How do we manage such a large group?

[idealady]

We were planning a visit to WDW from Nov. 1- Nov. 5. Friends heard our plans and have decided to join. I am thrilled, but we are now a group of 13 including 7 children who are the best of friends , ages 9, 9, 8, 8, 8, (all boys) 6 and 4 (girls). I worry that managing plans for such a large group will become unwieldy. Any suggestions for making this fun for all?

 

[iluvpiglet]

We had a family reunion at WDW in August 2004 and my sister, who is now a travel agent, planned the entire thing for 16 people. We are going to the MNSSHP next month and there are 19 of us going. She has organized everything and made all the ADR's and tour plans and everything. If you need any help or just need to talk to someone with experience, you can PM me and I'll give you her info. She is great!

 

[AJKMOM]

Good luck with that! . I think if I were crazy enough to go with 12 other people, I would plan a few things together, like touring the parks, and perhaps meals apart. Right now, you probably couldn't get reservations for a sit-down dinner at a theme park for all 13 together. It might be fun for all to ride a few things together like Splash Mt. and Buzz Lightyear, but it could get complicated if the youngest 2 aren't tall enough or are afraid of things like Stitch and Space Mt. Your best bet might be to at least be in the same park the same day, and meet up for things everyone likes.

 

[ainmama2001]

We had 9 people last year. Since my dh and I had the child (dd3) we did our "thing" and if they wanted to follow along, they could. We stayed in a villa at OKW, so it was comfortable since ages ranged from 3 to 83. The only thing we did together every day was eat because I needed ADR's for that.

 

[badblackpug]

I am assuming since you said the children are "the best of friends" that they will want to stay together. I have 6 kids (10, 9, 8, 5, 5, 2) each one of the 5 year olds gets "assigned" to the 10 year old and the 8 year old, resprctively. (my 9 is delayed and essentially on level with the 5 year olds, who are "gifted") AND THEY MUST HOLD HANDS AT ALL TIMES! The 9 year old can either choose to stay with the 10 and her "buddy" or with a parent (always holding hands) the 2 year old always stays with a parent or in a stroller. I have also had them all wear the same colored shirt or a matching hat or something that will make them stand out. I only do this during crowded times. Make sure all the kids have something on them with your name and cell phone # (my big ones know it by heart) the little ones and my 9 year old have "dog tags" that you can get at Army/Navy (there is an online site, but I can't remember the address. That they know to show to a CM if they are ever lost. They never have been *knocking wood* I count heads frequently.
Generally, if I speak to them ahead of time, and explain the "no wandering" rule they are good about it. They also know that they are to obey the adult in charge *OR ELSE!*
Do lot's of "head counts"
Oh yeah, when one person (adult or child) goes to the bathroom *we all go tomthe bathroom!*

 

[lynn46356]

We did a non-Disney family reunion with 20. It was very hard! We spent so much time waiting around and looking for each other that we didn't all get to see what we wanted to see. I had my fill after two days and there was three days to go. It's just so hard to manage that many people. I wish you lots of luck. I'm sure it will be fun though. I wouldn't try to stay together all the time. Just too much work. Maybe have everyone write down what they want to do at every park and then go from there. Since our reunion we've gone with different families to other amusement parks we split up. Big boys go with the dads doing rollercoasters, etc. and littler ones with moms doing other things that are age appropriate. We meet somewhere for a meal, etc. Plus now with cell phones it will make it so much easier if you do split up for a while. GOOD LUCK!!!!

 

[disnut8]

I've done several large family groups and the one piece of advice I can give you is that you will NEVER be able to all tour together all the time. It won't work. Everyone needs to agree to that. The first time, my father-in-law insisted we all stay together. My friend and I looked at each other and say "nope" and went shopping on our own. This last time, my mother-in-law literally begged us to take her so she could dump my father-in-law and brother-in-law because "they go too slow". She ended up with my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, my father-in-law enjoyed the Epcot entertainment, my brother-in-law bought a book and enjoyed in Germany, and my husband and I had had a fantastic time by ourselves.

What worked for us was honesty. And not pre-planning too much. Meals are fine. We did that but not to the extreme. We grouped together at night (whoever was still awake) and then visited again the next morning. Then we had our groups and headed out. We mixed and matched the entire day. Take cell phones and walkie talkies.

Heck, I tried to get a dozen people out the door for dinner in Toledo, Ohio and it was a struggle. Try that at Disney World.

 

[torismom]

I feel your pain. There are 16 of us and 8 of them are kids, 12,9,8,8,7,5,5 and 3. My 2 kids, my best friend's 3 kids and my 3 niece's. It will be a very intersting trip.We have 2 b-day's during our trip to.

