Advice for large families?

[cjparker0110]

I know large groups travel to WDW all the time. Sometimes people do family reunions there. But my question is what advice can you offer to a large immediate family? When I go in 2017 for my parents anniversary, my immediate family will consist of 7! The youngest will be 18 months (yep..still in the womb). By Disney standards that makes him/her an infant so we can get in a room (suite) for 6 by using a crib.

That said, what suggestions do you all have for a family my size? We probably won't always be with the larger group as a whole, but we will be together because of the ages of our kids (6, 5, 3, 18 months). We also will have my sister in law (she'll be 16) with us. She is the favorite aunt/babysitter for our kids so she will be there to help us with them and to enjoy WDW for her first time. Things we could use advice for are:

1. Parent/child swap --> I know a lot of parks do this sort of thing when traveling with small children. Does WDW do it? And if so, how does it work?

2. Should we just plan on ADRs for EVERY meal with this large party?

3. Would you suggest a suite or two adjoining regular rooms? I'm sure with the younger kids we will want to bring them back for midday naps/breaks so we will be in the rooms more than I have ever been before.

4. Is Epcot worth it for those ages? I love Epcot. I know my wife will love Epcot. But the more I look at it, I think my kids will feel the same way I did when I was a kid....it will be boring. Should we bother? Or should I maybe send the two older ones with their aunt while I drag to two youngest through Epcot?

 

[EPCOTgrl1]

1. Parent/child swap --> I know a lot of parks do this sort of thing when traveling with small children. Does WDW do it? And if so, how does it work?

2. Should we just plan on ADRs for EVERY meal with this large party?

3. Would you suggest a suite or two adjoining regular rooms? I'm sure with the younger kids we will want to bring them back for midday naps/breaks so we will be in the rooms more than I have ever been before.

4. Is Epcot worth it for those ages? I love Epcot. I know my wife will love Epcot. But the more I look at it, I think my kids will feel the same way I did when I was a kid....it will be boring. Should we bother? Or should I maybe send the two older ones with their aunt while I drag to two youngest through Epcot?

1. Yes Disney does do Child swap. http://wdwprepschool.com/how-to-child-swap-at-disney-world/ This is a good site with recommendations on rides you can take the kids on while you wait.

2. With a party as large as yours it would be smart to ADR for your meals. If you know that you are going to want to eat a certain time or place it will be the smartest thing to do if you had ADRs. Also know your party is small enough that you don't have to call the restaurants to get the reservations that you want. You can do it on the website or with a phone call. If you think that your group will not want to go to a sit down restaurant one or more of the days that you are down there then no need to worry, but if you change your mind last minute it will be much harder for you to get a reservation with a large group. It sounds like there might be more people in your group then just 7. If you have more then 8 people that you need a reservation for you can either call the restaurant directly or make 2 reservations around the same time. They will not be able to sit you next to each other but if you are willing to wait they might be able to work with you.

3. The room thing I would either look into renting DVC points and get a 2 bedroom suite or get adjoining rooms. It is a lot of you and it will be a tight squeeze. With all the kids and how young they are I would suggest going for the suite. You will have a full kitchen, pack and play in the room, and a washer and drier in the room. It might be more convenient.

4. I use to work in EPCOT so I am bias. I love that park and I think that there is plenty that you can do with kids there. The whole front of the park is kid friendly. The Living Seas has the memo ride and turtle talk, I love Figment ride and it has a huge play space at the end of the ride. The land has the boat ride and a little show with Timon and Pumba. At the end of Space there is a full play area. So there are plenty of places that you can keep the kids busy while you are doing the ride swap. Also when you go around the world there are kid stations at each country. I think it will be fine, but again I am bias.

I hope that I answered all your questions. I would also sit down with everyone that is going and make a plan, and know what every ones expectations are. If you are going with more then just your group of 7 then you need to know what everyone else is planning on doing. When I went with a big group, anywhere from 10-12 depending on the day we would spend a lot of time spilt up doing our own things. Everyone wanted to do something different, and that is ok. We would always have 1 or 2 things that we wanted to do as a group and we would always meet for dinner BUT most of the day we were on our own.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Epcot is boring for kids. The lion king movie is dated, the land boat ride is cute, but long. Turtle talk and Nemo are about the only things a little one would enjoy. If they are tall enough for the more thrill type rides they might have fun, but mostly epcot is a snoozefest.

