OK ... question about minimum guest requirement for locations

[cseca]

I've called disney to find out information and the one they (ok, her name is ashley) gave me does not match the website.
So I was wondering if someone could give me the correct info... since you all are experts ...

We're planning to have a pretty small wedding actually and according to the website, the only locations which will accommodate 30 people or less is UK terraces.
Is that true?
Everything else seems to have a min requirement of 50+.

When I talked to Disney, she said she's never heard such thing. She said there's a max limit but no min.
I even confirmed with her that I was talking about reception and/or dessert party. And she said yes, no min limit just max.

Is this correct?

As much as I like EPCOT, I don't want to have my reception/dessert party smelling like fried fish...

If someone could help clarify I'd appreciate it.

TIA!!!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Oh lordy, I hope the UK terraces don't smell like fried fish - that's where our dessert party is!

There is a minimum guest count for certain dessert party locations - maybe she was talking about there being no minimum for Wishes weddings in general? (One thing you'll find when dealing with a company as large as Disney is that you get a different answer out of everyone you ask... )

For instance, we're having 37 people and can only use the UK terraces - I asked for French Island, Italy, et al and was told I had to have 50 people. Most small Wishes weddings use the UK terraces. Most Escape weddings use Morocco.


Hope this helps!

 

[lov2b@disney]

We are also having 37 people. I assume you are talking about the dessert party locations? We are having ours at what they call Italy Plaza West. It is a small section next to Isola(the "island" at Italy), if your looking at the lagoon it is to the left. It is not all that private but they screen it off so other guests cant wander in . We picked it because our ceremony is in the Italy Courtyard that morning.

 

[meryll83]

We are also having 37 people. I assume you are talking about the dessert party locations? We are having ours at what they call Italy Plaza West. It is a small section next to Isola(the "island" at Italy), if your looking at the lagoon it is to the left. It is not all that private but they screen it off so other guests cant wander in . We picked it because our ceremony is in the Italy Courtyard that morning.

We were thinking of this location but were curious about what the "screens" (be they fencing, plants or whatever) would like like.
Have you found anything out about this?


I don't know why the girl you spoke to at Disney didn't know anything about the minimums.
From what I have been told, the locations you could have for your party size are:
Morocco
Italy West
UK Upper
UK Lower
French Arm

 

[cseca]

Oh lordy, I hope the UK terraces don't smell like fried fish - that's where our dessert party is!

There is a minimum guest count for certain dessert party locations - maybe she was talking about there being no minimum for Wishes weddings in general? (One thing you'll find when dealing with a company as large as Disney is that you get a different answer out of everyone you ask... )

For instance, we're having 37 people and can only use the UK terraces - I asked for French Island, Italy, et al and was told I had to have 50 people. Most small Wishes weddings use the UK terraces. Most Escape weddings use Morocco.


Hope this helps!

Thanks Lurkyloo!
Everytime we walk pass UK the smell we get was the fried fish (from the fish and chips store beside R&C). So I'm a little hesitant picking either UK terraces. Altho if those are our only options I think I'll have to cave in....

We are also having 37 people. I assume you are talking about the dessert party locations? We are having ours at what they call Italy Plaza West. It is a small section next to Isola(the "island" at Italy), if your looking at the lagoon it is to the left. It is not all that private but they screen it off so other guests cant wander in . We picked it because our ceremony is in the Italy Courtyard that morning.

Really?
They allow you to use Italy?
Wow... I will have to remember that. Thank you...

 

[meryll83]

Really?
They allow you to use Italy?
Wow... I will have to remember that. Thank you...

If you look in my Planning Journal (link in my signature) on page 11, Whoopdedo has posted pictures of the area that is Italy West.
You can see it's not on the island itself, but is the "cove" next to the bridge where the benches are.
Hope this gives you a better idea!

 

[cseca]

If you look in my Planning Journal (link in my signature) on page 11, Whoopdedo has posted pictures of the area that is Italy West.
You can see it's not on the island itself, but is the "cove" next to the bridge where the benches are.
Hope this gives you a better idea!

Thank you SOOOOO much!
I'll have to do that during lunch today...

 

[lurkyloo]

Anyone have pictures of the French Island Arm? Now I'm thinking about switching from UK Upper, since we got bumped there from our preferred location, UK Lower....

 

[lpizzuro123]

We were just down in Disney last week and did a site inspection. We checked out UK - Upper and Lower for our desert party. We are using UK Lower. It is right on the water - we watched IllumiNation from there this past Saturday and it was beautiful. It did not smell of fried fish. UK Upper is very nice also but will be too crowded if we get all the people we are planning on (50 to 60). Nice thing about UK Upper is there are tables and chairs there so we do not have to pay to have them set this up.

France is also beautiful but I am not sure what sections are considered the "arms".

Linda

 

[disprincessatheart]

there was another thread a couple of days ago with some questions about French Island. TazFoto.com has some pics of french island. The first picture is of the whole area, in relation the arm is to the left, The second to last picture is of the arm.

I was planning a wishes wedding last year with 35 ppl and we were going to use the FI upper for our reception. We were even going to buy out the lower that night to keep peopel from filling the entire area for illuminations. For a custom you have a lot more options!

 

[lurkyloo]

Thanks for posting that - I never would have know which arm was which! The French Island Arm is quite pretty...

 

[cseca]

Thanks for posting that - I never would have know which arm was which! The French Island Arm is quite pretty...

I talked to Heidi from DFTW today and she said that the FI Arm has a downside. People could wonder in your party area to get to the Island itself.
So that's kinda a bummer.
And when I asked if we could get a bigger area and pay for the amt of people (even tho we're less than the min), she said they are not allowed to do that. It would disappoint the day park visitor to see a large area being occupied by so little amt of people... I thought it makes sense. Not good for us... but it makes sense.

 

[meryll83]

I talked to Heidi from DFTW today and she said that the FI Arm has a downside. People could wonder in your party area to get to the Island itself.
So that's kinda a bummer.
And when I asked if we could get a bigger area and pay for the amt of people (even tho we're less than the min), she said they are not allowed to do that. It would disappoint the day park visitor to see a large area being occupied by so little amt of people... I thought it makes sense. Not good for us... but it makes sense.

Heidi tried to discourage us from the French arm, saying that "there are so many prettier places". She didn't say guests could just wander through, I would have thought they'd cord the area or or something, it's not like it's the only way to get from UK to France
She also tried to discourage us from Morocco saying there was an "obstructed view". I presumed she meant the concrete wall, but I would think most people would stand for the actual fireworks show
If you have less than 20 people in the group though, it seems like Morocco is the only option.
Although I have no idea about the minimum for Japan, but I didn't like that this is the only non-lagoon-side location.

 

[lurkyloo]

Japan holds 10 people max. I have never heard of anyone using it...