Disney Wedding 2014

[antngoof89]

My fiance and I have set a date for our Disney Wedding! We'll be doing that on June 5, 2014 and we've already settled our guest list and pretty decent idea of where we're going to stay and how long. The majority of our wedding guest list has NEVER been to Disney before. We will have a 6 year old with us, 3 teenagers, and many mid 20 year olds. My question is what should we do to make sure these folks have an awesome first experience with Disney?

I have two ideas as to what I wanna do as a big group dinner. We will not be doing a reception, so I was thinking of doing either Hoop Dee Do/Spirt of Aloha for Wedding Night dinner and doing a dessert party at either Fantasmic (DF and I's favorite show) or Illuminations. Also, what is everyone's experiences with keeping a group of 20 people together to hang out at parks. Is it possible since most of us are older? i know we're planning way in advance, but I just like to be well prepared!

[DizneyRox]

We did the Hoop Dee Doo as a thank you dinner for everyone that came. It was very well received, and everyone from the young kids to the 80 year olds had a smile on their face when they left.

We also did a Welcome Party instead of a rehersal dinner. Snacks and an open bar at the Grand Floridian Marina. We had a great view of the fireworks (they pipe in music to that area - or at least they did) and that too was a hit.

We DID NOT do anything that required a park ticket. It's easier to keep costs down and not burden guests with any more financial responsibility than necessary if you're not going to cover that as well.

Pass on the luau, you don't want to dissappoint those that came all the way to WDW for your wedding.

[SBETigg]

Planning a wedding is enough stress (and fun) without taking on the responsibility of making sure your guests have a great WDW visit. Plan some group activities, and then let everyone go their own way for parks and outside entertainment. It's your special time and no one will expect more than just enjoying some time with you to celebrate. I would say to leave it up to your guests to decide what to do with their park time. Maybe make a folder for each guest with some highlights/your favorite things from each park, and your wedding events. Maybe some impromptu plans will build from there. But otherwise, my advice would be to focus on your wedding and the events involving your celebration. Best wishes!

[antngoof89]

We did the Hoop Dee Doo as a thank you dinner for everyone that came. It was very well received, and everyone from the young kids to the 80 year olds had a smile on their face when they left.

We also did a Welcome Party instead of a rehersal dinner. Snacks and an open bar at the Grand Floridian Marina. We had a great view of the fireworks (they pipe in music to that area - or at least they did) and that too was a hit.

We DID NOT do anything that required a park ticket. It's easier to keep costs down and not burden guests with any more financial responsibility than necessary if you're not going to cover that as well.

Pass on the luau, you don't want to dissappoint those that came all the way to WDW for your wedding.

I like the idea of a Welcome dinner actually. That sounds like a fantastic idea. Hoop De Doo is cheaper than the Spirit of Aloha, but I actually enjoyed that show and especially the food. However, Hoop Dee Doo is just fantastic and hasn't gotten boring to me. Everyone in our wedding is aware of the expense to go to the Wedding and is wanting to stay at Disney for a while to hang out with us and celebrate our special week. We will, of course, be honeymooning other than just this trip and want to spend time with our guests as well as have a bit of alone time.

[AmandaChan]

I honesly have never been to either of those shows but I have read a lot more positive reviews for Hoop than Aloha. It seems to be alittle more fun-spirited than Aloha and that's the one I would lean towards if it were my wedding. I wish you a magical wedding! How exciting!

[Wolf]

You're getting them to WDW, that should be plenty to ensure them an amazing first trip!! I wouldn't stress to make everyone happy, maybe find them ticket info but I agree with SBET that doing non ticket things on the required events is a pretty considerate idea in case people just don't want to do parks, but they would have open time if they did.

CONGRATS!!! You're getting the dream at least 80% of the population of adults dream of and 100% of children dream about!!! I hope you have a truely fantastic wedding!!!

[disneykidsince1970]

We did a welcome reception for our guests (not at Disney but at a Florida resort area). Everyone was invited- not just bridal party. It was a huge hit. I only wish we had done it a few days before the wedding. We did it night before and I was to strewed to enjoy and relax. A common area with a theme (fireworks viewing somewhere with drinks/light bites is a great idea!)

Hoop is awesome and if u r a large party, you are sure to be included in the show and make it extra special!

I would suggest lots of pre-comms with the guests and pkgs that include park brochures, maps, maybe pins that say "we are with the xxx wedding!".

I also remember Gary saying on a podcast walking thru Epcot in wedding attire was an awesome experience for bride and groom and guests... If don't go to a park together, maybe you could still all have something indicating wedding like the pins, Tshirts, hats?

Have a blast and keep us posted!

[Janmac]

We have been touring parks together as a group since 1994. Sometimes as many as 11 and sometimes only 8, or even 6.

The best way to tour - to use MK as an example - is to plan on so much time at each Land. Suppose you are starting at Fantasyland - enter as a group at the Castle and agree to meet at the Tea Cups in 2 hours. Then, if some want to ride this ride or others want to experience that attraction, you all can split up and mix as works. Fantasyland is not so bad, but certainly in Frontierland or Tomorrowland there will be some rides that some folks won't be comfortable with.

Be aware that it is very slow traveling with a large group. While 2 or 4 people can do several attractions in a morning, a group of 10, or 20, will not get as many in. It becomes important to plan bathroom breaks, and even ATM trips. Shopping can really draw off a group of folks. The exit of Pirates of the Caribbean is the shop and that's always good for slowing a group down.

My advice is to pick two parks to tour mornings - like MK and DHS. If everyone can do Park Hoppers, head for Epcot for late afternoon and evening touring, as the walkways are wider and less crowded. The various countries provide interesting suppers for your mostly 20 something crowd.

I would recommend two mornings for MK - Adventureland and Frontierland one morning with Fantasyland and Tomorrowland for another morning.

For DHS, you can spend an hour or so at the ToT and RRnC area and then move over to the Star Tours/Indiana Jones area. Toy Story Mania is a hoot - delegate one person to take all the tickets to get Fast Passes and then head there when your FP time comes up.

Animal Kingdom is one of our favorite parks but the walkways are small and the park can be very hot (and uncomfortable). I'd save AK for another trip.

Definitely before you go, have pre-trip get togethers with as many folks as you can, to familiarize the newbies with what they'll be experiencing, both as to the World in general and attractions, specifically. Some newbie friends of ours were astonished that from their resort - POFQ - it was nearly 5 miles to MK or to AK, in different directions. They had no idea of the scope of the World.

For a really fun, non-park ticket outing try Winter-Summerland miniature golf. This is so much fun - the sight gags are hilarious. I don't know how this would work with 20, but you can't help but have a good time here.

We have done both Hoop De Doo and the Aloha and I think you'll enjoy HDD more. It's more immediate. The Aloha action is more removed from the diners and isn't as fun.

Enjoy!

Jan