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

[gillep]

We just did this party again last week and had a great time. We aren't a fan of the desserts, so we got a couple drinks and then went to head over to the seating area early, the CMs told us they would get someone to bring us over so we asked if we could walk ourselves if we knew the way, they said yes, and another couple decided to follow us over. The space was great and not too crowded, one difference from the last time that we did the party was that for this party everyone stood for both shows OUAT and HEA, whereas last time that we did the party everyone remained seated. I preferred the seated experience, but it was perfectly fine to stand too.

I hope your times open up soon!

 

[leiaorgana]

How did you get a notification for them?

I just set up a watch thread on the Restaurants board and someone posted when they became bookable.

 

[famgel]

Our experiences with the reserved Plaza viewing area was different. After the fireworks, almost everyone leaves the area, so it's a good spot to see OUAT. It's true that the area is no longer no reserved, but only a handful of people have ever come in when we've been there. There have always been way fewer people in the area for OUAT than there were for the fireworks.

I need a little help with some of these appreviations! I’ve been out of the WDW loop for 3 years! What does OUAT mean? Ty!

 

[famgel]

I just set up a watch thread on the Restaurants board and someone posted when they became bookable.

I can’t find your thread could u give me s link? Ty!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Once Upon A Time

 

[famgel]

Once Upon A Time

Ty so I see is the Once Upon a Time the parade? And then the Happily Ever After he fireworks show? Ty!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Ty so I see is the Once Upon a Time the parade? And then the Happily Ever After he fireworks show? Ty!

No, OUAT (Once Upon a Time) is a castle projection show (with a few bits of pyro). It took the place of “Celebrate the Magic.”

HEA (Happily Ever After) is the major fireworks nighttime spectacular which also features a ton of projections on the castle. It took the place of “Wishes.”

Sometimes OUAT is before HEA, sometimes it is after - you’ll need to check the schedule on your particular day to confirm.

There is no nighttime parade at the MK at the moment or for the foreseeable future.

Hope that helps!

 

[SaintsManiac]

We did the party Sunday night (1/14). We checked in at 6:30 and it was nice to settle down at a table and relax for a while until it was time to go to the garden. It was a really chilly day, so we needed a break. Desserts were ok, again that isn't why we booked it. They had hot chocolate out and it was probably my favorite thing. So good!

I had 2 issues, though: 1. They didn't have any water out. This made me crazy. I drank milk and hot chocolate, but could really have used ice water. I know they had it out in November when we went, so I thought it was weird. 2. The bathroom situation is terrible. I know they can't fix it, but I'm not going to wait in a line of 10 people to use a bathroom. I just decided to leave and go find one outside of the party.

Anyway, we went down to the garden at about 7:20. There was still plenty of space, even though this party felt more crowded than the last one. We stayed in the back again and it was excellent viewing. I still don't know why everyone runs to the front of the garden lol.

We enjoyed OUAT. It was our first time seeing it. I was glad it was before HEA.

The night was quite windy and cold, so Tink didn't fly. We had some fireworks debris land around us, too.

Overall, it was a good time. I would book it again in a heartbeat. Main St was a sea of people again, so we were glad to be in the garden!

 

[famgel]

No, OUAT (Once Upon a Time) is a castle projection show (with a few bits of pyro). It took the place of “Celebrate the Magic.”

HEA (Happily Ever After) is the major fireworks nighttime spectacular which also features a ton of projections on the castle. It took the place of “Wishes.”

Sometimes OUAT is before HEA, sometimes it is after - you’ll need to check the schedule on your particular day to confirm.

There is no nighttime parade at the MK at the moment or for the foreseeable future.

Hope that helps!

Thank you so much!!! We r going this December and trying to catch up!

 

[BradChristian]

Hey Everyone!

Looking for advice if this is too much... My wife and I are going to end of April, and our first MK day is a Sunday. Touring Plans park crowd is 6... This is that small time between Spring Break and Summer Crowds.

This is our first adult trip... My poor wife has always been pregnant or has a 9 month old anytime we have been to Disney together, so I'm looking to show her the more relaxed adult side of Disney. We are staying on site at POP.

