Site Visit Advice???

[M.K. Poppins]

Hey all, and happy New Year! DH2B and I are off to our site visit tomorrow am and I'm wondering if there are any questions we should be sure to ask. We are having a custom w/ at least 100 guests. We were sold on the American Adventure in EPCOT until we found out that we'd have to use the park's bathrooms - (in my nice dress??? YUK!) We're also considering the Atlantic Dance Hall, but aren't crazy about the buffet requirement. Any other places you brides like for the size of our party? And what else should i be asking tomorrow? Any advice would be greatly appreciated - there are always so many good thoughts and points of view floating around here!!! Thanks!

 

[hmgolden]

At your site visit, your Sales Manager will ask you what you invision for your wedding. Are you not interested in a ballroom? Any of the convention centers would have a ballroom for your. Your Sales Manager will also be able to give you some ideas based on your guest list size, and other factors (formality, in a park, etc).

We had our reception at Atlantic Dance Hall. We loved its location on the boardwalk, the art deco style, and the 'feel' of the room. The best compliment we got from one of our guests was when they told us 'you just walked into the building and you knew you were going to have a great time'. That was exactly what we wanted. We weren't totally convinced on the buffet at first either (we are from NY where a buffet is pretty unheard of in our area) but it actually worked out great. We got to to offer our guests a wider variety of food, and the action stations were a huge hit! If you want to see any pictures, etc, just PM me and I'll send you a link.

 

[princesslisa]

I wish I could have the reception at the American Pavillion!! (but I don't have enough peeps!) Are you planning on a night Wedding? . . .maybe you could have them clean the bathrooms ASAP when your reception is planning to start.
For the ADH, the latest you can have your party end is 8pm, unless you "Buy-Out" the place (which may be VERY pricey if you want a weekend night). I think buffets/stations are great, BUT you have to remember that you do have 100 guests so it may take longer to eat with a buffet. (I was a banquet server in college )
I know the Bistro de Paris can fit up to 120 (100 people would leave you more room for dancing). I love this venue. If you time it right, you and your guests will be able to watch Illuminations from the windows!!

Either way, Have a BLAST, and I know the venue will "hit you off the head" and there will be no looking back . . .HAVE FUN!!

 

[Luvndisney]

Funny thats the same thing that kept us rfrom having our reception at AA.
We went with the LS with 104 guests (the posted guest count is 84 but they can bring in 2 more teables of 10.

 

[ahutton]

I was also going to mention Living Seas. The facilities in that venue are for the VIP Lounge only, and they were some of the fanciest restrooms I've come across!

 

[Codie]

I know you are already gone, but for when you return if you are still thinking...
I thought the ADH was awesome..and you can go past 8 pm if you do a sunday or a monday. I was hesitant about a buffet also, but in the end it was the best thing we did...it made all the planning SOOOO much easier. I had a hard enough tracking down the rsvp for some of my guests, much less figuring out what type of meat they wanted!!! Plus, my rsvp cards then gave the option of attending disney or at home, rather than the meal. I was supposed to have my dessert served individually rather than buffet'd but they buffet'd it on me anyway, but it was all good anyway All my guests loved the buffet!

 

[pixie08]

I can't really give you advice more of just "don't feel bad your not the only one going throught this sort of thing". I too have my site visit soon and I am still unsure of my site. I am in love w/ American Rotunda except i can not garauntee 100 (we are thinking we are going to have 55-65 show) guests I think the space is so unique and beautiful...evry wedding i have seen from there the pics are just amazing. Dan is sold on Bistro de Paris except with your size party it will be a little tight....limited dance floor (there is also an 8,000 F&B min for events after 4...and you must LOVE french food ) but it is very beautiful and unique. I think the Living Seas may be nice for you...as hmgolden said you have to try (yes try i know this is hard) to envision the day a. will it be day or evening that will limit some sites b. do you want the traditional ballroom or something "different"? Anyway that's my 2cents Good Luck

 

[M.K. Poppins]

Ok, site visit was a week ago - I had a busy week at work! We saw ADH, and though it was amazing, we decided that we weren't comfortable with the 3 and 4 top tables. We weren't sure that it would create the intimate feeling we'd like at our reception. For the bargain price of $3000.00, we could have larger tables brought in, but our coordinator didn't really recommend doing that.
Which left us with ballrooms. I am not a fan of the ballrooms. No windows, ugly carpeting...we looked at the Boardwalk's ballroom and area for cocktail hour, it was nice...we like the idea of doing it there b/c guests could head to jellyrolls after or just for a walk, and we do love the pictures of bride and groom walking on the boardwalk. It's just hard to picture an empty ballroom looking magical, so our coordinator said she'd tell us when receptions were set up so we could take a peek before guests arrive to see what it would look like. We might do just that next weekend!
In the end, DH2B reminded me that we will still have the WP(which was more gorgeous in person than I could believe!!), and we're doing a dessert party, and we might do characters for the reception, and our guests are going to be in Disney!!! So if we end up in a ballroom, there will still have been plenty of other unique wedding experiences for our guests!!! So, if anyone has any ballroom preferences, please bring them on!!! Underthemistletoe's pics (I think of the yacht club??) were beautiful with the flags and wood floor...any suggestions?? Thanks!

 

[Codie]

Hi there Me again My mom was very nervous about the 4 top tables...I kind of liked the idea...but you got a bargain on the $3000 for bigger tables, they told us $2500 just to MOVE tables around...nuts!!! Anyway, you might just want to think a little more about the 4 tops...they make for much more intimate conversations for your guests--our guests (especially those that were in the, "the only other person i know is my date" situation) LOVED it...they said it forced them to be social and was very cozy. Also, because it is a buffet, there is more mingling than there would be if it were a sit down table service. Anyway, just my two cents--I felt the same way you do about the ball rooms and just could not do it...did you maybe look at an MGM venue?