Need advice re: family reunions at WDW

[bpr2002]

I am now in charge of planning my family's reunion at WDW. It will only be eight adults and a baby, but I'm only used to planning for my husband and myself. My family has chosen Port Orleans French Quarter as the hotel.

I am so overwhelmed. Does anyone have any advice?

Is it difficult to make ADRs for eight adults?


Thank you!

 

[stacy6552]

YES! Call Magical Gatherings. Disney now has a whole service dedicated to planning for groups of 8 or more.

You can even use their program online and send out polls to your family and stuff.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I have planned several family gatherings, one at Disneyland and two at WDW. Our age ranges have been 3 to 80 and it was at times challenging but mostly wonderful! I agree, call the Grand Gatherings people at WDW, they will help you out. If you do choose to do it yourself (what I have done since our WDW numbers aren't large enough and Disneyland where I planned for 8 adults and 4 kids doesn't have a grand gatherings type service) it is easier now since they post park hours six months out and you can make ADR's six months out too. Some restaurants can't take that many people either because they just can't or because some other larger parties have already booked the bigger tables. They will put you at two tables close together. They do this all the time and find ways to keep everybody close by. My advice is to have all the adults in your party go on allearsnet.com and look at the menus and prices and put their choices in. Then you can narrow down from there. It can get tricky finding places everybody likes to eat but it can be done and WDW has so many wonderful choices nobody will go hungry! I think POFQ is a great choice. It is a smaller resort so you will stand a better chance of having rooms located near to each other. When we went with my parents in October I was amazed at how many extended families I saw, I think it is a great way to enjoy family time and many others apparently do too!

I also think that sometimes its good to split up a little. It gets tough having everybody together all the time. You said one baby so others might want to take care of the tot sometimes so his/her parents can go off and ride something. Maybe your group will be able to be together all the time, ours couldn't because we had 4 seniors who just didn't feel like commando touring like some of the rest of us did. But in all, we spent more time together than apart.
I also might suggest buying UG for you the planner and having everybody else buy Birnbaums. I like UG for the really intense planning but Birnbaums has pictures and general descriptions that can give others some ideas of what is in store and what they might like to do. If everybody has already been to WDW then you might not need to do this.

 

[nemofanatic]

I am the planner for my gathering. What is UG?

 

[MycatlovesEeyore]

One thing to keep in mind is something Amy&Dan mentioned. When you have a large group, the chances increase exponentially that there is going to be someone unhappy with the decisions that are made. I have seen and heard on more than one occasion where someone was upset because everyone did not want to do EVERYTHING together. You will invariable have one or two that have to do their own thing. Feel free to plan, but do not expect everyone to go along with everything, and be willing to go on without them.

My cousin went for a four day reunion last year and decided that the last full day would be the MK day with the Grandparents, Grandchildren, Aunts and Uncles. Well come the last day, the grandparents decided they did not want to go to the park that day. My Cousin and her DS & DH decided they should spend the time with the grandparents. Therefore, on a four-day trip they did not even go to the MK. Such a shame

Moral: Different strokes for different folks. Be willing to give others the chance to enjoy themselves in their own way, but don't subordinate your enjoyment either.

 

[kjs1976]

I second what everyone else has posted about not being able to please everyone. When we went with 8 adults in 2002, this was the case as well. Everyone had different interests and we needed to respect the fact that people needed their own time and it shouldn't hurt others' feelings.

Our most successful times together were meal and show times. We might go to the park together one day, but split up and then meet up again for meals, parades, and fireworks. This worked out well and kept everyone happy. Since you can get ADRs, people will know where and when to meet up and you can eat at a variety of places, even if it is for one sit-down meal a day.

 

[nja33]

My best piece of advice for you is to just plan one or two meals together and try not to get frustrated if everyone doesn't want to do the same thing. I come from a very large family (15 cousins and growing) and we've done 2 disney reunions. One in '87 when I was a baby where we spent the whole trip together and again in '97 when we were allowed to split up. We're planning a 3rd in '07 and our plans are to plan a character breakfast and a dinner for the whole family. We're not too worried about where anyone stays but the majority of us will be at a DVC resort since my parents became members on our last trip. I think making a decision about what park you want to do on each day is a good idea. Whether you stay together once you get there is a different story. I know personally I plan on going on TOT but my parents, grandmother, and aunts will not want to go on this. So it's no big deal. We all have cell phones (for the most part) and will make sure to exchange numbers before we leave. Then if we decide to meet up later in the day to, maybe, see Fantasmic! we can.

Whatever happens, good luck and have fun. It's a vacation. Remember that!

 

[bpr2002]

Thank you for the great advice, everyone !

 

[wearegoingtoDisney]

What has worked for us is to have a schedule of which parks which day and meals planned and reserved ahead. This is not etched in stone but eliminates the daily "where are we going" and wasting time trying to come to a consensus. That way everyone is at least at the same park on the same day so you can meet for rides or meals. Also by scheduling meals ahead of time you lessen the possibility of standing there at noon time with crying hungry kids trying to get the adults to decide where to eat. Now at times you end up not being at the right place in the park to get to a certain planned restaurant but then you just adjust as you go. I found having meals planned ahead of time essential. We probably stuck to the meals 80% or so.

One other thing when you are traveling with a group especially if you have kids it can get frustrating that kids do not always go to the bathroom at the same time as the adults so at times it felt like our routine was Ride, snack, bathroom, Ride, Snack, bathroom....so if you are looking to do Disney commando style lower your expectations.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

My only advice to you would be what others have mentioned. You will never be able to please everyone. Make sure everyone has some time to themselves. It is overwhelming to try to get a large group to agree.

 

[Poohbeck]

You may have read some of my other posts??

We did a Family event last Nov. 04.

There were 10 of us (me, DH, DS6, DS7, Mom, Dad, Sis, BIL, Nph5, Nph18mnths) and I did all the planning.

We had 2 - 3 family meetings about what everyone wanted to do and what everyone's expectations were.

I then planned 1 Main event everyday. One day we went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast, then we all went to MK for the moring and did a few rides together. Then, by lunch we all went our seperate ways.

One day, we didn't see everyone until the HDDR.

Another day, we all had breakfast at the hotel and the all went to AK together. We did the Safari and Lion King as a group and then went our sep. ways. When the 3pm parade came around we bumped into my sis, we sat with them. When we got back to the hotel, we found out our parents had left after lunch and were by the pool. They were tired and didn't want to stay for the parade.

My feeling is to have a plan. Know what everyone wants and what you expect.

PM me with any other questions.