Rehearsal Dinner Locations?

[YouLoveJulianne]

Any recommendations? Why are you choosing/did you choose your location for the rehearsal dinner? What are the pro's and cons?

 

[DisneyDream88]

Ohana at the Polynesian. It was a fun, family atmosphere and the food is delicious. I would def consider it. Everyone gets leis to wear too!

 

[DFTWbride2013]

We're struggling with this right now, too! Ohana seems to be the popular choice, but I have some seriously picky eaters to feed so I'm also considering Yachtsman, since it's "normal" steakhouse food.

 

[Emily11212]

We are doing the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge!!! First of all, this is one of our favorite restaurants. Second, Wilderness Lodge is our deluxe resort choice and a lot of our guests are staying there. Third, they have an "all you can eat" option for only $28.95 a person!!! Fourth, it's BARBECUE!!!! And lastly, when we finally got in touch with one of the managers, she was super excited for us and super accommodating, making sure she marked it on the restaurant's calendar and has promised to rope off a little section for us. I'm so excited and couldn't be happier about having our rehearsal dinner there! I just have to remember not to pig out too much... I have a wedding dress to fit into the next day!!

 

[dm1996]

Depending on your party size, a lot of restaurants won't promise you seats all together unless you make a reservation for when they open or their last seating of the night. I have 35 people and that was the case at most places. Some of the Downtown Disney restaurants have private rooms, but have a higher min for peak times (Fri at 7:00). We ended up picking a catered dinner at White Hall---at least we will be able to hear each other and can take our time. Also, with a catered event, you can change the menu around to fit your needs. Some of the dinner menus at restaurants for large parties are set and you can't change things, you don't get the full menu to choose from, just a few items.
I have heard there are problems at Ohana getting seats together. The best feedback I've gotten so far was from anything at Wilderness Lodge, they seem to really try and work with you. They also answer the phone, or call you back asap.

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

We are doing ours at Grand Floridian at Narccooussee's... Were not going through Disney for that, we just made a reservation for the number of people coming.

 

[Emily11212]

Depending on your party size, a lot of restaurants won't promise you seats all together unless you make a reservation for when they open or their last seating of the night. I have 35 people and that was the case at most places. Some of the Downtown Disney restaurants have private rooms, but have a higher min for peak times (Fri at 7:00). We ended up picking a catered dinner at White Hall---at least we will be able to hear each other and can take our time. Also, with a catered event, you can change the menu around to fit your needs. Some of the dinner menus at restaurants for large parties are set and you can't change things, you don't get the full menu to choose from, just a few items.
I have heard there are problems at Ohana getting seats together. The best feedback I've gotten so far was from anything at Wilderness Lodge, they seem to really try and work with you. They also answer the phone, or call you back asap.

Yes, one other thing I should have mentioned, we did have to book our rehearsal dinner for 5:00 when the restaurant opens, so that we are guaranteed 34 seats together. But 6 of those 34 are very young children, so it's actually a win-win for us. Our rehearsal will be at 3, dinner at 5, and then everyone can get the young kids home and in bed and rested for the wedding the next day.

 

[brinkley07]

We did find several locations on property that had separate dining rooms depending on the size of your party. At the time we were having trouble with the fact that they wouldn't guarantee our party would sit together. I had a tough time thinking we would have to sit apart at a rehearsal dinner. Some of the places we looked at were Cat Cora's Kouzzina and California Grill since they both had separate rooms we could book. I loved both menus and have eaten at both restaurants. We did love the idea of being able to see the fireworks from California as part of the evening. I did go to Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge, but to be honest our last meal there (thankfully just the hubby and I 2 mo ago) was horrendous. It's a wonderful atmosphere, but I can't recommend it after our experience since my hubby was sick from the food and that wasn't the worst of our time there. How many people will be at the rehearsal, and what type of food do you prefer? If you can narrow it down a little I will do my best to give you a little more info since we spent quite a bit of time on where to eat. Hope this helps!

 

[minniebride]

We had our Welcome dinner at 1900 Park Fare for around 25-30 guests and it was perfect! Our first time dining there.nThey were able to seat us all in the same area, charcters were great, and i ordered a gorgeous grooms cake from the GF Bakery that they presented as a surprise for my DH after dinner The manager and staff were so accomodating.

The night before the wedding we also did a dinner at the Biergarten for just the wedding party and our family. Biergarten is one of my and DH's favorite restaurants in WDW. They seated us all at one long table and it was SO much fun!!!

We were told that most WDW restaurants will be the most accomodating for parties like this if you book an early seating i.e. no later than 5:15 ADR time.

 

[weedee]

We had our Welcome/Rehearsal dinner at Ohana. We had about 20 people and it WAS a pain getting seated for us. We waited about an hour before we finally could sit down WITH reservations. I would recommend calling the day before your reservation to ensure they are ready for your group - and make sure everyone is there because they won't seat until the entire group is present.

If I had to re-do it, I probably wouldn't have chosen Ohana - but the food is so amazing!! And once we were seated, the evening and service was fantastic

 

[YouLoveJulianne]

Thanks for the feedback ladies!

I was leaning towards Ohana to begin with and now I feel better about that decision. Thanks for tip to call the day before to confirm!