Happily Ever After Fireworks Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom: Prices & Info
Walt Disney World has changed its Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Parties for the Happily Ever After nighttime spectacular. Here are full details about the “new” Seats & Sweets Party, Pre-Party, and After-Party, plus times, pricing, and other details for the 3 options.
Let’s start on a positive note, which is that there are no price increases for 2023! These Magic Kingdom dessert parties are a rarity in that regard, last increasing in price a few years ago when they added alcohol. Since then, the cost hasn’t gone up at all. This is surprising given the popularity of these parties–but you should still brace yourself for some sticker shock if you’ve never booked them. They were very expensive 2-3 years ago, and are still very expensive today!
For all of these Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties, you delight in delicious desserts prepared by Magic Kingdom’s pastry chef, such as chocolate-dipped strawberries and chocolate silk tarts; a variety of cheeses; refreshing beverages, including an assortment of beer and wine for guests ages 21 and over. All of these spreads are at Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant; it’s the seating/standing and timing that vary among the parties.
Turning to the specifics, the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Pre-Party allows you to end your Disney day in a magical way—with tantalizing treats and fantastic fireworks.
Shortly before the start of the nighttime spectacular, Cast Members will escort you from Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant to a prime standing area in the Plaza Garden. Here, you’ll see the skies come alive during the Happily Ever After fireworks extravaganza.
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Pre-Party Price: Admission is $99 per adult (ages 10 and up); $59 per child (ages 3 to 9), tax included. Gratuity is not included or required.
Next, the Magic Kingdom Seats & Sweets Fireworks Dessert Party. The selling point of this one is that you never have to leave Tomorrowland Terrace. Arrive there, grab your sweets and such, and then take your seat on the restaurant’s patio—and see the skies come alive during the Happily Ever After nighttime spectacular.
Price: Admission is $114 per adult (ages 10 and up); $69 per child (ages 3 to 9), tax included. Gratuity is not included or required.
Finally, the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert After-Party. First, check in at Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant starting 60 minutes prior to Happily Ever After. As showtime nears, Cast Members will escort you to a prime location in the Plaza Garden for priority fireworks viewing.
After the fireworks, you’ll be escorted back to Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant, where you will enjoy a host of desserts and drinks that were served up for the other two dessert parties. Some might call this one the “Leftovers Dessert Party.”
Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert After-Party Pricing: Admission is $99 per adult (ages 10 and up); $59 per child (ages 3 to 9), tax included. Gratuity is not included or required.
Here are other “Know Before You Go” details from Walt Disney World…
Reservations – Advance reservations are highly recommended. Same-day reservations can be made on a limited basis and are subject to availability.
(Our note: It’s highly unlikely that’ll be possible with this–between the current crowds and popularity of Happily Ever After fireworks, this should sell out well in advance on a nightly basis.)
Checking In – Please arrive at Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant 60 to 90 minutes prior to Happily Ever After.
Showtimes – Please check the entertainment schedule on DisneyWorld.com or in the My Disney Experience mobile app for the night schedule of Happily Ever After.
Standing Only – Plaza Garden viewing is standing-room only.
Fireworks – Fireworks are not guaranteed as part of this experience; on rare occasions, evening fireworks may be rescheduled or cancelled. Please refer to the entertainment schedule or call (407) WDW-DINE or (407) 939-3463 to confirm showtimes 2 weeks prior to your reservation, and check again the day of your reservation. Guests under 18 years of age must have parent or guardian permission to call.
On a related note, Walt Disney World has announced that from March 30 through July 5, 2023, the Ferrytale Fireworks: A Sparkling Dessert Cruise will be closed for refurbishment.
I’m honestly a bit surprised by the timing of this, taking the Magic Kingdom fireworks cruise out of commission right as Happily Ever After returns and through Independence Day. If you asked me the exact worst 3-month stretch for closure of the cruise, that would probably be it. The only conceivable explanation I can come up with is that Disney has somehow found a more lucrative option during that window. Perhaps they’re going to be releasing a VIP fireworks cruise package for 10x the cost?!
