Questions about save-the-dates, room blocks and more!

theantibride

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Messages
160
Hello everyone!

When I first started posting you all were so helpful and thorough about answering my questions I figured I'd ask you some more! :goodvibes

First off is now that I understand how the room number works (thank you for that) I want to know what happens if you don't make the minimum number of room nights. Do you get penalized or have to pay an additional charge or anything? Or do you just get a stern lecture from Mickey? I know a lot of our guests will probably stay on property but I have some friends who are super-cheap ($25 a night for a room is what they consider deluxe) and will not stay on property. We also are inviting one couple who are (GASP) anti-Disney. They will go to our wedding there to support us but have already informed us they are not staying on property. So I was just wondering what happens if you don't meet the minimum room number.

Second question is I know Disney sends out save-the-date cards (thank you, Disney. One less thing I have to worry about). When and how do I give them my guest information? Do I have to have a typed up list when I go for my planning session or how does that work?

Also, I know they send out information about hotels and discounted tickets or something like that. How do they do that? Is it done in a very polite and gentle manner or is it done in a hit-you-over-the-head we-want-your-money sort of way? If it's super-commercialistic then I want to give our guests heads up that this is a-coming, but if it's done nicely then I won't worry about it.

And last but not least is receptions. Does Disney have a limit on how long your reception can last (like you get 3 hours and that's it) or are they flexible? The reason I'm asking is we want to have a leisurely dinner so we can visit with all of our guests and actually get to eat too! But then we also want to boogie down for awhile too! :woohoo: I've waited a long time for this day and I want to dance dance dance with my groom!

Thanks for any and all help you can give me. You guys are all so awesome here!
 
I'll try to help as best I can.

1. If you don't hit your minimum, then they will supposedly make you pay the price for a room at the cheapest resort in your room block. For example, if you have an All Star Resort in your room block and you are two nights short, then they will make you pay about $200, assuming that it costs about $100 per night there. I know that occasionally people that are short post their info on the Dis in order to find someone to help fill the block. In order to hit your minimum, staying at any hotel on property counts - it doesn't have to be in the room block. Oh, and I don't think you get your free complimentary night either. Can anyone confirm all this??

2. Your SM will send you a Save the Date Excel Spreadsheet around the same time as they send your contract. You fill it out with all of your guests info on it, email it back to them, and then they take it from there.

3. They send out the flyer with the Save the Dates. I personally like the Save the Dates, but they do politely scream out come stay at Disney to a certain extent. On the flyer inside the Save the Date that has your announcement, it has your website that they can go to in order to get the info. Also, there are two sheets behind the flyer: one is a hotel reservation form that has the info re hotels, prices, etc., and then there is a ticket form to order the discounted tickets. I think it's well done and not too pushy. (BTW they will send you a sample Save the Date beforehand -- I got one via email w/ the contract because you have to ok it, so you will know what everything looks like before your guests see it).

4. I think the standard reception at Disney is usually around four hours with a one hour cocktail hour on top of that. I'm betting that they will be willing to extend that -- you'll just be charged more for the DJ, etc.
 
pooh98378 pretty much answered your questions but here's my input anyway! From what I hear, most people don't have trouble meeting their room block, but in the event that you're a few nights short, you are supposed to pay for the unused rooms at the rate of the cheapest hotel on your block. BUT, i've heard of a few brides who fell short on their rooms, but were never charged....i'm guessing you might have a better chance of this happening when it's not peak season? and i certainly wouldn't count on it, but you can always hope!

As for save-the-dates, you should be getting info about how to fill out the guest addresses...and disney takes care of the rest. they are very nice, with lots of info about disney (helpful if people haven't been there before), but yes, they are definitely a bit "commercial". The actual save-the-date paper is in the very back of the pamphlet...and a lot of our guests thought that this was the actual invitation, even though it says "invitation to follow in the months to come".

And like the other poster said, most custom receptions are 4 hours (5 counting cocktail hour). if you want longer...i'm sure disney finds a way to accomodate. we are having our reception at atlantic dance hall, and usually you have to be out of there by a certain time because it opens to the public at night, but since we're having ours on sunday (and it's closed on sunday), we could rent it out for even longer (at a price of course). So i guess it depends on where the reception is and what your budget allows.

Hope this helps!:)
 
Thank you both for your help! How do you get your guest list to Disney if you don't have Excel (we're Mac people)? I have a wedding website thru theknot.com already so I guess I'll put up a big note like "Disney will be offering special hotel rates and ticket prices which will be included in your save-the-date cards" and also put up a link to the Disney website. Whoa. Never thought I'd have 2 websites to look after before. I feel so popular! ;-)
 













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