Party of 13. Need Help with where to stay

[godwin25]

Party of 12 heading to MK November 2019. I know we will need 4 , possibly 5 rooms. Break down of the group: 2 adults and 1 child, 2 adults, 2 adults and 1 child, 2 adults and 2 children, and 1 adult. The solo adult is my adult son who will be 22 at the time.
This is a once in a lifetime trip to have the whole family vacation together. We have budgeted $20,000 for rooms and tickets but could go a little higher. We would be staying for 8 or 9 nights depending on what budget allows.
Adults would prefer King size beds but Queens would be ok, the children are all relatively small so should be able to sleep on fold downs or pull outs.
We are thinking possibly Riverside with 5 rooms, Coronado or Caribbean 5 rooms (worried about big price increase in 2019), or AK Kidani Villas 2 BR and 1 Studio.
Have also thought about using David's to go the DVC route but would like to housekeeping and one person in the group is really apprehensive of using this service.
What are your thoughts?

 

[rwdavis2]

Since WDW won't guarantee adjoining rooms it may be simpler for everyone to make their own reservations. Next question, are you all planning on touring the parks everyday together? I would recommend against it due to the varying ages of everyone. Or just meeting up here and there during the day/week.

The DVC route might be the least expensive. What are the person's apprehensions? I've never read a bad thing about David's. Although renting DVC has its own downsides.

 

[Sue M]

I would vote for each family unit having their own rooms. I think it would be more relaxing than squishing in a 2 bedroom and people sleeping in living room.
We love POR. It’s our fav moderate. The rooms have 2 queens, I think kings are an upcharge. The family with 2 children would esp need the 2 queens. AB section rooms have a Murphy bed, at the expense of loosing the dresser.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I would also recommend each family unit getting their own room. Doing a 2bedroom and a studio at AKV sounds like an awkward setup since you are trading 5 real rooms at a moderate for 3 rooms and a living room at a deluxe. You could do 5 studios at AKV but there won't be any king beds that route. I also wonder what their apprehensions with David's are. It's quite a reputable company.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I agree with the PP's. I would do individual rooms for each family. A 2-bedroom plus a studio only really gives you 3 bedrooms (and a living room) and fewer bathrooms than individual rooms. Especially for 8 or 9 nights, that's going to get really cramped after a while. Maybe consider a 2-bedroom and 3 studios and use the living room in the 2-bedroom as the family "common" area, but the cost might be quite high in doing that. If I had to pick a mod POR/POFQ would be my choice.

 

[Lampoon2012]

We've done a group of 12(a couple times) at POR in 4 rooms: 7 adults and 5 kids (11, 10, 7, 6, 2). It was definitely more feasible and more comfortable to have separate rooms. Granted, most nights the kids were in different rooms than "their" rooms. Adults hung out outside at a quiet pool or on the grass by the river. Disney set us up with rooms all in a row, two of them were connected with interior access to the other.

I do agree with a previous poster, you should loosely plan touring days together and days apart. We met for dinners most nights but did not walk the parks every day with everyone. When we did that on our first trip together it turned into a mess. I strongly suggest days apart, or at least time apart.

 

[godwin25]

Definitely plan on pretty much touring quite a bit apart, probably start off the morning together then split up and then meet back for dinner. the group will be the wife and I with our then 9 yr old daughter and 22 yr old son, my mother and step-dad, step sister and her two kids (7 and 17) and my other step sister and her husband and their two kids (3 and 11). We may possibly have another person, my son has a girlfriend currently but who knows in almost 2 years LOL.
My family stayed at Riverside 3 years ago and we really enjoyed it , other than our rooms being in the very back but that's the ones that were available using the Free Dining pin. I would really like to stay at either Caribbean or Coronado but really worry about a big price increase next year with both of those being currently refurbished and upgraded.

 

[Ladcassidy]

Our group of 12 stayed in three different units at the Wilderness Lodge: One regular room in the main lodge (Grandma and Grandpa); one deluxe room (my sister and her family with five kids); and one 1BR villa (my family with one child). Each family was happy to have a separate place to go at the end of a long day together.

 

[heidijanesmith]

I helped my Step Father plan his families trip of 12. They stayed at POR FQ with each family group having their own room.

