New Escape Bride... What to do for dinner

[chocolatejodie]

Hi all, long time lurker of the boards here... and after 9 years of badgering ahem prompting my other half, we finally got engaged today.

And so to business, I'm planning an escape wedding next Feb and I seriously need some inspiration for dinner ideas.
I would love to take the 12 of us to a restaurant but my family are fairly fussy, no fancy tidbits of food in the middle of the plate for them, and I would love somewhere whereby I won't have to remortgage my house to pay for it.
Thanking all of you lovely brides and assorted boarders in advance

 

[pawprint86]

We are having our Escape wedding in the morning, and planning the afternoon at Magic Kingdom. I'm going to book a family dinner at Tony's Town Square restaurant. It's nice, family-friendly, but not to too themed, for the not-so-Disney folks that are coming. I have no idea how expensive it will be, but I know they don't even serve alcohol, so that will help. I really wanted to end my special day with Wishes fireworks.

The next day we are all going to EPCOT. I'm hoping to book a dinner at the Coral Reef for the whole group. Some of our guests will have dining plans, so I think that will help with costs.

The wedding is Nov 2016, and my 180 day window to book dining reservations comes up soon, so hopefully I get everything I want.

Congrats on getting engaged, and good luck with your planning!!!

 

[chocolatejodie]

We are having our Escape wedding in the morning, and planning the afternoon at Magic Kingdom. I'm going to book a family dinner at Tony's Town Square restaurant. It's nice, family-friendly, but not to too themed, for the not-so-Disney folks that are coming. I have no idea how expensive it will be, but I know they don't even serve alcohol, so that will help. I really wanted to end my special day with Wishes fireworks.

The next day we are all going to EPCOT. I'm hoping to book a dinner at the Coral Reef for the whole group. Some of our guests will have dining plans, so I think that will help with costs.

The wedding is Nov 2016, and my 180 day window to book dining reservations comes up soon, so hopefully I get everything I want.

Congrats on getting engaged, and good luck with your planning!!!

Oh wow that sounds amazing, I wil def check that restaurant out.
I take it you'll be changing out of your dress after the wedding?
I was hoping I'd be in a situation where people will have to cut me out of it by the end of the day just to get it off me

 

[pawprint86]

I know they don't allow you in the park with attire that looks too princess-ey, wedding or not. But also, my wedding dress isn't a poofy gown, but it isn't great for roaming around a theme park either. I was told recently by our wedding co-ordinator that the best plan would be to change into park attire at the venue once the cake/champagne celebration is done, and store our wedding clothes in the lockers they have at the entrance of magic kingdom. You rent a locker for 4 or 5 bucks, I think. They don't have a service to ship our clothes from the venue back to our hotel. Grrr.

We were there in Oct 2015 (we got engaged there), and we did see a bride in Magic Kingdom, wearing a very simple white, knee-length dress. (With her stockings rolled down as she was clearly done with the formal part of her day!) This was just in the part of the evening when everyone was gathering for the parade and fireworks.

We picked Magic Kingdom to do on the afternoon of the wedding because that IS what most people think of as Disney World, and it has so much classic Disney. But also that a lot of our family are not into WDW at ALL. So one afternoon is minimal for them to have to put up with, but also to maybe show them what the Old Disney Magic was all about. That, and the Electric Parade and Wishes Fireworks to end our special day.

But the problem with that, is there aren't that many great sit-down restaurants for a big family dinner in Magic Kingdom. Be Our Guest is the ONLY one in MK that serves alcohol at all. But is is too themed and character dining is not great for the rest of our family. A couple others are more lunch-friendly.

I would suggest going to the WDW Dining page - you can click on the lists at the top to filter by specific park, and then filter for what restaurants accept reservations, and see what suits you.

If you have fussy family, there are TONS of restaurants in EPCOT to choose from. The Coral Reef, where I want to go, is under the aquarium, and you can literally watch fish, sharks, and sting rays swim past you while you eat. Plus amazing food. I'm NOT a foodie, and I took pictures of the food there. Also, lots of nice restaurants in Disney Springs, but that means being outside the parks. A lot of brides do make that choice. For us, Disney and Disney Magic was part of us getting engaged, and we want the park magic to be an intrinsic part of our day. Other brides make the parks their honeymoon after the big day.

If you haven't been there yet, check out http://www.disneymooner.com Forums are here: http://www.disneymooner.com/forums/index.php
Once you pass the five post requirement and request access to the full forums, there is a TON of useful information.

