Room Block Debate and More!

[gummybear091]

I'm having some issues making decisions in my room block based in a variety of factors! Please give me some input if you can! We are getting married at the wedding pavilion followed by a reception at the living seas and then a dessert party at illuminations. We are expecting 50-65 guests.

I can't decide if we should stay near the reception at The Boardwalk. Or if we should stay near the ceremony site at either the Polynesian or The Wilderness Lodge. We won't be able to do a split stay or anything, because my fiancé is a teacher and won't be able to stay that long. I will probably do a few nights in the value resort before he comes. Anyone have any input on if either of these would change the cost of transportation at all? We are planning on doing a room block with a value and a moderate as well. These I'll just pick based on which deluxe we choose. I am planning on providing transportation for the guests for each step of the day.

I have pros and cons of each location: Boardwalk: Love this area! We are having our wedding during food and wine so this would be convenient for that. This is also $100 cheaper a night then the Poly. My con is that it is far from the ceremony site and I've stayed here before so it's nothing new and different.

Polynesian: I've always wanted to stay here! Love the look and feel of the hotel. I also like that it is close to the ceremony site and had the ease of transportation of the monorail. The con is that it is the most expensive of all hotels! However, best bang for our buck on the free night then. Although I like the look and feel of the hotel, I don't think there would be good photo opportunities here before the ceremony? It's hard to tell right now because the hotel is under construction. Maybe you all have some insight on that for me?

Wilderness Lodge: This is about the same price at the Boardwalk just barely cheaper! With the free night it's not the best value. I like that it is close to the ceremony and also like the feel of the hotel. We are actually planning to honeymoon in Yellowstone. We are outdoorsy people! I've never stayed here but DF has with his family. I can imagine some amazing photo opportunities in the lobby of the hotel. But do they let you take pictures in the hotel you are staying in before the ceremony? Or does everyone do Grand Floridian hotel pictures prior to their ceremony? I'm planning to use outside photography... Not sure if that makes any difference!

 

[justlook3]

When are you getting married? That's a big question in regards to the Polynesian as it is under construction.
I'm pretty sure transportation costs the same no matter where you're transporting people to.
I stayed at the Boardwalk for my vow renewal which was at the WP. We chose to meet our photographer at the GF for our pre-ceremony photos. We also met my outside florist there so he could give us our personal floral (they'd already decorated the WP).
I had a small event, so I only got a limo for us and our party, the rest of the guests used their own transport.
So basically what I am saying is chose what works best for you and your budget. I have stayed at all three. The Polynesian was my honeymoon hotel 20 years ago, so I do have a soft spot. But with all the construction? Maybe not so much right now. The Boardwalk and the Wilderness Lodge are both very romantic.
As for photos before, I think you'd have to talk to your photographer as to how they work and how much things would be. I kept my photography package on the short side, so that's why we used the GF.

 

[gummybear091]

We are doing October 2015. I believe the Poly should be done by then? Not 100% sure on that though.

Since we are having 50-65 guests give or take. I'm wondering if we do transportation per hour if the location would make any different on the amount of time needed to transport everyone? I may be WAY overthinking this!

Thanks for the input! It's so hard to say what our budget will be is what I'm having a hard time with to. If not as many people end up coming, we'll have more money for the hotel. However, if more come we definitely won't! I'm feeling a little stuck. : /

 

[alyaki]

Morning! I think I can help give you a little insight on this, especially your transportation question, since I just got back from my planning session where we talked about this in detail due to thinking of adding an additional stop for pickup (someone chose a hotel outside the room block).

So, part of what is going to affect the number of hours you need the transport is how far apart the hotels you chose are, as well as how many. I notice that you mainly seem to be stuck on a decision for your Deluxe hotel, so, did you chose a value and a moderate? If so, you're probably going to be told you need at least 8 hours, if you're a morning ceremony, but I'd bet 9 if you're an afternoon or evening ceremony. That's because of the time needed to get between the resorts, as well as the time they plan to sit and wait at each hotel for guests. For the most part, you should be absolutely fine with the hours they suggest, regardless of where your Deluxe hotel is. Also, if no one books at your Deluxe, then you can expect that you'll only need to pick up at 2 hotels, which may mean you can reduce the time you have your transportation for by an hour (though you'll need to talk that out with your planner, when the time comes).

