Large group questions..

[mshrm]

Ooooh Twomisfits I love your suggestions. The Cowboy Casserole already looked good but that site is great too! I am going to post that on our planning page as well so I will have it. I think Im going to spend one evening making up the casseroles and then freeze a couple. I like to make a bread pudding in the crock-pot overnight to go with breakfast as well. I considered a second crock-pot that had some kind of hot cereal, wasnt sure about that though. Maybe too much? I figure some kind of hot breakfast for most days and then the other list you posted above to go with it. An assortment of cereals, fruits, yogurts and granola bars. That way those who might be just want to grab and go can. Also my thoughts are that hot breakfast(from me) will be offered early am since I plan to be at opening. Those who get up later who be on their own. You sound experienced how big of a group do you handle sometimes? Have you done it at WDW?

 

[mshrm]

Hopperfan Im intrigued! So you did do it? How many were you and what were the problems that make you say never again?? Please dish maybe your experience could save me some trouble!

 

[Caseheidi]

Just thought I would add my two cents on meal planning for such a large group. I have found that planning meals that are self serve in a "bar" type setting work well, and are fairly quick to put together for lots of people. A Potato bar, Mexican (taco/burrito) bar, salad bar, or Haystack (chicken served over rice with different veggies and ingredients with sauces) all are easy to do in volume, easy to deal with allergies and picky eaters as they put their own plate together, and cost effective.

 

[mshrm]

Caseheidi that is a very good idea! I love the idea that I could cook the main dish on each of those suggestions in the crock-pots and than just pull out the fixings. And very true for the picky eaters.

 

[glassslippergirl]

I can't even wrap my head around vacationing with 20 people, but it sounds like you have a good plan. Basically, you're putting yourself in charge of food. Understand that if you RD most mornings, you will be putting out boxes of cereal and leaving while a bunch of people still are asleep. You'll likely have breakfast clean up to do when you return in the afternoon. My only suggestion is if you want to spend at least one evening in the parks, get a bunch of deli meats from Publix, rolls, sandwich toppings, and potato chips. Set them out in a sandwich bar and head out. It's an easy meal that everyone likes.

 

[NinaBella]

I like the idea of two houses side-by-side. I don't see how that prevents hanging out together because they are side-by-side. Yes 10 bedrooms/8 bathrooms sounds accommodating for sleeping arrangements; however, two kitchens, two pools, two laundry rooms, and two driveways is what would pull me towards the two homes over one. Even if planning the same meal for twenty to share, having two ovens, two refrigerators, two sinks to prep, etc. is still better. I guess OP doesn't see it the same way.

 

[Cynt]

OP kudos on planning ahead. I have planned a WDW trip for 9 and now planning cruise for 12. We're all family, 4 sisters and BF, hubbies n kids along with grandparents. We're a close family.

We stayed at WBC 4 bdrm presidential suite. FABULOUS!!! The things I learned from our WDW family trip...each family rents their own rental car. We rented 2 cars plenty of room but I felt like a taxi driver, especially chauffeuring the 3 GP.

We had each family fix breakfast b4 rope drop. We did hearty breakfast to cut down on morning snacks at the park. Each family told me what they wanted to cook and we made a walmart run day 1.

Lunch and dinner you were on your own. We made a couple of ADRs to our favs but other than that each family ate on their own whether sandwiches at condo, fast food or pool and pizza.

Let them know what days and nights you would like everyone to be together for a special reason ahead of time. If you tell them these 4 times I want us 2 be together for whatever everyone can plan accordingly.

Have a vacation meeting. Set expectations. No you do not have to be with the group the entire time. Family 1 will cook Monday, etc. The singles and GP are not ur babysitters. If you would like them 2 babysit, what day and what time. It's the GP vacation too. You are responsible for your child.

CLEANUP after yourself and your children.

At about day 3 or 4 After a long day in the parks, EVERYONE is cranky and tired. ORDER PIZZA or grab burgers and tacos at a fast food joint. TRUST ME ON THIS!!!

OP you're on vacation too. Tell the group these 3 days don't ask me or tell me anything. Im ENJOYING my vacation. Let them know ahead of time. Tell them in the vacation meeting.

HAVE A BLAST and come back and let us know.

