Osborne Light's Merry and Bright Dessert Party and Dinner reception?

[Ginya]

Here's my review of the dessert party, feel free to ask any questions
http://parksintransition.weebly.com/blog/merry-and-bright-dessert-party

Thank you for such a thorough review! We are going Dec 24th. My big cncern is the main reason I sprung for the cost of this is my parents are going with us and I figured it would give them a place to sit and rest while the kids were going nuts over the lights. Worried now after spending over $400 they won't be able to sit!

 

[ellie05]

Thanks for the review! We will be keeping our reservations. Just came back from a trip and went to MNSSHP and it just remainded me why it is so much better than the MVMCP (we did that last year). We are skipping the party this year.

 

[Praise2Him]

I'm happy with the desserts and drinks as well. They're more creative than I was expecting. The blanket is a disappointment, but at least it does have the name on it.
I'm worried about seating as well. I have knee problems and can walk for awhile but can't stand for any length of time so a high table won't work for me.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Not happy with the blanket. Really disappointed. Food looks yummy though. Think we will hold our reservation until we hear reviews of Minnie's. Doubt we will do both now.

 

[LuvtoPlan]

What songs were playing this year? Hoping to hear all I want for Christmas by Mariah which was the song I heard at the first time I saw the lights.

 

[RachaelA]

Thanks for the review! I think we will probably end up canceling. I just am not seeing enough to make it worth it for us.

 

[RachaelA]

How do they not have fun Christmas cupcakes and cookies? All the desserts are so plain.

 

[serene56]

I booked this basically for my 88 year old dad in a scooter-- thought it would get him away from the huge crowd. But after seeing the somewhat limited view he would have-- and i really dont want to stress about arriving earlier to go stand in line so i can get a seat. Looks to be about 5 different desserts. (disappointing and I wonder if that will change as the days go by.) and the blanket-- the biggest disappointment of all. I am leaning very much so to cancelling this

 

[pangyal]

Thank you so much for a great, detailed review with lovely photos! I am really leaning towards cancelling this now. The blanket looks flimsy and cheap and I don't know that I want to pay $70 for $20 max of food and drinks plus a cheap travel blanket.

If you were able to walk around with desserts, that means that you could have walked around and seen everything without paying extra for a vantage point. This was my main motivation for booking, and from your review and photos, it looks like you can't just sit and take in most of the lights from the seating area?

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thank you so much for a great, detailed review with lovely photos! I am really leaning towards cancelling this now. The blanket looks flimsy and cheap and I don't know that I want to pay $70 for $20 max of food and drinks plus a cheap travel blanket.

If you were able to walk around with desserts, that means that you could have walked around and seen everything without paying extra for a vantage point. This was my main motivation for booking, and from your review and photos, it looks like you can't just sit and take in most of the lights from the seating area?

We were there on Dec. 26th last year. We did not do the dessert party as it was cost prohibitive for our party of 5 but we did walk by the area. IMO, the dessert party area is not near the best parts of the lights display and would provide an extremely limited view of the overall experience.
Also, even though it was 'packed' at the lights (So much so that they had their traffic flow plan in place where there is only one way in and one way out) we never felt that it was difficult to move around and see anything.

For anyone booking the party, I would consider it a little 'plus' that you are adding to the evening in addition to touring the lights. IMO, to truly enjoy the lights, you need to move around to the different areas.

 

[subtchr]

Thanks so much for the review. I have decided to cancel our reservation for December 8. We are spending the day at MK, then planned to come to DHS about 4 to walk around, grab our 4th FP for F!, have a light CS dinner somewhere, and do the Dessert party before F!

After reading the review, I honestly don't think it's worth the price, especially since we would stay less than an hour at the party, to leave it time to get to F! The drinks and desserts look good but not great, and I'd probably force myself to eat and drink too much to make it "worth it"!

Thanks again, hope everyone has fun whatever they decide.

 

[disneygrandma]

So, if I'm reading this correctly....they don't have enough tables with chairs. Wow! We pay all this money and aren't even guaranteed a place to sit. Our large group would require 2 tables, so probably not going to happen. If we do luck out & get tables, what happens when we want to walk around? Lack of tables, plus a cheap, plain blanket, yet high prices for tickets. Disney is really putting a bad taste in my mouth! Hope the desserts will be able to help out in getting rid of that taste. I actually thought the pies sound pretty good. Hope they taste OK.

 

[wvaspartan]

Well to put it simply...it was a waste of $65. I went tonight and could barely deal with it for about a hour. The blanket is VERY cheap and ultra light weight. It may work in FL winters for the most part but anywhere north of Georgia and you will laugh at this quality. The desserts were to put it kindly....boring. The best ones were the pies but then before I realized what "ice cream" they were putting on my caramel apple pie it was already there and I deeply regretted it. The "ice cream" was actually butter popcorn flavored gelato...YUCK. The drinks were heavy on the alcohol with a lack of real taste as the alcohol burn overpowered everything. The non-alcoholic ones were overpowering with chocolate in the case of the hot chocolate and watered down apple cider...go figure. I will say had I not had the second night I would have cancelled after the review this morning but alas that couldn't happen. It was a you try and you learn moment and will not do a commemorative dessert party again.

I did give the manager I met a kind critical note about the throw and the fact that they should have used the photo for the shirts (That's a Wrap shirts) and transposed it onto the throw which probably would made tons of people happy.

