Back from SSR, AKV and BCV w/photos June 20-July 8, 2007

[LIFERBABE]

I finally have time to start my TR

This was our Family Reunion trip:thumbsup2 We had 1 Grand Villa and 9 studios at SSR for 4 nights and 42 people:wizard: My family loved SSR!! The secret is definitely out, they didnt want to leave! :scared1: :rotfl:

The first 4 nights we stayed in a Vacation Villa at Highland Reserve in a 4 bedroom and it was really nice, especially for the price. We pretty much had people arriving each day leading up to the reunion at SSR which started on June 24th so we opted for the home instead of several hotel rooms. Great choice and we had a nice relaxing time hanging out at the house, swimming, and watching movies.

Sunday morning I went to SSR to check all 42 of us in. I've been coordinating this reunion since January, and everything went as planned. It was around 10 am and the Grand Villa was ready!! They also granted our requests for Congress Park DTD view!! The front desk went above and beyond to ensure we had a smooth check in. It was truly magical from the time I walked into the Lobby. :love:

We gathered at the Grand Villa and everyone was in AWE at how nice it was. This was our first stay in a GV also so I was really excited. I went back and forth about spending the points, but the GV allowed us to all have a gathering place. We had all the rooms by 3 pm and only 1 problem out of 10 units and that was fixed by 4pm.

We only slept 8 in the GV and 2 of them were our boys. We didnt use the living room for sleeping and that kept it open for everyone to visit.

We had family meals each night and that was fun, because many of the adults did not go to the parks so we hung out and talked and cooked. Im at WDW at least 3 times a year, and we stayed for another 10 days after everyone left, so I really enjoyed spending that time with everyone while they were there.

SSR was a perfect location. We had a midnight BBQ and swims at the main pool, the young people went to DTD and the movies, we took a sister trip on the boat to DTD and walked around and then back to SSR, we played games at Community Hall and took walks around the resort. We sent the oldest sister to the spa for a pedicure as her special gift and she loved it!!

It was truly a miracle and I dont regret 1 point I borrowed!! :rotfl:

[BCV23]

Sounds like a wonderful trip. 42 people...I'm in awe. :worship:

I'm glad it worked out so well for your family.:goodvibes

Looking forward to your pictures.

[summergolf]

Amazing...42 people 10 units....:yay:
it is great to hear that you had a good time and no complaints :)

[disgirl]

Wow!!:) That sounds like a trip that you must have done much planning for. Good for you!! I am so glad everyone seemed to have a great time!!

It is also nice that you had some "alone" time with your immediate family, too. I enjoy vacationing with family, but I love when it is just the 3(immediate family) of us alone, too.

[Good Ol Gal]

that is so great!

so.. how many points did you borrow??? :teeth:

[wdwstar]

I am glad to hear of all your fine work paid off in the end! You are surely a great planner,and i know that first hand! if you need to rent any points for your next trip, im here for you.;)

[kimberh]

What a great idea! I am so impressed! We have tossed around the idea of having a family reunion in Gatlinburg, but I have never thought about Disney. How many points did all that take? I guess I could figure it up... just curious to see if I could swing something like that, it sounds wonderful! How long had it been since you had seen everyone?

[Muushka]

I'm speachless! So glad you all had such a wonderful time

[lisareniff]

WOW!! You created such great memories for your family. What a wonderful thing! :hug:

[LIFERBABE]

Thanks all,

wdwstar, I will gladly pay you on tuesday for some points today:flower3: :laughing:

All these years of Dissing and DVC, DCL really helped me prepare for this reunion.

The last 2 times we were together were sad events (funerals) and many had expressed the desire to come together for a happy event.
We've never had a family reunion and it just seemed like such a formidable task. Many of the nieces and nephews were starting to graduate high school and I know how difficult it is to get the young adults back so I knew it was now or never.

So January 2007 I called MS and booked the studios for June scheduling around school schedules and graduations. I just closed my eyes and jumped. I sent out emails to family to let them know the dates and what to budget. I figured that if it all blew up on me, we would just take all those holding points and have a grand DVC party, just me, Dh and the boys:love:

There were some stressful times with MS, as I got caught in the rule changes that were put in place to stop commercial renting. It had always been my dream to show my family the world and many of the changes could not have come at a worse time. I worked with them and thru them and sometimes around them. All the DVC ads always show the large families together and I bought that image in spades and no way were a bunch of hoops going to keep us from having our dream. Not all MS reps are created equal;)
But I met plenty of highly capable ones over the months:thumbsup2

I worried poor MS to death, It truly takes a Village to put something like this together, and MS and DVC and the DIS were my village.

