Questions from a uk newbie

[ukmickey'sgirl]

Hello everyone I hope u dont mind some questions from a newbie:

1) For all the uk brides how did u find communicating with Disney? Did they ring u back when they were supposed to? im just worried that being from the uk, i may get a lack of service. Would it be better to book when a travel agent here?

2) I would really like a Christmas wedding as it is my favorite time of year , i was thinking like the 22nd dec, i know this will be busy but I'm more concerned with the weather, is it really cold?

3) Im stuck on whether to choose the intimate or custom wedding, we have narrowed the guest list down to 20 but can invite a few more if we go custom.
The intimate package seems to suit our needs, although we can stretch our budget to a custom I fear we would never meet the room requirements. Most of our family are looking into renting 2 grand villas in 1 of the dvc.
All i really want is somewhere semi private to have a nice meal & a few dances. From what i have read on the boards Disney makes it very difficult for intimates. I dont mind spending up to the custom amount but is it possible to do a semi custom without an actual custom if u know what i mean lol.

Any advice would be so helpful, thank you!

 

[Debbie1]

I am also from the UK and I found that I was not always called back when promised by DFTW but I purchased a phone card from the post office/supermarket which allowed me to call them relatively cheaply. I am having a intimate wedding so was able to organise everything over the telephone and by email. I would say book direct with Disney rather then going through a TA as at least if you deal with DFTW direct you know what has been organised and what hasn't. DFTW did eventually return my calls just not always when promised I guess they are very busy and the time difference in the UK doesn't help. Also my wedding is not until October so I am sure they must have lot's of people to call back first whose wedding dates are much nearer then mine. Sorry I can't help about the Custom vs Intimate wedding question as I never really looked into the Custom wedding options.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Hello everyone I hope u dont mind some questions from a newbie:

Hey I'm from the UK too, there's a good few of us. - let's see if I can help on your questions:

1) For all the uk brides how did u find communicating with Disney? Did they ring u back when they were supposed to? im just worried that being from the uk, i may get a lack of service. Would it be better to book when a travel agent here?

NO would be my answer, do not book with a Travel Agent, it's a middle man you don't need when planning your wedding and a lot of the brides that HAVE used a TA have found it frustrating to say the least. I had a custom wedding so was dealing direct with Disney anyway. It really depends on who you get as your Sales Manager and Wedding Co-ordinator in terms of communication. I never had a problem both called me back or emailed me in very timely manners. If I call the US I use a special discounted telephone number which costs me 2p a minute if you want the number please Private Message me.

2) I would really like a Christmas wedding as it is my favorite time of year , i was thinking like the 22nd dec, i know this will be busy but I'm more concerned with the weather, is it really cold?

I know it's Florida but I can tell you when I've been there at that time of the year it's been pretty chilly at night sometimes and a little chilly during the day too. They do have high's at that time of year but they also have low's - I'm usually in jeans and sweatshirt during the day and a fleece at night - unless it's been unusually hot that day.

3) Im stuck on whether to choose the intimate or custom wedding, we have narrowed the guest list down to 20 but can invite a few more if we go custom.
The intimate package seems to suit our needs, although we can stretch our budget to a custom I fear we would never meet the room requirements. Most of our family are looking into renting 2 grand villas in 1 of the dvc.
All i really want is somewhere semi private to have a nice meal & a few dances. From what i have read on the boards Disney makes it very difficult for intimates. I dont mind spending up to the custom amount but is it possible to do a semi custom without an actual custom if u know what i mean lol.

Any advice would be so helpful, thank you!

I'll be honest I'm not good on Intimate Wedding Advice - I would recommend that you start another thread with this question so that you get the answers you need. I would think that you would be looking at minimum room block of 25 room nights. You can always ask on here that anyone at that time help you by letting you use their reservation numbers as part of your room block. Also your Sales Manager may indeed tell you that a Grand Villa will count as say 2 room nights per night, if you know what I mean. I was out there for 4 weeks with 3 weeks in WDW so my room nights of 21 nights myself practically covered my original room block. DVC room nights do count just in case you didn't know. It's definitely something to see if your Sales Manager would negotiate on - with Disney if you don't ask you don't get.

