Dessert Party Transportation

[Disneybride2386]

I was reading about the DP and i'm wondering why you have to rent the $440 bus.. cant you just take the regular free transportation to and fr the hotels fr the park? (Sorry if this is a stupid question.. i'm just starting to look at all of this wedding stuff and deciding if disney is the way to go for me!)

 

[orangetiggs]

i dont think you can if you are wearing your wedding dress, we have a bus to take us from the grand floridian convention centre to backstage at epcot for our

 

[lov2b@disney]

We are meeting at the international gateway and walking in--

 

[lpizzuro123]

Are you wearing your dress to your desert party?

 

[Disneybride2386]

oh so you dont need to if you arent wearing your dress? cause that would save a bunch of $$

thanks!!

 

[lov2b@disney]

Are you wearing your dress to your desert party?

I dont think so--in search of the perfect DP dress! But there is an escort that meet you at the gate so you can wear you dress!

 

[lpizzuro123]

I am definately planning on wearing my dress and we will be staying at The Boardwalk so walking over to the International Gateway should be easy. We'll have to use an escort. Hopefully everyone will meet there so we do not have to pay for more transportation.

Linda

 

[lurkyloo]

If you wear your dress and/or if your guests don't have their own admission to Epcot, they have to meet a guide - either walking in at International Gateway or backstage when they're dropped off by a bus.

 

[lpizzuro123]

Wow, I read on your TR that you guys entered Epcot by yourself and your guests meet you there by bus. I think that is so great. It was really nice that you had some time there by yourself. Since you went in first, what time did they let you go in and it sounds like you had a bit of time there so what time did your guests arrive? The DP seems so short and I am pretty sure there is an extra expense if you extend. I checked with our planner and she said if we go in at 8:00 instead of 8:30 they would take the food away at 9:00.

Our DP is in UK Lower like yours was and we are staying at the Boardwalk Villas so we will be very close and will definately walk in - with an escort as I want to wear my dress. Not sure if we are going to tell everyone to meet us there or bus them in yet.

Linda

 

[lurkyloo]

Since you went in first, what time did they let you go in and it sounds like you had a bit of time there so what time did your guests arrive? The DP seems so short and I am pretty sure there is an extra expense if you extend. I checked with our planner and she said if we go in at 8:00 instead of 8:30 they would take the food away at 9:00.... Not sure if we are going to tell everyone to meet us there or bus them in yet.

We were scheduled to meet our guide at 8pm at the I.G., but we left the Beach Club way early, so I think we got there around 7:45 - she was already at the gateway, so she let us in. DFTW chose that 8pm time b/c the guide had to be able to meet us and then get backstage to meet our guests. Because our guests weren't scheduled to arrive until 8:20, they had our DP as officially starting at 8:30 and ending at 9:30.

So if just you two go in at 8pm it won't count as your party starting at 8 - it starts when all your guests get there. Also, there is no charge to extend the time on your DP, just to extend the food beyond 1 hour. And really, 1 hour is plenty of time to load up on desserts! HTH!

 

[lpizzuro123]

Thanks for the info. I love that you guys got to enter your DP early and enjoy the time by yourselves. I would like to extend the party 30 minutes before but my planner made it sound like they would take the food away at 9:00 while everyone was just starting to enjoying the show. How close to the end of IllumiNations did they "kick you out". I guess by 9:30 most people will start leaving anyway.

Another silly question but, the only restrooms I know of are back up the walkway and across the road from Rose and Crown - near the red phone booths. Are those the restrooms you and your guests had to use - if the need arose. Also, we are not planning on having beer at our party but I know the bar outside Rose and Crown is near the top of the walkway - if anyone wanted a drink were they allowed out to get it?

Thanks,
Linda

 

[orangetiggs]

we are extending ours but not the food! i like the idea of going in on our own though so might throw that one in

 

[lurkyloo]

If you officially extend your party beforehand by 30 minutes (i.e., your guests show up at 8pm), I can see how the planner would either charge you for 30 extra minutes of food or cut off food service after one hour (i.e., 9pm).

But if you start the party officially at 8:30, you and DH can show up 30 minutes early by yourselves and you'll still have food service til 9:30 (because when you two arrive, the server will still be setting up your food and food service will not offically have started).

Then, if you want to extend the party by 30 minutes afterward but don't want to pay extra for food service, the food will stop at 9:30 and guests can linger til 10. I guarantee you they will have had plenty of time to eat before the food service stops. My *guess* is that the server will begin taking down his/her setup at 9:30, even though you'll still be there, but when our server did this, he also let my MIL take all the leftover desserts.... perhaps this would solve your "what to eat after 9:30" problem...

I'm not sure what time IllumiNations ends, but it felt like we hung out there for a while afterward til the bus was ready and someone came to get the guests. I'm sure it wasn't 9:30 sharp, though. Maybe 10 or 20 minutes after? They seem a lot more casual about all these times when you're actually there than they are when you're planning (and paying!).

 

[lurkyloo]

Oh, PS - restrooms! I believe those are the only restrooms. Nobody had to go so I'm not sure how this works.... I'm similarly useless on the beer question 'cuz none of us were drinkers.... sorry about that!