Large group dining reservation questions

[PhDisney]

So in a fit of insanity, we have a group of 26-28 people going to Disney for a family vacation in April!

We're really psyched but I'm stressing over group dining. We have a long-shot dream of dinner all together at CRT, and if not then Crystal Palace.

I know I can't book a group that large over the online portal, correct? We also know our best bet is to be broken into several groups. If I call in, will I need information for others in our group for them to attach the multiple reservations to? Essentially, can they attach the broken-up reservations just to me? Or should I be ready with info for other group members?

We also have one smaller group who is starting their trip the day before the rest of us. Could we use their information to do the booking, even though the account it's attached to will be mine? (I assume no, but I figured I'd ask.)

We also have a mix of dining plan and non-dining plan people - any advice on that is welcome. If we pre-pay, can some people use the dining plan when we get there and part of the pre-pay gets refunded?

 

[Christine]

I know I can't book a group that large over the online portal, correct? We also know our best bet is to be broken into several groups. If I call in, will I need information for others in our group for them to attach the multiple reservations to? Essentially, can they attach the broken-up reservations just to me? Or should I be ready with info for other group members?

I booked for a group of 16. Some places let me go up to 16 online and some did not. Not sure what the max is.

If you call and make the ADR, you only need your information as the lead guest. If you want it to show up for the others in their MDE accounts you will have to go online and update each "guest" with the name. I have a dinner at Citricos that I had to call and book. They booked me with 4 different ADRs and I am on the lead of each one. Because of that, it won't let me add everyone's name online on the app. But it's not big deal as long as I have some of them on there.

We also have one smaller group who is starting their trip the day before the rest of us. Could we use their information to do the booking, even though the account it's attached to will be mine? (I assume no, but I figured I'd ask.)

Their 180 ADR window will open a day before you so it wouldn't hurt to have them do it but it can't really attach to your account, nor does it need to.

We also have a mix of dining plan and non-dining plan people - any advice on that is welcome. If we pre-pay, can some people use the dining plan when we get there and part of the pre-pay gets refunded?

I'm not sure what you mean by pre-pay and pre-pay getting refunded. Your are either on the dining plan or not. Disney staff is very good at splitting it up between dining plan guests and out of pocket guests. No worries.

 

[WDW Queen]

You CAN book that many online on the website. I believe the app cuts you off at 20 but I just went onto the website and looked for 28 people at Chef Mickey's for breakfast on April 7th and there were a couple of times.

So if you all want to eat together its certainly possible but you may have to tweak the time and location.

Play around and if you can't get what you want on the website THEN call and speak to someone and see what they can do for you.
They'll give you your options for how to best divide it up and who's info you need.

 

[SteveH]

You might also check out the Disney Group Getaways page.

Top places for a large group, Ohana, Chef Mikey’s, Whispering Canyon, Biergarten, Boma, 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace and Trails End.

Getting into CRT is going to be tough, even harder for a larger group.

 

[PhDisney]

You might also check out the Disney Group Getaways page.

Top places for a large group, Ohana, Chef Mikey’s, Whispering Canyon, Biergarten, Boma, 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace and Trails End.

Getting into CRT is going to be tough, even harder for a larger group.

Yeah, it's kind of a long shot. We figure we'll give it a try and if it's a no-go, Crystal Palace will be just fine!

 

[PhDisney]

I'm not sure what you mean by pre-pay and pre-pay getting refunded. Your are either on the dining plan or not. Disney staff is very good at splitting it up between dining plan guests and out of pocket guests. No worries.

We were mostly thinking that we have to pre-pay if we somehow snag CRT. I'm happy to hold that on my credit card until the trip, but several will have dining plans. (And, at least for my group, we're staying DVC and just haven't added our dining plan yet.)

 

[PhDisney]

Update: We did it! 27 people for CRT. It took a group effort: 1 group of 8, 2 groups of 6, a group of 5 and a group of 2, all for 4PM. (Well, one is for 4:05 but close enough.)