Sorry but true, I lost track of points a long time ago. I dont want to know!! Im borrowed out to 2009 and we added on at AKV in the process, but it was sooo worth it. I am totally over the fear of borrowing! I dont care if we are borrowed out til the end of 2054! I just decided to go for it and live on the edge. I treated our first family reunion like it was our last and went all out.

That GV was WONDERFUL!! I just couldnt see owning DVC and then the 1 time I could really use the GV not getting it because I could save points. Each bedroom upstairs was the equivalent of a studio (w/o the kitchenette) and then we still had all of the downstairs which was like a house in itself.

All was not lost however, you will be happy to know, that DH and I did get the Master:rotfl:

I have pictures of AKV Sav. View studio and a report to add to this thread, but my photos are on snapfish and I can only get the thumbnail to show. Please help! ( I know I have been thru this before but I cant get it to work)

[LIFERBABE]

http://images1.snapfish.com/34%3A768648%7Ffp3%3A8%3Evq%3D3272%3E%3B%3C%3A%3E97 9%3EWSNRCG%3D3235%3C94%3B94469vq0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/34%3A768648%7Ffp3%3A7%3Evq%3D3272%3E%3B%3C%3A%3E97 9%3EWSNRCG%3D3235%3C94%3B94474vq0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/34%3A768648%7Ffp3%3A8%3Evq%3D3272%3E%3B%3C%3A%3E97 9%3EWSNRCG%3D3235%3C94%3B94487vq0mrj

[alldiz]

WOW....what an awesome trip you planned.....

That is truly a trip of a lifetime.....to have all of your
loved ones at WDW:love: :cloud9:

So happy all of your hard work paid off...
Thanks for sharing.....
Kerri

[ACDSNY]

Wow, now I know who to go to when I start planning our family trip for Oct/Nov 2009. I've pulled off Disneyland for our 25 of our family in 2005, now they want WDW. I can't wait to show them the World.

I'm glad you had such a wonderful time!

[loribell]

Wow, I thought my trip for 24 was big. I am so happy that you had such a fabulous time.

So did you reserve the GV in January too? Someday I would love to stay in one.

[squitty]

What a trip :)

Sounds awesome, shame you can't get your photos to load properly would've loved to see them.

[3DisneyKids]

OMG! You planned and executed a Disney trip for 42--you are my hero! :worship:

[DVCJones]

Your trip sounds wonderful. I am so happy to hear everyone had a magical time. Hats off to you for planning for so many people.:thumbsup2

[bobbiwoz]

You are a person that I hope to emulate, but really...we don't have 42 people to invite!

I'm so happy that you had such a great great trip!!! I've read your story aloud to my DSis and she just smiled:goodvibes

Bobbi:goodvibes

[lisaviolet]

Love it Liferbabe!!! Love it!!!

[gtrist4life]

I'm speechless!! 42 people:scared1:
You have my utmost respect for pulling this off and have just earned the new title SUPER DUPER PLANNER.

This has to be a record??? Sounds like somebody should post a new poll??

[byoung]

Glad you had a great time. How close where all the units?

[tomandrobin]

What a great story and we are glad that things went very well!!

[J and R's mom]

OMGosh... 42 people?! :faint:

Seriously, though, that is really awesome.

Can't wait to read the rest!

[goldilocks_63]

Liferbabe,

What a cool trip. And I am glad that your using your points while everyone can enjoy them. No time like the present!

I'm going in Oct with my parent, and meeting hubby's parents and family.. so I think there will be about 20 of us total (1 safari car please).....

So for AKV, did you take up 2 cars? And how did you handle reservations (individual groups of 4 at the same restaurant, or one bigger for all?)

I'm so glad you had a happy time.

