Pirates & Pals or Happily ever after dessert party?

[NicholeB630]

Ok I want to do a special event one night of our MK days. I have two kids 9 and 5 at the time. We are going in February when crowds should be lower and totally manageable. But I'm sure no matter how low the crowds are during and after fireworks is insane with people. I want to avoid that. First I was thinking doing the HEE Dessert party and doing the Plaza garden viewing after reading reviews its less people and its a better view, you can stretch out on the hub grass away from the masses of people. But then we still need to deal with the crowds getting out of MK after. Gives me anxiety thinking about it.

Then I thought maybe we'd do the Pirates and Pals cruise to watch the fireworks. Which we'd get a chance to see characters we haven't yet. I know my son will love that. You get snacks and dessert just not the same as the Dessert Party and we'll be at Contemporary leaving so so much easier getting out. BUT then we miss the show on the castle and I'm sure the fireworks are better viewed in MK.

Has anyone done both or one? Which would possibly be better. Im feeling like for the experience not counting the show and actual fireworks the Pirates and pals will be better BUT then does that view take away from really experiencing HEE? Thanks

 

[anomamatt]

We have not done the HEA dessert party (but have done other dessert parties), but we have seen HEA from a similar location (in front of Casey's) and have also recently done Pirates & Pals. In many ways, the two events you are looking at are comparing apples to oranges. Here's some thoughts that hopefully are helpful:

Pirates & Pals:
1. characters are awesome, my kids loved them (Captain Hook, Mr. Smee and Peter Pan). They don't go on the cruise, but Cptn Hook and Mr. Smee were very interactive before the cruise and were mingling for nearly an hour.
2. food is OK. drinks, ice cream bars (!!!), chocolate coins, mediocre cake, and bagged snacks (popcorn and pretzels).
3. The cruise was fun, the MC we had was pretty funny. The jokes were middle school directed, so a bit above my younger kids (5 and 3). But they still liked it. There was a "trivia" game at the end and each kid on board "wins" a nice toy/memento.

And most important for your comparison:
4. You cannot see the castle projections and can barely see the castle at all from the place the boat "drops anchor". I'll post a picture of the view...

If you care about seeing the projections, and it's a HUGE part of HEA, then you will be missing out on Pirates & Pals. You have a nice view of the fireworks, but IMO, HEA is about more than just the fireworks. Either way, we liked Pirates & Pals a lot. No complaints. But again, keep in mind you won't see the projections at all.

Now HEA... I wouldn't do the tomorrow land terrace dessert party because the view is sub-optimal. But the "garden view" dessert party has amazing views... that would. be my choice.

Which you do depends on what you want... the desserts will be better at the HEA dessert party. The view is a million times better at the dessert party. But Pirates & Pals is a pretty unique and cool event with characters and a boat cruise. So in the end, it just depends on what you are looking for, because they are so different...

Here was our view (on 8/26) from where we "anchored" for Pirates & Pals (click to 'embiggen'):

 

[NicholeB630]

We have not done the HEA dessert party (but have done other dessert parties), but we have seen HEA from a similar location (in front of Casey's) and have also recently done Pirates & Pals. In many ways, the two events you are looking at are comparing apples to oranges. Here's some thoughts that hopefully are helpful:

Pirates & Pals:
1. characters are awesome, my kids loved them (Captain Hook, Mr. Smee and Peter Pan). They don't go on the cruise, but Cptn Hook and Mr. Smee were very interactive before the cruise and were mingling for nearly an hour.
2. food is OK. drinks, ice cream bars (!!!), chocolate coins, mediocre cake, and bagged snacks (popcorn and pretzels).
3. The cruise was fun, the MC we had was pretty funny. The jokes were middle school directed, so a bit above my younger kids (5 and 3). But they still liked it. There was a "trivia" game at the end and each kid on board "wins" a nice toy/memento.

And most important for your comparison:
4. You cannot see the castle projections and can barely see the castle at all from the place the boat "drops anchor". I'll post a picture of the view...

If you care about seeing the projections, and it's a HUGE part of HEA, then you will be missing out on Pirates & Pals. You have a nice view of the fireworks, but IMO, HEA is about more than just the fireworks. Either way, we liked Pirates & Pals a lot. No complaints. But again, keep in mind you won't see the projections at all.

Now HEA... I wouldn't do the tomorrow land terrace dessert party because the view is sub-optimal. But the "garden view" dessert party has amazing views... that would. be my choice.

