Question for any magical gathering DVCer

[gopherit]

Justtrying to get a feel for this "magical gatherings" program. I signed our party of 9 up for our trip this summer. Did it through MS (although she had to "patch me through" to the MG guy and stay on the line to feed him my ressie info).

So.... are the options in this program worth it? Has anyone done the breakfast at Tony's? I've heard lots of folks mention the boat cruise for Wishes. Just not sure how an 8 mos old would fare, however, and if one of the adults takes the 8 yr old, the very hesitant 4 yr old might not want to ride, and then we don't meet "quota" as a magical gathering!

Any info from others who signed up as a MG would be of interest to me. The guy who took all my info was pretty vague, except for the fact he kept saying "Perfect" every few minutes. Guess he approved of our choice of villas (BCV, BWV and SSR all in one trip).

 

[borncinderella]

We did two programs from magical gatherings, the Wishes fireworks boat cruise, and the Epcot international dinner with a private viewing area for the fireworks/light show. I highly recommend both. We had 11 in our party, including 5 children ages 1.5 to 11, and it worked great.
With the Wishes cruise, it was COLD, but very worth it. We even Captain Hook and his first mate there doing character signings for the 25 children there for ONE HOUR! Peter Pan met us when we got off the boat for pictures. Very cool, but I would have ordered something warmer than 38 degrees!
The Epcot international dinner was wonderful. Good food (buffet, with an excellent children's table). The children (again, about 25 in all; about 75 total in the whole dinner) all got together with a leader and presented a skit. We had Minnie and Goofy all to ourselves with a live band and everything for about 45 minutes!! A little chaotic getting to the viewing site for the light show, but what seats! We had French deserts and punch during the entire show. As the entire area was packed, there were dozens of people (the public) asking our moderators why they couldn't be standing where we were (there was plenty of room), etc.; it makes you feel pretty special to be treated to front row seats where just getting "seats" is pretty difficult to begin with! Highly recommend.

 

[bobbiwoz]

borncinderella, those are the 2 options I was thinking about. We're going in December, and I am going to see if there is a MVMCP that we could go to instead of the Wishes Cruise. You explained the International Buffet much better than what I've read, but the CM that I called, Buster, was also very helpful. Can you name any of the dishes in the International Buffet?

Bobbi

 

[lillasmom]

I'm looking into the MG event too. Thanks for posting about your experience. I'm calling MS.

 

[borncinderella]

Let me see if I can remember . . .

Kid's Buffet: Chicken fingers with a variety of dipping sauces, hotdogs, hamburgers, fries, PB&J sandwiches, some veggies.

Adult Buffet: A table from each country at Epcot. Everything from Italian pasta dishes to teriyaki stir fry, pot stickers, spatzen, curry chicken. I remember thinking anyone on a low carb diet would like the buffet because there was such a variety of meats! There were several kinds of salads, breads . . . pretty much everything from appetizers to entre items. I'm sorry I don't remember more details except that it was buffet, it was delicious, and it was all-you-can-eat. It was fun to bring back different items for the DK's to try (even though they pretty much stuck to chicken fingers!). It was never crowded at the buffet tables as they do a staggered seating (even though there were only about 75-80 of us) because they had to confirm every person in every party down to the babies. My DMIL set up the whole thing, but DH said if you call MS, he is sure they would fax you a menu (as I'm sure they would if you had people with allergies or diabetes).

Highly, highly recommend!

 

[lenshanem]

gopherit, I'm calling alter today to get more info about the Wishes cruise.

We didn't have the required 8, but I've had three other DVC families form this board say they were interested in joining us.

What info did you have to supply to get the Grand Gatherings number set up? (I think i have to have this in order to book the cruise?)

I'm curious as to what info I'll need to get from the other families.

Thanks so much for any help!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We recently got our gathering number from MS. Then we had to call the regular GG number to learn more and to set things up. We are too early to actually book things, I have 90 days out marked, so I'll do the booking then.

GG telephone # 407-939-7526. I wish there was an 800 # to use.

Bobbi

 

[lenshanem]

Bobbi, what do I need to set up the number? (What info would i need from the other families?)

