Wicked Wind Down, Wicked Disappointing

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

We were so excited to try out Wicked Wind Down this trip and unfortunately it totally missed the mark for us. Way too much “lounge,” not nearly enough “Villains.”

Disappointments:
1. We checked with the front desk at Bay Lake and were told that we could go up any time between 6-7:30. We showed up just before 7 and weren’t seated until 7:30.
2. By the time we were seated we were starving. With only 7 items on the menu and only a few tables food should come out quick, right? NOPE! Our drinks came out around 7:50 and our food was served while we were watching the fireworks. This means that we didn’t start eating until almost 8:30pm, and at that point most of what we were served was room temperature. My daughter was DONE around 8:45, so I skipped dessert to bring her back to the room.
3. The menu only has 2 non-alcoholic options on it (besides soda, but for $55/pp I’d like something interesting). Unfortunately only 1 can be served to anyone under 18, because the other “looks like a cocktail.” Can it be put in a kids cup? No. Can we have a different choice? No. One of the adults ordered it because we were expecting a lot at this point. Apparently what makes it look like a cocktail is a spring of mint. Take that out and it looks exactly the same as a glass of water. Literally. We put it next to a glass of water and kept mixing up the 2. There was nothing cocktail-like about it at all. The other drink had sherbet in it and was overly sweet and not that good. There are plenty of reasons why people may not want to drink, and it seemed like a huge missed opportunity for Disney not to capitalize on that.
4. Speaking of the fireworks, they made a big deal about reserving the “best section” for the paid guests. We were only a few feet away from the free section, and the free section was actually closer to the fireworks. The only advantage of watching from upstairs (vs. our theme park view balcony) was that the music was louder.

If Disney wanted to build an “adults only” area, fine, but DVC members are predominantly families, and the idea of having a place to eat a dinner-ish meal, watch the fireworks with a bit of breathing room, and then escape downstairs to your room without having to battle MK crowds is really appealing. Plus a proper “Villains Lair” could be really cool. Unfortunately what we got instead was a lounge with a tv rotating pictures of villains, a few pictures by a private table, decent but not spectacular food, and an overall disappointing experience.

We always tell the kids not to be afraid of trying new things and this was something my son really wanted to try, but we all agreed that this was definitely one and done for us.

 

[CarolynFH]

We were so excited to try out Wicked Wind Down this trip and unfortunately it totally missed the mark for us. Way too much “lounge,” not nearly enough “Villains.”

Disappointments:
1. We checked with the front desk at Bay Lake and were told that we could go up any time between 6-7:30. We showed up just before 7 and weren’t seated until 7:30.
2. By the time we were seated we were starving. With only 7 items on the menu and only a few tables food should come out quick, right? NOPE! Our drinks came out around 7:50 and our food was served while we were watching the fireworks. This means that we didn’t start eating until almost 8:30pm, and at that point most of what we were served was room temperature. My daughter was DONE around 8:45, so I skipped dessert to bring her back to the room.
3. The menu only has 2 non-alcoholic options on it (besides soda, but for $55/pp I’d like something interesting). Unfortunately only 1 can be served to anyone under 18, because the other “looks like a cocktail.” Can it be put in a kids cup? No. Can we have a different choice? No. One of the adults ordered it because we were expecting a lot at this point. Apparently what makes it look like a cocktail is a spring of mint. Take that out and it looks exactly the same as a glass of water. Literally. We put it next to a glass of water and kept mixing up the 2. There was nothing cocktail-like about it at all. The other drink had sherbet in it and was overly sweet and not that good. There are plenty of reasons why people may not want to drink, and it seemed like a huge missed opportunity for Disney not to capitalize on that.
4. Speaking of the fireworks, they made a big deal about reserving the “best section” for the paid guests. We were only a few feet away from the free section, and the free section was actually closer to the fireworks. The only advantage of watching from upstairs (vs. our theme park view balcony) was that the music was louder.

If Disney wanted to build an “adults only” area, fine, but DVC members are predominantly families, and the idea of having a place to eat a dinner-ish meal, watch the fireworks with a bit of breathing room, and then escape downstairs to your room without having to battle MK crowds is really appealing. Plus a proper “Villains Lair” could be really cool. Unfortunately what we got instead was a lounge with a tv rotating pictures of villains, a few pictures by a private table, decent but not spectacular food, and an overall disappointing experience.

