Hi Janet! So nice to see you! Have you been lurking or just very busy?
Yes, we had our rehearsal dinner at the California Grill. A lot of the above mentioned information is wrong.
The Napa Room sits so that it faces the castle. It's an incredible view as you look into the Magic Kingdom. The Sonoma room has beautiful panoramic view of the Wilderness Lodge, Seven Seas Lagoon, and the Orlando "skyline." We were able to spot the SeaWorld needle, Discovery Cove, and a few other major Orlando landmarks. Honestly, you cannot go wrong with either room. They are both fantastic.
The Napa room has a minimum expenditure of $3,000 for dinner. The minimum menu price is $70++, excluding alcohol. I am
almost certain the Sonoma is a $2,500 minimum expenditure. Both room feature priavte bars. You would be choosing the same bar options and pricing as those for your wedding reception.
All meals are served "California style". It's a fancy way of saying family style. I was initially a little bit hesitant becuase we had just assumed it was regular table service. We asked the EM about it and she matter of factly told us, "Give it up now. They won't change it for you, me, or Roy Disney himself." There you have it. We really felt that it worked in our favor. All the food was divine (from what I've heard... I lost my appetite in all the excitement before the main courses arrived) and people really enjoyed being able to mix and match. We had the filet, chicken, and salmon. People are still raving about how good the food was.
Although they will allow you to tweak the menus, you can not make changes to them that would ruin the integrity of the menu. For example, we did not want one of the goat cheese appetizers... and the "Peeky toe crab" freaked Brye out. "I am not eating peeky toe
anything !" were his exact words. We were able to substitute those (the regular menu appetizer choices) with one of the other hand-served items- a vegetable spring roll ususlaly used for passed hors d'eourves. We also had ordered a groom's cake for Brye. Instead of using the menu dessert item, we chose to have that served.
Being in the Napa room for Wishes really does add that extra Disney magic. It's a great alternative to a dessert party of you're concerned about the weather, too. Guests have the option of watching from the room itself or veturing out to the catwalk. Everyone was oohing and aahing at the fireworks. From most we got, "That was the most spectacular fireworks display I've ever seen!" I am sure the vantage point had something to do with it.
The service the CG was incredible. Absolutely top notch. They went about and did their jobs so quietly and professionally you barely noticed they were there. I really liked the fact that they kept me up-to-date and informed about how we were doing time wise, when the food would be ready, etc. They kept the night moving nicely. The only snag was stopping the cocktails and getting the food service started. We had a very lively group and so they let the cocktails and mingling go on a bit longer than they probably should have. The only thing it did was mean that we had the fireworks between the salad and main course instead of between the main course and dessert. In the grand scheme of things, no big deal.
I do have pictures (and owe them to someone else!) but have not had time or energy to get them scanned. I will make an attempt to do it in the next day or so. I also have the menus if you would like to see them. Just PM me with your email address and I can send them to you.