Benefits of a Grand Gathering?

[sloneta]

I need some advice -

We are taking DH's husband at Thanksgiving (either 12 or 14 of us total ) staying in 2 two bedrooms at the BCV. I know that we can qualify as a Grand Gathering, but my questions are, what would be the benefits of that?

I know there are special "events" like character meals and such, but, honestly, his family won't pay the prices for those. Ditto on the special t-shirts and other merchandise.

So, that leaves the question - what other benefits could we get if we are a Grand Gathering? Website seems to indicate that they can help with dining - does that mean the could help with ADRs if there were any meals we all want to eat at together? We would likely only eat T-giving dinner together.

Anyone with practical experience here?

Thanks!

Tara

 

[wildernessDad]

You could all get a customized t-shirt!

 

[Peggy Sue]

Hi,

We hosted a family reunion for 14 last October ..we went through the "pain" of getting a grand gathering number ...but, frankly, it didn't do anything for us. It was indeed a pain as you have to go through the process of giving them every persons name, address, phone number, which room they were in, who did the kids belong too ...on and on and on ..took 45 minutes of my time ...

We were locked out of 2 of the 4 GG events, as they were not offered at the time. The Illuminations dinner (because of food and wine) and the one at the AK..I think because the Tusker house was under renovation ... not sure ..the other 2 we didn't care about...

I went through the process because I was told the number would identify us as a group and the room controller would make an effort to put our rooms (GV and 3 studios at OKW) near each other ... Well ...I hate to say this but the room controller didn't even know we had a grand gatherings number ...

I had written a letter 2 weeks before arrival requesting some special room location considerations because some of the family traveling with us had developed some health issues and I needed a villa in a building with an elevator or ground floor location ...Thankfully, because I took the time to write they were able to rearrange things and our GV was on the ground floor (A HC unit) and the other 3 studios were very close (2 in the same building, the other right across the street)

You don't need a GG number for assistance with large dining parties ..the group reservation line can help you with that too ...we did an AK breakfast for 12 and Crystal Palace dinner for 14 ..no problems (AK one table and Crystal Palace split between 2 tables side by side)

Good luck and enjoy your family reunion ..we had a ball!!

Peggy

 

[Inkmahm]

I'd agree. I got a grand gathering number for our family reunion for 12 in December. I gave the number when I made reservations for meals for us and I'd like to think we got special attention to keep us together as a group, but I think just doing an ADR for 12 did the trick. We didn't do any of the special GG events that were offered as we weren't interested in any of them. I had tshirts made for the group throug zazzle online. I don't know that tshirts are part of gg offereings.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We had one GG, and did participate in the Illuminations Dinner and desert. I didn't think it was worth the money. I do have a GG number for our June trip, but we're going to pass on the events offered. I think the Cruise with Peter Pan would be nice for seeing the Fireworks, but the night doesn't work for us, and there's still the feeling that our DGC are too young to be kept up that late. I was thinking Breakfast at Tony's maybe, but it's only offered on the day we leave, shucks. I did want to do something special. The family all like 1900 Park Fare, and with the Tremaine family all there, my family likes the dinner even more, so that's what we are doing for sure.

Bobbi

 

[sloneta]

That was the information I was looking for. And, based on it, I think we will pass on trying to do a grand gathering.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Another issue with being DVC and trying to be a Grand Gathering, is the 2 dont work well together.

Your reservations are made through MS. Your GG requests and all go thru GG. DVC really should have their own Group Reservation department to handle the bookings and ensuring the rooms are close together. That said, SSR did a wonderful job, but it did take some doing.

I also thought it would benefit us for our family reunion of 42 last June, but the events are all pretty expensive and I knew some would not want to spend that kind of money on top of park admission.

We ended up with several that didnt even want to go to the parks because of the heat and many more that wanted to explore on their own.

Frankly, it would have been a nightmare trying to get that many people to show up on time anywhere and it would be my credit card holding the reservation for those that did not make it

We had a wonderful time at our Family Reunion and I was so glad we didnt have those big events planned. It was a joy just being together at SSR in our Grand Villa and gathering for dinner.

Not everyone had a car either, so organizing transportation was another concern I had. It's hard to explain to newbies that they need to leave at least an hour early to get anywhere in the parks on time.

We all bought $5 Old Navy T-shirts for the 4th and our pics turned out great!

 

[MinnieGi]

We usually travel with large groups of family and friends. This past Nov. we had 22. We have never done a GG just because of the money. I can't justify the cost of those events. I've heard mixed reviews of them.

I just wanted to comment that we have never had a problem getting our group to sit together at a restaurant and I've only gone through regular dining. Our group of 22 was all accomadated at one table last year at Yacht Club Galley for Thanksgiving dinner.

We make use of regular Disney extras as a way of getting the group together. For instance scheduling a BASS fishing trip for the guys and a spa date for the ladies. We also had a night and spot where we all met up for Illuminations to watch together. We also hosted a little gathering in our villa and toured the BW with everyone.