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

[ArwenMarie]

Do we know if the before and after parties are eating in the same area? Or are they using that mid-tier area?

I'm wondering how they are cleaning up before the after-party coming in. If it's two different areas, it wouldn't be as critical, but if it's the same area, they may feel stressed to get everything cleaned up in time

That may be why they are encouraging people to get down to the Garden area?

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

Ok 300 people in the viewing area sounds like a lot! I'm getting a bit nervous now.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Does anyone what the limits are for each party?

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Does anyone what the limits are for each party?

I think 300 sounds like my limit now.

 

[Lsdolphin]

I think 300 sounds like my limit now.

Yep that's what I'm thinking.

 

[Soph&HanMom]

I was a bit irritated that he was telling people that it was a busy night and to get down to the garden quickly because it created an atmosphere of unnecessary stress to get down there.
It was my sister's first trip and she has crowd anxiety. When she saw the crush of people outside the garden she was certainly glad we were in there.
The back of the garden was not as crowded as the front half and outside of the tall people who pushed their way into the space in front of us we had plenty of room. We were able to move down a bit and still had an excellent view.
I checked online and saw that the before party was sold out. I checked if after party was sold out and I could plug at least a party of 36 in there so I am thinking maybe they are capping it at 350 people.

 

[Cluelyss]

I checked online and saw that the before party was sold out. I checked if after party was sold out and I could plug at least a party of 36 in there so I am thinking maybe they are capping it at 350 people.

Does anyone know what it was before? For some reason I’m thought I heard 200 but no idea if that’s accurate?

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I checked online and saw that the before party was sold out. I checked if after party was sold out and I could plug at least a party of 36 in there so I am thinking maybe they are capping it at 350 people.

Really helpful - thanks. And people were being encouraged to rush through desserts with 300 people present...

I think we're taking a break on this one and canceling Aug. I'll hang onto the Nov ADR in case they make some changes that would make this better in our view.

 

[corn princess]

The ADR time and the noted check-in time for the After Party is an hour before fireworks... so 8:15PM since HEA is at 9:15PM at the moment. While I haven’t witnessed this personally, I’ve seen several reports over the existence of this thread about being able to check in to the parties earlier than the posted time. I’m not sure how consistent that may be night-to-night though.

We showed up to check in at our scheduled time at 745 and there were already plenty of people already sitting.

 

[KangaFan]

Quick question--is the area where the desserts are served and where you can sit to enjoy them air conditioned?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Quick question--is the area where the desserts are served and where you can sit to enjoy them air conditioned?

No, it is not.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Does anyone know what it was before? For some reason I’m thought I heard 200 but no idea if that’s accurate?

I think the EMM is limited to 200 people...

 

[bravenyc]

If you do the Before dessert party - could you take the desserts with you to the garden and eat while you wait? I have both the before and after party scheduled for 6/25 (crowd levels are expected to be high that day) and am waiting to see which one to cancel. This change is so stressful! The whole point of what I thought I was paying for was to not have to waste an hour waiting and still having my children able to see (my 7 yo has sensory issues and waiting in crowds will not bode well for anyone). I am hesitant to do the after party simply because it sounds really late for my 4 yo - but I don't want to rush my kids through the desserts either. Argh!!! But maybe it makes sense to go the the Before party - grab desserts to go and eat while we wait.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Would someone using an ECV be able to see from the back of the Fireworks viewing area or would we need to get to area early to secure a spot in the front?

 

[GirlDreamer]

I am waiting to see what they do when there is heavy rain...last summer we went to a party where there were thunder storms and they kept delaying start of HEA and letting party guests remain in Dessert area. Wondering if this happens if they will cram both parties into dessert party area to all eat at same time before fireworks.

It's hard to say how they will deal with that situation. I only know from working in a restaurant that we weren't allowed to push people out, even when it was fully booked and there were people waiting for that table. So my guess is that if you're there and it's raining and the fireworks haven't been yet, they can't force you out. Technically the after party don't need to get in until after the fireworks anyway, but I'd guess they might let people in from the after party if there's tables available for them to sit at.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

If you do the Before dessert party - could you take the desserts with you to the garden and eat while you wait? I have both the before and after party scheduled for 6/25 (crowd levels are expected to be high that day) and am waiting to see which one to cancel. This change is so stressful! The whole point of what I thought I was paying for was to not have to waste an hour waiting and still having my children able to see (my 7 yo has sensory issues and waiting in crowds will not bode well for anyone). I am hesitant to do the after party simply because it sounds really late for my 4 yo - but I don't want to rush my kids through the desserts either. Argh!!! But maybe it makes sense to go the the Before party - grab desserts to go and eat while we wait.

I’m also booked for the before party on the 25th and am starting to get concerned about the reports of the crowds in the viewing area. Think I might shoot an email to Disney. Any one know what email I can send my concerns to?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I’m also booked for the before party on the 25th and am starting to get concerned about the reports of the crowds in the viewing area. Think I might shoot an email to Disney. Any one know what email I can send my concerns to?

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[Soph&HanMom]

If you do the Before dessert party - could you take the desserts with you to the garden and eat while you wait? I have both the before and after party scheduled for 6/25 (crowd levels are expected to be high that day) and am waiting to see which one to cancel. This change is so stressful! The whole point of what I thought I was paying for was to not have to waste an hour waiting and still having my children able to see (my 7 yo has sensory issues and waiting in crowds will not bode well for anyone). I am hesitant to do the after party simply because it sounds really late for my 4 yo - but I don't want to rush my kids through the desserts either. Argh!!! But maybe it makes sense to go the the Before party - grab desserts to go and eat while we wait.

We were told by the CM that escorted us to the garden that we were welcome to go back and get more food. There were also people there that had brought plates down and were eating in the garden. They had one member of their party go up to get food while the others in their party stayed to keep their spot.
It was still a pleasant experience for us because we were not dealing with all the people outside the garden. There was space to move- it was just more people there then the party I had attended previously. We didn't necessarily need to go down at 8:00 but we had dinner at O'hana and did not need to eat desserts for an hour. I also wanted to be in a specific area of the garden.

 

[ArwenMarie]

They might as well pack snack boxes for everyone at this point and just hand them out at check-in

I kid I kid

Definitely sounds different than previous experiences. We just did one over Easter Weekend, the highest crowd time of the year, and we got down there maybe 15 minute before and there was tons of room

Oh well, things change!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

They might as well pack snack boxes for everyone at this point and just hand them out at check-in

I kid I kid

This was my thought — but I wasn’t kidding.