LARGE GROUP- beginning to plan

[Shelby Schroepfer]

Hello! I have been to Disney 4 times now, (2002-as a child, 2016,2017 & 2018 as an adult) and feel super confident on my planning abilities for my own family. BUT my mother would like to take THE WHOLE FAMILY to Disney for her and my dad's 25th anniversary in 2021 (also to celebrate Disney's 50th). The whole family means mom, dad, us 3 kids and our families. A total of 8 adults and 6 kids. 1 of those kids will actually be a Disney adult, while the rest are between 4 and 9. We are renting a house in order to accommodate us all in the same place (mom's request) very close to Disney. She hasn't picked an exact location yet but I am curious as to how we do transportation. I've only ever had my own vehicle, or used Disney transportation. With a party of that size, renting a car would mean renting several, which is probably not likely to happen. What are all the options out there for getting to the parks for a party that big. Maybe there is a community of rental homes that has shuttles that I know nothing about?! Or maybe renting 2 SUV's is what we'll be stuck with? LET ME KNOW ALL YOUR IDEAS! thanks guys! This is going to be huge and epic and stressful but it's literally my mom's bucket list to take her grand kids to Disney. Only 2 of them have gone EVER, my daughter, and my oldest niece who we took with us in 2016. The kids are so pumped and my mom has already started saving!

 

[mjhtvchick]

Hello! I have been to Disney 4 times now, (2002-as a child, 2016,2017 & 2018 as an adult) and feel super confident on my planning abilities for my own family. BUT my mother would like to take THE WHOLE FAMILY to Disney for her and my dad's 25th anniversary in 2021 (also to celebrate Disney's 50th). The whole family means mom, dad, us 3 kids and our families. A total of 8 adults and 6 kids. 1 of those kids will actually be a Disney adult, while the rest are between 4 and 9. We are renting a house in order to accommodate us all in the same place (mom's request) very close to Disney. She hasn't picked an exact location yet but I am curious as to how we do transportation. I've only ever had my own vehicle, or used Disney transportation. With a party of that size, renting a car would mean renting several, which is probably not likely to happen. What are all the options out there for getting to the parks for a party that big. Maybe there is a community of rental homes that has shuttles that I know nothing about?! Or maybe renting 2 SUV's is what we'll be stuck with? LET ME KNOW ALL YOUR IDEAS! thanks guys! This is going to be huge and epic and stressful but it's literally my mom's bucket list to take her grand kids to Disney. Only 2 of them have gone EVER, my daughter, and my oldest niece who we took with us in 2016. The kids are so pumped and my mom has already started saving!

If you really didn't want to go with multiple vehicles, you could look at something like this: https://www.enterprise.com/en/car-rental/vehicles/us/vans/15-passenger-van.html

But with that many people, I think you will actually appreciate multiple (2-3) rentals as it is likely that not everyone will want to go everywhere at the same time - several cars/vans will give you much more flexibility and not leave anyone stranded. Don't forget you also need room to accommodate your bags when you are travelling to and from the airport.

I would suggest looking at Windsor Hills vacation community - it is very close to Disney property and also has a lot of amenities on site for those times you are not at the parks. There are a number of very nice larger homes there.

 

[hsmamato2]

