Our
first group gathering at Walt Disney World was planned for Wednesday, August
22, 2001 at the Hollywood & Vine restaurant in Disney-MGM Studios. We
wanted to have a big family dinner for both sides of the families to meet
and spend some time together. Both families had met before, but it had been
a while since we had all gotten together. Since some of our friends would
be arriving this day as well, we invited them to join us as well. It didn't
work out quite as planned, however. Michelle's mother, sisters, and brother
never made it to the dinner.
Sixteen
of us met at the Hollywood and Vine restaurant for dinner. We did have to
wait a little bit for tables for all of us (though we had Priority Seating),
but the Manager of the restaurant was great and made certain our meal went
wonderfully.
We made our dinner reservations using the Fantasmic! Dinner Package. This package didn't cost anything additional, but rather required us to book it in person, no more than 7 days in advance, and required everyone to order an entree or from the buffet at the participating restaurants. This gave us VIP seating passes to Fantasmic!, allowing us to by-pass the normal line.
This
dinner was truly a great idea. It was so good seeing everyone, and being
able to spend time with them at the parks. As everyone began to arrive as
we waited outside the restaurant for our tables, we truly began to feel
the excitement of our wedding to come. It made us so happy to see everyone
here together, laughing and chatting, all gathered together in Walt Disney
World. We had so much fun!
After dinner, and before Fantasmic!, we all headed over to Star Tours and rode together as a group. There is nothing that makes a ride so enjoyable as doing it together as a group!
