You all know that Walt Disney World is one of my favorite places on the planet. One of the things they are famous for is coming up with a really unique thing (or TEN) that is season-specific, making me want to come back almost on a monthly basis. Where’s my money tree? I did go to the Rock Your Disney Side 24 Hour event in May as well as Star Wars Weekends.
Star Wars Weekends
Yet there are also several other things they’ve come up with since then for the summer that I’d really love to go see including Harambe Nights held on Saturday nights in Animal Kingdom, the Hollywood Studios villains party coming up on August 23, and now Frozen summer fun also at Hollywood Studios, just to name a few.
The Frozen summer events particularly caught my attention because it seems as though they’ve created these using the same model they used for Star Wars Weekends. They have a Frozen opening show, a Frozen parade followed by a show on the stage in front of the Sorcerer Mickey hat, Frozen sing-along shows throughout the day, a Frozen ending show at night capped off with Frozen fireworks, and there’s even a merchandise area in the same soundstage as the Star Wars merchandise for Star Wars Weekends. Not only that, but there’s ICE SKATING in there, too! For $10, you can ice skate for 30 minutes. That is, if you can get in! Really, the set up of all of these events is identical to Star Wars Weekends. They have even brought back the Premium Package, which includes reserved viewing for the parade, guaranteed seating for one of the sing-alongs, and reserved viewing and dessert party for the fireworks.
Since I took advantage of the Feel the Force Premium Package during Star Wars Weekends, I thought now would be a good time to tell you about it since they are doing something similar right now. Advance reservations were required, and I booked it the day it was announced. It sold out very quickly. Instructions told us to check in near Bill and Min’s Dockside Diner at 10:30 for the first part of the package, which was reserved parade viewing.
Feel the Force check in
I had read the previous weekend’s reviews and knew to arrive much earlier. As I was walking towards the check in around 10 am I saw, just as I knew I would, people already camped out waiting for the parade but there were still several decent spots left. The reason I knew to get there so early is because, even though there was plenty of reserved viewing, the area was very deep, meaning there was plenty of room to stack people but not very much room right at the ropes. They also had a reserved area just for kids. They let the people who had an even more inclusive VIP package in first, so by the time the rest of us were let in, there was no front row space left.
Feel the Force Wristband
Being short, I took up residence behind the kids. I figured I had a better chance of seeing over the littles than I did the bigs.
Highlights from the parade
It was ok. Mickey ice cream bars and strawberry bars were available as part of the package as were bottles of soda and water.
Snacks for the parade viewing were included with the package.
Honestly, I would have had a much better view of the parade had I staked out my spot on the street at the same time I arrived at the package check in.
The second part of the package was the Symphony in the Sky fireworks and dessert party.
No seats were available for the dessert party, just tables for standing.
I was really excited for this because, hello! Darth Vader cupcakes! Seriously, though, the Magic Kingdom has done a Wishes dessert party for years, and I’ve always wanted to go. Unfortunately my family does not share my enthusiasm for copious amounts of expensive desserts prior to watching fireworks obstructed by the roof of the building in which the party is held. My family wasn’t with me this time so it was all mine! I arrived a little after 8 to check in, and we were allowed in right around 8:30. They had LOTS of desserts! LOTS! And plenty of each.
This is just a sampling of what they had. I somehow missed getting a pic of the Darth Vader cupcake tray.
It was quite hot and humid so the icing melted off the cupcakes a wee bit, but they were all headed for my belly anyway so I was ok with that.
The Darth Vader cupcake at the bottom is on its side because the icing fell off.
It just meant my pictures weren’t going to be as good. Also available were 2 different adult beverage options. Now, one might think you could get your money’s worth on the alcohol alone, and I’m sure some did. However, I learned really quickly that fruity adult bevs and lots of super sweet desserts don’t really mix very well. So, I just had a few sips of each one.
2 different adult beverage options
Shocker! I stuck to water and Diet Coke instead. Not long after I decided I was done with the goodies, it was time for the closing show to start. The reserved viewing area had great views of the stage and show.
We had great views of the stage!
The fireworks set to Star Wars music were what I was there to see and were the real reason I had paid the premium price for the Premium Package. As soon as the fireworks started, I realized right away that the fireworks view was not good, not good at all! Remember that stage that we had such a great view of? Yeah, it pretty much blocked a lot of the fireworks.
Not so great view of the fireworks
So for me, this killed the Premium Package.
In short, if I had one day for the individual elements, I would go the free (with admission) route and stake out my parade and fireworks viewing spots. You are likely going to get better viewing with about the same amount of time waiting and standing so why not? Just buy your ice cream, sodas and cupcakes, and you’ll come out way ahead, even if you throw in an adult beverage (or 3). If I had multiple days, I might spring for the premium package just for the experience, but not for the views.
The Frozen version of this has gone up $5 per adult but there’s the added element of the sing-along show. From what I understand, Frozen Premium Package holders get seating in the first 4 rows, which is a really nice added feature. Also, since there isn’t the even more inclusive VIP package for this event, it stands to reason that prime viewing along the ropes would be easier to get for package holders than it was for Star Wars Weekends. The viewing for the Frozen fireworks is still going to stink, though.
Have you experienced either Premium Package? What were your thoughts?
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