Rehearsal Dinner Ideas

[DisMatt0483]

We are getting married at Disney in Nov 2016. Does anyone have any unique rehearsal dinner ideas? We are looking at a dinner for about 25 people, and were wondering if any of the resort restaurants have Prix Fixe type menus, or any other fun ideas.

 

[Disney_Alli]

We had dinner at Garden Grove at the Swan - It's a buffet of salads and desserts and you order your own entree for a set price... Plus its a character meal (tigger and someone else I can't remember) it was a lot of fun and working with the Swan was supper easy. We started trying to work with Big River Grille but after calling twice and being promised information they never followed through... Plus Garden Grove was actually cheaper for very similar options and included characters.

HTH

 

[lorimay]

We did a rehearsal lunch for my daughter's wedding at The Grand Floridian Cafe. They put us toward the back of the restaurant with no other people in the area. They made special personalized menus for us with 4 appetizers and 4 entrees to choose from. then we had a cake made for dessert.
We were about 25 people. It turned out very nice.
I loved how they made the menus with their names on them and even their wedding colors.

Good Luck!!

 

[aristocatz]

Not sure what kind of atmosphere you are looking for, but we had our rehearsal dinner at the Biergarten in Epcot/Germany & it was AWESOME!!! They were able to seat us all at the same table (they have a table that is longer than the others), food & beer were great, & the band was so much fun!!

We also had a welcome dinner a few nights earlier at 1900 Park Fare. That was more low key, but also a great time. We were even able to order a custom cake from the GF Bakery that they brought into us.

Just note that, unless you are planning to book the place out, they might request that you make early reservations (ours were between 5 & 5:15), so they are able to accommodate you if you have a large party.

 

[DisMatt0483]

Not sure what kind of atmosphere you are looking for, but we had our rehearsal dinner at the Biergarten in Epcot/Germany & it was AWESOME!!! They were able to seat us all at the same table (they have a table that is longer than the others), food & beer were great, & the band was so much fun!!

We also had a welcome dinner a few nights earlier at 1900 Park Fare. That was more low key, but also a great time. We were even able to order a custom cake from the GF Bakery that they brought into us.

Just note that, unless you are planning to book the place out, they might request that you make early reservations (ours were between 5 & 5:15), so they are able to accommodate you if you have a large party.

Biergarten sounds like a really fun idea. I assume all of the guests are required to have park tickets to do this?

 

[aristocatz]

Biergarten sounds like a really fun idea. I assume all of the guests are required to have park tickets to do this?

Yes, they are. I guess that is one con to choosing that restaurant. We had an Illuminations Dessert Party after our dinner, so it worked out great for us.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I think I responded to you (was that you?) over on WDWMagic about our rehearsal at the Cabana Bar. Another thing we considered was a catered party at one of the private IllumiNations viewing areas in Epcot. Most people book those as dessert parties, but you can make it a full meal.

We wanted to keep all of our events in the Crescent Lake area, so the only other locations we even halfway considered were a catered dinner at The Attic (above Jellyrolls at the Boardwalk), sushi at Kimonos in the Swan, or a group dining reservation at Big River Grille. Cabana was the right vibe for us, though, and we have always loved their food.

Outside of the areas we considered, I know that 'Ohana and Hoop Dee Doo Revue are very popular rehearsal dinner locations. I think Splitsville at Disney Springs would be a lot of fun too.

 

[DisMatt0483]

I think I responded to you (was that you?) over on WDWMagic about our rehearsal at the Cabana Bar. Another thing we considered was a catered party at one of the private IllumiNations viewing areas in Epcot. Most people book those as dessert parties, but you can make it a full meal.

We wanted to keep all of our events in the Crescent Lake area, so the only other locations we even halfway considered were a catered dinner at The Attic (above Jellyrolls at the Boardwalk), sushi at Kimonos in the Swan, or a group dining reservation at Big River Grille. Cabana was the right vibe for us, though, and we have always loved their food.

Outside of the areas we considered, I know that 'Ohana and Hoop Dee Doo Revue are very popular rehearsal dinner locations. I think Splitsville at Disney Springs would be a lot of fun too.

Haha, thanks a lot for the double response

We are having the wedding at Yacht Club, so keeping things in the Crescent Lake area sounds like a smart idea. Did you handle all of the rehearsal dinner planning on your own or through your wedding planner?

 

[Tarynashley]

We are having our rehearsal dinner at Splitsville for around 30 people. To keep the costs down (and by down I still mean OMG so expensive by any sane person's standards, but I won't go bankrupt ), we are doing 1.5 hours of bowling and pool tables, with pizza and wings and an alcoholic drink per person. It took a lot of finagling to get the price where I wanted it, but having my bridal party get to mingle and have fun in kind of a different way the night before the wedding was so worth it! We also got the cutest bowling themed rehearsal invites.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

We are having the wedding at Yacht Club, so keeping things in the Crescent Lake area sounds like a smart idea. Did you handle all of the rehearsal dinner planning on your own or through your wedding planner?

We contacted the restaurant directly. When we went down for our site visit the year before our wedding, we had lunch at Cabana and got the GM's card while we were there. We started e-mailing to reserve the date and plan the menu a few weeks later when our dates were confirmed.

 

[Erzengel]

We had our rehearsal dinner at the Hoop De Doo Review. The only problem, is we had a rather large group of about 22 people and we were worried that we weren't going to be able to sit together but we were able to get everyone near each other over 2 tables. We had a real good time there.

 

[Amanda132]

We did Hoop Dee Doo also! We had 16 people and were given two tables next to each other. It was so much fun!

 

[InSearchofMagic]

I'm thinking about hosting a Bon Voyage/Welcome Dinner before our DCL wedding - has anyone hosted a dinner at O'hana? I was thinking it might be a fun location? I'll probably have about 15-20 people. I was thinking a family style meal might be a good idea because we'll have the set cost like a buffet but without all the getting up to get food. What do you think? Any other suggestions??

 

[Erzengel]

We were deciding between Spirit of Aloha and Hoop-Dee-Doo Review which are dinners with shows. We went with the latter, had about 20 people there and everyone had a lot of fun. Me and my father were used in the show. It was a good time and there's time for people to talk and everything. We were put in 2 tables close together.

 

[Disney_Alli]

Several brides have used O'hana in the past. They usually have large groups seated at opening time which has just been switched to 3:30 which might be a little early but I think it's a fun idea.

 

[InSearchofMagic]

Oh! 3:30 definitely wouldn't work... Do they only allow large groups at opening time?

Has anyone done an event at any of the restaurants at the boardwalk or the beach club?

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Oh! 3:30 definitely wouldn't work... Do they only allow large groups at opening time?

Has anyone done an event at any of the restaurants at the boardwalk or the beach club?

I know many brides have done events at Big River Grille and @Disney_Alli had hers at the Swalphin at Garden Grove

 

[Disney_Alli]

I reached out to Big River Grille and after being promised information twice - when I was ready to plunk down my money immediately for 15 people - they failed to deliver at all. At which point I reached out to Garden Grove at the Swan and had a lovely experience. They were super easy to work with, the prices were cheaper than BRG, and it included characters which I thought would be fun for the lone 5 year old in our party. If you'd like any more details just let me know.

 

[Candy429]

We're having our rehearsal dinner at Whispering Canyon in May.

 

[InSearchofMagic]

We're having our rehearsal dinner at Whispering Canyon in May.

Oh!! That sounds like so much fun! I can't wait to hear about it!!