In terms of commentary about the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties, the obvious starting place is pricing. These are all very expensive, especially for families with small children, adults who don’t drink, etc. Even as other prices have spiked all around Walt Disney World, at least in part “inflating” away the premium pricing of this particular splurge, these dessert parties are difficult to justify.
As has been mentioned here many times, we still remember back when Tomorrowland Terrace offered free first-come seating. When the Fireworks Dessert Party debuted as a test offering roughly a decade ago, we opted not to do it. Given that we didn’t love the view from the Noodle Station seating area, the $25 price tag seemed steep for desserts. Now, the idea of unlimited desserts for $25 at Walt Disney World seems so quaint!
Our thinking was that the mirror image view of what Tomorrowland Terrace offers is free and often uncrowded. (See our Best Magic Kingdom Fireworks Viewing Locations for our recommendations, plus a color-coded map of where to watch—and where to avoid.)
Walt Disney World’s dessert parties are incredibly popular with regular guests. There’s something about the mix of exclusivity, a private event space, all you can eat sweets and alcohol, and a stress-free viewing location for nighttime spectaculars that’s a winning formula. Add the return of Happily Ever After to the mix, and Magic Kingdom’s fireworks parties will likely become more popular than ever.
I’ve said repeatedly in the past that I’m not a fan of Magic Kingdom’s dessert parties, as none of them seemed “worth it.” They’re fun, no doubt, but the cost is really steep and they’re just not a splurge that has generally been appealing to us. Our perspective was that we could stake out spots for the fireworks and buy our own desserts for considerably less money, about the same time commitment, and with equivalent views.
All of that is past tense because we’re starting to come around on the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties, at least partially.
To be sure, I still think the value proposition is not favorable, and these likely won’t rank highly on our list of splurges at Walt Disney World. However, after encountering crazy crowds for Disney Enchantment even in the off-season, and viewing areas taped off in the crowd bypass corridor behind Main Street, I’m starting to rethink that assessment.
I’m also concerned that these crowds are only going to get worse with Happily Ever After. I know Disney Enchantment has its fans (there are dozens of you…DOZENS!), but nothing like Happily Ever After. That increase in crowds coupled with getting to watch the superior spectacular might just move the needle enough to justify doing one of these.
Even then, the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties are probably something I’d file alongside Club Level at Walt Disney World. As with that, there’s really no way to contend this is “worth it” from an objective perspective. Rather, there are ways to (internally) rationalize it as a TREAT YO SELF splurge.
That’s kind of where we are with this, wanting a low-stress and fun way to welcome back Happily Ever After and reluctantly willing to pay a premium price for that. It also helps that we can justify this from a “research” perspective, as it’s been ages since we did one of these and want to determine whether our preconceptions are right or wrong, and also need to figure out some of the actual mechanics of the party in practice.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be booking any of the Magic Kingdom Fireworks Dessert Parties for the return of Happily Ever After? Which of the trio sounds most appealing to you? Are you a fan of Walt Disney World’s nighttime spectacular dessert parties? If so, which is your favorite? Do you agree or disagree with my ‘review’ of WDW’s dessert parties? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
As I go to book the “new” fireworks dessert party, one glaring contradiction showed up…on the “post” party one, after clicking on check availability, it says “Park admission not required”. This is ONLY for the post party. Is this correct? We wanted to go on the night before our cruise where we won’t have a park ticket and didn’t want to buy a park ticket just to see the fireworks
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/enchanting-extras-collection/fireworks-dessert-after-party/
“Theme park admission is required, but it is not included in the price of this event. Theme park reservations are also required.“
Watch for conflicts. When we booked the CM on the phone told me we would be accommodated outdoors, and when I reminded her that out sweets and seats booking was inside on the terrace, she mentioned that it was the first day and some language needed to be updated. I’d assume the most obvious and that every I needed to be dotted and t crossed. Wanting an exception is asking for more magic than is realistic.
