My kids will be 9, 7, and 4 for their first trip to WDW. I'm so tempted to sign up for one of the dessert parties, but it'll be expensive for our party of 6, and I'm also not sure if my kids will be too exhausted to go by the end of the day. I'd hate to buy the tickets for it, and then end up not going. How long before my trip can I put off the decision before they are sold out?
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Dessert party with young kids?
- Thread starter bluefish32
- Start date
Not long. They tend to sell out very fast. It is usually easier to book and then cancel vs trying to get one even a month or two out.
MomofPrincessGrace
Well-Known Member
I have never done a dessert party before, but I will say that you may be better off getting to MK early to grab a spot, and go grab some ice cream or dessert while you are waiting. If there are two adults in your party, you stay put with the kids while the other adult goes and grabs the goodies. We did this one night and were pretty much able to sit and rest our feet before it started to get too crowded. I know that my daughter (5 at first trip 6 at second) wasn't necessarily tired, but I know that I wouldnt have gotten the value out of it for her that I would for myself. I would much rather spend that money on a tour (Disney Family Magic Tour is awesome, lasts 2 hours, and only costs $40) than a dessert party, because a tour keeps you actively engaged. The tour took us on a scavenger hunt through MK starting at Town Square Theatre to find clues. Our tour guide was so fun and everyone, adults included, had a great time. We also got one on one time with Peter Pan and escorted on the Winnie the Pooh ride. I didnt even't know this tour existed until someone on this site mentioned it to me. It was also super easy to book.
Thecorsi4
Active Member
Desert Party is fantastic (it was a bucket list item) some advice especially for the little one is to plan a nap mid day back at the resort/hotel you are staying at.
no way mine could have rope dropped and then made a desert party without a meltdown somewhere in between
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
I've done a few dessert parties and honestly I do not find the value in it, especially for kids. The food is just okay and the views are not always that much better
For a family of 6 is it a lot of money. Honestly at that point I'd rather do a Fireworks cruise. We did an Illuminations one and that was oddly worth the money. Snacks on board. Excellent view. Blankets to keep us cozy (it was chilly) and a very private feeling. The view at night was great and relaxing.
For a family of 6 is it a lot of money. Honestly at that point I'd rather do a Fireworks cruise. We did an Illuminations one and that was oddly worth the money. Snacks on board. Excellent view. Blankets to keep us cozy (it was chilly) and a very private feeling. The view at night was great and relaxing.
That's what gets me every time. The price seems reasonable, but then times 6?!....nope. I don't think we're going to do it this time since it's their first trip and they won't know the difference, but maybe on a return trip when I know we can all make it all day, we can try it. We are doing some other expensive fun things (Hoop Dee Doo!) so I think we'll have enough to look forward to without expensive desserts during fireworks, if we do manage to all stay awake that long. I do think they are a great option, just maybe not right for us for this trip. Something to look forward to...
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
I've done enough of them that I'm not sure I like doing them x3 or x4 even. I'd rather find some other fun expensive thing LOL. But if you are doing a lot else it's probably wise to just hold off. Maybe they'll come up with something new for the next trip that is even better for you guys!
Much-Pixie-Dust
Well-Known Member
I agree with @helenabear. We have done the MK dessert parties several time, as well as the Illuminations cruise and I favor the illuminations for the money, privacy, and snacks. I was at HEA dessert party last week and there were multiple kids just grabbing the cheese and fruit with their hands (no parents around) and one sneezed all over a tray of food. The drinks were hot. The whole communal food thing, just grossed me out this time. Also with the cruise, they drive you around Lagoon and give you some Disney architecture history. It was nice. DH loved that we didn’t have to be in Epcot crowd after it was over.
I didn't realize there was a fireworks cruise. I'll keep that on my mental list for future visits. I think it's best for us not to pay in advance for any nighttime activities this trip and we'll see how it goes. When they get older I know we can do fun things at night, but I don't want to push it and ruin our days by making them stay up late if they're too tired.
exnihlio13
Member
We did the A Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party with our kids last year (which also happened to be the first time the kids went to Disneyworld. We kinda went all out). 10 year old boy and 7 year old girl. Not super adventurous when it comes to food.