Thanks!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I gave the names, ages (children, not adults) and room ressies of the participants. We have some people coming who live in Florida nearby and aren't staying on site, they're not included at this point. When we make the final plans, 80% of the paying people have to be staying on site for whatever program we go for and then these local people can be included.

I don't remember anything else, except our name, "Helen's 85th Birthday Celebration," I wish I were more creative.

Bobbi

 

[lenshanem]

So when you say names I would have to have each individual name of everyone in their party or just what name their ressie is under and the resort they are at? Names for the kids, too along with ages?
Do you have to give their ressie number, too?

Yikes! This sounds pretty complicated since I was trying to hook up with enough from this board to qualify for the Wishes cruise.

I just want to know before I call what all I'm going to have to provide.

Thanks Bobbi for helping me out with this. I have three other families interested that responded to me form a post from yesterday.

 

[mommystieg]

Originally posted by lenshanem
So when you say names I would have to have each individual name of everyone in their party or just what name their ressie is under and the resort they are at? Names for the kids, too along with ages?
Do you have to give their ressie number, too?

Yikes! This sounds pretty complicated since I was trying to hook up with enough from this board to qualify for the Wishes cruise.

I just want to know before I call what all I'm going to have to provide.

Thanks Bobbi for helping me out with this. I have three other families interested that responded to me form a post from yesterday.

I just booked our June cruise last week and I had to provide just the names of everyone in our group including children. I had a group of 15 but the max for one ressie is 12 so we had two separate ressies.

 

[bobbiwoz]

The reason I had to go though MS the first time is because the GG people couldn't get the ressies from MS or maybe it's just not easy for them to do so. I booked everyone's ressies, that's why I had all the information. This GG for my mother is the real reason we actually bought DVC, that fact just came to me. We are hoping that we can have other GG things in the future and for "off years" we'll invite smaller groups to come be with us at WDW. We are a scattered family in different states and even different countries.

Yes, regarding the names, it seemed funny to me. When I made the ressies for the 2 bedrooms for instance, MS wasn't particularly caring that I gave them the names of everyone who would be in the room, but for the GG they wanted everyone's names. I think we all get name tags for the GG and that's the reason.

Good luck, maybe you can just call MS to set up the GG, get the number, and then have the different DVC member set up their own information under the GG number you get.

Bobbi

PS. I have to edit this because I remember being told that I am the "leader." I am the only person who can make the official plans. I can download software that gets us all to vote on things. Be careful with the software, every time I boot up the computer, I get tinkerbelle asking me about the GG!

 

[lenshanem]

I just booked our June cruise last week and I had to provide just the names of everyone in our group including children. I had a group of 15 but the max for one ressie is 12 so we had two separate ressies.

So you didn't even set up or give them a Grand Gatherings number? I have more than 12 now, so i guess we'll have to split up.
It was 12 max for the cruise then? Was this the Magical Fireworks Voyage that has Peter Pan and the dessert buffet prior?

What number did you call? So all I need is everyone's names and kid's ages?

How is payment handled?

Bobbi,
So you handled your GG thru DVC MS? I wasn't even thinking about that. I thought it was a separate number to call.

Thanks so much everyone!

 

[mommystieg]

Originally posted by lenshanem
So you didn't even set up or give them a Grand Gatherings number? I have more than 12 now, so i guess we'll have to split up.
It was 12 max for the cruise then? Was this the Magical Fireworks Voyage that has Peter Pan and the dessert buffet prior?

What number did you call? So all I need is everyone's names and kid's ages?

How is payment handled?

Bobbi,
So you handled your GG thru DVC MS? I wasn't even thinking about that. I thought it was a separate number to call.

Thanks so much everyone!

We made our resort ressies for June at the 11 month window then when the Magical Gatherings event was announced I called MS and registered our group as a GG. We are doing the Magical Fireworks Voyage. I am not sure what the max is for the cruise but the max # on one was ressie was 12 so I have two ressies for the same cruise. Payment is due 45 days prior to the event so for our 6/8 cruise our full payment is due 4/22. They did take a CC # to guarantee it, though. I called 407 WDW PLAN to book the cruise and all I gave them was everyone's name and the ages of the kids. Good luck--we are really excited about this!!!