Dessert Party Transportation

[carolina64]

Is transportation rental ALWAYS required for a dessert party in EPCOT? If yes, do they always require a five hour charter for a one hour event? I know if we are wearing wedding clothes we have to have transport, but what about everyone else?

We are thinking about the French Island terraces, either Rue des Fleurs or Eau du France. They are right beside the international gateway going to the Yacht/Beach Club hotels where everyone is staying.

We are doing a morning ceremony and brunch reception, so the guests will be free to spend the afternoon anywhere. thanks!

 

[lurkyloo]

No, yes, and it depends.

Usually if your party is someplace close to the IG like UK or France, it is possible for you and your guests to meet an event guide at International Gateway and walk in. It's the farther-away venues like Morocco and Italy that require you to be transported backstage if you're wearing a wedding dress. That said, it seems like this policy varies by planner and how persistent you are. Sometimes they insist that everyone must have transportation or that the bride must b/c of her dress but everyone else can walk in. I walked in to the UK in my dress with an event guide, no problem.

If you do have to get transportation and it's a charter bus, then yes, you do have to pay for the 5-hour minimum, which really steamed us. Like you, we had a morning ceremony, afternoon brunch and evening dessert party, which meant we had to hire two separate 5-hour-minimum charters. However, what we weren't told was that there are smaller, cheaper methods of transportation than a charter bus. Or that we could have done a one-way or round trip bus instead of a charter and saved some money.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

We were not required to use transportation for Morocco, but it was a welcome party, not part of our wedding day/night.

We were able to use one way vans, which I believe were $25 each. The must have held about 8 people each.

 

[lpizzuro123]

We also had a morning ceremony in Epcot, brunch reception from 10:00 to 3:00. We had private transportation for all of this. Our DP was back in Epoct. We did not hire Disney transportation for this. Most of our 50 guests (about 40) were staying at POFQ. We had them take regular Disney transportation to the front of Epcot where they met a guide that took them into the park and over to the UK for our DP. We had one person need a wheelchair and I told this to our planner and she arranged to have a wheelchair there also (there was no extra charge for this).

My DH and I and the rest of our guests (10 all together) were staying at The Boardwalk. We met a guide at the International Gateway and she walked us into the UK for our DP. We had to pay $50 for the extra guide but felt this was much better then having to pay to rent a bus again.

When the DP was over everyone was able to walk out on our own (even me in my dress).

Linda

 

[carolina64]

No, yes, and it depends.

we had to hire two separate 5-hour-minimum charters. However, what we weren't told was that there are smaller, cheaper methods of transportation than a charter bus. Or that we could have done a one-way or round trip bus instead of a charter and saved some money.

That is exactly the rub!!! We have to do busses in the morning from yacht/ beach to epcot for the ceremony. okay. everybody not dressed like a tourist, really standing out, i can take it. BUT to have to do it again for a one hour event is really kind of irritating.

So a round trip bus is an option? if we have rent something to save the ten minutes of walk time from the hotel to the french islands then it does not HAVE to be a charter?

 

[lurkyloo]

Right.

One-way transportation goes from Point A to Point B ($325 for a motorcoach/$273 for a 25-person minibus), while a round trip goes from A to B and back to A ($410 motorcoach/$321 minibus). If you can get all your guests to meet at a certain place to catch the bus, this would be ideal. Also, both kinds of trips can have an extra stop added to them for $25–$50. So maybe you could give your guests 2 places to meet the bus. Just remember that it is a long Disney Bus ride between resorts because you have to transfer at a theme park or Downtown Disney, so if your guests are scattered all over and car-less, it might be a drag for them to have to get to, say, Coronado Springs to meet your bus.

The reason we chartered transport to the DP for our guests is that almost none of them had ever been to WDW before and we didn't want them to have to jump through all these hoops. But many people just ask their guests to get themselves to the DP. The trick is that guests riding Disney buses arrive at the front of Epcot, while those staying in the Epcot-area resorts walk to IG. So you would have to arrange to have an extra event guide to meet them at either or both places.

If most of your guests are staying at Epcot-area resorts, it sounds like you don't really need transportation.