Need Help on Illuminations Cruise or Illuminations Dessert Party

[LisaLovesDisney]

Hi all,
I am planning a December Intimate wedding at 12 noon and wanted to do an Illuminations cruise the night of the wedding after dinner but the capacity on pontoon boats are 12 and I did not want to have to get 2 boats and seperate everyone. So, I thought maybe an Illuminations dessert party at Epcot. My concerns are the cost and do they do these events for 15 people? I thought the pontoon was ideal because of the price and the fact that my guests would not need to get an extra day on there hopper pass just for the Illunimations dessert party. I am coming to the conclusion that I may have to get 2 boats. Any ideas?? Keep in mind: for 15 people (2 children),,possibly include dessert,,,and cost. Thanks for any ideas??

 

[ahutton]

We have done both the cruises and dessert parties over the years. There was a "minimum" for different locations of how many people you had to "buy" for, so when we have had a party smaller than the minimum we looked at how much was it going to be total and did we feel like it was worthwhile. In our case it was between $300-$400 for a full dessert party, including coffee, tea and cocoa and a huge platter of fruit. We felt like that was well worth having a private area for Illuminations and gladly paid it. Incidently, we had reserved the pagoda patio area in Japan, but since it was available we were upgraded to the France island arm but were not charged any extra, they just called and offered it to me before we left.

 

[LisaLovesDisney]

did your guest have to use a day on their hopper pass to get into Epcot to go to the dessert party? I just think it will be a waste for everyone to waste a day on their hopper pass just to get in to see Illuminations at night because all day everyone is going to be busy with the wedding and the after wedding dinner and would not need to get into any of the parks. Just trying to figure out the best way to do it....

 

[DrKnow77]

How does the bride get into the Illuminations Desert Party with her dress on? I think I've heard they are escorted from a "secret" entrance?

 

[LisaLovesDisney]

I am not sure if I will even have my dress on because the wedding is at 12:00 and I am pretty sure I will be in something more comfortable after dinner. But if there is a special entrance that would mean that my guest would not need to use a day on there hopper pass...

 

[ahutton]

If you book your party though your wedding coordinator it becomes part of your "event" and we bought $10 EPCOT wristbands for our guests so they didn't spend a day of admission to go to the party. They did use a special entrance for us, but we had Disney transportation as part of our wedding also. I'm not sure how they would handle it if you did your own transportation, I would expect they would have you meet at Guest Services and escort you in. They try to limit the time you are "out and about" in your dress as it causes a big distraction for other guests and could be a hazard (someone not watching what they are doing and getting hurt). In fact, I asked at one point if I could get a drink of water, but they told me to hold on and produced several bottles of water for myself and our guests! If you did not plan to still be in wedding attire they may handle your entrance differently, but I would let your coordinator worry about how to make it happen, that's her job and you are paying plenty for her to do it.