Wedding Day Transportation

[Izzy Pooh]

Hi all!

Since everyone on the boards are always so helpful, I'm hoping for some suggestions/opinions about transportation for my guests on the wedding day.

I was originally planning on getting the Charter Bus to pick up my guests at their resorts and drop them off at the Wedding Pavilion and from there over to the Contemporary Resort. I was wondering if maybe I can get some type of shuttle bus to pick them up at their resorts and drop them off at the Pavilion and then maybe after that they would be able to get on the monorail from the Grand Floridian over to the Contemporary...

Is that possible in the June crowd/heat or maybe I should splurge on transportation?

Edit:
I forgot to mention that after the reception at the Contemporary we will be heading over to Epcot for the DP.

 

[PartofDisney'sWorld]

I think that is totally do-able to get to the Contemporary, but how will they get back?

 

[pezaddict231]

If you are able to, I would splurge on the transportation. We decided to just do the charter because while it is not a far walk from the Wedding Pavilion to the GF, people will be dressed up and it was hot. I was also worried about it raining. While no one raves about transportation, our guests were glad to have the bus and I felt like it was the right thing to do with everyone traveling so far to be there. I didn't want them to have to worry about anything that day. The guests that drove also just parked at the WP and took the bus over to the GF with everyone else.

I also liked that the buses were there the whole time and people could leave early if they wanted to. We had some guests leaving the next day so they appreciated that option.

I did think about the shuttle option, but then I would need it to drop guests back off at their hotels at the end of the night, and it didn't really save any money that way since we had so many stops.

 

[mjshorses]

If you are able to, I would splurge on the transportation. We decided to just do the charter because while it is not a far walk from the Wedding Pavilion to the GF, people will be dressed up and it was hot. I was also worried about it raining. While no one raves about transportation, our guests were glad to have the bus and I felt like it was the right thing to do with everyone traveling so far to be there. I didn't want them to have to worry about anything that day. The guests that drove also just parked at the WP and took the bus over to the GF with everyone else.

I also liked that the buses were there the whole time and people could leave early if they wanted to. We had some guests leaving the next day so they appreciated that option.

I did think about the shuttle option, but then I would need it to drop guests back off at their hotels at the end of the night, and it didn't really save any money that way since we had so many stops.

Thank you. This is very helpful I'm trying to think of transportation as I'm working on my room block right now and trying to figure out the logistics. I hadn't even considered guest wanting to leave early but I have a lot of guests coming that have young children so I think you're right. Charter bus might be the only way to go.

 

[pezaddict231]

Thank you. This is very helpful I'm trying to think of transportation as I'm working on my room block right now and trying to figure out the logistics. I hadn't even considered guest wanting to leave early but I have a lot of guests coming that have young children so I think you're right. Charter bus might be the only way to go.

You're very welcome. I know transportation is not really the most fun thing to spend money on, but your guests will definitely appreciate it and it will definitely be good to have an easy exit for any kiddos that get sleepy .

 

[lurkyloo]

One thing to consider is that you can get a bus without chartering it if you only need it to pick up/drop off at 1 or 2 places (wish I'd known this when setting up the room block).

One-way and round-trips cost $325 and $410, respectively, and you can add one stop to them for $20-$50. There is no minimum time limit with these, which means you don't have to pay for hours when the bus is just sitting around, like during the ceremony.

We did two charter buses—one for the wedding and one for the dessert party. I HATED spending that much money on something so unglamorous, but as the previous poster said, it just felt like a nice thing to do, especially for guests who are unfamiliar with WDW.

 

[Deb loves Disney]

You should also consider how your guests will get back to their resorts when they leave the Contemporary. If you want them to take Disney transportation they would actually have to ride the bus to the MK and then find their resort bus and take it all the while dressed up for a wedding.

We had a slightly different approach since we had an Escape wedding and a limo was included in the cost. We had our guests (who for the most part had cars) drive to the Contemporary. They were then picked up by our limo and delivered to the WP. They were then taken by limo to the GF for our Cake Ceremony and from there they took the Monorail over to the Contemporary. After our Reception they all drove back to their resorts. Later that night they found their own way to our dessert party at Sago Cay which they all found since they had been to the GF earlier that day.

This was a huge headache and worry for me before the wedding but it all worked out in the end and everybody made it to all locations in one piece without a hassle.

 

[Izzy Pooh]

I think that is totally do-able to get to the Contemporary, but how will they get back?

I forgot to mention that after the reception at the Contemporary we will be heading to Epcot for the DP so I'm thinking I might just have to go with the charter bus for the whole afternoon/night.

If you are able to, I would splurge on the transportation. We decided to just do the charter because while it is not a far walk from the Wedding Pavilion to the GF, people will be dressed up and it was hot. I was also worried about it raining. While no one raves about transportation, our guests were glad to have the bus and I felt like it was the right thing to do with everyone traveling so far to be there. I didn't want them to have to worry about anything that day. The guests that drove also just parked at the WP and took the bus over to the GF with everyone else.

I also liked that the buses were there the whole time and people could leave early if they wanted to. We had some guests leaving the next day so they appreciated that option.

I did think about the shuttle option, but then I would need it to drop guests back off at their hotels at the end of the night, and it didn't really save any money that way since we had so many stops.

That's what I was worried about, the heat and especially what if it rains after the ceremony. But I didn't know till now that with the charter bus the guests can leave earlier on there if they wanted to so Thank You for that

One thing to consider is that you can get a bus without chartering it if you only need it to pick up/drop off at 1 or 2 places (wish I'd known this when setting up the room block).

One-way and round-trips cost $325 and $410, respectively, and you can add one stop to them for $20-$50. There is no minimum time limit with these, which means you don't have to pay for hours when the bus is just sitting around, like during the ceremony.

We did two charter buses—one for the wedding and one for the dessert party. I HATED spending that much money on something so unglamorous, but as the previous poster said, it just felt like a nice thing to do, especially for guests who are unfamiliar with WDW.

I have 2 hotels set aside for the guests and something about spending almost $100 per hr on transportation just doesn't settle well with me especially since I was thinking about walking from the GF to the WP just so I wouldn't have to spend money on my transportation.

My problem is that I'm not sure how to schedule the transportation since right after the Ceremony will be the Reception and then right after that will be DP at Epcot. So I'm thinking maybe just have a charter bus from the time it picks up the guests at Resort 1 & then Resort 2 all the way till Epcot & back to their resorts... I'm thinking that I might need the bus for maybe 8-9hrs then..

Thanks for all the info!

You should also consider how your guests will get back to their resorts when they leave the Contemporary. If you want them to take Disney transportation they would actually have to ride the bus to the MK and then find their resort bus and take it all the while dressed up for a wedding.

We had a slightly different approach since we had an Escape wedding and a limo was included in the cost. We had our guests (who for the most part had cars) drive to the Contemporary. They were then picked up by our limo and delivered to the WP. They were then taken by limo to the GF for our Cake Ceremony and from there they took the Monorail over to the Contemporary. After our Reception they all drove back to their resorts. Later that night they found their own way to our dessert party at Sago Cay which they all found since they had been to the GF earlier that day.

This was a huge headache and worry for me before the wedding but it all worked out in the end and everybody made it to all locations in one piece without a hassle.

Yeah, the whole transportation bit is alot to take in so I'll def provide my guests with an all day/night transportation. Thanks so much