Thank you both!! I had planned the back of the garden but wanted to make sure the little ones would be able to see.

About how early do you think we should head that way to find a spot?
The area by the back fence is great. It is counter intuitive, part of why it is good. Unless the area is packed, back fence is the best. It packed, doesn't make much difference where. I agree, 30-45 minutes.

How bad does the weather have to be before they cancel? We go next week and it's pretty much supposed to rain off and on all week.
Weather would have to be really terrible. It's extremely rare for fireworks to be canceled. Delayed possibly, but rarely canceled, very rare. On and off rain is an everyday occurrence in Florida.
 
I have attended this party several times and love it for the allocated space without being squashed in like a sardine, so I have recently booked it for October 23 rd and obviously paid in advance. But when I look on the Disney park times on MDE it looks like the park closes at 6 pm that day as well as the day before.
Hopefully it’s just a glitch, although I know it was planned for the Tuesday to close at 6 I thought the Wednesday ( October 23rd) was ok!
ETA I just checked on the calendar again and it’s there now!

OMG as if I haven’t got enough to worry about without all the madness of Star Wars!
 
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I have attended this party several times and love it for the allocated space without being squashed in like a sardine, so I have recently booked it for October 23 rd and obviously paid in advance. But when I look on the Disney park times on MDE it looks like the park closes at 6 pm that day as well as the day before.
Hopefully it’s just a glitch, although I know it was planned for the Tuesday to close at 6 I thought the Wednesday ( October 23rd) was ok!
ETA I just checked on the calendar again and it’s there now!

OMG as if I haven’t got enough to worry about without all the madness of Star Wars!


I'll be at the same dessert party! Excited, it's my first one and I'm too old to be holding the boy up so he can see anymore.
 


We had our "After" dessert party last week and had a wonderful experience! We are no strangers to the WDW dessert parties, having done a few of them, but this was our first After-party and I far preferred it to the Before-party. (Back when we did the Before-party, there was only that one offered).

First: It was EMH that night in MK and DH and I had a PPO BOG that morning and had done a lot of the big rides early. It wound up being a good decision because MK was very crowded. I scheduled all our FP+ for the evening before HEA and didn't feel rushed to check in to the party to eat at the before-party.

Check in was quick and we were escorted to the garden where we were able to relax for a while before the show. We got a space in front left by the rail. We met two really nice families from Hawaii (Aloha friends! If you're on here!) and enjoyed conversation until the show started.

The garden started to fill around 8:15 PM from the before-party and definitely "felt" a lot more full than our previous experience when there was only the before-party.

The weather was perfect (no rain this time, yay!!) and it was a great experience. We've seen the show several times, the first being two days after it debuted and we still prefer it over Wishes, so for us it's worth it for the party space. As I mentioned, it was very crowded and people were trying to stop in front of the garden for a space to watch the show, but the CMs keep up with moving them away.

After the show, we walked over to the restaurant and it wasn't bad. The crowd is moving in that general direction anyway. We asked for a seat near the rail so we could people watch as people were leaving the park. We were never rushed out and took our time. We stayed in the restaurant until close to 10 and took some sparkling cider to drink as we walked out of the park. There were still a lot of people in the park (EMH) and we took some pictures in front of the castle and had a slow walk out.

I HIGHLY recommend the after-party!
 
How bad does the weather have to be before they cancel? We go next week and it's pretty much supposed to rain off and on all week.

We watched in the pouring down rain a couple years ago.

Last May 2018, we were there during a week of massive rain storms and they did not cancel HEA or the dessert party. It was a downpour while the show was going on and people had umbrellas and ponchos. The bad part about it is that the rain keeps the smoke from the fireworks down, so the smoke blocks the projections on the castle. But we made the best of it and still enjoyed the dessert party itself.
 
We were there last Friday. I was not impressed with the dessert offerings, to be honest. My plate of gluten-free desserts looked much better than what my DH and kids got. BUT, the show was amazing and the reserved location was worth every penny. We arrived a little late and it was already crowded, but we still had a great view and more than enough space.

I am so glad we decided to do it. Will probably wait until DD is older to do it again, though, since she got tired/bored halfway through the show.
 


My daughter was recently diagnosed with a cashew and pistachio allergy. Do they have a chef or other knowledgeable CM come out to talk about the different items? Thanks!
 
