Offsite accommodation for 22??

[stayhomemom77]

My mom is thinking of taking us all to Disney over the Christmas break. She wants to rent a house for us all...the problem is that there are four families in addition to my parents...for a total of 22 people (10 adults and 12 kids).

I looked on VRBO but even the 7 bedroom houses state the can accommodate 14 or possibly 16 people.

My sister thinks the kids can just crash on air mattresses...but I'm not cool with that.

Are there any legit options to finding a place for us all or do we need to look at splitting up into two houses?

We always stay on site so this is a first for me but...

Is there a way to find a good deal?

Can we somehow find a place where we are quite near to one another (in two condos or houses or some such) not necessarily right next door but perhaps the same complex or neighbourhood?

Any tricks and/or tips to renting houses/condos in the Orlando area?

Feeling like a complete newbie here and desperate for any advice!

 

[Jaime4004]

That's a lot of people! You would probably need to get two houses. My parents rent theirs through https://www.americanhomesrental.com/ and they rent a lot of houses in the same neighborhood. I'm sure there's a million other home rental places out there, that's just the one i'm familiar with.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I have not been there myself but what about Wyndham Bonnet Creek? You could get 3 Two Bedrooms. I hear a lot of people talk about Bonnet Creek. Looks like during Christmas week it'd be about $7,600 total for 3 rooms for a week(not including and promo codes). I'm not sure if they can get them RIGHT next to each other but it wouldn't be too far - at least at the same resort.

 

[My3Princez]

I saw an 8 bedroom VRBO listing that says it sleeps up to 34 ... The Christmas time rate is $2199 for 7 nights+$155 cleaning fee+taxes+a refundable damage deposit.

 

[stayhomemom77]

$7600!! For three two-bedrooms?? I know there's a mark up at Christmastime, but...dang! That's not going to fly. She won't pay that much money for just the accommodations, that's for sure! Thanks for the replies. I guess we'll keep looking to see what we can find that comes in under budget.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I saw an 8 bedroom VRBO listing that says it sleeps up to 34 ... The Christmas time rate is $2199 for 7 nights+$155 cleaning fee+taxes+a refundable damage deposit.

I just looked this one up and wow! That's a great price. I don't think you can beat that for 22 people.

 

[DnA2010]

about a potential trip from your Mom!! That's fantastic! I will check out the complex we stayed in on our WDW trip - their condos were a good price- you'd need a couple, but price may be reasonable!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Windsor Hills has 6 bedroom houses, you could find 2 next door to each other. They usually run about $2000 per week.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Technically it was my sister's idea. I was talking about going down for the marathon during the first week of January (which would likely be our date BTW, not actually Christmas week...should have made that more clear...sorry) and she got all excited and said that if mom covered the house rental (she usually spends $100 per grandkid anyway, so that would be her present for this year) and then each family would be responsible for their food, transportation costs and then whatever entertainment they could afford. Most of us would do Disney in one form or another (six or more day passes for us hard core DISers and less days for the weirdos...er, I mean those LESS enthusiastic about Disney ) and it would give everyone about nine months to save up the required funds.

But I hit a snag when trying to get a house that would fit us all. Not sure how she feels about splitting up (and then how do you decide which family shacks up where...I love my sisters but there is only one family I really want to be housed with ) but I thought I'd go into this armed to the teeth with info and let her take if from there!

I'm only now just starting to think it all through...how am I going to handle offsite?? I NEVER do offsite!! Not since our first trip.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Technically it was my sister's idea. I was talking about going down for the marathon during the first week of January (which would likely be our date BTW, not actually Christmas week...should have made that more clear...sorry) and she got all excited and said that if mom covered the house rental (she usually spends $100 per grandkid anyway, so that would be her present for this year) and then each family would be responsible for their food, transportation costs and then whatever entertainment they could afford. Most of us would do Disney in one form or another (six or more day passes for us hard core DISers and less days for the weirdos...er, I mean those LESS enthusiastic about Disney ) and it would give everyone about nine months to save up the required funds.

But I hit a snag when trying to get a house that would fit us all. Not sure how she feels about splitting up (and then how do you decide which family shacks up where...I love my sisters but there is only one family I really want to be housed with ) but I thought I'd go into this armed to the teeth with info and let her take if from there!

I'm only now just starting to think it all through...how am I going to handle offsite?? I NEVER do offsite!! Not since our first trip.

