The Frozen Ever After Dessert Party is a ticketed event that offers the opportunity to enjoy unlimited desserts, VIP seating for the nighttime show at Epcot, and a ride on Frozen Ever After once the park closes. In this post, we review the event, walking you through the basics of planning and booking, the event itself, and our analysis of whether it’s worth it. Read on to learn all about the Frozen Ever After Dessert Party at Epcot!
Frozen Ever after Dessert Party Basics
The Frozen Ever After Dessert Party is a ticketed event held inside Epcot on select nights. The party includes access to a selection of desserts, small bites, and beverages before the nighttime show, access to a reserved viewing area for the show, and a ride on Frozen Ever After following the show. The official event page is here. If you’re a big Frozen fan, you might also want to check out our post on all the Frozen things at Walt Disney World.
Schedule and Booking
The party is held select nights at Epcot. The specific schedule varies, but it’s most important to note the party does not occur every night.
The party can be booked at this link in the same way you’d make an advance dining reservation. Reservations can be made up to 180 days in advance, but the current event calendar does not always go 180 days in the future, so you may have to check back until your date shows up.
How much does the Frozen Ever After Dessert Party cost?
The current pricing, which includes tax and gratuity, is $99 per adult (ages 10 and up); $59 per child (ages 3 to 9).
Payment is required at the time of booking. Exact cancellation periods may vary, but it’s listed in the “Guest Policies” at the time of booking.
For my event, cancellations were available up to five days before the event. Due to a scheduling conflict, I cancelled a dessert party online once (very easy—just pull up “My Plans” and click cancel) and received the refund on my card within a few days.
You need to have separate admission to Epcot to attend the dessert party.
Arrival and Check In
For a 9:00PM showing of Epcot Forever, the dessert party was scheduled to begin at 8:00PM. I knew from past experience that check-in often begins at least 15 minutes early.
One unique thing about this dessert party is that the seating is fully preassigned. This means you don’t have to arrive early. All the dessert parties offer VIP viewing, but in the other three parks you’ll either find your own spot in the section or be assigned a seat when you arrive. At this party, your seat is already selected before you arrive.
Your seating for dessert is the exact same as your seating for the show, so there may be some desire to arrive early because you might want the best seat at your table.
Chances are someone you’re sitting with for, say, 30 minutes is going to be polite enough to make sure they’re not completely blocking your view when the show starts. There’s enough space for everyone to have an unobstructed and great view of the World Showcase lagoon.
Check In (Right); Obstructed sign (middle)
Check in is next to the Mexico Pavilion on the side near the path to Future World, not the side near the Norway Pavilion. You might think “Frozen=Norway,” but the dessert party isn’t at the Norway Pavilion.
When we arrived at about 7:40PM they were already checking people in and giving them wristbands, and at 7:45PM they began seating people. We were seated at a table of four with another couple that was about the same age as us and who arrived just a few minutes after us.
Frozen Ever after Dessert Party Seating
I’ll show some of the seating here, then we’ll briefly discuss food, then I’ll show some views of the show. (I like to keep things chronological.)
Generally I found the ambiance of the party quite nice. The table numbers are held by Frozen-character luminaries. While the food all has some theme to it, the Frozen theming really comes through in the decor (even if that somewhat just means having lots of blue).
I could go for a bit more space between tables, given that seating is assigned. We were next to a group that insisted on loudly having their self-righteous political discussion while we were eating.
Here’s a look at some of the seating and views:
While there are better and worse seats, there aren’t any bad seats. Unlike Happily Ever after at Magic Kingdom, you don’t really need the best viewing angle for the nighttime / fireworks shows at Epcot (whether it was IllumiNations, is Epcot Forever, or will be HarmoniUS, probably) for the best experience.
The shows are designed to be viewed from around the lagoon, which means most any view from right up against the lagoon is good.
Frozen Ever After Dessert Party Desserts, Food And Drinks
The event menus are listed on the official website and posted at the event itself. Here’s a look at the menus and then a gallery of the food:
Look, this dessert party does have some cool things, mainly the “nitro fried s’more” which is chocolate mousse dipped into some sort of super cold “nitro” concoction and with a toasted marshmallow.