For anyone else, I did verify with Disney via chat that the website was incorrect stating that “Park admission is not required”. I sent them the link and they saw that it did state that, but then going into “very important details” it correctly stated that park admission was required. They have submitted a fix for the web page.
This is definitely a splurge, but if you close your eyes and click “buy” the result is that you get a completely stress free fireworks viewing experience which really can’t be created on your own unless you pay for the VIP tour. To me this is $70/pp for the viewing area and $30 for desserts. We did it last summer, and I’ll do it again. I love fireworks, I hate rude people, I hate obstructed views, and I hate my kids complaining about having to get there over an hour early to stake out a spot, then being crushed by late comers. So it’s kind of like Genie+ imo, yes it’s too expensive but it makes for such a better experience. We did a VIP tour in 2021 and ever since then I have decided that buying Genie, 2 LLs, and the dessert party essentially gets you the same experience for a 90% discount. Genie+, plus 2 LLs, plus the dessert party for 4 adults is under $700. A VIP tour is like $5,000. So I’m actually saving money!!! Haha!!
“This is definitely a splurge, but if you close your eyes and click ‘buy’ the result is…”
Our approach to booking Club Level is Sarah booking it with whatever discount is available and not telling me the cost until AFTER our stay. That definitely helps me enjoy it more!
Hi Tom,
My wife and I are travelling to WDW from Australia this year. We are happy to splurge on this, but my question is whether the seated view is better or worse then the before/after parties with a standing view?
Also, being off to the side is a heads on view (with a million other people!) a better vantage point?
I think the standing view in Plaza Gardens is better than the seated view, even if you get a front row spot at Tomorrowland Terrace–and there’s definitely no guarantee of that.
I would also take the view from the middle of Main Street over both, but that’s assuming you aren’t fighting a colossal crowd or have a shoulder kid/giant in front of you. Bold assumptions.
Pre kids, we’ve been to WDW with nieces and nephews and have been absolutely mowed over by guests pushing their way in at the last minute, trampling the small kids to get a good seat to the fireworks. It was never fun no matter where we sat. We now have been with our own littles a couple of times and were relieved to learn (from the empty space in Fantasy land) that they don’t care about fireworks. So we use the time to ride attractions with no waits. But should the kids come around to fireworks, I am absolutely paying for this experience. I want a calmer place to watch from and even more importantly, hang in to wait out the departing crowds. I will happily munch on leftover desserts and down cheap bubbly while the crowds thin. Those end of night bus lines are equally painful – especially with a 2 and 4 yr old. As they get older, it’ll be easier to have them tolerate more, but a 2hr stake out for a spot on the front end, lengthy crowds during and heavy lines after are just a nightmare.
Should I assume this would be a waste for those in scooters as I would still have people standing in front of me. It’s so hard to get into the handicapped viewing area. Lines start up for that waaaay ahead of time. I would actually pop for this just to not be squeezed and pushed and run into. Thanks for the update on the party … lived here 17 years and have never done it. Think it’s time
They have an area reserved for guests in wheelchairs who purchase the dessert party tickets for the garden. It’s actually very good. You are right at the front of the reserved party area. Once it gets closer to showtime, they do let other dessert party guests “move up” into this area as well, but seeing as how those in wheelchairs have already been seated those “moving up up” are standing behind you. For this reason don’t wait to show up right before the fireworks start as the non wheelchair guests will already have been allowed into this area.
We were pixie dusted with a fireworks dessert party on my Leap Day birthday in February 2020. It was absolutely incredible. Not worth the price it would have cost for 2 adults and 2 children but having that pixie dust made it feel so amazing! I knew about the parties and my husband didn’t. It was funny to watch his face when I told him what it would have cost us to all go.
We just did a fireworks dessert party in February and I was surprised by how much we enjoyed it. It was a splurge for sure, but having an uncrowded, reserved spot to watch the show was amazing. We sat on the grass while our kids ran around before it started and then when people stood up, there was so much space to get a great view – especially if you stand in the back. The whole viewing experience was definitely more magical than fighting crowds and that alone made it worth the price. No one even wanted the dessert at the end.
