MK "Happily Ever After" Dessert Party (Parties) Discussion

[Allison]

Do you think if enough people cancel because of this, they will open up the other side? I just really feel like this is going to be a big waste of money!

No. If there are less people, there is no reason to open space they don't need.

 

[Newcastle]

The announcement below from Disney doesn't seem to indicate a lowering in attendees.

"Because of the popularity of the Fireworks Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom Park, we are expanding the experience starting May 28 so more Guests will be able to enjoy it."

I was thinking the exact same thing. What would be the point of them spreading the same number of guests across two parties instead of one? They aren’t going to increase their profits using that approach. I am booked for the before garden party for July 3rd and I have a very hard time believing that they reduced the spots for this party in advance of the announcement for the new after party and thus, I suspect that they are just going to jam everyone, including all of the additional guests who sign up for the after party, into the same space. That doesn’t make me very happy but I also don’t know if there is going to be any way for me to confirm this far enough in advance to cancel, unless there are similar sold out parties happening prior to July 3rd. Am I missing something here?

 

[whiporee]

I was thinking the exact same thing. What would be the point of them spreading the same number of guests across two parties instead of one? They aren’t going to increase their profits using that approach. I am booked for the before garden party for July 3rd and I have a very hard time believing that they reduced the spots for this party in advance of the announcement for the new after party and thus, I suspect that they are just going to jam everyone, including all of the additional guests who sign up for the after party, into the same space. That doesn’t make me very happy but I also don’t know if there is going to be any way for me to confirm this far enough in advance to cancel, unless there are similar sold out parties happening prior to July 3rd. Am I missing something here?

I understand the fear, but are there really any examples of Disney doing what you're suggesting they are doing? I understand the desire to want to have as few people at any event, but I've not known WDW to oversell things. I guess you could make the case for the Halloween of Christmas parties, but even though those aren't as deserted as we might hope, they re hardly unmanageable. Aside from 7DMT and the rare M&Gs, lines are pretty manageable for those events.

There's not a huge demand for the garden party -- that's why people talk about the space to spread out and such. But that's not by design -- it's just that there's a limited number of people who want to pay for this kind of event. There's a chance that more people will want to come after the fireworks, but I think it's far from a guarantee. The reason there was space before wasn't because it was planned that way; it was because the party didn't sell as well as they hoped. Like any event a WDW, even if they hadn't introduced this new party, they'd find a way to maximize the viewing space they have.

The other point I'd make is that if WDW were to take away the other garden and add it to a paid event, the outcries would be pretty loud, too. Probably louder.

 

[Cade387]

The parties are facilitated by two completely different departments and each have their own distinct operational methods. If your SW party is scheduled to begin at 8pm, Guests will be allowed in at 7:45, at the earliest. Arriving any earlier just means that you're waiting in line to enter and there's no advantage in that. No need to arrive any earlier than when Guests are allowed in for the FEA party as well as tables are preassigned.

Thank you for takin the time to respond and clarify. I appreciate your help!

 

[Disney & ME]

I am sorry to report that I am unable to report on the party. Sorry to disappoint, but we were disappointed too. After all my planning, unfortunately my friend ended up with horrible blisters on her feet and we had to cancel our party reservation. I hope that someone else is able to report soon.

 

[FastPasser.]

I am sorry to report that I am unable to report on the party. Sorry to disappoint, but we were disappointed too. After all my planning, unfortunately my friend ended up with horrible blisters on her feet and we had to cancel our party reservation. I hope that someone else is able to report soon.

There were two people on here that were at the Garden viewing area on Monday night, me being one of them, and both of us say that there was no over crowding at that particular party.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Well if it’s true that they lowered attendees for each party to make it basically be the same, then it should be fine

I doubt that’s true... they’re obviously doing this to sell more bookings... no other reason to do it for a business:

The announcement below from Disney doesn't seem to indicate a lowering in attendees.

"Because of the popularity of the Fireworks Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom Park, we are expanding the experience starting May 28 so more Guests will be able to enjoy it."

There were two people on here that were at the Garden viewing area on Monday night, me being one of them, and both of us say that there was no over crowding at that particular party.

Too soon to extrapolate this to future parties once this is more publicized though, of course.