We always tell the kids not to be afraid of trying new things and this was something my son really wanted to try, but we all agreed that this was definitely one and done for us.

Thanks for the detailed report - it’s been a while since I read one, and the experience doesn’t seem to have improved.

 

[Vulnox]

Yeah, we did Enchantment at the Top during our trip in September. I was super excited for it. The lounge is very cool and our service was excellent, but if I recall between initial check in time and fireworks we had something like 2.5-3 hours? All we had to do was eat deserts, which were good, and drink very sugary drinks.

My wife and I stuck it out for about an hour and a half or so, but being tired since we had flown in that day and all that and the deep pit of boredom won over and we just went back to our room. We like fireworks but don't live for them, but even if we did, I don't know that we would do that again.

It's possible we just didn't "do" it right, I was under the impression we had to be there at check in time. If we could have shown up an hour before fireworks and had our deserts and drinks then saw the fireworks, my opinion would shift a bit, but then it's a lot of money for a few little cakes and drinks.

I love DVC, and I have very little in general to complain about in Disney's offerings. But this was a downer for the first night of our trip at the time. Thankfully everything we did the following days was outstanding.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We were so excited to try out Wicked Wind Down this trip and unfortunately it totally missed the mark for us. Way too much “lounge,” not nearly enough “Villains.”

Disappointments:
1. We checked with the front desk at Bay Lake and were told that we could go up any time between 6-7:30. We showed up just before 7 and weren’t seated until 7:30.
2. By the time we were seated we were starving. With only 7 items on the menu and only a few tables food should come out quick, right? NOPE! Our drinks came out around 7:50 and our food was served while we were watching the fireworks. This means that we didn’t start eating until almost 8:30pm, and at that point most of what we were served was room temperature. My daughter was DONE around 8:45, so I skipped dessert to bring her back to the room.
3. The menu only has 2 non-alcoholic options on it (besides soda, but for $55/pp I’d like something interesting). Unfortunately only 1 can be served to anyone under 18, because the other “looks like a cocktail.” Can it be put in a kids cup? No. Can we have a different choice? No. One of the adults ordered it because we were expecting a lot at this point. Apparently what makes it look like a cocktail is a spring of mint. Take that out and it looks exactly the same as a glass of water. Literally. We put it next to a glass of water and kept mixing up the 2. There was nothing cocktail-like about it at all. The other drink had sherbet in it and was overly sweet and not that good. There are plenty of reasons why people may not want to drink, and it seemed like a huge missed opportunity for Disney not to capitalize on that.
4. Speaking of the fireworks, they made a big deal about reserving the “best section” for the paid guests. We were only a few feet away from the free section, and the free section was actually closer to the fireworks. The only advantage of watching from upstairs (vs. our theme park view balcony) was that the music was louder.

If Disney wanted to build an “adults only” area, fine, but DVC members are predominantly families, and the idea of having a place to eat a dinner-ish meal, watch the fireworks with a bit of breathing room, and then escape downstairs to your room without having to battle MK crowds is really appealing. Plus a proper “Villains Lair” could be really cool. Unfortunately what we got instead was a lounge with a tv rotating pictures of villains, a few pictures by a private table, decent but not spectacular food, and an overall disappointing experience.

We always tell the kids not to be afraid of trying new things and this was something my son really wanted to try, but we all agreed that this was definitely one and done for us.

This doesn’t surprise me, but it is still disappointing to hear it. Make sure you tell Disney.

 

[eandt]

We tried Villian’s Lair on our last trip albeit the ‘free’ version and we were actually pleasantly surprised. We had dinner at Narcoosee’s before we headed over so we didnt partake in any of the food although what we saw coming out of the kitchen looked surprisingly good. We did have drinks but opted for our ‘usuals’ rather than anything on the menu. It was a slow night apparently as we never lost our table to ‘paying’ customers. The service and drinks were very good. The decor was underwhelming for sure.

We had done the fireworks viewing area at CG in the past and found it to be meh but we actually enjoyed the view from A Villians Lair, it might have been the show itself that made the difference as we went up on a MVMCP night … we would definitely stop up again and might even pay for wicked wind down next time and just use it as our meal for the evening.