 

[maxiesmom]

Epcot is boring for kids. The lion king movie is dated, the land boat ride is cute, but long. Turtle talk and Nemo are about the only things a little one would enjoy. If they are tall enough for the more thrill type rides they might have fun, but mostly epcot is a snoozefest.

That depends on the family. Epcot was my family's favorite park, even when the kids were little. We would drive through the main gate to the chant of Epcot Epcot! My nephew loved the Living with the Land ride, it was one of his favorites. And really, what little kid doesn't love Nemo or Crush? Or Donald Duck and his friends?

 

[100AcreWood]

Another vote for EPCOT. We spend 2 Disney days there. The kids love the kidcot fun stops. Also, innovations is really cool and they love the Figment ride. I couldn't imagine skipping EPCOT.

I'm the odd ball here and would recommend against ADRs every day. Not only are they costly but they consume too much park time. Literally one table service meal could take 2 hours between waiting for a table, being seated, served, waiting for a certain character and checking out. Also for my family of 5 a character meal is easily $150. I would pick 2, maybe 3 at the most for the week that you are excited about.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Epcot is boring for kids. The lion king movie is dated, the land boat ride is cute, but long. Turtle talk and Nemo are about the only things a little one would enjoy. If they are tall enough for the more thrill type rides they might have fun, but mostly epcot is a snoozefest.

It may be boring for your kids, but it certainly isn't boring for all kids; especially for kids interested in other countries and cultures.

 

[magicwishes]

We have a 7yo, 5yo, 3yo, and 1yo and are going in May. We have been every other year with our family.

2. I would definitely NOT plan on ADR's for every meal. You will spend all of your time waiting to eat or eating if you do, and you will spend a bunch that way. We do one table service meal per day. We feel like we have a good sit down meal each day that way, but it's not overwhelming. You will have more flexibility the less table sevice meals you do. We have never gone during free dining. For us, we spend less money paying out of pocket rather than buying a dining plan. Here's a good link to compare costs: http://www.distripplanner.com/

3. We have rented DVC points for all of our family trips at Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani. You could rent a 2 bedroom. It's really nice having a kitchen. We order groceries and eat breakfast and snacks from our room. It is wonderful having in room washer and dryer. The down side of renting DVC points is that you can't change or cancel your reservation. We get travel insurance. Here's a nice summary about renting points. http://www.mousesavers.com/other-disney-vacations/disney-vacation-club/#rentpoints

If we weren't staying at DVC, we would stay at All Star Music, Pop Century, or Port Orleans Riverside. Art of Animation looks amazing and has a zero entry pool, but it was priced significantly higher than the other options for us (as we bring along other adult helpers). They don't guarantee connecting/adjoining rooms, so that always make me nervous going with a standard room.

Although lots of families return for breaks and/or naps, we don't. Our younger ones take a nap in the stroller if/when they need it. There are some nice quiter cool places to stroll in every park.

4. How long will you be going? We enjoy Epcot, but it's not our most busy or favorite (Magic Kingdom is our favorite.) I wouldn't skip it unless your time is really limited. We meet characters, go on Gran Fiesta, Turtle Talk, tour the Seas, and ride The Seas with Nemo. The kids love Living with the Land. We'll take the bigger kids on Soarin and maybe Test Track. The food is great. Akershus is a great princess meal that costs less than Cinderella's Royal Table. We'll also see Illuminations for the first time with the kids this year. The biggest downside to Epcot is the incredible amount of walking which can be really tough when it's hot. For us, we use the parks with less to do as a break from the busy days at Magic Kingdom.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[cjparker0110]

Thank you for your responses thus far. I've been to WDW many times in the past, but I've never been with kids. (I was the youngest in my family).

Anyway, we are not yet decided on how long we are going. I'm leaning toward 6 days. I think the group I am going with is looking at 4 (not long enough...period). A lot will depend on convincing my wife to stay longer. She has never been and is having total sticker shock. Also, we are bringing her sister with (and paying for the most part) so we have to convince her mom to let her stay longer.

As a kid, I hated Epcot (back when it was E.P.C.O.T.) as it really didn't have much. I loved Figment (old version) and remember excitedly awaiting the opening of the Living Seas (before Nemo came along). I hated WS. As an adult, I've come to appreciate it. I didn't realize they had the Kidcot stops. That might be good to get my kids through it. I'm sure they'll enjoy Nemo and am hoping that at least a couple would be tall enough for Soarin and Test Track.

The tough part for us is going to be coordinating with our group which will be somewhere between 18-30 people!!

Thank you again!