I booked a réservation for California Grill at 7:30pm when my 60 days window open because I feared that I worldn’t be able to get a pre-party reservation.
Now the FOMO hit hard and I booked the dessert party on a different MK day so I could get that expérience too! (A small part of me wished that it will be fully booked so I couldn’t get it but oh well!)
That also means we will be able to ride a lot during the firework on our third MK day.
3 nights, 3 differents experiences of the Fireworks.
I wish the Frozen Sparkling dessert party at Epcot would come back. It was worth it! Part of the package was riding the Frozen ride afterward with no line.
I’m debating doing this in mid-April as I have a 7:15 ADR for Skipper Canteen. I’m thinking the post fireworks party would be better because of the ADR. Also MK is open until 11pm.
I just booked this for us for the first week of April this morning. I know it’ll be crowded — I was in the parks last week and saw the insanity that was Enchantment — and I feel like this will be worth it with a child who will no doubt be tired.
My wife and I did the World of Color dessert party a few years ago at DCA, and I remember saying to someone, “The view was good, not great. The food was good, not great. The ability to not have to fight for a spot was still worth it.” I know this is different in multiple ways — namely, we were seated at WoC and here, we’re doing the pre-party, not the seated experience — but it’s still the comparison I kept returning to.
Drew you are exactly right and great choice booking it for April. We’ve done the MK fireworks various ways over the years and by far the most stress free is just spending the money to avoid the hoards. We are taking extended family with 2 littles in June and I am absolutely booking the party so the 6 and 8 yo can enjoy and not get trampled. Have a great trip!
We did the MK dessert party in 2019- was not worth it for the dessert itself- was like supermarket quality- not what we were expecting. That being said it was really nice to have the private viewing area for the fireworks.
The same year we also did the Star Wars galactic dessert party- that was AWESOME. Not only was the food good but you were hanging out with storm troopers and they had cleverly named mixed drinks for adults , gave us a vader head popcorn bucket and the viewing area for show.
I actually love these parties (I’ve always done the after party). If i was traveling solo or not during party season, I’d probably find a spot to stake out, as I’m agile enough to adjust if necessary, but it was absolutely the right choice with my family this past November. It was pure chaos all around us and we had a nice little seated garden to chill in while waiting for the fireworks and a dessert buffet to enjoy as the hoards left the park. No stress about finding spots or being packed in like sardines. My parents also balked at the price before the party but after seeing the crowds agreed it was a good choice. Fireworks are very important to me on a disney trip and I’m willing to spend money to be more confident that my one chance to see castle fireworks will go well.
How early do you typically arrive for the after-party? I’m actually quite curious about that one, but the super early “recommended” arrival time seems (to me at least) to undercut so much of what the value would be for me.
In theory, that party has a lot of appeal if I could arrive last-minute and still be guaranteed a good spot, and then enjoy desserts as the crush of crowds is clearing out of MK.
About half an hour before. definitely no more than 45 minutes before. I’m guessing you could walk up much closer to the fireworks and be fine as long as you have time to check in with the cast members at tomorrowland terrace and make it back to the garden.
I just don’t get it. I too am not a fan of the 6 foot adult with the 3 foot child extension and I will NOT stake out a spot for 2 hours . That said I won’t pay good money for a spot even if they include a full buffet and a character for that price. OK that’s hyperbole. When I worked on cruise ships we would laugh at people who took several big plates of food back to their room on the first night as if they could eat back the cost of the trip. You can’t eat enough desserts or drink enough beverages to make up the cost so unless you bring a suitcase and several large thermoses to fill up with goodies and such you’re paying for a spot to watch something that takes place up in the sky over your head. We love the fireworks, even the bad ones and we’ve watched from some awful spots and you know what? They’re still fun.
“You can’t eat enough desserts or drink enough beverages to make up the cost…”
Challenge accepted.
