So Confused as to where to Start....

[Shastie]

I've read on here that lots of you don't plan your days and that sounds good to me because there are 15 of us, ranging ages from 3-70 and we know plans would be impossible to follow. BUT....None of us have been there before and don't have a clue where to start once we get to one of the parks. Can anyone offer advise? We all have 5 day Park Hopper Passes and arrive around 1:00 pm our first day. We are staying at POR - AB. Thanks for your help - our trip is just around the corner and we are all so excited!

 

[stacy6552]

Honestly, we keep the plans simple. First things first plan on not spending the entire trip with the entire party. Thats just askin for trouble.

Plan your meals. The grand gatherings people can help you with large groups for prority seatings. Those are your go to points; "OK everyone we're meeting for dinner at......"

Beyond that we usually try to hit the big rides first that we know "sell out" of fast passes early, like Test Track and Rockin' Rollercoaster. Also try to hit Fantasyland and Toon Town early. We plan breaks inside the parks around parade times, grabbing a bench along the route about 30-45 minutes early. Out of the park breaks happen at lunch time and we go bck early evening.

That's about it. Enjoy!

 

[njcarita]

I've read on here that lots of you don't plan your days and that sounds good to me because there are 15 of us, ranging ages from 3-70 and we know plans would be impossible to follow. BUT....None of us have been there before and don't have a clue where to start once we get to one of the parks. Can anyone offer advise? We all have 5 day Park Hopper Passes and arrive around 1:00 pm our first day. We are staying at POR - AB. Thanks for your help - our trip is just around the corner and we are all so excited!

for a minute i thought you were a member of my magical gathering group posting

we are also a group of 15 but we range from ages 4 to 67.

my first suggestion is that you register as a magical gathering it will make dining reservations easier.

how many days will you be at disney????
are you planning to use all the days on your tickets---
are they plusses so you can hit the waterparks???

 

[lucincia]

15 people?

I would go to the new Irish Pub in DTD and stay there with the good beer until it is time to go home

 

[yeaitspootie]

I suggest you hit the parks that have an Extra Magic Hour in the morning. You'll get that extra hour in the morning to ride some select attractions with little to no wait (most of the time). However, those parks close earlier, so after things get tight there, head to a park that will have an Extra Magic Hour in the evening, you could stay up to 3 hours in the park!! That's a good way to do the parks if you have a tight schedule. Now with you're large party, try splitting up into 2 groups possibly, and have to groups be split differently every day so that everyone has a chance to experience the magic with one another. I suggest that if the crowds are low, but if the park is unpopulated, you should be able to stick together pretty well. Don't forget to plan meet times and tell everyone where to go if they get lost (cell phones help alot, or you can buy walkie-talkies). HAVE FUN!!! WISH I COULD GO!!! hahaha.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I would at least pick which park(s) you want to go to each day. That way you're not stuck with the "So, what do you want to do today?" "I dunno, what do you want to do?"

You might also have each member of the group list 3-5 "must-do's", to make sure everyone gets to see their favorites! If none of you have been before, the easiest way to do that is to pull out the planning DVD (or a guidebook if you don't have the dvd), so everyone can get an idea of what's available at each park, and which things sound interesting to them. That saves you from waiting in line for 40 minutes for a rollercoaster that you thought was a movie

 

[snyderla]

We just got back last month from a trip with 14 of us. We had 2 different time schedules. Most of us got up early and hit the parks before the heat and crowds/lines got bad. The other group hit the parks about noon or 1, just as we were ready to eat or take a break, they had just eaten breakfast. So, one thing I said we will do different next time...SCHEDULE 1 MEAL PER DAY AT A CERTAIN TIME FOR EVERYONE TO GET TOGETHER. The best thing we did was take an afternoon off and had a BBQ cookout at OKW at one of the quiet pools. We got to visit with family members we only see once per year and we had a nice relaxing time.

