When Disney announced the Villains’ Sinister Soiree dessert party, I had mixed feelings about it. I was excited for this unique experience but was a little worried it wouldn’t be worth the additional price of $99 per person on top of the admission to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. I absolutely love Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party so giving up part of the party for another event was huge for me. However, after experiencing this unique event and all the extras Disney added in, I would definitely say it is worth the extra charge.

The night’s event started with getting preferred viewing for the first parade of Mickey’s Boo-To-You Parade and Hallowishes. Here we received our VIP lanyards, seating card for the dessert party, and some much needed water. One of the things I was a little worried about with the parade was that we were all going to be squished together with just an okay view of the parade. I was completely wrong. We had a great view of the parade located on the front side of the castle hub with plenty of room for everyone to stretch out and have their own spot to take pictures and see the parade. This location was also the preferred viewing area for the fireworks. For the fireworks, this was just an okay location. Most of the fireworks were hidden behind Cinderella’s Castle because we were too close. I would recommend maybe not using this portion of your VIP experience and instead standing in the middle of the street right between Casey’s Corner and the hub for optimal fireworks viewing. The benefits of staying in the preferred viewing are is that you have plenty of room between everyone with no one pushing you or touching you with their sweaty bodies to see the fireworks. I guess its kind of toss up between getting a better view and not being packed with everyone.

The dessert party portion of the event was held at two different times. The first took place at 10:15 pm and the other at 11:45 pm. I recommend doing the later one because the party officially ends at 12:00 and the dessert party is an hour long. Therefore with the later one you get about 45 more minutes to enjoy the Halloween party. When we first walked into the castle we were greeted by three of Disney’s finest villains: the Queen of Hearts, Drizella and Anastasia. We were given an ample amount of time to take pictures and socialize with all three of these characters.

Soon after our first experience with the villains in the lobby, we made our way up the stairs to the banquet hall and again, were greeted by two more characters: Captain Hook and Judge Frollo. At this time we didn’t stop to greet them but were instead escorted to our seats where we had all kinds of goodies and gifts. These included: a Maleficent dragon cup with candy, a Maleficent drink stirrer, poison apple glow-cube, commemorative menu and an autograph card with the villain’s signatures on it. As everyone made their way into the hall, Captain Hook and Judge Frollo made their way around to a few of the tables for pictures, but not all. If you wanted pictures with them, you had to approach them yourself. We were misinformed when we came in so we missed Judge Frollo, but it wasn’t too big of a deal because everyone else came around later on.

Once everyone was seated, Lady Tremaine opened the event with a special musical number and introduced the remaining villains who would be joining us for the evening. These villains included: the Evil Queen, Maleficent, Cruella De Ville, Dr. Facilier, Drizella and Anastasia. After their introduction, they spread themselves throughout the hall and started visiting each table.

I have to say this has been my favorite character “dining” experience I have ever done. The villains were absolutely amazing! They were quick-witted, respectful and spent plenty of time with each family. We actually had several of them stop by twice. This has been the most time I have ever really spent with any Disney character, especially with a villain. The villain experience alone makes this event worth every penny. They even took their time in helping calm a young boy down who at first was extremely scared, but in turn became very excited to visit with each one of them. These villains have been doing this for a very long time. They were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and made this event truly unique and special.

I was amazed at how hard the dining staff and chefs worked on making our dining experience top notch as well. We had in our party a guest who had food allergies and couldn’t eat some of the food from the cheese and meats planner along with some of the desserts. The chef personally came out and talked with the guest and made their dessert to order. To our surprise the dessert came out at the same time as ours did. Our servers were constantly stopping by to make sure we had all the refills we wanted of Captain’s Not-So-Poisoned Potion drink and dessert/food we wanted. Five-star dining staff for sure!

Soon after we finished our cheese and meats planter four of the villains presented their own dessert selections to us (each dessert was a full size dessert). The desserts were: The Queen’s Bleeding Heart Apple (a white wine poached apple), Maleficent’s Dragon-Toasted Confection (pistachio mousse with crisp meringue), Dr. Facilier’s Chocolate Tarot Card (dark chocolate covered pecan praline with chocolate torte), and Cruella De Vil’s Spotted Chocolate Mousse Cake (101 layers of white chocolate and dark chocolate mousse with a hint of raspberry). The Queen’s Bleeding Heart Apple was interesting to say the least. I’m still not sure if I liked it or not but the rest of the desserts were pretty good.

I only see a few minor drawbacks about doing this event. Mainly this is because of the time constraints and not having as much flexibility to enjoy the party throughout the night. You will miss some of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party but as stated, if you do the later seating, you don’t have to miss much of the party.

Overall, the Villains’ Sinister Soiree is worth the extra $99 in addition to the cost of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. The entire time we felt like we were the VIPs of the night and were given the best service possible. We got to experience one of the most unique experiences Disney Events has to offer. The desserts were delicious, the entertainment was awesome, and the highlight of the night being able to interact and mingle with Disney’s top villains was truly AWESOME! We had the most Villainous night we could have wished for!

– Cody Woodbrey