Best, Goldi

[LIFERBABE]

My family called it a Miracle:cloud9:

From reading these boards, our own trips and planning trips with friends, I knew to not overplan and let the reunion be more free flowing. I about did my girlfriends in last March, dragging them thru the parks each day:rotfl2:

Plus many in my family were concerned about how expensive WDW can be, and the most important thing to me was all of us coming together so I didnt plan any park days or meals out. I left that as an individual choice. I did not want to hear any complaints about how expensive Disney food is, that's what the DIS is for:goodvibes

I did provide lots of info and let the individuals decide what type (if any) park tickets they purchased, and let them plan their days. Im one of the youngest, so my boys are small, but many have children in the 18 and up age and many of my nieces are married and have children of their own. We only had 4 in the age 3-9 range and 2 of them were mine and they could give Tourguide Mike a run for his money, so we didnt go to the parks while the family was there.

Hi Goldi!princess:
I planned the reunion events much like a cruise navigator. Scheduling a large group for anything is stress, so I avoided that completely!;) Everyone had the choice to attend all or none of the events and Family dinners were at 7pm
All events and dinners were at the Grand Villa hosted by the sisters. My BIL from Georgia hosted the midnight BBQ the last night at the Congress Park pavilion. Every one was excited to contribute, like the eldest sister hosted a Tea Party for the ladies, my other sister gave out these great gift bags to all the sisters and brothers, we had a gift exchange and just had a wonderful time being together. It was really like being at home:grouphug: I was really surprised that most planned their days around the family events even the young adults came back from DTD for the midnight BBQ:love:

I took my digital photo frame and set it on the entry console. I had several memory cards and there was always a slideshow going of what we just did that day and the days before for anyone that missed anything.

Byoung, thanks for reading:goodvibes
All the studios were in the same building, and the Grand Villa was supposed to be too, but there was a mixup when they blocked our rooms that had us with 2 GV's booked instead of 1 so they kept the GV that was closest to the end of the next bldg where all the studios were. No one complained and they all loved their view and the GV had a great view of Bongo's and HOB and everyone had their own space to retreat to if they needed to rest or get away from it all. Another tip I used from the cruise was to use the wipe board for our schedule that I hung on the GV door.

Loribell, I was able to get the GV in January too. I added the 4th night within 2 months.

Bobbi, you can invite me!!:rotfl:

My family are definitely not park commandos (neither are we) and they really appreciated the beauty of SSR and how peaceful and relaxing it was. They also commented how the CM's were so nice and friendly and went out of their way to make sure everyone was having a good time. The days were hot, but the evenings were gorgeous:cloud9:

Now for the Drama, on a Drama scale of 1 to 10, our family drama was about a 3! Which is pretty good for 42 people and excellent for my Family:hippie: . Again from these forums, the one thing I have learned is to nip family drama in the bud. Just say no!
"Aunt C, can I bring my long lost boyfriend?" NO! not even if he stays offsite!
"Aunt C, can I share a room with my girlfriend?" No!, she sleeps with your cousins, this aint the Love Boat!:rotfl:
Gotta love the young ones! Tough love worked and we kept the focus on family.


Another great feature of having a Family Reunion at WDW was Magical Express! Because we stayed at the Vacation Home in the beginning, everyone was arriving, my brother was back and forth to MCO to pick up the young adults that couldnt rent cars. But departure was EASY!! We set up ME the night before and everyone magically disappeared! It is truly a Magic Bus!:love:

My most magical moment was being able to have my niece and her husband with us. We lost her mom 2 years ago to cancer and then she had a baby last year and 3 months later her Active Duty Dh was sent to Iraq. He's been gone since Oct 2006 and he was able to come home for 2 weeks leave for the reunion. They spent a great week at SSR and he did the Richard Petty Experience and loved it and they just had a really great time. Their 7 year old fell in love with Legoland at DTD and collected many sets. He returned to Iraq last Saturday to finish his tour in 2008. Be safe Mike.......

[DISNEY FIX]

Have you found your sanity? :dance3:
Last question, how many of these people are now x-friends or x- relatives?;)
Great work.
Chris

[Longhairbear]

I finally have time to start my TR

This was our Family Reunion trip:thumbsup2 We had 1 Grand Villa and 9 studios at SSR for 4 nights and 42 people:wizard: My family loved SSR!! The secret is definitely out, they didnt want to leave! :scared1: :rotfl:

The first 4 nights we stayed in a Vacation Villa at Highland Reserve in a 4 bedroom and it was really nice, especially for the price. We pretty much had people arriving each day leading up to the reunion at SSR which started on June 24th so we opted for the home instead of several hotel rooms. Great choice and we had a nice relaxing time hanging out at the house, swimming, and watching movies.

