I am so thankful for this thread in helping me both to watch for when bookings opened for my date and with general information about the dessert party. So now it's time for me to give back with my review.
We attended the before fireworks dessert party on Sunday, June 10th. We had never attended a dessert party so have nothing to compare to. Fireworks were at 9:15 with a 10pm closing for MK this night. I had been checking to see how full my party might be, as well as the after fireworks party, and it appeared that it was not close to being sold out through checking the website for availability. However, while we were waiting in line to check in, some people wondered over and were wondering what was going on with the lines. A CM that was helping a little with line control informed them about the dessert party and when they asked about attending, she said she didn't think there was availability except for maybe the after fireworks party. Also, where we were seated seemed to be almost completely full, so maybe it was sold out after all?
Anyway, check in time was 7:45 and we got in line about 7:35. It took about 15-20 minutes of waiting before we were seated. Everything was yummy, and we especially enjoyed the new egg rolls and the sauce you can get with them. My husband and I even thought the spinach dip was pretty tasty. My favorite was making an ice cream sundae with a brownie, this is my very favorite dessert in general. Below are my two younger kiddos with the new s'mores dessert. It's a marshmallow on a stick that's been melted a bit and then dipped in chocolate and rolled in graham cracker crumbs. They said it was great! We had skipped dinner so we could pig out at the party and so we did eat a lot!! In fact, my family was really taking advantage of all the food and going back multiple times that we were one of the last families to be escorted out to the garden. This was fine by me because I didn't want to rush them, I wanted them to fill up and I wanted DH to be happy and eating a lot was making him happy! I had also brought ziplock baggies with me and I saved crackers, grapes, sugar cookies, and rice Krispy treats that we munched on later that night and the next day. We also each took a water bottle that they had available with the drinks.
So, because we were one of the last to get to the garden, it was quite full, but it wasn't hard to find a spot at the back rail which is where I wanted us to be. I think it was about 8:45 or so when we got there. Here's a picture of what it looked like. (My phone says this picture was taken at 8:52.)
Seems pretty crowded, but I didn't feel squished by any means and you can see there's still some larger open spots. It was exactly what I wanted, a spot that was reserved for us without us having to hold it down for an hour or more and then be packed in like sardines with strangers. Not to mention the fact that my oldest son, who has special needs and was pretty anxious about the fireworks, could just sit on the ground throughout the fireworks with out been trampled. There was a really big open spot in the back corner right near where we settled with a photo pass photographer. I took advantage and got a great picture of DH and I.
Here are two of my favorite pictures I took during HEA.
Overall, we really enjoyed the before fireworks dessert party and are happy we did it. It was a bit of a splurge for us, but we definitely found value in it and would consider doing it again for a future trip. Hope this review helps others!