Meetup at Walt Disney World?

[denise]

So, as many people know, sarah and I are getting gay married at some point in the future. (We haven't decided firmly on holding the wedding in Feb. of 2011 vs Feb. of 2012, but it's looking more likely that 2012 is a better plan.) Because we are both giant fucking dorks, major Disney theme park fans, and connected to Walt Disney World as part of our personal history, we're throwing the wedding at Disney World. We're going to need to do a fact-finding and exploratory mission, and we were thinking of combining that with our usual late-September/early-October Walt Disney World trip (to catch the beginning of the Food and Wine Festival/celebrate the value season beginning).

(EDIT: Because I realized I was unclear -- for the rest of this, I'm talking about this October, October of 2010, for the unofficial congregation.)

We are both very, very resistant to overplanning vacations, and Dreamwidth-the-business doesn't have the resources to throw a full convention/conference (yet! i have awesome ideas that we could do sometime in the future when we get bigger!), but one of the things I love most about Disney World is showing it to people who've never been, or people who haven't been since they were kids and think that WDW has nothing for adults (so, so, so wrong; Sarah hated WDW as a child and loves it now). So I was thinking of throwing our vacation plans open to a wider audience: announcing that we will be at WDW from such-and-such a date, giving people booking information and useful tips, and maybe putting together a few group events (backstage tours -- of which there are many at WDW, and they are all FUCKING AWESOME -- dessert parties, group dinners, etc).

(Another incredibly awesome thing about WDW, and another reason to consider it as a destination for a DW-related gathering, is its accessibility. Disney is fabulous about accessibility of all sorts, from food allergies to chemical sensitivities to blind/Deaf/hard-of-hearing/wheelchair-using accomodations.)

For reference, because I know some people are going to ask, a five-night, six-day stay at a Moderate resort, plus park tickets, plus dining (excluding some additional add-ons such as alcohol), for two adults, will cost about $2000. (Additional activities, etc, cost extra; we generally budget about $500 extra for two people for a trip of that stay, but money isn't as much of a consideration for us a lot of the time and there are many ways to save. Likewise, airfare costs extra.) The same for a Value resort runs around $1650. It's possible to save more by staying off Disney property, but in our opinion it's worth the extra to stay on-property; you can't use the dining plan if you're off-property, it's harder to get around, and the travel time to/from your resort is obnoxious.

So, I was vaguely curious to see if there would be any kind of interest in this whatsoever. To that end, a Completely Non-Binding Informational Poll:

Poll #2619

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 105

View Respondents

Interest level:

View Answers

I am very interested!
13 (12.4%)

I am interested, but it will depend on when it takes place
46 (43.8%)

I am interested, but it will depend on how much it costs.
47 (44.8%)

I am vaguely interested, but dubious about the Disney World thing.
11 (10.5%)

I am vaguely interested, but it will depend on more of the specifics.
17 (16.2%)

I'm probably not interested.
12 (11.4%)

Comments

[denise]

I realized I was unclear -- I'm talking about this October (october of '10) for the trip I'm discussing! (I edited the entry to make it clearer.) The actual wedding is going to have to be a little more constrained, just because the venue at WDW we want to book only holds so many people, but we'll probably do the same thing for the actual wedding: hey, we're going to be here at such-and-such a time, anybody else want to be there at the same time?

(It's the best way we've found to vacation with people. We have very idiosyncratic vacation hobbies that drive some people nuts, but doing our own thing and meeting up for dinner/special events works pretty well.)

[yvi]

but we'll probably do the same thing for the actual wedding: hey, we're going to be here at such-and-such a time, anybody else want to be there at the same time?

Hmmm, so if I propose to the boy tomorrow, maybe we can save up enough until 2012 to go to WDW on honeymoon ;)

[denise]

Disney is awesome to honeymooning couples. If you get the bride & groom ears, cast members will bend over backwards to make your experience magical.

[yvi]

Don't go around tempting unsuspecting couples into marriage :P

[phoenixsong]

You don't even need the ears, just make sure to ask for the button when you check in to the hotel (if staying on-site), or at any guest services, and make sure to wear it all day, every day in the park.

Also be sure to mention you're on honeymoon when making your ADRs (advance dining reservations). As D said, you'll get all sorts of cool special treatment that way. And making ADRs is COMPLETELY worth the effort of deciding months in advance where you want to each and which park to be in each day.

[seryn]

Hmm. Actually October is usually good for me/us and less advance notice works better. I will think on it, but you don't know me so you probably don't care what I decide. My sole concern is the flying and suffering through the public molestation from the Touch Someone Again staff.

I'd been thinking how awesome it would be if you could have your wedding shown on screens in Disney venues around the world. And it would be, but probably also hugely expensive to do. Better for fiction where you're spending fictional money.