I can't imagine taking a group that size if I've never been there before, but I think it is very important to have a basic, general plan of which park and must see/do things for that park each day...then get ahold of park maps in advance so you can group things together. There was one day when we followed the other group around so I could spend some time with my brother. We ended up crossing MGM 3 times for one ride after another. My DH got upset a couple of times because we were "just standing around wasting time and no one is making any decisions about where we are going next" So having a basic plan will help you avoid the standing around wasting time problem. We had a wonderful time, I look forward to taking another big group in 2007. I'm sure with a little planning you will have a great vacation! Good luck and I wish you lot's of Disney Magic!!!

Oh, one more thing. We had matching shirts a couple of days. White one day and red another. The red shirts were great for helping us find each other and the matching shirts helped the CM's when we were doing rides together. Our whole group (ages infant to 61) said we will have matching bright colored shirts for every day next time.
Have fun...and be flexible!!!
Lori

 

[henrylovespooh]

Disneyworld can be overwhelming to first timers because there's so much to see and do and you just don't know what to do first. I don't think you need to have a detailed plan, but it really helps to have some information available so you can make decisions throughout your stay. If you just spend a little time familiarizing yourself with the parks and what they have to offer, you'll get so much more out of your trip. Try to do as much research as you can now, but if your time is limited, grab maps to every park you plan to visit when you check in at your hotel and look over the map before you go to the park. Prioritize what you'd like to do and try to get the important stuff done early in the day before the lines get long. Then after you've done the "must-do" things, walk around and I'm sure you'll find lots of others things you'll like.

Here are some other tips:

1) Make a quick cheat sheet of the EMH schedule and the times of evening events you might like to go to, like Wishes, Fantasmic, Illuminations and Spectromagic Parade. Knowing this can help you figure out when you should go to a certain park and which parks you should avoid on certain days. The Unofficial Guide and Disney website are good references for this.

The reason I say this is that I have found that the Magic Kingdom is not as crowded on days they don't have Spectro and Wishes. We were there last Tuesday (no evening stuff) and we could walk on most anything with little wait all day. On MOnday, when they did have Spectro and Wishes, the afternoon was so crowded we couldn't ride anything before our reservation at CRT. If you want to see Wishes and Spectro (which I recommend) spend the day in another less crowded park and go to MK an hour before the fireworks or parade.

We love Epcot, especially the World Showcase and have found that there is never a bad day to go there. We don't do much in Future World but there are lots of cool things there to see and do. We have found Saturdays are good at Epcot because lots of people without hoppers go to MK for the evening stuff. We also like the EMH morning at Animal Kingdom because we usually only spend a half day in that park, so getting there an hour early gets us out earlier so we can take a break and go to another park later that day.

2) Pick some meals that everyone in your group will attend and get ADRs through Magical Gatherings if it's a table service as soon as possible. With a group as large as yours, it will be impossible to get your group at one table if you try to walk up. You will get split up and there's no guarantee your tables will be near each other. There are lots of counter service options at every park if your group wants to do that.

3) Familiarize yourself with the Fastpass system. This is so important if it's crowded and you hate lines. So many people think you have to pay for them or they don't understand what they are and they don't use them. Just insert your park ticket into the Fastpass machine, the Fastpass will come out and it will tell you when to return to ride the ride. Enter through the Fastpass Return line and bypass the huge line. If the wait for a ride is 15 minutes, go ahead and get in line and save your Fastpass for another ride with a longer wait.

4) Try to figure out which rides or shows you really want to do and see and get them out of the way as soon as you get to the parks. Don't walk into MK in the morning and ride the train around the park first to check the place out. The train is great, but if you can get to the parks in the morning when the park opens, you can avoid the long lines that are inevitable later in the day. If you want to ride coasters, head to Space Mountain and then get a Fastpass for Thunder Mountain. If you have small children in your group, head straight to Fantasyland and ride Pooh and Peter Pan and Dumbo. All these rides are great, but I don't think any of them are worth waiting in line for 40 minutes if you wait until later in the day to do them. If you can't do them in the morning, get a Fastpass.

