Unhappy with Alice's Tea Party...

[zoemurr]

Well, we had a great time at WDW last week. It was the first trip for the kids DS 5/DD 8. So I surprised them with the Alice's tea party. They (and I) were not happy.

First of all, all of the kids were dressed in their finest, most like princesses. The woman who was running it was dressed in grimy shorts and a t-shirt. Definitely the worst dressed CM we saw on our trip. Why isn't she dressed up? It would have been much more magical.

I drop the kids off and they are happy and excited. The room is beautiful.

I pick them up and they are both very upset. They said that they didn't get to eat anything. So I go up to the messy CM and say, "My kids said they were served food but didn't get to eat anything." and her response was, "Well, that happends sometimes.".

The kids said that they decorated their cupcakes and were told to take "the biggest bite they could" but that no one then told them they could eat the rest. (Guess my kids are just too well behaved.) They said that only one kid ate it. I think that's when they were also served a PBJ, and then they were called to do games. They were very upset that the table was cleared off when they came back. Now if it were just DS I would have probably blown it off, but DD does not get details wrong, and loves to eat.. she wouldn't have missed any information.

Shouldn't they have told the kids something like "now finish up.. we're going to clean it soon? or given them a 5 minute warning?" Apparently they did have 3 chicken nuggets and some grapes which they ate. But for $70 I should have not needed to feed them afterward.

Then I was frustrated when I received the photos. 2 identical photos of them together with Alice and MH. Why would I want 2 of the same photos? I paid 2x.. I want 2 different pix. (It wasn't very good..) I would rather have had each of them alone, but I wasn't consulted. This way just seemed lazy and rushed.

The kids also said that they played some games (charades) but everyone didn't get a turn?!

I was so disappointed that this was not amazing for them. Money and time wasted. They said the free tea party they attend at the library was better.

Anyone else have these experiences? Thanks.

 

[Dancemom03]

DD6 did the tea party last year. I was very concerned when dropping her off to learn that the mad hatter and alice would arrive only if there was time. I can't imagine telling a child they're going to the mad hatter's party and then having the host not show up.
They did both make it but their time was limited and I was told they were running behind.

I'd bought DD the Alice dress after seeing kids the day before leaving the tea in regular clothes. She usually insists on princess dresses if at all possible (and indeed is the kid in her class most likely to be wearing a dress to school on any given day) but I was afraid she'd look way overdressed.
Okay, you got me, it was just an excuse to buy another costume and the Alice dresses really were very reasonably priced in comparison with the other wdw costumes.

We'd bought the dvd before the trip to be sure she'd remember the mad hatter when she saw him. They did play a few games and we got the standard photo like you did.
DD doesn't like peanuts, even in candy, so she didn't touch the sandwiches. She did eat the icing from the cupcake and didn't voice displeasure that there wasn't more time/food.
Later that day, when we saw the mad hatter in the MK parade he waved and called her by name. That made her feel like she'd made a real friend, so for us, that alone was worth doing the party.

Overall, I felt as though the time could have been better structured with activities but as parents weren't allowed to stay I can't say that first hand. I sat on the bench at the door and just listened while sipping a diet coke. I'd left the rest of the group in MK and there didn't seem to be enough time to do anything and come back. The tables were still set up at the end when they opened the doors and looked very inviting, nicely decorated.

I've reserved the kids' cooking adventure for our upcoming trip. She likely wouldn't eat in a group of kids anyway so we'll give this one a try too.
We've done the Princess tea party before with sleeping beauty at GF and it was very well planned. At that one, there was plenty of food and the stories/activities were entertaining & kept DD's attention throughout the party. It's pricier, but I felt like we got our $$ worth with the princess tea, the doll and various other items that came with it.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

I'm sorry your children had a disappointing experience. My kids did it -- but it was 3 years ago. They really enjoyed it at the time. I don't know how much they ate though.

My older dd did it first about 7 years ago (at 5 1/2 years) -- I remember afterwards she kept telling me how much she enjoyed meeting the "Manhattan."

 

[LIBLULA]

What's the "kid's cooking adventure"? My daughter would really like that!!!!

 

[kaysmom2002]

I am so sorry that you didn't have a good experience. DD went just this last week and she had a blast. Said they played and ran around and Alice and the Mad Hatter was so much fun. I loved the picture that they gave us. Great time.

Funny thing....We had breakfast earlier in the week at 1900 PF and Alice and the MH were there also. At the tea party, we noticed in her picture that it was 2 different CM than earlier. Parents notice this type of thing all the time. BUT DD told us first thing that..."Alice and MH weren't the same people" AMAZING that a 5 yr old picked up on that!!

I hope that everyone else has a good experience. We loved it. Used it as a last event before we left later that afternoon. I also bought the Alice costume as it was only 45 rather than 60 for all the princesses!! Keeping it as a surprise for Halloween!!

 

[Magic2000]

So sorry your kids didn't enjoy the Tea Party! My DD did the tea party at least 4 or 5 times, and she LOVED it!!! She always asked about going to the tea party. Not really sure how much she ate when she was there - she mentioned the little sandwiches, her "tea" (apple juice), and of course she talked about that cupcake that you got to decorate. She thought it was so funny that they told the kids the "knife" you use for the icing was your finger! She loved the games they played - and they loved to shout "no peeking" if they saw any of the parents trying to peek in as it got closer to the pick up time. And I loved the flowers she had for me when I picked her up! She always had such a great time there!

She did the cooking class at GF and really enjoyed that one too! They had made the chocolate pudding with the gummy worms! She also did the pirate cruise, and although she had a good time, she did say it was hot (she did it in June).