we did this last spring...16 people in total. We decided to stay onsite,as this simplified the need for cars and travel.It also allowed us to come and go from parks/dinners easily. This was great as our party ranged in age from 1-70 years old,and we all had different schedules! most of us stayed at the Dolphin,with a couple staying at Pop.... it worked really well. We usually met every morning at a certain time,did 3 fastpass rides together,and then did whatever after that. (most of us like qs food,so not much ts) I did learn this- with young kids/large group fp's(and using babyswap) it took longer than a regular fp with just a couple of people. The only thing I would have changed was plan 2 FP first thing in the morning,then an hour for lunch and snacks (the kids get tired) instead of 3 right in a row.(I planned one per hour) so basically fp at 9,10,11:30.
That's all I got lol- our schedule worked great,some days we all hung out to eat lunch, other days we all went to the pool to relax,and onsite allowed us to mix and mingle as desired.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Hello! I have been to Disney 4 times now, (2002-as a child, 2016,2017 & 2018 as an adult) and feel super confident on my planning abilities for my own family. BUT my mother would like to take THE WHOLE FAMILY to Disney for her and my dad's 25th anniversary in 2021 (also to celebrate Disney's 50th). The whole family means mom, dad, us 3 kids and our families. A total of 8 adults and 6 kids. 1 of those kids will actually be a Disney adult, while the rest are between 4 and 9. We are renting a house in order to accommodate us all in the same place (mom's request) very close to Disney. She hasn't picked an exact location yet but I am curious as to how we do transportation. I've only ever had my own vehicle, or used Disney transportation. With a party of that size, renting a car would mean renting several, which is probably not likely to happen. What are all the options out there for getting to the parks for a party that big. Maybe there is a community of rental homes that has shuttles that I know nothing about?! Or maybe renting 2 SUV's is what we'll be stuck with? LET ME KNOW ALL YOUR IDEAS! thanks guys! This is going to be huge and epic and stressful but it's literally my mom's bucket list to take her grand kids to Disney. Only 2 of them have gone EVER, my daughter, and my oldest niece who we took with us in 2016. The kids are so pumped and my mom has already started saving!

What a marvelous gathering! And an equally challenging planning opportunity.

I agree with @mjhtvchick on the possibility of the larger van. I see quite a few of the large Ford passenger vans around these days. In fact there is one in the driveway of the rental across the street right now. That said I also agree that with multiple families only one large vehicle does not seem reasonable. I suggest discussing vehicle rental plans with your siblings and agree on how many vehicles would be appropriate. Perhaps one large van and one medium, one family sized SUV to provide flexibility.

As far as lodging, there are a lot of 6, 8, or even 10 bedroom homes out there. Some time on VRBO will give you an idea on the availability and cost.

I do not know of any rental community that provides shuttle service. Taxi's or Uber/Lyft are your only alternative.
Best wishes on your planning and have a trip!

 

[writerguyfl]

If you do end up going with a 15-passenger van, make sure to check your insurance (if you're not buying it from the rental company). I believe that some garden-variety insurance policies do not cover larger vehicles like those vans. That might be an additional cost worth factoring into the decision.

 

[kathy884]

We have found that for the larger vans 15 and 21 passanger our insurance doesn't cover that, so we have to get the rental car insurance and that's expensive. We've done that before, though, for road trips, but not for Orlando. If you are doing offsite, I would recommend at least two cars, maybe two minivans (find those less expensive and that they hold more people than those SUVs). If your extended family is like ours you will like to do most things together, but it's nice to have two cars, so some can leave earlier, some can do something without the others without leaving others stranded - even like going to the grocery store. We've done eight trips with an extended family group of 10-16.

At a place like Windsor Hills if you want to all stay together, it's easy to get a six bedroom/five bathroom house with a pool and hot tub (pay extra for the pool heat or the pool will be too cold for swimming), but you are out of luck for shuttles, etc. Your own cars are your best bet. Also, uber and lyft can be good options.

Usually on these trips, my brother and I would put together an itinerary including a park touring plan that a core group was going to do and pass that out. We'd let everyone know they were more than welcome to do their own thing or join the core group for all or part of that. We do a big breakfast in the condo each day and give people the exact time one car would be leaving (to make rope drop). We'd make it clear that we were not going to wait for anyone and if they were late that they would need to do their own uber/lyft to the parks and meet up with us by cell phone. It worked great. And even our almost always late relatives were right on time as they knew we were serious and would leave them behind. We usually on these trips, included one of two more laid back smaller attraction / resort hang out days too. That can be hard to do in Orlando as there are so many great parks. It's typically our style -- four park days -- two hangout small attraction days in between park days, but we have been to Orlando so many times, so really aren't hurting to go everywhere and do everything and like the break and hang out time.

 

[BostonEd]

With a party of that size, renting a car would mean renting several, which is probably not likely to happen.

Why not? With a party your size, I think you should rent 3 cars.