We are all doing MNSSHP together and dining together for our big meal's. We will hang at the pool but we will all do our own thing some to.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

After doing WDW and a Cruise with over 15 people each time, the best advice came from someone above. We never tried doing much more than a meal together or you end up waiting for someone more than doing the parks, someone always wants to spend more time at one spot or someone has to go to the bathroom or find that one gift in the the gift shop. Just plan to meet up at certain times of the day and break off into smaller groups.

 

[idealady]

Thanks all. Great advice. I've actually been successful in obtaining good ADR's for most evenings and I've mapped out a sort of loose itinery. I can imagine splitting up for some of the parks, and returning to the resort to relax by the pool or dine. My biggest worry though is that the kids will be so anxious to be with their friends that they won't want to split up and we'll be moving through the park like a herd of cats. Well, its Disney... how bad can it be? Maybe by slowing the pace we'll enjoy some things we've missed before.

 

[sleepyone]

.....

like a herd of cats.

 

[WillCAD]

You will NEVER be able to keep the whole group together for more than a meal and maybe one or two attractions at a time, so don't even try.

The best course of action will be to send out a poll of major attractions for everybody to rate how much they want to experience them, rated on a scale of 1-5 (for the youngest kids, Mom and Dad might have to fill it out for them). Once you have the polls, you can match up 2 kids and an adult or two to form smaller touring groups for each park, and map out a rough touring plan for them. The groups would mix and match each say, as different people will want to do different attractions in each park, so the kids may or may not be with their actual parents on any given day.

Print out the touring plans for each group for each day, including meal times and meeting places for larger group events like parades and fireworks, and cut them down to pocket-size pieces of paper (about 3x5 should do it), and laminate a few copies for each group to carry with them.

Each adult should have a cell phone, and you should pre-program everyones phones with everyone elses numbers. You can also print out a master plan with everybody's phone numbers, plus 407-WDW-DINE, your resort's phone number, and any other general info about the group's plans.

This will mean a lot of work for you, but planning is half the fun anyway. And planning ahead will mean fewer melt-downs in the parks - "But I don't WANNA see Mickey's Philharmagic, I wanna ride Pirates again!" - "I don't wanna stand here all day watching this dumb parade, I wanna ride some rides!" - "I've been stuck on the kiddie rides all day, I wanna get on some roller coasters!"

Get the right people to the right attractions and everybody will have a better time.

 

[resol37]

I haven't read through all of the replies (though I should and probably will). Next May I'm going to be going with a group of 14 (all family). Luckily only 2 will be kids (a 4 year old and a 7 month old). The adults will range in age from 20 to 51. As the second youngest of the adults, I'm the one organizing the whole thing because I'm the resident Disney freak out of the whole bunch.

My main objectives will be:

Keep the kids as happy as possible
Make a list of must sees
Don't be afraid to split up (I'd love it for all of us to see everything together, but our usual vacation is to the NC Outer Banks and while we usually have a general idea of what to do, it's very, very loose)
Plan! I'm not going to plan every single minute, but I am going to spend a considerable amount of time talking to my family members next month at my cousin's baby shower to see what they really want out of this vacation.

 

[Joyce Kingkade]

Check out the section on the WDW website for "Grand Gatherings". There are lots of neat things to do together (for a fee) for groups of 8 or more. Maybe planning a few of these would give you some special times together.

 

[MsLeFever]

Make sure that each couple gets some "away from all kids" time. What a treat just to have an hour with a spouse to rest and tour!

 

[seashoreCM]

Instead of planning for a large group why not plan for several small groups with occasional get-togethers?

A good time for a rendezvous, for those who want to, is for a parade. Y'all together can bettter stake out curb space.

Remember, in any group only one person can be in charge. As soon as someone else wants to exert control it is time to split up.

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

In any meeting only one person can be talking at a time, everyone else can only listen. The problem with big committees is that each member on average gets less talk time per meeting hour.

 

[Disney Doll]

We have travelled with a group as large as 28, and what we do is plan a few group events (dinners, Hoop-Dee-Do, maybe a character meal)so everyone can get together. We also meet at the pool in the late afternoon for a while beffore going out for the evening. As far as touring the parks, everybody goes where they want, and if others in the group are going to the same park, then they'll hang together.

The biggest thing you have to agree upon is that no one gets offended by someone not wanting to join this activity or to go to this park.

 

[disnut8]

Actually, the kids will be the least of your concerns. It's the adults that cause all the frustration.