WISH Dinner Fri, Jan 6th--Trail's End!! Seats still open--see first post for details

[xterratri]

what about finding a location such as a pavillion at one of the DVC resorts and getting giordano's(chicago pizza plus pasta) or someplace off site to cater it? Disney would probably have a cow though because they want as much of our money as they can get.

 

[TiffJ]

I vote we just take over Trails End. Even if everyone doesnt get an ADR would they really turn business away if they had the room to seat people. I like the buffet. Easier to feed my picky family with.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Tiff--you do have a point. However---it is becoming widely known that TE does the ADR...so the slots will get filled by campers and more difficult for a walk in to get seated.

 

[zoegirl]

I also think we should just try and call in ressies at TE tomorrow morning. If that doesn't work then we'll try something else. No point in bringing a bunch of different options to the table until the one option we want is off.

~bree~

 

[princessmomma]

Who was at the meet and greet last year? Was it at Trails End?

How many people attended?

Did you have time and room to mingle?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I didn't go--but it was at TE last year and when they did not have ADR. So a rep from the group got there early to place in the name and everyone showed up about the time they opened. There was at least half if not more of our presence group size that attended.

 

[NCRedding]

I went to the dinner at TE last year. We got there as it opened--at that time they didn't accept PS/ADRs. I think there were about 45-50 of us. We just kind of broke off into groups and were seated together at tables varying from 4-8 people--they were very close together. There was time for socializing before the doors opened, and then again after we finished dinner.

 

[chimera]

My specialty is working all the angles so here's where I am with things.

I called WDW-DINE again tonight. The largest group I can personally book for TE is 30. She also told me that we can't technically book until Sat Oct 8 (that's officially 90 days) so we have a couple more days to flesh this out.

One thing I've learned about Disney...you get a different answer every time you call. So I called TE directly and spoke to my new friend Paul. He says the largest group they can seat is 20, but I tried a bit of whining. He said they may be able to seat 50 if we're trying for the first ressie at opening time. He's going to do some checking and call me back tomorrow if they can handle our group. If they can, we'd still need 4 or 5 people to book their groups individually. But I think that might work well if Paul can help us out.

I kinda like Bree's idea...let's keep this going until we hit the wall, then we can look to other options if needed. I'm also intrigued by Lynne's idea...does anyone by chance have a DVC ressie in a grand villa? I bet we could all fit in there and bring our own food. We'll have our van and can pick up takeout.

And there's still the food court option...they certainly won't turn us away since they don't take ressies. POR or POFQ would be cool. Pepper Market doesn't require ADRs to my knowledge, but I always thought their ticket system was weird. Don't know about CBR...I haven't stayed there in years.

I'll let y'all know when I hear from Paul. Until then, no need to call for ressies til Saturday!

 

[littlegreydonkey]

Can someone please include the sad little bri-wi and her boyfriend in their reservation? The time difference and phone bill cost of hanging on for dining res makes it a bit tricky for me to nip in there first thing? I did vote in the poll so I'm included in the big numbers, but just in case we do get down to individual res, will someone look after us (imagine poor sad whining puppy noises when you read this, it'll work better). Although, I admit I'm also keen on the food court option!!!! Helen

 

[chimera]

Helen...we'll take care of your ressie if you define bri-wi

 

[keenercam]

Have we come up with a gameplan for calling tomorrow a.m.? I am going to be out and about as of 6 a.m. -- what time do they start taking reservations and where do you have to call? As of 8, however, I will be in a state park where cell phone reception is not dependable, so if the reservation has to be made after 8, I am sorry I will have to ask someone to include DH (KeenHo) and me in their count.

We have the DDE card and are glad to share the discount with our table. I think we can use it for 10 people.

Thanks to everyone who has been doing the research and phone calls and brainstorming. This will be so much fun!

 

[chimera]

407-WDW-DINE Lines open at 7am EDT.

My new friend Paul hasn't returned my call today, so let's go with making our own ressies tomorrow. Cam, can you call in for 10? I'll call for 10. Who else can call tomorrow for 10 people...we need about 5 more who can call. TE starts serving dinner at 4:30, so why don't we all try to get as close to that time as we can. After we make the ressies, we can post here and see what we've ended up with.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I will be running at 7 am. so unable to telephone.

 

[keenercam]

I will take my cell phone with me and will call at 7 for 10 people.

 

[TiffJ]

I also plan on calling first thing in the a.m. Will let you know what I get.

 

[TiffJ]

I got it!!!! ADR for 10 people at Trails End for 4:30. Woo Hoo Woo Hoo Woo Hoo! There are 6 in my party so I have room for 4 more(my 6 were included in the total you had) They did say that gratuity is automatically included with parties of 8 or more FYI.

This is making it so very real!

 

[chimera]

I have a ressie at TE for 4:40 on Jan 6 for 30 people

 

[zoegirl]

Yay!!!! I got 10 people at 4:50! Man! Are we on the ball or what?????

~bree~

 

[keenercam]

I got a ressie for 10 people at 4:30. There are only 2 of us (included in the count already), so room for 8 more!

 

[chimera]

Woohoo!

Thanks for your help, guys!

We now have dinner ressies for 60 people

I think that sounds like a good number, but I'm gonna go back through the thread and the poll to make sure the numbers match up. I'll let you know if we need anymore callers!

Bree...how many people in your personal group?

I'm bringing a group of 4 or 5 so I'll have room for 25 or 26 people They said they probably won't seat us all at the same table, but in the same area. I'm thinking if all of us ressie holders check in as soon as they open and tell them we're technically all together, they could probably make sure to seat the whole mess of us in the same general vicinity

You're right, Tiff...much more real now!

ETA: I just noticed my ressie post was #1000!