I've booked Extra Morning Magic that day... Expensive, but practically gives me 6 fastpasses for the day.
Breakfast at PVH is included in that at around 9:30am
I also have a BOG lunch at 11:30am (looking to cancel this if I can get BOG for lunch our second MK day)
Skipper Canteen Dinner at 6:35pm
This would be at 7:30ish with a 9pm HEA

Is this just going to be too much, or does this force us to sit down and take it slow and experience a 'premium' Disney Day... I love the idea of not having to fight for a spot for HEA - this is our first time seeing it. Debating if people are still going to be fighting to see this in May now that the show will be a year old and shown nightly for many months now that we are out of party season.

 

[Spencer Wright]

I am very interested in this event for my late August trip and appreciate you taking the time to put this together!

I apologize for being mildly provocative, but can you (or anyone else who attended), please advise as to guest behavior? I find that between having to wait 1-2 hours for a good spot, and still have to deal with people putting kids on their shoulders at the last minute, using the flashlight on Ipad's ect, really makes my blood boil. This is to the point where I usually forgo nighttime shows all together. Are guests usually a little more considerate during this event (I am interested in garden viewing). It it appears to be a much larger group of guests that I presupposed. Do CM's intervene if they see things like recording with flash, kids on shoulders, ect?

Thanks for a great thread!!

 

[Fantasia79]

Waiting on 6/15. Ugh.

 

[Spencer Wright]

...There will be a group of people in front of you (outside the reserved area) doing all of these things anyway, even if CMs were policing the area itself.

Good point!

 

[twinmom319]

THanks for all this info...waiting for June...

 

[jaysmom4285]

I am very interested in this event for my late August trip and appreciate you taking the time to put this together!

I apologize for being mildly provocative, but can you (or anyone else who attended), please advise as to guest behavior? I find that between having to wait 1-2 hours for a good spot, and still have to deal with people putting kids on their shoulders at the last minute, using the flashlight on Ipad's ect, really makes my blood boil. This is to the point where I usually forgo nighttime shows all together. Are guests usually a little more considerate during this event (I am interested in garden viewing). It it appears to be a much larger group of guests that I presupposed. Do CM's intervene if they see things like recording with flash, kids on shoulders, ect?

Thanks for a great thread!!

We've done the Plaza View dessert party three times, and we didn't see too much of what you mentioned. The view is very good with so little obstruction that there is little need to put a child on your shoulders. The area directly in front of the viewing area is a walkway that the CMs work diligently to keep clear, so there's a space in front of you, instead of another mass of people. I've never found it difficult to get a spot at or very near the front rail if I really wanted it, and I've seen people be very obliging about letting smaller children get in the front. And lately there seems to be less use of IPads to take pictures than in the past - most people seem to use their cell phones, sometimes to video the entire HEA show. That can be mildly annoying if a couple people in front of you are doing that and holding the cell phones up high. But the cell phones are at least small, and the Plaza viewing area generally has space enough that you can move a little to one side if you need to. I did see someone recording once with a light on (I think they may not have realized it), and someone asked them politely to turn it off, which they did. I'm not saying you'll never have any of these issues in the reserved area, but I think they are minimized, at least from what I've experienced.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I am very interested in this event for my late August trip and appreciate you taking the time to put this together!

I apologize for being mildly provocative, but can you (or anyone else who attended), please advise as to guest behavior? I find that between having to wait 1-2 hours for a good spot, and still have to deal with people putting kids on their shoulders at the last minute, using the flashlight on Ipad's ect, really makes my blood boil. This is to the point where I usually forgo nighttime shows all together. Are guests usually a little more considerate during this event (I am interested in garden viewing). It it appears to be a much larger group of guests that I presupposed. Do CM's intervene if they see things like recording with flash, kids on shoulders, ect?

Thanks for a great thread!!

