Family trip - for 26 during Christmas Week!

[Betty X]

A friend of mine is going to WDW with her family (age range from 2-72 or so). She has never been and neither has anyone in her family. They are all Canadian.

They would like to rent a house (or two?) close to Disney. They are going on a cruise (I don't think it's a Disney Cruise) for 4 days and at Disney for 3 days during the week between Christmas and New Year's 2005.

Where do they start and what should they do?

Any words of advice?

My husband and I have been going every year since 1999 (without children). This has me stumped because I consider myself a pro at Disney but I just can't come up with any really good advice for her!

Please help!

 

[cabmom]

http://www.a1vacations.com/journey/1/

This is a home we stayed at for the May long weekend. Very, very close to disney. It was a beautiful home as well.

Marilynn

 

[CharlesTD]

We have an upcoming trip with 21 people we are all staying at DVC resorts they could look at renting points for a couple 2 bedroom units and a studio or 2 depending on the size of each family going. There are lots of options for them out there if you have a few more specifics let us know and I am sure some one on here will have more ideas. We have a week at Disney then a cruise then back to Disney. How large are teh family groups ie family of 5 family of 2 family of 7 etc that will also help with decisions on rooms etc. The 1 and 2 bedroom DVC units have laundry facilities in them along with full kitchens etc and the grand villa will sleep 12 without a problem and each room has it's own bathroom and shower and tub etc.

 

[NancyK]

I don't have any real advice but are they aware of how busy it is between Christmas and New Years? The parks are at capacity and as newbies I think they will be really overwhelmed. I hope they have a wonderful time, but they need to research well to maximize their time in the parks.

 

[Pokemom]

We had a group of 20 at WDW last Christmas (the week before Christmas - much less busy). I would recommend staying on property as it makes the transportation much easier. People can then come and go as they please on the buses. The older people and people with small children often want to go back to the hotel before the teenagers and twenty somethings. With a big group we make a rule that nobody has to do what somebody else is doing. It makes for less arguments. We make a general schedule of which parks to do on which days and make Priority Seatings for the meals we want to eat together. Then people can split up in the parks if they want and just meet for lunch or dinner.