Exclusive: Disney announces weddings inside the Magic Kingdom
Is marriage on your horizon? Do you love the Disney theme parks almost as much as you love your fiancé? Imagine this fantasy scenario: It’s your wedding day, and you ride up Main Street U.S.A. in Cinderella’s horse-drawn carriage accompanied by bewigged, royal coachmen. A vintage jitney has already deposited your husband-to-be at the Magic Kingdom’s hub. Trumpeters herald your arrival, and your wedding guests stand. You make your way to the altar in a lush garden with the majestic Cinderella Castle rising behind you.
It’s not a fantasy. But it is Fantasyland. Florida’s Disney World has announced that couples can now plan their wedding ceremonies inside the Magic Kingdom at the park’s new East Plaza Garden.
“Brides will be able to live out a fairy tale dream like no other,” says Korri McFann, marketing director for the division that helps couples plan their nuptials at the company’s properties. It is called, appropriately enough, Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings.
As the world’s most popular theme park with an estimated annual attendance approaching 20 million, the Magic Kingdom’s central hub had been a congested hubbub. Disney recently expanded and reconfigured the area to better control the flow of guests, including new gardens on both sides. With its whimsical topiaries, fountain, and especially its striking views, the European-inspired garden on the Tomorrowland side is an ideal spot to tie the knot.
The East Plaza Garden will be available for 9:30 a.m. ceremonies and can accommodate a good-sized destination-wedding crowd of up to 100 people according to McFann. The park will also be open to regular customers at that time.
McFann says that couples have been clamoring to get closer to the iconic castle and hold their weddings in the theme park. Previously the only other Magic Kingdom spot has been the train station, and that has only been available in the early morning hours before the park opened. Now, in the shadows of the castle’s spires, brides and grooms will be able to indulge their wishes amid the park’s elegant, romantic, and nostalgic ambiance. Disney World has been offering wedding services for many years. One of its most popular ceremony locations is its wedding pavilion, located across the lagoon from the Magic Kingdom. It offers a prime, if distant, view of Cinderella Castle. For their receptions, couples can choose among a variety of locations throughout the vast resort, although the East Plaza Garden will only be available for ceremonies.
Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings package collections start at $2,500, and custom experiences begin at $12,000. Premiere locations such as the Magic Kingdom, with a completely customized ceremony and reception for 100 guests, start at $75,000. For more pricing and options, visit www.disneyweddings.com.