Disney with large group

[kilee]

Next February we are going to be going to Disney w/ my parents, sister and her family. This will be my parents 1st trip in 25 years, and my sister's and her dh's first in 11 years, they are also going to be traveling w/ an 18 month old. By the time we go, it will be our 4th trip in less than 2 years.
Anyone have any tips for groups traveling together? Does it make eating harder? Also, for the baby swap, will they let 1/2 our group go and stay w/ the baby and then let the other 1/2 go on the ride? Or is it only good for one person? I am alittle nervous about taste's colliding here. We are all close, but have never traveled like this together in the past.

 

[yesdisneyfool]

We are doing this in a few days (10). What we've done is plan a few meals together, the other times it's up to what you feel like. For Parent Swap, if I remember, the CM will give you a Ticket that allows up to 4 riders. We all have cell phones so we can keep in touch during the day. (I can't see staying together everyday, all day). Go through the dining and suggest a few but who ever wants to go must commit so a PS can be made. I find that if someone is unsure include them because it is easier to get a table for less than more.

 

[Kallison]

The Baby Swap is usually for one person, if your entire party rides and one stays with the baby, they will then let the one person who stayed with the baby ride with one other person in your party.

We traveled with both sets of grandparents once to Disney and I'll never do it again. I"m glad we did it once, but it was too much stop and go.

 

[kilee]

I am afraid of bickering the entire time. My father likes to read every single detail on every sign. My mother doesn't even like rides. DH has a low patience thresh-hold. It will either turn out to be a great expierence or a dismal one. I did insist on getting our own rental car. They wanted to get one van, I want to at least have that independence. I know we will be staying off site too, they want to go as budget minded as possible.

 

[KellyJ]

Make sure everyone knows that you will split up some so each can do their own things. Planning one meal somewhere together each day is good. Lunch is generally a bit less expensive if you want to do a sit-down meal. Then everyone can meet at that time and go their separate ways afterward if need be.

Also make everyone aware of some of the different things available. For example, if your Mom thinks she doesn't enjoy rides, make sure she's aware of parades, shows, and anything else that she might really want to see. Chances are she'll enjoy lots of the rides too.

We've done groups on 3 occasions with differing degrees of success. The best time was when we were with another family only on certain days. They were staying offsite (we were onsite) and we spent 3 of our 6 days together in an agreed upon park. The worst was with my in-laws who didn't like anything we wanted to do but didn't want to go their own way. We found that we spent lots of unnecessary time going out of our way to show them things we thought they'd enjoy. It was next to impossible to get any real opinions from them and we did eventually convince them that they could wander around on their own without needing us as guides but by that time everyone was a bit tense.

Potty breaks can be another nail-biting experience... when we took my parents it got to be a standing joke with my husband to research the park map for restroom locations in the morning because my stepfather honestly had to stop at every one of them.

If it is at all possible to convince everyone to stay on-site, it will make things much, much easier. You can find good discounts that make it as cheap as staying offsite. That way it's no problem at all for people to come and go as they wish without disrupting the entire group.

Just remember that it's your vacation too and try not to get too stressed showing everyone else around.

Hope this helps some! Have a great trip... Feb. is a great time to go!

Kelly

 

[ajcolorado]

We've done a lot of group trips (though not only to Disneyworld) and here is what we have learned:

Be realistic about who is basically easy going and who is basically selfish. It is unrealistic to expect or hope that a basically selfish person is going to have a personality transformation - even if it is called the "magic" kingdom. Tell those people that you're encouraging everyone to make their own plans based on on their own preferences. You can always meet for Illuminations or Fantasmic, etc. We've decided that there people we want as friends but not as travel mates. However, you don't always get that freedom to choose when relatives are involved.

But the really nice people bring on their own set of challenges. "What do you want to do?" "Whatever you want is fine" can take tons of time. That's where using a plan like Birnbaum's or the Unofficial Guide can simplify things tremendously. No one person is asserting their will over the others, no one is obligated to make sure everyone else is happy - you're just following the neurtral plan from the neutral book. Having printouts of suggested itineraries for 1)Families w/ small children; 2)Adults only; and 3) adults and older kids can help people to feel like they're free to not "do the group thing" 100% of the time.

We're going to WDW with 29 friends & family (future enemies?) in June and we've all verbalized and agreed on one basic ground rule: No one is responsible for anyone else having a good time - if you can't have fun at WDW, you should seek therapy. However, everyone should try to behave in a way that does not negatively impact the experience of another. In short, be considerate.

