Help with planning a huge trip

[DopeyKel]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to start but I will try here.

My parents have decided to take everyone to Disney World in October. The group will include my parents (60ish), my dh, myself, my brother, his wife, and 8 kids (20, 18, 17, 17, 15, 15, 13, 13). I know the older two count as adults for room reservations. With fourteen people what do you suggest as the best and cheapest way to stay? My dad says it must be onsite. I was thinking values, but that would be 4 rooms. My oldest suggested the cabins and maybe some camp. Would family suites be cheaper? I will take any and all suggestions.

Also when are the traditional best (cheapest) times in October to go? We are leaning towards the first two weeks.

Thanks,

Kelley

 

[Atchley]

The values would probably be your cheapest bet. I think the suites would run you a little more. I would check out the cabins. Look into rooms at the moderate. Values are usually a little more crowded and with such a large group, you may want a little room to spread out. The moderates are much less crowded. More room to spread out in the rooms and on the grounds. We loved CBR. You can check out my pictures below. Bonus: the new pool is suppossed to open in September or October.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Wow!! What an exciting, yet daunting task!! If I am counting correctly, 14 people? I planned a trip for 11 and that was great fun in planning. We were three families, and had 3 rooms

When I started the planning, I got pricing for a value, a mod and a deluxe. I selected Pop, Coronado and Animal Kingdom Lodge. The selection was not quite arbitrary, I chose those 3 due to them not sharing busses with other resorts.

Anyhow, I priced them with tickets, then submitted numbers to the other famlies to see what their budgets would bear. We agreed on a resort, and I went from there.

In your situation, I would start with asking your parents what their budget is, then start pricing what you want to do. If they have a preference as to resort, or category of resort, or preferred amenties, you could use that as a jumping off point.

The cabins are an intriguing idea. You could even get 2 cabins and have adults in one, and "kids" in the other.

 

[MommyBuzz909]

I'd say do a Value and maybe get adjoining rooms for whomever wants them. Why spend money on hotels rooms that you'll hardly be in, right?

 

[wdwfann]

This sounds exactly like what we're doing except that we are going in May of 2009 with 13 instead of 14 and there are 5 kids ranging in age from 5-14. I gave my dad a planning video and some websites to do some research and then pitched in my personal opinion. I'm the only one in the family that has been more than once. Anyway, my dad looked at the options asked some general budget question and decided on the Poly, due to transportation. One decision down, many, many more to make!! But, isn't planning fun!! GOOD LUCK!!

 

[BELLE AND BUZZ]

Several yars ago, my parents took the whole family to WDW (all 12 of us). I was doing most of the research, and then we would have a family meeting to discuss all the options. At that time, the biggest savings was with the flights as a senior citizen could bring someone for free, as long as they paid full price for their tickets. Unfortunately, the airlines don't do that anymore. Also, we used AAA for more savings. I know that you can save a fair amount on the hotels by using AAA, as we just booked 2 rooms at the Poly for June with AAA. Good luck with planning and have fun!