Big Groups - your best tips?

[jmakesmagic]

Planning on a big group trip in November (16 adults in their 20s/30s, no kids). 3 of us are Disney regulars and 5 came with us to on our last big-ish trip in 2017 (9 people). The rest have never been/have only been as kids. I booked 2 2BR villas at BC for the kitchen and proximity to Epcot. Going to try to split up a bit during the day but everyone is pretty happy with going with the flow. I've asked if anyone has anything specific they know they want to hit but they're pretty much leaving it up to me. What are you favorite/best big group trip tips? Best dining options? TIA!

 

[tinkerjo]

Spitting up some is good. Too many in a party slows down what you can accomplish. I would send some newbies with some regulars because if you have never been you have no clue how to manage Disney and they will be miserable. 16 is a big group to handle for dining and it depends on budget and likes a lot. Our group has always enjoyed the hoop Dee doo musical review (not open yet anyway) but it’s also pricy. I’m sure others will have dining ideas. We usually eat in a lot I just can’t can’t stomach eating out all the time and want some real food!!

 

[FCDub]

The best tip for 16 people is don’t do it!

Kidding. Have fun.

 

[Best Aunt]

everyone is pretty happy with going with the flow

Does this mean that they will let someone else plan, and do what that person says to do?

Or does this mean that they do not like a structured day?

Disney World is not a "go with the flow" kind of place, unless someone wants to spend their entire vacation waiting in long lines.

Will they listen if you tell them to meet at the bus stop at a particular time, so that you can get to a park for Rope Drop, and that when they get to the park they will do A, B and C? Or do they plan to roll out of bed whenever they feel like it, and randomly choose which rides to do?

I would worry that everyone would defer to the "go with the flow" people, and then no one would have a good time.

 

[jmakesmagic]

Does this mean that they will let someone else plan, and do what that person says to do?

Or does this mean that they do not like a structured day?

Disney World is not a "go with the flow" kind of place, unless someone wants to spend their entire vacation waiting in long lines.

Will they listen if you tell them to meet at the bus stop at a particular time, so that you can get to a park for Rope Drop, and that when they get to the park they will do A, B and C? Or do they plan to roll out of bed whenever they feel like it, and randomly choose which rides to do?

I would worry that everyone would defer to the "go with the flow" people, and then no one would have a good time.

go with the flow as in they’re happy to go along with whatever the regulars plan! Half of them came with us before and know there’s a lot of planning involved so they’re very happy to trust our plans and follow along.

 

[_19disnA]

I think you should discuss before the trip what everyone's interests are. Some may prefer one park over the others. Walking around as one large group will not be any fun and you end up following/doing whatever the person leading likes to do. At a park, some may want to shop, others want to do rides while others just want to walk around. Others may prefer to spend more time at the pool at the hotel. No amount of advance planning will make the ride lines any shorter, so I don't necessarily see how excessive planning will be of any advantage.

Even if you decide to split up and meet for a meal, many restaurants don't have tables large enough for everyone to sit together and from a practical standpoint, even if they did, you can't talk to someone at the far end of the table with that many people. Everyone may not like the same types of food, so even for meals you might choose to split up.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I haven’t planned for a group that big but our most recent trip was a multi-family trip (7 people total) and our upcoming trip has expanded to a total of 11.

As the main planner I felt like the most important thing was to figure out everyone’s hopes & expectations ahead of time, so I put together a survey on SurveyMonkey. It was something like 30 questions and covered all kinds of things, from how much time should we spend together as a group vs apart, do you like to get up early, how would you like to structure our days, do you get motion sickness, how do you want to handle dining, how many sit down meals per day. Then the specifics of which restaurants, which attractions, and mostly importantly I made everyone choose 1-3 things they consider a can’t miss.

based on the answers I put together a tentative itinerary using excel, and then we had a group meeting, made changes and adjustments, and then I came up with our finalized version.I realize that sounds a little nuts but it worked for us. We wound up with a trip that was scheduled but not OVER scheduled. I built free time into every day and while I tried to accommodate everyone I also let everyone know that they absolutely did not have to do ANYTHING they didn’t want to - it’s their vacation. But I made the one plan and if they wanted to do anything else it was on them to make those plans.

 

[holden]

I’d take the “no pressure” approach. “We are doing XYZ, no pressure if you want to do something else.” Meals will be challenging to coordinate. Maybe try to organize two or three meals together? Perhaps let people for fend for themselves otherwise? I’d expect they will split up into smaller groups.

