What are people doing for meet and greets?

[Evi]

I was originally thinking of doing a desert party but with cocktail food and some drinks. But now I'm thinking that the Grand 1 could be an option. What have others done? I'm open to any and all suggestions. I don't want to plan anything in the parks because then I would either be buying park tickets or expecting my guests to purchase park tickets to participate. I so wish the adventurers club was still around.

I should add I'll be doing coffee and bagels w/fruit in the morning and transporting guests to the cruise ship. I do wish there was someplace I could host the breakfast portion without going through events/catering. But I don't want to add the cost of transporting them to another location since my estimate for transportation is from Disney resort to port and back. Guests will most likely be staying at POR as its a fav amongst many and its only 1 night. Are there any public spaces where one can hold a morning meet up? Somewhere I could show up with coffee bags and some fruit salad? lol I'm figuring I hit a bagel shop and get coffee and I know I can buy fruit cups in bulk. I'm not trying to have a serious formal breakfast since I know we need to be at the port early and would have done a meet up the night before, just something in everyones belly to tide them over till lunch.

I have a current group total of 25 so far, it may go up by a couple more but first night only 18 will be there for meet and greet. I have guests coming who are in FL and GA that will not be coming to Orlando the night before but driving directly to port.

 

[lurkyloo]

We did a rehearsal brunch at what is now Kouzzina and just made a large-group reservation.

We weren't going to have a meet-n-greet cuz we didn't have the money, but at the last minute we added a "No Pressure, Come If You Want To" get-together in one of the public spaces at the Beach Club. We just kinda showed up there and took over—there was no one in the room at the time, and no one came along the whole time we were there. Complete details are in my trip report, here: http://disneytravelbabble.com/trip-reports/wedding/day-3/

The Beach Club also has the Solarium, which is a bit more public but also a great gathering place (as long as you don't mind the TV being on).

 

[lurkyloo]

Other welcome party ideas to consider:

• Pizza by your resort's pool
• Mini golf meet-up
• Party at a DVC villa with food trays from private dining or Publix

 

[Evi]

I never thought about renting a dvc villa that could work for a breakfast location as well. I still haven't figured out how to rent dvc points it seems all complicated to me. I may be making it more complicated lol. But I do like the idea. I still think I'm going to do something bigger night before for dinner either a desert party, grand 1 or maybe if the bowling alley is done we could get together there. Since they won't guarantee Palo for our party size on the cruise it left me with a little extra left over to put somewhere else.

If you have any advice on how to go about renting points and what not to do that would be super.

 

[lurkyloo]

Yes! I wrote up a little primer on point rental based on our experience HERE, but there's also a lot of great info on the DIS' Rent/Trade Board (which is a great place to look for points to rent).

 

[Evi]

I will check both links out thank you.