Recommendations for dining with large parties

[jayhjay]

Is there a good strategy for dining with a large group (9 including a toddler)? I am a little worried b/c we are just now planning our trip for June and we are already past 180 days so I am worried it will be hard to get dining.

Adding to that the complication that for the first time we are traveling with extended family which means I can't just pick where I want to eat but actually have to consult others! Boo! ;-)

Is it difficult to get tables for a large group like that? Would there be a benefit to breaking us down into 4 and 5? Would we even be able to sit near each other or would it be treated like two different reservations? I think we could easily do two tables b/c adults outnumber the kids, but I wasn't sure how that would work in practice.

Any advice?

 

[Pakey]

I have put together 2 large group vacations, one for 11 and one for 17.

Almost every place we dined, we were seated together and if we were not, we were put very close to one another. Even at Sci Fi, they seated us at cars that were side by side.

 

[jayhjay]

I have put together 2 large group vacations, one for 11 and one for 17.

Almost every place we dined, we were seated together and if we were not, we were put very close to one another. Even at Sci Fi, they seated us at cars that were side by side.

Thanks! I am wondering if we would have better odds getting ADRs if we booked two tables rather than one, but I'd want to be near each other. Did you have trouble getting into places with such large groups?

 

[kkane]

One place that's good to go with a large party is Oktoberfest in the German pavilion at Epcot. I believe the tables are long enough to fit a party of 9. It's a buffet, but they have lots of different things for people of different ages & tastes to eat. It's also noisy & fun, which will be good for the toddler. HTH!

 

[reneebaker]

You should be fine. We are planning a last minute trip for 10 and I was able to make reservations to...


1900 Park fare 4:35
50s Prime Time Cafe 4:10 Fantasmic following at 7:30 pm MK EMH
Boma 6:10
Cape May Cafe 5:20
Whispering Canyon Cafe 5:15pm
Liberty Tree Tavern 3:50 The Electric Parade and Wishes following at 7 and 8
San Angel Inn 5PM

I mean I obviously am not going to get reservations to 'Ohana this late in the game (but I am checking every day lol) Their are reservations available just not in a time slot I would be interested. Some of our times are way earlier than I would normally have chosen. But that's part of last minute booking and some of them aren't too bad because it will give us time to get seated eat and make it to whatever shows we want to that night. I would just check the calendar to see where you want to be on any given day at dinner time and then look under "dinner" check the box of the park you are interested in being near and be sure to look at hotels that surround that park for a good reservation and time that would be doable

 

[MrsWaltDisney86]

were in the same boat. We have a party of 14 including 11 adults (ages 20-91) and 3 Babies (4, 2, 1)...yeah were a Grand Gathering!!

Weve made all our Reservations no problem. But I would suggest making them all at the 180 mark and already have everything mostly mapped out. Look at park hours/extra magic hours stuff like that.

....We forgot to check the Fantasmic Schedule and now im trying to move dinner ADR's around...it hard for at last minute to get lucky and snag a 4 person ADR yet alone a 14 person ADR

So Far we have:

Cinderella Royal Table-Breakfeast
1900 Park Fare-Dinner
Coral Reef-Dinner
Chief Mickey's-Dinner
Ohana's-Dinner
Cape May-Dinner
Le Cellier-Dinner
Wishes Dessert Party-Event Package

All were booked together no problem-Only 2 (CRT and Wishes) Require Pre-payment, everything else if 1 or 2 people decide not to go thats fine, i figure majority of us will go, we all gotta eat + we have the Free DDP

Goodluck!!

 

[lumpkink]

Thanks!

 

[KBoopaloo]

It may not be as difficult as you think to get the ADRs.

I am planning a trip for 15 and was able to get all the reservations I wanted including Coral Reef, Tusker House, Boma, Akershus, Via Napoli, Chefs de France, Sci Fi and Prime Time.

I was actually even able to snag an Ohana ADR for all of us just a couple of weeks ago and we are at just around 90 days out for our trip. I was shocked!

Good luck!