Grand Gatherings

[kepmaro]

I am confused by these! What do they cost? Is it a price and a meal from your dining plan? OR just the meal from your dining plan? Or 2 meals from your dining plan? Thanks for any help!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

kepmaro:

Some friends of ours are going to be at WDW when we are going in January, and we are planning a Grand Gathering meal.

You have to have 8 people who are at least 3 years old that are staying on property.

I think you can call Disney when you first start planning, and reserve your rooms, special dining, matching t-shirts, etc.through your magical/grand gathering. The magical/grand gathering folks work kind of like your personal concierge. You can call into the Disney number and ask for grand gatherings.

For us, we just wanted to take part in the special dining for one night. We set up the magical gathering and reserved the Illuminations Grand Gathering. Since we have DVC, it added an extra kink in the planning.

BTW, if your group is so big that you need 10 or more rooms on any given night, you can call group reservations and get awesome prices for the rooms, etc.

For the dinners, I believe that everyone must be on the dining plan, or pay for it in advance.

Full descriptions of each dinner can be found at:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...roducts?id=GrandGatheringsSpecialProductsPage

Here's a short run down.

International Dinner and Illuminations and Dessert Reception.
Dinner at the Odyssey restaurant in Epcot served family style. I think the food is from 5 different WS countries. There is also international story telling with disney characters. Afterwards you have a dessert buffet and private viewing spot of illuminations. $59.99/Adult and Junior; $29.99 ages 3-9. This is 2 TS credits.

Safari Celebration Dinner
You meet at the Flights of Wonder in Animal Kingdom, and then go on a Safari. Afterwards you have a buffet at Tusker House, and live animals are brought to the restaurant during dinner. Disney characters are there, and you can get autographed photos. Its also $59.99 / $29.99 so I bet its 2 TS credits too.

Good Morning Character Breakfast
This is breakfast in MK at Tony's Town Square. You get to have breakfast with Mickey and the gang, and get a priority seating for Philharmagic. Its $29.99 / and $17.99 so it may only be 1TS credit. I'm not sure.

Magical Fireworks Voyage
Sail on Seven Seas Lagoon from the Contemporary with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. You get snacks and drinks. You play games and sing songs with pirates on the ship. You get to see the Water Pageant and Wishes from the boat. When you return, Peter Pan is waiting for you on the shore to meet and greet, and take photos. We almost went for this one, but decided that we would rather see the fireworks from within the MK. $43.99 / $24.99. I have no idea how many credits this takes.

The Grand Gathering site also says that you can plan your own gathering.