Entertaining at your DVC Villa?

[JulieWent]

Our son is getting married at Disney early next year. (Yay!) My husband and I will be staying on points at BWV for the week of the ceremony, and we were thinking of hosting a drop-in for guests as they arrive the day before the ceremony. (It will be a small ceremony - so no more than 30 guests, and we were thinking of saying, "Drop by between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m," so they wouldn't all be in one spot at one time. Has anyone ever done this at your DVC resort? How did it go?
Also, has anyone ever hosted something in the Bellevue Lounge area? That was our other thought.
(We know we could definitely go with Sea Breeze Point or one of the official areas. We were just thinking we'd like this to be more casual.)

 

[tjkraz]

About 5 years ago, my wife and I were at BWV next door to a wedding party. The experience was rather unpleasant. I don't expect dead silence throughout my stay. I'm used to babies crying, kids running, adults...adulting. But, IMO, overstuffing a room with folks who are clearly expecting a party atmosphere is not objectively fair to others in the surrounding rooms.

Practically speaking, unless everyone is a guest at the BoardWalk or using Disney transportation, they may have trouble getting into the resort. Parking abuse has lead security to be rather strict with who they allow thru the gate.

As for the Bellevue Lounge, you should probably discuss that with your wedding planner. I'm sure it's a fine location if you're able to reserve it for a private function. But if that falls during normal operating hours, other guests will expect to be able to use the space.

 

[DaveNan]

Getting to the resort/room may be the toughest part. BWV is pretty strict on parking. I have had several local family members join us at our villa without any issues. As far as Bellevue lounge goes, it is a public area and not limited to BWV guests (anyone on property can go purchase something there or just hang out), so hanging out there to visit folks would work, but it is small and you may not be able to have everyone in one area/table, but it should work. If you filled the entire area, a CM may ask you to leave, but I would be surprised if they did. You could always buy another cup of coffee.......

 

[pianomanzano]

I've heard of people hosting small parties in a grand villa, cabin, or bungalow, but nothing smaller.

 

[Genie+]

Logistics is the biggest hurdle. Your guests could either take Disney transportation to BW or get dropped off via rideshare (not always guaranteed especially around rope drop times), but without an ADR or resort reservation cars will likely not be permitted to park.

 

[bumbershoot]

They would need to take disney transportation to get there.

This might not be what you're looking for (it's not cheap) but @lurkyloo writes about disney weddings and even onsite events (renting spaces), and has a website or two. https://disneytravelbabble.com/how-to/private-party/

 

[kanerf]

It is easiest to park at Disney Springs and take the resort bus from there. They don't check if you have reservations or anything.

 

[jalisa88]

I was going to host a small 30th birthday party for my daughter with a few family members and friends at a grand villa at the Riviera--- But hurricane Ian put a stop to the whole event Good Luck!

 

[BroganMc]

I don't think Boardwalk is very conducive to that. I did have a group birthday party at Saratoga Springs. We used one of the picnic areas by the pool in Grandstand. Had a nice cookout. The staff even helped us decorate with balloons. And we had a limbo contest. We had friends that dropped in for the party. And we were a big family of over 17 people. It worked just fine. But the Boardwalk does not have those common areas. I'm not even sure there's any area you can have a cookout. And like everybody else has been saying, parking at the resort is going to be impossible. It's a nice idea, I'm just not sure it's going to work there.

 

[BroganMc]

I don't think Boardwalk is very conducive to that. I did have a group birthday party at Saratoga Springs. We used one of the picnic areas by the pool in Grandstand. Had a nice cookout. The staff even helped us decorate with balloons. And we had a limbo contest. We had friends that dropped in for the party. And we were a big family of over 17 people. It worked just fine. But the Boardwalk does not have those common areas. I'm not even sure there's any area you can have a cookout. And like everybody else has been saying, parking at the resort is going to be impossible. It's a nice idea, I'm just not sure it's going to work there.

My niece got married last summer. It was a getaway wedding for all of us so we had a bunch of rooms at a Marriott hotel. And yes when everybody arrived we did congregate in one of the rooms. That is until we realize how loud we were. Then we all went downstairs to the lobby. That's where we held our impromptu group gatherings during the weekend. My favorite was the last night after the wedding when we had a pizza party with the bride and groom. Lots of good memories. I hope your wedding is also wonderful and memorable.

 

[jo-jo]

What size room are you staying in?

 

[JulieWent]

My niece got married last summer. It was a getaway wedding for all of us so we had a bunch of rooms at a Marriott hotel. And yes when everybody arrived we did congregate in one of the rooms. That is until we realize how loud we were. Then we all went downstairs to the lobby. That's where we held our impromptu group gatherings during the weekend. My favorite was the last night after the wedding when we had a pizza party with the bride and groom. Lots of good memories. I hope your wedding is also wonderful and memorable.

Thank you! This is kind of what we had in mind -- but on a drop in basis. Maybe we'll ask people to drop in to the Lounge instead. I like that idea.

 

[JulieWent]

What size room are you staying in?

Probably a 2br. We're kind of just starting to plan. (Why I'm throwing out ideas. LOL)

 

[JulieWent]

Thank you all for taking time to throw out issues, thoughts, experiences.

(On a side note - we're owners at BW, and I laughed about all the parking warnings. In all the years since we bought there -- 1999 -- I don't think I've ever seen a guard turn someone away for parking. Glad to see it's improved that way.)

 

[jo-jo]

Probably a 2br. We're kind of just starting to plan. (Why I'm throwing out ideas. LOL)

The capacity for sleeping is 9 or 10, so having people wandering in and out over 4 hours may not be much different than the family with 6 kids. Of course you take the chance of everyone showing up at once.......

 

[JulieWent]

The capacity for sleeping is 9 or 10, so having people wandering in and out over 4 hours may not be much different than the family with 6 kids. Of course you take the chance of everyone showing up at once.......

LOL. Yes, that was my thought (about the chance of everyone showing up at once). My husband said, "Then I'll just take some people down to the bar."
We kind of felt that way about capacity, too. Knowing that we have a fairly old crowd and that we won't be throwing a party, I wasn't too worried about that. But I was curious if anyone had ever done it.

 

[gatordoc]

You might look into renting the Attic. It’s a really cool event space at the end of the hall on the 3rd floor (closest to Atlantic Dance). It has indoor and outdoor space, can serve food/drinks, etc. You can find pictures online.

 

[bluecruiser]

You might look into renting the Attic. It’s a really cool event space at the end of the hall on the 3rd floor (closest to Atlantic Dance). It has indoor and outdoor space, can serve food/drinks, etc. You can find pictures online.

We hosted a family get-together at the Attic back in 2015. Nice space and great service from Disney. Here are a couple videos I found of the Attic.