Why I decided against a Disney Wedding

[Jilian]

I think it is silly to have to research prices on a spinoff board to get answers. Wedding planners are paid to provide a service and their job includes getting pricing for the bride and helping her book services. Brides should be told proces before they book, otherwise how would they know if a Disney wedding is something they could afford?! My wedding planner spoke at great length with me before I ever sent her a check and it helped to ease my mind and let me know that I was able to afford everything that I wanted.

To me it sounds like the Disney wedding planners are understaffed and overworked and there is no reason for that. Disney makes SO MUCH money, they can easily afford to hire 100 more planners and really step up their DFTW service, yet they choose not to. They know that if one bride leaves over sub-par service they will still have a line of brides ready to take her spot.

 

[FizzingWhizzbee]

I think it is silly to have to research prices on a spinoff board to get answers. Wedding planners are paid to provide a service and their job includes getting pricing for the bride and helping her book services. Brides should be told proces before they book, otherwise how would they know if a Disney wedding is something they could afford?! My wedding planner spoke at great length with me before I ever sent her a check and it helped to ease my mind and let me know that I was able to afford everything that I wanted.

To me it sounds like the Disney wedding planners are understaffed and overworked and there is no reason for that. Disney makes SO MUCH money, they can easily afford to hire 100 more planners and really step up their DFTW service, yet they choose not to. They know that if one bride leaves over sub-par service they will still have a line of brides ready to take her spot.

I completely agree. This is services marketing. A lot of time will be spent answering questions for people who don't end up choosing a DFTW. That's part of it.

I'd be willing to bet that I'm not the only one who has been talked out of a DFTW by DFTW. It is unfortunate that they don't want to give everyone a high level of service.

Even if they knew someone couldn't afford it, that person obviously liked Disney enough to try and treating them poorly may turn them off from being a lifetime customer.

 

[princesswendy720]

I know you mentioned that if your facts were off to let you know, so I'd just point out a few things that I noticed:

1. There is no tax or service charge on characters
2. You are not required to do a room block and you could set up something with a travel agent so they can get discounts as they are released and provide those numbers to meet you room night requirement.
3. The fee for outside bands also covers setting up the stage, lighting and dance floor. Even with the fee its probably still cheaper than the price Disney charges for bands (which is astronomical!)

Lastly, it is possible to get an estimated budget from a sales consultant based on your guest count. I think some consultants may not be as forthcoming since prices can't be locked in until 6 months and people may try to hold them to that estimate later on.

 

[princesswendy720]

I also wanted to add that the prices (especially for things like the staging fee and food and beverage) don't just cover the food, drinks, stage, lighting, etc. you are also paying for the wait staff and the crew to set up and dismantle things. I do a but of event planning at work, and when we need something set up and dismantled it is usually done by union workers who have high hourly fees ( and you usually pay an additional 50% for manager supervision). Disney doesn't charge for things like flatware, silverware, standard tables and linens, etc. so that is also wrapped into the food and beverage prices. On top of that, there is a certain degree of markup since they do (at the end of the day) need to turn a profit. Just something to keep in mind when you look at certain fees or food and beverage costs.

 

[FizzingWhizzbee]

I know you mentioned that if your facts were off to let you know, so I'd just point out a few things that I noticed:

1. There is no tax or service charge on characters
2. You are not required to do a room block and you could set up something with a travel agent so they can get discounts as they are released and provide those numbers to meet you room night requirement.
3. The fee for outside bands also covers setting up the stage, lighting and dance floor. Even with the fee its probably still cheaper than the price Disney charges for bands (which is astronomical!)

Lastly, it is possible to get an estimated budget from a sales consultant based on your guest count. I think some consultants may not be as forthcoming since prices can't be locked in until 6 months and people may try to hold them to that estimate later on.

1. That is not what I was told, but I will take your word for it. (And update the original post)

2. I was required to do a room block before I was given a contract. There was no leeway on it.

3. I was not told that lighting or a dance floor was covered by the fee. Also, per my contract, the 1,550 is only a minimum and the final price isn't determined until the day of.

Lastly, it was not at all possible for me to get an estimated budget. I asked multiple times and was basically told to do the math. Which, since I don't know what has a 21% service charge and what doesn't, is hard to do.

 

[connorlevismom]

1. That is not what I was told, but I will take your word for it. (And update the original post)

2. I was required to do a room block before I was given a contract. There was no leeway on it.

3. I was not told that lighting or a dance floor was covered by the fee. Also, per my contract, the 1,550 is only a minimum and the final price isn't determined until the day of.