 

[Tigerlulu]

I’m planning for 15 people in two weeks.
I made 2 reservations a day, I plan to get with everyone a day or two ahead of time and decide to keep or cancel them. I’m going to usher those who want to go with me to rope drop (probably everyone) and otherwise, everyone can do what they want. I made the general trip accommodations and plans. Details will be go with the flow.

 

[mouschievous]

We're a group of 19 so far, expecting to be 23 or 25 by the time it is all said and done. We're taking the "here's what we're planning, you're welcome to join or not" approach.

Right now, we're planning a hang out time around the pool one evening, and lunch together at Paddlefish another afternoon. Because of our size, we have to go through events for any meals we want to do together, so that changes our options. Beyond that, everyone is on their own and if they want to do what I'm doing, awesome, if not that's fine too.

A couple years ago we did DLR as a group of 11. On day one, we all stayed together the whole time because 9 were brand new and knew nothing about DL. On days 2 and 3 we split up a lot more. The day all together was fun, but more than one day like that would have been no good.

 

[Pookie9922]

I’m planning for 15 people in two weeks.
I made 2 reservations a day, I plan to get with everyone a day or two ahead of time and decide to keep or cancel them. I’m going to usher those who want to go with me to rope drop (probably everyone) and otherwise, everyone can do what they want. I made the general trip accommodations and plans. Details will be go with the flow.

Do most restaurants have space for parties that size? We will be a party of 9 (5 adults, 4 kids) and I'm worried about trying to get ADRs.

 

[tguz]

My major tip would be to get input from anyone who had any and agree on a resort so someone expecting a Value price do not get blindsided by a Deluxe price. After that, get together and everyone book their own reservation. I have read about a lot of trips where one party paid for everything and had trouble getting reimbursed or people cancelled out at the last minute.

 

[_19disnA]

Do most restaurants have space for parties that size? We will be a party of 9 (5 adults, 4 kids) and I'm worried about trying to get ADRs.

Even the restaurants that have large tables or can push them together still doesn't make it practical to eat as one huge group. You likely won't be able to have a conversation with someone at the far end of the table if in a very large group. With large groups might be more practical to let everyone decide where to eat since they might have different preferences for the types of food they like.

 

[jmakesmagic]

Do most restaurants have space for parties that size? We will be a party of 9 (5 adults, 4 kids) and I'm worried about trying to get ADRs.

I'm planning on trying for ADRs at 6:00. Probably going to divide group into smaller ones if i have to. At 7, I'm going to try to call the number for large group reservations and see what they can do for me.

 

[jmakesmagic]

My major tip would be to get input from anyone who had any and agree on a resort so someone expecting a Value price do not get blindsided by a Deluxe price. After that, get together and everyone book their own reservation. I have read about a lot of trips where one party paid for everything and had trouble getting reimbursed or people cancelled out at the last minute.

great tip! i was definitely up front with them about the costs for reservations and i have spreadsheets with all of our costs. we do a lot of long weekend trips as a group so they're all pretty good about deposits and money expectations.

 

[Paula25]

I've planned for big groups (7-22 people) every time we go. Usually we have at least 2 who are newbies. You got some great advice already, I'll just repeat what I found to be the most important things.

1. Manage expectations about the logistics of dining out. Decide and communicate in advance the how each group will pay for dining if you make the reservation together. If you have a discount you want to share with some in the group (DVC or TIW) this can get tricky, as one person has to pay for everyone who will be getting the discount.

2. Again on the budget. Create a general budget per person and communicate how much things cost, including dining but probably not souvenirs. Again, manage their expectations.

3. Great, great advice about letting everyone choose whether or not they want to follow your plan. I made a plan one year and on the first day a couple decided to sleep in instead of getting in line for our first ride. When they realized what they missed, they got up with us every day after that. It only took once for them to understand the value of the plan!

4. Great advice about getting others who understand WDW to give you their ideas about the plan.

5. Don't wait for anyone at the park. You'll be standing in front of restrooms all day. Give them the plan and tell them it's up to them to keep up. If they want to stay with the group, they'll find a way to catch up.

6. Just because you make the plan does not make you responsible for everyone else's good time. That's up to them.

You'll have a great time! Going with a bunch of people is terrific fun!