Planning FAR in advance

[SarahAndMike]

I've been to Disney a whole bunch and last year my wife and I brought my parents. Well they loved it sooooo much (mostly because of all the helpful tips I've gathered here) that they want to go with a larger group. So now I've been given the task of planning a Grand Gathering in May of 2005 for a total of 11 people. I'm can't quite figure out the best way to approach this. There are 3 families going so we will need 3 seperate reservations. My family wants me to do all of the planning and they just want to pay their share. I've had a lot of luck making reservations myself, but I'm a little scared because of the extra 2 families going on the trip. I plan on booking may of this year and taking my rack rates for now with the hopes of grabbing a discount closer to the time of the trip. Here is my list of questions:<br>1)Should I wait until later than May to book the trip?<br>2)Should I use a travel agent?<br>3) I'm very worried about the hassle of getting new discounted reservations in the future. Would a travel agent have an easier time doing this for our group?<br><br> I also welcome any hints that anyone can give for planning a trip like this.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

I say you don't need a travel agent. Between now and then you will become to Disney savvy that having the travel agent as a middle man will slow you down!

BUT, if you decide to go with an agent, use someone who is a Disney specialist, like Dreams Unlimited. They will be able to work all the deals/codes for you. An agent who doesn't know Disney will end up being a hinderance more than a help.

I'd also say book as soon as every decides where to stay and has deposit money together. It might be easier to just have one reservation (but that only works if they are all staying at the same resort, I think).

 

[scanne]

I would say use Dreams Unlimited. The agent we worked with "Shirley" was such a huge help! We had three rooms booked under one reservation, but she was able to give us the cost breakdowns for each party. We found using Dreams very helpful and will be using them again on our July 05 trip which I'm already planning. So go ahead and get in touch with DU to get the ball rolling. They will keep you up to date on codes and discounts so you won't pay rack rate, even if you initially book at rack rate!

 

[goodferry]

I wrestled with using or not using a travel agent for our upcoming trip, but decided to do it myself, because in the end, I am just too anal. I don't know about keeping track of ressies for three families, though, it might make things easier on you if you turn this over to an expert!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I'm in the middle of doing this myself! I have a group of 17 (possibly 20), and we're going in August of this year. We are in 3 different states, and 4 different cities. I have been doing everything myself without the help of a travel agent, because I just find it easier to communicate with everyone myself. Also, you don't have to book all of the rooms under your name. That's what the Magical Gatherings program is all about. They "link" all of your reservations together using a "gathering number" which you will get when you book. If you are the planner, you have to book first to get the number, then just tell the other families what it is. They give it to CRO when booking, and they'll know you're all together. You don't even have to stay at the same resort! Also, when I first started planning, I sent boxes to everyone that was out of town (they've never been before. everyone here has been several times) that contained park maps, vacation planning videos, etc. That was about 8 months ago! Now that we're getting closer, we're doing 1 park each month. I mailed out an envelope about the MK on Fri. that contained info about parades, show times, etc. and I also asked them questions that I needed answered so that I could make PS's on time, and included menus from the various restaraunts in the park that I printed from allearsnet.com Hope this helps, and GOOD LUCK! You're gonna need it!!!

 

[my3girlstoo]

I just went through Grand Gatherings for 5 rooms, 4 different families. I found it very easy. All of my family left the planning and ressies to me so I actually made all 4 ressies at once for them. Just needed their names and addresses. My mom called back last week to get the 7/4 deal for her and my room. No problems. I think they actually bend over backwards compared to regular CRO. Other family is waiting for codes to come out for Oct. Yes, book yourself and do it now. I found that when codes come out I'll have less of a wait to get through to make changes then going through regular reservations plus they make sure you have adjoining rooms and guaranteed us connecting rooms for mom and me.

 

[SarahAndMike]

Ok great! Thanks for all the help. I didn't mean to ignore all of you, I just didn't know anyone responded . I'm still a little torn, but it sounds like doing the planning myself may be the way to go simply because I like to have controll. Thanks for all of your insite.

 

[pumpkinboy]

I think you would be well advised to use an agent like Dreams Unlimited for the hotel bookings especially. They will book things for you, then hop on any discounts as they become available, saving youn the constant monitoring, and allowing you to work with everyone else on other important things like planning PSs for the whole party (or maybe one of those special safari cookouts over by AKL that they offer to folks doing Grand Gatherings, cool!). If you don't farm out some of the work to someone else (like a travel agent) you risk burning out on the whole thing.

Good Luck!

 

[SarahAndMike]

This is exactly why I keep going back and forth. I'll have to see how confortable everyone else is with me doing the planning. Sometimes people like it better when a "professional" is handling things. Maybe I'll let them decide how we do this. Thanks again for all the help everyone.