Group Gatherings

[gossie]

Can someone please explain how Group Gatherings work. I can't seem to find any information on it on the Disney website and with 15 of us heading to Disney next year, I would like to see if there is anything on offer that would be helpful to us...

Thanks

 

[mommylo]

They call it Magical Gatherings. We just had one 1 week ago. Basically you can call Disney directly or we did it through AAA. Each family has their separate booking but also grouped under a Magical Gathering/Grand Gathering Number. There are a few things you can book which is NOT available if you are not doing a Magical Gathering. We did the Illuminations dinner at Epcot and the Magical Fireworks Voyage at Magic Kingdom. I believe there is a Safari Celebration at Animal Kingdom. You need a group of 8 or more. There is quite a bit on www.allearsnet.com, under planning and reviews. When you call after booking, you can simply give the Grand Gathering number and they will know everyone in the group. We had a fabulous time. The Illuminination dinner with special spot for watching the firework afterwards was spectacular. If everyone does the DDP, then Illumination dinner is 2 table credits. Magical Fireworks Voyage is extra. Good Luck planning

 

[mommylo]

bumping

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

Gossie,

I am glad you asked because I, too, am planning one for '09 with a group of about 12. You are right the Disney web-site doesn't explain it too well but I am certain I understand it better now. We have around 5 groups so I hope it works out ok.

 

[mommylo]

Gossie,

I am glad you asked because I, too, am planning one for '09 with a group of about 12. You are right the Disney web-site doesn't explain it too well but I am certain I understand it better now. We have around 5 groups so I hope it works out ok.

Hi guys,
Please make sure you find a TA who is really knowledgable and organized because it ain't an easy job keeping track of things. Individual party/family can make changes to their own bookings e.g. resorts, park tickets, etc. Otherwise, disney has their own Magical Gatherings agents. Our AAA agent was quite competent so it worked out really well for us.

 

[gossie]

Good morning mommylo and Disney Crazy Debbie

I did a general search on Disboards and found quite a lot of info about "Group Gatherings".. Thanks SO much for your advice mommylo!! I wish there was a TA who could help me, but here in South Africa, we just don't have anybody who specialises in Disney trips. In fact, my TA has asked me whether I would be interested in doing "part time" work for them by helping them to organise other clients' Disney trips!! Can you believe it?? It'll be my third trip to Disney next year and there's not much that I haven't read/learnt about Disney in these last few months of planning.. Lol.. Now that I know what Group Gatherings is all about, I'm going to get the whole family together and see whether any of them are interested in going to the special dinner options. The whole reason that I was looking into it, is because one of my family memebers (my GORGEOUS sister) has a physical handicap, so I was hoping that being a group gatherings member would guarantee us any special room requests that we are going to have to make for her.. Our TA doens't seem to be able to help us.. Also, because we are travelling with 6 young children, we have asked to be put into 4 rooms, next to each other, and would LOVE some of them to be connecting rooms.. As you can see, my "request" list is quite a big one (I have to try and make this vacation as comfortable as possible for all 15 members of my family )
Luckily, we are only gong to Disney in September 2008, so it gives me PLENTY of time to try and organise these things

Wow - didn't mean to type such an essay Just wanted to say thanks xxx

Have a great day

 

[mommylo]

Hey Gossie,
It's a lot of work. We started planning for the trip about 10 months ago. First we had to get everyone to agree to stay at 1 resort. We figured it would be easier to stay together even though our family have the largest family number of 5 and my son is autistic. Since you have some special requests as well, start early. I requested rooms side by side, at a quiet location (for my DS) and had 3 things that we did together as a "Grand Gathering" group. It worked out well because we didn't pressure ourselves to be together ALL the time.
Each family booked their own Table meals, had different schedules going to the parks, etc. As I mentioned before, AAA did a fairly good job for us. If you don't someone there like AAA, call the Magcial Gatheriing number on the Disney website and get some ideas. I love the www.allearsnet.com website because there are reviews of Magical Gatherings. Good Luck. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions

 

[mmeb144]

You need to check out this book:

http://allearsnet.com/pl/snbook.htm

Passporter's WDW for your special needs

You need to have a rather lengthy conversation with the booking person about the needs you have for your group. You have plenty of time to do the research to be able to plan a memorable trip for your whole family.

Disney should be able to guarantee you the room types you need, since you have a person with special needs in your party. My DD has asthma and we always have nonsmoking rooms guaranteed for us. (Well, that was before all the rooms went to nonsmoking.)