Wedding Week Large Group Dining?

[gibsi53]

We're planning on having about 55 adults attend our wedding and 4 kids and 2 infants....

How did you guys schedule/handle the large groups in the parks and in restaurants?

For example, what if a big group (25+) wants to go to Raglan Road for drinks and maybe apps on a Sat night? Should I call the restaurant directly?

And- did you book reservations through group dining and offer them until they are filled up to your group?

Did you have meet up times and points in the parks?
Can a big group drink aroun Epcot together?

I'm nervous about the logistics but I'm sure it'll be a chaotic fun mess!

 

[CharacterFan]

We're planning on having about 55 adults attend our wedding and 4 kids and 2 infants....

How did you guys schedule/handle the large groups in the parks and in restaurants?

For example, what if a big group (25+) wants to go to Raglan Road for drinks and maybe apps on a Sat night? Should I call the restaurant directly?

And- did you book reservations through group dining and offer them until they are filled up to your group?

Did you have meet up times and points in the parks?
Can a big group drink aroun Epcot together?

I'm nervous about the logistics but I'm sure it'll be a chaotic fun mess!

I don't have all the answers, but I've seen large groups drinking around Epcot. They even had matching shirts showing they were drinking together.

Depending on your party size for meals you may want to call all the restaurants directly. Disney can only book tables up to a certain size even through group dining, but the restaurants will be better able to put the reservation in.

 

[tiggerrifficheidi]

I would call group dining. But, many places referred me to the restaurant themselves. I would start with the central reservation and go from there. Some places seem to have different rules, so there's no uniformity.

 

[Desnik]

I am going through this now. I tried to make a reservation for 30 for dinner at chef Mickey's the day before our vow renewal in Nov. I was given the # to the restaurant and told I had to speak directly with them. After 3 days someone got back to me. I was told we could only eat after 9pm! I was so mad. I told them I have 10 kids how can I eat after 9pm? They didn't care, those are the rules and if I just made a reservation for 3 groups of 10 they wouldn't sit us together. I am annoyed because we really wanted to do this. I emailed my planner to see if something can be done but I doubt it. We wanted this to be our welcome party and thought it would be perfect because we didn't have to worry about park passes. Also because it's a buffet it is a set price so we would know how much it would cost in advance. Oh well.....

As a group we will go to MVMCP the day after the vow renewal. We have 35 of us going to that. Everyone has purchased their tickets on their own and had them mailed to them. I am really excited about this!

For the kids we booked a pirate cruise from the Grand Floridian the day after the Xmas party.

Then I just told everyone what our plans are for the rest of the week and if they want to meet up with us at the park we are at to just call us on our cells.

We have 50 guests for the vow renewal but everyone is arriving and leaving on different days so it's been hard to try to plan group activities.

 

[missy0107]

Raglan Road has a small nook that you can reserve for your whole party, I believe it sits 25 so you would have a semi-private section all to yourselves. I would call their banquet people to make sure you can reserve that space. I'm pretty sure you can do that and just order off the regular menu.

Many of the other Downtown Disney restaurants have semi private areas, including Fulton's, Portobello.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I am going through this now. I tried to make a reservation for 30 for dinner at chef Mickey's the day before our vow renewal in Nov. I was given the # to the restaurant and told I had to speak directly with them. After 3 days someone got back to me. I was told we could only eat after 9pm! I was so mad. I told them I have 10 kids how can I eat after 9pm? They didn't care, those are the rules and if I just made a reservation for 3 groups of 10 they wouldn't sit us together. I am annoyed because we really wanted to do this. I emailed my planner to see if something can be done but I doubt it. We wanted this to be our welcome party and thought it would be perfect because we didn't have to worry about park passes. Also because it's a buffet it is a set price so we would know how much it would cost in advance. Oh well.....

well, just to give you a little explanation, they have an order of tables they seat in the beginning of the meal time, probably to get it a little spread out between servers (character meals are a bit different, but the tables ARE offset a bit) and through the course of the night, some tables take longer and some take a shorter amount of time, continuing to offset the even turn of the restaurant........they can usually guarantee ya'll to sit together when there aren't any "previous" tables to screw up the plan, and then usually near the end of the dinner time, where most of the tables are being emptied and not planning on getting them set again fast.....that way they can let them sit around empty waiting for your other tables to be set up for ya'll to be together.....

maybe since Chef Mickey's is such high in demand that they can't offer the spots in the beginning of the dinner time......maybe try a less "in demand" restaurant....or just try other ones, you never know what they can do for ya.....

don't give up hope!

 

[tiggerrifficheidi]

I am going through this now. I tried to make a reservation for 30 for dinner at chef Mickey's the day before our vow renewal in Nov. I was given the # to the restaurant and told I had to speak directly with them. After 3 days someone got back to me. I was told we could only eat after 9pm! I was so mad. I told them I have 10 kids how can I eat after 9pm? They didn't care, those are the rules and if I just made a reservation for 3 groups of 10 they wouldn't sit us together. I am annoyed because we really wanted to do this. I emailed my planner to see if something can be done but I doubt it. We wanted this to be our welcome party and thought it would be perfect because we didn't have to worry about park passes. Also because it's a buffet it is a set price so we would know how much it would cost in advance. Oh well.....

We found that some restaurants would do 30+ and some wouldn't. We were able to get a 34 (I think) for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. You might try them for dinner as well. We LOVED the breakfast buffet. The characters aren't Mickey, but we had a great time with them!

 

[Desnik]

Thanks for your help ladies! I am not giving up! I might just try dinner at 1900 Park Faire. I am still waiting to see what my planner can help me with.