Grand Gathering

[twoexcitedtosleep]

Has anyone done a Grand Gathering? What is it? What have you done? Any special dinner reservations? Thanks I'm very new DVC owner and can't get enough...

 

[w-family]

We just booked one for August. There are 13 of us and we are going to the evening Animal Safari and dinner at Tusker House. We have never done it before, and are very excited. Which one are you looking at?

 

[JasonDVC]

we'll be doing one next summer with 9 people. Looking for similar info.

PP, I've noticed quite a few RI'ers that are DVC owners!

 

[joepest6]

Grand Gatherings are good way to get your rooms close to each other. Also there are a few grand gathering events. I have done the fire works event it was great.

 

[twoexcitedtosleep]

I don't know anything about it...Any information would be helpful as long with likes and dislikes. Thanks DVC is so much fun. Finally, I have other Disney lovers to identify with.

 

[wildernessDad]

I don't know anything about it...Any information would be helpful as long with likes and dislikes. Thanks DVC is so much fun. Finally, I have other Disney lovers to identify with.

You asked for it...

How DVC Members Can Set Up Grand Gatherings (GG's)
Hi, all! I thought that I'd post a procedure, that I basically discovered by trial and error (mostly error), on how DVC members can set up grand gatherings. I will list it as steps.

1. Think about who you want to invite and what DVC resort or resorts you all want to stay in. Your GG party can stay in multiple Disney Resorts.

2. Check out the special products for Grand Gatherings here.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...dingPage?id=GrandGatheringsLandingPage&bhcp=1

3. Assuming that you are the 'group leader,' make sure that you get all of the names AND addresses of everybody in your party AND also get their ages. Disney needs their ages so they can put in whom in the party can officially check in. Nobody under age may do so. Also get the information on which DISNEY resort they are staying in. They cannot stay offsite and do this.

4. Plan out what GG special products (GG events), if any, your group wants to experience.

5. AS SOON AS YOU CAN, call DVC Member Services (MS) at 1-800-xxx-xxxx to make your room reservations AND tell them
that you have a GG. Give MS all of the information about your party including which resort they are staying in. MS will then contact the GG folks and inform them of the upcoming GG. MS will get a magical gathering (MG) number back to you in a few days. It was only a day wait for me. Remember that number. It will be very important.

6. Call the GG people at 1-407-939-7526 to make reservations for your GG 'events' using your MG number. Note that all in your party can call the GG people separately to make their reservations. This is useful if you have several different families or groups attending. They will need the phone number and the MG number. Make sure that they do this in a timely manner as the GG events fill up fast. The Safari Celebration dinner, the International Dinner and Fireworks show, and the Good Morning Gathering can be placed on the Disney Dining Plan (DDP). If the DDP is not available yet for when you are going, my recommendation is to call the GG people and make the reservation BEFORE the DDP becomes available. If the DDP IS available when you want to make the GG event reservations, then skip this step ONLY for all reservations for which you want to use the dining plan and see step 7 below.

7. After the DDP becomes available, and assuming that you want to use the DDP, call MS to add the DDP and also to tell them that you will be placing one or more GG events under the DP. At that time, MS will call the GG people and transfer you over to them. They will have to rebook the reservation, if you had one, under a new number and cancel the original reservation. If you had to go to step 6, then the original reservation was a placeholder until you could get the reservation with the meal plan.

 

[twoexcitedtosleep]

You asked for it...

How DVC Members Can Set Up Grand Gatherings (GG's)
Hi, all! I thought that I'd post a procedure, that I basically discovered by trial and error (mostly error), on how DVC members can set up grand gatherings. I will list it as steps.

1. Think about who you want to invite and what DVC resort or resorts you all want to stay in. Your GG party can stay in multiple Disney Resorts.

2. Check out the special products for Grand Gatherings here.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...dingPage?id=GrandGatheringsLandingPage&bhcp=1

3. Assuming that you are the 'group leader,' make sure that you get all of the names AND addresses of everybody in your party AND also get their ages. Disney needs their ages so they can put in whom in the party can officially check in. Nobody under age may do so. Also get the information on which DISNEY resort they are staying in. They cannot stay offsite and do this.

4. Plan out what GG special products (GG events), if any, your group wants to experience.

5. AS SOON AS YOU CAN, call DVC Member Services (MS) at 1-800-xxx-xxxx to make your room reservations AND tell them
that you have a GG. Give MS all of the information about your party including which resort they are staying in. MS will then contact the GG folks and inform them of the upcoming GG. MS will get a magical gathering (MG) number back to you in a few days. It was only a day wait for me. Remember that number. It will be very important.

6. Call the GG people at 1-407-939-7526 to make reservations for your GG 'events' using your MG number. Note that all in your party can call the GG people separately to make their reservations. This is useful if you have several different families or groups attending. They will need the phone number and the MG number. Make sure that they do this in a timely manner as the GG events fill up fast. The Safari Celebration dinner, the International Dinner and Fireworks show, and the Good Morning Gathering can be placed on the Disney Dining Plan (DDP). If the DDP is not available yet for when you are going, my recommendation is to call the GG people and make the reservation BEFORE the DDP becomes available. If the DDP IS available when you want to make the GG event reservations, then skip this step ONLY for all reservations for which you want to use the dining plan and see step 7 below.

7. After the DDP becomes available, and assuming that you want to use the DDP, call MS to add the DDP and also to tell them that you will be placing one or more GG events under the DP. At that time, MS will call the GG people and transfer you over to them. They will have to rebook the reservation, if you had one, under a new number and cancel the original reservation. If you had to go to step 6, then the original reservation was a placeholder until you could get the reservation with the meal plan.

Thank You.

 

[MomDad&2boys]

We have 8 of us going on upcoming trip and would love to become a 'Grand Gathering'. I have just a few questions that I'm hoping someone can answer.

1) One of the guests is only 2 years old, will we still qualify for a grand gathering?

2) Besides the special events offered, are they any other advantages to being a grand gathering? Can we book our dining before the 90 days out?

I think that is it so far, I know that I'll have more questions. Thanks.

 

[hellerjw]

We did all 4 GG events last year and particularly enjoyed the Fireworks Cruise and Safari Celebration.

The Fireworks Cruise was fun and the CMs were very entertaining on the boat (they do some trivia contests, etc enroute to the viewing spot). They just serve snacks before loading the boat so you don't get a meal with this one.

The Safari Celebration was a much slower safari ride followed by a buffet dinner at Tusker House. This was our favorite.

The Illuminations event was fun but we didn't particularly like the food. The desert and special viewing area for the fireworks show was nice though.

The Good Morning Character breakfast was disappointing. It was your standard Disney breakfast fare (eggs, bacon, sausage, pastry) followed by "VIP seating" for Philharmagic. Nothing special in my opinion and not worth doing again.

At the time we did these the 3 that serve meals were included on the DDP so we had no real out of pockets expenses for them other than the Fireworks Cruise.

I would do the Safari Celebration again, but probably not the other 3, particularly now that the Fireworks Cruise is no longer an exclusive event.

 

[MaleficentFan]

Can we book our dining before the 90 days out?

I have the same question. We're already booked as a Grand gathering for our big family trip in December. We did the Grand Gathering on a whim... sort of a "just in case" we wanted to do any of the special stuff. Right now we're only considering the character meal at MK... but I wasn't sure about the 90 window. I had put it on the back burner since the trip was so far off... but you've all made me start to think about it again! (Begin obsessive planning mode now...)