The Grand 1, France Breakfast, Great Movie RIde Dinner...little tidbits!

[melanieewr]

We did the Grand 1 fireworks cruise 2 years ago and had a blast.

When we booked it for our trip a couple of weeks ago, I was concerned after talking to GF private dining. She said the configuration had changed drastically from the old Grand 1. She described it as a "nice RV on the inside and they could no longer do a sit down meal for more than 3. Uh Oh..

No need for any of you that are booking it to be worried. It is gorgeous! We all liked it much better than the last Grand 1. We had only cold appetizers as we did not want the butler onboard with us. This worked out perfectly.

It was much more roomy inside and has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The back deck is similar to the old Grand 1, but did have a table and 2 chairs plus the bench.

I had burned my own cd's as they have a wonderful stereo setup. We went up to the top deck and I was worried our music was too loud as it almost blasted me out up there. Nope. The pilots had turned it up on their deck! He said they usually turned the music off up there, but they were jammin to my cd's...LOL. It was actually mostly oldies, and blues with a little mix of some other favorites of mine...such as Hayseed Dixie's version of Gin and Juice. I love so many different types of music. Anyway, I think it's a good idea for you to take your own music on this little trip.

Our France Breakfast had to be moved inside because of rain. A real bummer. I did not like the VIP room above the American Adventure. Oh well, our photographer did get some great pics in France after the rain stopped.

The GMR dinner was absolutely unbelievable! So much fun! They did say we were the smallest group (10) that had been there. But...they said they had the most fun with us of any group. Misty Miotto was FANTASTIC! I highly highly recommend her.

Even though this wasn't a wedding, I wanted all of you wonderful ladies to know how it went as I know some of you are planning similar events.

I will be happy to answer in detail any questions you might have about any of the events. I appreciate the help I was able to find here on your wedding board!

 

[helloirishkitty]

Thanks for posting your tidbits! I've been debating on GMR for my reception so it's nice to hear from someone that enjoyed it

 

[Pezalicious]

Can you expand more on the GMR? What characters were there? How did they interact with guests? What was the pacing of the meal?


Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[Brier Rose]

Hey Melanie!

I've been wondering how your events turned out! I asked about you the night of our Illuminations dessert party..did you still have Upper UK booked?

They told us that the party that had Upper UK book had been moved over to the AA parlor, and I just assumed that was you.

Our EP pulled some strings and got us into the Party for the Senses building right there in the UK. That place was HUGE!! I REALLY did not want to have to be moved inside, but the place was really nice, and I was just so thankful that the show went on!

Anyway..glad you were so pleased with Misy Miotto! I was just coming here to post about how happy we were with Randy, and I saw your tidbits!

I'd love to hear more about your events, and your overall impression of how they played out.

 

[melanieewr]

Brier; I can't wait to hear the details about your Summerhouse Party. The weather was so nice that night! I actually cancelled my Illuminations Party some time ago. I decided it was a bit too many parties in 4 days! I didn't realize that it rained during Illuminations on your night. I am so sorry.

Kitty and Pezza; I have to say that even though the GMR is very expensive, it is truly worth it. I do think with a large reception it could feel a bit rushed. They do adhere to a very strict timeline. I think they bent the timeline a bit for our group. We stayed in the gangster area for a really really long time. We were just having too much fun with Misty and the "gangsters". I ordered purple boas from ebay and she is doing some black and whites with the boas colorized. I can't wait to see those! I think our added time with the gangsters lost us a little time in OZ. But, it was worth it. The food was all amazing. We all felt guilty for leaving so much behind. We really altered the appetizer menu from what they originally suggested. I was happy with my decisions. We included sushi, which was a big hit. I did a duo plate of chicken and filets for dinner that worked out great. I gained so much knowledge about the menus from all of you here!

This was truly a once in a lifetime Birthday Bash and I just can't say enough about how great my EP's were. They sent a beautiful Skagen Mickey Mouse watch and a very nice bottle of champagne to our villa. The watch band was pink in honor of my recent breast cancer battle. I won!

