How to plan a big, "for sure" trip?

[aebeauregard]

So I have been to Disney quite a bit and always done the planning myself because I love to do it. In the past we just seem to end up going if a good deal comes out, usually if free dining works out with dates that work for us. We have a big family trip coming up in August 2018. I am in charge of planning. My father is paying for all his kids and their families to go. We have been talking about this trip since I was about 12, and now 15 years later it finally is creeping up on us. Anyways I am just looking for a bit of advice on how most of you plan trips you know are coming up far in advance?

Do you book room only once they are released and then just call to change to packages if a good deal becomes available? Is that the best route to take?

We are looking at going end of August 2018. It will be 7 adults and 6 kids (10,8,8,6,3,1) Honestly we haven't even really decided much yet. My father talked about going to Disneyland. I would love to go but Disneyworld looks like it would be much cheaper. I wanted to give him a couple ideas of pricing for this year so he has a slight idea in him head. We are staying on property no matter what.

I'm open to hearing any experiences or suggestions planning a big trip with multiple families. What worked well, where did you stay, what would you have changed, am I crazy to attempt planning this myself?

 

[LisaCM614]

We always seem to travel with more than just our family!
What works well for us is to set expectations - what will be the things that everyone in the group will be expected to do and what should they plan on doing on their own. Will you make everyone's ADRs? are you all going to eat every meal together? or will there be one meal a day when you are together and everyone is on their own for the other meals?
What about theme park touring? together? separate? Does your dad really want everyone on Its a Small World or Splash Mountain at the same time?
Everyone should stay at the same resort. It really helps if everyone has their own room. Sounds like you need 3 or 4 rooms.
Here's what I would do I'd price out a range of things all of them with 3 or 4 rooms:
1. Deluxe resort Concierge Level - so nice to have the lounge to have everyone meet up to start the day or end the day. Plus it gives you the lounge to hang out as a family instead of in someone's room!
2. Deluxe resort - no concierge
3. Art of Animation - depending on the family make up - maybe some little mermaid rooms and some suites
4. If no family has 3 children maybe Pop Century would be a good choice.

Play around with pricing for this late August - to give you a sense. I purposely did not name a deluxe because I don't know what theming might appeal to your dad. There is something for everyone and since he is paying - I'd figure out what appeals to him the most.

I personally think you should use a travel agent - a really good Disney certified travel agency to help you with this. We struggle and in our group we have AP holders, people who visit 2x annually, people that visit 1x annually. It is hard but so worth it!
Have fun planning.

 

[nikkid1]

You can make it fun too. We go 1-2 x's/year. We have really started to get everyone involved. The trip we are planning now, we have everyone give a 5 min presentation on the one resort they wanted to stay in (my 8 year old was working on persuasive writing in school at the time). That way everyone knew what the resort options were and learned more about what each one had to offer. Then we all voted. I plan everything, but I did not want to be the sole decider. we always travel with other families/groups so I welcomed the insight that others had.
We also have Disney themed parties to pick our dining plans and then again for our fast passes. That way everyone gets something they want.
We usually book really far out. Then we call and have discounts applied. We know we have to be open to changes from our original plans as the same room categories and hotels are not always available.
We do always start with what is our budget and plan from there. I get the budgets from the groups we go with and make sure that our trips align with everyones budget.
Also, keep in mind proximity to the parks with the ages of the kids in your groups. For instance, we LOVE Animal Kingdom Lodge, but when I had to use a double stroller I swore that hotel off since your only transportation option was buses and it is far for mid day naps. We moved to the Epcot circle for those times because there are two parks within walking/boat rides and that made it much easier.
You can very easily look up historically what discounts were offered and when and gauge some price points that way to give your dad. It is a really large group and might be hard to manage (sounds amazingly fun to me ) so if it is in the budget, the Club level of Deluxe resorts might be the easiest way to go as they will book your ADR's for you.
Have a great time planning this trip. Get everyone involved where you can and enjoy it all!

 

[Babsy]

Sounds like a great trip!!

