Plan a Small Private Event at Walt Disney World
There are a couple of ways to set up a small private event at Walt Disney World. One is to call Private Dining at the Grand Floridian (407-824-2474) and arrange to have dinner somewhere in the hotel or at the Marina during Wishes. Here’s a link to a great detailed report of one Disney bride who did this. If you’re interested in holding a similar event at the Grand Floridian but don’t want to go through Private Dining, read on…
The other way to do a small private event at Walt Disney World is to work with Disney’s Catered Events (321-939-7278). You will be assigned an event planner who works at the resort where you’re staying, but you can plan an event at any other resort or in some of the parks. The only requirement is that you be staying at a Disney-owned resort.
This page links to photos of nearly every event venue at Walt Disney World. I also have a post with detailed pricing info and photos of event locations inside Disney’s Hollywood Studio.
Now that I’ve done two of these, I’ve split them out into their own pages, complete with detailed planning info and picture-packed recaps of each event.
How to Plan a Tower of Terror Dinner Party
How to Plan an IllumiNations Dessert Party
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, what a gorgeous idea. Is this venue still available for a dessert party as I cannot find anything about it in the Wedding Passporter.
Yes! I didn’t put UK Pubside in PassPorter’s Weddings & Honeymoons because the capacity is only 10 people, and I figured it wouldn’t be feasible for most wedding groups. But it is definitely still available for private parties—just contact Disney Catering & Convention Services at the number given above.
Hi
Do you have a list of the different places for private parties. Can you do any thing
at the HM at Magic Kingdom?
Yes, if you go to the Disney Weddings tab at the top of the page and pull down Wedding Venue Photos, those links act as a list of nearly every venue at Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, at this time there are no venues inside Magic Kingdom besides the Swan Boat Landing wedding location. However, you can do an event inside Haunted Mansion at Disneyland… If you have $40,000…
Would you call Disney Catered Events?
Whom you need to talk to depends on which Disney resort you’re staying at, so you need to call the main number and let them route you to the right person.
As far as the Swan Boat Landing can it be rented for after park closure and if so do you know the price. I just found your site! I am so excited. I really think this is the most informative Disney blog I have found in a LONG time. Thank you for offering so much information and sharing so many amazing experiences. My Budget is limited to $1000 I only want a dining experience private and magical after park hours is preferable.
Availability in the Magic Kingdom is extremely limited and usually only for huge corporate parties—your best bet is one of the other three parks. I have not heard of them renting out the Swan Boat Landing for anything other than weddings, which have a $10,000 minimum and include some stuff you won’t need. Best to talk to your planner at Disney Catered Events to see what your options are.
I know you seem to only have disney world experience, but was wondering if you knew if they do any thing like this at disneyland? As far as very small private parties in either of the parks. Thank you so much and i just love your site here (i am a little obsessed)!
The reason I only do events at WDW is that Disneyland really doesn’t have any venues suitable for small groups. You can plan an event there, but you have to pay the same prices as a large group, and the in-park options are $$$. However, I still check in with them occasionally to see if anything has changed because I would love to be able to do an event there, so you’ll see it here if I have any luck! Thanks for reading!
Hi,
I heard about the re-hitching ceremony at the Garden Grill. Do you know if they still do that? We really want to do a VR next year but not sure that it will fit our budget. Any suggestions?
From what I can find, officially they don’t offer the re-hitchin’ ceremony anymore, but if you get a server who knows it, they will do it for you. Have you looked into the Memories Collection of Disney weddings/vow renewals? They’re still almost $2,000, but that’s less than half what an Escape event costs. You could also do a small dessert party or private dinner somewhere at your resort, or hire the Grand 1 yacht ($520/hour) for Wishes or a pontoon boat (about $350) for a Wishes/IllumiNations cruise. if you really want a ceremony, you might look into other local venues, like the Maitland Art Center, Leu Gardens, and the Kraft Azalea Garden. If you can get a military or government sponsor, you could do a VR at Shades of Green—I believe they have a package that’s less than $1,000. Or, heck, how about a nice dinner at California Grill during the fireworks? Or maybe a carriage ride at Fort Wilderness/Port Orleans?
I was all set to do the Memories …. had everything done in my head…… looked at the dates… they stop them in April 2012. We are going Oct 2012
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I am now leaning towards one “big” thing at each of the parks. My only problem now is what can you do at Hollywood Studios? I know about Illuminations Cruises etc but have no idea what we can dao at the Studios.
Oh no! I am keeping my fingers crossed that they decide to extend the Memories Collection. It seems like it’s been fairly popular, and it’s easy enough for Disney to pull off, so here’s hoping… At Hollywood Studios there’s always Fantasmic! Doing a dessert party at one of the patios is kinda pricey (figure on at least $1,000) but you can also just do the Fantasmic! dinner package with reserved seating.
I don’t know if you are still in the market or not for this. I have heard that they have extended this package.
I just talked to Disney Weddings today. They are keeping the Memories Wedding Collection. The price is going up to 2400 in May 2012 and you will be receiving more pictures as well.
I see I should have updated this post when I added information on the extension of the Memories Collection to my book!
Complete details on everything included in the new package, including the change of venues offered, can be found in PassPorter’s Disney Weddings & Honeymoons!
