Just booked Plaza Garden Viewing Fireworks Dessert Party

[FSU Girl]

I've never done one of these dessert parties before. I just rearranged my plans for Saturday with my friend we are eating at Be Our Guest at 4:30pm and then have the Dessert Party at 7:45pm. Should we check in earlier than 7:45? How does this work exactly? I think the check in is over by that food area that's normally closed drawing a blank on the name. So we eat the desserts and then we walk over to the viewing area? Or they walk us over? My friend and I are pretty short, barely above 5 foot, so I'd like to get a good spot to see the fireworks. Any suggestions on that?

I don't like how early Be Our Guest is and going to try and find something a little later. What would be the latest time I could get and still make it fine to the dessert party?

 

[mom2rtk]

If you really have to do both in one night I'd leave the BOG time at 4:30. I really would not want to go straight from BOG to the dessert party. That's a lot of food.

 

[FSU Girl]

If you really have to do both in one night I'd leave the BOG time at 4:30. I really would not want to go straight from BOG to the dessert party. That's a lot of food.

Yes, have to do both. My friend hasn't been to Disney since she was a little kid and her number one request is BOG. She's also really excited for the fireworks and this popped up so I grabbed it. It has to be cancelled 5 days out and we are going in three days so this isn't changing lol.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I, too, would just stick to the 4:30 BOG reservation. It gives you time to digest a little before hitting the dessert party. We actually like to go to the dessert party a little later than the posted check-in time (we show up about 15 minutes late). There is always a huge crowd waiting to get in and the buffet gets really crowded in the beginning. We've found, if we go a little later, we, sometimes, get a table in the mid-mezzanine section (right above the terrace viewing party) and the buffet line dies down a bit. You check in at Tomorrowland Terrace. After getting your dessert, I wouldn't linger too much as the garden can fill up. We prefer trying to get a spot by the back railing.

 

[FSU Girl]

I, too, would just stick to the 4:30 BOG reservation. It gives you time to digest a little before hitting the dessert party. We actually like to go to the dessert party a little later than the posted check-in time (we show up about 15 minutes late). There is always a huge crowd waiting to get in and the buffet gets really crowded in the beginning. We've found, if we go a little later, we, sometimes, get a table in the mid-mezzanine section (right above the terrace viewing party) and the buffet line dies down a bit. You check in at Tomorrowland Terrace. After getting your dessert, I wouldn't linger too much as the garden can fill up. We prefer trying to get a spot by the back railing.

Thanks! Ya I don't want us to be too full to enjoy the desserts so I suppose staying at 4:30 will be okay. Are you allowed to bring any of the desserts with you into the plaza or do you have to finish everything before heading over? Would the back railing be okay for short girls?

 

[chris benton]

Knowing what I know - I'd try to move the BOG up a little earlier, like right after the parade if the parade is gonna be at 2:30?
The dessert party is NOT ONLY desserts. I think WDW has named them incorrectly. We make the dessert parties into a dinner, and there are plenty of savory items to do so, IMO. We usually have a late lunch (which is our m.o. anyway - we constantly work to avoid crowds.) If they still have the cheeseburger egg rolls, and spinach dip, and cheeses at the hea dessert party, we'd load up on those to make it a pretty satisfying dinner along with the desserts. (I'm the one with a heaping plate of egg rolls, and a heaping plate of chocolate covered strawberries.)

As for a good viewing spot -
The back left corner, when you are facing the castle. Plop your butt on the back fence, and move about 8 feet to the right. There will be a lamp a little bit in your viewing line near the front fence, but that's a good spot, once you figure out where to be to avoid the lamp. Also, a little bit further to the right, and a few feet in front of the back fence is a short bush. You might wanna set up there for a great view. Nobody will be in front of you because of the bush, and it's a clear view.

 

[FSU Girl]

Knowing what I know - I'd try to move the BOG up a little earlier, like right after the parade if the parade is gonna be at 2:30?
The dessert party is NOT ONLY desserts. I think WDW has named them incorrectly. We make the dessert parties into a dinner, and there are plenty of savory items to do so, IMO. We usually have a late lunch (which is our m.o. anyway - we constantly work to avoid crowds.) If they still have the cheeseburger egg rolls, and spinach dip, and cheeses at the hea dessert party, we'd load up on those to make it a pretty satisfying dinner along with the desserts. (I'm the one with a heaping plate of egg rolls, and a heaping plate of chocolate covered strawberries.)

As for a good viewing spot -
The back left corner, when you are facing the castle. Plop your butt on the back fence, and move about 8 feet to the right. There will be a lamp a little bit in your viewing line near the front fence, but that's a good spot, once you figure out where to be to avoid the lamp. Also, a little bit further to the right, and a few feet in front of the back fence is a short bush. You might wanna set up there for a great view. Nobody will be in front of you because of the bush, and it's a clear view.

Thank you! I'm screenshotting this so I can reference it when searching for a spot lol. Is there a certain time we should head to the plaza to get a spot? And I think 4pm is the earliest for dinner. My friend wants to do that over lunch (we originally had lunch booked) she wants to meet the beast. I figure will be out by like 5:30ish and I'll have her run around to other rides so that'll burn off the food and we'll be hungry again by 8pm, hopefully lol.

 

[chris benton]

Thanks! Ya I don't want us to be too full to enjoy the desserts so I suppose staying at 4:30 will be okay. Are you allowed to bring any of the desserts with you into the plaza or do you have to finish everything before heading over? Would the back railing be okay for short girls?

I've read accounts of CM's handing out containers to take items if you ask.
We brought our own paper/cardboard, collapsible containers just in case, but we totally pigged out inside at the buffet, we didn't need to bring anything outside.

