The Napa Rose NYE Gala

Sorry it’s taken me ages to get all my Disneyland x NYE blog posts up. But anything Napa Rose related is better late than never. Especially when this amount of champagne is involved.

This was the second year in a row that Mark and I attended the Napa Rose New Year’s Eve Gala, a special black tie event featuring a prix fixe multi-course menu, live music, dance floor, and enough balloons to last a lifetime. I’ve been a fan of Napa Rose for as long as I can remember, but last year was the first time I’d ever even heard of the NYE gala. The event fills up quickly, and we actually had to rely on our favorite server (Saucy — ask for him if you go!) to help secure a spot.

They have two seatings on New Year’s Eve — 5:30 & 8:30. The 8:30 is the place to be, as it’s the seating that leads up to the NYE countdown. It’s also when they break out the live band and dance floor for the guests, which is arguably half the fun (especially after a few glasses of wine).

Prior to getting seated, they encourage guests to mingle & enjoy the atmosphere as they distribute unending glasses of complementary champagne. Everyone is dressed to the nines (including the restaurant staff) and the people watching game is ON POINT.

They seat you group by group, and then the 3+ hours of wine ‘n dine shenanigans begin.

They printed out souvenir menus for each guest to take home, but we let the 5+ glasses of wine pairings get to our noggins — meaning, we forgot ours at the table. Suffice to say, everything was handcrafted with love and care: each dish was beautifully presented, with no skimping on flavor either.

The very best part was the dessert! A Cinderella stroke-of-midnight inspired chocolate cake wrapped in a sugar globe. You had to crack open the globe with a spoon in order to get to the gooey center. Gold star to the pastry chef.

The dancing and revelry at Napa Rose lasted through midnight and into the wee hours of the morning. Just like last year, though, we skipped out early and joined my family around Paradise Pier in California Adventure instead. In one of those best-of-both-worlds dream scenarios, we got to ring in 2017 with fireworks, loved ones, and very full bellies.

xx,