Well, based on all of the positive reviews, I just booked the before party for our trip in November. With only having two chances to see HEA due to MVMCP, I knew I needed to bite the bullet and just go for it. :thumbsup2 Plus, given the 5 day cancellation policy, it was a no-brainer. This will be our first dessert party and I cannot wait to surprise my mom and daughter with it!
We r doing the same but in December but trying to surprise the rest of the family! Just my son knows had to use his charge card but then realized I had to change password in MME account! Hubby didn’t think it was worth the money so he’s def not finding out till that night!
 
Just realizing that the before Hea dessert party we booked on a non xmas party night will have castle show at 9:45 pm after fireworks! Does that mean we will have to leave the Garden Area after fireworks? Ty!
 


I’ll be at the Garden Plaza View HEA dessert party with my brother on 8/11!! I’ve been to the star wars dessert party 3 times, so I’m excited to try something new :wizard:
 
About to catch the bus from BCV to MK for my "before" party for tonight... wish me luck! The weather looked ominous at first, but looks like it'll be just fine for tonight.
 
Dessert party from Tomorrowland Terrace tonight (6/19) was lovely! We arrived at 7:50. There were 2 podiums and 2 lines, one on the right for guests with a garden view time of 7:45. Most of those guests had already checked in when we arrived, with a few checking in on that side and going right in to a separate dessert party as we arrived.

We got in the line on the left. There were probably about 40 people already in line. At 8 pm, they started checking guests in and seating everyone on the lower terrace. Most tables were right up against the railing.

We checked in, got wristbands, and were given an overview of the food & beverage offerings before being shown to a table at the railing with a nice view of the castle.

Our teens grabbed food and then went to ride the PeopleMover before HEA started. While they were gone, our host offered to take our picture. A Photopass photographer also came around twice.

The show was great. Food was plentiful... Plenty of my favorite chocolate covered strawberries right up until the end! A centered view from the garden would have been better & some of the lower projections were hard to see. On the upside, Tink flew right at us at the end of the show.

Overall, I loved the relaxed feeling of being shown to our table & staying there for the show without having to “stake out a spot.”

We went straight to Buzz afterward which was practically a walk on. When we cut back thru the terrace afterward, the “After” party crowd was dining at the terrace behind where we sat. There were seriously like 4 families there that I could see, very uncrowded with lots of extra tables.

Hope this review is helpful! I wanted to post while the details were still fresh to hopefully help someone else. The info here has really helped me!

HEA Tomorrowland Terrace show 6/21. We arrived about 7:50 and were shown to our table. We weren’t on the rail and just a FYI if you’re not on the rail, the fireworks are blocked slightly. The tables further from the podium have better castle views and the ‘perfect’ seating would be by the rail furthest away!

Desserts are the new menu and I know that’s been covered. There were also photo pass photographers taking pictures before and during the show. DH said this is definitely the way to do fireworks! Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

So the tables were already assigned to your groups? I'm just curious as some recent reviews said that they chose their own table, so wondered if they've changed it now.


I was shocked that they actually called us here in Austria today to let us know that they will honour the parade viewing. Great move Disney! I will keep my reservation now!

They phoned me a few months ago as well as I'd booked the party while the pricing on the website was incorrect to tell me they would honour the lower price the website had shown. I was more surprised they were able to get through as you're not able to put in international numbers when making reservations. I can only assume they had access to my contact information via the UK Disney booking site.
 


Just realizing that the before Hea dessert party we booked on a non xmas party night will have castle show at 9:45 pm after fireworks! Does that mean we will have to leave the Garden Area after fireworks? Ty!

No, you're welcome to stay there. Most people will leave, and the area isn't "reserved" any more. A few people will wander in, but it becomes a public area at that point.
 
Curious for reviews of last night and tonight’s parties.

We did the before party on July 3rd and had a great experience. We bussed from AoA and arrived at MK later than planned due to traffic. Fortunately bag check was a breeze and we joined the checkin line right at 7:45. A cast member escorted us to a specific table and we were headed to the dessert buffet shortly after 8. Initially there was a short line but it the emptied out quickly as guests headed to the viewing area.

With 3 kids it took us awhile to prepare their plates and give them time to enjoy the treats. So we didn’t make it down to the garden until 8:50 which stressed me out a little. However, no worries as we easily found a spot for all of us near the far left fence. Since there were minimal castle projections most of our group sat or laid down with plenty of room.

Overall, we thought it was well worth the money! Especially once we saw the crowds packed into the hub.
 
We did the before party on July 3rd and had a great experience. We bussed from AoA and arrived at MK later than planned due to traffic. Fortunately bag check was a breeze and we joined the checkin line right at 7:45. A cast member escorted us to a specific table and we were headed to the dessert buffet shortly after 8. Initially there was a short line but it the emptied out quickly as guests headed to the viewing area.

