Planning a Grand Gathering..any advice???tips, info?

[andrews1ma]

HI there-

I am planning a Grand Gathering for the week after Thanksgiving . Here are the details:

11/29-12/5

Staying for the first time at Pop Century- booked 4 rooms- was able to use 40% code on 3 out of 4- now just praying for a free dining code cause I think that would work better for all of us!

Cast of Characters ( age listed at the time we will be going)
me: 36
DH: 35
DS: 10
My Mom : aka- granter of all wishes!-wont list age- but awesome DGMA who has taken my son 3 times in the past 2 years!
DBF: 38 ( haha I love that she is older- and we will be gong back to Disney alone for her 40th b'day in 2 years!)
Her Kids:
DD: 11
DS: 9
DBF's Mom- we all refer to her as Mema ( Dont be fooled by the darth icon- we all love her but she can be a bit "dark" at times)

So there will be eight in total- we all went to dis together in 2006 minus my DH who had to work and couldn't come - so we did not qualify as a grand gathering- but referred to our gang as the "7 Dwarfs" instead- fun but not as fun as the GG will be!

Here is where you come in please- I have booked our hotel with basic dining, tx w/ Park hoppers and was given the special GG phone # to call to make any ADR's or book any special events- so being new to the GG I have no idea what is available or offered to us at a GG and do not want to miss out on anything!
Since we have all been many times before we would be happy to do any special tours etc... and not feel like we are missing out on anything.

What I am planning/cooking up ( but have not booked yet) - and this has nothing to do with a GG but have never been able to swing this before is:
Me, DH and DBF take the KTTW tour ( think that is what it is called- the backstage magic something or other? tour) and put the 3 kiddies on the Pirate Boat trip to leave from The Grand Floridain while the to DGMA's enjoy tea or B'fast at the Grand Floridian and wait for the kiddos to get back- then we can all meet up back at MK (i planned to do this from the GF so that they can use the mono-rail as we will not have a car). I am sooo psyched to do the tour- and DFb is a dis nut too!

Sooooo with that- any Grand Gathering advice would be great- I have been reading bits and pieces of other TR's and see that there is some type of Safari tour at AK, and something about a Wishes boat as well.


Appreciate it!

 

[grandgathering]

bump.........!

 

[katyjeka]

Hi. This will be our second Magical Gathering for our group. Its myself, dh, 3 dd's(14,8,7) mother, father and brother inlaws. We had a great time in 07' and get wait for our Dec. trip. We will be staying at CSR, 3 rooms, 12/11-12/20. We did the Wishes fireworks cruise last time, and LOVED it. We're thinking of trying the AK safari, and Illuminations cruise this trip. We also plan on getting my "mom" on a searacer(small boats, not sure of the spelling)and are deciding between Hoop dee vue and the Luau. I know the Luau gets pretty bad reviews but we did it in 07' and had a great time, and really want to do it again. Maybe we'll be able to squeeze in both. We really had a fantastic time, and everything went as planned. I think traveling to WDW with a large group is hectic and frustrating for a lot of people, but with us, the size of our group really added to the magic. We laughed so hard, so often, that people were actually staring at us wondering what they were missing. Have a great time. Janice

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Hi! We're going the same week as OP and we are a group of 10 for most of it (12 for a few days). Staying at BLT, DDP and using the military discount for tickets.

Not sure how to plan it all either - don't think I want to plan a meal/ADR for 10 or 12 everyday. Is it possible to get everyone to show up at the right time???? LOL

We're not going to have hoppers, so I think I'm just going to tell everyone what park which day and ask them for suggestions as to where they want to eat and go from there.
I read that you can get a GG breakfast at Tony's in MK and characters are there too! That would be fun even though most of us are adults (two teen boys and 8 and 6 yr old girls). I wonder if we can get into the parks with an early ADR like for the other character breakfasts?

 

[clajgray]

We went last December - 9 of us and we did a couple of the special Grand-Gathering-Only events. They took up a good chunk of time ot of the schedule, but they were worth it. Here's a little recap.....

1. GG Breakfast at Tony's in MK. A.W.E.S.O.M.E!!!!!
We got into MK early but didn't need to be at Tony's right away, so we enjoyed Main Street - ALONE!!! There was no one there! I don't know if this is normal or not, but it was GREAT!!!! We got a bunch of great photos in front of the Castle with no one else in the background. The Photopass Photographers were there in full force. It was great!

Now, the breakfast was great too! The food was wonderful and there were a bunch of characters who joined "Tony" for the show after. It was really cute! Not to mention, if you have any little ones who like Lady and the Tramp, b/c that's the decor! My dd loved it!

2. GG Safari and Dinner. Really NICE!
We didn't like this one as much, but it was still nice. The safari is late in the day, so the animals - well, you just never know what you'll see. It's a private Safari, so it's only GG groups.

Then you dine at the Tusker house. Food is very yummy and the atmosphere is really fun! There is also a visit from a couple of Lion King characters that you don't normally see - the names escape me right now.
There is also a little animal - meet and greet - an owl and a spider I think.
All of it is really cool and fun!

With both of these and I'm sure the other GG events, you just have to plan around them, b/c they occur only 1-2 times a week. PM me if you have any other questions.....

Have FUN!!!!

Oh yeah.....if you get the Photopass....and nore than one person grabs a card so that you end up with a stack at the end of the day, take a photo of the number on each card....VERY IMPORTANT!! With that many people, many cards fly around and some will invariably get lost (ask me how I know!?!?) BUT if you have the number, you can still access the photos!

Blessings!!!!!
Lori

 

[mrsscooter]

We are in the midst finalizing our plans for our GG in October. There will be about 7 campsites with about 30people split between them. Our pact witheveryone is that we arent joined at the hip with everyone else so its an understood "do-watcha-like". We plan on getting together for one of the special GG activities as well as having a big potluck on night for everyone. We are actually meeting this coming weekend with all of our suggestions as to ADR's and dinner shows and who is interested in what. In planning our GG and doing some research, as a GG we can do a fireworks cruise, a dessert party meet and greet, the safari dinner, and I think there is one more but it escapes me right now. I think the biggest thing to agree on up front is to be flexible and have the understanding that its ok to do different things.....This is just my two cents.........you will all have a great time no matter what activities you decide on!

 

[pmdeve]

Our GG is in June there will be 11 of us in all. Our plan is basically to start each day off together for breakfast, then break for what each wants to do and then back together again for an evening dinner. Since the children are all different ages, I think this will work for us.

 

[chrismass]

I'm also planning my first GG for August - but only have heard about the various dinners /activities available - is there a special number to call or is it through the usual dining number? Thanks!

 

[Jasmin1]

I'm also planning my first GG for August - but only have heard about the various dinners /activities available - is there a special number to call or is it through the usual dining number? Thanks!

I'm also planning my first one for August - 11 people. When you call you have to ask for Grand Gathering Department. It's different then the dining.

 

[Deffenm]

I am planning one for 9 in June 2010. Where can I find out more information about the activites and I am assuming there is a cost. I will be booking 3 rooms at POP. Do I just call the normal number to do that? I am very excited about this trip. I am taking my 3 children, dad, stepmom, dbrother 11. Dsis and her boyfriend are joining us as well. My dad, stepmom and brother have never been. I took dsis for her HS graduation present.