Grand Gatherings?

[irisbud]

Hi all,

We are thinking of doing a grand gathering in conjunction with our Escape Wedding in May of 2009. We asked Disney if a room block would be avalible for our wedding, but the only things avalible would be a block of 10 rooms at a 10% discount. I cannot be certain that we would have 10 rooms, and as we would have to pay the difference if we do not meet the minimum, we will not be going this route.

Is there any advantage to doing a grand gathering at all?

If you do a grand gathering, does everyone have to stay at the same hotel? We will have budgets and tastes all across the board.

Do the Swan/Dolphin participate in these? I doubt it, but had to ask JIC...

Finally, what kind of activities have you done in conjunction with GG? Has anyone done the safari dinner? Was it worth it? This seems like something we would really love to do as a group, but seeming and being are two very different things.

TIA,

Amy

 

[PLANNER88]

bump

 

[Figment2]

You (or your guests) would give the grand gathering number when you make your room reservations. You do not have to stay at the same resort. Room assigners will try (no guarantee) to get rooms close to each other for those staying in the same resort.

We've done the Fireworks cruise, the Safari dinner, the breakfast at Tony's and the EPCOT dinner. In fact we did the Fireworks cruise twice. The first one was outstanding with great desserts. The second was a bit disappointing as they had gone with pre-packaged items which were not comparable to what we had before. I liked the Safari dinner but cannot get anyone to do it again. We are thinking of doing the EPCOT dinner this Fall if it's available. I can't comment on the breakfast since I didn't go to that.

Cyn

 

[PLANNER88]

Does anyone have any more Grand Gathering Experiences that they can share? We are a group of 25 going in October. So far thinking...International Dinner & Safari Celebration.

 

[SC Mouse Fan]

We just did a Grand Gathering in November. Because of some rehab issues, the only thing we could do was the Tony's Breakfast. (Well we could have done the fireworks cruise but weren't interested.) The food was nothing spectacular but the character interaction was very good. Since there were around 10 groups the day we went, we got good interaction and the songs that "Tony" did were cute. The character, Chip, Dale, Goofy, and maybe some others would dance when Tony sang and they even had a group dance for the little ones. Then Mickey came out and each group got to take pictures with him and get autographs. They would call each group up seperately to take the pictures. The CM's take Photo Pass pictures and also use your camera when you were standing by Mickey. We had fun and will probably do it again if we go as a Grand Gathering. I really wanted to do the Safari Dinner but we were there just before Tuskers house reopened.
One main advantage to the Grand Gathering was being able to use the special Grand Gathering phone number to make your dining reservations. It didn't take as long to get through on the phone, and they group all of us together. In fact we sat at the same table most of the time. I hope we can do another Grand Gathering in November 2009.

 

[PLANNER88]

Thank you!

 

[tnmomof4]

We just did a Grand Gathering in November. Because of some rehab issues, the only thing we could do was the Tony's Breakfast. (Well we could have done the fireworks cruise but weren't interested.) The food was nothing spectacular but the character interaction was very good. Since there were around 10 groups the day we went, we got good interaction and the songs that "Tony" did were cute. The character, Chip, Dale, Goofy, and maybe some others would dance when Tony sang and they even had a group dance for the little ones. Then Mickey came out and each group got to take pictures with him and get autographs. They would call each group up seperately to take the pictures. The CM's take Photo Pass pictures and also use your camera when you were standing by Mickey. We had fun and will probably do it again if we go as a Grand Gathering. I really wanted to do the Safari Dinner but we were there just before Tuskers house reopened.
One main advantage to the Grand Gathering was being able to use the special Grand Gathering phone number to make your dining reservations. It didn't take as long to get through on the phone, and they group all of us together. In fact we sat at the same table most of the time. I hope we can do another Grand Gathering in November 2009.

We are going in November. We will be a Grand Gathering. Can you tell me what the special Grand Gathering number is? Whenever I call, I usually get transfered around a couple times before getting someone. I didn't know you could call and get Grand Gatherings directly. We will be a party of 9, so I hope we will get to sit at the same table too.