With 3 kids it took us awhile to prepare their plates and give them time to enjoy the treats. So we didn’t make it down to the garden until 8:50 which stressed me out a little. However, no worries as we easily found a spot for all of us near the far left fence. Since there were minimal castle projections most of our group sat or laid down with plenty of room.

Overall, we thought it was well worth the money! Especially once we saw the crowds packed into the hub.
Thanks! We plan on waiting until the last few minutes to head over and was worried about it being packed. If the one last night had room we should be good in August!
 
We are currently in a delay because of the pouring rain. Many people have left the garden viewing area, which leaves much more room for those of us sticking it out. Hopefully they'll run them soon.
 
We are currently in a delay because of the pouring rain. Many people have left the garden viewing area, which leaves much more room for those of us sticking it out. Hopefully they'll run them soon.
Yikes! I hope you all are staying comfortable. I’m sure the show will be well worth the rain and the wait :)!
 
No, you're welcome to stay there. Most people will leave, and the area isn't "reserved" any more. A few people will wander in, but it becomes a public area at that point.
Ok great ty not sure if we will be able to stay we will have 2 little ones but it's good to know!
 
Ok, advice please. My DD is 15 with high functioning autism. She is very sensitive to noise and crowds, as I posted about 100 pages ago, lol. So we are doing a dessert party. Do you think earplugs to block the noise or earbuds with music would be better? My brother suggested noise cancelling headphones (like for lawn mowing or a gun range) with earbuds, but there is no way a teenage girl is doing THAT in public. She is really excited about seeing MK fireworks, she has never been able stay through it. She does go to music concerts now, so she is better about noise and crowds than our last trip 5 years ago.

DS is also HFA and I would absolutely recommend noise canceling headphones that either plug into whatever device she uses to play music or wireless ones that connect via Bluetooth.
 
July 3rd After Fireworks Dessert Party Review

My family (3 adults) enjoyed the After Fireworks Dessert Party. We wanted to see the 3rd fireworks and didn't mind waiting some but I have a larger than average personal space bubble and knew that I wouldn't enjoy being packed in with other people. Our "Check-in" time was 8:15. We got in line to check in around 8:10. The check-in line was very long (and slow), only one person was checking off names. We were then escorted to the garden where the CM placed the wrist band around each our wrists. We got a good spot on the back rail over toward the left. There was security checking for bands as the hour went on. I did notice one man who was recording with his camera who didn't have a wristband. Security did eventually spot him. It was funny to watch him notice security coming toward him and him purposefully but casually make his way out of the garden (just a few steps a head of the security guard the whole way).

The garden was full but not jam packed. I did my first dessert party in May. I'd guess there was about 65% more on the 3rd of July compared to then the 7th of May. Everyone still had space to sit and wait and most people only stood up as the fireworks began. The fireworks were great! We loved the view and loved the space we had compared to the rest of the hub.

The plus of doing the after fireworks party is that we could enjoy the desserts while the hub was still a madhouse. It was a little difficult getting back to the terrace because there were so many people! Once we got to the terrace, we had to check-in again. While I can understand why it was a little frustrating to wait in a line for the second time for the same event. We were marked on the list and escorted to a table where the cast member then placed a reserved sign. The desserts were good, not amazing but fine. I liked the addition of savory, but I was hoping for taco flavored eggrolls and instead got cheeseburger eggrolls. My personal favorite was the pineapple. If I was rich I'd hire someone to cut me a fresh ripe pineapple everyday.

I don't plan come back to WDW over the 4th of July week. But, if I did I would book the dessert party again.
 
This may be answered already, which if it is I will apologize in advance. Does the Before Fireworks Dessert Party and the After Fireworks Dessert Party-goers all share the same plaza viewing location? Trying to decide if we want to change from having our desserts before the fireworks to after.
 
This may be answered already, which if it is I will apologize in advance. Does the Before Fireworks Dessert Party and the After Fireworks Dessert Party-goers all share the same plaza viewing location? Trying to decide if we want to change from having our desserts before the fireworks to after.
Yes, they do.
 
Thanks everyone for your reviews !!!!!

I would normally NEVER pay extra for an event I can see for free, especially considering dessert is a non-factor for me.

BUT ... I will be there on the Saturday of Columbus Day week-end and with the MNSSHP on 3-4 times that week, AND your great reviews, I decided to open up the bare wallet and splurge on it.

This will be my first trip to Disney and seeing the fireworks has been a bucket-list item for a LONG TIME!!!

Thanks everyone for taking time to post reviews about this and other topics of interest. You have helped out this Disney Newb big time!
 

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