Advice for a family of 18

[coast2coastmickey]

What's your budget? If fairly "unlimited" I would say book 7-9 separate rooms at the resorts of their choice...(5 rooms for each set of adults so each couple gets a room, 2 rooms for kids assuming four kids per room). Nobody stresses about bathroom time or transportation issues or bed availability.

Make sure everyone has hoppers for every day of the vacation for maximum flexibility.

See if you can schedule a breakfast in a park the day after arrival for all 18 (most will be too tired on arrival day), then a family meal in the middle of the week, then another family meal end of the week.

Then, do nothing else...let them dictate how they want to spend their time for fastpasses, parks, dining, resort time, etc.


If your budget is more limited, perhaps keeping everyone at a value or moderate will help.

If it's really limited, then your best bet financially will be staying offsite in a house. Houses often sleep 12 for $200/night. So two houses would be fairly cheap considering you're trying to house 18 people. Just make sure each house has a big ol passenger rental van for transport to and from parks.

 

[Nancyg56]

My gut answer for a group that big would be cabins, but I've never actually stayed there, so I can't be sure. I think this is one situation where I'd bite the bullet and call Disney for assistance. They use to advertise something called "Grand Gatherings" - is that still a thing?

I agree. Planning for 18 is a big task.

I see that the Grandparents are paying, however before making plans for lodging I would look at total budget, and then go from there. My family travels as a group and we generally share space well, however when my DS and DDIL joined our vacation last year, we made sure to book their own room. We had a huge suite for the rest of us, but they would never have been comfortable. My DS needs to have a place where he can get away, and so we made sure that was available. Best to know your dynamics.

I would also be sure that everyone is on the same page in regards to how they view this trip. Reunion? Central meeting place for vacation? Both are radically different in terms of individual expectations.

I also agree that in this case, hoppers are a must. People will most likely want to spread out, and then you can meet up without so much stress.

 

[Mome Rath]

I think you have a lot of good suggestions here. My family travels together, but we all tend to like our own space, so usually get separate hotel rooms (sometimes separate hotels if one of us has a favorite the others don't want to spring for). I'd just add the biggest challenge to us is that some of us are slow movers in the in the mornings and some are fast. So, we have to plan ahead carefully when to meet up for meals so as not to get frustrated. Being on Dis property is a must with a large age range, IMO, as well as having park hoppers.

 

[toonaspie]

It you do let everyone do their own hotels, I think at least one group should get a large type of room like a grand villa. That way if families want a break from the parks, they have a place large enough where all or most can get together just to chill meet up with others or even have a meal to save some money.

Otherwise I think you should do a few table service meals together.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If budget isn’t a huge issue, I would look into booking a grand villa directly through WDW and then booking a 2-bedroom villa or regular rooms at the same resort for the rest of your family. This would give you a large space where everyone could gather. You would also get a full kitchen and washer/dryer.

Another option, look into the Hospitality Suites at CR. They are in the garden wing at CR and sleep 7. You could then get regular rooms in CR garden wing for the rest of the family. The hospitality suite is huge and would, again, give you a common space to gather us you can walk to MK!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Just remember, if they all want to swim at a pool together, they must be at the same resort. No pool hopping.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

We had 17 in March and stayed in a 7 bedroom in Emerald Island. It was the 2nd year my family from NY came down here that we stayed there. Before that, we stayed in Windsor Hills, 5 bedroom. Had 13 then. Both developments are nice. Private pools plus community pools. The drive to Disney isn't bad either. These developments are off 192 on the back side of Animal Kingdom

 

[Nancyg56]

We had 17 in March and stayed in a 7 bedroom in Emerald Island. It was the 2nd year my family from NY came down here that we stayed there. Before that, we stayed in Windsor Hills, 5 bedroom. Had 13 then. Both developments are nice. Private pools plus community pools. The drive to Disney isn't bad either. These developments are off 192 on the back side of Animal Kingdom

The only concern I woudl have with offsite and a large group is transportation. My crew manages to all leave about the same time, but after a few hours tops they all wander off in different directions. My DS and DDIL are the first to head back to the resort and they barely make it to lunch before they do so. I cannot corral 9, so I know I woudl be better off trying to herd cats than keep 18 of my people on track.