Has the dessert menu changed within the past month or so? I was watching a video and noticed some items were missing and new replacements.
 
We did the garden viewing party last night. We arrived for a late check-in around 8:15, because we wanted to squeeze a few more rides in before fireworks. It was a little confusing when we arrived at Tomorrowland Terrace because of people just standing at the entrance, but a CM directed us up the ramp and to the right to our party. The dessert offerings were the same as I have seen on the forums, with cheeseburger egg rolls, spinach dip and crackers, fruit and cheese for those who want something other than the sweet stuff. The huge, chocolate-dipped strawberries were my favorite. They were serving the sparkling cider, and the drink station had several juices, water, coffee, etc. to choose. The offering was smaller than I thought it would be. I was picturing something much larger scale, but it was plenty for our kids and us to snack on prior to fireworks. Our server escorted us to our table, placed the reserved sign on our table and we were free to dine. We grabbed a plate and did not go back for seconds. The sweets really do fill you up quickly, especially in the heat. After we were done, we grabbed amazing seats on the “grass” in the garden, which was already fast filling up. The PhotoPass photographer was in the garden while we were waiting for the show, so we took several photos of the family. They have a prop you can hold that says Happily Ever After on it for your photo. The show was gorgeous. If you have little ones, you may want to scoot out a bit earlier to grab seats closer to the fence rail. Closer to the rail will allow them to see more, since the taller folks are not standing in front of them. DH, DD, and I could see every projection and firework, as we were nearly perfectly centered with the castle. However, poor DS had to be held on my hip for the majority of the show, otherwise he would not have been able to see most of the projections. The show was gorgeous, and DH got some great footage with the camera. After the fireworks ended, we let the crowd clear a bit, and made our way back into the park to ride one more ride before heading out. Overall, the dessert party with designated viewing allowed us to focus on riding, and not have to worry about scouting a spot for fireworks. This alone made it 100% worth it to me. The desserts were just a nice little extra.

Were you "squished" in there with everybody or was there ample standing room without everybody playing piggyback?
 
I mush prefer the back fence, and I’m a shorty. Never had an issue seeing the protections back there as most folks tend to all crowd forward once the show starts. Also, even at the front of the garden, you still run the risk of people stopping along the walkway to watch, then you have to wait for a CM to come shoo them along.

So if you pick the area by the fence, the people cannot come crowd you from behind right? And stand their kids on the fence from outside, etc?
 
My latest experience at the after party garden view dessert buffet- Dessert portion was just about the same as every other time. They’re ok desserts, nothing amazing, but good enough. It’s the viewing area experience that was different for us. We always stand towards the middle of the area by one of the round fenced areas. For the first time, directly in front of us and within seconds of the show starting, 3 people put their kids on their shoulders, making it impossible for my 7 yr old grandson to see any of the castle at all. To make it even better, the kid most directly in front of us also had two huge glow wands she was waving in the air above her head while mom stood next to them with her iPad in the air recording not the show, but the kid waving the wands.

This is where the advantage of the garden viewing is- there’s room to move. Directly in front of the wand waver was just enough space for us to move right in front of them, giving us a great view.

We’ve done the dessert buffet many times and it’s still worth it for us.

UGH!!!! Those ipads are worse than kids on shoulders. When you get them home and look at the video footage, it is TERRIBLE.
 
UGH!!!! Those ipads are worse than kids on shoulders. When you get them home and look at the video footage, it is TERRIBLE.

I’ve never been disappointed in the view from the garden until this time. I’m not thrilled with the terrace view, but that’s what we’ll do next time. I’d rather have an offset view than look at a 10yr old’s backside or an iPad.
 
if you pick the area by the fence, the people cannot come crowd you from behind right? And stand their kids on the fence from outside
No, nobody can stand between you and the fence, assuming you are at the fence. There is space between in and outside of the fence. And we did not see kids on the fence.

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Has the dessert menu changed within the past month or so? I was watching a video and noticed some items were missing and new replacements.

I also was watching a recent video and noticed that there were no macarons! They are my daughter's absolute favorite and one of the big reasons I booked this. I hope they bring them back.
 
I also was watching a recent video and noticed that there were no macarons! They are my daughter's absolute favorite and one of the big reasons I booked this. I hope they bring them back.

We went in February and they had them. In April they didn’t, and we were SUPER sad.
 
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