I have so many ????? Questions

[Feelslikeadream]

My name is Tracy I am 34 ,mom of iden.twin Tyler&Austin 9 yrs, Brady 5yrs, and Jenna 2yrs. We are planning the trip of a lifetime . We will be arriving at POP-Century Nov1 - Nov 9. Tim my DH and I with our kids will be traveling with my mom & dad ,his mom & dad, with his sister and 3 kids. We will be celebrating my 35th and the boys 10th B-days!!!!! This is my 2nd time at WDW ,honeymoon 95' first time. We enjoyed ourselves so much 1month later we were told you are having twins!!!!! I LOVE PIXIE DUST!!!!!! I want to make this experience as magical as I possibly can!!!! All of us together in WDW,may never happen again!!! I know there are many WDW professionals out there and I would love some help and advice. My travel agent is trying ,but I know this forum can help to. I have so many questions I hope can be answered . Thank you for your time, I will definitely be back!!!! Sincerely, Feelslikeadream

 

[JustHereToHelp]

Do you have 1 room or 2?

 

[DawnaJean]

Wow Tracy sounds like you will be experiencing the vacation of a lifetime! It is wonderful that you can all go together. It sounds like you have a pretty good size group so make sure you make advance dining reservations (ADRs) as soon as you can (in early May - I think it is 180 days before but someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

Character Meals are a fun experience you may want to consider. We have found Chef Mickey's (Mickey and friends) and Crystal Palace (Pooh and friends) to be fun with good (not excellent, but pretty good) food.

People here on the DIS are the best and most knowledgeable about all things Disney. If you have any questions, they'll be very helpful....good luck in your planning.

Dawna

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Wow, what a great gathering!
Ask away on these great boards and you will find the answers/opinions.
Be sure to check out all the great WDW info on allearsnet.com, mousesaver.com, and wdwinfo.com.

 

[Feelslikeadream]

Thank you for the welcome! We are staying at the Pop-Century with 4 rooms. I am hopeing that I will get two sets adjoining.

 

[nickelsfamily]

Sounds like you will have a great time with your little family gathering!

Like the PP said, get started making some ADRs. There are so many wonderful restaurants at the parks and resorts. You have to do at least one character dinning on your trip. Make sure to mention the birthdays when you make the reservations! They will do something special like bring out a cupcake and sing! You can also order a cake for dessert if you wanted to. My favorite for CD birthday meal is Chef Mickeys! We have reservations there for my sons 1st birthday...can't wait! What a blast for everyone! Also, make sure to get the B-Day pin when you get to the parks. Extra attention for you and the kids!

There are many guided tours of all of the parks. Some cheaper than others, and lots of fun and informative too! You can do fireworks cruises....breathtaking! There are kids nights out lots of fun fdor them, if you want to have an adults night out. Also, you can arrange for babysitters if you would like to go for an evening at pleasure island...maybe go to a show and dinner.

There is so much to do, that I do reccomend planning and making reservations for things. But, with that said, you also need to be very flexible! Fly by the seat of your pants! The unexpected can also turn out to be something wonderful, at least that is my experience.

Also, make sure to take lots of pics!!!! These will be wonderful memories for you and your family! Have fun! And the members of this board will be a great help to you.....

Julie

 

[AllyCatTapia]

be careful- it sounds like you may be putting a LOT of pressure on this trip- "the trip of a lifetime" and all. try to step back, relax and enjoy.

 

[staci]

hi, just another thing to think about. we went in october and had a wonderful trip with myself, dh, ds, my parents and my brother.

But one thing that was kinda annoying was making everyone else happy. I mean, with that many adults there were so many people making decisions, not to mention restroom stops! I would try to come up with some kind of touring plan; like maybe having lunch ADRS, touring the parks in the am together, and then splitting after lunch. Or going in small groups all day, meeting for an ADR for dinner, and enjoying the evening rides and shows together. Just something so you all have some time to experience your favorites without accomodating everyone else. Maybe even do your own thing in the am, meet at the hotel at 2 for swims/naps, and then spending the afternoon/evening together.


Just something to think about.

 

[all4fun]

Hi, Having traveled with family to WDW more than once, I agree with Staci's advice.

We actually used the touring plans from The Passporter which helped us get all the important stuff in and it really helped a lot to have a plan of action for the day, instead of trying to figure it all out as we went along. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World also has a lot of good info and touring plans you might want to look at (although warning, written with a more cynical tone than other WDW books).

I would also make sure you have ways to communicate when seperate either via cell phones or 2-way radios. That way you can split up without worrying about totally losing each other.

hth and hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Enchanted]

First of all, congrats on getting to go to the happiest place on earth with so many family members!

I agree with all of the previous posters. You should definitely make reservations for all of the table service restaurants you want to eat at, mention the birthdays, etc. But the one thing you MUST remember to do is BE FLEXIBLE. Usually on our trips, it is my mom, dad, two brothers, aunt, uncle, and me. My aunt and uncle had been so many times by the time we went that they just went with the flow. Now, since we've all been so many times, we just sort of fly by the seat of our pants! But on our last trip, an aunt, two grown cousins, and their three kids joined us. After about three days, we were all ready to pull each other's hair out. On the fourth day, it was decided that the "new" group would separate from the "old" group. It was SO much more relaxing once we split up for a little while. The aunt and cousins went to the AK while we went to MGM. We met up at the MK later that night to watch Wishes, and everyone was a lot happier. We did the same thing for the rest of the trip. We would go our separate ways in the morning, and we would then reunite again later that afternoon or evening. We would eat and share our different stories and giggle and laugh.

With so many different families, you might think about this option, especially if you have different interests and expectations. For instance, (this is yet another thing my family does) one night on every trip, all of the women head out to Downtown Disney to shop, shop, shop while all of the men hang out at the pool or stay in one of the rooms and watch movies or something. It works out great. The women get to shop while the men relax, and everyone is happy. Compromise is the key word when you've got so many people.

I hope your trip is indeed the "trip of a lifetime" and I hope all your "wishes come true!" Enjoy!

 

[Feelslikeadream]

Thanks for the advice ...BUT!!! My sister- in- law and I agreed we were not going to split the kids up, they are all extrememly close. We know thye will never get this opportunity again at the age the are right now. This is why we scheduled 9 days, so we would be able to take our time. We have scheduled a FREE day at the end of our trip, this gives everyone a chance to do what they want if they wanted. Also my mom-in-law and dad-in- law feel uncomfortable having to choose which direction they are goin to go in with which of the 7 grand kids. She has requested we stay togehter as much as we can. I am a big, Camcorder person, I don't want to miss anything my niece and nephews experience. So I think we will take our time try really hard to have a durable agenda ,and try to flow with it.If anyone has felt this wa y I would love to hear from you.