absolutmey
always planning another trip
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Wedding Week Dining Report *Updated 1/3 Skipper Canteen COMPLETE*
- Thread starter FSU Girl
- Start date
FSU Girl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2016
FSU Girl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2016
November 10
Welcome Dinner at Fantasmic
Onto the wedding festivities!
I had been planning my Disney Fairytale Wedding for a year and the first thing you have to do while planning is pick a venue for your events. I knew I absolutely wanted to get married on 11/11, which fell on a Sunday this year. My original plan was to have a 7:30pm wedding and do an Epcot dessert party for fireworks as my welcome dinner. Well, that didn't work out. Due to Food and Wine they wouldn't allow private events on a Saturday night.
I was a bit distraught and wanted to have the fireworks, so my wedding consultant came up with a great idea of having the welcome dinner in Hollywood Studios instead during the Fantasmic show. I was a little nervous, this show gets canceled if it rains due to the live actors in the show and Florida weather is very unpredictable. My fear that the weather would be bad actually lead me to change my wedding time. I originally had it at 7:30pm, then I moved it to 5pm and when I decided I wanted to add a dessert party in Epcot on the wedding day (it was allowed since it was on a Sunday) I moved my wedding to 2:30pm. Having a wedding on a Sunday worked out since the Wedding Pavilion wasn't occupied during these times to let me move around a lot.
The Welcome Dinner was to kick off the wedding festivities for the weekend. I invited all the wedding guests (80 people) since this was a destination wedding and most people were traveling from across the country to be here.
Leading up to this weekend I was obsessively checking the weather app. At 15 days out it was showing rain the whole weekend. But as we got closer the weather ended up being sunny and perfect the entire weekend.
For this event we had all the guests meet outside the front gates where a Disney Cast Member was waiting to walk everyone inside. All the guests were really excited to go into the park, many of which had never been to Disney before. Christmas festivities had started at Disney and it was snowing as we walked down the street.
The park was pretty crowded this day.
As we approached Rock N Rollercoaster we headed towards one of the backstage gates and bypassed the large crowd to get to Fantasmic. It was really cool going backstage, but it definitely was a much longer walk than if we had just gone there directly.
The back of Tower of Terror, I thought this was pretty cool. The rest of backstage looked a bit spooky in the dark with no one around.
And then we had arrived!
We had the large patio roped off that sits behind the stadium seating.
When picking food for the wedding Disney provided a list of options for either plated for buffet food. For the Welcome Dinner I went with a buffet option that was all Italian food. I also added on the Beer Cheese Soup from Le Cellier. Included in our buffet was water, soda, tea and hot chocolate that the kids loved.
I did have my phone on me this night, so I made sure to get a bunch of pictures of the food for this Dining Report
They had the food set up so two lines could form and get food at the same time. With 80 people this came in handy.
We also added pretzel bread to go with the soup.
Freshly prepared seasonal vegetables.
Eggplant Parmesan with Marinara sauce. This was so good. I didn't eat much this night since I was thinking about fitting into my dress the next day, but I did try a few things. I wish I could have had more of this.
Continued in next post...
Onto the wedding festivities!
I had been planning my Disney Fairytale Wedding for a year and the first thing you have to do while planning is pick a venue for your events. I knew I absolutely wanted to get married on 11/11, which fell on a Sunday this year. My original plan was to have a 7:30pm wedding and do an Epcot dessert party for fireworks as my welcome dinner. Well, that didn't work out. Due to Food and Wine they wouldn't allow private events on a Saturday night.
I was a bit distraught and wanted to have the fireworks, so my wedding consultant came up with a great idea of having the welcome dinner in Hollywood Studios instead during the Fantasmic show. I was a little nervous, this show gets canceled if it rains due to the live actors in the show and Florida weather is very unpredictable. My fear that the weather would be bad actually lead me to change my wedding time. I originally had it at 7:30pm, then I moved it to 5pm and when I decided I wanted to add a dessert party in Epcot on the wedding day (it was allowed since it was on a Sunday) I moved my wedding to 2:30pm. Having a wedding on a Sunday worked out since the Wedding Pavilion wasn't occupied during these times to let me move around a lot.