Feel free to PM me if you want any information about the escape wedding planning too!

 

[dp911]

I am debating this also, as I go back and forth bw escape and mini wishes. I am looking into The Wave at the Contemporary. They have either a full private room or a half private room with a food and bev minimum. I am looking for the pricing sheet and cannot find where i put it!

 

[pawprint86]

I think the biggest differences between Escape and Wishes are the reception and the amount of customization you get with the package.

I've never been one for typical weddings, so the fact that Escape gives a small cake and champagne celebration, and then I can plan my own dinner afterward, didn't bother me.
We hired an officiant to do our wedding who does a very highly customized ceremony, so we are happy enough with that.
The differences in price - it just wasn't worth it to us. Yeah, you get other things like discounts on a room block, a planned reception, etc. But we are already paying a lot (coming from Canada, and our dollar exchange rate means we are probably going to pay a LOT no matter what), so we really had to decide what mattered to us.

YOu could also contact the restaurant to see about group booking/rates etc and price that out along with the full-meal-deal of the Wishes package.

I have a tiny family, and we will probably have less than 10 people for the wedding, so paying for a couple of family meals at any restaurant won't be too heinous.

 

[dp911]

I think I read that if you do an escape your coordinator can still help you book a reception for after? I like Ariels and see the food and beverage minimum for brunch is $1000 or is that price only for wishes?

 

[lurkyloo]

The prices are the same, but Ariel's is not on the list of venues they usually offer Escape couples. That doesn't mean you can't use it, you may just have to push for it or be willing to wait until closer to your date to confirm it.

 

[pawprint86]

It might be that booking there would amount to a separate catered event, and not part of the escape package.

I know with the escape package they do say they will package up your cake and you can take it to any restaurant.

 

[lurkyloo]

Escape couples may add a 2-hour catered meal to the Escape package, but unlike the package, it will incur tax and service charge.

 

[chocolatejodie]

Thanks for all your replies, I will dig out my copy of passporter (a.k.a the Bible- thanks Carrie) I think the Wave minimums were in there, that seems a reasonable option, then also have a look at Disneymooner, and have another flick through the restaurant pages on the Disney website.

I think I def want to stay in my dress and not too fussed about park time, as we will be there for 2 weeks as we're coming from the UK.

Made my first call to Disney yesterday... So exciting, admittedly I was told to ring back next Monday... Clearly trying to get them to take my details 5 days before the actual 9 month mark was pushing it a bit... Still worth a try lol.

 

[pawprint86]

They took our details at around 9 months out, but the booking of the solid date wasn't until exactly 8 months. We had requested Nov 2 at 10 am, but it was taken (I guess by a wishes wedding), so we got Nov 3. We are just as happy. So at exactly 8 months, we got an email confirming they would reserve our date for ten days and we had ten days to return the contract. There was a few phone calls and emails, because our date looked open, but was taken by the time the final booking date arrived. Once 8 months out from our date arrived, we got an email confirmation.

We had a few phone calls with the Disney wedding Sales Consultant (we Had Diane Mahoney-Brown), and she was great, told us what to expect for he process for booking, etc.
I really only had a couple of phone calls with her, a lot of communication was email.

After your date is picked, you get an email with the (long) legal contract to sign with DFTW.

To fill in the contract, they will require $1000 deposit, and also a confirmation of the bride/groom resort booking for at least 4 days. We booked in Pop Century, as long as you are in any of the Disney Resorts, it's accepted. We booked through a travel agent, so it took us a few days to get the DISNEY confirmation number they needed for the contract. There is also a lot of legal-ese about cancellation, postponement etc.

Once you return that, they give you the wedding consultant/planner that will be assigned to you until the big day.

We've had a couple emails with our wedding co-orodinator, but honestly with an Escape wedding, there are only small details to iron out. As it says in Passporter, these weddings are so easy for the experienced staff to plan out, it doesn't take that much communication, and don't be alarmed if you don't hear from them for even a few months. ALL of our communication with DFTW staff has been excellent.

 

[chocolatejodie]

Wow Pawprint, thanks so much for sharing that detail.
I had listened to Carries podcast about making the first call and the advice of ... "Don't be ringing and bombarding them with questions on the first call..."
So I was set with that, I'm just really hoping my date(s) are available.

I clearly need to channel my energy into finding some great flight deals for Orlando.

