So many couples marry or honeymoon at Walt Disney World that a department was created to tend to their needs. Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons offers a range of wedding venues and services, plus honeymoon packages.
Weddings
Disney's Intimate Wedding (maximum 18 or fewer guests, plus bride and groom) includes a cake and Champagne toast for the couple and four guests, a personalized wedding website, a Disney wedding certificate, a photographer, an Annual Pass for the bride and groom, and a wedding album. Packages require a four-night stay at a Disney-owned and -operated resort; some ceremony locations have a limit of ten guests.
The cost starts at about $4,500; prices also include a musician, cake, bouquet, limousine ride, and wedding coordinator. If you invite more than 18 guests, you must buy one of Disney's customized wedding packages, which start at $10,000 (Monday through Thursday) and $15,000 (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday), not including taxes and gratuities.
You can choose from one of the following locations for your ceremony: Disney's Wedding Pavilion at the Grand Floridian, Sea Breeze Point at Disney's Boardwalk Resort, the Wedding Gazebo at Disney's Yacht Club Resort, Sunset Pointe at Disney's Polynesian Resort, or Sunrise Terrace at Disney's Wilderness Lodge.
If you're short on friends, or just want a few boldface names on the guestlist, you can rent Disney characters by the half hour to attend your wedding reception. Volume discounts are available: characters cost $800 for one, $1,200 for two, $1,600 for three, and so on. If character prices sound steep, be comforted that they don't eat or drink.
(One of the more improbable services available is bachelor parties -- tel. 407/828-3400 for information. What goes on at a Disney bachelor party? Stag cartoons?)
To marry in the World, you need a marriage license. They're $93.50 at any Florida county courthouse (cash, traveler's checks, or money orders accepted). There's no waiting period; your license is issued when you apply. If you're a Florida resident, however, you must wait three days after obtaining the license to marry unless you have completed a four-hour premarital course. The ceremony must occur within 60 days. Blood tests aren't required, but you must present ID (driver's license, passport, or birth certificate plus Social Security number). If you were widowed or divorced within 300 days of the wedding, you must produce a certified copy of the deceased spouse's death certificate or your divorce decree. For more information, call the wedding consultant at tel. 321/939-4610 or 877-566-0969, or visit www.disneyweddings.com.
Honeymoons and Vows Renewals
Honeymoon packages are adaptations of regular Walt Disney Travel Company vacations. No special rooms are included unless you upgrade. Honeymoon features vary with the package purchased. Rates are $1,300 to $5,700; vows-renewal packages are $4,500 to $25,000. For more information, contact Disney Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons (P.O. Box 10000, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000; tel. 800/370-6009; www.disneyweddings.com).
An Easton, Pennsylvania, couple enjoyed the reception they received and offer advice on how to make it even warmer:
We found that everyone, guests and cast members, bent over backwards for us when they learned it was our honeymoon. I highly recommend buying the bride-and-groom mouse ears and wearing them everywhere. I know most men will be hesitant, as was my husband, but once you see what you get, you'll wear them gladly.
Romantic Getaways
Disney World is a Favorite Getaway for couples, but not all Disney hotels are equally romantic. Some are too family-oriented; others swarm with convention-goers. For romantic (though expensive) lodging, we recommend Animal Kingdom Lodge and Villas, Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort, the Polynesian Resort, Wilderness Lodge and Villas, the Grand Floridian, Boardwalk Inn and Villas, and the Yacht Club and Beach Club resorts. The Alligator Bayou section at Port Orleans Riverside, a moderate Disney resort, also has secluded rooms.
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This article is adapted from The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2010, by Bob Sehlinger with Len Testa. You can find more of their Disney expertise at the website www.touringplans.com.