Welcome to the DIS and to this forum - I hope we can help you have that Magical Wedding day

 

[Cinderella2006]

I know how frustrating it can be, I thought planning a wedding overseas would be easy - well I was wrong! I don’t suggest that you book your wedding through a travel agent - all they are interested in is getting your money - I booked with first choice that doesn’t have a clue when it comes to Disney Weddings! It got so bad that I had to threaten with legal action; you wouldn’t believe the rubbish they were coming up with. Now if I have any problems I get transferred straight to the manager who will sort it out for me without having to run up a heavy phone bill ringing Disney. Like people said, you are using the middle man, if I had known how bad it would have been I would have booked with Disney direct.
I am having an intimate wedding with 17 guests in November. We are getting married in Disney’s Wedding Pavilion then a cake cutting/champagne reception in the Grand Floridian followed by dinner in Citricos.
Personally I think its great value for money. Disney has been really helpful, Matthew is my wedding coordinator and him responses to my emails within a day or so, he has rang first choice on a couple of occasions to put them straight!
I have been to Disney in early December and was really lucky with the weather, it was warm in the days but a bit chilly in the evening - we wore a light jacket.
Also if you didn’t want the standard Intimate package - we are upgrading a few things such as cake etc we paid $150 extra for the cake we wanted and we have hired our own photographer and videographer. Can’t help you on the custom wedding though.
Hope this helps, if you have any other questions - just ask.

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

Hi, I have a suggestion for you. If you move your wedding plans forward by just a few days, you will save your guests (and yourself) a ton of money. Disney charges room rates based on the rate when you check in. Traditionally, the rate changes from pre-holiday to holiday around Dec 19th or 20th, and the price per night almost doubles at all of the resorts. You will also be able to enjoy Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party by coming a few days earlier than your current plans, if that's something that appeals to you. The last date for MVMCP last year was Dec 20th. Assuming most of your guests will arrive a day or two before the nuptials, if you move the date up to say the 19th, you will ensure the best value AND the best holiday experience for your guests, yet still be close to your desired date. HTH! ~Ev

 

[Laurafoster]

Hi Im from the UK also! Like Sam said there are quite a few of us.

I agree with Sam, and wouldnt book through a travel agent! I have booked direct with Disney and so far the communications could not have been better. They respond to emails extremely quickly and are easy to get hold of. Your wedding planner will give you their direct number to make things easier!

As for december, i love december. I am getting married on December 5th. Like others have said it can get a little chilly but WDW is so beautiful at christmas with all the cecorations etc.

I was also concerned about the room requirements as most of my family are staying outside of disney anyway. However as you need 25 room nights, and we are staying for 14nights anyway thats half of it so i only needed 1 other person to do the same. After i sat down and discussed it with my family it turned out it wasnt a problem. If money is an issue then like i would go a few days earlier to avoid the holiday rates!

 

[UK bride WDW 06]

I am from the UK also. I have booked through a Travel Agent and although they have been ok for the actual wedding I have dealt with Disney direct for al my questions and problems. My co-ordinator always emails me back the same day and even lets me know when he is out of the office. I am having an Intimate and never looked at the custom weddings so can't help you on that one-sorry

 

[ukmickey'sgirl]

Thank you everyone for your help

I pretty much thought it would be quite frustrating to book with a TA here & have a middle man, but I was unsure of how disneys service to uk brides would be. I now think booking directly with disney would be the better option yay! I can do some serious planning now

Hmm didnt quite realize how cold Florida would be in late Dec. I know its much warmer than here in the uk, but DH2B hates the cold & my heating never seems to be off at the mo lol. May have to rethink the date but i just love the festive decorations & thank you LouisianaDisneyFan I didnt know about MVMCP that does sound the type of thing id love.

