I wrote this procedure on how DVC members can request Grand Gatherings. Please see below and let me know if there should be any changes. Thanks.
How DVC Members Can Set Up Grand Gatherings (GG's)
Hi, all! I thought that I'd post a procedure, that I basically discovered by trial and error (mostly error), on how DVC members can set up grand gatherings. I will list it as steps.
1. Think about who you want to invite and what DVC resort you want to stay in. I will assume in this procedure that your party will all be staying at your home resort. I assume this because that was the case for me. If you have a different plan, please post here with how my procedure should change.
2. Assuming that you are the 'group leader,' make sure that you get all of the names AND addresses of everybody in your party AND also get their ages. Disney needs their ages so they can put in whom in the party can officially check in. Nobody under age may do so.
3. Plan out what GG special products (GG events), if any, your group wants to experience. This step can be quite significant if you are informing others about these events. You may be dealing with people who have never been to WDW before or have not been there 'like this.' So, you may have to do a lot of explaining to them on what it's all about. You are the expert! They are not! Tell them what it's all about!
4. AS SOON AS YOU CAN, call DVC Member services (MS) at 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx to make your room reservations AND tell them that you have a GG. Give MS all of the information about your party. MS will then contact the GG folks and inform them of the upcoming GG. MS will get a magical gathering (MG) number back to you in a few days. It was only a day wait for me. Remember that number. It will be very important.
5. Call the GG people at 1-407-939-7526 to make reservations for your GG 'events' using your MG number. The Safari Celebration dinner, the International Dinner and Fireworks show, and the Good Morning Gathering can be placed on the
Disney dining plan (
DDP). If the DDP is not available yet for when you are going, my recommendation is to call the GG people and make the reservation BEFORE the DDP becomes available. If the DDP IS available when you want to make the GG event ressies, then skip this step ONLY for all ressies for which you want to use the dining plan and see step 7 below.
6. After the DDP becomes available, and assuming that you want to use the DDP, call MS to add the DDP and also to tell them that you will be placing one or more GG events under the DDP. At that time, MS will call the GG people and transfer you over to them. They will have to rebook the ressy, if you had one, under a new number and cancel the original ressie. If you had to go to step 6, then the original ressie was a placeholder until you could get the ressie with the meal plan. If by now you are wondering if this is all a big runaround, then my answer is yes. The GG people, like the Disney dining people, do not have access to the DVC room reservation numbers, which makes all of his a necessity.
7. Now that you are done, sit back, relax, and let Disney magic take you where you need to be.
