Help me win a battle against the family to stay on site!

[Eastern]

I LOVE this solution and you are maximizing the benefits from the hotels.

I love that you included the teens in the decision making process. Teens can make or break a trip and I think too often what they like is often left out of the process.

We just got back from doing both parks with our adult kids and we had a blast!!

My 24 yo usually does most of the planning. I execute the ADRs. Even when I ask the rest of my family for their opinion, they tell me to ask him.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

$2000 savings per family is a lot of money. I would advise you not to try to convince them to stay on-site as if they are stretched money wise and think they didn't get their value they will blame you. Have them rent a house and you stay on-site. Honestly , I go back and forth , onsite then off-site etc. Each option is a good option. Let everyone pick what is right for them. If they pick a house , maybe you also stay with them and save the $2000 for your next trip. As someone else mentioned, have you checked the Values? We stayed at POP two weeks ago and it was so much fun. The skyliner was a great option for getting to two parks.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Thank you for sharing your plan with all of us! It is great that you have everyone on the same page, managed to set reasonable “expectations of togetherness” and are accommodating the interests of the whole group. No easy feat!

Congratulations and I hope your trip will create magical memories to last for years.

 

[Cj2017]

QQ - Is there a way to get a boarding pass for rise of the resistance with all 18 of us so we don't get different boarding passes?

 

[bluezy]

Even right now? When I looked for a mid-Sept trip, lots of places that had originally offer shuttles (which definitely isn't "just about within 20 miles") weren't running their shuttles. Several places near the airport aren't running their airport shuttles right now (note, MCO is 19 miles from WDW and typically one zone will run shuttles - for instance to the airport - while places closer to the theme parks will run shuttles there.).

I was just going to say the same thing. I've seen people say that a lot of hotels aren't running shuttles right now (or at least as of a few weeks ago). And even when the offsite hotels run shuttles to the parks, they don't run them at the same frequency as the Disney shuttles. I've known 2 families who always used to stay onsite and then decided to save money by staying offsite but got so frustrated with the infrequent and multi-stop bus service that they decided it wasn't worth the savings and booked their next trips for onsite again. I think the offsite bus service (when it's running) is ok if you plan to spend all day in a park. But if you're used to taking an afternoon break or have teens who like to come and go at odd hours, the bus service can be less than adequate.

I could see the teens voting out one of the rest days too. When I was that age I wanted to be at the park non-stop. Two days of sitting around would've driven me nuts. Don't be surprised if you're adding a 4th day to the tickets while you're there.

I agree. I would imagine that the teens (and possibly the adults) might want to go to the parks every day. Maybe 2 of the days are sleep in days or just short days, but I'd have a hard time only being there for 4 or 5 days and not going to the parks for 2 of those days. But that's just me.

 

[CarolynFH]

QQ - Is there a way to get a boarding pass for rise of the resistance with all 18 of us so we don't get different boarding passes?

Yes, read Post #1 of the official BG thread, which will tell you all you need to know! You might want to read the last couple of pages of the thread too, for current reports.

 

[Bullseye]

I would also make the suggestion to do the Food & Wine Festival during the week...it's VERY BUSY and VERY CROWDED during the weekend

OP, I strongly second this suggestion. The weekends can be unbearable. Food and drink lines are really long. We went October last year when park crowds were still considerably lower and the difference between weekend and weekday at F&W was significant. Glad to hear though you want to squeeze this in. F&W is a lot of fun and great drinks and eats!!

 

[maltdizzy]

Vacationing with 18 people/4 families? That sounds like the 11th ring of hell to me. Decades ago a mentor advised me, "never plan anything for more the 6 people, it' gets exponentially difficult to make everyone happy."

Good luck. I agree with the others, there is no way I could convince anyone that staying on-site was worth $2K per family. Large groups require large compromises.

QQ - Is there a way to get a boarding pass for rise of the resistance with all 18 of us so we don't get different boarding passes?

No size limits. Assuming everyone is linked together correctly on MDE, then you can get a boarding group for all 18. If a couple don't get added, they can add them in the park.

 

[bsmcneil]

I was just going to say the same thing. I've seen people say that a lot of hotels aren't running shuttles right now (or at least as of a few weeks ago). And even when the offsite hotels run shuttles to the parks, they don't run them at the same frequency as the Disney shuttles. I've known 2 families who always used to stay onsite and then decided to save money by staying offsite but got so frustrated with the infrequent and multi-stop bus service that they decided it wasn't worth the savings and booked their next trips for onsite again. I think the offsite bus service (when it's running) is ok if you plan to spend all day in a park. But if you're used to taking an afternoon break or have teens who like to come and go at odd hours, the bus service can be less than adequate.

I had ruled it out even before the past couple of weeks discussing rope drop, etc (because of the infrequency and/or timing with the few that I could find). I also admit I got really lucky and got a decently priced WDW room (which meant I no longer had to factor in paying from the airport or to the parks/resort). Transportation right now - between COVID protocols, rental car issues, etc - is so difficult to navigate! I was especially frustrated at trying to use things like Hotwire/Priceline to sort by amenities only to figure out that the shuttles weren't running (and I'm glad that I paused to look into it more - a younger me would've dived right into a cheap stay and been supremely disappointed).

 

[Brian Noble]

Traveling down to Disney with 4 families a total of 18 of us. [...] everyone is starting to push back and ask why we don't just rent a house

Honestly? I'd rent the house.

With a big family gathering, there's a lot to be said for having a private pool, a nice big kitchen/living room to hang out in, etc. Letting the kids swim while you assemble the nachos is a darn nice way to spend a vacation.

And I'd probably do that even if the cost was the same.

 

[leebee]

I'd probably rent the house, too. One of our favorite pastimes is sitting around the kitchen table, having coffee or wine, talking, laughing, reminiscing.

 

[Sue M]

Have you checked out the prices of car rentals? You’ll need several. They have skyrocketed in price.
18 people in 1 house, eek.
the one selling point you may have with staying on site is that everyone isn’t tied to the hip with coming and going as you would be with rental cars. If some want to sleep in, leave early, take afternoon break no problem staying on site. Gives people more freedom with WDW transportation. And you wouldn’t be battling Orlando traffic.
I love WL and it does have that wow factor. If some can’t afford it, maybe look at Port Orleans Riverside. A little less costly and a beautiful resort.

 

[Eastern]

A lot of people are mentioning pool time. Once my kids were young teens, they were not so interested in a pool anymore. Maybe it's different if you don't have a pool at home.

With teens, and for the rest of the adults, really, I do believe that freedom to be on their own with the Disney transportation is a bigger draw than pool time. Even if it's not a 'park day' they can ride the skyliner or visit other resorts or DS or shop or go get a snack somewhere. Or use the pool.

As for sitting in the kitchen chatting, that's for the adults or when you get dragged along to your grandma's house for some occasion.

 

[CheshKAT]

What about booking at one of the Values. Still on site but at a much more reasonable price point if the $$ is the issue.

 

[NickC]

It looks like you came up with a great solution. And Universal is a lot of fun. I would agree that avoiding F&W on the weekends is a good idea. Especially for new WDW visitors. We've left a few times due to crowds.

 

[PetePanMan]

$2k per family and getting resistance answers it for me.

Have you considered large, offsite resort type condo’s like Floridays, Bonnet Creek etc.? You can get some very nice 3 bedroom condos with nice amenities.

I also like idea of an after hours event or special dinner at a Disney resort (eg Boma) to add something special.