But desserts and small bites aren’t worth $99. Maybe in another park, but at Epcot you’ve got 11 countries of culinary delights to try…there are better used of $99 than mini cupcakes.
That’s not to say this event isn’t worth it. Slow down, not there yet. But the value from this event really can’t be found solely in the food and drink options. Though with alcohol included, one adult could easily get $20-$30 of value if they let loose (beer, wine, and themed cocktails available).
Epcot Forever Viewing
When we last attended the event, the nighttime show at Epcot was Epcot Forever. It will switch to HarmoniUS at some point, and we’ll probably try to visit around the time the switch is made.
As I mentioned earlier, there’s really no bad view for the show as long as you’re up close to the lagoon. Here are a few photos from our seats (the railing is much, much more obnoxious in the photos than in real life):
I’ve had a FastPass+ for Epcot Forever before, and I do prefer this seating. The view here is a tiny bit off-center, which we already have made clear isn’t a problem.
I’ve found the FastPass+ for the Epcot shows is nice but imperfect. You’ll usually still have a few people in front of you with their phones in your face, and of course you’re standing the whole time.
Then again, if you can find a better spot…anywhere around the entire lagoon…you don’t really have to worry about this.
Riding Frozen Ever After
At about 9:17PM, 6 minutes after the show ended, the Cast Members starting gathering us together for the walk to Frozen Ever After.
You go to the ride as a group, and you won’t be able to use your special access to get on before the group walks over (e.g. if you wanted to just skip the show).
By the time we got there the ride was completely empty, so we walked right on. I imagine on busier days you still get to use the FastPass+ queue, so even if there are some guests still in the standby line you’d pass them.
Not much to add about this. The photopass machine was still operating, so our photo showed up on our account shortly after the ride. We finished the ride around 9:34PM.
I suppose I’ll add that getting home this late can be a bit annoying. By this time, the buses aren’t constantly just flowing in and out. We just missed the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus, so we went ahead and paid about $10 for a Lyft back to the hotel.
Is the Frozen Ever After Dessert Party Worth It?
Evaluating the party is a bit tricky because Epcot is a unique park. Chances are that by 8:30PM (or whenever close minus 30 minutes is) you’re not going to still be hopping on and off rides or in and out of shows.
Instead, by 8:30PM you’re probably just chilling around the World Showcase. This means it’s really not tough to grab a drink or a snack, find a spot with a good view of the lagoon, and relax for bit.
Part of what makes the Magic Kingdom dessert parties valuable is that you’re saving a ton of stress trying to balance rides and firework viewing. That stress doesn’t often exist at Epcot.
Epcot sweetens (PUN NOT INTENDED!) the deal by adding the ride on Frozen Ever After after the show and the closure of the park.
This is worth…something…maybe. Frozen Ever After isn’t a particularly tough FastPass+ to come by these days. Anyone planning a full day at Epcot will probably either have a FastPass+ for Frozen Ever After or go there first as part of their rope drop strategy.
Sure, the dessert party actually saves you two FastPass+ reservations—the nighttime show and Frozen Ever After. This value might be a lot better once Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opens and the park is marginally tougher to tour, but right now I just don’t see much value here.
At best, guests who aren’t really into Epcot, perhaps those with small children who will be skipping Test Track anyways, could find good value in the party.
Say you spend the bulk of your day at Magic Kingdom, take the monorail over, and do a few short waits for things like The Seas with Nemo and Friends and Journey Into Imagination with Figment. You do a lap around the World Showcase and settle into the dessert party, finishing your day with Frozen Ever After.
That’s a really nice afternoon…but is it worth $99 / $59 per person? Or put another way…
Is there a universe in which this is worth anything comparable to Early Morning Magic (Fantasyland) ($89 / $79) or the Magic Kingdom Dessert Parties ($99 / $59)? No. Not really.
Most of us expect HarmoniUS to be a fantastic show. If that happens, then it’s possible this party finds a little more value. But for now I think it’s safe to take your hard earned money elsewhere.
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