They loved POR FQ as the resort is small and really easy to get around. The kids loved the pool and the options at the food court.

 

[wishuponastar1984]

Well at first blush $20K sounds like a big budget when you start breaking it down it isn't as much as it sounds. Your tickets could be between $5300 (8 days no hopping) all the way up to $6400 (9 days with hopping) Then breaking down on rooms you could also be all over the map. If you stay 8 nights with only four rooms you would have a budget of $450 per night per room with tax. However, if you went for 9 nights and needed 5 rooms with 9 day park hoppers you would only have $300 per night per room. Getting $300 a night with tax could be challenging in WDW depending on the time of year. You need to decide on whether you are willing to share rooms, go less days, etc. Are you going to be park commandos or are you going to want to enjoy all the hotel amenities? Are any in your party only willing to stay at a certain level of hotel? Who is the one ultimately making the decision? Is one person paying or are you "pooling" money so there may be many people picking where you stay. There is a distinct lack of rooms with king beds at WDW. Not saying they don't exist but outside of the DVC most standard rooms have 2Q or 2F beds.

I know that you mentioned that $20K was your tickets/room budget but if you have never been to WDW be sure to know that food is a lot more expensive and you can easily spend a minimum of $50 to $100 per day per person eating in WDW. When budgeting even at the low end that is $5,000 and could easily top out at $10K

Edited. Your party is 13 not 12 based on the numbers you listed above) so now my numbers are definitely off.

 

[Cajun23]

We just did a group of 16 recently. Each family booked separately at for the most part 2 different resorts based on family budgets. Most of the time, for us was spent away from the resort so it didn't matter as much that we were all at the same resort. We also had an itinerary that book could follow or do their own thing. It allowed for members of the group to be together if they choose or come and go as the please.

I found that this kept everyone happy as they could do as they wished.

 

[kcpinwdw]

I just did a big family trip for 14 and we rented DVC points and booked 4 separate studios at Boulder Ridge. We were all within a few doors of each other but had our own space. Easy on the budget for sure and we didn't mind not having the housekeeping--- though you can pay to have it if you want. We just rented our points from someone here on disboards rather than going through Davids. Only downside is you are locked into your dates. But it was so affordable, all four rooms for five nights was $4000 total.

 

[godwin25]

Well at first blush $20K sounds like a big budget when you start breaking it down it isn't as much as it sounds. Your tickets could be between $5300 (8 days no hopping) all the way up to $6400 (9 days with hopping) Then breaking down on rooms you could also be all over the map. If you stay 8 nights with only four rooms you would have a budget of $450 per night per room with tax. However, if you went for 9 nights and needed 5 rooms with 9 day park hoppers you would only have $300 per night per room. Getting $300 a night with tax could be challenging in WDW depending on the time of year. You need to decide on whether you are willing to share rooms, go less days, etc. Are you going to be park commandos or are you going to want to enjoy all the hotel amenities? Are any in your party only willing to stay at a certain level of hotel? Who is the one ultimately making the decision? Is one person paying or are you "pooling" money so there may be many people picking where you stay. There is a distinct lack of rooms with king beds at WDW. Not saying they don't exist but outside of the DVC most standard rooms have 2Q or 2F beds.

I know that you mentioned that $20K was your tickets/room budget but if you have never been to WDW be sure to know that food is a lot more expensive and you can easily spend a minimum of $50 to $100 per day per person eating in WDW. When budgeting even at the low end that is $5,000 and could easily top out at $10K

Edited. Your party is 13 not 12 based on the numbers you listed above) so now my numbers are definitely off.

You are right the party is 13 not 12, I realized that I had mistyped after I posted. As far as rooms go we don't mind doing 2 Queens but there are some options such as Riverside that have Kings with a pull down. Using this years prices, which I know will increase next years that's why I said I can go up to $25K, 5 rooms there for 9 nights is under $14,000. Coronado and Caribbean are roughly the same price as well but with Queens and I worry about the price increase on those next year with all the upgrades going on at those 2 resorts.
I am ultimately making the decision on where to stay as I am the one planning and funding the trip. I do realize how expensive it is to dine at WDW having been there several times, that's why I am doing the dining as a separate budget not included in the $20,000-25,000. I may even decide to do the dining plan as well, most of the time it doesn't save you money but I do like the fact of being able to pay up front and not having to be with everyone when they want to eat so I can pay, gives everyone more freedom. Also we will be doing a lot of character/signature meals and I found last time that the dining plan saves you money if you do a lot of those.
I love DisBoards and being on here to get everyone's input.