Unless it's a packed full party, usually what happens is people stand up and move towards the front railing once the show starts. This will give the ppl on the back railing a nice buffer. I read that before we went, and that's exactly what happened. Our 9 year old got to see the entire show from bottom of the castle to everything up in the air - tinkerbelle's flight - everything. We just leaned on the back rail, and had a full view. there was a buffer of like 5 feet between everyone on the back rail to the next groupings of ppl. Some people were sitting on blankets even.

I swear, if you make this a DINNER, it's a pretty good value. I might suggest eating light at BOG, even. The cm's at the dessert party were all encouraging ppl to take as much of anything as you wanted. The egg rolls were replenished about 5 minutes after each time they ran out. We stuffed ourselves, and so did plenty of other ppl. It is not just desserts.

 

[melissa723]

Definitely do BOG as early as you can because they give you A LOT of food at the dessert party. We just did it in November and made the mistake of eating at CHH for dinner about 2 hours beforehand, and I was only able to fit a little bit of extra food in my stomach which was disappointing. I would try getting to the Tomorrowland Terrace area about 20-30 min before they open up because we were let in about 20 minutes early and that allowed us to enjoy the food a little quicker than others around us. A CM will walk you to the viewing area once you tell them you would like to head over, and I second grabbing a spot in the far left corner of the seating area because the views were amazing from there. We leaned up against the railing and the best part is that you're not blocking anyone else because it's a walkway directly behind you. We loved it so much we're booking it again for when we go in October!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Here's the thread on it:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/mk-happily-ever-after-dessert-party-parties-discussion.3604693/

I love, love, love this dessert party. We've done it 3 times and will go 2 more times this year.

There really isn't a bad spot in the garden. My daughter is only a little over 4 feet tall and she can see just fine from the back railing.

 

[FSU Girl]

Thank you everyone! We are going tomorrow (So excited!) so we are pretty locked into everything now. I'll try and check in a little early for our 4:30 time at Be Our Guest, since it's near when it opens for dinner they might seat us earlier, but I've also been told to check in no more than 5 minutes before there so idk. Definitely checking out that thread!

 

[chris benton]

You can also try to modify your res as well.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Its not mentioned too often but the desert party is not an exact set time like a dinner reservation. You can come anytime after your reservation time, and you can come and go from the reserved area as much as you like. Of course the better tables with the best views fill up with those who arrive earlier, but you are free to arrive when you like.

You can also leave to go to the viewing area whenever you like as well. There is a CM that will escort you when ready.

 

[FSU Girl]

You can also try to modify your res as well.

Tried that and moved up the time to 4:10 woohoo! We plan to run around to some rides before heading over to try and build up an appetite for the desserts lol.

Its not mentioned too often but the desert party is not an exact set time like a dinner reservation. You can come anytime after your reservation time, and you can come and go from the reserved area as much as you like. Of course the better tables with the best views fill up with those who arrive earlier, but you are free to arrive when you like.

You can also leave to go to the viewing area whenever you like as well. There is a CM that will escort you when ready.

That's good to know. Does it matter if we are at a table with a view? Since we aren't staying there for the fireworks?

 

[Brett Wyman]

Tried that and moved up the time to 4:10 woohoo! We plan to run around to some rides before heading over to try and build up an appetite for the desserts lol.


That's good to know. Does it matter if we are at a table with a view? Since we aren't staying there for the fireworks?

Not really. There are two levels of seating. The bottom level, which is the same level you'll walk down to for the buffet, is for the more expensive option where you view from your table. So view is obviously more important for that option. You'll be on the second tier but there are a few good tables closer to the castle that have nice views too on this level. No big deal if you miss them though.

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

They will seat you at a table, you may or may not have input but it makes zero difference since you aren't staying there for the fireworks/show viewing. The earlier you go down to the viewing area the more likely you'll get a better spot. Like the PP I like to grab a spot in the back next to the fence. My experience is that most people don't stand during the show which is nice. Being next to the fence allows you to stand and lean against the fence without blocking anyone's view. I don't believe they let you take food down there, but there's really no reason to anyway, you'll have plenty of time. Sometimes there's a photographer down in the garden area, sometimes there isn't - just depends. It's a fun picture place though.

Have fun!

 

[nkereina]

I would recommend going over to the viewing area as early as possible. We did the after fireworks dessert party in October, so we arrived at the viewing area about an hour before the fireworks began. It was about 75% full already, with a combination of people who had rushed over from the first dessert party as well as people who had the after party. The railing spots were all taken.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would recommend going over to the viewing area as early as possible. We did the after fireworks dessert party in October, so we arrived at the viewing area about an hour before the fireworks began. It was about 75% full already, with a combination of people who had rushed over from the first dessert party as well as people who had the after party. The railing spots were all taken.

Hmm, I don't want to rush through all the food, we are going to try and show up early so hopefully that'll help. Are a lot of the people for the after dessert party? Would you say we should be over there by 8:15 for a 9:15 show?

 

[Brett Wyman]

Hmm, I don't want to rush through all the food, we are going to try and show up early so hopefully that'll help. Are a lot of the people for the after dessert party? Would you say we should be over there by 8:15 for a 9:15 show?

I guess it depends on the park crowd that day and your group size. But we went over about 20 minute before and got pretty much front row. And you can see how crowded it's getting from the plaza area too.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Hmm, I don't want to rush through all the food, we are going to try and show up early so hopefully that'll help. Are a lot of the people for the after dessert party? Would you say we should be over there by 8:15 for a 9:15 show?

We walked over 30 minutes before the show last time and it was fine.