A Grand Gathering at Walt DIsney World

Amy Blades
amyb@wdwtravels.com

Grand Gatherings usually happen one of two ways: you’re planning a trip to Disney and friends or family decide they want to tag along, or your dream to take a trip with friends and family is finally coming true. Either way, Disney knows how to make it magical. In order for your trip to qualify as a Grand Gathering, you must be staying at a Disney Resort, and there must be at least 8 or more in your gathering. If there are, then Disney has extras for only you!
When you plan, make sure to do it far enough in advance so you can get all of your dining reservations together. I would recommend 180 days prior to your trip. If you have less than that, make dining reservations your first priority. If you choose to stay together, you can count on the Deluxe Villas to meet your needs. If you’re looking to spend a little less, you can book rooms next to each other at any of our other resorts. This way, you can still be close together without spending the extra money for a Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resort. When booking the reservation, mention that you want adjoining rooms or nearby rooms, whichever your preference may be.
The extras that are for Grand Gatherings only include an incredible Safari Celebration Dinner. This special event begins with an end-of-day trip on the Kilimanjaro Safari attraction. Following your Safari is dinner in the Tusker House Restaurant. Your all-you-care-to-eat dinner is served family style, and features African inspired cuisine.
The International Dinner and Illuminations Dessert Reception is another fantastic opportunity to enjoy something special, which is not offered to the general public. While eating your meal, there is storytelling and live musical entertainment. This event features some of your favorite Disney Characters who join the guests on the dance floor. Once you've enjoyed your evening of food and fun, you're escorted to a reserved viewing area for the nightly "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth" light, laser, and fireworks show, where a delicious dessert buffet is served. My personal favorite is the Good Morning Character Breakfast, where you are welcomed by “Tony” at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. Here, Tony invites you to enjoy a delicious all-you-care-to-eat breakfast. Mickey and Friends are there for treasured photos and fun interaction. Each event has different days of availability. Make sure to plan ahead so you can fit everything into your magical gathering.
In addition to the Grand Gathering events, groups can order Magical Gathering T-Shirts (90 to 10 days in advance of arrival), and schedule spa treatments, childcare, tours, etc.
A Disney Vacation is a magical time of memory making, in a place where dreams come true. What could be better than your own family enjoying the magic, as well has having the incredible memories of close friends or extended family, that will last forever!

A Celebration to Remember!

On our most recent trip to Disney World, we celebrated my twin daughters 6th birthday. We have celebrated many things at Disney this year…Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, My Brother’s Wedding, which was awesome, but this was by far my favorite! After all, this was for our two little girls. It was a chance to make a magical memory they would never forget!


We moved to Florida less than a year ago from New Jersey. This would be their first year since they were born without a big “Family Party”, so my husband and I wanted to make it special. What better way to do that then celebrating in Disney. So, with everything set we hopped in the car and headed for the most magical place on earth. It’s only a short 2 hour drive for us, so we were there in no time. Of course, to my girls it felt like forever, because they were so excited about the days ahead.

We arrived at the Boardwalk Villas (We are DVC members, but anyone can stay at the Boardwalk Inn) and checked in with no problem. When we opened the door to our room my daughters were pleasantly surprised to find that Mickey decorated the room for them with balloons, banners and a stuffed Mickey and Minnie. WOW! They felt special! . Disney has a lot of extra touches you can add to any vacation package to make any occasion extra special. I also requested a garden view room and that is what we received. It was actually a view of the gardens in the courtyard and a semi-view of the actual boardwalk…very nice! The Boardwalk has great restaurants such as the new Kouzzina by Cat Cora, ESPN Club and the Flying Fish Cafe’. For a sweet treat they have Boardwalk Bakery and Seashore Sweets. They also have nightclubs and shopping, too! There is a fun clown pool with a waterslide and daily activities to enjoy as well. My favorite part, you can take a short walk or boat ride to Epcot, this was great, especially with the magic hours.

The “Big Day” was finally here! Our daughters were so excited…Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom and then Chef Mickey’s for Dinner….What a Birthday!
With Disney’s birthday promotion this year my daughters were able to each get $68 dollar fun cards to spend as they wanted to, we have annual passes, so instead of the free day in the park they chose the fun cards. Which was great….they love to shop!

First, we arrived at BBB where the girls were transformed into princesses. They picked out which princess they wanted to be, Kathy wanted to be Princess Ariel and Alyssa wanted to Princess Jasmine. 

So off they went to get their attire on and their fairy godmothers in training styled their hair, put makeup on them and did their nails, with great detail! They ended by adding some glitter, can’t have enough of that! They had the girls close their eyes and make a wish. With a magic wand in hand they sprinkled glitter and said; “May all your dreams come true”. Then they turned them each around to see how they looked in the mirror. They ended with a photo shoot with some awesome keepsake photos. I literally had tears in my eyes seeing how excited they were. I have to say they loved every minute of the attention they received throughout the day. It was a great experience and well worth it!

After spending the day in Magic Kingdom we headed over to the Contemporary Resort for their birthday dinner at Chef Mickey’s. This is one of our favorite Character dining’s. We usually go to the buffet breakfast, which in my opinion is the best, but let me tell you the dinner was just as good! We ended their birthday with a special cake and a visit from Mickey! It was a magical day never to be forgotten. We spent the rest of our vacation enjoying all the parks and of course we talked about our next trip on the car ride home. 

There are so many great reasons to celebrate! Pick one and make it a Disney Vacation to remember!
WE DID!