D-Luxe Life: Private Event Experience – EPCOT

Hi Mouseketeers, welcome back to the D-Luxe Life series. Just like our podcast, our blog keeps it one hundred, and this week I’m going to share with you what it is like to attend a private event at EPCOT.

Remember in my last blog post when I introduced you to League of Extraordinary Princesses? Well, these ladies live for a good party. Each year a giant meet-up extravaganza is planned with a couple themed ticketed luxury private events sprinkled in between park days and resort hopping.

Our November 2021 event was planned to perfection and everyone was so excited because the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World had just commenced in October. Let me just preface this blog post by saying that you can plan for the most luxe outdoor event, and Florida will unceremoniously dump a monsoon on your head without remorse; ballgowns and formal wear be damned. Let’s proceed shall we?

EPCOT Forever

I’ll set the scene, our first ticketed meet-up event had a theme that I would describe as “EPCOT Forever”. Guests attending were encouraged to fashion outfits with an EPCOT theme of past, present, or future. This could include things that inspired you like attractions, icons, festivals; truly creativity was encouraged and celebrated. So every guest was excited to strut their stuff.

As the event began to take shape, our fearless organizer of all things fabulous, realized this meet-up would not yield a full-frills event as it had been in years prior. For context, full frill event means uplighting, scenery, centerpieces, multiple character meet and greets/photo ops; essentially everything you see on Disney Fairytale Weddings Instagram as far as luxury and details, minus the wedding part.

Because COVID halted pretty much everything but park operations, private event guidelines were still uncertain. Most of the luxe extras the League was accustomed to for a meet-up seemed to be off the table. Given the uncertainty, it was decided that our EPCOT event would be low-key. The ticket would include an evening enjoying the fresh air around the World Showcase landing us at the picturesque Italy Isola to nosh on a nacho bar and the sweet delicacies of a dessert party with a coffee, tea, and water station. Extra perks of the ticketed event included reserved seating/space for fireworks viewing, and a ride mix-in.

For months admins went over preparations to ensure all i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed. Then meet-up weekend arrived and the morning of the EPCOT event, in typical Florida fashion, the weather soured. It rained all morning and all afternoon and then it got cold. The insane weather put a wrench in our plans to use the outdoor venue space around the World Showcase. A major bummer because the photos from this location are always stunning. It’s the perfect EPCOT view.

A Change of Plans

As we watched the weather, admins worked with our Disney event planner to secure an alternate venue space that would accommodate our large group. The only viable option of the few provided was an event space that most who visit EPCOT have no idea exists unless you are “in the know”. So where did Disney put us?

Tucked near the Coral Reef Restaurant is a secluded lonely dark door. Honestly, we would have missed it when we arrived to the event had we not been flagged down into the doorway by a cast member in a rain coat. Spoilers: it was still pouring.

Behind those doors is an elevator that will take you to a private lounge known as the Living Seas Lounge; an homage to attractions past; used exclusively now for private events. At first, I was thrilled with the exclusivity and secrecy of being waved into a secret door entrance. During the daytime it just looks like a door that cast members pop into to move around the park area without being seen by guests; one would never think there is more to it… but then I realized why the door was tucked away.

Disclaimer: these thoughts are my own and do not represent the League or all the hard work put into planning and executing a luxury event. The League and Disney cannot control the weather but Disney can absolutely control the level of service they give to their customers.

Strike One

This venue space is TERRIBLE. Let’s start with the obvious: When you walk into this lounge, you see enormous windows looking out into a giant fish tank but the room itself is dark and not incredibly spacious. The little lighting available was awful and it felt like the lightbulbs in the lounge haven’t been replaced since smoking inside buildings was allowed. Photos during the event were damn near impossible without odd shadows being cast on people’s faces. A total injustice to the meticulously crafted outfits that guests had put together. To take any sort of decent photo you needed at least 5 guests to turn on their phone flashlights or you had to leave the venue space towards the hallway that allowed you to exit all together. STRIKE ONE.