Staying in some WDW resorts can mean rooms that are quite distant from one another. WE like to have our rooms in close proximity for convenience. So we take steps to book where proximity is not based on getting a room request in a spread out resort. For example, we wouldn't book standard rooms in CBR. That is, unless you want some distance for privacy. We have been known to book separate resorts on purpose and then planned times to meet for meals or specific activities.

If the budget allows, and you all want to be close to each other, booking CL would put you all in relatively close quarters. In the CR, for example, if you book Atrium CL you will all be on the 12th floor of the tower. Elevators are central, as is the lounge, so you would all easily meet up together. Also, As PP said, the CM's would help with bookings.

Another option that would keep everyone together would be a stay in CSR BC. You would all be in the Cabanas 9B building and have access to the lounge there for breakfast and some snacks/beverages. This option is significantly more budget friendly than the MK resort CL level room would be.

I see little point in booking a room only reservation and then changing to a package. You will have to completely cancel the room only reservations and start afresh with booking packages. I would book either room only or packages depending upon what you will want to end up with.

As a PP said, it is a good idea to plan a certain amount of together time and time apart. WE have found a day together followed by a day on our own alternating through the trip works well for us. WE plan which meals will be together and which will be separate as well. Everyone books their own separate ADR's. Group ADR's are handled by one person (usually me).

Watching vacation planning videos together can help get everyone on the same page. Have everyone plan a must do list and compare how much you want to do together and apart. plan FP+'s accordingly.

BTW: I really like the resort idea where everyone pitches for their favourite for 10 min and then they vote. Think I'll use that for our next group trip!!

Enjoy!!!

 

[kayteekt]

I would look into getting villas by renting dvc points. Great for larger groups. 3 room villas are hard to come by, but you could do 2, 2 bdrms or poss 2 bdrm plus a 1bdrm or studio. Just depending on occupancy allowances. I would at least price going this route against 3 or 4 std rooms

 

[RedOne3781]

I've helped friends plan large trips before and here is the advice/tips I like to give them:
1. Stay on property.
2. Get the dining plan, if possible, to avoid any extra costs/bill drama.
3. Plan some meals and activities as a large group but also plan some time apart.
4. Have everyone do some research and pick their top two resorts. Resort with the most votes wins. If no clear winner, draw out of a hat. That way there are no hurt feelings.
5. Make sure all magic bands are linked/all members of the party are linked on DME. Makes getting Fast Passes together easier.
6. Contact Disney World and see if they can assist you with more detailed planning. They used to have special things for larger groups, but that seems to have been discontinued.
7. I cannot stress separate family time enough. If while planning you find there is a lot of conflict, suggest only meeting up for things like meals , fireworks and shows. You guys can be at the same parks on the same day and just meet up every now and then. Whatever you feel will work best for your family.

 

[aebeauregard]

Thanks everyone!! I love hearing the ideas and suggestions. I think we would all fit technically fit in 3 rooms, but it would not be much fun. It's hard because my sisters family is 6 people. We could make it work but I think everyone would have more fun if we had 4 rooms or did something else.

Family breakdown would be:
(2)Grandma and Grandpa
(1)Younger Adult Brother (single)
(3, hopefully 4) Me,DH, DD (3), hopefully a 1 yr old baby at time of trip
(6) Sister, Brother in Law, 4 kids (10,8,8,6)


I looked a little bit into renting DVC. I have just looked on the Dave's rental site. Has anyone used this? Are there any risks. I've never stayed DVC or know much about it. It might be a good way to fit us all and give us some separate bedrooms and things.

If we were doing it this year I think I would have suggested us getting 3 cabins and we could have gotten free dining for our dates. I think in a perfect world we would be able to get free dining when we go. I don't want to bank on it being offered again at the end of August though. That is another thing that makes me hesitant about renting DVC. It looks like once you book it you can't cancel or make adjustments. If free dining did pop up for our time I think we would really want to try to fit that into our plans.

For those who have planned big groups before is it difficult to get ADRs for a group of 13. Do all restaurants
seat groups this large?