Locations for Escape

[geek+nerd]

I am BRAND NEW to these boards. I am hoping that I can get more info here than from the useless (IMHO) Disney wedding website.

My fiance and I are planning an Escape wedding for 6/21/11, or at least that's the date we want. However, we will be in Orlando for vacation this summer and are hoping to get to see the Wedding Pavilion and some of the other Escape locations.

If you did/are doing an Escape wedding, where was your location? What do you think are the advantages/disadvantages of that location?

I really like the idea of the Wedding Pavilion, but with only 20 people max, I'm afraid it will just look absurd.

TIA!

 

[MsEsty]

We're using the SBP for a couple of reasons

1) I didn't like having all the empty space in the WP, like you mentioned.
2) The WP costs almost 1k more than the other sites. Yes the WP comes with the organist (which I wouldn't have used anyway) and a longer cake/bubbly, but it wasn't worth the money for us.
3) Just liked the look of the SBP

 

[daisygirl902]

You may want to pick up the Passporter's Disney Weddings and honeymoon book. It shows you basically all of the locations...

I originally was going to go with the Wedding Pavilion but changed a few weeks back to Sea Breeze Point.

I changed for a few reasons...it's at BW - and we are staying at BWV so that just made sense. It is also small and cozy, and easier to customize with floral for a better price than the Wedding Pavilion. I am personally not a huge fan of the way the WP looks inside - although the views can't be beat, and it's great cause it's inside and air conditioned...but I love love love everyone's photos of SBP so that's how I decided!

 

[Deb loves Disney]

We were originally going to go with Canada in Epcot because DF and I met in Epcot and it is the only Escape package offered inside a park.
But then I went to go look at all of the locations and when I stepped into the Wedding Pavilion I fell in love with it.
Several CM's that I met while there said that due to the seating arrangement, it does not feel empty with only a few guests and they often have a low guest count.
I also went to SBP and didn't really like it....I think when you visit you should go to each location and when you are in the "ONE" you will just know . That is how I decided!!
HTH

 

[Chilly]

I had the WP and only had 6 guests, it didn't bother me at all.

 

[Brit_Jude]

I choose the wedding pavillion for our escape. I originally wanted SBP due to our size, 15 people and I liked the overall look. I changed after seeing some of the pictures on peoples TR's of the WP with the castle in the background through the window. I thought it made it more special and if I am going to have a Disney wedding I might as well have a Disney wedding . Also when I have been on the monorail and have seen the WP just looks so special. There are many small weddings at the WP.

I also considered the weather. As my wedding is in August I was concerned about the heat for my guests or the typical rainstorms at that time of year and I did not want to end up in a ballroom getting married if SBP was rained out.

As your planning a June wedding you will have different consideratons. Like a previous poster said, visit all the locations and I am sure you will narrow it down to which one you want.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I choose Epcot Canada, because I wanted an in park event, and only had 17 people, so at the time, it was hard to meet the Wishes minimum (which was $12,000 than). I loved everything about my location! There is lots of info in my TR if you are interested.

 

[weedee]

We chose the Wedding Pavilion for a couple reasons over the other locations:

1) Private compared to other locations where we'd have to deal with onlookers DURING our ceremony

2) Air-conditioned which is a huge plus because it's June in Florida!

3) We don't have to worry about the weather. It could be raining outside and it won't affect our ceremony at all!

4) Change in locations for the Cake Cutting - this gives our guests another great place to enjoy in a Disney resort and it's a gorgeous view from the terrace!

5) No significant decor needed! The Wedding Pavilion is ornate enough and looks great without a lot of expensive flowers

I was a bit worried about such a large venue for only 18 people, but I actually got over that pretty quickly with all the pros going on for the WP. Hope that helps!

 

[Lorelei528]

We chose SBP and I don't regret our decision one bit.

The WP is just way too churchy looking for me/us. One of the reasons we went with DFTW was to have an unconventional wedding and we felt an outside location was more to the feeling we were going for.

We were unfamiliar with SBP before we booked our wedding but we did get to see it about 8 months before our wedding and we loved it as soon we we saw it in person.

I have seen weddings with only the bride and groom at SBP and also some with as many as 30-like 45 people and it still looks great!

Good luck and Congrats!

 

[2010_Bride]

We chose the Wedding Pavilion for a couple reasons over the other locations:

1) Private compared to other locations where we'd have to deal with onlookers DURING our ceremony

2) Air-conditioned which is a huge plus because it's June in Florida!

3) We don't have to worry about the weather. It could be raining outside and it won't affect our ceremony at all!

4) Change in locations for the Cake Cutting - this gives our guests another great place to enjoy in a Disney resort and it's a gorgeous view from the terrace!

5) No significant decor needed! The Wedding Pavilion is ornate enough and looks great without a lot of expensive flowers

I was a bit worried about such a large venue for only 18 people, but I actually got over that pretty quickly with all the pros going on for the WP. Hope that helps!