Price...
First big thing to be careful of: 10 year olds are priced as adults...which is ridiculous.
$79 for 10+
$45 for 3-9
$34 difference!
The real value in the adult price it's it's basically open bar. If you have 4-5 drinks than you've likely made up for that extra $34. But depending on your tolerance levels you may not want to be packing away that much booze in 2 hours.
They have all sorts of assorted mixed drinks and the like and during the party you can easily have 3-5 drinks. Forwarning: the don't skimp on the booze in the drinks. They are mixed STRONG. Also when you go to get your last drink before the fireworks starts they automatically make your drink a double. Luckily we took the shuttle
. But the problem is that kids will clearly not be drinking alcohol and there's no way they eat anywhere near the dollar value in desserts so right away I say if you have any kids over 10 I *really* don't think it's worth the expense.
Secondly..the desserts: our kids were not huge fans. Do some research on some reviews for it and it'll show pictures of dessers. It's alot of tarts and such but they all tasted fairly similar. The freeze dried nutella was neat but our son wanted nothing to do with it. Same with bread pudding...a bit too much of a mish mash of things for them. They mostly ate cookies and loved that they could go grab themselves a pop without anyone questioning it.
That's a large chunk of what you're paying there is for drinks and desserts and for kids it's not really at value.
Now the good parts...
Exclusiveness
the kids (and we) loved being in this exclusive roped off area with our special lanyards. So many other people approach the velvet rope trying to get in and were turned away but WE were allowed. That made them feel pretty special and they also liked they could go into the main area and interact with jawas or what have you and then slip back under the rope back into the dessert area. There's alot of fun stuff to do just outside the dessert party area and then if we wanted to chill it was nice to seamlessly slip back under the rope for a drink or a quick nibble.
The viewing location
It's pretty sweet to get led in by storm troopers past everyone all staked out for good viewing angles to the optimal viewing location with lots of room due to limited numbers allowed in. Everyone in that area also tend to have full bellies and adults have had a couple drinks to take the edge off so it's a very enjoyable viewing experience with you co dessert partiers.
and speaking of storm troopers...
Family of the night
We were excited to get to this party since it was our first night at Disney and wound up being first there. My wife did her hair in Leia buns and my kids had Star Wars shirts on and we wound up getting to teh waiting spot to get in SUPER early. So we wound up chatting a bunch with the cast member about the trip and our excitement and what have you and kinda hit things off and were told to go see Kathy (or Susan or Peggy..don't remember off hand) as soon as we get in to the party because she'd have a "special job for us". Even when we went to see her she told us "Come see me around X o'clock and I'll let you know what we need you to do"
When we went to see she explained we had been chosen as the "Family of the Night". She asked all about us, each of our names, where we were from, etc and she asked our kids if they would help the storm troopers lead the party to the fireworks show and that she had light sabers to lend them so everyone could know what to follow.
Then when it came time to go she called us to the front of the exiting party along side the storm trooper, presented us with a "Family of the night" certificate and introduced us to the Dessert Party and people appaluded, etc and then the kids followed the Storm Troopers to lead the viewing party, light sabers aloft, out to the reserved vireworks viewing area.
*That* made it all worth the price of admission...for us. But there's only ONE family a night that gets that ya know?
Had that not all happened I think we would have really regretted spending that extra coin.
Oh and you each get a massive plastic Chewy stein that you'll never use for any practical reason (mine's a desk talking item). Seriously though..if there's 6 of you...you may need a seperate suitcase for them. They're the size of a large infants head and a real awkward shape. *And* you flip open Chewys head to drink out of it so it's kinda like you're drinking Chewie's liquefied brains...but I digresss...
It's REALLY expensive and the desserts aren't really as lavish as you'd think.
I think it's really catered more to adults and I think they gouge heavily with the pricing for kids...especially 10-20 year olds.
It was a real neat experience but not worth doing a 2nd time by any stretch and if not for the family night nomination we *may* have regretted spending all that coin.
