help with planning a large group?

[iluvepcot]

I need some suggestions for planning a large group. My family has been down at least once sometimes two or three times a year for the past 7 years. Every year I ask my extended family to go with us. Every year they say maybe but back out. This year I think they are all going. It will be my family of 4, my Sis's family of 4, my parents, my brother and my other sis's family of 8. We think we will all stay at one of the allstars or pop and hopefully we will have dining plan.

HELP!!! They all have kids of various ages and are all looking to me ( the disney queen) to make the plans. My parents took us to disney one time in the 70's but for one day. (one park at that time). Other then that, no one has gone...

Now for my questions. Anyone who has planned for a large group and has suggestions for me? Any tools, spread sheets etc. will be appreciated. I will sign up for touring plans but are any good for larger groups. I need to get touring plans, dining plans etc.

What tools do you use? spread sheets, index cards, any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[disnut8]

I've had a couple of trips with extended family and they look to me for the planning to. The old "we'll do whatever you want" thing. I call it being Tour Guide Barbie.

I made up one sheet summaries of the resort, the hours, the transportation, etc. I did not plan any dining reservations for the whole group except for the last night of each trip. I did explain the reservation system and said I would be happy to make any arriangments they needed. I also pointed out the extra things Disney has to offer.

BIG point. Huge point. BIG point. Make it very, very, very, very, very clear that you cannot and will not be able to have the whole clan spend every single minute of every single day together. Even with a smaller group, we broke up into so many sub divisions that changed even throughout the day. We'd start out with my son and his family and then break off from them to spend more time at Epcot. Sometimes our granddaughter came with us, sometimes she didn't. My mother-in-law bounced around from the group that was "doing things".

And this is important too. You are willing to plan things and answer questions as much as you can. But, when everyone is there, YOU are on vacation too. You are there and available but you need your time as well.

It's very frustrating. Have a code phrase with your husband for when you are getting fried. Ours was "Damn Skippy" (from the Alien Encounter little guy who gets fried). If I said it "I'm feeling Damn Skippy right now", he moved in and played referee.

Don't be afraid to express your feelings. It's your family. They'll still be there for the next Thanksgiving dinner.

 

[joiev98]

I think what disnut8 said regarding splitting up is essential for maintaining sanity while travelling with extended family.
I am part of a Grand Gathering of 18 people including 10 kids and 6 adults. We are not extended family, but all friends. I have booked all the ADR's for everyone.
We plan on doing our own things with our own families during the day and then meet up everyday for our dinner reservations and then spend the rest of the evening together, to some extent...I mean, I still want us to all be friends when we return!
Good Luck, and have a great time!!!

 

[iluvepcot]

thank you disnut8, I like having a code word. I also thought that splitting up would be key. I was going to have one plan and then have everyone do this with us or do thier own thing and meet up with us later.

Joiev98: I was also thinking of doing the TS for dinners.

Does anyone else have any tools, spreadsheets etc. ? I was thinking of maybe having us split at the parks by age groups. suggesting an age appropriate touring guide for teens to go off on by themselves as there are about 4 over 14.

Anyone use a good touring plan for a grand gathering? Disney used to have a software program where you could e-mail and send voting polls etc. to all in your group. the CM I spoke to said the software has problems and they no longer offer this.

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

My sister-in-law and I are the tour guides for our family group of 9, and I ended up joining the "My Disney Vacation" feature of the WDW website. I filled in the days we've decided to dodifferent things based on crowd predictions, where our ADRs are, and details like hotel info, confirmation numbers, etc. I then shared my login information with them and let them check it at their leisure. It's going to keep us all on the same page, and I can change it when we rearrange things (has already happened twice!).

My sister and brother-in-law and my own immediate family have been recently, but the others haven't. Between that feature (and directing them here to the DIS), they seem to have plenty of sources of information. Just an idea!

 

[twinkie]

The CM was right, the Grand Gatherings program was a disaster. We tried to us it several times. We have been planning a trip for 15 family members for my parents 50th anniversary for the past 3 years. Of course, nothing final until just the past 6 month or so. Our ideas are much the same as Disnut8....overplanning can be just as much a disaster as no planning. We are five families and as such each has their own likes and dislikes. My sister and her family don't care for Epcot (????) While they do like the water parks, which I don't care for at all. There is NO WAY you can make everyone happy. Let each be responsible for their own day-to-day plans. We are planning one day to meet in the MK, wearing our special tee shirts for pics. After that we will break off into smaller groups which will change as the day/week goes on. We have also planned one all together dinner for 1900 Park Fare for their anniversary. My parents are spending time with each of us for a TS dinner. I would tell you not to sweat it too much and just plan on having a good time together with your family. I've always looked at these family trips like "planning is half the fun", so why would I want to rob my family of their fun in putting their trip together. Whatever you do, enjoy yourself and your family.......

 

[maci]

We went with extended family, and of course everyone has a different idea of what they want to do.
We ended up making dining reservations for breakfast and/or dinner, where everyone met up to eat together, in between those times, each family did what they wanted to do.
It worked well.

Good Luck!

