Help!!! Planning a multi family WDW trip...how did you do it???

[ILuvCrush]

Hi All!!

I'm hoping that some of you will be able to help me out.

We are planning a mini-grand gathering (self, 2 DDs, mom, brother, Dsil, and 2 DNs) for over thanksgiving next year. Me and my girls are vets... mom's been a couple times, but doesn't know much to help me (I've planned her trips too), DBro and Sil and DNs are 1st timers.

DBro and Sil are basically 'replacing' Xmas with this trip (my nephews will be 15 and 10) and have placed this vacation entirely in my 'capable' hands

I'd really love some advice on how to handle logistics.... getting everyone on board to plans, ideas on making the most out of this trip.

One of the other things I need to decide is whether to book 2 studios (AKV) or a 2BR (AKV) on points. Do you think that the conveniece of the extra room, kitchen, and washer/dryer outweighs the risk of us making each other crazy sharing a villa for 10 days?????

Thanks so much!

Paula

 

[partofyourworld710]

About 5 years ago, my family did a similar thing. We didn't stay together, but we went into the parks several times together, and my dad and I planned it. We found it easiest to sit down and go park by park, section by section, to find out what rides everyone wanted to go on. Trying to figure out what everyone wants without the whole group there gets crazy. We had a group of 18, ranging in age from mid 60's to 5 years old, so we had a lot of different responses. We found that splitting up worked best since people tended to want to do different ride. Then we would meet up at a certain time to hit the "group" rides (Small World, Pirates, Buzz, Haunted Mansion, etc.?) Walkie-talkies were a godsend, even with cell phones. You can't always hear your ringtone, but you hear it when someone is calling your name.
Make sure you get to the traditional rides and attractions, which vets tend to overlook or purposely ignore.
I'm not much help on the room situation. If you're in the parks or out a lot, the villa seems to be the way to go, since you'll basically go back and crash. Otherwise, get the two studios, if you're looking to be more relaxed.

 

[snoopy5386]

I would say go for the 2 bedroom villa, I personally would want the kitchen and washer and dryer if I was on vacation for 10 days.

 

[turnlisa]

We are doing something similar in February. My DB and DSIL with 2 DNs are first timers. This will be our 10th trip as a family.

I made all the dining reservations and made sure to add in the places that we normally don't go since we've been there (CRT for example). I did warn my DB that we tend to be early risers so everyday I would tell him what time we were leaving and they were to leave with us or meet us later at the park. His kids may melt down so I wanted to make sure that things didn't get ruined for my children if they had to leave the park. I booked our hotel and let my DB book his using my travel agent. We have stated that we want to be in the same island (we are doing CRB) but NOT adjoining rooms - too much together time could be fatal we figure! Luckily, I talk to my DB 2 or 3 times a day so we are really close.

The one thing I have stressed is that they have to pay for their meals and my DB was fine with that. I explained the costs to him upfront and gave him a rough estimate on how much things will cost. Money isn't a problem for us but they are a single income household.

My best rule for this trip so far is to just have fun planning it. My DB has said they just want to do what we do so that has made it simple. We have done amusement parks before and this is generally how we work things. Good luck!

 

[crisi]

You need to know your family. There are two ends of "leave everything in your hands."

The first says "I'll leave everything in your hands" They are delighted at the planning you do for them, delighted to tag along. You can make any dinner reservation, they are happy. You recommend attractions they might like, they are happy. They are easy to plan for - and just plan the vacation you think you and they will enjoy.

The other end says "whatever" - then they get there and want to know why you didn't make reservations at Crystal Palace. They want to go to Magic Kingdom on the day you have Epcot scheduled. They think your taste in restaurants is bad - either all the food is lousy, or everything is too expensive, or both. You tell them to get up early to avoid lines, they sleep in, then complain about the lines.

This group is much harder to manage - and you want to encourage them as much as you can to do their own thing - seperate hotel rooms, "we aren't doing a waterpark this trip, but your kids would LOVE it." "Oh, if you want to sleep in, that's fine, we are heading off to the park and we will meet up with you." Otherwise, they will drag you down into the swamp of a miserable trip.

