Intimate wedding - Qs on site visit, etc.

[groomtb]

finally registered after reading for weeks, found lots of helpful answers to some questions, yet it sprouted more questions a long the way.

can you do a self-serve site inspection to the 4 outdoor ceremony location? are they all public areas you can just stroll right in and take pictures?
I live just hrs away from WDW so it's just matter of driving there.
Any 'free' resort parking and transportation services that will take us to all 4 resorts?

was thinking for parking at downtown Disney and use their buses. But can't remember if the parking and bus are free or not..

do they have a guided site visit with the coordinator for intimate wedding? fees?

any suggestions and tips are appreciated.


TIA

 

[FutureAshleyDukes]

the only site you really need to be on tour to visit is the Pavilion for the intimate weddings. Someone please correct me if I am wrong on this.

Happy Planning!

 

[hiwaygal]

I would think you could easily visit all of the locations, with the possible exception of the pavilion. Sea Breeze Point, Sunset Pointe, and The Gazebo are all just sort of "on the grounds" of the hotel/resort area. The one at the Wilderness Lodge might be a little more difficult to just walk to see, as it's actually inside the hotel (I think)...but that shouldn't be a problem. My guess is you could ask at the GF if you could visit the pavilion, and someone would have to take you over there.

Whether or not you can use Disney transportation, I don't know...do you have an AP? I would think you need some kind of ticket to use the transporation, but I could be way wrong about that!

I also think you might be able to just park in the hotel parking; for example, at the Boardwalk area, just tell them you are visiting the Boardwalk/ESPN/restaurants and they will tell you where you can park...then you can see Sea Breeze Point and The Gazebo really with one stop (they are across the lake from each other).

I don't think there is any guided site visit, but you could ask your coordinator.

Good Luck!

 

[ead79]

Welcome to the group!

You can certainly visit the outdoor ceremony locations on your own—Seabreeze Point at the BoardWalk Inn, the Yacht Club Gazebo, Sunset Point at the Polynesian. I’m actually not sure how you get to Sunrise Terrace at the Wilderness Lodge, but I’m sure you could ask at the front desk. The outdoor locations are all public, so you’re welcome to take pictures. Obviously, if there was a wedding going on then you couldn’t, LOL. If you want to see the Wedding Pavilion, I would call Fairy Tale Weddings and ask them when you could visit (they will be able to look and see when it’s not in use).

As far as parking and transportation goes, it would be quickest to use your own car. Self-parking is free at the resorts, so you wouldn’t have to pay as long as you don’t use the valet service. You would just tell the security guard at the entrance gate that you are there to tour the resort. They will then either just wave you on through or give you a 3 hour parking pass. If you don’t want to drive yourself, then you could use Disney’s bus service. The transportation is free. However, it would take a while since the busses don’t go directly from resort to resort. You would need to make transfers at either the theme parks or at Downtown Disney, so it would be pretty time consuming. If you do want to do that, parking costs money at the theme parks, but it’s free at Downtown Disney as long as you don’t valet park.

There are no guided site visits for intimate weddings, but you should be able to tour them on your own with no problems. Enjoy your planning!

 

[groomtb]

Thanks for all the replies!

good to know they won't charge for resort parking for nonguests.
we only plan on outdoor wedding anyways so it's fine if we dont see the Pavilion in person, pix we saw posted here are amazing already...

does anyone know if the Polynesian luau dinner show have private dining for small group? or even a good seating area for maybe 10 people. thinking of doing that as a intimate dinner reception.

 

[Honeibee]

The Sunrise Terrace is right off the fourth floor of the lobby of the WL. Anyone can walk right up there.

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Hey-

We have been in and out of the Pavilion without the coordinator a few times.... shhhhh... A lot of times, the gates over the bridge are locked. If they are open, you need to be sure you're not crashing somebody's wedding!

We never had any problem telling the guards we were planning a wedding and wanted to take a look around. We've never had them NOT give us a pass. We've used this excuse to park at the Yacht Club or Contemporary wrongly to walk to the whichever parks. Remember, Disney is there to please. Most people will look fondly on someone scouting out wedding locations!

xoxo

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

PS- You can park at the Grand Floridian lot by the Wedding Pavilion and Franck's and use the monorail or Transportation Center to get wherever you need to go, too. The "public" lot at the GF is gate controlled though.

 

[twojo21]

you can easily view the 5 outdoor ceremony locations (sunset pointe at the polynesian, the sunset terrace at the wilderness lodge, seabreeze point at the boardwalk, the gazebo at the yacht club and arusha rock at animal kingdom lodge) by yourself.

disney transportation ie the buses, monorail & boats are free.

 

[groomtb]

Thanks for the tip about GF parking

so the buses and monorail are free after all?(I just can't remember , been over a year) We can drive around the resorts, but we like to find a free way to get to Epcot entrance, to check out their kennel. Got a cat we might want to board during our wedding stays.

we've pretty much set our mind on Sunset Pointe, but would like to be on locations and get that "this is the where (bride) want to get married"
also to get some decoration ideas if needed.

 

[groomtb]

finally went to check out the 4+1 intimate wedding locations over the weekend.

it was quite a breeze to get around, telling them you want to check out the resort and they'll let you in with photo ID and they picture your car tag.

but our overall impression of those locations aren't overly excited.

best of the 4 location was Sunset Pointe. just as everyone said, it's one a small hill with quite a good intimate/private surrounding. Overlooking the seven sea with magic castle in the far distance along with other deluxe resorts. our best choice!

the gazebo would be nice if it was more out in the open and not surrounded by rooms on three sides...

sea breeze by boardwalk is ok too, get a lot of people walking by since it's right next to sidewalk.

and the terrace at wilderness lodge? we weren't even sure if we found the right place lol. was told it's on the 4th floor balcony...and it's just that...a small balcony.. back towards the lobby and facing the pool area. let me know if that's not the right place. the resort lobby was awesome looking though.

and we checked out the wedding pavillian since it was just around the beach by Polynesian. quite nice! it's beautiful inside and worth the extra $ if you have lots of guests and/or like the indoor setting.

took us only 2 hrs at most to look at all 5 locations. but it did gave us better sense of planning and at the same time worried if location we like doesn't fit our schedule.