World of color dessert party?!

[mom2rtk]

Unfortunately we felt there were some bad tables for the price they ask

Note: This was in the first week of December 2016
We got there a fair bit earlier than when we were told to arrive (probably 4th or 5th group in queue waiting for admittance) and could not follow the show because the high table in-front blocked the main center view.
We missed probably 50-80% of the screen during the show.
Others had reported a similar experience

Below's an example of what I'm talking about:

I guess I'm a little cranky that we paid so much money per person ($105 AUD each) for a view which we felt was fairly below average, literally could have purchased a couple of new movies/games/etc for the price, possibly even a new tablet

But I am glad that others got good tables/views though!

Don't be swayed by my comments, I'm just sharing our personal experience with this event, others seemed to report positive experiences overall - I guess we just had bad luck or something?

I hope you sent those photos to guest services. They need to see what you paid all that money for.

 

[Aggiegrl]

Don't be swayed by my comments, I'm just sharing our personal experience with this event, others seemed to report positive experiences overall - I guess we just had bad luck or something?

Thank you for posting. I'm sorry and so disappointed for you.

You further solidified that this is not for us. I have a larger family, so it would be ~$500 USD for the dessert party. I would be upset if I ended up with the view you had. I've done the dessert parties at WDW with similar bad luck, but all the positive reviews for this led me to believe DL was different.

We'll just take our chances with a fastpass and use that money elsewhere.

 

[hsmamato2]

I agree with vault19dweller ....... our experience was sub par for the cost. We did it to try and avoid lots of standing/long lines for my MIL with the bad knee... turns out we waited in line till about 15 mins before the show started,standing in line from 7:55 p.m-8:45. B/c the line built up from 6:30-7 onwards,and we got in line at the proper time,and were nearly the last to enter. and it was SLOW.Yes sitting was nice after that, but it would have been easier to just go in with a fp group,who got in much earlier than we did. And we didn't have a clear view either, mine was just like theirs, and I spent the whole show straining around to see it all..... all in all, I wouldn't do it again. IMHO it's really not worth the cost.

 

[cyclenut]

Our party was expanded from 2 to 4 and it turns out we could not add the additional members. We tried calling but there is no longer availability. We decided to keep the reservations and the additional members of our party will just find other things to do during that time.

 

[RE1333]

I was a little disappointed with my dessert party last week. For one thing, I was traveling with my grandmother, and I was hoping to avoid her having to stand and wait, but we ended up having to stand and wait for about 20 minutes before they even started admitting people to the tables. I also didn't think the food was that good, especially for the price. The night before I was able to walk right up and find a decent spot to watch the show even without a fastpass, so I don't think I would bother with the dessert party again. The service was great though, and the show itself is wonderful.

 

[Winnowill]

We did it this past Saturday and it was fabulous. By far the best way to do WOC. We loved everything about it except the weather (it was a LOT chillier than I had anticipated), but that wasn't DCA's fault! We were at one of the front row high tops (table 5), and both kids and adults had a perfect view.

 

[SplashMtn40inches]

When you're lining up and waiting for WOC, does your whole party have to be there? Or can one person line up and check in for the entire group?

(I know this has been probably asked before but this thread is now 28 pages deep...)

 

[cmph]

When you're lining up and waiting for WOC, does your whole party have to be there? Or can one person line up and check in for the entire group?

(I know this has been probably asked before but this thread is now 28 pages deep...)

You're taken to your table immediately after checking in, so everyone would have to be there when you actually get to the CM. The pre-checking in part is when you wait in the line. My family stood together the whole time just b/c we didn't get there until right before they started checking in and we weren't sure how long it would take for them to get to us at the end of the line (except for one quick bathroom break for my youngest). I'm not sure if others who got there earlier just had one person hold their group's spot, to be honest. It didn't appear that way from the size of the group in line.

 

[vault19dweller]

I do not understand why they put high tables in the front row. Doesn't make sense to me.