ETA: With the second group, make dinner reservations as two tables. They will try and seat you together if everyone is there, but if your guests decide they are better off without all your planning, your family can continue to follow your plans.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I think the worst thing you can do is try and plan everything minute by minute for everyone to be together all the time. We went with friends/parents last time, and basically just planned to be in the same park each day. Then we did some of the big rides all together early in the morning before splitting up to do our own thing. And I think we planned one big meal together for the week. Our attitude was, "We'll do the things we really want to do, and if someone else is there that we know, great." It worked out really well.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

P.S. It helps to have cell phones, too.

 

[vllygrrl]

I planned a grand gathering for my husband's family last summer - a group of 16 . Since I was the expert, I took the lead - I picked restaurants that I knew everyone would enjoy, and that also gave a good "Disney" experience. I mapped out which parks we would be going to each morning and evening, and let the group decide whether or not to join us each day - unbelievably, we all stuck together for 90% of the week, because my planning went so smoothly! I made sure each person had a copy of the basic itinerary and the dining reservations - my only demand was that everyone had to be at dinner. Surprisingly, my SIL who is notoriously LATE for EVERYTHING managed to get herself and her daughters up and ready for rope drop EVERY day of our trip! We had no problems at all!

 

[TinaLala]

I planned a Christmas trip for our family (mil, bil, sil, m, d, dh, dd4, dd7, me). We got there on 12/1 which gave my family a day together without everyone else, which worked out great.

Honestly no matter how much planning you do not everyone is going to be happy and you need to understand that. Use Allears.net to print out menus in order to get everyone on the same page regarding what will be available for menus.

Don't 'force' everyone to be together! We would all do the same park and then meet at dinner and that seemed to work out well. Everyone was on their own throughout the day and then at dinner we'd share what happened. If people want to group together in certain areas great, but you might not want to arrange groups. You never know what will happen until you get down there. Some people might want to be together and then end up seperate when they get down there. We stayed at the same resort, I'd plan the meals and maybe whatever party is going on, but leave it at that.

 

[pigget74]

My vote would be a 1 bedroom and a studio. The reason is you get a little more away time. We went 3 years ago with my family. Me, DH, DS, DD, Sister, DBIL, Dniece, Dniece, Brother, DSIL, Dnephew, Dnephew. WE got a 1 bedroom and 3 studios. We used my 1 bedroom as a meeting place, but everyone could get away in their rooms. Also, everyone usedmy aundry as opposed to taking it somewhere on property.

 

[ILuvCrush]

My vote would be a 1 bedroom and a studio. The reason is you get a little more away time. We went 3 years ago with my family. Me, DH, DS, DD, Sister, DBIL, Dniece, Dniece, Brother, DSIL, Dnephew, Dnephew. WE got a 1 bedroom and 3 studios. We used my 1 bedroom as a meeting place, but everyone could get away in their rooms. Also, everyone usedmy aundry as opposed to taking it somewhere on property.

That would be great... but don't think I have enough points. I could rent some... but I'm trying to avoid that if I can

 

[pigget74]

That would be great... but don't think I have enough points. I could rent some... but I'm trying to avoid that if I can

We stayed at OKW just because it was less points, but OKW and AKV are similar in point values.

 

[crisi]

That would be great... but don't think I have enough points. I could rent some... but I'm trying to avoid that if I can

We postponed our trip, shortened our normal trip by a night, travelled in the off season, and used three years worth of points to get two two bedrooms.

Since my husband was about to drop my brother in law into Bay Lake attached to an anchor NOT sharing a room (and I probably would have provided the rope by the end of the trip), it was worthwhile.

The description above - my family in general is the first kind - delighted with everything, good sports, thankful of the gift of a room. My brother in law is the second kind. "The food could have been better." Always late. Always inconveniencing others. Always wanting to do something that no one else had on their agenda (and he had two little kids - guess what, WDW is a different experience when you are taking your own preschool and toddler children compared to when you are single).

 

[michael's mom]

I am currently the planmaster for a grand gathering of possibly 18 people. What I have tried to do is plan meals that everyone will enjoy. There will be 3 young kids (2 3yo boys, 1 5yo girl) so there are a few characther meals. One with Cinderella for the princess of our group. Then, I used the DIS and allears.net to peruse the menus of the other restaurants. My particular family all have different tastes, so I figured if everyone in my family (mom, dad, 2sis, husband, myself) could eat there, than anyone could. My whole family (listed above) are vets and we are going with my aunt/uncle and their 2 gk (3/5). They have been before, but not in a long time. I don't think MGM was open the last time they were there!

