Motorcoach... Should I? Shouldn't I?

[PrincessBrideKatie]

Hey everyone,

I am inviting about 75 people to my wedding, should I provide the motorcoach to pick them up for the wedding? Has anyone done this? What are your thoughts?

 

[caryndisneydiva]

i am providing transportation for my guests. the bus will pick them up at their hotels before the ceremony and drop them off after the reception. i opted for this because my ceremony is at 10am and i don't want anyone to miss it!

 

[wendy46001]

we had one but didn’t really have a choice, with our reception at AA they require you to be bused into Epcot....actually we ended up with two due to our guest count

it is nice to get everyone from the hotel that way no one will arrive late

 

[JaxTeach]

I am not having a Wishes wedding (although that may change very soon), but we are using a mini-motorcoach to move our guests from our ceremony, to dinner and finally to Epcot for our dessert party. The mini-motorcoach seats 25 people and is $390. I was really resistant to the idea at first, but now I'm on board. It will be nice for our guests to move together... and not get lost going from location to location. I mean, I'm in WDW at least 1 time a month and I still get lost!

 

[mhcueball2]

Our guests loved the "private bus" and made them feel very pampered and more relaxed. They didn't have to worry "where am I going...where do I park...who do I follow". The bus left every hour from the reception, so some parents with younger kids could leave to take a rest before the dessert party.

Plus you get bragging rights that you had your own private bus!! It was a big chunk of our budget, but we thought it was worth it.

 

[BayouPrincess]

we had one but didn’t really have a choice, with our reception at AA they require you to be bused into Epcot....actually we ended up with two due to our guest count

it is nice to get everyone from the hotel that way no one will arrive late

This is intriguing. This is where a consistent message would come in handy. I was told that after our SBP VR that we could walk to the International Gatewary where we would be met by an escort and be escorted to AA and then to the French Island upper.

NOTE TO SELF: Self, check with SM on that question again so the budget can be adjusted accordingly.

BTW Wendy, I love your siggy pics...your dress is gorgeous! very princessy

 

[wendy46001]

This is intriguing. This is where a consistent message would come in handy. I was told that after our SBP VR that we could walk to the International Gatewary where we would be met by an escort and be escorted to AA and then to the French Island upper.

NOTE TO SELF: Self, check with SM on that question again so the budget can be adjusted accordingly.

BTW Wendy, I love your siggy pics...your dress is gorgeous! very princessy

Thanks

if your already at SBP i hope they would let you walk....
we were at the wedding pavilion so maybe they told us we "Had" to just to keep the party together you never know…always good to ask

 

[mhcueball2]

We had a DP at UK lower. Everyone met at the front gate (I guess over by guest relations), then they were escorted in through the park over to the UK.

If everyone is still dress-up for a reception, then I can maybe understand the required transportation.

 

[Janet2k]

...should I provide the motorcoach to pick them up for the wedding? Has anyone done this? What are your thoughts?

PrincessBrideKatie, I posted this elsewhere but thought I should re-post it here.

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I had arranged for a motor coach to pick up my guests at the resorts where they were staying: BoardWalk, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Grand Floridian. While my husband & I were having our photos taken at the Grand Floridian prior to our ceremony, our guests were systematically being picked up and transported to the Wedding Pavilion. The pickup schedule was coordinated by my FTW Event Manager, and my guests had a copy of that schedule. If anyone missed their pickup time, they had to find their own way to the Wedding Pavilion (luckily, no one missed their pickup time).

My vow renewal ceremony began at 8 PM. We were done with the ceremony & Wedding Pavilion photos sometime after 9 PM. The motor coach sat in the Wedding Pavilion's parking lot the entire time, waiting for us. Once everyone was ready to head to the dinner reception, we boarded the motor coach. It drove us to the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park (my party was being held inside the Great Movie Ride). I think we arrived at the Studios at 9:30 PM. The bus dropped us off backstage. The Disney Guides, who I had hired for the evening, escorted everyone to the party’s location. The motor coach sat backstage for the rest of the night. It was literally at my beck and call. If any of my guests needed to leave the party early, the bus would take them back to their resort, no questions asked.

My dinner party ended with fireworks at 2 AM. The Disney Guides then escorted everyone back to the waiting motor coach. Our first stop was the BoardWalk. Our second stop was the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our third stop was the Wilderness Lodge. Our fourth stop was the Wedding Pavilion since there were guests who had driven themselves to the ceremony. The fifth and final stop was the Grand Floridian. That was where my husband, myself, and our children disembarked. It was 3 AM when we bade the bus driver a fond farewell.

So, here’s the breakdown…

When the motor coach picked up my first guests that evening, the clock was running. When the motor coach dropped off my last guests that evening, the clock stopped running. I was charged for 9 hours of motor coach service. 9 hours x $78 = $702.
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I don't know what the current pricing is, so please ask the FTW folks for it. I'll also share a few photos so that you have an idea of what one of the motor coaches looks like (they come in various styles).

 

[caryndisneydiva]

This is intriguing. This is where a consistent message would come in handy. I was told that after our SBP VR that we could walk to the International Gatewary where we would be met by an escort and be escorted to AA and then to the French Island upper.

NOTE TO SELF: Self, check with SM on that question again so the budget can be adjusted accordingly.

BTW Wendy, I love your siggy pics...your dress is gorgeous! very princessy

i am having my ceremony at sbp and my reception at living seas...i was told we HAD to have transportation backstage...

 

[PrincessBrideKatie]

Well, the thing is that the Wedding is at the Yacht Club Gazebo, and the reception is gonna be in a Ballroom at the Yacht Club, so transportation isn't completely necessary, I just don't want to force people to take a bus to DTD (or a park) and then to the Yacht Club. I also don't know how many are gonna rent cars. I think I am gonna have to do the Motorcoach, I don't want my guests to have to take a taxi either. Ok, an extra $88 an hour.

 

[lurkyloo]

I have issues with the 5-hour bus minimums (too short to cover your ceremony + reception, too long to have it come at the beginning and at the end).

However... I have finally come to terms with the fact that the second-biggest chunk of my wedding budget (besides food) is for transportation. It just seems the nice thing to do - to have my guests taken to the ceremony, to the reception and to the dessert party so they don't have to figure out which bus goes to what park and how to get from here to there.

But... MAN is it spendy!