"Grand Gathering" input needed

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Okay I know Grand Gathering is WDW....

I have been put in charge of planning our HUGE family trip to DLR next summer. Dates have not been set yet, but will be soon. There will be 10 adults and 10 kids from ages 18 mo-13 yr. The nice thing is we don't have to stay in the same hotel (I'd actually prefer not to!) but how do I even begin to plan this. Has anyone gone with a large group like this? What are some good tips for planning? Room rec? TIA!!!

Cast of characters:
FIL & MIL
Myself, DH + 4 kids (ages 18 mo - 8yr)
SIL, her DH + 4 kids (ages 7-13 yr)
SIL, her DH + 2 kids (both under 3)
SIL & her DH

 

[disneedee]

i've never done the wdw magic gathering but have put together a few trips for our family for up to 23, some were day trippers though being from s. cal.
some from oregon, some from texas. anyway. our favorite was a 3bdrm in grand cal. had 15 sleeping in the 3 bdrm and the rest were day trippers. it was an unforgetable trip. having a home base for everyone was great. imo. and the cost was not as bad with 4 family groups sharing the 3bdrm. we have done some other great trips too using dlh.

if staying together is not in your plans then making an effort to get together will be slightly more complicated.

i would highly recommend a close hotel with all those little ones. you will need a break and having to go to the parking garage in and out of parking lot will be more cumbersom than a hotel in walking distance.

do use the photo pass and put everyones pictures together so you can share each others. schedule meal times ahead so you can all meet up and change partners, groups, kids.

have fast pass runners collect fast passes in the morning while you stand in line at fantasy land or toon town.

schedule a parade together. have someone designated to find and save a spot.

have connecting rooms with someone so that you can leave the kids at nite in the hotel and others can see dl at nite.

schedule a group photo together. the visa character meet'n greet worked good for us for this.

if someone doesn't make a scheduled event don't worry about it. no way to keep a group that large together and happy. you can always photoshop them into the picture.

share tips with the group ahead, and point them all to your favorite websites.
some people wont read websites anyway so just email them your favorite hints. adults can order kids meals. main street has free coffee refills. bring your own water bottles. have a fanny pack with snacks on each kid....

bring your cell phones.

i love disney. planning a smaller group trip now for january. 15 of us.
enjoy

 

[firefly87]

We always seem to travel with a large group, although not quite as large as yours. But here are some things we have found when travelling.......

We are the "matching shirt" family. We try to have matching shirts for every day of the trip. Some of those shirts are the $5.00 Old Navy t-shirts from 4th of July, some are Disney shirts, some are just a plain solid color shirt. Back in March, we put the kids all in tie-dye shirts. My point being is that when you have a large group, it's soooo much easier to find and spot people when you all have on the same color and you're not trying to remember who was wearing what. You could even make up some fun Family Reunion at Disneyland shirts ahead of time. And we always take a group photo each day.
Oh, that reminds me.....back in Nov. 2004, we went to WDW (did the Grand Gathering too!) and we all had on long sleeve black t-shirts. On the front left chest, it said Orlando 2004. On the back was a large skull & crossbones and underneath it said : The NEW Pirates of the Caribbean and then all of our names were underneath that. We got ALOT of compliments on them!

For us, instead of renting multiple hotel rooms, we rent a house nearby. We find them on VRBO.com. We are renting a house in a couple weeks and I think it's around $250 a night? can't remember now...... Anyway, for 7 adults and 5 kids it's very much worth our money. We are able to cook breakfast, pack lunches & snacks to take in and then come home for a hot meal. We found that if we ate out every night, we'd be facing a $200-$300 bill. So it was much more economical to eat in. Plus we have the benefit of a washer & dryer which is a God-send with young kids!!!! Obviously you won't find one house to fit all of you but maybe you could pick your favorite people to room with and the others could find hotel rooms?

There is no way you can get everyone to do the same thing at the same time, so maybe plan a few scheduled events ahead of time like Disneedee said. Set one meal aside to do a character meal together or ?? Maybe set a certain time each day, like say every day at 11:00 everyone meets in front of the castle to re-group and check-in. Everyone will have their own "plan" and if you can try not to control it all (something my mother has not yet mastered! ) it will be a much more enjoyable trip for everyone.

That's all I can think of now....I'm sure more will come to mind later!

