Travelling with large family

[CzepielCrew]

Hello friends,

I am helping plan a family trip for August 2016 for 10-12 people. All will be considered adults with the youngest being 15. Trying to start by finalizing dates, travel and exact amount of people. For those who have planned trips for their large families, what can you give me for suggestions?

Thanks,

:mickey:

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Planning for a large group can be a challenge. What I've found worked best is deciding on "big picture items", dates, budget, will everyone stay at the same resort, and how much "together" time you will do.

Then, you can work through the "smaller things", such as booking meals that everyone will share, and maybe even a couple of rides.

However, the best advice I can give is to give a fair amount of "free" time, where people can do things that interest them. For example, the part of the group that loves thrill rides may decide to tackle the MK mountains together. The part of the group that prefers a slower pace may plan some extra pool time.

I'd highly recommend using Magical Journeys to help with the resort planning. They can help sort out the options and details, making it easier on everyone.

[CzepielCrew]

Thank you! I will start there.

[Speedy1998]

I would recommend planning a few special things with everyone at the same time. (Like a dinner, Spirit of Aloha, or Hoop-de-do), then otherwise letting everyone do what they want. For my experience groups bigger than 4-6 tend to get into a "Paralysis" of everyone having a different idea about what to do and where to go.

[CzepielCrew]

Speedy,

We were thinking of Hoop-de-doo. That is my fear. Trying to avoid everyone standing around not knowing where to go or what to do.

:mickey:




I would recommend planning a few special things with everyone at the same time. (Like a dinner, Spirit of Aloha, or Hoop-de-do), then otherwise letting everyone do what they want. For my experience groups bigger than 4-6 tend to get into a "Paralysis" of everyone having a different idea about what to do and where to go.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Planning for a large group is always an adventure. I have planned for groups from 6 to 22. Last time down it was for 11 people and it went quite well.

My suggestions would be to get your My Disney Experience completely sorted out, first thing, with all of the members of your group. I found this to be the biggest time consuming, painful thing. Once that was set, the rest was relatively straightforward. Find out what your group may want to see, if they have dining preferences and work from there. I always planned dinner each day for everyone and if they wanted to go there own way, we could meet there if they wanted. If you are doing dining ressies, use the online and choose date & time, it gives you all available options and is easy to book (once your Disney Experience is set up). Same for FP and you can choose who for each pass.

Don't be surprised if folks want to stick together, it seems to happen more than I ever expect.

If you need any more tips, just ask. There are lots of folks with great experience here! :)

[CzepielCrew]

Where did your party of 11 stay and how many rooms? Trying to decide what the best value would be.








Planning for a large group is always an adventure. I have planned for groups from 6 to 22. Last time down it was for 11 people and it went quite well.

My suggestions would be to get your My Disney Experience completely sorted out, first thing, with all of the members of your group. I found this to be the biggest time consuming, painful thing. Once that was set, the rest was relatively straightforward. Find out what your group may want to see, if they have dining preferences and work from there. I always planned dinner each day for everyone and if they wanted to go there own way, we could meet there if they wanted. If you are doing dining ressies, use the online and choose date & time, it gives you all available options and is easy to book (once your Disney Experience is set up). Same for FP and you can choose who for each pass.

Don't be surprised if folks want to stick together, it seems to happen more than I ever expect.

If you need any more tips, just ask. There are lots of folks with great experience here! :)

[Pirate Granny]

We have immediate family trips for ten every three years. We rent DVC points in 2011 a three bedroom grand villa at OKW a that sleeps twelve/13... Perfect for us...we loved it so much that we bought points at OKW and a few other places...in 2014 for 14 nights we ate breakfast together, and we gave everyone (including the littles 4,4,7 and 7) the choice to pick a table service meal. We spent two days at the water parks and had 10 day hopper passes. Many great memories. We tended to stick together as we agreed where to eat everyday and what FP+ we wanted. Sometimes broke into two groups, but mostly had a wonderful time. We are already in the planning stages for 2017.

[CzepielCrew]

Pirate Granny,

Where do you rent your points from?

Thanks,

[j2k]

I have no advice but am following your post as we are in the beginning talks of possibly planning our first trip with my whole immediate family. It would amount to possibly possibly 22 people (15 adults (15yo+) and 7 kids (-15yo), and that's if there aren't any other tagalongs (friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc.).