As for which Deluxe to chose, since the Poly is supposed to be finished by about next summer, chose where you think you'd like to stay. Remember, even if you and your photographer decide that there isn't a spot you really like at the Poly, you can use the monorail for pictures and you can do a quick jump over to either of the other MK resorts. So I probably wouldn't let that be the deciding factor. I would, however, do what you feel most comfortable with - if you feel that the price at the Poly may be stretching it a bit or make money tight/affect your budget, then go with one of your other options. I know we're staying at the Boardwalk (which I'm super excited about), but your other option is very nice as well (Wilderness). What kind of look do you want to your in room pictures? Do you want to stay in a resort that is similar to what you'll be doing on your honeymoon, or do you want to do something a bit different?

Also, on the photography front - you can do them wherever you want. A lot of brides just want those Grand Floridian pictures, which is why you see those most often, but there are actually many who do them in other locations and they are stunning. I don't know who you have booked for photography, but if they do Disney wedding often, I'm sure they can offer you some feedback. We have an outside photographer too (Regina Hyman), and we'll be doing pictures at Boardwalk, and then inside Epcot before our ceremony.

Hope this helps!
-Alyaki

 

[bigr3ddog]

There is nothing that says that you have to stay in the same hotel for your honeymoon/stay as your guests. There is also nothing that says you should do a deluxe, moderate, and value for your guests. If you want to cut your transportation costs, then consider the following:

1. Put only two resorts in your block for your guests: a deluxe and a value. You will have to transport from the Wedding Pavilion to the Living Seas and from Living Seas to your guests' resorts, so if you only have two resorts, then that cuts time.

2. Consider having your guests' deluxe resort on the monorail loop. The Poly will likely be the most expensive because it only offers a 15% discount off as opposed to the Contemporary and the Grand Floridian, which offer 30% off. Then they can use the monorail to go to the Wedding Pavilion. If they are at the Grand Floridian or the Poly, they can even walk there. Then you only have to worry about transportation from your value resort to the Wedding Pavilion.

3. For yourself, pick whatever resort you want to stay in. You can arrange your own transportation from that resort. A one-way town car is only $32. A one-way luxury van is only $40. The Boardwalk would be your best location for Food and Wine after your wedding, but I understand the lure of the Poly and Wilderness Lodge. Consider, however, if you will have annual passes, that you can get a better discount later at Wilderness Lodge and the Poly with your AP than you can through a DFTW room block, which of those three choices, gives you a favorable discount only at the Boardwalk. However, from a guest transportation perspective, only the Poly would give you a benefit in potentially eliminating one resort from a transportation need to the ceremony.

4. You can put your own resort in your room block and then ask DFTW to restrict it to bride and groom only. That way, if you do choose Wilderness Lodge or Boardwalk, none of your guests can stay there through the block and you don't have to transport them to and from those resorts.

We took Carrie's advice and went one deluxe and one value for our guests. Surprisingly, most everyone gravitated toward the deluxe and we only had a handful at our value. We used a chartered motorcoach for the minimum five hours to bring guests from the two resorts to the ceremony and from ceremony to reception. The reception was within walking distance of the deluxe resort, and since we had so few people staying at the value, we were able to cut the motorcoach at five hours and then use a one way van to transport people back to the value after the reception. We also had a different deluxe in our room block for ourselves, so none of our guests stayed near us after the wedding.

Just food for thought.

 

[alyaki]

The big thing about the room blocks is - know your guest. As bigr3ddog said, you don't have to have three. For us, we know the types of hotels our guests normally stay in. And we still have a few people we thought were going to stay value, stay in the moderate option (which is, right now, where the majority of people have chosen to stay). I'm expecting our block is going to be moderate and Deluxe heavy, and maybe one or two in the value resort. But, we also have a couple staying outside of the room block (which you can still count towards your nights, but you have to have manually added), which is something that may also happen.

In all truth, if you feel most comfortable with it, you can always do what bigr3ddog suggested, and then tell anyone who decides not to stay at one of those that they need to get to those if they would like transportation to your wedding, else they need to find their own way to the WP. It's really up to you.