 

[tnmomof4]

You (or your guests) would give the grand gathering number when you make your room reservations. You do not have to stay at the same resort. Room assigners will try (no guarantee) to get rooms close to each other for those staying in the same resort.

We've done the Fireworks cruise, the Safari dinner, the breakfast at Tony's and the EPCOT dinner. In fact we did the Fireworks cruise twice. The first one was outstanding with great desserts. The second was a bit disappointing as they had gone with pre-packaged items which were not comparable to what we had before. I liked the Safari dinner but cannot get anyone to do it again. We are thinking of doing the EPCOT dinner this Fall if it's available. I can't comment on the breakfast since I didn't go to that.

Cyn

Can you tell me about the Fireworks Cruise and the Safari Dinner? We
will be a Grand Gathering of 9. (4 Adults, 3 jr. Adults, and twin 5 year olds)

 

[SC Mouse Fan]

tnmomof4 Quote:

We are going in November. We will be a Grand Gathering. Can you tell me what the special Grand Gathering number is? Whenever I call, I usually get transfered around a couple times before getting someone. I didn't know you could call and get Grand Gatherings directly. We will be a party of 9, so I hope we will get to sit at the same table too.


I have thrown my notes away since it will be a while before we go again. But the WDW web site has the phone number as (407) WDW-MAGIC. I know this is one more number then it should have but try it and see if it gets you there. It it doesn't, tell them you will be a Grand Gathering and then once you are transfered, ask them for their phone number. Sorry I can't be of more help. Here are some numbers I found on another post about Grand Gatherings.
Dining over 12 - 1-407-939-7707
Grand Gathering - 1-407-939-7526

Maybe these will help too.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Have you looked at the information found on the www.disneyworld.com website?

Here's the link. Hope it helps.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...erings/landing?id=MagicalGatheringLandingPage

 

[daisy112878]

We do the grand gathering stuff everytime we go since we usually have 8-14 people with us. You do not have to do a room block to be a grand gathering.

In December we had 14 with us. My family including my mom, dad, sister and her family were all at BVC while my aunt and her family were at Saratoga and my cousin lives in orlando. My dad set up the GG number for our group which you need to book GG events. We did the Safari Celebration Dinner and Tony's Grand Breakfast. We had a great time at each. The Safari started with watching the parade then going in to our safari group where we meet our guide. Our guide was so much fun. We loved her. Then we went to do the Safari Ride which was great. The animals were pretty active and the ride goes slower without the usually taped guide thing. Then it was to dinner at the Tusker house. They served salads family style then buffet for the main courses. All the food was really good and you could go back as much as you wanted. Then dessert was served family style again. In between there was singing, dancing and timon and pumba came for pictures. All and all it was a lot of fun. Plus we got to walk out of AK without anyone around. We got some great pictures of the tree at night.
Tony's Breakfast was by far our favorite thing of the trip. It started at 9am but we got to enter the park early. We got some great pictures on main street with no one around. Then we went to breakfast. The food was served family style and consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, mickey waffles, coffee and juice. Tony came out and talked to each table giving them a special GG pin. He was really good. Then they brought out Pluto, Goofy, Chip, and Dale. Tony then annouced all the b-days and anniersarys. He sang happy b-day and then did the song from Lady and the Tramp. Then Mickey came out and did group photos and signings with every group. We will definitely do this again. It was so much fun!

 

[daisy112878]

Wanted to add I never used the GG number for dining reservations even with 14 people. The regular dining number was fine to make the ADRs.

For the GG events you have to use the GG number. I called for my immediate family and my aunt called to add her family to the reservations. You have to give them a credit card if you're not on the dining plan and using credits too.

 

[tnmomof4]

Thanks so much for all the info!!!! It has helped me a lot with my planning.

 

[PLANNER88]

We do the grand gathering stuff everytime we go since we usually have 8-14 people with us. You do not have to do a room block to be a grand gathering.