Lastly, it was not at all possible for me to get an estimated budget. I asked multiple times and was basically told to do the math. Which, since I don't know what has a 21% service charge and what doesn't, is hard to do.

I don't know why you were told that about the room block. We are not having one. In fact, nobody is even staying on Disney property. We are staying in homes at Windsor Hills. The only way I could see it is mandatory is if you wanted to free room for your wedding night?

 

[FizzingWhizzbee]

I also wanted to add that the prices (especially for things like the staging fee and food and beverage) don't just cover the food, drinks, stage, lighting, etc. you are also paying for the wait staff and the crew to set up and dismantle things. I do a but of event planning at work, and when we need something set up and dismantled it is usually done by union workers who have high hourly fees ( and you usually pay an additional 50% for manager supervision). Disney doesn't charge for things like flatware, silverware, standard tables and linens, etc. so that is also wrapped into the food and beverage prices. On top of that, there is a certain degree of markup since they do (at the end of the day) need to turn a profit. Just something to keep in mind when you look at certain fees or food and beverage costs.

It's still high. I also do some event planning for my job, and while the costs are high, they are nothing compared to Disney.

 

[NicknNancy]

I found just going to their website was an easy way to get an estimate of what our wedding at Disney would cost and getting Carrie's book really helped too and we did that all before we put down a deposit. We knew our budget was 25k and we looked at our options in how much money we could spend per person and what the minimum expenditure would be like. Carrie's book gave us an idea of what the little things would cost us and we ended up doing a lot of DIY stuff because of that. Like you said, you don't want to put money down on something you aren't sure about, and I agree that the initial consultation conversations can be vague, but there are resources out there that are easily accessible to you and honestly make the pre-planning process a lot easier. I would have done the same amount of research if I was to have my wedding anywhere else. There was no reason for you to go blindly into the 2000$ deposit. Also, with any banquet location and food/floral vendor, I don't think it is really wise to give people a definitive price for food items and such until they are closer to the date because things change over time. Supplies get low and prices can get higher. This way they aren't held accountable for something that is clearly out of their control. I kinda appreciate Disney for telling us at least the food and beverage minimums because at least it can help us set a budget before we get any definitive food and beverage prices. If you know you don't want to go over that then they will work with you so you don't. Plus, 100$ on brunch per person includes their food, their drinks, and anything else they eat or drink that day as a part of your wedding (i.e. if you have a dessert party later that night).

Planning a Disney wedding has been fun so far. Sure I had to deal with stress here and there because of construction, venue changes, delayed email replies, etc but, as Joanne said, there is stress in wedding planning everywhere you go. In my opinion stress is often self inflicted anyways. It's up to you to let is stress you out or not and keep in mind that things happen for a reason. I had my ceremony venue changed and it forced me to look at other options, now I LOVE our new venue! If things got to me, I let it get to me for a day or so and then I just let it go because I know that I am marrying my best friend at Disney World!

 

[FizzingWhizzbee]

I don't know why you were told that about the room block. We are not having one. In fact, nobody is even staying on Disney property. We are staying in homes at Windsor Hills. The only way I could see it is mandatory is if you wanted to free room for your wedding night?

I didn't care about the free night. As far as the room block, I was told that it was mandatory for a Disney wedding. Maybe because yours is a VR?

I really don't know though, just speculating.

 

[princesswendy720]

1. That is not what I was told, but I will take your word for it. (And update the original post)

2. I was required to do a room block before I was given a contract. There was no leeway on it.

3. I was not told that lighting or a dance floor was covered by the fee. Also, per my contract, the 1,550 is only a minimum and the final price isn't determined until the day of.

Lastly, it was not at all possible for me to get an estimated budget. I asked multiple times and was basically told to do the math. Which, since I don't know what has a 21% service charge and what doesn't, is hard to do.

The contract says "to cover staging, audio/visual and technical support, power and other required coordination." Since labor is billed hourly, the statement about the actual price differing makes sense.

As PP mentioned, you can ask to not do a room block. Did you state you didn't want one and were denied?

I put together our own estimated budge using sample BEOs on here and the Passporters guide has a chart outlining what did and did not require tax or service fee.

I know you've made up your mind and I'm not trying to convince you otherwise I just think its helpful when others are reading to know the facts up front. Knowledge really is power when it comes to DFTW and it's important to be prepared to negotiate and be firm with what you want. I had them change some wording in our contract for example.

