Illuminations Dessert Party

[Debbie1]

This is my first post here so first I would like to say a big Hello to everyone.

My question is that I will be having a Intimate Wedding in Oct 06 and trying to organize a Dessert Party for either the night of the wedding or the night before. As there will only be a small group of us no more then 8 it was suggested the Japan Terrace, does anyone have any information on the location, is it a good spot to view Illuminations etc. Also if we schedule it for the day before the wedding and we are already in the park do we still have to pay the $12.50 per person viewing fee.

Looking forward to hearing from you all.
Debbie

 

[PrincessMo]

Hi there. I don't know about the Japan Terrace, i had 15 people and used the Lower UK Terrace which was nice. Also, if you go with the night before and everyone uses a park pass to get into the park, you don't have to pay the $12.50 viewing fee. If you go with the wedding night and no one is the parks that morning then you will have to pay that.

Good Luck!

 

[JonetteA]

The intimate weddings are funny things. If you do have a dessert party the night of your wedding, you can't wear your dress. I just wanted you to know this up front. Disney is getting a little crazier with Intimate weddings, so check with your EM about the rules.

 

[Debbie1]

I had read that Disney had changed this rule and now Intimate brides were allowed to wear their wedding dress. We are hoping to have dinner after the cake cutting reception at V & A (earliest sitting) so I am not sure we will have time to also have the dessert party the same night anyway. It is looking like we will have to arrange it for the night before the wedding so the wedding dress will not be a issue. Any ideas on how long the meal at V & A will take?
Thank you for your replies.
Debbie

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Did you consider a WIshes dessert party instead? If you are at Victoria and Albert's, it might be easier than trying to make the mad dash over to Epcot.

Most of the time, they are held on the steps at the marina. For a party of your size, you might want to ocnsdier moving to a shrubbed area to the left of the main inlet. It was much more protected (we were just too large to use it!). Also, be sure you are OK with your inclement weather plans! And, unbeknownst to us until the last minute, if you want the music piped in, there is a fee.

xoxo

 

[evedein]

DD & I had dinner at V & A the night before her wedding. It was wonderful. However, the dinner runs 2 1/2 - 3 hrs (ours was 2 1/2hrs) & we were VERY stuffed after 7 courses. We could never have enjoyed the desserts at a dessert party a couple of hours later. It would be a shame to let all those yummy desserts go to waste.

 

[Debbie1]

I have decided as we really want to have dinner at V & A after the cake cutting reception, and having now found out how long the meal is going to take I will try and have the dessert party the night before the wedding.

Does anyone know if it is possible to watch Wishes from the GF and if this is a good spot? This would be a nice end to our wedding day and we should have time to finish our meal at V & A and walk over to see Wishes. This is assuming that the time for Wishes in October will be either 9pm or 10pm.

Thank you all so much for the replies.
Debbie

 

[melmel]

You can see Wishes from the grand. We actually had a Wishes dessert party. We were down at the marina and had a private area with tables set up for us, and a buffet table with the fruit, cheese, dessert, sodas, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. The view was very good, but you can't hear the music from the Grand only in the MK, or on the Wishes cruises. Honestly though after eating at V&A's all I wanted to do was waddle out and go to bed. I was exhusted, and that was without all the wedding day stuff first, so it's something to keep in mind. The other thing to remember is that in October is the holloween party, which they don't run wishes for, so if that falls on your wedding night that'll screw up your plans too.

Hope this helps.

Melissa

 

[hfehr1s]

What are the costs associated with doing either the Wishes or Illuminations parties??? Is there information on the website somewhere or can I ask my wedding planner?? I am curious because until being on this web site I didn't know anything about them and I think it would be great to have either one. Thanks again for everybody's information it has been sooooo helpful.

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Debbie-

Yes, it is a good spot.

We had planned on using it as our rehearsal dinner; however, when we saw that our inclement weather plan was a Salon room in the convention center, we backed out. We watched Wishes from several locations on different night and determined we wanted to be at the marina becuase it had the best view.

You can have the music piped it for an additional charge of $300.00. Otherwise, you will have to rely on hearing it from the hotel or not at all.

You will have tables and high-boy table set up in apropriate numbers for your party size. A Grand Floridian catering staff member will be there to serve and assist. They are dressed in gold vest with white shirts and black pants.

I have the dessert menus available. If you would like to PM me with your private email address, I will be happy to send them to you. We didn't find that the option was veyr expensive for a group of 40. If you would like, you can have alcohol added to the party. If it is something you're interested in, I will be happy to send you the bar options, too.

 

[Debbie1]

Thanks UnderTheMistletoe and everyone else for a lot of help.

I think as we will have just eaten at V & A and from what I hear far to full to even think about any more desserts, we might just try and find a nice spot somewhere within the GF to view Wishes with everyone else. And organize an Illuminations dessert party for the night before the wedding. So now I just need to try and find out if the Japan Terrace in Epcot is a good spot for this. As this was the venue suggested to me by my EM.

 

[lpizzuro123]

The only thing I want to say about Wishes in October is that the nights they have MNSSHP (Mickey's Not So Scarry Halloween Party) the fireworks are very different and the music and naration is also different. I know 'Ohanas was not one of your options for eating and viewing Wishes but I know on the nights of MNSSHP they do not pipe the music into the restaurant. I am not sure if this is the same thing with different locations also. We watched regular Wishes from the marina at GF last November and you can hear alittle of the music but not enough to fully enjoy it.
Linda

 

[eblondie]

We recently had the Grand 1 for a Wishes cruise on the night of our wedding. We could SEE and HEAR Wishes perfectly. We have been on a Wishes cruise previously, but we all thought that the Grand 1 definately had the best view. Our photographs of us on the Grand 1 are some of our favourites

 

[Debbie1]

A cruise on Grand 1 would be my first choice to finish off the evening after V & A. I will just have to wait until nearer the time to see the schedule for Wishes in October and hope it is not MNSSHP instead. Then we need to see if we are lucky enough to be able to get a reservation for Grand 1 as I understand they go very fast.
Just out of interest on the nights of MNSSHP are there any firworks at MK and if so what are they like compared to Wishes?

Thanks for all your help.
Debbie