Another thing about the GMR...

We decided to do Fantasmic before the dinner. We were met by guides and led to the small patio that is reserved for dessert parties. They had chairs there for us. This really worked out nicely as a prelude to the GMR event.

I guess I should do a trip report, but they are so time consuming. There is just so much that I am missing. Maybe I will do something in word and just paste it here.

A quick thanks to Janet2k. I am not sure that I would have went through with these parties if I had not read your trip reports. You're a doll!

 

[melanieewr]

Pez; I do want to elaborate a bit more on the GMR characters for you;

In the ganster scene there were 2 "mobsters" and a "moll". I don't want to give away too much, but they were very interactive with my guests. We took quite a few photos with them also. They did go into a little skit without us once. I saw them at MGM doing a skit the next day and they shouted out "Melanie"!!! Happy Birthday!

I think that our being an all adult group might have put them at ease. Sometimes we would get them so "tickled" that they had a hard time staying in character. One of my friends and I sat down at the piano when the piano player was finished. She played and sang to me. It was such a special birthday gift to me. She has an amazing voice.

In the western scene we had "Ma" and she was a hoot! We had such a good time with her. The 3 piece western band added just the right touch to the meal. I did get on the stage with them once to sing to them an added line that our friends always do to the bday song. They were laughing...maybe even blushing a bit...

Oz had the Good Witch and even that was fun! We took lots of pics.

If I had it to do over again, the only thing that I might change would be to add videography.

Let me know if I need to answer more questions!

 

[helloirishkitty]

Brier; I can't wait to hear the details about your Summerhouse Party. The weather was so nice that night! I actually cancelled my Illuminations Party some time ago. I decided it was a bit too many parties in 4 days! I didn't realize that it rained during Illuminations on your night. I am so sorry.

Kitty and Pezza; I have to say that even though the GMR is very expensive, it is truly worth it. I do think with a large reception it could feel a bit rushed. They do adhere to a very strict timeline. I think they bent the timeline a bit for our group. We stayed in the gangster area for a really really long time. We were just having too much fun with Misty and the "gangsters". I ordered purple boas from ebay and she is doing some black and whites with the boas colorized. I can't wait to see those! I think our added time with the gangsters lost us a little time in OZ. But, it was worth it. The food was all amazing. We all felt guilty for leaving so much behind. We really altered the appetizer menu from what they originally suggested. I was happy with my decisions. We included sushi, which was a big hit. I did a duo plate of chicken and filets for dinner that worked out great. I gained so much knowledge about the menus from all of you here!

This was truly a once in a lifetime Birthday Bash and I just can't say enough about how great my EP's were. They sent a beautiful Skagen Mickey Mouse watch and a very nice bottle of champagne to our villa. The watch band was pink in honor of my recent breast cancer battle. I won!

Another thing about the GMR...

We decided to do Fantasmic before the dinner. We were met by guides and led to the small patio that is reserved for dessert parties. They had chairs there for us. This really worked out nicely as a prelude to the GMR event.



I guess I should do a trip report, but they are so time consuming. There is just so much that I am missing. Maybe I will do something in word and just paste it here.

A quick thanks to Janet2k. I am not sure that I would have went through with these parties if I had not read your trip reports. You're a doll!

Thank you for posting this! I think my reception might feel rushed, but I really want a theme park location, so I think I'm just going to have to scout it out myself and then suggest something to DFTW. I was worried about the extra cost at first, but it's a once in a lifetime thing!

Congrats on winning your battle with breast cancer! My Aunt is a 5-year survivor and the watch sounds soo cute

 

[Brier Rose]

[

QUOTE=melanieewr;21525642]Brier; I can't wait to hear the details about your Summerhouse Party. The weather was so nice that night! I actually cancelled my Illuminations Party some time ago. I decided it was a bit too many parties in 4 days! I didn't realize that it rained during Illuminations on your night. I am so sorry.

Oh..it turned out great! Sure I would have loved to had the whole thing outside, but we were happy with where they moved us to. Plus..it was so hot!! It was nice to be in the air conditioning for awhile!