 

[Tricia7]

My husband and I took our grown children and grandkids and my parents this past November. We stayed at Coronodo Springs and had 4 rooms. We were a party of 2 adults, 2 adults and 1 child, 2 adults and 2 children and 2 adults and 1 child and an 1 year old. We stayed for 8 nights in standard rooms and had 8 day hopper tickets and the regular dining plan for everyone just so that meals were covered (more of a convenience factor) and we paid right around $18,000. All of our rooms had 2 queens in them and were side by side with 2 sets of connecting rooms. We had way more than enough food for everyone in fact probably too much because we ended up bringing tons of snacks home with us.

 

[Buddy40]

I was the lead planner on an extended family trip for 14 (4 families with 9 adults and 5 children; ages 7 to 14) back in 2016. Had looked at 2BR villas at OKW and AKL. We ultimately settled on 4 separate rooms at POR Alligator Bayou (preferred rooms). Ultimately, I think the separate rooms worked out best. While the rooms were all close together, it also allowed each family there own space/privacy. There can be such a thing as too much togetherness, especially when you are also spending most of your time together in the parks and dining. A few years earlier, we had stayed as a group in two 2BR condos offsite at the Vistana. At the end of that trip people were getting on each other’s nerves somewhat.

POR worked out great, and we loved how close the preferred rooms were to the main pool and the food court. If you aren’t already, I’d recommend working with a Disney TA. I worked out all the details for the group with the TA, and then everyone made their own reservation through the TA. It really saved me a lot of work and aggravation.

 

[kwdw]

For 8-9 nights - you will need to be able to have some space from each other. So - either a separate resort room for each family unit - OR - TWO 2-BR units at AKV rented through David's (which gives you 4 bedrooms (2 with king beds), 2 living rooms - and 6 bathrooms. This gives everyone their own sleeping quarters - but space to gather socially. OR - rent a large house off-site with the right number of rooms/bed types your group needs.

Part of this is also your GOAL of the trip. Shared units do promote together time - especially if you think you'll spend alot of time going separate ways in the parks (maybe just doing some things together each day). But if the group is going to drive each other nuts - more separation may be key. In one larger family trip I helped plan - we specifically planned shared living space because this would bring us together. For that group - had it been separate rooms instead - it would have been three separate family units doing their own thing nearly all the time - maybe we could have agreed upon a few shared meals. But for our group - it would have been like all three groups were in same place at the same time - but it would have been separate vacations and maybe a family meal or two. So - part of this is group dynamics that you will know best for your group.

I travel with "2 units" every year. We like 2 bedroom set-ups with at least 2 baths because that gives us enough space to separate and yet come together. Sure - we irritate each other a bit each trip - but we also love the bonding time. And in this case - we do know that if we booked completely separately - we would just end up passing each other during the day at times - maybe a shared meal or activity - but we might as well be on separate vacations. We tend to plan trips where we don't spend the whole day time together - sometimes we are doing the same thing - sometimes we aren't. That's our group dynamic.

Did a larger family trip this past year - 9 separate smaller family units. In that case - yes - everyone booked lodging/travel separately. But a small group worked together in advance to make specific plans to get the groups together at set times so we all made sure it really was a family gathering. Again - we knew our group dynamics and how to make everyone happy.

 

[Shula]

My family ranging from 12-16 people (3-5 rooms) and 1-74 years have stayed at CBR, POR and BC as a group. We have toyed with renting DVC but we have all agreed each family needs their own rooms for privacy and from getting on each others nerves even though we get along great. We've only splurged once as a group for deluxe and all agree for the $ difference we prefer POR. In every trip we have been in a row or very close together. I always book every room even if we are paying separately.

 

[godwin25]

Pretty sure we will go with 5 rooms at Riverside, or at least for right now.

 

[Shula]

We just booked 3 rooms at Riverside today!