It sounds like a Disney trip might not be doable for some of the families without this "gift" of accommodations from your parents. Do your parents feel alright about this? I just can't imagine staying a house with 22 people. Meal prep, sharing bathrooms, coordinating schedules, the invariable meltdowns that happen with kids (and so, so many kids all together in this case). I am sure it will be fun, but it probably won't be relaxing. Good luck!

 

[ellie05]

We did 16 people February 2015. We got a house in reunion but even then it wasn't $2200. There was some cheaper options that were also closer, but the furnishings and homes were outdated and old. The house sleep 18 which gave us extra beds and it work much better for our sleeping arrangements, we had a home theater, game room and pool.

 

[stayhomemom77]

LOL You are probably right, Jenn and Ashwin...it will likely be a bit of a logistical nightmare...but we do spend a lot of time together en masse at my mom's house in the summer and during holidays so we do have an idea of what to expect. We don't ALL sleep at my mom's but we're usually all there for the majority of the day and evening. This would sort of be the reverse...all there at night and more spread out during the day.

They could all afford to do it (*I believe*) even if they had to kick in for the accommodations...I'm just not sure they all actually *would* do it. There are a couple of (hmmm...what's a nice way to say tightwads?? ) super thrifty families that would participate more readily if this accommodation thing was offered up as an incentive. The sister who suggested this is one such thrifty miss (or at least her husband is). They took their kids to Disney 5 or 6 years ago (before the littlest was born) and have been promising the kids they'd go back for the last three years in a row. My mom is pretty ticked that they are making promises to those kiddies and then not delivering...not because they CAN'T go down, but because he changes him mind as the dates come close and decides to use the money to a) pay down the mortgage, b) replace the upstairs flooring and c) redo the backyard landscaping. (Actual events...trips cancelled...money used in these other ways. ) My mom is angry about this and also hates to shop for presents, so I think she was really intrigued by the idea of a fantastic family trip which would cover her Christmas present obligations and FINALLY get those kiddies their promised Florida trip!

Additionally, my parents and my middle sister and her hubs always travel together. They go on annual cruises together and they just came back from New Orleans during March Break. His family is from Idaho and they are planning a road trip out there this summer so the other grandparents can meet the baby and my folks are going with them. I think my mom has some guilt about this...she's never vacationed with any of the rest of us. I don't give a flying fart about that but I know my other two sisters have made a few snarky comments about it. My sister pays her own way, so I don't know what their problem is but this trip would assuage my mom's guilt most likely.

Personally, I don't love the idea of all of us crammed into one house for a whole week. Plus, most of them tend to fart around and waste time and I can't abide that. I wanna go, go, go and not wait around for everyone else to figure out what they are doing. I've already made that abundantly clear. The hubs says we should just book our own onsite accommodations and then meet up with them at the house for a couple of dinners and a swim or two. I like the way he thinks!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Personally, I don't love the idea of all of us crammed into one house for a whole week. Plus, most of them tend to fart around and waste time and I can't abide that. I wanna go, go, go and not wait around for everyone else to figure out what they are doing. I've already made that abundantly clear. The hubs says we should just book our own onsite accommodations and then meet up with them at the house for a couple of dinners and a swim or two. I like the way he thinks!

This is what I would do. I don't think I could handle all of those people for that long. I am also like you, I can't stand waiting around for everyone else. I want to go whenever I want when I am on vacation. DH's parents and brother are the worst when it comes to this! His parents have talked about a vacation together, but I am sure it would drive me nuts. We do have an Asian cruise scheduled in 2017 with my parents and grandparents, but they are much more like me. Go, go, go and do, do, do. None of my siblings wanted to join this trip. I definitely think it is their loss.

 

[stayhomemom77]

My mom is go, go, go...my dad...not so much. He would definitely hold us back some. He's overweight, has back issues and basically just moves like a turtle. We should rent him an ECV (ECV??) so he can keep up. I'm not sure if he'd love that or hate it! But he'd be awesome about the Disney magic...he's just a big kid at heart.

Honestly, I'm not sure about my sisters. My fave sister is the vacation-with-mom one and she is definitely go-go-go but her kids would be 8, 4 and 2 by the trip so the girls (younger two) would likely slow us down some. I'd be fine with that...I adore those kiddies and this would be their first experience with Disney but I'm not really sure how the families of my other two sisters would be. They both tend to have hubby's that get fed up with crowds and lines and anything else they could find to complain about and they'd be the ones demanding to leave the parks early and go back to the house for a rest.