The way we try to get the most out of the Magic Kingdom is going there a few mornings during our stay. One morning we focus on rides - Fantasyland for the kids and coasters for my husband. Then on another morning, we focus on he kids seeing the characters they like.

By the way, If you have trouble seeing characters in the Magic Kingdom, you can also find them in the World Showcase at Epcot. There is a big red bus that comes out pretty frequently at the top of the World Showcase and then later at the Japanese Pavillion. You can get pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale and others with much shorter lines than at the Magic Kingdom.

Hope this helps.

 

[karebear1]

I also noticed that you will be there the same time we are. MGM is having the Soap Stars there on that weekend- avoid MGM until at least the 14th- it will be terribly crowded. Besides- After that MGM will be lighting up the OPSbourne lights and running the Christmas version of their Parade! You will miss that if you go to MGM before the 14th. Then EPCOT is having the food and wine festival that ends on the 13th as well. It will be more crowded then usual on that weekend.
Even though you don't really want to plan- you should do some planning. Make ADR's! With a group that big you'll need them if you all want to eat together.
Good luck!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Shastie, how are you doing with your "plans?" You got some great advice, and have fun! We went with a group of 14 and just planned one group activity a day, usually a meal and things were fine.

Some of your group may like one of the tours at the MK. I think they offer one for Families, and that may be fun to do together while you learn some of the secrets behind the magic.

Bobbi

 

[paytonjsplace]

We had a group of 16 last year in November. 4 families of 4 ranging in age from 1 - 30something. We knew up front that we wouldn't spend the entire time together -- but came up with "itineraries" based upon early open. We then gathered information about what rides everyone wanted to do...and then just put them in an order that made the most sense (according to the many Disney planning books out there). We knew we would NEVER accomplish everything on our list, but it was a great point of reference. I have found that when I travel to Disney -- the minute I walk in the park I am overwhelmed...there's SO much to do. On my honeymoon, you would have thought my husband and I were ADHD because we couldn't figure out what to do.

Our lists helped us accomplish most of what we wanted to do -- without limiting us to ONLY doing that.

 

[Cinderella94]

Basically what we do is on the way down to Florida, we just decide "Okay, Animal Kingdom Monday, then MGM Tuesday" and you get the idea. We just wing it from there.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Either plan on nothing and not seeing anyone while you are there OR make simple plans, give them to all and let them make decisions on their own.

No plans with 15 = Vacation Disaster
Strict plans with 15 = Vacation Disaster

 

[Rella Bella]

Good advice so far! Here's mine FWIW:
We like to mix things up...
-one day split up girls & boys... all the moms take all the girls & the dads take all the boys
-one day the Dad's do the kids and the Mom's/gramma's can go do something on thier own... the next day the Guys go alone.
-One day we go in immediate family groups.
-Some times we split in two or three random groups.
Every day we meet, for a meal & sometimes for meal early and again for Wishes/Fantasmic/Ulliminations. Of course we're staying at the same resort and we do spend our down time there together, at the pool or whatever.

If you have a basic plan... and a basic this park this day, that park that day... and then make sure everyone understands/agrees that you can't do it all! See & experience what you can, relax and enjoy the moments it can work great. You're best bet is to really speak candidly with any control freaks in your group before you get there... a big group event is wonderful, but if you try to over schedule or make everyone want to do exactly the same thing it can be a nightmare!

 

[Shastie]

Thanks everyone for the help - except, thank you very much but I will enjoy my trip with my family and not sit in an Irish Pub!

Is there a place to get maps of each park and where do I find out which parks have the extra magical hours for the park hopper passes?

We are so excited as the "vacation" day draws nearer. We already know that we won't be able to spend each minute with everyone because of the different ages but hey, we'll set a meeting place each day and it will be just fine. I don't think anyone has great expectations as to what we "have" to do so I think in that respect we will be fine as well.

I know at check-in we are going to mention that we are there celebrating our parents anniversary and we are going to have matching t-shirts so that will be fun.

Thanks again for all your help and suggestions and I welcome anymore!