The Welcome Dinner was to kick off the wedding festivities for the weekend. I invited all the wedding guests (80 people) since this was a destination wedding and most people were traveling from across the country to be here.
Leading up to this weekend I was obsessively checking the weather app. At 15 days out it was showing rain the whole weekend. But as we got closer the weather ended up being sunny and perfect the entire weekend.
For this event we had all the guests meet outside the front gates where a Disney Cast Member was waiting to walk everyone inside. All the guests were really excited to go into the park, many of which had never been to Disney before. Christmas festivities had started at Disney and it was snowing as we walked down the street.
The park was pretty crowded this day.
As we approached Rock N Rollercoaster we headed towards one of the backstage gates and bypassed the large crowd to get to Fantasmic. It was really cool going backstage, but it definitely was a much longer walk than if we had just gone there directly.
The back of Tower of Terror, I thought this was pretty cool. The rest of backstage looked a bit spooky in the dark with no one around.
And then we had arrived!
We had the large patio roped off that sits behind the stadium seating.
When picking food for the wedding Disney provided a list of options for either plated for buffet food. For the Welcome Dinner I went with a buffet option that was all Italian food. I also added on the Beer Cheese Soup from Le Cellier. Included in our buffet was water, soda, tea and hot chocolate that the kids loved.
I did have my phone on me this night, so I made sure to get a bunch of pictures of the food for this Dining Report
They had the food set up so two lines could form and get food at the same time. With 80 people this came in handy.
We also added pretzel bread to go with the soup.
Freshly prepared seasonal vegetables.
Eggplant Parmesan with Marinara sauce. This was so good. I didn't eat much this night since I was thinking about fitting into my dress the next day, but I did try a few things. I wish I could have had more of this.
Continued in next post...
FSU Girl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2016
November 10
Welcome Dinner at Fantasmic Continued
Penne alla Vodka. This was also a change I made to the preset selections. I love this dish and it was probably the most eaten item that night.
Chicken dish, I didn't try any of this, but the guests were raving about how good it was.
Grilled Salmon basted with sun-dried tomato pesto. I didn't try any of this either, but all the guests loved this. I think this was the second most eaten item at the buffet. My mom was talking about this for days.
Close up of the pretzel bread. This was delicious dipping into the soup.
Other types of bread with options of butter or olive oil.
I am so happy I added this soup. Everyone was going on about how good it was. Many of the guests had never been to Le Cellier so it was a nice treat for them to have.
Tiramisu for dessert. This was amazing, I wish I could have had more than a couple bites.
Citrus Cake that many said was really good.
Continued next post...
Welcome Dinner at Fantasmic Continued
Penne alla Vodka. This was also a change I made to the preset selections. I love this dish and it was probably the most eaten item that night.
Chicken dish, I didn't try any of this, but the guests were raving about how good it was.
Grilled Salmon basted with sun-dried tomato pesto. I didn't try any of this either, but all the guests loved this. I think this was the second most eaten item at the buffet. My mom was talking about this for days.
Close up of the pretzel bread. This was delicious dipping into the soup.
Other types of bread with options of butter or olive oil.
I am so happy I added this soup. Everyone was going on about how good it was. Many of the guests had never been to Le Cellier so it was a nice treat for them to have.
Tiramisu for dessert. This was amazing, I wish I could have had more than a couple bites.
Citrus Cake that many said was really good.
Continued next post...
FSU Girl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2016
November 10
Welcome Dinner at Fantasmic Continued
That concludes all the food pictures. Disney did an amazing job with this buffet. Everything was so delicious and fresh and they kept replenishing the buffet up until the very end. I wish I could have taken the leftovers with me, but Disney doesn't allow that.
A close up of our center pieces. I wanted to go with something simple for the Welcome Dinner and these were perfect for the touch of Disney and providing light at night.
Our view of the Fantasmic show. It was really great and almost all our guests had never seen it before and they were blown away. By the end of the night they were already saying this was the best wedding they had ever been to and we hadn't even gotten to the wedding day yet.