I agree with you Cinderella2006 the intimate package is great valve for money, but i would really love to be able to have a few dances after my wedding. DH2B & I are big dancers, I knew I was attracted to him when we 1st met, but knew it was love after we 1st danced the tango together lol.
Thank you Fantasia Sam I didnt realise DVC resorts would count as room block Min's & we plan on honeymooning at disney for 2 wks so that is great news!!

 

[Fantasia Sam]

In 2001 at the beginning of December temperatures were up in the 80's, in 2002 the first week of December had a couple of warm days but then it rained a lot. 2003 I was there for the whole month and didn't wear shorts once - lots of capris and t-shirts and hoodies and sweat-shirts, with some fleece days, especially over the Christmas week. 2004 - I wore shorts a couple of the days but otherwise I was in Capris and the nights were pretty chilly - this was up until mid December. 2005 (OK are you noticing a pattern here?) pretty OK weather some bright sunny days ( I wore capris) and some drizzly, chilly days, I got home on the 11th December. So that's my experience of December weather for the last few years

Don't get me wrong December isn't like the UK at all and the sun DOES shine but it just takes one cold spell to take it down to the 60's and brrr I do laugh though sometimes because I can be wearing a T-shirt on days like this and my Floridian friends will be wrapped up because to them it's REALLY cold.

If you did want to think about warmer times well, I attended a friend's Disney wedding on the 12th November and a lot of the Xmas decorations were already up - the weather was beautiful and I wore shorts most days, it was a great time of year to get married and we got to be there for the end of the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot!!

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

Adding to what Sam said, I've been to WDW at Thanksgiving time and the week before Christmas. Both times, we required jackets and jeans at night... it was downright cold one for one night. Winter in the southern U.S. can be unpredictable, because cold fronts can swing down and affect the weather quickly and dramatically. We've been caught with the wrong clothing before, while camping in FW... and trust me, it's not fun. I think it would be safe to ask your guests to pack for a variety of weather, but I do believe planning for earlier December will generally result in warmer weather overall. I've found the most unpredictable month is January. One year we started out in shorts, but by the end of the week, we were buying Mickey sweatsuits and any other warm clothing we could find! ~Ev

 

[Laurafoster]

I agree i have been a few times in december and have had some lovely days where you can wear shorts and tshirts, but i also had some cold days where you would need a light jacket or something. End of November beginning of December is still a little bit warmer but like Sam said its not like the UK even though its cold for florida as long as you have packed for the right weather you'll be fine. The sun is always shining and you dont get much rain!

 

[ukmickey'sgirl]

Aw the weather doesnt sound as bad as I thought, much like southern Spain in dec. I was having visions of me in a beautiful wedding gown with Long Johns underneath, what a gr8 photo op that would be
Still H2B is not keen on spending our wedding day & honeymoon with such changeable weather, plus he had his heart set on an outdoor location which we fear will be too chilly for our guests.

Fantasia Sam your suggestion of a mid November wedding sounds like a great compromise for us! I was surprised that disney puts up there xmas decorations that early but i'm not certainly not complaining
Plus the Food and Wine Festival sounds fun.

Does anyone know how early Disney puts up there xmas decorations & how early does MVMCP start?

Thank you

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

Okay, here are some links for you. Some of this is event info from previous years, but you can anticipate the events will take place about the same time each year.

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Food and Wine Festival

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

More info on Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

HTH! ~Ev

 

[karentan]

last year the decorations were mostly up by the 13th november. the dates for MVMCP vary year by year, but normally start the weekend after thanksgiving or at the latest the first week in december (wanted to go last year but missed it by about 2 days, we flew out to vegas on the 25h, think the first one was the 27th)

 

[Laurafoster]

Does anyone know roughly when they start to sell tickets for MVMCP?

 

[ukmickey'sgirl]

Thank you LouisianaDisneyFan for the links, they were really helpful