 

[mshrm]

Well Im down to the 5 month countdown. I gave myself a break over the holidays. One issue of a big group are the slackers! Lucky for me there are only 4 people in this group so far but what I mean by slackers are the people I can see that Im going to have to be prepared for their unpreparedness.

Ive got some great ideas for meals and now Im beginning to work on touring plans. The 6 month period for dining reservations happened over the holidays. I was lucky to hold reservations for BOG for the whole group as well as Tusker house for the whole group. I had to do these reservations in groups of 2 since disney doesnt seem to accommodate groups bigger than 16.

Touring plans will be interesting...

 

[charmed59]

Back when my kid was in high school there were occasions we’d feed large groups. Go to plans included trays of lasagna, pizza and salad, and burgers and hotdogs.

For breakfast there should be hot water, so you could have oatmeal packets as well as cereal, raisin bread for toast. Donuts and bagels go bad pretty fast, so you could get them once, for that day, but after that it gets dicey.

I have a short term rental in Florida and though we do try and keep it well stocked with kitchenware it does not have a slow cooker/crock pot. You might want to call ahead on that one.

 

[naomiatx86]

Woohoo! I'm excited for you.

 

[SweetMimi]

Sounds fun! I second the casserole options for breakfast/dinner.
Dinner casseroles (ex.chicken,rice,broccoli) or one pot meals can have your meat/starch/veggie all in one dish. Also cuts down on cleanup. Another thought is to have a family/couple/team assigned as official cleanup each day - dishes, dw loading/unloading,putting up food etc. This helps give you a break also since you'll be primarily cooking. I've learned that if you assign days it's much easier to keep up with.
We do Christmas together and we're now up to 18 people from 6 mo - 70 so it can definitely be done and still be enjoyable .

 

[gunderda]

I think a great option for large group meals is catering. BBQ, Mexican, maybe even chinese could be affordable options. All you have to do is just schedule it ahead of time so it can be delivered when you want it.
Or get some of those giant subway sandwiches and many bags of chips lol

 

[Penmac]

Love this post. We are travelling with my husband's brother and his family this summer. We are very close and our kids (9 children total between our two families), are best friends. But, I think we all agree that when it comes to living space, we all want our own rentals to return to in the evening. We will probably each rent our own 2 or 3 bedroom condo, but within the same complex. We can meet at the pool, and perhaps share a couple meals (pizza delivery anyone?). The kids can even hang out after hours, but we can all return to our own SPACE at the end of the day. That is so important to me.

I checked out a few 6 bedroom homes on the Windsor Hills website, and they are certainly tempting. Having all that space and a huge private pool for our 2 families would be sweet. But, I don't think I could ever do it with another family- even someone as close as these family members. And maybe just because our immediate family is already so big and chaotic. It would be so far from a vacation for me I don't think I could handle it.

Good luck!

 

[mshrm]

Sweetmini thats a very good idea about cleanup. I was thinking along the lines of doing something like that with breakfast too. Since their are 10 rooms I was thinking of making teams based on room assignments. We too are somewhat accustomed to doing a large group. We have done up to 14 at Disneyland for Christmas week a couple of times. Those times we were all in in hotel rooms and it was usually only for 5 days. We did however feed everyone a dinner meal out of those rooms so were experienced. This sharing a house together is going to be a new experience!

gunderda you are so right! We have done that before when we had a large group staying in hotels. There is a fast good near Disneyland called El Pollo Loco that we get chicken, rice, and beans catered. Its great when served and then makes great burritos for lunch in the park. I was wondering if there was a $5 pizza place around there too. I think I will have to check to see what is affordable in the area. I know there is a Publix only 5 minutes away and they may do pick up group meals. Very good idea! We like to bbq a lot but i think a couple nights of catered/takeout food is going on the plan.

Penmac your right its going to be quite chaotic no matter how well I plan! We considered 2 houses and had originally planned to rent two side by side. The choices were much more limited but there were several great ones out there. In the end though it was decided that one house was the best way to go. There are too many teenagers who will be there without their parents. Its was also simply the least expensive route I could find. I guess in the chaos I only hope their are tons of love, fun and great memories.

 

[arminnie]

Does anyone have a Costco membership? They have a lot of prepared food often in large quantities. Lots of their items are just too big for me to buy but that should not be an issue with 20 people.