The boards and Carrie's book have been a great resource for me in the 20 months I've been engaged so far...we've been working with Disney for 18 months already (yikes). I can't think if many other venues with quite so much detailed information available online (albeit not from Disney themselves).

 

[sambycat]

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

Those are things that you cannot get a price for until you are sitting down and planning your wedding. All those things are custom items and the prices depends on a lot of things. Nobody's menu or floral are the same, so it is almost impossible to give prices on those items.

The venues - I am not sure why they could not give you prices unless it is because the prices changes year to year so it would be hard to be accurate. I was able to get those things from the woman who did the site visit with us and worked with us until we put our deposit down. She could give me ideas on menu's and stuff like that but no actual prices for those things.

I am not trying to defend them, I have had some frustrations with them as well, but overall I have been very happy. Again, I am sorry that you were not and that it made you want to go elsewhere.

What you said is that you wanted to know exactly how much you were going to spend before you put a deposit down. That is just not something they can do because everything is so custom. It is not like a banquet hall where you pay this much for the venue fee and you get to pick between 4 meals and they cost this amount. It is much more involved than that and so your expectations that they should be able to do that are not realistic.

you keep saying disney customizes and while I agree with you that will do a customized menu (they are doing one for me for my dessert party) and they will also customize your floral they still should be able to give you estimated pricing. I find it ridiculous that Disney will not work with Brides to give them a realistic view of what a wedding is going to cost and I am sorry but a Bride having to do so much research on outside sources just to be able to see if they are going to be able to afford the wedding is downright RIDICULOUS!

If you don't mind doing all of that and clearly most brides don't mind doing this I will say that this is purely because the most important thing to you is to have your wedding at DISNEY and no where else.

Disney is NOT in the wedding business that is evident from their service and while there are definitely some brides that get EXCEPTIONAL service it is not something that disney provides across the boards. I had GREAT service with my wedding coordinators when I was trying to plan my DFTW wedding. In fact the service was not why I got turned off from it. (that is for another post) I will say this though Disney's restrictions and rules and inability in my opinion to provide what I needed was key in my decision.

I don't recall saying that I wanted to know exactly how much I was going to spend before I put down a deposit.

What I wanted was to have more information. Which menu options are available, not just 3 generic options? Which sort of flowers and how much are prices?

It isn't impossible to give prices because they obviously charge for it.

Disney wasn't willing to put time into planning my wedding and I wanted to know what it was going to look like before I put down a deposit. If putting together a proposal was too much to ask for before I spent 20,000 dollars on a wedding, then I will happily take my money elsewhere.

I cannot think of a situation where I would put down a non-refundable deposit on something without having information on future costs and expectations.

I'm glad that other people have had good experiences. I am disappointed that it didn't work out, I was very excited. But I am not okay with being taken advantaged of because I wanted a "magical" wedding.

It seems to me that DFTW is taking advantage of commitment bias, and I just wanted to let others know to be aware. Even if no one else had this experience, it never hurts to be cautious.

PREACH! and also with this it is fair for you to want to know a ballpark answer to your questions after all it is A LOT of money all weddings are it does not matter where they are.

I think it is silly to have to research prices on a spinoff board to get answers. Wedding planners are paid to provide a service and their job includes getting pricing for the bride and helping her book services. Brides should be told proces before they book, otherwise how would they know if a Disney wedding is something they could afford?! My wedding planner spoke at great length with me before I ever sent her a check and it helped to ease my mind and let me know that I was able to afford everything that I wanted.

To me it sounds like the Disney wedding planners are understaffed and overworked and there is no reason for that. Disney makes SO MUCH money, they can easily afford to hire 100 more planners and really step up their DFTW service, yet they choose not to. They know that if one bride leaves over sub-par service they will still have a line of brides ready to take her spot.

My how I love you Jilian! The swalphins are so lucky to be in the hands of Just Marry! they take care of us with a class and precision that Disney just does not have IMHO

I completely agree. This is services marketing. A lot of time will be spent answering questions for people who don't end up choosing a DFTW. That's part of it.

I'd be willing to bet that I'm not the only one who has been talked out of a DFTW by DFTW. It is unfortunate that they don't want to give everyone a high level of service.

Even if they knew someone couldn't afford it, that person obviously liked Disney enough to try and treating them poorly may turn them off from being a lifetime customer.

