MK "Happily Ever After" Dessert Party (Parties) Discussion

[Clare Voince]

I'm doing the After Hours party on the same night as I'm doing the HEA plaza garden dessert party. I know for the After Hours I'll have a lanyard and wrist band.. do you get a wrist band or anything for the dessert party too? Does anyone have any helpful tips on exiting the Hub quickly after the fireworks? I don't want to waste any valuable After Hours party time stuck in the crowd. Should I head back towards the terrace and into Tomorrowland, or head for the Tomorrowland bridge?

 

[moonshadow]

We're booked for the After Party on September 12. I chose the after party because a few years back we did the one at World Showcase. We had dinner and then arrived at the dessert party and I really couldn't eat anything. The After Party should be late enough to enjoy all they are offering.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I'm doing the After Hours party on the same night as I'm doing the HEA plaza garden dessert party. I know for the After Hours I'll have a lanyard and wrist band.. do you get a wrist band or anything for the dessert party too? Does anyone have any helpful tips on exiting the Hub quickly after the fireworks? I don't want to waste any valuable After Hours party time stuck in the crowd. Should I head back towards the terrace and into Tomorrowland, or head for the Tomorrowland bridge?

Yes, you get wristbands at the dessert party. You’ll be fully decorated.

Your best bet afterwards, in my opinion, is to cut through the Tomorrowland Terrace over to Tomorrowland. Alternatively, you can eyeball the bridge from the garden and see if that looks clear enough.

You can fight the crowds across the hub to get to other places - it just takes some swimming against the current.

Have fun!

 

[zipuzee]

I know the Halloween parties have just started but I was wondering if there is any noticeable difference in the crowd levels for HEA parties on the non party nights. I know there was concern when they started the after fireworks dessert parties about the garden area being very crowded.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I know the Halloween parties have just started but I was wondering if there is any noticeable difference in the crowd levels for HEA parties on the non party nights. I know there was concern when they started the after fireworks dessert parties about the garden area being very crowded.

I think time will tell how things go once we really get into the thick of party season later in Sept and Oct when HEA supply/demand issues really kick in.

Having read every review on this thread, my take is the general conclusion since the introduction of the After Party is that it's pretty much the same. There has been some shifting in when people arrive in the garden and maybe a bit of an increase, but you still tend to see more positive crowd reports vs those that say it was too crowded (obviously subjective opinion, of course).

I am personally curious to see how things go in the fall when (I'm assuming) both the before and after parties may be more in demand than what we have seen to date.

 

[zipuzee]

Well we’ll be there in mid September and I will certainly post a review. My DH just saw how much I paid but I told him it would be worth it for the ability to see without staking a spot an hour beforehand.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I've been pondering purchasing the after party. According to the historical hours on WDWinfo, park closing will occur either at the same time as the fireworks, or an hour later. Even if MK closes an hour later, trying to "swim upstream" from all the park guests who are trying to get out will leave very little time to do anything. I know the past hours doesn't guarantee that this year will be the same, but it's usually very close.

So I'm wondering, how late am I allowed to check in to get my wrist band for the after party, provided HEA is an 8:00 start? I'm not terribly picky about my spot, as we can move to find the best of what's left. I just don't want to wait an hour for a good spot.

 

[Luna81]

We went to the party last night and I was pretty disappointed. The food wasn’t that great to me. And we would have had a good view of the fireworks. But one family of four had spread out at the front. Right when the fireworks started the Dad moved over and blocked our view. So we ended up going to the front and squeezing between them to get our daughter in a good spot. The Halloween decorations and a tree blocked most of my view. I could maybe see 1/3 of the projections.

Could I have moved elsewhere at that point? Probably. But then I would have blocked others. And I just couldn’t do it.

My daughter was happy. And that’s what mattered. But not sure I’d do it again.

Also we saw happily ever after on opening night. I don’t think we will ever match the feeling of the crowd that night. The energy had been amazing.

 

[Dan Murphy]

We went to the party last night

Plaza or terrace

 

[Luna81]

Plaza or terrace

Sorry. Plaza before party.

 

[uramr]

Hello! We would be grateful for a clarification on the terrace seating. We are a large party with members from 3-75 years old and think that we would like to get the terrace seating but just want to confirm that everyone no longer heads to the rails and everyone can see from their seats. When we did the terrace seating several years ago, we did not move to the front rail quick enough. We tried the garden view last year there were a lot of kids on their parents shoulders and my kiddos who are too big for that could not see much of the bottm half of the castle. It will be over spring break so we expect everything to be busy. TIA!!!!

 

[MinnieMSue]

Hello! We would be grateful for a clarification on the terrace seating. We are a large party with members from 3-75 years old and think that we would like to get the terrace seating but just want to confirm that everyone no longer heads to the rails and everyone can see from their seats. When we did the terrace seating several years ago, we did not move to the front rail quick enough. We tried the garden view last year there were a lot of kids on their parents shoulders and my kiddos who are too big for that could not see much of the bottm half of the castle. It will be over spring break so we expect everything to be busy. TIA!!!!

