Wedding Guest Transportation?

[Majekmoon14]

How did your guests get to the ceremony location? My wedding is at the Pavilion and I know Disney transportation doesn't go there. Can we just tell everyone to take it to the GF and walk over? Is that rude? Our reception follows at Atlantic Dance Hall. We are having a custom wedding with about 100 people. Do most people arrange charter bus transportation? We plan to have a limo for our wedding party but I don't know if it's neccessary to provide transportation for all our guests. Opinions please!

 

[Luvndisney]

When is your wedding? I think that if you can pull the expense of teh charter bus thatn go for it. It would be a nice Disney touch to the wedding. However, if the price is too much to swallow skip it and have your guests arrive at the Grand Floridian. I ask when your wedding is b/c if it's nice weather its a beautiful walk over and they can enjoy the views. ONly problem I would see with that would be if it rained

Hope this helps. I have to get charter buses b/c my reception is in EPCOT

 

[twojo21]

you can & should provide transportation. disney offers charter buses which fit 50 for $75 an hour, minimum 5 hours. its a nice gesture to guests & would be more convinient for everyone since your venues are at different venues & unable to reach directly. we are providing charters buses for our guests.

otherwise it would be alot of time wasted, bus changes example port orleans bus to magic kingdom, monorail to grand floridian, then a long walk to the wedding pavilion & the possibility of getting lost in transit or being late. plus the guests getting to the boardwalk for your reception after the ceremony. example walk back to gf, bus to dtd (different guests on different buses too since not all your 100 guests can fit on 1 regular disney bus with other resort guests) then a bus from dtd to the boardwalk (same scenario different buses & times for guests arriving at the boardwalk) its just a bad idea to expect your guests to do this.

 

[2BWEDDNDIS]

I have another question about this too! If there is a min of 5 hours what would that include? My wedding is at 12 so it would go around pick all my guests up and drop them off at the pavillion, it would then take them to boardwalk for the pre-reception/reception, but all together that would be over 5 hours. SO....1hr for wedd then take to reception maybe another 1hr, then it sits at boardwalk for 4hrs to see if anyone wants to go home early??? What about the people who leave at the end? It should end at like 6pm. DO we have to rent it out for all those hours. It just seems costly for those hours in during wedd and reception its not being used??

 

[Janet2k]

Last October, I had an evening (custom) vow renewal inside the Wedding Pavilion. I had arranged for a motor coach to pick up my guests at the resorts where they were staying: BoardWalk, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Grand Floridian. While my husband & I were having our photos taken at the Grand Floridian prior to our ceremony, our guests were systematically being picked up and transported to the Wedding Pavilion. The pickup schedule was coordinated by my FTW Event Manager, and my guests had a copy of that schedule. If anyone missed their pickup time, they had to find their own way to the Wedding Pavilion (luckily, no one missed their pickup time).

My vow renewal ceremony began at 8 PM. We were done with the ceremony & Wedding Pavilion photos sometime after 9 PM. The motor coach sat in the Wedding Pavilion's parking lot the entire time, waiting for us. Once everyone was ready to head to the dinner reception, we boarded the motor coach. It drove us to the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park (my party was being held inside the Great Movie Ride). I think we arrived at the Studios at 9:30 PM. The bus dropped us off backstage. The Disney Guides, who I had hired for the evening, escorted everyone to the party’s location. The motor coach sat backstage for the rest of the night. It was literally at my beck and call. If any of my guests needed to leave the party early, the bus would take them back to their resort, no questions asked.

My dinner party ended with fireworks at 2 AM. The Disney Guides then escorted everyone back to the waiting motor coach. Our first stop was the BoardWalk. Our second stop was the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our third stop was the Wilderness Lodge. Our fourth stop was the Wedding Pavilion since there were guests who had driven themselves to the ceremony. The fifth and final stop was the Grand Floridian. That was where my husband, myself, and our children disembarked. It was 3 AM when we bade the bus driver a fond farewell.

So, here’s the breakdown…

When the motor coach picked up my first guests that evening, the clock was running. When the motor coach dropped off my last guests that evening, the clock stopped running. I was charged for 9 hours of motor coach service. 9 hours x $78 = $702.

I hope that helped.

 

[JoD]

My DH and I didn't provide transportation for our 100 guest. Most of our guests had rental cars and the others who didn't asked for a ride. We talked to our guest before the wedding and had an idea that most of them would have cars so we decided we didn't need to rent the buses. We were able to put that money towards the confetti cannons at our reception (which everyone loved)

 

[ead79]

We were required to have chartered bus transportation since my reception was inside Epcot. However, I would’ve done it anyway since it took so much hassle out of the way for our guests.

Just as Janet described, the busses picked up our guests at the resorts we had selected for our room block and transported them to the Wedding Pavilion according to the schedule my EM set up. After the ceremony, the bus transported our guests over to Epcot (via the backstage entrance) for our pre-reception and reception. The bus made several trips during the reception for those guests needing to leave early (like those who had kids with babysitters). I believe it made those trips at the bottom and top of every hour. At the conclusion of the reception, our busses transported the guests back to their resorts and also made a stop at the Wedding Pavilion for those who parked their cars there (we had several Florida locals who didn’t stay on property).

It was extremely convenient. Plus, our guests didn’t have to worry about how to get from point A to point B, and no one got lost. In our case it was money well spent.

 

[Janet2k]

Just as Ead79 stated, having a private motor coach was very convenient for everyone involved. And if I had to do it all over again, I would definitely hire it in a heartbeat.

Having a private motor coach allowed each of my guests a truly carefree evening. They didn't have to worry about getting lost on their way to the Wedding Pavilion. They didn’t have to worry about getting lost on their way to the dinner party. They didn't have to worry about getting lost on their way back to their resort at the end of the evening. All they had to worry about was arriving at the motor coach’s pickup point, which was right in front of their resort.

Another important point about hiring a private motor coach was that my guests could drink cocktails and champagne throughout the evening without worrying about the effects of drinking and driving. When their night ended, a private motor coach was going to drop them off at their resort’s front doorstep. That assured all involved an extremely safe evening.

I went ahead and posted two photos that show the private motor coach that was used on the evening of my vow renewal. The first photograph captures how my sister felt about being whisked away on one of the most magical nights of her life (that photo was taken at the Wedding Pavilion). The second photo gives you a glimpse of my guests backstage at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park.

Motor Coach Photo # 1
Motor Coach Photo # 2

 

[Luvndisney]

Janet2k - Thanks for all the information on the motor coaches and the pictures. This really helps those of us who are unsure what the benefits of using them are.

Thanks

 

[lsutiger05]

Andybody get a motor coach outside of Disney for less money?

 

[Luvndisney]

I'm not sure you have the option of getting an outside motorcoach for the wedding. I may be wrong, but especially if your reception or wedding in a theme park.

 

[Codie]

I just had my wedding at the WP and then reception at the ADH. I felt the buses took the hassle out of the event for my guests. They could still drive if they wanted...but almost no one did. I thought it was all handled well and we knew where everyone, well most people, were. It was under $800 and totally worth the money. We looked at outside vendors and found for both the limo and the buses it was just cheaper to use Mears (Disney). My only thing that I thought was strange is that they used DCL buses--but it added a little mystery too and most people didn't even notice!