


I didn't get a chance to visit MK for any of the holiday festivities this year, so better late than never! Pic is 6:12pm.
View attachment 373241


After A Frozen Holiday Wish, they turn the music up/turn the dance lights on and the MK becomes a New Years party. I love classic MK of course, but I also love when they do unique/fun things on 12/30 & 12/31... great music, great vibe. It's just plain fun. Having the garden for my son to do a little dancing/get out the wiggles was great.

Like clockwork, I had the "daddy, I have to go" notice around 6:18pm. That's 12 minutes before fireworks, mind you. Wow, that trek 100 feet back to the Tomorrowland Terrace bathrooms was epic... but we made it. If you have little ones that may not be able to hold it for longer waits like waiting for fireworks, having the garden as a reserved spot with pretty easy access to the bathroom is a real benefit.

So for fireworks time, everyone stood again, but that was OK.

From here on out, I was living my best back row life.

View attachment 373257




View attachment 373258



View attachment 373260


View attachment 373264

So TLDR.....
Overall experience - A-
Food/beverage - C+/B-
Event vibe in the Tomorrowland Terrace - C
Convenience - A+
View - A+
Length of the show - C; HEA at a solid 18 minutes leaves these shorter shows like Fantasy in the Sky (10 mins) feeling light

Happy to answer any questions! Thanks for reading.

Thx for the report. We are considering our first ever Xmas week trip and I am deciding on whether we want to brave MK on NYE and I think the dessert party is a great way to do it. I heard the celebratory vibe makes up for the crowds. We have done HEA dessert party before and really enjoyed the ability to spread out. My kids really enjoyed the desserts!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thx for the report. We are considering our first ever Xmas week trip and I am deciding on whether we want to brave MK on NYE and I think the dessert party is a great way to do it. I heard the celebratory vibe makes up for the crowds. We have done HEA dessert party before and really enjoyed the ability to spread out. My kids really enjoyed the desserts!

We've done the 12/30 early show dessert party the last two years and I'm a big fan. Just having somewhere to "be" that you know will be reasonably uncrowded is worth it, just helps so much with flexibility, bathroom breaks, etc that night. This year was surprisingly uncrowded too - I guess everyone waits for the late show!

Not sure about 12/31 though!

 

[rxbeth]

We went last week to the after fireworks party and my daughter absolutely loved it. We did hang on the back rail but we still missed the lowest of the projections. Why is the front rail not recommended?

 

[QueenElinor]

We were seated closer to the entrance of the terrace where the roof is further in. I only took one picture from our seats but you can sort of see what I mean. Everyone else further along was able to move their chairs out for the fireworks while still being mostly covered. If you go in the rain, do not let them seat you where I took this picture from.

I am assuming plaza went to the garden still.

Thank you, that's very helpful. I'm sorry you didn't have a good time, but your report might help others, so thanks again for taking the time to post.

 

[cakebaker]

I would really like to do the plaza garden viewing and while I am doing so principally for the view of the castle and fireworks, I also would like to enjoy the food. That being said, most of the items offered seem to be chocolate or partly chocolate. I would not be able to eat much of that at night and would love to carry what I don't back to the room to enjoy the next day. A PP said that carry-out boxes were not available. I'm thinking about taking in a couple of plastic containers or bags to bring my goodies back with me.

I didn’t think it was chocolate heavy. There’s more than enough of non-chocolate items to eat. We were absolutely stuffed and my grandson hates chocolate.

 

[LSUfan4444]

A PP said that carry-out boxes were not available. I'm thinking about taking in a couple of plastic containers or bags to bring my goodies back with me.

They do not provide to-go boxes because you're not supposed to take things to-go.

 

[TheMick424]

Has anyone had luck booking these a few days in advance? Curious about whether they sell out

 

[Boardwalk III]

Just booked the “before” fireworks party @MK (plaza garden view) for April. Just 2 of us. Wondering what would happen if we don’t arrive at 7:45 as indicated for the 9:15 HEA show. We’re doing it more for the view than for the food and have a limited time at MK that day so hate to give up a the full 2 hours for this. So for example what would happen if we showed up at 8:15 instead? Other than possibly missing out on some of the food? Thanks!

 

[WaterLinds]

Just booked the “before” fireworks party @MK (plaza garden view) for April. Just 2 of us. Wondering what would happen if we don’t arrive at 7:45 as indicated for the 9:15 HEA show. We’re doing it more for the view than for the food and have a limited time at MK that day so hate to give up a the full 2 hours for this. So for example what would happen if we showed up at 8:15 instead? Other than possibly missing out on some of the food? Thanks!

Shouldn’t be a problem. We went later than check in, on what I think was a sold out night last year (on.y one party back then, though), and it was no issue. There was plenty of food out, we were able to relax and enjoy a bit and still got to the garden with plenty of time to find a good spot. I’m sure a sold out night now is a bit busier in the garden with the two parties, but you should be fine.

 

[jaysmom4285]

The main purpose of checking in is to get your wristband that identifies you as someone who has paid for access to the before or after plaza garden dessert party. It doesn't really matter if you eat any desserts at all and just want access to the viewing space. So show up whenever you want. As the PP noted, the viewing area has more people now that there are both the before and after parties, but there is still room to move around and find a viewing spot, although the places along the rails may be taken if you arrive later.

 

[JeninTexas]

We went last week to the after fireworks party and my daughter absolutely loved it. We did hang on the back rail but we still missed the lowest of the projections. Why is the front rail not recommended?

I am wondering the same thing. I know that people say if you are along the back rail, you will have extra space because those in front of you tend to stand up and move forward. But what about the front rail? Isn't there a walkway in front of it? So, wouldn't you also have a good view here? And you are closer also. Does that matter?