Big group vacation question...

[Cyco13]

Okay I have a tendency ramble so I promise to try to keep it short. The long and short of it is this. I love Disney and made it to DisneyWorld for the first time 6 years ago on my honeymoon. This past December my DW and I took my 2 1/2 year old DD for the first time. At the time we invited my parents and my DW parents to go with us. None of them seemed to think Disneyworld would be a place they would want to vacation. But mother-in-law decided, "What the heck." Needless to say, we had a BLAST!!! And upon our return when my parents and my father-in-law heard what a great time we had and saw all of our pictures, they wanted to go. So we all decided we would plan a trip for when our new son, born 2/21/06, was about to turn 3(so he would be free for the most part)that would be 12/08. Well since we decided this, we now have my sister and her husband, 2 aunts, and another family of 3 wanting to go with us on that trip. That brings our total up to 15 people and they are all looking at me to figure out how we can all stay at the same resort, same flights and that sort of thing.

Has anyone every planned anything for a group this size? Should I just go to my travel agent at AAA like I've done for the past 2 trips. Or should I contact Disney directly. I've read that it is insane to try and plan to keep everyone together all the time and that we should just settle for trying to eat at least one meal together a day and then everyone go there own ways. But I would be willing to hear any suggestions on this as well.

Thanks

 

[bexareaglecheryl]

Sounds like you're going to have a memorable trip. We did a Magical Gatherings trip in November 2004 with 13 family members and it was a blast.I did all the planning because I was the most "Disney knowledgeable" and because I enjoyed doing it. PLUS, I had the time to do it. That's the most important decision. Do you have the time to do it?

We had a family meeting first and we all sat down and talked about generalities: When we would visit, what kind of lodging (on site/off site, price, facilities, etc) we all wanted, how many days we would visit the parks etc. I then made all the arrangements for lodging and made the down payment (they then paid me back). I gave them all the lodging info so they could pay on it if they wanted. I made arrangements for all the rooms.

We kind of talked about whether we wanted to stay attached at the hip or meet up for lunch/dinner or special events. I made ADR's for most of the days at a sit down restaurant so we could all meet up and relax and have a great time telling about the day. Some of the family members kept together (kids the same age and grandparents) and some went off on their own. We did an Illuminations Cruise on our first night so that was a wonderful kick off. We also did Chef Mickey's, Fantasmic Dinner Package, Prime Time Cafe, Tony's Town Square at parade time so the kids could watch from the porch, Whispering Canyon Cafe, and a few I can't remember.

Each family member was left to purchase their Passes on their own so they could decide how many days they wanted to visit the parks. I planned off days too. As for the airfare, we designated one credit card for all the tickets (my dad's) and then we paid him back. That way we all got on the plane together. Or eveyone can be left on their own to get to Orlando however they please. After all the planning, we got together a week before the trip to kind of go over everything again, budget, times, etc and I had an Information Sheet to hand out that had ALL the pertinent information on it so they wouldn't have to come to me every day of the trip to ask what was going on for the day.We all had a great time and are looking forward to doing it again. It was sooo much fun.

Disney's website has a great tool for Magical Gatherings and special videos and planning guides if you want to do it on your own. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/experience/experienceLanding?id=MagicalGatheringsExperiencePage There are special phone #'s to call for Gatherings .

Another yhing I did was subscribe to TourGuideMike so they'd have a great resource to go to for Disney World info. I also sent them links to a lot of DisneyWorld info sites such as this one, allearsnet.com, and several others ( in case they wanted to bone up on their Disney knowledge but I don't think they used it very much.)

Ultimately only you can decide if you want to put the time and effort into the planning. I enjoyed every minute of it. I didn't make any decisions that I didn't feel they had empowered me to make, but they kind of knew that I would have a better idea of where to eat, what times to meet, procedures, etc. They are still thanking me a year and a half later. It was a lot of work, researching and phone calls, but like I said I had the time and want-to. A travel agent can be of great help to you too. If you're not a DISboard-a-holic and don't read all the Disneyworld related websites and discount-related boards/newsletter a travel agent can really be of help.

Hope you have a great time no matter what decision to make. YOU need to enjoy the trip too.

 

[denecarter]

You might also look into a Disney travel specialist... I always do all of my own planning/calling, etc. But last summer I used AAA for my Disneyland trip (I wanted the unlimited fastpasses that came with the AAA package). While my agent wasn't bad, Disney was just one of the things she did... I didn't ever get the impression that she knew much more about it than the average person.

Another example of a non-specialist agent not being 100% up on things... the choir teacher at my school decided to do the WDW family vacation thing. I could tell from the questions he asked me and comments he made that their agent, from a little town in Texas, might have been a perfectly lovely agent, she just didn't know enough about how WDW works. For instance, she basically told them they could make their dining reservations when they got there the first week of June. For DD18 and I (who will be there at the same time), that might be fine since we're not looking to go to any of the hot spots. But they are on the DDP and have two little girls (7 & 9). They had no clue that to dine with the princesses, they should have ALREADY called a LONG time ago.

I personally, would love to take on the challenge of a 15 person trip... 9 is my largest so far. BUT, I've been to WDW 10 times and I'm a compulsive planner.

If you want to do things yourself, you do have a little time to learn all the secrets. If you don't want to do the actual calling, you could be the contact person with the agent... or just pick the agent and let everyone else know who to call. But use a Disney specialist... that's a lot of people to rely on someone who just does Disney sometimes.

 

[KimRaye]

Sounds like a great bunch you having going!

We are a group of 16, going in June. We have 5 separate family groups. 4 have never been before. So, I am heading up the planning, arranging, etc. but, with the help of a Dreams Unlimited agent. I did make group airline arrangments for 10 of us, and I knew basically everything else we wanted but I don't have the additional time to make those CRT calls after spending most of my time explaining things to the families, sometimes 4 times over, and over, and over...... So, that's where Dreams came in, took all my ideas and plans, and made all the calls, ressies, ADRs, etc. Booked us as a Grand Gathering also. Through their system we were also able to make our own payments with our own credit cards, and everything worked out great! I didn't front any large amount of money, and everyone paid their share.

So, it's up to you really. Whatever you have the time for, and whether you want to, like bexareaglecheryl said.

Have a great trip and a Magical time!

 

[DISUNC]

Cyco13,

First off, CONGRATULATIONS on the birth of your son!
Just 2 months old and already he has a HUGE trip being planned for him to WDW. PERFECT!

Since you do have some time to plan this, I would first start off on the Disney Vacation dvd/cd. You can get this FREE from the Disney website.
They have a whole section dedicated to planning a Grand Gatherings. Also stick with this board for INVALUABLE advice, tips...and few laughs!

I am suprise that these boards dont have a "grand gathering" section!!!! Maybe the time has come?

Also, since you are dealing with a big group etc...I will suggest you keep very good notes!

Thats all I got, for now!

Welcome to the Boards Good luck with your planning
And ENJOY the children!
Andy