Which you do depends on what you want... the desserts will be better at the HEA dessert party. The view is a million times better at the dessert party. But Pirates & Pals is a pretty unique and cool event with characters and a boat cruise. So in the end, it just depends on what you are looking for, because they are so different...

Here was our view (on 8/26) from where we "anchored" for Pirates & Pals (click to 'embiggen'):

View attachment 268150

Thank you for your input!! I'm so torn. I don't want to miss out on the HEA show but my kids would love pirates & pals.

I was planning on doing garden view dessert party not terrace. It starts the same right? Dessert party starts at terrace then those with the garden plaza view move there? That's what I was thinking.

 

[Peepster]

Have done both and highly, highly recommend Pirates & Pals! Our 7 year old ( not to mention the attending adults) loved, loved , loved the character interaction, the food, Patch the Pirate, the fireworks show and the "surprise " at the pier!!! Not to mention the "booty" (it was tacky but the kid loved it)! Dessert party okay, but save some money and plant yourself between Casey's and the ice cream parlor and you'll have a better view of HEA and more money to do P & P! Just our opinion.

 

[NicholeB630]

Have done both and highly, highly recommend Pirates & Pals! Our 7 year old ( not to mention the attending adults) loved, loved , loved the character interaction, the food, Patch the Pirate, the fireworks show and the "surprise " at the pier!!! Not to mention the "booty" (it was tacky but the kid loved it)! Dessert party okay, but save some money and plant yourself between Casey's and the ice cream parlor and you'll have a better view of HEA and more money to do P & P! Just our opinion.

Im thinking maybe you are right. I def think the kids will love Pirates and Pals. Maybe we will do HEA the night that were eating at BOG and stay for that and then the other MK day we will be done earlier and we can just go back to contemporary that night and do Pirates and Pals! Thanks for your input. We will try and get a spot where you said. When we went for halloween last year we got so lucky and I couldn't believe our spot for the party fireworks and castle show. Were back in the hub grass and it was so open we literally were able to lay down and spread out it was wonderful.

 

[goofygal531]

Would a 14 & 11 year old be TOO OLD for the pirates cruise?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Would a 14 & 11 year old be TOO OLD for the pirates cruise?

Pirates and Pals skews a bit younger, IMHO. I would ask the kids (I'm sure you can find video of it online) and see what they think. My DS10 would not want to do it at this point.

OP, we've done both and I do think Pirates and Pals is the, overall, better experience. It's a real event as opposed to the dessert party which is really just eating desserts at a table and then going over to the garden to watch HEA. Yes, you will get a better view of HEA (and, obviously, the castle projections) with the dessert party, but if you are able to find a way to watch it after BOG without paying for the party, I would do that.

In terms of avoiding the stampede after HEA ends, depending on where you have planted yourself for the show, if you can duck into Plaza Gardens AFTER HEA (and after the party ends, it's open to anyone), you can sit, relax and avoid the crowds headed out. There are also some concrete bench areas in the hub area where you can sit or duck into the alley on Main St. where the silhouette artist sits. We've done the dessert party twice now and we always just sit in the area or on those benches a good 15 - 20 minutes after the show to let the crowd disperse a little bit.

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Would a 14 & 11 year old be TOO OLD for the pirates cruise?

we have 10 of us doing it on New Years Day. a 2 year old , a 14yr old, a 16 yr old, 7 adults and a grandparent. Everyone is equally looking forward to it. a new thing to do, a relaxed way to watch the fireworks, and a great experience to do together. It's disney. It's cheesy and fun. My kids even as teens are troopers.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I would do HEA dessert party. The projections are just awesome and really add to the show. If you don't want to deal with the crowds, just hang out a bit longer in the plaza garden, plenty of space for kids to run around or relax. If the park closes an hour after HEA then you can wait around and watch Once upon a time before leaving. Or take another ride on people mover.

 

[kmc8826]

I did Pirates and Pals in May and then HEA dessert party in August. It comes down to how badly you want to actually experience Happily Ever After. Pirates and Pals is a lot of fun but it is not really about the show Happily Ever After...it is more about seeing fireworks from a boat plus a lot of other awesome stuff. I just don't think HEA works as well from a distance (unlike Wishes). My 8 year old really liked the Pirates experience but we then ended up spending the rest of the trip finding a good place to see HEA without waiting forever. We weren't successful which is why I did the dessert party in August.