This is something that I fear is happening. Disney should have better service all around. The wedding department is not the only department that lacks in wonderful service. But then sometimes you get the amazing people that make you have a magical day just because you called to book a tour or a dining reservation.

HAHAHA Right!

 

[mb187143]

I know you mentioned that if your facts were off to let you know, so I'd just point out a few things that I noticed:

1. There is no tax or service charge on characters
2. You are not required to do a room block and you could set up something with a travel agent so they can get discounts as they are released and provide those numbers to meet you room night requirement.
3. The fee for outside bands also covers setting up the stage, lighting and dance floor. Even with the fee its probably still cheaper than the price Disney charges for bands (which is astronomical!)

Lastly, it is possible to get an estimated budget from a sales consultant based on your guest count. I think some consultants may not be as forthcoming since prices can't be locked in until 6 months and people may try to hold them to that estimate later on.

1 - i was told the same, no tax/service charge on character appearances

2- i was also told that i did not have to set up a room block, and they have been nothing but flexible, we've changed our block 4 times so far. but i was told i didn't have to set one up at all.

we had an estimated proposal from WDW before we even went for our site visit, 2 months before we signed a contract. The proposal was for food, beverage, venue, floral, decor, plus tax and service charge, based on our anticipated guest count. we got a lot of information from our consultant the day she and i first spoke on the phone, and even more when we sat down with the consultant who did our site visit. I used Carrie's book to work up a budget before our site visit, and our planner has been great at suggesting options for us to keep costs down. He was also very forthcoming about the WP construction, without us even asking him. Granted, this was less than a week after a very viral thread was publicized regarding another bride's situation with the construction, but still, he was forthcoming and informative with us. We gave him an overall vision for what we wanted, and he made great suggestions on how to achieve that within our budget.

For us, Disney is saving us a lot of money, because if we had a wedding at home, we'd be looking at a guest list of over 400 people - having it in WDW is allowing me to keep my parents in check with the inviting, so even though it's expensive, for us, it's actually a savings compared to what our reception would become if we had it at home.

Like i said before, the inconsistency between experiences is really what's eye opening here. We've had a good experience, but we went in with a lot of information before we even met with DFTW. It's sad to see so many people did not feel that they received the same level of service. I can't imagine how disheartened I would be had we had some of the experiences many of you have posted about.

 

[MrsDuck]

This is why going the S/D route is the best option (hands down.. any day of the week). At the bottom of it all DFTW is a business (just like Disney). There will be ridiculous costs, inconsistencies, crappy (and wonderful!) employees, etc. What matters is what you as the consumer is willing to do/pay for/deal with. To each his own!

OP- Whatever you will do will be magical.

 

[One_Song]

I feel this thread has grown to border on offensive to DFTW brides. There is a distinction between criticizing the business, and implying that those of us who have a DFTW are mindless.

But I am not okay with being taken advantaged of because I wanted a "magical" wedding.

To prospective brides that may be reading: I urge you to go to the "Planning our Happily Ever After" or "Completed trip reports and planning journals" links on the main page, flip through some of our weddings, and decide for yourself if we look like someone took advantage of us.

 

[MrRomance]

Without wishing to offend anyone or fuel what already seems to be a very heated thread, I think things are getting way too personal about matters.

Your wedding is a personal decision and as I've said before, opinions are like noses everyone has one! Everyone wants their big day to be perfect and frankly, that isn't going to happen no matter what venue you use, but it's horses for courses.

We had a DFTW ceremony.

Was the process perfect? - No
Was it thwart with endless problems or unresolvable issues? - No
Was it worth the few minor hiccups? - ABSOLUTELY!

Having a Disney Fairytale Wedding is a dream come true for many couples and to see people criticizing that makes me really sad for people.

Are the prices high? - Yes - it's Disney! Everything is expensive! You buy a bottle of water, it's got a 50% mark up, you buy a t shirt, it's at a premium, that's the way it is and if you know that going in the door.

You have to be real about this and again, without wishing to offend anyone who chose not to go with DFTW, it's the difference between buying a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it from Walmart and buying a t-shirt from the Magic Kingdom. Is it cheaper? Of course! Is it the same thing? No!

The bottom line is everyone has to choose what works best for them. Whether it is "I do" on the 192, a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding, or a Swan/Dolphin wedding, no option is "better" than another, it's what works best for you, your budget and what matters to you the most.

To say having a character at your big day is not worth $900 is really a matter of opinion. For some, it's worth every cent, for others it's a waste of money. It depends on your view point and what matters to you.