Anyway, I have chosen which park we will go to on which day based on emh. For some reason, the parks are closing early some nights while we are there. I have booked all of the rooms, will book ADR's when I can, and am trying to make it fun for everyone with little "Family Vacation" books. I'll give everyone a copy of basic itinerary with reservation times and locations and have the attitude of "do what you want, but let's all meet for dinner". Our ages vary greatly. My parents, my aunt/uncle and their gk, and my dh and I are traveling with young children, but the others in our party are not. They may not be too thrilled to see the Beauty and the Beast show or the Winnie the Pooh ride so, we'll split up!

After being long winded, I would suggest asking them to check out the sites and offer you a list of things that would be fun to do, restaurants that would be nice to eat at. Try to pick one restaurant for each person but be sure to explain to them the possible difficulty of obtaining ADR's for some places.

If you expect that not everyone will be happy and you are ok making plans and having people deviate from that, then you will have a happy vacation.

Oh, definitely get the two different rooms rather than the 2br. You will absolutely want to have your own space.

 

[toy]

I think you should do two seperate rooms. No matter how much you get along on a regular basis, group vacations can change things. Disney vacations can be busy and people get tired and cranky. You might appreciate down time in your own space.

We have done a couple of family trips. We are more serious about our scheduling and getting in as much as we can with a couple of days for relaxing. My SIL and family don't get out of the hotel until around 1 and are done with the parks by 4. It is everyone's vacation so I can't expect them to follow our schedule and we are not going to wait for them. We plan a few meals together and find each other for a few rides. It works for us.

You might want to consider the personalities when planning your trip. The ages of all the kids is important. If you are going to do the parks as a group you might want to include the teens in the planning process. Chances are they have already done their own research and are thinking about what they want to do. Don't forget to enjoy the trip. You are there with family and this should end with happy memories.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We have a group of 7 going in 30 days and I did all the planning (well most of it). I preferred it that way.

One group is staying at Pop and DH and I and 1 cousin are at AKL. the Pop group is only staying for 7 days and we are staying for 9 days. We each chose our own accommodations in the price range we felt comfortable with and needs we have.

I had already been working on a plan because we had a trip booked and my older cousin asked if we could help her with her family, so we combined trips, worked with each other on restaurants and I worked the park days around meals and meals around park days. I have changed resorts about 10 times in the 14 months since I booked, we have changed restaurants, and my mom passed away, so I had to almost re-do everything. Staying together wasn't really an option for us, becaued half of the group has AP's and the other half had to have a full package.

I think it is important for there to be one person making all the arrangements, but getting input from everyone. I had to step back and do this, because my trip was originally planned for 3 adults and we added in 4 children, so we had to tweek everything.

Make sure to call the Grand Gatherings Dept, they will be a big help and if you decide not to stay in one Villa, they can link ressies, so you will be close together.

Happy Planning

Suzanne

 

[mouseloversVT]

My DH and are planning something similar for Feb. There are 4 families going, none of which are related. One Family is 1st timers. They have delegated me, since I am the Mouse Lover. There's 18 of us!!!!
Can't wait to get there!!!!!!!

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DH Me DS DS DD DS

 

[ALittleDisneyFan]

If you have not read some of the family/grand gathering posts here on the Dis you might consider searching some out to see what they did wrong.

I suggest the 2 studios, because as others mentioned, you may want your space.

I also suggest letting everyone know it's OK if they want to go off in another direction, I even recommend that you take sometime out for you and your children away from your family for a few hours.

Be prepared for someone in your party to not want to do what you have planned - that seems to be a biggie in these gatherings. Feelings get hurt, etc.

If you're going to do ADR's.. maybe about 2 weeks before your 180 day mark sit down with everyone and hash out the details.

Good luck, you're brave!

 

[wii fit mama]

I made all the plans for our group of 9, but built in some unscheduled time after the first couple of days. Basically we got there on Saturday and they had a day to themselves(they went to Universal) on Monday. I made all the dinner reservations and planned all the evening activities. I suggested which parks for which days and they always did what I suggested. We broke up throughout the day for various rides. We got a two bedroom villa and a studio and didn't mind sharing. We had a great time and at the end of the week they thanked me for planning such a smooth trip. I used Tourguidemike to select the best days for each park so they never had to deal with huge crowds or long waits even though we were there at the end of June.