 

[Newcastle]

The other point I'd make is that if WDW were to take away the other garden and add it to a paid event, the outcries would be pretty loud, too. Probably louder.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I would definitely agree with you that on a regular day, there would likely be adequate space to add another party given that the before parties don’t generally tend to sell out. I guess I’m just wondering how this all plays out for an event that was already sold out and yet they have decided to add more bodies to the mix. I’m not a big dessert person so the value for my money is not found in the dessert offerings but rather in having the option to not have to wait around for extended periods of time before the show starts to save a spot and to have a little more ‘personal space’ so I will be somewhat disappointed if the event ends up being more crowded than I would like. That being said, I would like to give Disney the benefit of the doubt and I will probably just keep my reservation and see how it goes.

You do bring up a very interesting point that I hadn’t thought about before in terms of how upset people would be if they took away the other garden. That is definitely a valid observation. That being said, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Disney found a way to profit from an experience that was previously ‘free’ . I do agree with you though that they would probably have a lot more unhappy campers if they were to take away that second garden compared to dealing with a few complaints here and there from the people that choose to do the dessert parties.

 

[ArwenMarie]

So it seems like we can't make any conclusions based on the past two nights of After Parties. From here and from twitter pictures, it looks like the After Party eating area was almost empty. It will take a few months to gain momentum and to see the real effect on the Garden viewing area. And hey, the After Party might not even stick around if it doesn't sell well.

It does feel like Disney has hit the ceiling with the price point for this event.

 

[PooH14]

we did the dessert party Monday night, and I’ll say that viewing was great but the desserts were just ok, nothing special. We went to sit down around 8:40 or so and sat in the back of the hub against the rail, with plenty of space around us. My older kids got to play and we let my son crawl around a little bit. We stood up once the fireworks started and had no problem seeing the show. I would do it again just for the view and not having to deal with the crowds. The front looked more crowded than the back, so I would recommend the back like someone previously did in this thread. I guess it all depends on how crowded it is though. All in all we had a great time considering we’ve been 3 times and have never seen the fireworks without some kind of issue. Very stress free

 

[Luna81]

I feel like July 4th will really be the ultimate test of how it could be.

 

[SouloTravlr]

There were two people on here that were at the Garden viewing area on Monday night, me being one of them, and both of us say that there was no over crowding at that particular party.

You can't judge crowd size based on the very first night. No one knew about the after party, so it was very sparsely attended. WDW News Today tweeted a picture of the afterparty tables.

 

[SouloTravlr]

Once those tables are filled, there will be that many more people in the plaza garden area watching fireworks with the pre-fireworks party people.

 

[SouloTravlr]

WDWNT also has pictures of some of the food on their twitter feed, if anyone is interested.

 

[HappyGrape]

I can see Josh from easywdw twitted pics from the party too. His reviews are great, hope he does one soon

 

[SaintsManiac]

WDWNT also has pictures of some of the food on their twitter feed, if anyone is interested.

I can see Josh from easywdw twitted pics from the party too. His reviews are great, hope he does one soon

They were not impressed lol

 

[SouloTravlr]

They were not impressed lol

I wasn't either, based on those pictures.

 

[Artax]

I am pretty disappointed with the combined garden area. I believe on most normal nights the crowding will be a non issue as they wont sell out both parties. We have done a few of these and it has always been pretty open so I do feel there is room for more people, but if they pack in 2x the people with 2 full parties its going to get tight and not nearly as worth the price especially with the price increase. These first few nights are not going sway me one way or another. But I have the party booked for the 3rd of July and I feel the 3rd and 4th may be the ultimate test on capacity. Will probably keep the party because I still think its the better of two evils, but my experience on the 3rd may sway my decision on future parties.

 

[msdroz]

Just curious- how many of you will actually cancel if the reviews are bad? What would it take for you to not go? I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend but am hoping for hassle free with a good view.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I’m just talking out loud here. Granted I’ve been proven wrong by WDW guest demand for upcharge events before, but I have a hard time getting my head around this new offering really creating a massive new source of demand that would consistently sell out.

I can see it siphoning off guests from the pre-party because an after-party might work better in ones overall touring plan. But I’m not so sure anything about this event is really screaming “ohhh, wow, this looks awesome” for anyone who didn’t already have a version of the dessert party on their radar in the first place.

Obviously special event dates like 7/3 and 7/4 are different, and fall/party season dates could be different because of the massive supply/demand imbalance for HEA and it’s a higher sell-out time period - my logic probably doesn’t fly with those time periods.

But I guess I’m just not sold overall on it having broad appeal. We certainly see the food isn’t going to get it done.