 

[DLR29]

I have not done 20 people, but this past December we did 13. Surprisingly we got a ton done (18 rides + parade + fireworks in 1 day. Check out my TR in my sig), but it took a lot of planning and flexibility.

I totally agree with disneedee about having a FP runner. That was me. It is a pain to get a ton of FPs all at once, but so worth it for the rest of your party. I also agree about the parade, although I would stake out seats further in advance so that the little ones can see everything.

I don't know for how many days you are going, but make sure that there's tons of breaks and rest times for the younger ones (and the adults too lol).

If you don't stick together all the time, try and at least have meals together.



I think the most important thing is to have everybody on the same page. Make sure everybody (kids and adults) knows that you will be doing things together and catering to different wants. Also, make sure you follow through and make sure to do things that each person wants to do. If that means splitting up, then that might be the easiest option. However, I feel like everyone will have a lot more fun if you are able to cooperate while spend a lot of time together.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

All of wonderful suggestions by the PP's are making me want to plan a big family event at Disneyland! I was thinking as I read through the suggestions that putting a plan similar to the Dis Diva's itinerary might work for you. A general first meeting time, some morning events, some tours, some planned ride meets, some evening meals, etc. Maybe assigning different people different jobs: one person to organize a tour, one person/group to save spots for a parade, one person to make dining reservations, one person to plan t-shirts, etc. That way you could spread out the planning and not feel responsible for everyone's happiness through the entire trip.

Have fun! I always enjoy reading your posts and I'll enjoy seeing how your trip planning unfolds on this adventure!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Thanks for all the suggestions. SIL's kids (7, 7, 10, 13) have never been and the rest of us really want to make it special for them. My in-laws are paying for all hotels but I'm not sure how many days yet. With such age differences, I know we can't all stay together the whole trip. I think we will schedules meet-ups for certain rides (POTC, etc.), parades, fireworks, meals....

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

For us, instead of renting multiple hotel rooms, we rent a house nearby. We find them on VRBO.com. We are renting a house in a couple weeks and I think it's around $250 a night? can't remember now...... Anyway, for 7 adults and 5 kids it's very much worth our money. We are able to cook breakfast, pack lunches & snacks to take in and then come home for a hot meal. We found that if we ate out every night, we'd be facing a $200-$300 bill. So it was much more economical to eat in. Plus we have the benefit of a washer & dryer which is a God-send with young kids!!!! Obviously you won't find one house to fit all of you but maybe you could pick your favorite people to room with and the others could find hotel rooms?

I found a couple house that sleeps 20!!! Now I just have to figure out if the room configurations will work with everyone...plus I need dates!!

 

[firefly87]

I found a couple house that sleeps 20!!! Now I just have to figure out if the room configurations will work with everyone...plus I need dates!!

That's great!!! Hope it all works out for you. On our upcoming trip, we are actually bringing some blow-up mattresses for the kids to sleep on the floors. We wanted to make sure all the adults had a decent sized bed and I think it will just work better for us that way. Some of the kids will have a bed, some will be on a mattress.

I think you will have fun planning this! All of our vacations (even non-Disney) are with big groups, so if you have any questions just let me know!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We have finally agreed on dates!

June 17-23, Father's day weekend, plus my MILs bday. Not my ideal dates, but they will have to do.

So far my plans include:
GK for Father's Day brunch
Dodger's game for my MIL for her bday (she's a big time dodger fan!)

 

[firefly87]

We have finally agreed on dates!

June 17-23, Father's day weekend, plus my MILs bday. Not my ideal dates, but they will have to do.

So far my plans include:
GK for Father's Day brunch
Dodger's game for my MIL for her bday (she's a big time dodger fan!)

Yay! Now you can start the FUN planning! Like I said, if you have any other "large group" questions, I'm more than happy to put in my two cents!

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

Sounds like your gonna have a great time!
Were going in a couple of weeks with 12 adults and 2 kids and were staying at a timeshare by the garden walk. Were all very excited. We made reservations to have dinner the first night all together and thats it.
Im sure we will break up into sections and do our own things and then re-connect later to eat dinner or catch the parade. I dont want to over plan because i know things dont always work out the way you want them too. lol
Have fun and enjoy your vacation!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Yay! Now you can start the FUN planning! Like I said, if you have any other "large group" questions, I'm more than happy to put in my two cents!

Thanks. After your upcoming trip I'd love to hear what worked and what you would've done differently.