Me either

I've read complaints from people who were seated at low tables in the front row which said that if people in the section in front put their kids on their shoulders, then your view will be blocked. CMs don't do anything about asking the guests in front of the Dessert Party to take the kids off their shoulders, so the people posting felt they were stuck with a very expensive, bad view. It seems there are risks for less than stellar viewing in both rows then. Perhaps it would be better if there were only high tables and Disney staggered them by row so that every guest could have a good view.

I agree, I really like your idea of staggering them as a minimum though! I also felt it was pretty crammed in there, I guess trying to get their moneys worth but sacrificing comfort and view for that (which is what people paid the money in the first place *laughs*)

I hope you sent those photos to guest services. They need to see what you paid all that money for.

At the time I just wanted to continue my vacation and try to make the most of being there rather than clinging onto it the following park days and tainting the rest of the time I had there.
I been unable to find a way to email them (I can only find phone numbers on the website - so international calls plus can not provide the photos over the phone)
Do you happen to know if they have an email I can send it to?

 

[SplashMtn40inches]

You're taken to your table immediately after checking in, so everyone would have to be there when you actually get to the CM. The pre-checking in part is when you wait in the line. My family stood together the whole time just b/c we didn't get there until right before they started checking in and we weren't sure how long it would take for them to get to us at the end of the line (except for one quick bathroom break for my youngest). I'm not sure if others who got there earlier just had one person hold their group's spot, to be honest. It didn't appear that way from the size of the group in line.

Thank you for the reply.

It seems like the rule of thumb is to wait 30min to 60min before check in to get a decent spot, with waiting 60min+ giving you a better chance at a decent spot. This is something I have to consider if it's worthwhile to do overall. I did nothing but wait for the F! dessert.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...Do you happen to know if they have an email I can send it to?

Go to the bottom of the DLR webpage and look for the "contact us" link. Click on it and you will be given the option to email them a comment/complaint/request/etc. Be as specific as you can be about your complaint and include a way for them to contact you in return. Not every time, but often enough we receive a call or an email when we send a comment.

 

[cmph]

Thank you for the reply.

It seems like the rule of thumb is to wait 30min to 60min before check in to get a decent spot, with waiting 60min+ giving you a better chance at a decent spot. This is something I have to consider if it's worthwhile to do overall. I did nothing but wait for the F! dessert.

We were the second to last group in line, and it took 30min to get to the CMs to check in. There were people at the head of the line FAR longer us, definitely 60min ahead of the official check-in time. We had gotten a snack then walked past them on our way into Carsland... where we watched everything light up when the sun set, rode RSR with fastpasses, then headed back to find the long line. It was fine though, esp with kids, b/c I'd rather do what we did than stand in line longer, even if it meant slightly better seats! I guess we had better luck than others though, b/c we could see perfectly fine from our seats in the second row.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...It seems like the rule of thumb is to wait 30min to 60min before check in to get a decent spot, with waiting 60min+ giving you a better chance at a decent spot. This is something I have to consider if it's worthwhile to do overall. I did nothing but wait for the F! dessert.

This isn't necessarily the case. The party who shared our table showed up about 10 minutes before showtime and got a great spot. We showed up much earlier and got the same table. Same great view. The main reason we showed up so much earlier was to make sure that my dietary issues had been addressed. If they hadn't, there still would have been time to do something about it before the show started which would not have been the case had we waited until the last minute.

 

[disneychrista]

It seems like the rule of thumb is to wait 30min to 60min before check in to get a decent spot

When I did it back in May, it seemed that they had the seating assigned before hand. When I gave my name they looked up where to sit me.

 

[mom2rtk]

At the time I just wanted to continue my vacation and try to make the most of being there rather than clinging onto it the following park days and tainting the rest of the time I had there.
I been unable to find a way to email them (I can only find phone numbers on the website - so international calls plus can not provide the photos over the phone)
Do you happen to know if they have an email I can send it to?

I would just use the "contact us" link at the bottom of the Disneyland website. If there's no way to attach photos, I would indicate you have photos to share and wait for them to reply.