In December we had 14 with us. My family including my mom, dad, sister and her family were all at BVC while my aunt and her family were at Saratoga and my cousin lives in orlando. My dad set up the GG number for our group which you need to book GG events. We did the Safari Celebration Dinner and Tony's Grand Breakfast. We had a great time at each. The Safari started with watching the parade then going in to our safari group where we meet our guide. Our guide was so much fun. We loved her. Then we went to do the Safari Ride which was great. The animals were pretty active and the ride goes slower without the usually taped guide thing. Then it was to dinner at the Tusker house. They served salads family style then buffet for the main courses. All the food was really good and you could go back as much as you wanted. Then dessert was served family style again. In between there was singing, dancing and timon and pumba came for pictures. All and all it was a lot of fun. Plus we got to walk out of AK without anyone around. We got some great pictures of the tree at night.
Tony's Breakfast was by far our favorite thing of the trip. It started at 9am but we got to enter the park early. We got some great pictures on main street with no one around. Then we went to breakfast. The food was served family style and consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, mickey waffles, coffee and juice. Tony came out and talked to each table giving them a special GG pin. He was really good. Then they brought out Pluto, Goofy, Chip, and Dale. Tony then annouced all the b-days and anniersarys. He sang happy b-day and then did the song from Lady and the Tramp. Then Mickey came out and did group photos and signings with every group. We will definitely do this again. It was so much fun!

Thank you, this helps so much! Anyone do the International Dinner & Dessert...would love to here what you thought of it.

 

[illuminations]

We did the International Dinner last September. The food was very good with a lot of variety. They have 2 people that host the event and come around a talk to all the gatherings and kind of introduce everyone to everyone else. There is music, story telling, and then some of the characters come in and dance with everyone there. The character interactions was very good. Then after they dance they allow anyone who wants to come over and take pictures. The only thing disappointing for us was it was rainy so they had the desserts inside the restaurant and then we went outside after so dessert was very rushed. We just wanted to get outside to get a good spot. I also don't think we got the normal spot because of the weather. We were kind of on the side of one of the stores at the entrance to world showcase. I think normally they go right in between the two and right up to the rail. We had to stay behind a couple ropes and were right under trees. The view was better from our normal spot we go to across from Norway. If we have a grand gathering again I would probably try it again but the part we were most looking forward to was the desserts outside and the good viewing location so it was kind of disappointing.

 

[Figment2]

Daily & Illuminations - what kind of desserts did they have for the Illuminations dinner? The reason I ask is the first tme we did the MK Fireworks cruise we had awesome desserts. The second time (2 years later & 2 years ago) we were very disappointed with what was offered. All pre-packaged - chips, cookies (hard as a rock), some fruit - nothing at all like the cakes and cookies we had the first time.

When we did the Illuminations dinner (4 years ago), for the desserts, we were at the terrace between the bridge and France. Once again, awesome desserts.

We were thinking of doing the Illuminations dinner again this Fall but not if they've changed to the pre-packaged stuff.

Thanks

Cyn

 

[PLANNER88]

Daily & Illuminations - what kind of desserts did they have for the Illuminations dinner? The reason I ask is the first tme we did the MK Fireworks cruise we had awesome desserts. The second time (2 years later & 2 years ago) we were very disappointed with what was offered. All pre-packaged - chips, cookies (hard as a rock), some fruit - nothing at all like the cakes and cookies we had the first time.

When we did the Illuminations dinner (4 years ago), for the desserts, we were at the terrace between the bridge and France. Once again, awesome desserts.

We were thinking of doing the Illuminations dinner again this Fall but not if they've changed to the pre-packaged stuff.

Thanks

Cyn

That brought up a something I was interested in...where is the normal veiwing area for the Illuminations dessert buffet?

 

[PLANNER88]

bump

 

[Reese]

I'm wondering also about the illuminations dinner, dessert and viewing area. Hopefully it's not normally behind a tree .

 

[PLANNER88]

bump