Remember last week when we told you about the brand new “Sparkling” IllumiNations Dessert Party in Epcot? Well, we’ve got pics from the very first event! 🙂 Many thanks to DFB reader Tricia Noble and her husband, who snapped the photos on Saturday night and wrote up a review!
Tonight my wife and I went to the first night of Epcot’s Illuminations Dessert Party. Being the first night of an event, we expect that things will change and adjust according to the feedback Disney Events receives.
Dessert Party Menu
The party location was right as you enter the World Showcase, between the two gift shops at the edge of the lagoon. The view for Illuminations from here is fantastic. However, the location is a bit more public than we were expecting for a ticketed “private” party.
Dessert Party View
In addition, the slope in the area meant that there were no chairs. The ccktail tables scattered around were not sufficient for the number of attendees, and not usable by young guests and those in scooters or wheelchairs. I expect that to be addressed quickly (more tables were brought out just before the fireworks started.)
Dessert Party table
Eats
Now for the desserts. The party was billed as tastes from around the World Showcase, but unless I miss my mark, the countries represented merely inspired, rather than provided, the offerings. I would have liked to either see more variety or better pairings between the wines and the desserts. The fresh fruit was nice and flavorful, and a good palette cleanser between the other confections.
Dessert Party Eats
Offerings included Cronuts (called Cronis here, apparently), strawberry sauce, Tiramisu, Pot de Creme, Baklava, fresh fruit, shortbread, and ice cream goodies like Mickey bars, Mickey ice cream sandwiches, orange creme pops, and other ice cream novelties.
France Pot de Creme
Italy Tiramisu
The English shortbread cookies were quite good, and even more tasty when covered in the aforementioned strawberry sauce.
UK shortbread
Morocco Baklava
The American cinnamon-sugar mini cronuts were pretty good, especially with the included strawberry sauce, but would have been much better had they been served warm.
Sample of Dessert Party Eats
The Moroccan baklava was very good. Not overly sweet, but still very flavorful. This was probably my favorite offering.
Morocco Baklava
The French vanilla creme seemed more like a pudding, and lacked either enough vanilla or some counterpoint to make it truly interesting.
Pot de Creme
The Italian tiramisu was distinctly lacking in coffee flavor. It’s as if the ladyfinger bits were lightly drizzled with espresso instead of soaked. As a big fan of good tiramisu, I was rather disappointed in this.
Tiramisu
Notice what was missing from this list? Yep. There was no chocolate dessert until you got to the ice cream. The ice cream included a couple of regularly-available-in-stores fruit bars, a Mickey bar, and a Mickey ice cream sandwich. Disney really missed the boat here by not having some French ice cream or Italian gelato at the event.
Drinks were unlimited, and included a brut champaigne and a Prosecco, which was sweet but not overly so — at least until we started eating the desserts.
Non-alcoholic drinks included coffee, tea (both hot and iced), lemonade, and water. (Hint: mix the lemonade and Prosecco together.)
Dessert Party Drinks
Prosecco
Wine
Was the event worth the $49 price of admission? As of tonight, I’d say no. I have done the Magic Kingdom fireworks dessert event in the past and that’s what I went in expecting. This event was no where near up to that level.
I suspect that the events staff will be doing some retooling based on the feedback they received tonight (and not just from us). It will be interesting to see if the event changes or improves. For now, I’d say give it some time to “earn its ears.”
The details: this event will take place on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 7:45-9:20 pm. The cost is $49 per adult, $29 for children. Booking is now available, and parties started March 15th. Interested in more information or reserving your spot? Dial 407-WDW-PLAY. No word yet on discounts or how long the event will be running.
Is this an event you’d like to try? Let us know in the comments below!
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Was looking forward to trying this but after reading this will probably pass. Having seats for everyone would make this MUCH more desirable. I would also REALLY appreciate 2 tiered pricing for adults – one WITH alcohol (where $50 doesn’t seem so unreasonable) and one WITHOUT alcohol at a lower price point.
I think the event is great! The selections sound sophisticated and yummy! I only hope Disney will continue the IlluminNations Sparkling Dessert Party until we can get there in December!!! Until then, hope all party goers have a grand time. Beth
Disney welcomes challenged and disabled to the IllumiNations Sparkley Dessert party don’t they? Provisions are made for sitting down if necessary, right? I’m challenged, but my husband helps me walk. We will be able to sit at the party and eat our treats, won’t we?
