Can this be done? Planning for 14...

[jenfur]

I usually plan our family trip which usually involves 9 people. This year my DB wants to pay for my sister's family to go. Right now it is hush hush becasue he wants to make sure he can, he works construction and going to Chad (yeah, Africa) and making $$$. However, I know my DB and while his intentions are always good, sometimes his plans fall through. ANYWAY- I feel as though I am up to the challenge of planning such a large trip and I have wanted my sister to go with us for years. I think the best thing to do however is to keep it quiet until the trip is actually paid for. My main concern is the ADRs. I still need a little more schooling on how they work, but my call dates are in June. I have some pretty specific places I want to go and I am worried about 1. getting a table for 14 in the first place and 2. what happens if they don't go. DH says I should just get seperate ADRs for each group, but I really don't like that either. If we all eat together, it is easier to get everyone to split up in the parks- which is a good thing. How would you handle the situation?

 

[Pumbaa_]

I am with your husband, make separate ADR's for the same time and when you get there, ask to be sat near each other. You can also break up the families and mix it up at the tables.

I hope he comes through!

 

[JeffZ]

I went at easter '07---me and 15 other people.!! My good buddy is a DVC member and put together a trip of high school friends and family . a total of 4 families @ the World. We actually did Four dinners together--all 16 of us. We ate at Hoop Dee Do, Coral reef,Chef Mickeys on Easter,and Hollywood and Vine. The only tough one to get was HDDR. It ended up being the late seating @9;30--but fun was had by all.
Make sure you call at your 180 day mark and if you don't get what you want --keep trying.
Now we split up at the parks--i think it would be too tough to drag a big group around and try to get on the same ride at the same time. We had children of differing ages /interests so we split into smaller groups and met up for lunch/snacks at different times of the day. All in all it worked out great and would go again with 15 people in a heartbeat. Good Luck!!

 

[thatgirl23]

I would agree with your husband about making seperate reservations for each family, simply becuase if something happens and a few people don't go and then reservations need to be changed, you could run into problems. However, if I understand it right, you should be able to "link" the reservations together so that each family has their own but they know you're all together and can then try to seat you together. With that many people, you're bound to be split between tables even if you made one reservation for the whole group anyways.

Whatever you choose to do, good luck!

Btw, it looks like we're arriving the same day.

 

[mickeynut1]

I would make all the ADRs under your name as a party of 14, but have them make it for 2 tables (one for each family)....that way if your sister doesn't go, you can cancel her table but still have the ADR for your family. This is what a CM suggested to me when we were planning a trip last year with another family. Good luck and I hope it all works out and everybody is able to go.