We definitely thought the site visit was worth it (if you are able to take a short trip - DO IT!) I would however have in mind your ceremony and reception sites and use your time as one of the previous posters mentioned as a planning visit. This will allow you to see both venues and then sit down and pick out your flowers, cake, food, centerpieces etc. You also sit down one on one with the florist and the entertainment coordinator to go over prices and options.
In addition you can do a food and cake tasting -- I'm not sure if you've signed your contract yet, but soon after they will send you multiple pages of menu options based on the venue you choose for your reception (i.e. Epcot, Grand Floridian etc.) You will be able to tell your EM before your visit which menu choices you are interested in and they will take you to the kitchen that will be preparing your meal so that you can sample everything -- you also get to talk with the chef and make any alterations you want. In addition, you will also tell your EM which cake flavors you'd like and they will have the Grand Floridian bakery make a sample of each type for you to try!
Our site visit was in January for our June wedding. I would recommend that you call your EM in advance to make sure that the days you have in mind are free -- if your EM has a wedding on the day you want to visit, they will not be able to meet with you, as the planning session takes the entire day. At our planning session we were able to make all of our major decisions and we just sat back until the budget arrived a couple weeks before the wedding. The planning session also gives you a good idea of how an EM's day runs (so you won't scream at them when they don't call back immediately, or have their assitant call back to answer a basic question). Good luck!
Marne
06-16-03
WP/LS
We flew down in April, to plan for our August wedding. At that point, our coordinator was a dud (he later left or was asked to leave FTW), and he hadn't helped us at all in choosing our reception location. We met with him, and with someone from Private Dining. Basically, they walked us around the GF, showed us different locations, and discussed the costs of each. We ended up going with V&A's private room, which we didn't think we wanted before seeing it, and with a fireworks cruise on the Grand One yacht. Definitely worth it, if you're looking for a reception site. I would line up appointments with the coordinator and anyone else you might want to see beforehand, though.