 

[gigi1313]

i'm also in the midst of planning a grand gathering and trying desperately to figure out how to keep everyone happy and doing what they want to do while getting quality time together as well...

my plan is to build upon what i do for our immediate family trips... i use word and make a table... across the top i put Day/Date (1st column) Park (2nd column) which also includes that park's hours for the day as well as any notes re: EMH... 3rd column is 6-9am; followed by one column for every three hours: 9-noon; noon-3; 3-6pm; 6-9pm; 9-midnight... then i start scribbling in which park what day based on tourguide mike's recommendations... once i get the parks down pat i start filling in the other blanks like meal recommendations, recreation options, spa time, poolside time, etc...

i am considering making up a "poll" asking everyone what is most important to them, and what they don't want to miss and what is totally expendable... i'm planning to have various options for each day as to park/recreation/pool/shop/spa and will arrange groups based on what everyone wants to do (mgm thrill riders meet at the bus stop at 8am sharp! poolside sitters meet at the pool at 10:30! shoppers be at the boat dock at 10am or else! etc)

i don't expect we'll break up by individual family much but rather in groups like above (based on interest)... i plan to book a fishing excursion for any early birds that want to fish... i plan to book hair app'ts for the girls at the ivy trellis at the GF for braids and such...

i also plan to send emails w/lists of options so we can have a general idea who's in what group...

plus i'll schedule our dinners around where the most people will be at dinnertime (we're planning to use the dining plan) and try to eat together most nights...

we're also planning to host some "sleepovers" in our rooms so various parents can go out on the town (dtd, pleasure island) and not worry about their kids [don't worry, dh and i get two connecting rooms for us and two kids, so we've got plenty of legal sleeping space! my sil/bil do the same thing... our family likes its space!]

 

[disnut8]

I am considering making up a "poll" asking everyone what is most important to them, and what they don't want to miss and what is totally expendable

DO IT! This was the best thing I did for our family. Of three. If it's that conplicated for three, multiply that for a grand gathering.

What I did was list every single attraction at Disney World. Everything. I also listed other option like renting water sprites, canoeing, etc. Everything. My husband and I thought it was dumb. But it worked.

I had several categories to make it fun. I started with "Yes, Yes, Yes", and then went down to "You can't drag me onto this thing". Other cateogires were "only with a 30 minute line", "only with a fifteen minute line" (this was before FastPass), "OK", "No way Jose", etc. It really worked out. The rules were that neither one of them could fill out the survey and talk to the other person. It had to be totally each person's opinion. I also filled out one.

Many surprises. The biggest one was that my son ranked the Great Movie Ride as a "Yes, Yes, Yes". If anyone had one of those, we had to go on it. If there were two "Yes" votes, the other one had to go on it. It really was fun the night I posted the results. We had a great time seeing everyone's opinion. Needless to say, we didn't go on It's a Small World that trip!

 

[Sleeping Becca]

I did a group of 14 in 2003, and NEVER again! While I love these people dearly, being together 24/7 was NOT pleasant.

I really tried to stress to the group that we did not need to be together all the time, in fact I planned 1 ADR every evening so we could meet up. I gave everyone an itenerary, with confirmation numbers and times of ADRs, hotel reservation numbers, what to bring, height requirements, touring stategies, cell phone numbers, operating hours, fastpass attractions, must sees etc.

My strategy did not work, everyone insisted on being together the whole time, it was a disaster. My aunts family insisted on fighting amongst each other for most of our vacation, at any given point at least one person was furious.

With a big group I find you spend most of your time waiting. Waiting for someone to go to the bathroom (no one has to go at the same time), get a drink, get a snack, shop, smoke a cigarette, get up, get ready, make a phone call etc.

I'm sure most families are not like my aunt's. Our trip would have been better minus the fighting. But I find that in order to have any level of success with a large group, you need to split up or you will spend most of your vacation waiting.

There have been reports of large groups being together 24/7 and everyone had a wonderful time. But these stories are few and far between, most stories fall somewhere between complete misery and mildly pleasant.

I hope my post didn't scare you.

Good luck!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We do 16-19 extended-family people every year.
2) Usually pretty good, but can get unruly.
3) We plan the trip for
. . . one main meal daily, everyone attends (could be b'fasts, lunch or dinner)
. . . everyone goes to the same park on the same day
. . . no need for the group to stick together once in the park
. . . designated meeting time/place in each park, usually twice per day
. . . everyone picks three favorite rides and we schedule these
. . . every family goes Dutch, so there are no "I paid last time" issues
. . . there is at least one Adults-Night-Out during the week

 

[seashoreCM]

If many of you want to see a parade, then get everyone together in the same place. This way you can better hold spaces for everyone to sit.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Dawgdad]

I'm going to add a little different opinion. It works for us, but apparently not anyone else. Last week was our 4th trip as a group (we seem to add a few people every year...) - my family, my sister and her family, and mom and dad - ages 2,2,5,9,9,11,14, and 6 adults. We rarely split up. Only when the parkjs are open late and the older kids want to keep riding do we separate. We eat all meals together (usually 1 sit down per day, the rest counter service), we go to the parks together and leave together. Yes, we may split for individual rides, but only if the little ones can't ride. Our older kids have just been raised to go along with the younger ones (yes, they get to stay a little later and ride the big rides). I realize that it doesn't work for every family, but when we plan this trip, everyone gives their top 3 favorite rides, shows, and meals (as well as 3 things they really want to do while we are there) - I plan the entire trip and make sure that everyone gets at least one of their top 3 in each category. Also, if you put down a must see - then it will happen. Everyone goes along with my plan and everyone has fun. One day last year, my sister decided that her family would just go to Epcot after lunch - break from the plan. She called after 3 hours and wanted to meet back up with us at MGM. They had ridden Test Track, Maelstrom, and The Land...
Have fun no matter what you do - just remind everyone that it is give and take. If anyone expects to do what they want, when they want - let them just go on their own way.

Russ