Seriously, though, you’re right. We are perfectly satisfied watching Happily Ever After from the middle of Fantasyland, which isn’t even a bad view!
Tom, why do you think the crowds for the fireworks have gotten so bad lately? I was under the impression that from a raw attendance numbers standpoint, Magic Kingdom still isn’t as busy as it was pre-pandemic, but it sounds like the fireworks viewing situation has become much worse?
I don’t like staking out a spot but I can’t really see myself ever spending money on these; there are a lot of things I’d splurge on at Disney before this (the After Hours or holiday parties come to mind, as I’ve never done either).
For reasons beyond me, people still are not staying late at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I think that’s a big part of it. Same is true at Animal Kingdom, but it’s not like Rivers of Light was really pulling big crowds pre-closure.
I think that explains almost all of the fireworks crowds. I really expected this trend to reverse itself once Fantasmic returned. Really crazy to me that that hasn’t happened, especially since the new and very improved Fantasmic is EASILY the best nighttime spectacular at Walt Disney World right now.
We’ve done the pre-fireworks party before and have mixed feelings. The desserts were not good in our opinion, just a mix of overly sweet chocolates, maybe a $5-$10 value for us. I think there were two beers available and the better of which was a Blue Moon, so no real “value” there for us either. However, we have multiple people in our group that love Happily Ever After and we’ve had so many bad experiences with shoulder kids popping up at the last second or people in front of us holding up iPads, etc. that there was value in it for us just to have a dedicated space to watch from. We’ve also had issues in the past with being pushed or rammed with strollers, so again the dedicated area is nice. It’s not something that we would pay for every time, but for the first time seeing Happily Ever After in years we would definitely consider it.
Your description sounds strikingly similar to my last two times doing the World of Color Dessert Party, which is the worst value-for-money experience I’ve had with this type of upcharge. Maybe the MK dessert party will dethrone it!
Tom, any idea on July 3rd for the Seats and Treats? We have a large group (9) and want to do the party then. How crazy is it for the 3rd and 4th of July, and how early should we go? Tips? Oh, and every Seats and Treats is sold out as of today, so it’s definitely going to be a fight at 60 days out!
“How crazy is it for the 3rd and 4th of July, and how early should we go? Tips?”
I assume you mean for the dessert party, in which case, I have no clue–sorry.
My experiences with fireworks for July 3/4 at Walt Disney World have been shockingly positive in general. Same goes for December 30/31, actually. I know my luck is going to run out at some point, but I’m usually surprised by the crowds being lower than I expected, not worse.
I also used to think the cost of these was crazy. But during our last trip, after camping out 2 hours in advance only to end up with hoards of people filling in front of us the last two minutes anyway I’m hoping to try it out next trip around Christmas 2024. Having to sit for so long with 4 little kids and then end up with them unable to see anyway because naturally they are smaller than all the adults in front of us was just disappointing. It’s the seats, raising them up to adult height, that im really paying for I guess! And to avoid the general overall feeling of claustrophobia. My top choice is to get treats and seats on New Year’s Eve so wish me luck ha.
“My top choice is to get treats and seats on New Year’s Eve so wish me luck ha.”
Yikes–you’re gonna need all the luck you can get.
Have you considered trying for New Year’s Eve Eve instead? Probably a lot less demand!
We’re coming from West Coast Canada, likely a one and done trip to Florida. We’re 2 Disney adults in our 50’s. The thought of sitting for an hour, and watching the fireworks without some 6’ dad with 3’ kid extension standing right in front of us after 90 minutes of cooling our heels for a great spot was enough to justify the expense. Plus the “ I got Champaign at the ML” bragging rights. Happy to provide a review if you’d like.
“The thought of sitting for an hour, and watching the fireworks without some 6’ dad with 3’ kid extension standing right in front of us after 90 minutes of cooling our heels for a great spot was enough to justify the expense.”
This is definitely the big selling point of the dessert parties, especially the one with “seats” right in the name!