Grand Gatherings + Int'l Dining

[bishop1989]

Has anyone done this before? I'm interested in the experience you may have had. Such as character interaction, menu, crowds...
Thanks.

 

[bishop1989]

Bump.

 

[HannaBelle]

Are you asking about the International Dinner/Illuminations?

If so, my large family group of 12 (4 families combined) went in the spring of 2006. Overall, we were not impressed.

The evening did not start off well b/c we could find "The Odyssey Restaurant” It was not on the map and we were told by 2 different CM's that it had closed several years ago. We tried to explain that we had reservations for dinner there, but the CM's assured us we were mistaken.

We found a 3rd CM that told us it was converted to a meeting center and was now called "Odyssey Center". The Grand Gathering paperwork made no mention of a name change.

Anyway, we make our way over to the "Center".

We check-in, wait in the sun until it is time for us to be escorted to our table. The buffet was in the foyer area and had several different cuisines. Everything was mediocre, but not "bad". We had a table that sat everyone and that was what was important to us.

The program was not to our liking. It was a bit cheesy and the DJ was very lame..stupid jokes, bad music...that kind of thing.

I remember Goofy being there, but I honestly do not remember any other characters. The kids got to sing on stage and do a conga-line as well as a special mother/son and father/daughter dance. Honestly, the dancing was the best part of the evening.

After dinner, we all walked over to our special dessert reception and fireworks viewing. There was not seating. (I assumed there was seating... ) They served Mickey rice krispey treats and several other things...coffee, lemonade...no water...

We were RIGHT on the water and quite frankly too close for my comfort. I was sure that the firework boat was on fire and about to explode...it was VERY hot being that close to all of the fire they had going. The view was good, the globe looked great and the kids had a good time. We were not "jam" packed either.

(Just as a side note...my 4 year old nephew got his head stuck in-between the bars... and caused quite a bit of stress for all of us! My 2 brothers, my father and my DH just about busted their collective guts trying to free my DN's head. Mercifully, after much crying and sweating...his head was freed... I have read a few other threads where kids have done this and they had the kids go the rest of the way through and then just lifted them over. Just FYI in case you go and that happens! None of us thought of that...)

Anyway! We are all going to WDW again this coming December and we won't be doing this one again! We will go on the "Safari Celebration" b/c it was fabulous! The safari was great, the themed was great, the food was great, they brought live snakes for the kids to pet, the kids got to play instruments with the musical performers and everyone had a blast! Dinner was served family style, so no one had to make trips to the buffet with the little ones.

The "Good Morning Gathering" was nice as well AND you get a FP for Fantasmic! We all had a great time there as well. Tony was a lot of fun! I think we are going to do an ADR at the Crystal Place this time instead though.

The "Magical Fireworks Voyage" was probably the kid’s favorite. The dessert was a bit lame and the boat ride was oozing cheese, but it was a good time! I am pretty sure we are going to do this one again too.

Another bonus for these Grand Gathering events is that everyone gets a special pin. We did not trade pins or get in to that, but my kids really liked getting these as a special memento!

I hope that helps! PM me if you want to know anything else!