I love the UK pubside epcot/illuminations private event – Can you recommend any other venues for small private illuminations??
Let’s see… well Italy Isola has the best view of any of the other smaller locations. The trouble is getting them to let you use it with fewer than 20 people. Apparently they’ve been cracking down lately and trying to get smaller groups into the *really* small, standing-room-only venues in Norway, France, Africa (this one does have seats), and Morocco. If you had to, I’d say go with France or Morocco, cuz the fireworks views from Africa and Norway are obstructed.
Excellent – thanks for the information.
There will be only 6 of us and one has a trouble standing for long periods so think UK pubside will be the venue I request! seems ironic as I am from the UK
Thanks for your help and all this amazing info on this site!!!
No problem – I’m glad I could help! UK Pubside really does have the best view, I think.
Love all your information. Do you know which venues would do 12 people? Also is there anything like the TOT or RNRC venues at AK (specifically at EE)?
They like to put groups of 10-20 in the newer spots, some of which are standing-room only: Canada Overlook, Outpost Overlook in Africa, Vikings Landing in Norway, and Parisian Point in France (on the other side of the Pavilion). If you go to my Walt Disney World Wedding Venues page, I have links to pictures of most of these places (more on the way—let me know if there’s a specific place you’d like to see that I haven’t posted yet). If you’re lucky, they’ll let you use a 20-minimum spot like UK Lochside or UK Terrace, Morocco Oasis, or Italy West Plaza.
Disney does do parties at Expedition Everest. There is a $3,000 venue rental fee, a $10,000 food and beverage minimum, and you are required to rent the Expedition Everest attraction, which costs $8,500. If you want a DJ, it’s another $6,500.
Thanks so much for the information. I am considering it for our Christmas trip and having a meal from Le Cellier. We wanted to do a Le Cellier package for the Candlelight Processional but they are only offering it for lunch. Maybe we can do this for Illuminations and on a different night just do a walk up for the last showing of the CP.
Wow! They are really proud of AK and EE! Wonder why it is so much more than DHS & TOT or RNRC?!
Yeah, I think EE just costs more to do because the park has less built-in event support than Epcot and DHS. Though I dunno why you’re required to keep the ride open…
Regarding Candlelight, I think that’s a great idea. I don’t know if you’ve seen my Christmas trip report, but we were thoroughly underwhelmed by the CP dinner package. You still have to wait in line, and there’s not enough time to get to the special fireworks viewing spot, plus they are SO expensive compared to what we’d normally spend on a meal. I think they’re a total waste of money.
Thanks again. I will share your info with my cousin and see if she likes the idea. We have done the CP dinner package once before when they weren’t doing the Illuminations viewing. It really does sound like we would be really pushed to get there to watch. I am really liking the idea of doing it on different nights and having our own personal spot.
This is the best site for Disney info that I’ve ever seen! Thanks to you, my husband will be enjoying some kind of special event for his 50th birthday party in March (maybe even two small events). Since you are clearly the QUEEN of WDW planning, do you have any recommendations for what we should choose? We’ll be a party of 8 (roughly) and our kids are 10 and under, but have been to WDW +20-25 times. We know that we’re not interested in Fantasmic, but other than that, we haven’t ruled out anything. Thanks for such an amazing, great site! The visuals and the information are just perfect!
Wow – thanks for the kind words! Let’s see… for me, a Disney party isn’t a party unless it has fireworks, so I’m partial to both types of events described on my site. If you did like Fantasmic! I might have suggested that combined with a meal in a fun place at DHS but I’m not much of a fan of the show either, so I totally understand. If you’ve never done an IllumiNations or Wishes cruise, that would be fun with a group your size. I prefer IllumiNations because you’re so much closer to the action, but lots of people looooove Wishes cruises. If you have the scratch, the Grand 1 Yacht sounds like a blast. Otherwise, a straight-up IllumiNations dessert party is always fun, and easy to plan!
Just wanted to say thank you for the information you posted about a dessert party, I spoke with someone today at the number you posted and we have started planning one too!:)
Fabulous! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Hi lurkyloo! Thanks for putting together such a great blog! My partner and I are in the middle of planning a Kilimanjaro Sunset Safai with dinner at Tamu Tamu Gardens and an Illuminations Dessert Party at UK Terrace in July (on separate days). Something we’re debating is whether to get a professional photographer. If you don’t mind me asking, how much have you paid for the various times you hired The Roots? Disney offers a photographer for $375 for two hours, but I worry if they’re any good…
Hi there! OK, I started a reply but it got super-long, so I’m going to email it to you!
Thanks for the info on the HS Sorcerers Hat, so nixing that idea do you happen to have any info on a private event at Tamu Tamu? I can’t seem to find anything anywhere.
Yes! (Cribbing from my book…) “It seats up to 50 guests, with a venue rental fee of $250 and a food and beverage minimum of $2,500. Existing tables for four may be removed for a charge of $250. Restrooms are located outside the venue, a few feet away.”
WHOA! your book!!! had no idea. thanks so much for the info. The info in your book is all the same for any event regardless if it’s not a wedding?
Pretty much. The differences are just in policy, not pricing.
Excellent! Thanks, off to get a copy of the book