Has ANYONE done the Grand Gathering??

[letsgoagainsoon]

We have a party of 8 going to WDW? Has ANYONE done any of the special events that are offered for this? I posted this somewhere and got no responses. Any tips, suggestions, advice?

 

[airtime247]

We just returned from a trip in November with a Grand Gathering (GG) with 13 people. It was actually a nightmare from the beginning with Disney.

We were told we could book everything through the special GG number but the CM's who answered the phones didn't show interest in doing much of anything other than selling us GG packages. This wasn't just one bad CM but we called at least 15 times and hung up feeling that way at least half the time. Other people in our party were disappointed with the service they provided as well.

If all your people are staying in the same resort and dining at all the same restaurants, it should be okay but they really fouled up a lot of things with our itineraries. I don't think we had a single meal planned with all 13 people due to different arrival/departure dates or other plans. When they mailed us our itineraries, not a single one was even close, let alone accurate. We had to follow up with several calls to straighten everything out.

We should have just booked our ADR's through the normal number and left it out of GG's hands. Even after having them confirm everything over the phone, we still found reservations under one person's name and another's phone number, wrong party sizes, etc. A real mess!

When we did check in to Coronado, we didn't get the building we requested nearly a year earlier. Three of us wanted to be in three different buildings for various reasons. My family wanted the building closest to the food court so we could be close to get food for DD and have use of the microwave. They put everyone in the furthest building so we would all be next to each other. I asked if they could change this when we checked in but they couldn't because they were full.

We only booked one official GG package and it was the Safari Celebration Dinner at AK. Everyone in our party had mixed feelings about it. We all agreed that it was fun but not worth the money. The description said you get a private, personalized safari and that you would be stopping a lot so they could give you more information than the regular safari.

Well, they didn't stop at all. We were free to ask questions to our guide but they just kept driving at normal speed, leaving us feeling really rushed.

After this we all went to Tusker House for the dinner portion of the package. The food was okay though I can't fault GG for this. They did have musicians playing in there which was extremely loud so it made having a conversation with our party really difficult. I don't know if the restaurant is normally like this or not as it was our first time there.

Overall, the safari and dinner were fun but not worth the money. We would have been better off riding together and then going to AKL's Boma for dinner.

I strongly encourage you to book everything yourself except for the GG packages instead of letting them do it for you. Again, this may not be an issue of everyone is doing the same things.

-steve

Edited to add: I noticed you have 8 people in your party. As I recall, a lot of the packages required a minimum of eight people so if anyone in your party won't be doing the activity, you may not be able to book it. The CM's at GG can tell you for sure.

 

[lulu71]

Our group did an Illuminations International Dinner back in September and everyone loved it!

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

Thanks Airtime, for telling me your experience.

So, the ride (Safari) is basically the same one every guest gets to ride??
The Safari Celebration was one of the GG packages that DSIL and I wanted to do...DH didn't want to do that one and now I am having second thoughts on this, too. It doesn't seem worth the price, from what you described, just to go on the safari tour and eat at Tusker House (we have never been there before either, so I am not sure about the usual noise level).

Our AAA TA, has booked everything else for us, rooms, tickets and our ADRs, so HOPEFULLY we will have better luck than you did at the resort, plus we will all be arriving together.



LULU,

Could you tell me a little bit more about the Illuminations Dinner, this is the one DH wants to do. We have two small children in our group, 6 and 3, would they enjoy it?

 

[Soupermom]

We did a Pirate Cruise for Wishes last March and had a great time. If you have kids it would be wonderful; good snacks and a different view of Electrical Water Parade and Wishes. The Pirates were great. It was well worth our money, but I doubt we'd do it again. HTH

 

[airtime247]

The safari takes you over the same course as the normal safari. The only real difference is that your driver doesn't talk. Instead, you have a separate person who faces you and does more talking, answers questions, etc. Our guide didn't stick with the normal spiel (no Little Red story) but still told us all about the animals we saw.

We were expecting to stop a lot based on the description but we never really did. The nice part was that our group had the jeep to ourselves.

Another thing I thought of is that Chip & Dale came to dinner for autographs just outside the dining room. Other than that, I don't know how our Tusker House experience differed from the normal experience.

It sounds like you should avoid any of the mixups we had. I hope you have a great time! While difficult to coordinate everything between all the people, it was still a fantastic trip and so great to experience everything with our group.

-steve

 

[BlakeNJ]

Our GG group did the safari in November. We actually liked it and had a great time. My first choice would have been the Wishes Cruise but part of our group wasn't there that particular night it is offered. Check the schedule to see if it's a night you can make it.

As far as the safari, I would reccomend it. The safari is three times as long as the regular park ride. We even went "off" road and saw more of the savanah. The food at Tusker House was great. Live entertainment and Chip & Dale were in the lobby for pictures. You didn't feel rushed with them and we were able to take several shots with different groups of our family.

Other than that, I didn't really see the benefit in booking a GG. They do accomodate you as far as getting your rooms close to one another--that is a plus but I think Disney as a whole to accomodating to all guests wishing to have a room near another family member or group.

Good luck and be sure you post a review when you return.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

We did a Pirate Cruise for Wishes last March and had a great time. If you have kids it would be wonderful; good snacks and a different view of Electrical Water Parade and Wishes. The Pirates were great. It was well worth our money, but I doubt we'd do it again. HTH

I didn't see a pirate cruise listed in the GG package, that my TA sent me...DS would probably love that!!

So many decisions!!