The discussion lately has been if we do it then I think we'll decide on dates (2017 or later) that work and a "home" resort that most people will stay at but everyone can choose to stay where they want.

This may not work out but if it does it will be EPIC! :mickey:

[j2k]

I used MJ previously (Wendy is AWESOME!) and we'd use them again to help coordinate everything.

[mydisneygirls]

I don't know a lot about this, but Disney has a number to call for large groups.

Groups Booking 10 or More Rooms
Does your group need to book 10 or more rooms? Please call (407) 828-3318† or visit the Disney Group Getaways website for information about reservations and benefits.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Where did your party of 11 stay and how many rooms? Trying to decide what the best value would be.

Because we enjoy the relaxed feel, we stayed at POFQ and took 5 rooms. Whats great is the rooms there have two queen beds, so some family could chose to bunk up and split room costs. If you have more than 2 adults in a room, there is a surcharge of, I think, $15 per extra adult per night. Still more economical than 2 rooms though. The resort has always been really good about keeping the rooms in a block, side by side, which was great! I can't see this being any different if you go Value, just let them know which parties are together if different names. Value resort beds are either full or double size though.

As you probably know, the rooms have fridges so some of our group had breakie in the rooms to save some $$ as well.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

I don't know a lot about this, but Disney has a number to call for large groups.

Groups Booking 10 or More Rooms
Does your group need to book 10 or more rooms? Please call (407) 828-3318† or visit the Disney Group Getaways website for information about reservations and benefits.

It might be just me, but I didn't find the Group Disney stuff to be of helpful at all. This wouldn't be a route I'd recommend based on my experience with it. TerriSue from Magical Journeys was, and is, my best resource if I can't deal with it myself.

[deedee73]

I did our trip planning for 17 people & it was not fun or easy but it was rewarding in the end. I would suggest a list of must do's/dont's for each person re rides, activities & restaurants. I converted that info to a spreadsheet & went from there. Also plan on 1 group activity per day or every 2 days and do the rest in little groups. After everyone saying they wanted to do everything together after a few days of that it lost its luster. Planning 1 activity/fay together allows for catch-up time and little groups are easier manage. For example we would do CP together for bfast then would split up to accomplish different rides & switch off for kids then maybe get together again for the parade.

[ginger19]

I have 14 of us going in February and this is the second time that we will all be going together.
Certainly talk about what you want/don't want to do and how much time you want to spend together. For me, the easiest way is to do a spreadsheet which 13 out of 14 of us love. The one hold out will complain the loudest when we waste time or can't get a table of course. I have each park and the hours for it each day of our vacation along with parades and fireworks listed. I also list where the EMH are and which park we plan to hit (we can always go to a different one but it's a plan to start with). I have a spot for dinner reservation time, location and a hyperlink to the menu. I can email this out to everyone for input and they can print the one sheet to carry with them all week. As a disney veteran I never, ever, ever go without a spreadsheet. I hate wasting time trying to decide where to go and what to do. I think this year I will also add the fast pass plus times to the sheet :mickey:

[Paiges]

I have planned for our large group once before, and once for September 2015 (woo woo! Not too long now!) Here is what I would suggest:

Agree on dates and plan one meal/event (like Hoop-de-doo) per day where everyone meets up.

Let everyone do their own thing otherwise. Everyone chooses their resort, what parks they will visit which days, etc., independently, and they will match up sometimes but no pressure if they don't. (Note: We had park hopper, which made independent planning easier.)

It is easy to get ADRs for big groups now with MDE - I think with your size group, you should be able to use MDE for almost all restaurants. When making ADRs, you do NOT have to be linked with the people that you are making reservations for - as long as the person making the ADRs is in the system, they can make reservations for any size group. Of course, if you link up later, then everyone can use MDE to see the ADRs for each day.

If several groups decide to stay at the same resort, MJ is great about getting your rooms in a block so you are all close. (We stay at POR since we have a family of 5; CB I believe now also has rooms for 5.) I recommend Kathy P. at MJ for booking your entire group!

If there is a Disney planner in the group, I would say plan your trip (what day at what park, FP+) and offer to include others if they want to follow your exact plan, but if not, have them make their own FP+.

That's my two cents, for what it's worth! Hope it goes well! Our first experience was awesome and I am expecting the same in September!:mickey: