pre wedding day dinner-HELP

[inloveindisney]

My fiance's parents have decided that they would like to buy a dinner for everyone the night before the wedding. They are not the richest people in the world, actually they don't have much money at all. We are kinda worried about them buying this for us. Anyway, they have asked us to pick a restaurant. Does anyone have an idea for this? My fiance wants somewhere on the boardwalk, but I am not sure any of those places are the best. We are already going to eat at the Yachtsman for our wedding dinner.
I think my fiance wants to eat at the ESPN club. I just don't know how appropriate this is.
Can anyone help or suggest an idea?
Thanks

 

[PryncessChrysty]

That's really sweet of your fiance's parents! While it's probably not traditional to go to the ESPN Zone for the rehearsal dinner, it's not exactly as if you're going to McDonald's either. If there aren't a ton of people, I would also suggest Beaches & Cream for the dinner if you are looking for something inexpensive, but fun. I think either of those places are completely appropriate, albeit not traditional. We were going to do this for our rehearsal dinner, but decided to do it at House of Blues instead so we could go to La Nouba afterward, then to Pleasure Island. (Thankfully, our wedding isn't until 5:00pm the next day!)
If you were looking for some place a bit more fancy at the Boardwalk Spoodles might also be a good place for you to go. But it is on the pricey side for dinner.

To be honest, I think it would be really memorable for you all to go somewhere fun as opposed to somewhere a bit more fancy for the rehearsal dinner. You are already going to the Yachtsman on your wedding night. I think the rehearsal dinner should just be about family & friend's, getting together to celebrate what they're there for.....your wedding! I think ESPN, or even Beaches would be completely appropriate for something like that!

 

[hmgolden]

I think B&C and ESPN Zone are great suggestions. I'm a big fan of keeping the rehearsal dinner casual! However, you should keep in mind that B&C (and ESPN, I think but I am not sure) doesn't take PS. The wait at B&C can get to over an hour and half at times! Its worth the wait, but that may not be what you are looking for for your meal. Also, B&C would have a hard time accomodating a group larger then 5-6.

Spooodles has fantastic food, and you could work with the manager there to cut things off the menu to keep the cost down. Another option would be the Big River Brewery at the Boardwalk. It has great food, and I think its a little cheaper then Spoodles, its also more casual.

Good luck deciding!

 

[LUVTGR]

We went to Bongos for ours. The food was excellent and so was the service. The only bad thing is there is only live music on Fri and Sat, we didn't know and had wanted the entertainment.

 

[ahutton]

Big River would be one choice, you might also look at places in Swan or Dolphin. If you want something very casual and relaxed take a look at the Dolphin Fountain - it is basic fare and ice cream. It is much less crowded than B&C and if you arranged ahead I'm sure they could do something really neat for your group that is very budget friendly. You might call Dolphin and see if they can help you if that is something you would be interested in.

 

[megan926]

Anywhere on Disney property...you can't go wrong. Do you want a buffet? Then everyone can eat as much as they want...for one price. Boma is wonderful, O'hana (not quite a buffet), a character dinner might be fun. Someone else mentioned Beaches and Cream...YUM! They have great ice cream! Let us know what you decide.

Megan

 

[mufasa0505]

I agree with Megan926-Boma is WONDERFUL!!! I'm a veghead and very picky, and I LOVED it! Beautiful setting, lots of great food...and you can walk around AKL and check out the animals after dinner.

Almost forgot to mention-EVERYBODY in my family loved Boma. My carnivore stepfather, my 10-year old sister who only eats chicken fingers, my mom, my fiance. We all loved it, not just me the vegetarian.

 

[Merandab4]

In addition to all the other suggestions by the previous posters, I would like to suggest two more locations.

1. Trails End at Fort Wilderness. This is a buffet and it is les then $20 per person which is a pretty good bargain at Disney. After Dinner you all can catch the Fireworks at that location.

2. One of the Character buffets, either 1900 Park Fare or Chef Mickeys. These places are about $25 per person and you get the added bonus of interacting with the charcters as well as great photo opportunities. You can also see the fireworks from these location as well.

How nice of his parents to want to treat everybody. I see your concerns as you want to keep it nice but fairly inexpensive. I think these place would be good choices!

 

[jamie0201]

Ok for our rehearsel dinner, we have about 30 people joining us and my fiances parents also offered to foot the bill. They are also not the richest people, so I decided to be creative. We live in Chicago and my fiance and his parents are all from Chicago. My family is originally from Chicago but we all grew up in Florida. So we decided to find a Chicago style pizza place outside of Disney (Giordanos - THE BEST Chicago style pizza). We will be having our rehearsel dinner there (they are right outside Disney in Lake Buena Vista - very close to downtown disney). They are setting up a buffet of all types of pizzas - pan, thick, stufed, thin, etc.. and salad for $8.95 per person including soft drinks. If we want to add pasta we can and they will do it for $11.95 per person. We are very laid back people, and we wanted to do something more fun, b/c we are having a custom wedding the next night.

Hope this helped!

 

[disneybride96]

They have Giordanos in FL?
We have been there in Chicago, but didn't know they were elsewhere! Yum!

We did our dinner at Whispering Canyon Café at the Wilderness Lodge. It was a great time, especially if you have children in your group. We were all able to take a nice walk by the lake after dinner.

 

[jamie0201]

Yes, they have 2 Giordano's Restaurants in Orlando. That is the only other place they have them besides Chicago! They have one in Kissimmee on 192, and one in Lake Buena Vista near Downtown Disney. They are both very close to Disney World.

We are very excited to be doing our rehearsel there!!! We love Chicago style pizza!

Jamie

 

[jamie0201]

I sent you a PM inloveindisney