Happily Ever After Dessert Party Review
Within the past few years, dessert parties at Disney World have started showing up everywhere. They are an added expense to an already expensive vacation. This inevitably means everyone is asking the same question; are dessert parties worth it? Much like everything else at Disney, it wildly depends on your party. There are quite a few options throughout the parks to pick from. On a recent trip with my mother, we decided to splurge, cross off something on my Disney Bucket List and try out the Happily Ever After Fireworks Dessert Party. We decided to go on the Wednesday of our trip because there were Extra Magic Hours that night so we could stay and enjoy the park a bit longer.
If you are interested in booking the party, this should be done when you make the rest of your ADRs 180 days ahead of time. You do have to pay upfront for the party so make sure you know the date you want.
What you get
If you have looked into the dessert party already you might be familiar with everything it includes, but let’s go over it just in case. The most obvious thing is that you get desserts. Currently, Disney lists the following for food:
- Chocolate-dipped strawberries
- Disney character-themed desserts
- Hand-scooped ice cream
- Create-your-own cookies and cupcakes
- Ooey gooey toffee cake
- Action station s’mores
- Savory snacks, like house-made eggrolls and spinach dip
And drinks include sparkling cider hot cocoa, lemonades, coffee, and tea. There was also milk and water when we went as well.
About the desserts
I love desserts, but my favorite desserts tend to be more bitter than sweet. This meant most of the food at the party was pretty sweet for my taste, but it is dessert so that is to be expected. The make your own sundae bar and s’mores station were nice touches. The food didn’t seem to be replenished quickly unless you could find a cast member and alert them. They ran out of coffee at one point but brought more out within a few minutes. This is probably for their own sanity because parents everywhere looked like they were about to riot if they didn’t get coffee.
The party itself isn’t very long, especially when you consider how quickly people leave to go to the viewing area (we will cover that in a minute). So I get why they don’t keep all of the items completely filled, however, since they now have an after fireworks party, it seems silly. They don’t have to clean up and put out new items since it is the same party offerings after.
All of the desserts at the buffet area were bite-sized which is great for kids and adults so you can try quite a few things.
They did also have more savory options like cheeseburger eggrolls and spinach dip. They were out of the eggrolls when we first went up, but they had been refilled before we left.
The ice cream station and the s’mores station were my favorite. There was only one choice of ice cream (vanilla) but lots of toppings. The sprinkles, chocolate chips, and cherries were just part of it. There was whipped cream, cookies, and brownies on the table next to the ice cream as well.
The s’mores were made in front of you, and even though they weren’t the traditional dessert sandwiched between graham crackers, they were delicious.
Review of the desserts
There was nothing here that I thought was bad. There was also nothing here that was amazing. I didn’t expect anything to be memorable about the food served at the party and I was right. While I did like the stations, they are not the selling point of this party.
The view
We opted for Plaza viewing over the Tomorrowland Terrace. The differences between the two are your seating and the cost. Tomorrowland Terrace you get seats to watch the fireworks from and it is more expensive. The Plaza viewing you will be escorted to the viewing area when you are ready. Our reasoning for selecting the Plaza, besides the money, was because of the view.
If you have not had the pleasure of seeing Happily Ever After before you are in for a treat no matter what. The new fireworks show combines projections onto the castle as well as overhead fireworks to create a magical spectacle. I wanted to get as close to dead center as I could to see the show’s projections the best. This is not to say that Tomorrowland Terrace doesn’t provide an excellent view, I just think since the projections play such a large part of the show, I want to view them as easily as possible.
About the fireworks
For the Plaza view, you decide when you are ready to leave your dessert party and go to the viewing area. If you are looking directly at the castle, you will be seated on the right-hand side plaza area. You will still have to arrive earlier to get a decent viewpoint, but there are only a few areas in this section that are bad. Some are just more ideal than others.
PROS FOR THE DESSERT PARTY
THE VIEW
We already talked about the fact that the view is a big reason I wanted to try out the dessert party and it did not disappoint. You get an excellent vantage point to enjoy the show!
YOU AREN’T A SARDINE
If you have ever watched a fireworks show at Disney, you know no matter where you sit or stand, someone is going to be directly on top of you. The dessert party is limited to a certain number of people each night so while the plaza area might get full-ish, you could still put your arms out and not hit 30 other people.
THERE IS NO WAIT
A lot of people will give up hours in the park to wait around the hub for the perfect fireworks viewing area. When I was younger, we would just go toward the entrance of the park and watch from there. Since projections are a large part of the show this is no longer the best option to see the end of the night celebration.
UNIQUE EXPERIENCE
Disney is all about magical moments. This dessert party is definitely one of them. It is something special you and your family can remember for years to come.
CONS FOR THE DESSERT PARTY
PRICE
Regardless of if you are doing the Plaza view, Tomorrowland Terrace view, or after firework desserts, this is not a cheap party. The Plaza view will cost $69 for adults and $41 for kids ages 3-9, this is the price for both before show desserts or after the show. Tomorrowland Terrace is $84 for adults and $50 for kids ages 3-9. Depending on the size of your family that is a lot of money that could go toward things like another day in the parks, another night’s stay, or a meal at a signature restaurant.
DESSERTS
You are not paying for the desserts for this party, you are paying for the view. I don’t know how you can possibly eat your money’s worth of this food in the time that is given. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the food, it just wasn’t worth $70. If you go into this thinking the desserts will make up half the cost you will most likely be disappointed.
RUSHING
This isn’t at any fault of Disney’s, but rather the other people who were attending the party. We arrived 5 minutes after you were told to arrive and there were already people who had finished their desserts. I’m not 100% sure when they started letting people in, but it was certainly earlier than we were told. There were quite a few families that barely enjoyed the food and simply went straight to the viewing area to score their ideal seats. I don’t think this is necessary, however, since we had never done it before I devoured my food quickly. I was incredibly nervous we were going to have a terrible view. Since that was the biggest reason for paying for the party, I was not about to let that happen.
OVERALL VOTE
If you aren’t going to let the money play a factor, I think this is worth it. If you think about all of the others things you could do with that money, you’ll end up more anxious about getting your money’s worth than actually enjoying the show. I would 100% do this again, especially if they are offering an Annual Passholder discount at that time. If you don’t mind camping out early to get a good spot, then you can definitely skip the party.
Want to do the party, but are worried about the money? There are so many ways to earn extra cash through side hustles, but by far my favorite is Swagbucks. You can earn extra cash or gift cards to help pay for your trip!