We did the terrace party on July3 this year and no one went to the rail to watch. They actually have tables right up against the rail all the way across. Last time we did terrace party was years ago when people stood up there. It is not like that now

 

[shoreward]

Hello! We would be grateful for a clarification on the terrace seating. We are a large party with members from 3-75 years old and think that we would like to get the terrace seating but just want to confirm that everyone no longer heads to the rails and everyone can see from their seats. When we did the terrace seating several years ago, we did not move to the front rail quick enough. We tried the garden view last year there were a lot of kids on their parents shoulders and my kiddos who are too big for that could not see much of the bottm half of the castle. It will be over spring break so we expect everything to be busy. TIA!!!!

At the Terrace party, there are some low projections that are not visible, but most of the tables offer a fairly good view of the show, and everyone stays seated. It's nice to be able to go back and forth for food and beverage, without feeling rushed to get a good viewing spot. The tables are marked as "Reserved," once guests are escorted to their tables, so you are assured that your table will still be waiting for you, if everyone goes for refreshments at the same time. The refreshments remain out, till the end of the show.

The other nice benefit is that you are under cover, should it start to rain.

There are small tables set up against the railing, with the larger tables set in back of those. You are escorted to your table, in the order you are lined up to check in, so, the earlier you arrive, the more selection of tables you'll have.

 

[chris benton]

I'd like to try to parlay this into a light meal, and I'm wondering if anyone can share recent experiences on the SAVORY items? I love all desserts, so, no issue there. Just wondering what the savory options have been. The site lists the possibilities of cheeses, and also "handmade egg rolls?" Again, I'm all in on desserts, so all good there, only wondering about specific examples of the savory items in recent times so I can kinda plan what kind of meal before the party that day.

 

[MinnieMSue]

I remember the egg rolls - they were cheeseburger egg rolls and pretty tasty. They also had cheese and crackers. I can’t remember the other savory items. I’m sorry. We did a lot of different dessert parties this summer and they are starting to run together.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

I'd like to try to parlay this into a light meal, and I'm wondering if anyone can share recent experiences on the SAVORY items? I love all desserts, so, no issue there. Just wondering what the savory options have been. The site lists the possibilities of cheeses, and also "handmade egg rolls?" Again, I'm all in on desserts, so all good there, only wondering about specific examples of the savory items in recent times so I can kinda plan what kind of meal before the party that day.

There is a cold spinach dip with crackers, cheeseburger egg rolls, cheese cubes, and fruit (not savory, I know, but a healthier option to note when deciding if this event could double as a meal plus dessert party).

 

[LizzyS]

From what others have said it's first come first serve. But it depends on your party size. The tables on the front is mostly if not all for 2 people and the row in the back are for bigger groups. I don't think you can choose a table for 4 if you're only 2 etc.

Correct, the tables on the rail seemed to be mostly for parties of two and larger parties were seated at the larger tables in the second row.

My husband and I were seated on the rail and were very pleased with that view, but we have not done the Plaza view to compare.

 

[LizzyS]

Yes, you get wristbands at the dessert party. You’ll be fully decorated.

Your best bet afterwards, in my opinion, is to cut through the Tomorrowland Terrace over to Tomorrowland. Alternatively, you can eyeball the bridge from the garden and see if that looks clear enough.

You can fight the crowds across the hub to get to other places - it just takes some swimming against the current.

Have fun!

After the HEA dessert party, we did exactly that and headed over to Tomorrowland and hung out there for about 30-45 minutes, then exiting MK wasn't so bad.

 

[jennab]

I know the Halloween parties have just started but I was wondering if there is any noticeable difference in the crowd levels for HEA parties on the non party nights. I know there was concern when they started the after fireworks dessert parties about the garden area being very crowded.

I am also waiting on reviews for non-party nights as we have a dessert party booked on the day after Thanksgiving but if it's going to be totally packed with before and after party guests then maybe it won't be worth it anymore...

 

[HatboxHaint]

Attended the Garden View Before Party on 8/30. 6 adults.

Got there about 7:45. almost everyone was seated. We had to pick through the few tables left to find a good one for our group. One was so wobbly that we immediately started spilling our sparkling ciders. We all ate our fill and liked several of the items. We enjoyed ourselves. when the announcement came on for OUAT everyone rushed out I guess about 8:30ish. We waited a few minutes and got some last bites. I got a full glass of milk and took it to the garden and no one had a problem. I also loaded up a bag with some macaroons which just got squished in my bag. A tupperware container would have been better in hindsight. We found some empty spots in the middle and some of us laid down for a quick nap during OUAT. We had to stand for HEA because we were near the front. We all got a really nice picture with the photopass photographer there in the garden. My friends would not have noticed her if I had not pointed her out. We had to briefly fight crowds to get to tomorrowland but it was only about 1-2min of madness to get there. All in all it was a good experience.