Just back from 8 days of fun!

[gottaluvtink]

We just returned Saturday night from an 8 day trip. The crowds were fairly light until the Friday before the MLK holiday. Saturday at the Studios was packed! We had a group of 22 and surprisingly, things went very smooth. There wasn't a thing we missed. We did everything in all the parks. I have to say, the magic bands were great! No problems throughout the trip. We did have three members lose theirs, but they were taken care of immediately. Some of the cast members were less than magical for sure, but there were others who made up for the sassy ones. We had one let our entire group in the VIP section for Fantasmic. I also had one give me an entire roll of stickers for the kids I daycare.

There was one bad incident regarding a couple at the Jammin Jungle parade. A cast member told them they couldn't stand on the wall and the young man got pretty nasty to some of our group because he couldn't see. WE WERE THERE FIRST! My niece complained and nothing was said to this very rude young man by security. She took her complaint to guest relations and they gave our entire group fast passes for the Magic Kingdom the next day.

All in all, everyone had a fabulous trip! I would highly recommend the Pirate League. The kids loved the entire experience. The pirates doing the makeovers are fabulous with the kids.

We had great meals and I would highly recommend the braised pork for lunch at Be Our Guest. Super yummy! We also ate at the Coral Reef, Liberty Tree, Tony's, OHana, Crystal Palace, Akershus, and breakfast at Hollywood and Vine and at Chef Mickey's.

I was very concerned about planning thus trip for 22, with all the new changes. Fortunately, all the early planning, and linking all the magic bands together worked out flawlessly. Some of the group had never been before, and I am happy to say we all had a very Magical Trip!

Already planning for January 2015! :mickey:

[Katzateer]

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for sharing.:thumbsup:

[Middle of the Map]

You deserve a medal for taking such a large group to WDW. I'm so glad you all had a wonderful time, except a very few bumps in the road.

Awesome!

[mickclub1955]

Wow!!! I am so glad you all got to do everything you wanted and didn't have too many glitches. Sounds like your trip was magical. Glad that you got everyone coordinated. I am not looking forward to this for my parents 50th anniversary and we will not have this many people. Also glad Disney took care of you for the inconvenience.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Wow, sounds like a pretty smooth trip for such a big group. Thanks for the report:thumbsup:

[justice11]

hi luvutink I am just down the road from you on interstate 70 west. We are going down in 48 days so glad to hear the magic bands worked good. Glad you had a great trip.
:thumbsup:

[faline]

It' an impressive accomplishment for a group of 22 to tour Disney so successfully! Glad to hear you all had fun!!

[gottaluvtink]

I thought it was going to be much more difficult, but it really went quite smoothly. My strategy was to get everyone to the parks at opening. You can accomplish so much in the mornings. I had fast passes, parades, shows, and fireworks all planned out. Kid swap works great with a big group. We used it along with our fast pass + to maximize our fast passes. We did everything there was to do in the Magic Kingdom! They even wanted to try the Stitch ride! Now they know why I said it was a waste of time, but we did it!
Epcot was simple. Got fast passes for Soarin and headed directly to Test Track in the morning. Used kid swap on everything, so some got to ride several times on their favorites.
We were lucky enough to get Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, and Rock N Roller Coaster fast passes with our 60 day advance planning. Everything else in the Studios was pretty easy to get on. We went to meet Mike and Sully early in the a.m. for all the Monster University fans. That was a must this trip!
Got fast passes for the Safari, Everest, and Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. Went directly to the safari at opening and rode then. We had fast passes for later so we could ride twice. Never even needed our Everest fast passes. Walked right on three times in a row. We did need our Dinosaur fast pass which kind of surprised me since we usually can walk right on that one.