Thank you for your consideration.
mkbetho,
The venue itself is on an incline, which is why seating in chairs is not available. For guests that have disabilities or cannot stand for that length of time, wheelchairs are made available at the check-in, as they are safer for balance and have the wheel lock. There are also a number of lower table provided and there are areas where there is lower/no shrubbery where you both could still get a clear view of the water portion of IllumiNations. I hope you guys have a great time 🙂
I’m really hoping maybe they’ll add seating to this event, but unless they change the venue I very much doubt that will happen. I had high hopes after attending (and loving) the Wishes dessert party and I think there’s something very romantic about the idea of having some wine and watching the fireworks from a “private” location, but for almost $50 a person I’m just not sure about this one. I have a reservation for fall which I’m going to keep for now but we’ll have to decide whether it’s worth it to stand and wait for Illuminations for an hour. For some that may be a normal option but we’re both rather tall adults so usually we just find a spot around 15 minutes before the fireworks and have always been able to see just fine.
My husband took me to this during our honeymoon and the dessert party itself took place in this massive tent near the UK. There was ac and plenty of tables, but no seats, which I didn’t mind. We had a blast! The dessert was similar to what you noted above, but they were frying the donuts and churros in front of us, and offered some coffee ice cream with it. It was delicious! There was also plenty of champagne to go around. When it’s time to watch the fireworks, they walk you to the place between the two gift shops at the edge of the lagoon 10 minutes before the fireworks are about to start. The people running the event were great, and were going around making sure there was enough food, tables, and everyone was comfortable. I preferred this event to Tomorrowland Terrace.
I’m curious to see more recent reviews of this event. We LOVED the Wishes Dessert Party and are/were excited to see something a little more “adult-like” being offered at Epcot. It could be so romantic! However, why can’t the event location be moved to accommodate tables/chairs? I suppose most of the World Showcase area IS a little hilly…….but why not rope off a nice area close to the lagoon where tables/chairs could safely be located? Maybe I’m not remembering the locale too well?
This was our 1st experience with any sort of Dessert Party & we only tried it because it was part of our EFWF Premium Package. Because the evening forecast of rain, our desserts were moved indoors to the China pavilion. I didn’t find any desserts that were “wow” at all. How very disappointing! The churros were soggy which is an abomination & they were definitely not fried to order. We had already tried the Lamington cake & baklava at the food booths earlier in the day. The only thing I went 2x for was the apple cobbler & berry cobbler. I had the CM who was scooping ice cream for make-your-own sundaes put a scoop on my cobblers. Some other comments I’ve read on other forums said it was too much crust, but I actually prefer that part.
There didn’t seem to be enough ice for the cold drinks which was just water, iced tea & lemonade. I didn’t see any sodas available and there was no CM at the non-alcohol station to ask about it.
Thank goodness we didn’t pay separately for this event because it was NOT worth it.
The Illuminations viewing site was the same as mentioned in the article, but with the crowds we saw, we left before the fireworks started just so we avoided the exodus after the show ends.
SynA — Thanks so much for stopping by and giving an update about the how the Dessert Party is unfolding for Food and Wine Festival Premium Package guests. This is really helpful information!
I understand the gripes about $50 per head for guest over 9 years old, considering those 10 to 20 yrs cannot consume the alcohol factored into the price. Maybe there should be 2 options: $50 with alcohol, $35 without.
However… the current $50 pricing does have an upside. Many deciding the value isn’t as good for non-drinkers = less kids running around, shoulder jockeying, pushing strollers into your ankles, crying &/or screaming. There is a time & place for that, it’s called the MK Wishes FP+ viewing area. Lol 😉
Not at all worth the money. Go to the magic kingdom one and get much better desserts. Especially if you are gluten free – a plate of fruit, a frozen brownie and frozen cookie in a bag and a pumpkin cake in a jar. Unsure what else to feed you. Very disappointed for the money. 2 champagnes and a jar of rum punch (we don’t know what’s in it). Not anywhere near Disney standards and there were 9 of us.