Exactly

 

[geek+nerd]

Thanks to everyone for your input!

 

[polynesianbride]

I'm a little late joining in but I just went to Disney in April and looked at all of the Escape locations so thought I would share. We are having an Escape at Sunset Pointe this December, we had visited shortly after we were engaged in 2008- we planned to look at all the sites at that time but we visited Sunset Pointe right after the WP and knew it was the place for us I decided that before we officially booked though that we should see all the sites in person so we saw them all in April but we're sticking to our plan! I have TONS of pics of Sunset Pointe in my PJ so if you are interested you can follow the link, I will just post 1 here and then move on to the rest of the sites:

Sunset Pointe at the Polynesian

Pros: View of the castle, gorgeous natural setting, the pic kind of speaks for itself
Cons: 10 person max (due to the slope of the hillside they can't accommodate any more due to safety issues), no coverage from elements (rain is my worst nightmare), the site also tends to be quite windy from pics I've seen

Wedding Pavilion
We did also see the WP on our first trip to check out sites. I love the look of the WP from the outside but the inside is personally not my style. I don't have any pics of the inside but alot of brides use this site so I'm sure you have seen it. There is a gorgeous little arch outside that I think would be perfect for a smaller ceremony, it was a bit too formal for what we wanted but I would definitely ask if you could use this site if you love the feel of the WP- then the inside would be your rain location! I have never seen anyone have there ceremony in this area but it looks like there would be enough room on the grass to set up chairs for a small group.

Sunrise Terrace at Wilderness Lodge
We never made it there til this trip but I wanted to see it. I'll bore you with a fair amount of detail here just bc it seems this site is rarely used so you may have trouble finding info. I have mixed feelings about this location. I think WL is gorgeous but didn't like ST as much as I was expecting. Originally we thought about it because a rustic wedding would be very romantic but now think since the arrival of Canada I think that this site pales in comparison. It's on the second floor of the WL and overlooks the waterfall and pool area.

To access the area you have to go inside the lodge to the 2nd floor, it doesn't have a grand entrance or anything- it's just in the hall with guest rooms and the ice machine is right around the corner There is a little area with a table just before you can get out onto the deck. This site also has a limit of 8 guests (10 including the bride and groom). There are benches but the doors are on either side not the middle, so it would be difficult to walk down the middle like an aisle without tripping over guests The view is beautiful if you can ignore the site of all the other guests walking basically right below you and there was a significant amount of noise that could be heard from the pool (given we were there the week of Easter which is super crowded).
View looking out:

View looking back:

I think they must move the benches around some way to make more room but the way it is it would have been hard to maneuver in a wedding dress

Sea Breeze Point at the Boardwalk
I only took one pic of this and from a distance. It is a very popular site and I think this is a really fun area. We had never been back there until we decided to snoop around this last time. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding info and reviews on this site

Yacht Club Wedding Gazebo
When we went to snoop out this site there was actually a wedding about to start, no one was out there yet so I tried to sneak some pics but then the guests started to arrive so I quick ran away I don't think this was a DIS bride bc I've scoured the boards to find this wedding, it looked gorgeous. We saw the bride inside taking pics and she was STUNNING!

And lastly.... OH CANADA!
This is the newest addition the Escape locations and is the only location in a theme park- it does cost a bit more (same as WP) but I couldn't quote you the exact price. DF and I had never wandered up to this area of Canada before but we both loved it- if we weren't so into our tropical theme at the Poly we may have considered switching. I think we may choose this as one of the locations for our Epcot photoshoot though. Boardwalk Bride just got married here and I am anxiously awaiting all her pics! Here's the only pic we took:

That was long but hope someone found it helpful!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Adelia, that is an awesome post and so helpful for Escape (and Wishes) brides! I really want to visit Sunset Pointe and Sunrise terrace next time I go (yes, I am already planning a VR since I miss my DFTW already!).

I just wanted to post a ceremony picture from my Escape @ Canada so people have a better idea of the set up:

 

[Chilly]

Adelia, that is an awesome post and so helpful for Escape (and Wishes) brides! I really want to visit Sunset Pointe and Sunrise terrace next time I go (yes, I am already planning a VR since I miss my DFTW already!).

I just wanted to post a ceremony picture from my Escape @ Canada so people have a better idea of the set up:

ooohhh at little teaser pic!

I am def doing a VR at SP which is what I wanted in the first place but then changed to the WP for lots of reasons.

 

[geek+nerd]

Polynesianbride and Boardwalkbride, thanks so much for the pics!!!! This definitely helps.

We will be touring locations on 6/21 (one year from our desired wedding date) when we are in FL with my family. My fiance, my mom and sister (he refers to them as "the committee") and I will be going.

Anything I need to know about getting to the locations? I'm really just looking to see the gazebo, SBP, and the WP.