PS for group of 21?

[ShariB]

Do I need to go thru group dining for this large of a group or can I just call the PS number to reserve? Do they even have "group dining"? I have tried to find out on the official Disney site but if I type "group dining" in the search engine all I get is info on Grand Gatherings. Will someone take care of PS's for our group if we book as a Grand Gathering? Sorry to ask so many questions but I am a bit frustrated. I had hoped to use Dreams Unlimited to book our vacation but since one family in our group needs a campsite and not a cabin(which Dreams doesn't book) they can't book any events for our whole group so now it's up to me! Thanks for any info.

 

[Chuck S]

It may have changed, since it has been awhile since I booked a "group". I booked through the the regular dining number, but was informed that the gratuity would be added to our bill. I have also heard of people being referred to a "group dining" number...so it may depend on the restaurant you want to book.

Either way, I'd call the regular dining number and they can transfer or refer you to the correct department.

 

[mareed]

I'm almost positive that any group of 13 or more has to go through group dining for all reservations. You can call the regular number and they can transfer you or you can call Group Dining directly at 407-939-7707. I believe that you have to hold the PS with a credit card for all Group Dining reservations.

A few restaurants require you to go through Group Dining for groups of 9 or more. For my group of 12, the only place where this has been required for our XMAS trip has been Garden Grille at Epcot.

 

[flexsmom]

Good luck with group dining. I have a part of 16 - and sometimes of 13. We were only able to book one restaurant for a group of 12. The others we had to split into two tables of 8, with "every effort made to place the tables close together." For my special adult-only night to celebrate a 50th anniversary with 13, I was told I'd have to go through a special private dining number for the CA Grill. It took 4 days for them to call me back, only to find out there's a $2000 minimum for one of the private rooms! That's a lot of food/beverage for 13, but by then it was too late to get even a table for 12 in the dining room, so we had to switch venues. So, as long as you're flexible and your party doesn't mind being slightly split up, you'll be OK.

 

[mareed]

About splitting up... I've made several PS's for 12 for our XMAS trip and many of them are split into multiple tables (I think Whispering Canyon Cafe has been the only one with a single table for 12). What I did in some cases was book the first lunch seating so that our 3 tables of 4 have a much better chance of being next to each other. If we have to split up, we'll deal with it, and who knows, we might just be ready for a little bit of splitting up by that time.

 

[maci]

I was transferred to group dining when making SOME of my PS for our Nov/Dec trip and we only have a party of 11.