Sunday morning I went to SSR to check all 42 of us in. I've been coordinating this reunion since January, and everything went as planned. It was around 10 am and the Grand Villa was ready!! They also granted our requests for Congress Park DTD view!! The front desk went above and beyond to ensure we had a smooth check in. It was truly magical from the time I walked into the Lobby. :love:

We gathered at the Grand Villa and everyone was in AWE at how nice it was. This was our first stay in a GV also so I was really excited. I went back and forth about spending the points, but the GV allowed us to all have a gathering place. We had all the rooms by 3 pm and only 1 problem out of 10 units and that was fixed by 4pm.

We only slept 8 in the GV and 2 of them were our boys. We didnt use the living room for sleeping and that kept it open for everyone to visit.

We had family meals each night and that was fun, because many of the adults did not go to the parks so we hung out and talked and cooked. Im at WDW at least 3 times a year, and we stayed for another 10 days after everyone left, so I really enjoyed spending that time with everyone while they were there.

SSR was a perfect location. We had a midnight BBQ and swims at the main pool, the young people went to DTD and the movies, we took a sister trip on the boat to DTD and walked around and then back to SSR, we played games at Community Hall and took walks around the resort. We sent the oldest sister to the spa for a pedicure as her special gift and she loved it!!

It was truly a miracle and I dont regret 1 point I borrowed!! :rotfl:
That all sounds great!

[Corinne]

Liferbabe, so happy your trip went so well, you were smart not to overplan for everyone! I am sure your memories are so worth all the point borrowing!;)

[LIFERBABE]

To tie up the SSR portion of my Trip Report, we also spent 4th of July at SSR.


All the family left on June 28th except for my niece and her DH who left on the 30th so it was just the 4 of us for the 4th.

We spent the day at Blizzard Beach and got back to SSR just in time to make Red, white or blue Homemade Ice Cream at Community Hall and take part in the pool party at High Rock Spring. It was very busy for the 4th, but plenty of lounges available as it was later in the day.

They had a really fun 4th party at the Congress Park Pool that started around 8:30pm and the PI fireworks were at 11pm. There was music, a cash bar, bingo, they gave out beads and flags, cha cha slide, we had a great time. Fireworks were Awesome!!

For those interested, the movies are at the Grandstand Pool twice a week and they start at 8pm.

The recreation manager for SSR moved over to BCV. The new SSR manager seems really nice and the staff is just as involved as ever, and they are really great.

It is definitely good news for Beach Club because Mike is very hands on. We stayed at BCV our last night of this trip and there were movies on the beach (there is more than 1 inflatable screen, SSR has their own and i guess when Mike moved, he purchased one for BCV too) DS and I watched Lilo and Stitch on the beach. They had a sing along on the beach and toasted marshmallows at the end, Bingo at SAB! Music at SAB! I could really tell the difference in the level of activities so be sure to check them out if you are at BCV. I did miss the man in the white hat and we didnt see Art this stay.

I will be happy to answer any questions and I will add my AKV photos and report this afternoon. Thanks for reading so far. :goodvibes

[dianeschlicht]

Awsome trip!!! I wanted to do this for my DH's family. He has one brother who lives on the opposite side of the country, and one sister who lives near us. We wanted to get all the neices and nephews plus the siblings together at WDW, but DSIL said she had already been to WDW once 10 years ago and didn't see a point in going back. UGH!!! She missed the whole point of the project. That's okay though, because DBIL and his family will join us alone, and we will have fun. It just would have been great to have all the nieces and nephews together somewhere for more than an afternoon for a change.

[BCV23]

It sounds like a truly exceptional family time. Great planning and the tough love is perfect.:goodvibes

Prayers for Mike.

[princessesrule4]

Oh my gosh - I'm getting all teary eyed reading your TR - especially about your niece and her hubby who had to go back to Iraq! What a precious gift you gave your family and what wonderful memories your whole family now has, on what sounds like the trip of a lifetime! You sound like an awesome person!