We've done it twice and I didn't see anyone with kids on shoulders or phones out. The great thing is that you can stand at the very back for the best view and there's plenty of space to move around if you feel your view is obstructed. Just shift over a bit and it's fine.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We've done the Plaza View dessert party three times, and we didn't see too much of what you mentioned. The view is very good with so little obstruction that there is little need to put a child on your shoulders. The area directly in front of the viewing area is a walkway that the CMs work diligently to keep clear, so there's a space in front of you, instead of another mass of people. I've never found it difficult to get a spot at or very near the front rail if I really wanted it, and I've seen people be very obliging about letting smaller children get in the front. And lately there seems to be less use of IPads to take pictures than in the past - most people seem to use their cell phones, sometimes to video the entire HEA show. That can be mildly annoying if a couple people in front of you are doing that and holding the cell phones up high. But the cell phones are at least small, and the Plaza viewing area generally has space enough that you can move a little to one side if you need to. I did see someone recording once with a light on (I think they may not have realized it), and someone asked them politely to turn it off, which they did. I'm not saying you'll never have any of these issues in the reserved area, but I think they are minimized, at least from what I've experienced.

Totally agree with this post. Well said!

 

[Spencer Wright]

We've done the Plaza View dessert party three times, and we didn't see too much of what you mentioned. The view is very good with so little obstruction that there is little need to put a child on your shoulders. The area directly in front of the viewing area is a walkway that the CMs work diligently to keep clear, so there's a space in front of you, instead of another mass of people. I've never found it difficult to get a spot at or very near the front rail if I really wanted it, and I've seen people be very obliging about letting smaller children get in the front. And lately there seems to be less use of IPads to take pictures than in the past - most people seem to use their cell phones, sometimes to video the entire HEA show. That can be mildly annoying if a couple people in front of you are doing that and holding the cell phones up high. But the cell phones are at least small, and the Plaza viewing area generally has space enough that you can move a little to one side if you need to. I did see someone recording once with a light on (I think they may not have realized it), and someone asked them politely to turn it off, which they did. I'm not saying you'll never have any of these issues in the reserved area, but I think they are minimized, at least from what I've experienced.

We've done it twice and I didn't see anyone with kids on shoulders or phones out. The great thing is that you can stand at the very back for the best view and there's plenty of space to move around if you feel your view is obstructed. Just shift over a bit and it's fine.

I appreciate your feedback. I did some research and am thinking I will try to book this, but not lose any sleep over it if I can't!

 

[jcemom]

I'm hoping to book this for August. =)

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We did the party Sunday night (1/14). We checked in at 6:30 and it was nice to settle down at a table and relax for a while until it was time to go to the garden. It was a really chilly day, so we needed a break. Desserts were ok, again that isn't why we booked it. They had hot chocolate out and it was probably my favorite thing. So good!

I had 2 issues, though: 1. They didn't have any water out. This made me crazy. I drank milk and hot chocolate, but could really have used ice water. I know they had it out in November when we went, so I thought it was weird. 2. The bathroom situation is terrible. I know they can't fix it, but I'm not going to wait in a line of 10 people to use a bathroom. I just decided to leave and go find one outside of the party.

Anyway, we went down to the garden at about 7:20. There was still plenty of space, even though this party felt more crowded than the last one. We stayed in the back again and it was excellent viewing. I still don't know why everyone runs to the front of the garden lol.

We enjoyed OUAT. It was our first time seeing it. I was glad it was before HEA.

The night was quite windy and cold, so Tink didn't fly. We had some fireworks debris land around us, too.

Overall, it was a good time. I would book it again in a heartbeat. Main St was a sea of people again, so we were glad to be in the garden!

Funny, we watched HEA on 1/1. Didn’t do the dessert party this time but sat in the West Plaza Garden area. It was also a very windy night.... so windy I was wondering if they’d cancel (it was a strong headwind if facing the castle). We definitely had some debris fall on us as well. DS was picking up pieces of shells to take home!

Totally agree on the bathroom thing. The ones in the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant area are awful and small. We’ve now figured out it’s best to pop out to the main bathrooms right by the Main Street bypass gate.

Can’t believe they didn’t have any water, odd!

Thanks for the report!