I have respect for every couple taking their vows wherever they take them. It is the marriage that is meaningful and important, not where you take them. Do I have my own view point on things - absolutely - but I wouldn't criticize anyone for the choices they make for themselves.

For me, it is not about the cost. We didn't pay a huge amount for our day, but for me it was important that it was at Disney. Perhaps I'm a bit of a Disney purist but for me, nothing but a DFTW would have been a true Disney wedding. That's not to say that a wedding somewhere else, is terrible or rubbish, it's not, I'm sure there are thousands of wonderful Disney themed weddings all over the world. It all depends on what each individual couple want and value for their big day.

 

[FizzingWhizzbee]

I feel this thread has grown to border on offensive to DFTW brides. There is a distinction between criticizing the business, and implying that those of us who have a DFTW are mindless.



To prospective brides that may be reading: I urge you to go to the "Planning our Happily Ever After" or "Completed trip reports and planning journals" links on the main page, flip through some of our weddings, and decide for yourself if we look like someone took advantage of us.

You're absolutely right. Obviously many people are happy with their Disney weddings and didn't feel as though they were being taken advantage of. That was not my experience.

I certainly don't mean to insult anyone here, I just wanted to let people know that a Disney wedding may not be what you expected. I really expected a high level of service, I expected the WC to be nice and not act like everything I asked was an annoyance. I thought that they would at least pretend to be excited. I had none of that.

Just thinking about the whole DFTW thing upsets me, I really was looking forward to it. I wanted to keep other people from being as disappointed as I was, if I had lower expectations, I may still be planning a DFTW, or I would have done a lot more research like many brides did. I never for a second thought Disney was so money grubbing. I guess I had them up on a pedestal from my childhood. I was obviously naive. Knowledge is power and if I had gone into this with more of it, I might feel differently.

Having said that, I probably won't be back on this post. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. Also, I still have to figure out what I'm going to do about my wedding.

I hope you all have beautiful weddings, Disney or not.

 

[Mindyjoy]

I am consistently saddened to hear about the lack of service through WDW DFTW because my experience with Disneyland's team has been nothing but incredible. As a previous poster pointed out, yes, the minimums at Disneyland are high. It's Disney, it's going to be expensive. Some things make sense and some things are completely outrageous. But the attention that I (and other Disneyland brides I speak with) receive from the planning team, even from planners who I am not assigned to, has been above and beyond my expectations. I am getting the Disney service I expected when I signed on with them, so to me the high prices are worth it.

I just wanted to chime in with my experience, in case any future Disneyland brides are out there reading. Perhaps it's because the CA DFTW team is smaller so it's more personal? I don't know.

 

[Crickety]

I certainly don't mean to insult anyone here, I just wanted to let people know that a Disney wedding may not be what you expected. I really expected a high level of service, I expected the WC to be nice and not act like everything I asked was an annoyance. I thought that they would at least pretend to be excited. I had none of that.

I honestly believe that for at least a few of the brides on here this post was helpful. To know I am not the only DFTW bride being treated poorly made me at least feel somewhat better because I was not alone. It has been very difficult for me to be here reading wonderful story after wonderful story. I wanted the Disney experience. I wanted the magic. That is not what I am getting.

I'm sorry if anything I have said offends anyone here. Nothing in my post was meant that way. I am extremely frustrated with Disney Wedding. I am extremely frustrated with the unclear rules and prices. I am far beyond frustrated with snarky remarks. Having done Disney many times I expected a lot more. I knew the price would be higher than other places, but was willing to spend it because of the excellent service I associated with the Disney name. I'm happy that there are many brides who seem to have the magical Disney wedding one would expect, but there are at least some here that have experienced behavior far from acceptable. Don't get me wrong I love Disney, but if I would have known before signing the contract I was going to be treated this way I can't say I would have gone through.

 

[FairytaleBride73]

When I first started with DFTW at Disneyland, I was extremely disappointed, like you. My planner had no interest in me whatsoever, or my wedding. I was angry, and we were about to decide not to have our wedding there. Then she got moved somewhere else, and now I have a new planner who is absolutely incredible! It's everything I thought it would be and more. Yes, I wish I could get responses a little faster, but that is my only complaint. I love the Disneyland weddings team, and I know they are going to make me feel like the most special girl in the world on my wedding day. Perhaps you gave up on a disney wedding too soon, but I also know things work differently in WDW.