After we finished with the desserts, they escorted us back to our location at the Lower UK. It wasn't raining at all at that point.

Epcot was PACKED that night. There were people on top of people waiting to see Illuminations! It was so nice to just stroll right up to our roped off location.

We honestly felt like we had the whole place to ourselves! Our group was small enough to that we all had a spot on a bench too.

So all in all...totally worth it!! Food was great too btw!!

You can read all about the whole Summerhouse Dinner here..

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1395059








Kitty and Pezza; I have to say that even though the GMR is very expensive, it is truly worth it. I do think with a large reception it could feel a bit rushed. They do adhere to a very strict timeline. I think they bent the timeline a bit for our group. We stayed in the gangster area for a really really long time. We were just having too much fun with Misty and the "gangsters". I ordered purple boas from ebay and she is doing some black and whites with the boas colorized. I can't wait to see those! I think our added time with the gangsters lost us a little time in OZ. But, it was worth it. The food was all amazing. We all felt guilty for leaving so much behind. We really altered the appetizer menu from what they originally suggested. I was happy with my decisions. We included sushi, which was a big hit. I did a duo plate of chicken and filets for dinner that worked out great. I gained so much knowledge about the menus from all of you here!

This was truly a once in a lifetime Birthday Bash and I just can't say enough about how great my EP's were. They sent a beautiful Skagen Mickey Mouse watch and a very nice bottle of champagne to our villa. The watch band was pink in honor of my recent breast cancer battle. I won!

Another thing about the GMR...

We decided to do Fantasmic before the dinner. We were met by guides and led to the small patio that is reserved for dessert parties. They had chairs there for us. This really worked out nicely as a prelude to the GMR event.

I guess I should do a trip report, but they are so time consuming. There is just so much that I am missing. Maybe I will do something in word and just paste it here.

A quick thanks to Janet2k. I am not sure that I would have went through with these parties if I had not read your trip reports. You're a doll! [/QUOTE]

 

[melanieewr]

Kitty; If you are wanting a theme park location that is less expensive than the GMR, you might consider the Animal Kingdom. I have looked at this option for a future dinner and like it very much. Another plus is that AK closes earlier than the other parks, so that should be helpful with a reception. The entertainment would be an African music group or a Jazz trio. When I do this, I will most likely go with the Jazz trio. If you have children in your group, I suggest the balloon character guy. He is wonderful at keeping the children and adults entertained. I had him last month at my Summerhouse dinner party. A big hit!

 

[melanieewr]

Brier; Your daughter is stunning! I wonder how many years before she herself will be on this board discussing her upcoming Disney wedding!!! Better start saving now...she's learning quickly how to throw a fabulous party!

 

[Malibelle]

Melanie

Your BDay bash sounds fantastic! I would love to see pictures.

can you tell me more about the Grand 1. I just found someone who rented it during our upcoming trip and she had 2 extra spaces for me and my DH. So there is 11 of them and 2 of us and possible more as it hold 17 pp. How did you order food for it? Does the person renting have to order, I would love to get chocolate covered strawberries but its her first time reserving teh grand as well. Is there plenty of room to view wishes for everyone, especially since we are separate parties( I am sure we will get along fine but just wondering)?

 

[melanieewr]

Malibelle; We were a group of 10 and while out on deck, some of us sat on the steps or on the edge of the boat. There really is only actualy seating for 7 on the deck. If you are wandering in and out a lot, you won't have a problem with your group size. The times that you are out on deck to watch, which is most of the time...you might be a bit crowded. Some of you could go on the top deck with the pilots though!

Strawberries sound yummy! The desserts that we were served were delicious. I am about to head out of town and I don't have time to retrieve pics or give descriptions. I will try to get back on that next week. I would think you could order strawberries though. Just contact GF private catering and let them know what you want to do.

Talk to you soon!

 

[disprincessatheart]

I'm sure it's on here, but I can't find it. What number do I call to reserve the Grand 1 when it's time?