Magical Gathering - Is it worth it??

[Lorelai]

What, if any, are the perks of a Magical Gathering? 12 of us (all family) will be going next Spring, but I don't know how to navigate a Magical Gathering. I guess what I'm asking is - What does the term actually mean & is there any advantage to doing this?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There is supposed to be a coordinator assigned to your group. There are a few activities for Grand Gatherings. These include Breakdast at Tony's, the Epcot International Dinnner Buffet with IllumiNations Dessert Buffet, The Animal Kingdom Sunset Safari and Dinner, and the Wishes Dessert Buffet and Cruise. All of these have characters and lots of interaction. There are also othr benefit. These are all things you cannot get without the group.

 

[bellenbuzz]

I see where Disney is going with it, but we had a group of 10 ppl and we got nothing out of being a "Gathering".
We were assigned a number, but never needed it for anything and really there were no "extras" or "perks" that you could not figure out or do on your own anyway. The "options" offered to groups were extra costs on top of everything else, and not really a discount.
Maybe they changed it since we were there, and have made upgraded perks for being a GATHERING.
It didn't matter, we had a blast and a wonderful time!
Good Luck !

 

[Tinkerbellmom33]

We're a Magical Gathering of 13 for the first time too. There are no big perks, just some extra things you could only do as a group. It also helps when booking your rooms. They try to keep you together if you all stay at the same resort. I used the profile # when I booked our ADR's. I was told that when you use this #, your ADR's will be on the itinerary they send you.
We chose to do the Magical Firework Voyage, and I'm really excited about it!! Who knows when we'll get to do that again. After this trip, we might not want to be a "magical" gathering again.........LOL
Hope this helped a little.

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

The idea of a "Magical Gathering" is not for discounts at all. It's a way for you to keep together (think of your GG# as an umbrella) at the resorts, and to be able to participate in 4 options (that run from $32.99 to $59.99 pp) that not everyone can participate in.

It's a great idea for some, a PITA for others.

When/if you do decide to do this, please make sure when you call DRC that you have the following information ready: The names & addresses of everyone in the party. Ages of the children, and the dates you'd like to travel. Also have in mind a resort you'd like to go to.

This information will be beneficial to you and help the CM speed you thru the process. Please do not get angry at the agent placing your booking, as they are only following company mandate.

It used to be that you could book 3 rooms together, now, Due to heightened securty, each room needs to be booked seperately, and yes, it's a lot more work for you and the agent, but the good thing is, if your uncle harry decides not to go, and he's booked seperately - everyone else is left alone, and harry can e singled out.

The number for getting a Grand Gathering Representative is 1-407-wdw-plan.

Thank you, this has been your public service announcement for the day. Carry On!

:O)

 

[Lorelai]

Thanks so much to everyone for replying - I feel that I have a better understanding of it now!

It seems like it would make room reservations & dining planning easier. I would also like to take advantage of booking one of the fireworks cruises. One question - the post referring to the different gathering bookings that can be made - Do characters greet your party at all of these things? Or maybe they just see you off on the cruise? Or into the meals?

Any info appreciated - thanks again!

 

[CLEO Z]

Our grand/magical gathering of 15 just happened last week. We used the number to book our meals, but never got an "itinerary" except for the one I typed up in Excel. We didn't get anything out of it, but there seemed nothing inherently wrong with it either.

Make sure you book ALL table service in advance. With a group of 15, we'd have never eaten without our ADRs.

 

[daisy112878]

We did the Safari and dinner. We had a great time. The safari ride was longer and they stopped for pics along the way. The dinner was really good. And we got to see Timon and Pumba.

Just an FYI they only count the members in your party over the age of 3. So you have to have 8 or more members over the age of 3 to do the Magical Gathering events.

 

[Harmony]

We didn't have a 'special' coordinator for our Magical Gatherings. How does that work? We had 12 in our party last month. We didn't get anything 'extra' out of it. *shrug* It was no different than when I planned our family vacation (party of 5) last year.

 

[PoohHappens]

We are a party of 8 travelling the first week of October. I would not say there are "perks" for being a grand gathering but I will tell you what we have liked about it. Using the WDW-plan # is great. It is picked up right away and you do not have to go through all the prompts. They can make your dinning reservations as well. Since you are a larger group this is helpful. I was told by several different CMs that the Grand Gatherings have priority for seating together. Also it makes it easier to link ressies together. The CMs at the gg number have also served more like travel planners to me although I am not assigned a specific one. All our dinning reservations are linked to our grand gatherings number and when I gave that number to th cm she was able to read me our whole list so I could comfirm everything was booked properly. We did not take advantage of the special offerings as they cost extra money and you are with other groups not just your own. They do look fun however. We are all checking in at seperate times and without that number the resort would not always know we were travelling together and our rooms might not get placed next to one another. But definately the ease of dinning ressies for me was great. One morning my husband and I both called in, he to dinning me to gg. I was booked and off the phone before he was even answered. I even go breakfast at CRT for all 8 of us. I also found the gg cm's to be very friendly and knowledgable. Also they never seemed like they were in a hurry to get you done and to the next call. Have a freat trip sorry this was long.

 

[Third times a charm]

We are a party of 8 travelling the first week of October. I would not say there are "perks" for being a grand gathering but I will tell you what we have liked about it. Using the WDW-plan # is great. It is picked up right away and you do not have to go through all the prompts. They can make your dinning reservations as well. Since you are a larger group this is helpful. I was told by several different CMs that the Grand Gatherings have priority for seating together.

I even go breakfast at CRT for all 8 of us. I also found the gg cm's to be very friendly and knowledgable. Also they never seemed like they were in a hurry to get you done and to the next call. Have a freat trip sorry this was long.

So how did you get your GG number? Do you ask for it before you book any rooms, etc. Also, who did you go through to get your CRT ressies? Thanks!!

 

[Pooh Crew]

The biggest benefit to a grand gathering, in my opinion, is the (407) WDW PLAN phone number. I used it to get breakfast at CRT--no waiting, got the time I wanted, no problems! For us, that alone was worth it.

 

[scanne]

I was told that when you use this #, your ADR's will be on the itinerary they send you.

Are they supposed to send something to you before you go? I'm leaving in 6 days, we're a Grand Gathering and I haven't gotten anything. We're doing a Wishes dessert cruise that I'm really excited about. Should I keep looking in my mail for something? Thanks!

 

[PoohHappens]

third times a charm--I was assigned a gg number when booking. If call 1-407-wdw plan to book when you have 8 or more. They tell me they want you to do larger groups this way. Our travel agent set ours up that way also. The number is great because it is answered so quickly. That is the number I called the 90day morning for CRT. I just said what I wanted and she said ok how bout 9:30 and I said perfect. Now since you can book up to ten days total of dinning when you reach your 90 day mark I think it would work even better. Good luck.

 

[PaulaSue]

Thanks for the info. If I understand correctly I should call that number to book our rooms (8 people with another under 3, so we will want 3 rooms) and then use that number to get our dinner ressies everywhere we want 90 days before our trip? Even if we don't book the extra grand gatherings packages. I hope I am right.... TIA!

 

[mello]

Please tell us all about them. I think they all sound like fun. What did you do? What kinds of food did you have? Was it buffet, or sit-down? Were there characters there? Which ones? Were there lots of other groups there too? Did the events feel leisurely, or rushed like some character meals do? Overall, did it seem "worth it?"