Just my 2 cents....
Price...
First big thing to be careful of: 10 year olds are priced as adults...which is ridiculous.
$79 for 10+
$45 for 3-9
$34 difference!
The real value in the adult price it's it's basically open bar. If you have 4-5 drinks than you've likely made up for that extra $34. But depending on your tolerance levels you may not want to be packing away that much booze in 2 hours.
They have all sorts of assorted mixed drinks and the like and during the party you can easily have 3-5 drinks. Forwarning: the don't skimp on the booze in the drinks. They are mixed STRONG. Also when you go to get your last drink before the fireworks starts they automatically make your drink a double. Luckily we took the shuttle
. But the problem is that kids will clearly not be drinking alcohol and there's no way they eat anywhere near the dollar value in desserts so right away I say if you have any kids over 10 I *really* don't think it's worth the expense.Secondly..the desserts: our kids were not huge fans. Do some research on some reviews for it and it'll show pictures of dessers. It's alot of tarts and such but they all tasted fairly similar. The freeze dried nutella was neat but our son wanted nothing to do with it. Same with bread pudding...a bit too much of a mish mash of things for them. They mostly ate cookies and loved that they could go grab themselves a pop without anyone questioning it.
That's a large chunk of what you're paying there is for drinks and desserts and for kids it's not really at value.
Now the good parts...
Exclusiveness
the kids (and we) loved being in this exclusive roped off area with our special lanyards. So many other people approach the velvet rope trying to get in and were turned away but WE were allowed. That made them feel pretty special and they also liked they could go into the main area and interact with jawas or what have you and then slip back under the rope back into the dessert area. There's alot of fun stuff to do just outside the dessert party area and then if we wanted to chill it was nice to seamlessly slip back under the rope for a drink or a quick nibble.
The viewing location
It's pretty sweet to get led in by storm troopers past everyone all staked out for good viewing angles to the optimal viewing location with lots of room due to limited numbers allowed in. Everyone in that area also tend to have full bellies and adults have had a couple drinks to take the edge off so it's a very enjoyable viewing experience with you co dessert partiers.
and speaking of storm troopers...
Family of the night
We were excited to get to this party since it was our first night at Disney and wound up being first there. My wife did her hair in Leia buns and my kids had Star Wars shirts on and we wound up getting to teh waiting spot to get in SUPER early. So we wound up chatting a bunch with the cast member about the trip and our excitement and what have you and kinda hit things off and were told to go see Kathy (or Susan or Peggy..don't remember off hand) as soon as we get in to the party because she'd have a "special job for us". Even when we went to see her she told us "Come see me around X o'clock and I'll let you know what we need you to do"
When we went to see she explained we had been chosen as the "Family of the Night". She asked all about us, each of our names, where we were from, etc and she asked our kids if they would help the storm troopers lead the party to the fireworks show and that she had light sabers to lend them so everyone could know what to follow.
Then when it came time to go she called us to the front of the exiting party along side the storm trooper, presented us with a "Family of the night" certificate and introduced us to the Dessert Party and people appaluded, etc and then the kids followed the Storm Troopers to lead the viewing party, light sabers aloft, out to the reserved vireworks viewing area.
*That* made it all worth the price of admission...for us. But there's only ONE family a night that gets that ya know?
Had that not all happened I think we would have really regretted spending that extra coin.
Oh and you each get a massive plastic Chewy stein that you'll never use for any practical reason (mine's a desk talking item). Seriously though..if there's 6 of you...you may need a seperate suitcase for them. They're the size of a large infants head and a real awkward shape. *And* you flip open Chewys head to drink out of it so it's kinda like you're drinking Chewie's liquefied brains...but I digresss...
It's REALLY expensive and the desserts aren't really as lavish as you'd think.
I think it's really catered more to adults and I think they gouge heavily with the pricing for kids...especially 10-20 year olds.
It was a real neat experience but not worth doing a 2nd time by any stretch and if not for the family night nomination we *may* have regretted spending all that coin.
Just my 2 cents....