A view of the empty Fantasmic stadium. Disney did a great job not rushing anyone out. Technically the Welcome Dinner ended at the end of the Fantasmic show, but we lingered for a while longer. I was ready to go after a bit, but had to wait until all our guests had left. It was really cool being in an almost empty park.
Walking out of Hollywood Studios about an hour after the park had closed. There was almost no one left inside the park at this point.
One last shot of the park as we left. My bridesmaids had left a bit before I did and when we got to the front I found them having a photoshoot here. Most of them aren't big Disney fans and haven't been here for over a decade so they were having fun.
My about to be Husband drove me to my hotel room at the Grand Floridian, where I spent my first night alone in a hotel. He had a room over at the Contemporary for this night.
Up next the wedding day!!
Welcome Dinner at Fantasmic Continued
That concludes all the food pictures. Disney did an amazing job with this buffet. Everything was so delicious and fresh and they kept replenishing the buffet up until the very end. I wish I could have taken the leftovers with me, but Disney doesn't allow that.
A close up of our center pieces. I wanted to go with something simple for the Welcome Dinner and these were perfect for the touch of Disney and providing light at night.
Our view of the Fantasmic show. It was really great and almost all our guests had never seen it before and they were blown away. By the end of the night they were already saying this was the best wedding they had ever been to and we hadn't even gotten to the wedding day yet.
A view of the empty Fantasmic stadium. Disney did a great job not rushing anyone out. Technically the Welcome Dinner ended at the end of the Fantasmic show, but we lingered for a while longer. I was ready to go after a bit, but had to wait until all our guests had left. It was really cool being in an almost empty park.
Walking out of Hollywood Studios about an hour after the park had closed. There was almost no one left inside the park at this point.
One last shot of the park as we left. My bridesmaids had left a bit before I did and when we got to the front I found them having a photoshoot here. Most of them aren't big Disney fans and haven't been here for over a decade so they were having fun.
My about to be Husband drove me to my hotel room at the Grand Floridian, where I spent my first night alone in a hotel. He had a room over at the Contemporary for this night.
Up next the wedding day!!
Avery&Todd
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
that looked like a WONDERFUL evening!! 
Can't wait to read more!!
Can't wait to read more!!
ThreeBoyMama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2014
What an amazing night! I'm sure your guests loved it!
Texans_loyal
Operation Disney is Underway!
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2016
WOW, what a start!!
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
- Joined
- May 8, 2009
What a wonderful dinner!
Araminta18
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2016
Congratulations! Excited to read about your adventures. That Grand Floridian villa....wow. It looks amazing! The Fantasmic party looks like it was a lot of fun--definitely a unique touch.
kastoney
Disney foodie served with a side of sarcasm
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2010
Wow, just wow!!! I almost have no words for such an amazing experience. From a snowy entrance to great food to pure disney magic and a near empty hollywood boulevard, no wonder your guests were wowed. I had no idea Disney did private Fantastic events and couple that with what looks and sounds like amazing food!!!! I can see why your guests were so happy. Bravo!!! 
Last edited:
Can’t wait to read more!
Happiest.Haunt_999
An aura of foreboding...
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2017
Congrats!
fallonkendra
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2015
Joining in!
Welcome to being a Disney Bride! They sure know how to make weddings unforgettable!
Your welcome party looked awesome! I’m a little sad now I didn’t do one of those for our guests, but I have no idea how I would have worked that into the budget haha. The food looked great, I’m glad you were able to actually enjoy a few bites yourself! I haven’t watched Fantasmic in a few trips to WDW, but we have it in our plans for next month so I’m really looking forward to it!
Welcome to being a Disney Bride! They sure know how to make weddings unforgettable!
Your welcome party looked awesome! I’m a little sad now I didn’t do one of those for our guests, but I have no idea how I would have worked that into the budget haha. The food looked great, I’m glad you were able to actually enjoy a few bites yourself! I haven’t watched Fantasmic in a few trips to WDW, but we have it in our plans for next month so I’m really looking forward to it!
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