Anyone gone to WDW with 12 people??

[Hillbeans]

Ok, my dilema. My DH, DS and I just came back from a 7 day deluxe trip to WDW. Now, my MIL wants to plan a trip for all their family which includes my FIL, my brother's family of 5, us, and perhaps one other brother and a grandchild.

When we went to WDW, we had a fairly unlimited budget, stayed a few nights at a deluxe resort and had Hopper passes from 5 years ago. My in-laws are on a limited budget and i'm afraid don't have any clue how EXPENSIVE everything in Disney is. My SIL and BIL will faint for sure when they realize they'll have to pay $100 for their 2 girls to get into MK for one day. They really don't have any money however my MIL offered to pay for a hotel or house.

I think a family trip to WDW would be great however i'm very concerned about their finances, where we'll stay, etc. They also want to go for 8 nights. My fear is we'll get there and we'll be the only ones going to MK, AK, etc. while everyone else can't afford the rest. I also don't want to spend 8 nights in a dump on my vacation.

HELP!

 

[jkovick]

Why not refer them to wdwig.com? It is a great website that has room descriptions and prices, ticket prices, menus and all the prices from the restaurants etc - so that your in-laws know ahead of time just how much $$ they may be looking at spending. Good Luck!

 

[baloo722]

went with 20 last year. I did all of the planning. Many were unclear why they had to arrive at PS on time...BECAUSE THE REST CANNOT SIT UNTIL YOU DO!!! I will never do it again.

 

[Scoootch]

Sounds like the best thing you can do is to educate and prepare them as much ahead of time as you can. Let them know what park passes and accomadations and food is going to run ahead of time so that you won't get down there and no one was prepared.

Best of luck, I know it's not easy when trying to plan for that big a group to go together.

 

[faith]

Definitely get together and discuss the cost with all of them. I agree DWorld can really be sticker shock...food costs especially. The value resorts ( AllStars ) aren't really any more expensive than a regular hotel if you go during value season. They only allow 4 in a room there, but maybe you can put an extra person in with a smaller family? Just make sure they know what kind of money will be needed for the tickets and food in the park. If driving take your own snacks, peanut butter, pop tarts, water etc.

 

[disneyatl]

My side of the family is planning a WDW trip in July '04. There will be 12 of us total - 5 kids and 7 adults. We've already decided because of different budgets that if even if each family stayed in different resorts that would be ok. We can always meet up at the park. Maybe your inlaws would be better off staying at an offsite resort. Even though it doesn't give you the whole Disney experience, it's a great option for people of a budget. As for tickets, the park hopper passes are the best buy (as I'm sure you know). It's costing us basically $300 for our DD and her friend for 5 day park hopper plus passes. I wouldn't want to pay $100 just for one day either.

Good luck!

 

[Hillbeans]

I guess i'm just used to planning my own WDW trips and we are going to be with 4 other adults and 5 kids who are all going to want to go off in different directions. I almost don't want to go if it's going to be a low budget no frills adventure, and I know that sounds mean. After just staying at the AKL, it's hard to imagine staying anywhere else.

I used coupon codes for the car, food, and a code for the AKL and our trip still cost $2500.

 

[ducklite]

I once organized a trip for a group of about 50.

From the beginning we knew that we would never all agree on where to stay. So we all made our own reservations. Accomodations ranged from off-site to a townhouse and a grand villa at the DI, to tent camping at FW, to SoG, the CBR, to the BC. (Can you see why we never would have all agreed?)

We drew up a loose touring plan, and had the morning meeting place, lunch, and dinner planned out. If people wanted to join in, they were responsible for getting themselves there. If they didn't show, we left without them. Often those who wanted to sleep in would meet us for lunch, skipping the morning plans.

As far as PS, we drew up a dining plan and asked everyone to determine which meals they planned on joining for. Again, if they didn't show by the PS time, we asked to be seated without them.

Everyone was warned that they needed to be at the meeting/dining place ten minutes before the "start" or they'd get left behind. After the first time we left without them, people got there on time.

We also told everyone in advance that they'd need to get park admission, and e-mailed out info on costs. They were also given *approximate* costs for each meal that there was a group PS for. If they couldn't afford it, then they were welcome to find something else to do. We knew that not everyone would be interested in everything, and welcomed people to make other plans between themselves as well.

It worked out really well, and the one person that kept complaining about food costs was gently reminded that A. she had known the costs before we left, and B. she had the option of dining elsewhere.

We worked in a variety of meals: character, bufets, moderate, counter service, and upscale, so that there was something for everyone, and even those on a tight budget could dine with the group for some of the meals.

We basically made everyone responsible for themselves as far as air travel/ground transportation.

Hope this helps.

Anne

 

[helenk]

This is what I am doing for my family for next year:
I got all the prices for a week in WDW for a moderate, a deluxe and then a stay with 3 nights moderate and 4 nights deluxe. I priced it with the rates without any discounts and provide this to my sister and my mom and rest of the family. I also gave them the prices of the hopper passes and the unlimited magic passes or what ever they are called now.
I then told them that if we can get some discounts the prices would be lower, but to budget using the cost that are listed now.
And since we are planning on going next August this will give everyone more than a year to get the money together.
I also plan on using Dreams Unlimited for my reservations, they will keep and eye on the discounts as they become available so that I do not have to go crazy watching for rates for 4 hotel rooms.
I also advised that I wanted to have dinner one night at Ohana, one night at the Hoop de Doo and at least one meal at Chef Mickeys, so they can plan on that expense as well, or opt not to go at all for those meals.
If you give them an idea now on what to plan for and to budget for you, you should be able to have a great vacation without "staying in a dump"
Good luck!

 

[Hillbeans]

Thank you Ducklite and Helen. I guess a WDW trip with a large group can be done. I guess I feel like i'm such an expert now with all things Disney and these boards help so much. My MIL wants to plan, however no one in her family including her has ever been (besides my DH)

My SIL is a chronic complainer about money because they never have any. I only get 2 weeks vacation a year and try and go somewhere relaxing and fun and don't worry about spending a little extra money.

I think i'll try and organize a night sometime in the fall to sit everyone down and plot out a realistic budget and loose schedule of what parks everyone wants to go to. Not everyone has to do everything with each other and that should be expected.