lurkyloo
The Attic was just perfect!
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2006
I had an opportunity to tour the wedding facilities at Tokyo Disney Resort a couple weeks ago and thought Id share what I learned. The Director of Resort Operations and the General Manager of Hotel Mira Costa led me on a fast-paced, expertly timed tour of the wedding sites at Hotel Mira Costa and the Ambassador Hotel, including stops to see parts of actual weddings!
Disneys Fairy Tale Weddings in Tokyo are a bit different. Rather than building your wedding from the ground up, you are required to choose from several packages (the ones at the Ambassador Hotel are themed to each of the princesses), and you cant really change elements or provide your own, well, anythingeven the dress! You have to rent a dress (or two or three) from them. (When I asked how it would work for a Godzilla-sized bride such as myself, they said theyd make it work.) But, like they kept saying, Disney provides a certain kind of wedding, and only people who want that kind of wedding choose Disney, so no ones upset that they cant modify the packages. (Dont get any ideas, DFTW Orlando )
They do up to eight weddings a day, and they are carefully programmed. Each hotel contains all the facilities you could possibly need, including a bridal salon (like a miniature, crowded Francks), a beauty salon, the bridal gown salon, a photo studio, and various waiting rooms. Each wedding party makes the same circuit of the various rooms on their way to the altar and then the reception, one group after another. Its a pretty slick operation, and I was impressed by how many services they provide.
The average wedding size is 60 or 70 guests, with prices starting around ¥1.5 million ($16,090) for 20 people. I cant remember if they said the annual number of weddings at Tokyo Disney Resort is 1,400 or 1,800 must be the latter because they said there are 840 at Mira Costa alone and the Ambassador is actually the more popular venue. So far they have decided not to hold weddings at the new Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, partly because its feared that people will stop booking at the other two hotels. There are no in-park events except for the gondola ride add-on to Mira Costa weddings, which Ill post some pictures of. After the ceremony, the bride and groom and their guests parade through Tokyo Disney Sea to the gondola dock, and then the bride and groom get a private boat ride complete with musicians and singing gondoliers.
The people I spoke with had never heard of the wedding-style vow renewals we have in the States. A few couples have booked anniversary receptions to celebrate, but theyd never heard of having an entire ceremony and everything. I think they were joking when they said Id given them a great idea for making more money, but I hope theyll really consider it!
Wedding Chapel at Hotel Mira Costa
The chapel is very intimateabout half the size of the Wedding Pavilion, Id saywhich makes it perfect for weddings with 60 or 70 guests.
The window behind the altar overlooks Tokyo DisneySeas Mount Prometheus
For the ceremony this fountain is filled with either incense or dry ice (the explanation of the concept was lost in translation!)
View of the chapel from inside Tokyo DisneySea
For the Gondola Wedding, the guests come down first and form a receiving line for the petal toss.
Then the processional musicians arrive
Disneys Fairy Tale Weddings in Tokyo are a bit different. Rather than building your wedding from the ground up, you are required to choose from several packages (the ones at the Ambassador Hotel are themed to each of the princesses), and you cant really change elements or provide your own, well, anythingeven the dress! You have to rent a dress (or two or three) from them. (When I asked how it would work for a Godzilla-sized bride such as myself, they said theyd make it work.) But, like they kept saying, Disney provides a certain kind of wedding, and only people who want that kind of wedding choose Disney, so no ones upset that they cant modify the packages. (Dont get any ideas, DFTW Orlando )
They do up to eight weddings a day, and they are carefully programmed. Each hotel contains all the facilities you could possibly need, including a bridal salon (like a miniature, crowded Francks), a beauty salon, the bridal gown salon, a photo studio, and various waiting rooms. Each wedding party makes the same circuit of the various rooms on their way to the altar and then the reception, one group after another. Its a pretty slick operation, and I was impressed by how many services they provide.
The average wedding size is 60 or 70 guests, with prices starting around ¥1.5 million ($16,090) for 20 people. I cant remember if they said the annual number of weddings at Tokyo Disney Resort is 1,400 or 1,800 must be the latter because they said there are 840 at Mira Costa alone and the Ambassador is actually the more popular venue. So far they have decided not to hold weddings at the new Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, partly because its feared that people will stop booking at the other two hotels. There are no in-park events except for the gondola ride add-on to Mira Costa weddings, which Ill post some pictures of. After the ceremony, the bride and groom and their guests parade through Tokyo Disney Sea to the gondola dock, and then the bride and groom get a private boat ride complete with musicians and singing gondoliers.
The people I spoke with had never heard of the wedding-style vow renewals we have in the States. A few couples have booked anniversary receptions to celebrate, but theyd never heard of having an entire ceremony and everything. I think they were joking when they said Id given them a great idea for making more money, but I hope theyll really consider it!
Wedding Chapel at Hotel Mira Costa
The chapel is very intimateabout half the size of the Wedding Pavilion, Id saywhich makes it perfect for weddings with 60 or 70 guests.
The window behind the altar overlooks Tokyo DisneySeas Mount Prometheus
For the ceremony this fountain is filled with either incense or dry ice (the explanation of the concept was lost in translation!)
View of the chapel from inside Tokyo DisneySea
For the Gondola Wedding, the guests come down first and form a receiving line for the petal toss.
Then the processional musicians arrive
Everything else seemed to be pretty classy, and then there were the fingernails. 