The tightwad would want to get her money's worth but might cave to the hubby's demands if he wanted to leave, and the workaholic (she's the youngest sister...we do have a brother...not sure if he is going to be joining us) is a bit of a wild card. No predicting what she would do.

Anyway...I'm half hoping it all falls apart but it won't be because I didn't do my due diligence.

Thanks for all the help so far, friends!

 

[QueenIsabella]

I like the idea of two, adjacent houses. Partly due to having more space overall, but I also think the logistics of feeding 10 or 12 would be slightly easier than having a 22-person meal, every meal.

I think you definitely have to think through the logistics of everything--will you all eat together every meal? Breakfasts on your own? At least one big, all-encompassing family meal during the trip? What about access to each others' houses--yes or no? (Some people are fine with this; others, not so much--bring it up ahead of time). Talk about expectations for kids' behavior (should any adult say something to a child who's acting out, or refer back to the child's parents?), bed times, wake-up times, etc. You don't have to all move in lock-step, but it's nice to know if Family A is getting up at 6am to hit the parks at rope drop, and Family B wants to sleep in and go later. Some people may value "down days", while other might want to maximize park time.

Another thing to consider--I know it would cost more, but have each family rent their own vehicle. It makes splitting up easier.

We used to go down with my MIL/FIL, DBIL and his family, and our family (12 total). We found that it helped to have a sit-down, a few months out, with one representative from each family, to hash out scheduling. It was me, BIL, and FIL--the three that could disagree and compromise without killing each other. We would agree on what park we'd be in each day, and on some meals (usually dinner). Touring and other meals were done as the smaller family unit--this saved a ton of "waiting around" time. We did occasionally run into each other in the park--sometimes we hung together, sometimes not. But meeting for dinner gave us a chance to reconnect and share stories of our day.

 

[anna08]

I agree with the others - definitely try to get a "plan" made - assign who's making the meals at the house at a minimum (every family takes a turn?) If you find that an impossible task, then I would definitely consider the go-it-on-your-own plan. Another option, totally change your mindset that this trip is about family, and that experiencing the fun of your sister's kids going for the first time is worth slowing down and doing the parks in a totally different manner - this is not easy but is doable if you and your hubby/kids sit down and talk about it ahead of time. You might be surprised at how different and fun a new approach to a WDW visit may be. Include your kids in thinking about what they think their cousins should not miss and plan with them. Then schedule a trip soon for just your hubs and kids so you can do it the way you prefer. If you go knowing you'll be coming back soon they'll be much more likely to accept that they can't do everything this trip. One thing is for sure - with 22 people, it'll be memorable!

 

[ellie05]

I must say it is so interesting seeing family dynamics. When I came to ask advice for 16 people everyone here told me we should go to the parks separate (we had 4 cars, we could fit in the suburban and van, but we needed more space for luggage)and how a group this big will be hard to manage. I knew that wasn't going to work for us. My family is used to traveling together and spending time together. In fact we have a family chat that everyone is included that we communicate with each other almost daily.

So I ignored everyone's advice and did what I know was going to work for us. In the family chat I asked everyone what were their must dos, rides they didn't want to ride, etc... I made a spread sheet and came down with two different touring plans. One for the people that ride everything and one for people that wanted to avoid roller coasters. I printed about 10 plans in index cards per day for everyone. The first day it took some adjusting, but once everyone saw the time savings it went very smooth the next few days. I managed everyone's MB and FP+.

For example some us went into the 7DMT while other went to ETWB. We meet after in the entrance of the next item in the list. Cooking was even easier because everyone helped out. Although most meals we had at the parks.

We had a ton of fun and there was no family fights or melt downs.

 

[DnA2010]

Well you would need a few cars anyways, so you could have groups split up a bit due to needs. MIL took DH's family on a cruise a couple of years ago- we were 3 families, the single uncle and his parents. The cruise was good as we did our own thing at 2 of the ports, at the beach port we had two cabanas so everyone hung together, we did dinner together...it all worked out great. I think as long as everyone has realistic expectations on what they want and the group is willing to work with it, it could be great fun!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

You could get several cabins at Tropical Palms Resort. I believe their largest ones are 3 BR.

Er, nevermind they're sold out that week.

 

[poohbear1208]

I would rent 2 houses near one another. Most rental places have occupancy limits, so you don't want to cram that many people into one. I would be afraid of the management company finding out if you did go over limit