Strike Two

I will admit that I was not on time for the event. But for the record, when you travel with 4 adults in various elaborate outfits and a toddler (dressed as the cutest flower and garden butterfly you’ve ever seen), and it’s pouring, and drivers on property suddenly forget how to drive when the road is wet… you don’t arrive on time. The odds were stacked against us so we were fashionably late. However, when we finally made it and got over the initial shock of how dark it was, seating at actual tables was limited. Meaning there were not enough tables and chairs for all the guests to sit and enjoy the dessert soirée. Thankfully some of the other guests were up and about mingling so we were able to “borrow” seats for a while. Other guests just didn’t bother with a table and seated themselves along some dated built-in couches that separated the elevated space where the tables were and where the fish tank splash zone would be if this was SeaWorld. STRIKE TWO.

Now it wasn’t all bad, but it certainly was not up to the standards of an event curated by the League. Remember, these ladies throw damn good parties, and many have been Disney Brides, so they have seen Disney magic firsthand. We were all understanding that events were just starting again, cast members were tired, but I knew what other options for venue spaces exist and could have been offered to us at EPCOT as our Plan B rain option, and what we got did not even compare to the original location. It felt like we paid and planned for the glass coach outdoor venue and got the equivalent of a moldy pumpkin.

Can we skip to the good part… *cue AJR song* : Strike Three

Now, let’s talk about appetizers and dessert options available at the party:

Nacho Bar: This has been a big hit in the past. I personally always enjoy the nachos from Pecos Bills at Magic Kingdom so I was expecting the same level of deliciousness and savoriness for a whole nacho bar, but it sadly missed the mark. The taco meat lacked flavor and warmth. There were fixing’s for your nachos but nothing struck me as really fresh. The layout of the bar made for messy serving and awkward round robins to build your nacho plate. I am struggling to even write up my review because there was nothing particularly memorable about this fare. The most memorable was that I was still hungry at the party’s end.

Raspberry Macaron: I love me a good macaron; I live for little discs of French fancy …. unfortunately, these were a second flop. I took one bite and the tartness overpowered the sweetness of the fruit. The macaron itself was also oddly chewy; like it had been frozen once and defrosted for serving. I really wanted to taste light and fresh dessert but I could not get past the texture and tarte. I had such high hopes for this too.

EARidescent 50th inspired white chocolate popcorn: You can’t possibly fuck up popcorn… right? Wrong. I may be alone on this review, and I often joke that I have the palette of a trash panda despite having married an accomplished professional chef, but the popcorn was stale. It was like they took all the park popcorn that didn’t sell during the day and drizzled it with cheap white chocolate (the kind that tastes chemical), then to distract us, they threw some sprinkles on it.

Nitro Station – 50th birthday cake fried in liquid nitrogen and smashed with a wooden mallet: I will say this – the experience of watching your dessert be dipped in liquid nitrogen and then smashing your dessert with a mallet; tons of fun. The dessert itself… like eating flavorless cardboard.

I was really disappointed overall with the whole food experience. Most of what I picked up thinking I would enjoy, I ended up leaving on the plate after a bite or two. STRIKE THREE. I was hoping the night could only get better from this point forward, but mercury must have been in retrograde.

Near the end of our time slot in the room, we tried to get a group photo of everyone, and that was a challenge between the poor lighting, space restriction, and the lack of help offered by cast members despite watching us struggle to set up a self-timed snapshot by setting the phone on the grand piano.

To be fair, it was still a time when Cast Members were in the gray area of not touching a guests’ cellular phone to take photos, but after being in a room with tons of unmasked people at a private event, could one of the CM’s have wiped down a phone and saved us some time and struggle to capture the moment? Yes. Did they? I honestly cannot remember. All I know is that we eventually got the shot, but once we did we thanked all our CM’s who tended to us at the Lounge, and it was time to move on to the other scheduled activities.

Some of the guests wanted to see the new EPCOT firework show, and the rain had slowed enough to allow the show to go on after a slight delay on EPCOT’s part. The guests who wanted to see the fireworks were whisked away to the private viewing area, but what they were not told was that if they choose the fireworks, they could not ride Soarin’ which was our ride mix-in for the evening. Let’s just say the lack of communication caused some unhappy guests, and honestly, by the end of the night some of our amazing League admins were mentally writing their grievance letter to Disney Events about how this evening went down…. but that would have to wait because we still had one more event scheduled for the weekend…

In the next blog, you’ll get to read about the final private D-Luxe event hosted at one of Disney’s most beloved Monorail Loop Resorts; the Polynesian.