Very heartwarming - thanks so much for posting and prayers for your niece and hubby!

[loribell]

Oh my gosh - I'm getting all teary eyed reading your TR - especially about your niece and her hubby who had to go back to Iraq! What a precious gift you gave your family and what wonderful memories your whole family now has, on what sounds like the trip of a lifetime! You sound like an awesome person!

Very heartwarming - thanks so much for posting and prayers for your niece and hubby!

Yeah, me too. I had to choke them back myself.

I am so happy for you that it all went to so well. Amazing that you were able to get the Grand Villa so late. I was totally amazed during our big trip that we had no problems, we definetely had a couple of drama queens with us (my daghter & niece).

[VrBchJ]

We hear so much about family renunion nightmares that it's heartening to read your story. I'm in total awe of how you arranged this for forty two people.

[henri + katie's mum]

Congratulations on a successful reunion. It sounds like it was wonderful. I'm sure everyone will have fond memories for years to come.:dance3:

If you haven't already answered this - Did everyone realize and thank you for all your hard work?

[gtrist4life]

You know, this is such an incredible story about family and DVC, I think it should be in Vacation Magic. LIFERBABE, if you are willing, and I hope I'm not stepping out of bounds..I hope you contact DVC and tell them about this amazing reunion.

Congrats again on making some major magic happen.

[auntsue]

What an absolutely wonderful trip report! It was so inspiring and you gave us all some great ideas. Thanks for sharing. I so enjoyed reading it.

[auntsue]

What an absolutely wonderful trip report! It was so inspiring and you gave us all some great ideas. Thanks for sharing. I so enjoyed reading it.

[J and R's mom]

You know, this is such an incredible story about family and DVC, I think it should be in Vacation Magic. LIFERBABE, if you are willing, and I hope I'm not stepping out of bounds..I hope you contact DVC and tell them about this amazing reunion.

Congrats again on making some major magic happen.

::yes:: I agree with what gtrist said!

I also find it absolutely WONDERFUL that Mike was able to join you all. I'm adding him to my prayers.

The best part of your planning is not OVERPLANNING everybody! That's pure genius! I'm taking notes.

[Sammie]

You sound like an awesome person! She is.:cheer2:

Best to Mike.

[mello]

I remember you mentioning this reunion in some other posts, and I'm so happy to hear it all turned out well. It's very inspiring, and I agree, it ought to be in Vacation Magic!

[Sue's Mum]

What a fantastic trip you planned for everyone. I think you deserve a diploma for organisational abilities.

[Inkmahm]

I'm beyond impressed- 42 people! Wow!
I am doing a family reunion for my DH's family in December with only 12 of us. I hope ours goes as well as yours did! We are treating the family to MVMCP as well as dinner at Liberty Tree, Cali Grill and Jikos and breakfast with Cinderella at the castle. Other than those scheduled items, everyone is on their own.

One brother already has irritated me by finally getting around to telling us he and his DW will only be with us Th, F, Sa nights and are leaving on Sunday instead of Tuesday like the rest of us. With all the planning we did (started 17 months in advance) and all the doublechecking we did, STILL someone managed to screw things up. We have the final night dinner scheduled at Jiko's, our favorite restaurant. I refuse to try to juggle ADRs at this point so the brother and SIL will just have to miss it.

I can't imagine planning for 42 people.:headache:

[jns]

Thank you so much for sharing your family reunion with us
so glad to hear it went great :thumbsup2
we had one 2 years ago and they were only 11 of us and it was hard work :rolleyes1 like you I just planned a few dinners and let everyone do there own thing , but the funny thing was we spent most of the holidays all together
the photo frame idea was great :thumbsup2
did the whole group spend much time all together
looking forward to seeing all the photos

[Disney_Mama]

WOW... What a great trip report. Love to hear about happy family reunions. Hats off to you for being able to organize such a large amount of people.:thumbsup2

[cforsythe]

I'm all in...Really enjoying your report!! We are having a small FU in December only 13 compared to your 42. Can't wait:banana:

[javamom]

Wow, this is awesome! Great job!, Here I was tinkering the logistics of my own family and trying to fathom how to do it. 42, wow!