Illuminations at 10?

[princesswendy720]

So I was at Epcot yesterday and imagine my surprise to see that Illuminations was at 10 on Friday and Saturday. Did anyone have or is anyone having a dessert party at 10? Our welcome party is on a Saturday night during food and wine next year. Our consultant hasn't mentioned a time change possibility. I thought it was always at 9!

 

[BethieTink]

So I was at Epcot yesterday and imagine my surprise to see that Illuminations was at 10 on Friday and Saturday. Did anyone have or is anyone having a dessert party at 10? Our welcome party is on a Saturday night during food and wine next year. Our consultant hasn't mentioned a time change possibility. I thought it was always at 9!

Oh, wow!! That is not good news on our end. We are doing our DP the Saturday after yours and that would affect us too. I think that most of our guests would be okay with it, but I have at least 2 kids coming and it might be a deal breaker for them. I guess I will now have to hope that this doesn't carry over to next year.

Piffle.

Hope you are having a great time!

 

[lurkyloo]

Apparently this is the first time in more than a decade that Epcot's regular-season hours have been extended beyond 9pm, and it's due to (and only lasts through) the Food & Wine Festival. Since it was implemented on the fly and kind of under the radar (how's that for mixed metaphors? ) there's no way to know yet whether they'll do it again next year—which is probably why your consultant hasn't mentioned it.

 

[princesswendy720]

Unfortunately I am at the airport on my way home already

Timing wise, it could work better since Animal Kingdom has been extending their hours to 6 and that is where our rehearsal dinner is (before the welcome party). I
Am concerned that its a little late (especially the night before the wedding). It also makes it difficult to send out a schedule of events!

 

[connorlevismom]

Wow - this is interesting news and something I will be keeping my eye on. I actually hope they do this next year. We are planning a dinner/dessert party during food and wone next year and would LOVE it if we can go later than I thought.

We are doing an adults only dinner (because we are doing a 4 day thing, so LOTS of things for the kids to do) so I am sure the adults would love a little extra "kid free" time. We are getting sitters for all the kids.

Kristine

 

[DisneyBrittany]

I know that I'm late on answering this but I thought you might want to hear my experience with this. My dessert party was during the food and wine festival this year. It got pushed back an hour and we weren't notified until probably two weeks before the wedding. I was so glad that I hadn't sent out any schedules to our guests yet. I didn't panic because none of our guests knew anything about the change so we were able to just notify them of the new time. It all worked out fine and none of our guests thought it was too late. We had one couple leave right before the fireworks started but that was more because they thought their kids would be afraid of the loud noises.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

It was at 10 on 11/11/11.... we had dinner at Tutto then watched Illuminations at 10. ((right by Danielle's DP!))

 

[elleinad16]

LOL. Deena spotted me!
Yes, on Friday 11/11 Illuminations was at 10:00pm! My planner told me the change 2 days prior and I honestly didn't mind. She said that our reception would go until 8pm (instead of ending at 7:30pm) and our dessert party ran from about 8:45pm until 10:15pm. She said they'd extend the party times at no additional cost to us, so that was great too. Our guests didn't even mind staying out a little later--they wanted to keep the party going. The only thing that was bad was that darn cold front that came in...which was hard to be in after the sun went down. The day still flowed smoothly and we were all still very energetic by dessert party time!

 

[princesswendy720]

Yea my consultant already gave me a heads up (sorry I didn't come back and update). Our LOA has the later time. We are listed for 9 to 10:30 right now.

He also said that Epcot has stopped scheduling any additional dessert parties on Fridays and Saturdays during food and wine due to the large crowds, and that I was lucky we had already confirmed our date/location with them when I did.

 

[mb187143]

Yea my consultant already gave me a heads up (sorry I didn't come back and update). Our LOA has the later time. We are listed for 9 to 10:30 right now.

He also said that Epcot has stopped scheduling any additional dessert parties on Fridays and Saturdays during food and wine due to the large crowds, and that I was lucky we had already confirmed our date/location with them when I did.

My consultant gave me the same heads up last week.

 

[BethieTink]

Yea my consultant already gave me a heads up (sorry I didn't come back and update). Our LOA has the later time. We are listed for 9 to 10:30 right now.

He also said that Epcot has stopped scheduling any additional dessert parties on Fridays and Saturdays during food and wine due to the large crowds, and that I was lucky we had already confirmed our date/location with them when I did.

Interesting. My consultant never said anything to me and we even signed our contract in person. Granted, I didn't ask about it. Our guests have no idea what time it is scheduled for, so as long as I have an idea when we need to go to print, I won't worry about it. I will shoot an email to my consultant about it though, if I don't hear from him soon.

Hopefully, the two kids we know are coming to our VR can stay awake for it.

 

[princesswendy720]

Interesting. My consultant never said anything to me and we even signed our contract in person. Granted, I didn't ask about it. Our guests have no idea what time it is scheduled for, so as long as I have an idea when we need to go to print, I won't worry about it. I will shoot an email to my consultant about it though, if I don't hear from him soon.

Hopefully, the two kids we know are coming to our VR can stay awake for it.

Does your LOA have the time listed? Did you only see it in person or do you have a copy of it electronically?

 

[BethieTink]

Does your LOA have the time listed? Did you only see it in person or do you have a copy of it electronically?

We do have an e-copy of our LOA and it states UK Lochside 8-9:30. We did get our LOA in early October, so maybe it wasn't an issue when mine was sent out. I will send Bill an email and ask him.

Like I said, it really is not a big deal, except for possibly the 2 kids attending. I know they are staying at BCV with us, so it is only a 5 minute walk when it is over. Hopefully, the then 7 year old will nap in between the reception and the DP. Her 9 year old sister is a night owl, so not too worried about her.