 

[Winnowill]

This past Saturday, we showed up about 45 minutes early, and they told us that they were still setting up and to come back a little later. So we rode Little Mermaid and went back. They were still sort of setting up (hadn't put the sign in the holder, for instance), but they were ready to seat us. We wound up being, I think, the 4th party in line.

 

[vinotinto]

Unfortunately we felt there were some bad tables for the price they ask

Note: This was in the first week of December 2016
We got there a fair bit earlier than when we were told to arrive (probably 4th or 5th group in queue waiting for admittance) and could not follow the show because the high table in-front blocked the main center view.
We missed probably 50-80% of the screen during the show.
Others had reported a similar experience

Below's an example of what I'm talking about:

I guess I'm a little cranky that we paid so much money per person ($105 AUD each) for a view which we felt was fairly below average, literally could have purchased a couple of new movies/games/etc for the price, possibly even a new tablet

But I am glad that others got good tables/views though!

Don't be swayed by my comments, I'm just sharing our personal experience with this event, others seemed to report positive experiences overall - I guess we just had bad luck or something?

I've read complaints from people who were seated at low tables in the front row which said that if people in the section in front put their kids on their shoulders, then your view will be blocked. CMs don't do anything about asking the guests in front of the Dessert Party to take the kids off their shoulders, so the people posting felt they were stuck with a very expensive, bad view. It seems there are risks for less than stellar viewing in both rows then. Perhaps it would be better if there were only high tables and Disney staggered them by row so that every guest could have a good view.

I agree with vault19dweller ....... our experience was sub par for the cost. We did it to try and avoid lots of standing/long lines for my MIL with the bad knee... turns out we waited in line till about 15 mins before the show started,standing in line from 7:55 p.m-8:45. B/c the line built up from 6:30-7 onwards,and we got in line at the proper time,and were nearly the last to enter. and it was SLOW.Yes sitting was nice after that, but it would have been easier to just go in with a fp group,who got in much earlier than we did. And we didn't have a clear view either, mine was just like theirs, and I spent the whole show straining around to see it all..... all in all, I wouldn't do it again. IMHO it's really not worth the cost.

I was a little disappointed with my dessert party last week. For one thing, I was traveling with my grandmother, and I was hoping to avoid her having to stand and wait, but we ended up having to stand and wait for about 20 minutes before they even started admitting people to the tables. I also didn't think the food was that good, especially for the price. The night before I was able to walk right up and find a decent spot to watch the show even without a fastpass, so I don't think I would bother with the dessert party again. The service was great though, and the show itself is wonderful.

Thanks for the pics. I agree wthats a terrible view. I have reservations, but wondering whether to keep them. Looks like at least some of the seats are not great, and you still have to line up. I don't eat dessert, so the "food" has $0 value. And FP is still dissociated, right? May be worth trying to catch the show the previous night and cancel. As long as I cancel the night before, I should get a refund, right?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...And FP is still dissociated, right?..

WOC FPs are not connected to the grid, so you can get one and still collect ride FPs without a problem.

 

[Disney_Alli]

Thanks for the pics. I agree wthats a terrible view. I have reservations, but wondering whether to keep them. Looks like at least some of the seats are not great, and you still have to line up. I don't eat dessert, so the "food" has $0 value. And FP is still dissociated, right? May be worth trying to catch the show the previous night and cancel. As long as I cancel the night before, I should get a refund, right?

I'd double check your confirmation for the cancelation deadline - a lot of pre-paid options are 48 hrs instead of the usual 24.

 

[Xenorye]

Thanks for the pics. I agree wthats a terrible view. I have reservations, but wondering whether to keep them. Looks like at least some of the seats are not great, and you still have to line up. I don't eat dessert, so the "food" has $0 value. And FP is still dissociated, right? May be worth trying to catch the show the previous night and cancel. As long as I cancel the night before, I should get a refund, right?

I'd double check your confirmation for the cancelation deadline - a lot of pre-paid options are 48 hrs instead of the usual 24.

It's 24. I just looked yesterday.