However saying that we are telling my nieces tonight... They have never been to DisneyWorld, or Florida and they get to be my bridesmaids!!!! (I think I wish I was 9 again)

 

[AndTiggerToo]

Great post!! I am also a UK bride-to-be flitting between Escape and Mini-Wishes but I think I've settled on Escape. Granted, I have plenty of time to change my mind as we are hoping for a 2019 date!

I will have the full quota of 18+2 hopefully so I will be looking to book somewhere nice, like Yachtsman Steakhouse, as a treat for us all. Can't help thinking it would probably be cheaper to do a separate catered event but I'm struggling with costings - and then I'm back round to the old chestnut "would it be cheaper to do mini-wishes then"?!? ARRRGH!!!

Also, would love a dessert party but struggling with the idea of a big meal and then the dessert party afterwards as if we have no meal there will be a lot of time to kill in between the wedding and the dessert party!

Will watch this post with interest for ideas!
x

 

[kl3w]

I'm doing a morning Epcot Escape wedding, and we're going to go to lunch afterward. I looked into doing a catered brunch/lunch through Disney, but I think we're going to go with a Disney Springs group reservation. We're looking at Morimoto, Raglan Road, Portobellos, and Wolfgang Puck, all of which let you do large groups if you order off a banquet menu. The banquet menus range from $25-75 per person and the restaurants don't require any extra decor, so we've decided that would be the cheaper and easier option for us. I'm leaning toward Morimoto, especially after listening to the recent Disney Weddings Podcast about the Escape bride who went there. Plus it's just such a cool looking restaurant!

I also considered the mini-Wishes but after weighing all the options, it was just easier for us to do the Escape with a meal afterward, especially since we're doing the whole thing in less than 6 months (got engaged last Friday, wedding is October 28). I'm also doing a dessert party the night before the wedding as a welcome party through Disney Catered Events. My original plan was to do it the night of the wedding, but weekends are blacked out for DPs because of Food and Wine, and I think the night before will actually be better in the long run.

 

[pawprint86]

A tip about dinner bookings for those wanting to be in the parks:

Some of the places don't book for larger groups, so if you try to book the reservations online, you won't be successful. But if you call the phone # and say "customer service" so that you get to speak to a real person, and explain the situation, they can help.

Our dinner the day of the wedding is going to be at Tony's Town Square in MK. But we had to make reservations for 2 tables of six.
The next day at Coral Reef in Epcot, a table of 8 and a table of 4.

The online booking won't let you book 2 tables.

They told us that closer to the day (I guess a day or so before?) to call the restaurant and ask for the tables to be seated next to each other. Otherwise they can't guarantee that your party will be seated together.

 

[AndTiggerToo]

Wow that's great, so quick!! Ive ONLY been waiting 8 years for my wedding! Yep, got engaged in 2008. Lol. Never really wanted to get married until I started looking into Disney weddings and now its completely taken over!

Usually we stay offsite so its hard to work out where is good to eat but were going for a holiday in September and hope to scope some of these places out. Thanks for the ideas.

Keep em coming!

 

[AndTiggerToo]

A tip about dinner bookings for those wanting to be in the parks:

Some of the places don't book for larger groups, so if you try to book the reservations online, you won't be successful. But if you call the phone # and say "customer service" so that you get to speak to a real person, and explain the situation, they can help.

Our dinner the day of the wedding is going to be at Tony's Town Square in MK. But we had to make reservations for 2 tables of six.
The next day at Coral Reef in Epcot, a table of 8 and a table of 4.

The online booking won't let you book 2 tables.

They told us that closer to the day (I guess a day or so before?) to call the restaurant and ask for the tables to be seated next to each other. Otherwise they can't guarantee that your party will be seated together.

Ah ok. Thanks, so the planner doesn't book that for you? Its something you have to do for yourself. I suppose if it was a catered event, someone would take care of that for you?

 

[pawprint86]

Ah ok. Thanks, so the planner doesn't book that for you? Its something you have to do for yourself. I suppose if it was a catered event, someone would take care of that for you?

With the Escape Package, I don't think they book it for you. We aren't doing a catered event, so I don't know if they help with those. But the first person we talked to was the WDW Fairy Tale Weddings sales consultant, and she said we had to go through the regular reservation process to get bookings in restaurants. The Escape Package only provides the cake and champagne celebration afterwards. She had actually suggested that we phone to find out when our 180 day window would be for reservations, and mark it on a calendar! But we got what we wanted, so we are all happy.

 

[lurkyloo]

If you add a catered event, your DFTW planner will arrange it for you.