 

[DeeCee735]

Yeah, we did Enchantment at the Top during our trip in September. I was super excited for it. The lounge is very cool and our service was excellent, but if I recall between initial check in time and fireworks we had something like 2.5-3 hours? All we had to do was eat deserts, which were good, and drink very sugary drinks.

My wife and I stuck it out for about an hour and a half or so, but being tired since we had flown in that day and all that and the deep pit of boredom won over and we just went back to our room. We like fireworks but don't live for them, but even if we did, I don't know that we would do that again.

It's possible we just didn't "do" it right, I was under the impression we had to be there at check in time. If we could have shown up an hour before fireworks and had our deserts and drinks then saw the fireworks, my opinion would shift a bit, but then it's a lot of money for a few little cakes and drinks.

I love DVC, and I have very little in general to complain about in Disney's offerings. But this was a downer for the first night of our trip at the time. Thankfully everything we did the following days was outstanding.

We have done the dessert parties years ago, actually when they were new. Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland area…$25 a person! It was alot of fun with a nice choice of desserts and drinks. There was a photographer there for free photos with the castle as a back drop. We will never pay the crazy prices they charge now. I would rather spend it on a signature meal with good food. We were at TOW during the dessert event this past December but we just went up to the outside deck. We ordered drinks from the outside portable bar and really enjoyed our time there. I love that lounge but won’t pay for the events there any more (we did wicked wind down once). I was surprised that they didnt ask for member ID and just let us go up ourselves. Other members up there were saying the same thing. It wasnt overcrowded at all so I didn’t bother saying anything, but it’s either a member lounge or its not. Disney does whatever brings in the most money, and their regard for members sways with that. JMHO

Dee

 

[JulieWent]

Different perspective - we did this last year and felt like it was a great evening. We liked that it was laid-back and not rushed. Best time we've ever had watching MK fireworks. Sounds like it's not for everybody, but we enjoyed our evening.

 

[john7994]

For us last week a party of 10, we ate at Steakhouse 71 just before check-in (as it was just desserts) and asked the manager if we could check-in later than 6:30 - they called on our behalf and no muss / no fuss - so we strolled in after 7:00 and we were there until about 8:45-9P

As for the experience - it’s likely a one and done. We ordered a vast variety of alcohol and no bill - so A+ on the open bar. Outside of that - there wasn’t anything special about being inside - other than comfort on a chilly night. I could see spending a more intimate and quiet evening in a small group as a nice way to cap the evening - but the experience lacks anything “extra” - a visit from the evil queen might be a good touch - even for a short appearance - but likely with staffing the bar, food, and alcohol costs - this isn’t likely to happen. There just really isn’t the volume or seating for this space to maximize on revenue unless they change it up some how.

Other than a private event space - just not seeing a strong P&L in this location. There were a ton of free fireworks viewers with a bar outside - so maybe that’s more profitable for them.

 

[Genie+]

Different perspective - we did this last year and felt like it was a great evening. We liked that it was laid-back and not rushed. Best time we've ever had watching MK fireworks. Sounds like it's not for everybody, but we enjoyed our evening.

We tried this last year and enjoyed it so much I’m booking this year.

The whole family liked, ages 20s to 50s. The kids asked to go back. We went during MVMCP and that’s the plan again. That party has gotten too crowded so we’ve decided to do Wicked Wind Down and Jollywood Nights at HS instead.

It’s a meal, lounge and holiday fireworks… checks a few boxes for us. If we didn’t do this we’d spend eating and drinking anyway.

 

[CraigInPA]

4. Speaking of the fireworks, they made a big deal about reserving the “best section” for the paid guests. We were only a few feet away from the free section, and the free section was actually closer to the fireworks. The only advantage of watching from upstairs (vs. our theme park view balcony) was that the music was louder.

Here's a tip for the future: Disney broadcasts the fireworks on TV in real time. Tune your TV's to the fireworks channel, turn up the volume, and watch them from your theme park view balcony.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Here's a tip for the future: Disney broadcasts the fireworks on TV in real time. Tune your TV's to the fireworks channel, turn up the volume, and watch them from your theme park view balcony.

We looked couldn’t find the fireworks broadcast from our room. We were hoping to be able to hear the music. Oh well - will have to try again another time.