 

[IloveDisney77]

I want to thank all of you who have posted reviews of the dining party. This is exactly the information I had been waiting for. I had booked a couple of nights during our upcoming trip for my daughter and I to enjoy the lights one last time. We have been to Disney each of the past 7 years at either Thanksgiving or the first week of December each of those years and would go see the lights at least 3 to 4 times each trip. This and the Candlelight Processional are always the highlights of our holiday trips.

Having been numerous times, I knew the Dessert Party was not in a prime spot for viewing but thought that this would be a nice change to have a couple of drinks, a few desserts and a great commemorative souvenir (ie, the blanket, my main reason for doing it) from the last year of the lights. When I saw the "That's a Wrap Shirt", thought to myself that the blanket was going to be great...but, as is typical Disney now-a-days...wasn't meant to be. Cheap rules....Ah well, I have plenty of time to cancel my ressies and will be doing so in the next couple of days. I was hoping for a cool blanket and some interesting desserts and this party provides neither.

Instead, I'll buy a couple of the shirts, get a couple of watery hot chocolates in the holiday souvenir mug, and walk around and enjoy the lights with my daughter like we always do and love to do! A special shout out to Disney for actually saving me some money for once...of course, now I'm thinking of booking the Friday night MVMCP so it would be a wash....Damn you Disney...:

 

[yulilin3]

Thank you for such a thorough review! We are going Dec 24th. My big cncern is the main reason I sprung for the cost of this is my parents are going with us and I figured it would give them a place to sit and rest while the kids were going nuts over the lights. Worried now after spending over $400 they won't be able to sit!

I'm happy with the desserts and drinks as well. They're more creative than I was expecting. The blanket is a disappointment, but at least it does have the name on it.
I'm worried about seating as well. I have knee problems and can walk for awhile but can't stand for any length of time so a high table won't work for me.

I can tell you I got there about 10 minutes before they opened the area (they opened it 30 minutes before the schedule 7 pm) and could've got a table and chair with no problem.

What songs were playing this year? Hoping to hear all I want for Christmas by Mariah which was the song I heard at the first time I saw the lights.

All the same songs plus one new dancing song, a great rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I booked this basically for my 88 year old dad in a scooter-- thought it would get him away from the huge crowd. But after seeing the somewhat limited view he would have-- and i really dont want to stress about arriving earlier to go stand in line so i can get a seat. Looks to be about 5 different desserts. (disappointing and I wonder if that will change as the days go by.) and the blanket-- the biggest disappointment of all. I am leaning very much so to cancelling this

You get a good view of the lights but I like walking around to see all the details if you wait until the end of the night you'll be able to enjoy them with lower crowds so it's easier to navigate.

Thank you so much for a great, detailed review with lovely photos! I am really leaning towards cancelling this now. The blanket looks flimsy and cheap and I don't know that I want to pay $70 for $20 max of food and drinks plus a cheap travel blanket.

If you were able to walk around with desserts, that means that you could have walked around and seen everything without paying extra for a vantage point. This was my main motivation for booking, and from your review and photos, it looks like you can't just sit and take in most of the lights from the seating area?

The area of the Osborne lights is just too big to be able to experience from one spot, it's great if you want a place to relax for an hour and a half but if you really want to take all of the O Lights in you have to walk around.

So, if I'm reading this correctly....they don't have enough tables with chairs. Wow! We pay all this money and aren't even guaranteed a place to sit. Our large group would require 2 tables, so probably not going to happen. If we do luck out & get tables, what happens when we want to walk around? Lack of tables, plus a cheap, plain blanket, yet high prices for tickets. Disney is really putting a bad taste in my mouth! Hope the desserts will be able to help out in getting rid of that taste. I actually thought the pies sound pretty good. Hope they taste OK.

By the middle of the party people were sharing tables and chairs and high bar tables, so no, they didn't have enough chairs for everyone booked.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Last year they had the Frozen Dessert Party. I made reservations and cancelled them a couple of times, ending up without the party. The Osbourne lights were a zoo, and in the end I wish I had booked the party. I would have enjoyed the lights much more.

 

[cbnsoul]

I've booked this and canceled on 3 separate occasions as I was not sure I wanted to pay $177 for the 3 of us for $10-15 worth of desserts. I think the earlier posted review actually made me more excited about the party but ended up canceling again. Just don't think the value is there, even taking into account Disney pricing. We will go to the lights a couple of nights and get some holiday themed dessert (I assume there are special cupcakes somewhere?) instead.

 

[Praise2Him]

Thanks for your reply! I'm definitely planning to get there early (at 6) to get a chair. I'm just worried that if I leave to walk around that someone will take "my" chair (since it's not assigned seating) and I won't be able to sit again. Or am I wrong and people come and go with no problems?

And one more question - the lights stayed on about an hour after closing. Did they leave out the desserts and drinks or put them away? Thanks!

 

[yulilin3]

Thanks for your reply! I'm definitely planning to get there early (at 6) to get a chair. I'm just worried that if I leave to walk around that someone will take "my" chair (since it's not assigned seating) and I won't be able to sit again. Or am I wrong and people come and go with no problems?

And one more question - the lights stayed on about an hour after closing. Did they leave out the desserts and drinks or put them away? Thanks!

the party itself ended at 8:30pm so they take everything out and clear that area but the lights stay on an hour after official park closing, this happens every night the lights are on. What date are you coming?

 

[Praise2Him]

Great info - thanks!
Friday Dec. 4.