This thread is great. Thinking about trying a dessert party for the first time in January. Does anyone know if you can use dining credits for these parties if you are on the dining plan?
I've done many of the Dessert parties over the years. Whether they are worth it or not is totally subjective due to personal preferences. My opinions are as follows:
HEA - Only worth it for the view and only of you choose the Plaza Garden Viewing. Desserts are the worst of the bunch. Basically a couple of cheeses for the savory offerings. Terrace view is awful in my opinion as you are paying for a seat with a crappy view as well as unspectacular desserts.
Frozen/Illuminations - Decent food & drinks. Awesome views of Illuminations with seating. I've done this one twice as the Frozen version on nights that didn't require the alternate party location for bad weather. But the first time I did it was the prior Illuminations version that didn't include seating or the FEA ride opportunity and we had our dessert party in the Odyssey Building due to rain. But I still had a great time. The food is also better with the current Frozen version.
Star Wars - Have done multiple times since it began including the original version that was outdoors with no seating. Always enjoy the food & beverages at this one. Negative is the current show version is heavily Laser & Projections dependent & a lot less fireworks.
If your purpose is to score a seat you are paying way to much for the privilege at the ones that include seating. If you want to have some decent food for your $ I would choose either of the DHS ones or Frozen Illuminations. I've done the MK one multiple times going back to the Wishes version when it was fairly new and it is the only one I wouldn't choose to do again.