I am SO Confused!! Please Help!!!

JohnsPrincess

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Jan 6, 2004
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Okay, I'm TRYING to figure out the reception...

I keep reading 2 different things.

One is that: Disney will create a special menu designed especially for your wedding reception. If your celebration begins before 2pm, you must spend at least $75 per person (plus a 20% service charge and 6.5% sales tax) on food and beverages. If your celebration begins after 2pm, the per person fee is $100 (plus a 20% service charge and 6.5% sales tax).

The other is that: the Food and beverage minimum for use of this venue for Reception or Dessert Party is $17.50 per person for a min of * guests. An additional 12.50 per person/plus tax will be charged for viewing Illuminations.

So...what the heck is the deal?? I want an Illuminations Dessert party and I'm TRYING to figure out about how much it will be. There is a big difference between 100$ pp which the top says and the 30$ pp that the second does. OR is it a combination of the 2?? I don't understand this at all.
 
My guess is that one is for the Dessert party and one is for a full blown sit down reception. Good luck and I hope someone can give you a better answer.
 
agotta is correct. The minimums for a dessrt party are currently $17.50/pp for food and beverage, and a $12.50/pp viewing fee. Additionally some locations have minimum # of people - Italy Isola for example is either 75 or 100, I forget which. And for a dessert party you generally also have to pay for a group escort - 1 escort per 50 people. The fee for the escort is $90 for 3 hours, and $30 for each additonal hour.
 
Ah...*contented sigh* THANK YOU BOTH! Lol...I was really stressing over that. Lol. Okay, all I want is the Dessert party (with Illuminations) so I was hoping the 17.50 was the minimum pp fee for that and then of course + the 12.50. :cool1: Woohoo!! I feel Much better!!
 

As an adendum...do you know where I can go to look at the prices for the different "levels" of dessert/drinks they offer?? I remember seeing it somewhere, but I don't remember where??
 
Ah! Thank you! That was Very helpful. But leads to ANOTHER question (does this ever end??). It says that the reception is for ONE hour. But you have to charter the bus for a min of 5 hours... Is this so your group can spend some time in Epcot before going back to their resorts?? How early can they get there...how late can they stay?? Because isn't Illuminations pretty close to closing??
 
Your illuminations Dessert Party will last abour 1 and 1/2 hours. The timing of when they get there, and if you need to rent a bus is partially dependant upon if you have an intimate or a custom and the flow of your day - I believe the typical meeting time is 8:00 PM, but I'm not sure. Your guests are not allowed to wander around the park unless they pay park admission. The viewing fee only covers them watching Illuminations, no park activities. We had the chartered busses for our guests, as we were taking them directly from our reception to the dessert party, but I dont think they are required for the party. If you don't provide some form of transportation, your guests will have to use Disney transport to get back to their resorts after Illuminations.
 
Will they have some form of "ticket" to get them into the park? We are having a custom and from what I read and did Not understand it looked like they wouldn't let them in except through the "back gate" via the private bus or if they could make there way to...um...the walkway...some walkway. Lol. I can't remember what it was called.
 
They don't get a ticket. If you charter a bus, then your group is taken back stage, and met by your escort there. If you meet at the international gateway (the entrance to epcot between the beach club and the boardwalk) your escort will meet your group there. Once everyone is together, the escort will lead you to your viewing area. Unless they have already been in the park that day, the only way for your guests to get into the park is by meeting the escort.
 
Ah...so the bus is probably the best way to go. :rotfl2: I'm not trusting my group to find their way ANYWHERE.
 
To add a few things...

The bus can be used for more than just getting to the Illuminations event. We used ours to pick up at the hotels we had rooms at, bring them to the ceremony, then to the reception too. Then it returned them to their hotels at the end of the night.

The cost of the Illuminations party counts towards your overall minimum expenditures. That is what they say by time of day. Some locations have a minimum cost for the location as well, like the VIP Lounge at Living Seas. The Illuminations event does not count towards the VIP Lounge minimum, but does count towards the total wedding minimum and the overall catering minimum.
 
Okay...so if I had an evening ceremony followed in the next couple hours by the reception...would that work? I mean, say there were 2 hours between ceremony ending and reception beginning...where could the guests go? Could they go to the reception area?? Back to their rooms to be picked up again?? Can you tell I'm easily confused...?
 
Disney will not allow you to have a large gap of time inbetween your ceremony ending and your reception begining.
 
Does anyone know if we have the dessert party the day before the wedding, as a welcoming party, can a bus be rented and pick the guest up at their resorts?

Thank you
:wave2:
 
With regards to the timeline... Our ceremony was scheduled for 4:00, was actually closer to 4:30 due to a transportation problem. Over and everyone loaded up by 5:00. Even if we had been right on time I'm sure we would have still been there that long. They were bused to the reception site for a pre-reception. We did not serve alcohol, but had snacks, punch and soft drinks. While they did that DH and I, along with the BM and MOH had extra photos taken. We got to the pre-reception at about 6:00. We mingled for about 30 minutes then sat down for dinner. After dinner we did cake and then our first dance. By then it was close to 8:00. Everyone dance for about until about 8:40. Illuminations was originally scheduled for 9:00, which was perfect for time. Because of the Candlelight Processional, Illuminations was postponed until 10:30 that night. We were super lucky and because of the transportation error from earlier we were offered special seats for the Processional, then we were walked over to our Illuminations party. I was very worried about how much time we would have initially, but there were no large gaps in our day AT ALL!

GrammyGrumpy - I know you can book Illuminations as a welcome party, and I'm sure your EM can arrange transportation to EPCOT for that if you need it. We looked at doing it for the rehersal but ended up not needing to.
 
Oh that's cool!! I guess Disney will just have to help me figure out the timeline for everything. Lol. I'm just having the ceremony and then dessert reception/illuminations viewing...no mini reception.
 
GrammyGrumpy, yes you can charter a bus for your welcome party as well. Just let your EM know what you’d like to do and they can set it up for you. :)

JohnsPrincess, I did the same thing that it sounds like you’re interested in doing. I had an Illuminations party as my pre-reception. Or am I confused and you want to have an Illuminations dessert party after your regular, full reception? Either way, they are such wonderful events—truly memorable!
 
In terms of the time between your ceremony ending and your reception beginning, JohnsPrincess, I am assuming you are an intimate wedding, correct? If so, then the timing is all up to you. FTW only plans the timing for custom weddings, to ensure all the guests are in the correct locations. Intimates book the DPs themselves, 90 days out, via Epcot Services.

As far as the buses go, anyone can rent them for any event needing transport, rehersal dinner, ceremony, reception, farewell gathering, etc.
 
Thank you all. Even though I am only the MOG, my DS and DIL2B have included me in alot of the planning. I must say I am enjoying it.
 















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