Just expect that there will be irritations but that they will pass - maybe like a kidney stone, but they will pass.

Hope this helps.

 

[AZKathy]

Originally posted by ajcolorado

We're going to WDW with 29 friends & family (future enemies?) in June and we've all verbalized and agreed on one basic ground rule: No one is responsible for anyone else having a good time - if you can't have fun at WDW, you should seek therapy. However, everyone should try to behave in a way that does not negatively impact the experience of another. In short, be considerate.

Just expect that there will be irritations but that they will pass - maybe like a kidney stone, but they will pass.

Hope this helps.

Wow! You have us beat! We are going with a group of 12 this May/June. Should be a lot of fun; 7 kids to 5 adults. See you then!

 

[cgajdzisz]

Last summer we vacationed with my SIL and her family. One thing that helped was that we each had a set of 2 way radios. We didn't have to worry about being at a specific place at a particular time. That way they went on and did rides that my children were too young for and we were able to meet up again without any problem.

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

We went with my sister and niece last year and the hardest part was that my sister didn't read the guidebook I bought her so she didn't know anything about any of the parks and both her and DH really relied on me to give ideas and decide where we went and such - what a burden!! We still had a great time but only after my sister had spent some time at MK and was able to contribute to our days. DH & I also made sure we had time to ourselves to do the things we wanted to do. That was key! No, we didn't get to do everything we wanted or would have done if we were on our own but still had a great time. I agree with the other poster that never forget this is your vacation too. You can only do so much to help the other people have a good time but they need to take ownership of their vacation as well!

Have a great time!!

 

[Grumpy92]

Have everyone look over the broshures or vacation video and rank their top choices of must see things. You can also have them give you an idea on which restaurant they would like to visit. You might want to plan specific days or just the morning together and leave other times to separate and meet later for dinner. Some may want to go back to the resort for a nap or swim while others may want to hit a special attraction.

Definitely bring frs radios or cell phones. They will really help you keep in contact with each other.
Pick a place in each park to meet should someone get seperated.

Realize that you must be flexible as you will be dealing with a large group that has a variety of interest.

 

[amwhitaker]

When we go with a group, one day of the trip we wear the same colored shirts (we bought ours at Wal Mart, they were Polo shirts). Its fun to have a group picture together just as you enter the park. The shirts make it easy for us to spot one another.

 

[kilee]

Thank you for all the advice and encouragement. I am the planner, and most everything has been left to me. Even though I have several recent trips under my belt none with a baby/toddler. My neice will be 18 months old when we go. This will be a whole new expierence in itself.

 

[AZKathy]

Originally posted by amwhitaker
When we go with a group, one day of the trip we wear the same colored shirts (we bought ours at Wal Mart, they were Polo shirts). Its fun to have a group picture together just as you enter the park. The shirts make it easy for us to spot one another.

I don't know if your Disney Store has this, but we got t-shirts there on sale that has Sleeping Beauty's Castle in the background with Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto on the front dressed up all touristy that says "Disney Fun Seeker". We found enough for all 12 of us for our trip this summer. Even convinced the dads to wear them!!!!!

 

[smileybrat]

When we go with a group, one day of the trip we wear the same colored shirts

if you do wear the same colored shirts, be sure to pick a unique color that is easy to spot. be sure to have your picture taken together too.

 

[donac]

I have gone many times with a large group (I think we have only been down there 5 or 6 days with just our family) Make sure that you plan some away time from the group. It will save your sanity.

Also realize that eating with a big group takes a lot more time than if it is just your family. You get talking and the time flies. Just be aware.

 

[wdwnutze]

We went to WDW with a group of 13. Some of us had been several times while others were having their 1st trip. The biggest thing we did was to split up at different times. Not everyone is going to do the same things at the same times. We had 1 family that wanted to sleep late and another group of us that were early risers. Whoever was up early went and did their thing and then met up with the rest of the group later in the day. We used our cell phones to be able to set up meeting times and places. As long as you set soem ground rules beforehand you should be all set.

 

[yesdisneyfool]

These are all great ideas. We are leaving in a few days and I am the planner too. What I've done is set an outline for each day (very general) such as:

Saturday - AK until about 4:00 then back to OKW for some R&R then later to DtD for some shopping.

Sunday - MK in the a.m. lunch for 11:50 at The Plaza Restaurant then to OKW for some R&R. Hope to Epcot later, dinner at Nine Dragons and end the day with Illuminations.

All the time in between is up to each person or group. We'll see how this works as we will be doing this again with in-laws 11/2004.