so confused.

[Christy LOVES Disney]

Christy, I had to leave... I want to add, you know your family, are they "a happy to be together family" or are they " a I don't want to see you anymore family" after a few days. Really take this into consideration. My family gets along great, my husbands... well that is another story. They can hardly eat Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I don't even know why we try and would not try a vacation with them, not in a million years!!

I liked what Diane said, and you just need to relax, plan one day at a time. I would give everyone some space during the trip.

We are a happy to be together loud family. lol. I think the only time we are together will be dining because of the age differences and the different things people want to do. We have some who love rides and some who dont ride at all. Dinner is when everyone wanted to get together
The "adults" arent even staying with the "kids" my fiance and I are the oldest in the grand villa so we wont be seeing too much of each other. atleast i dont think. My and and Uncle and 4 cousins live in Atlanta so we see them only 2 times a year, if that, but we are real close. (we live in texas)

 

[Christy LOVES Disney]

I have planned trips for my family for the last two summers. The first year we had 23 people. This past July we had 28 people. All Family. We had a range of ages from 4 to 64. We had a great time. Everyone is asking if we can do it again this year. I made dinner reservations for all 8 nights that we were there. Here is what I did:

1. Hold a meeting several months before the trip. Give everyone all pertinent information. I let everyone know there would be no daily housekeeping and that towels would be replaced once during the week. If there are no surprises, then no complaints. Also give everyone input into dining reservations at this meeting. I had menus and ideas on hand to help.

2. Call and get a Grand Gathering number. It helps with the dining reservations and to keep the rooms near each other.

3. Call to make all dining reservations as soon as your dining window opens. You will be surprised at how many places can hold a large group. You may not all be at the same table but they will work with you to keep you near each other. I was able to get us reservations at every place we wanted including Cinderellas Royal Table. We also ate at: Ohana, Teppan Edo, Mickeys Backyard Barbeque, Chef Mickey, T-Rex, Whispering Canyon Cafe, and Cape May Buffet.

4. Make a spreadsheet of each days dining reservation location, time and confirmation number. If anyone separates during the day, it is easy to meet up for dinner.

5. Relax and have a good time. Our group got along great and we all had a fantastic time. I even got flowers from one family as a thank you when we returned and a Thank You card from another family. It is possible for this all to work out. We are a family that enjoys spending alot of time together. Only you know if you are a family that will enjoy this type of vacation.

My family asked me to plan these vacations, not because they were lazy or couldn't do it themselves but because I had been there so many times that they thought I could do a better job for everyone. We talked alot about the vacation and eveyone knew what to expect when we got there.

Good Luck!!

haha last year we had 4 people and i gave them all this info. im a very orgainzed over planner and gave them all their info and made copies for my binder that i kept with me. many of them havent been so making reservations on their own is kinda a pick and choose what looks nice but not what is really good. everyone has their trust in me so im hoping i dont disappoint but...like my grandma and mom keep telling me "you cant make everyone happy" but i dang sure wanna try

 

[Christy LOVES Disney]

thank you all for your help if yall have any other ideas please give me your input. thanks so much

 

[flechette]

Check out the web and used bookstores for cheap Disney Guides. Grab a few and send them around to the family with a note - "this is an out of date guide but it give you a few ideas."

I love the Passporter guide books, and they generally have an End of Year clearance sale. If anyone likes the guide book they can then pick up a newer version if they so desire.

Also email out links to the menus, I like allears for that~


----
edit - and good luck, I'm planning a trip for 6 and would like to knock a head or 2 together! 20+!!!! just Wow~

 

[dopeygirl76]

I second the passporter and allears. I am planning a family trip for Apr 2010. Just my immediate family - with three sisters, two of us married and two with BFs we will be a group of 15. I have been planning for almost a year now and have been sending e-mail updates and info, site links and since I use the passporter for everyvtrip I have, passed around my older ones for each family to look at. This gave everyone the oppurtunity to read the ride/attraction info which of course gave them some ideas of how many days they will need on their park passes.

Also since we will be traveling with ages 3 - 60 and my Dad is disabled everyone will have their own things they want to do. We decided to do two family meals in the villa - we are at OKW - 1 - 2BDR and 3 - studios - spaghetti/meatballs/salad and burgers/hotdogs and tater tots one night. then we will do two TS as a family. The rest will be up to each family group.

This definately helps with those whose tastes vary from the rest of the crowd!!

We did do the Grand Gathering and are planning TS at Chef Mickeys, Tusker House, Cape May (Breakfast - cause clams are gross!!! according to DNephew!) or Crystal Palace. We have eaten at all of these places and they seem able and willing to accomadate large groups!

I LOVE planning - I think planning Disney trips is my calling in life......so I am just having a blast doing it. I know that with that many people - especially four sister - even as adults (ages 18-33) we fight ANYWHERE & ANYTIME so I am expecting everyone will need their space and I'm not going to take it personally!!!!

Have fun planning!!!!

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

I've planned large Disney family trips both ways - erecting the whole house down to the last shingle, or just putting up the framework. By far the most successful trips were the one with just the framework.

Even when it's just my husband and me, we often change our mind about what we want to do on a certain day, as opposed to what we think we will want to do weeks ahead when we are planning a trip. Multiplying individual whims by 21 could leave you a nervous wreck and leave your family members with the dissatisfied sense that, "if this is Tuesday it must be Belgium."

If it were me, I would get the Grand Gathering People involved as soon as possible and plan no more than 3 dinners. One could even be meeting at your resort near the grills and ordering pizza or something. On non-dinner nights you can always set up a meeting time and place in the late afternoon or evening at the hotel, for anyone who is interested, to touch base and have an opportunity to plan for the next day. (Provide a few snacks and it will meet the same goal as a dinner in a more relaxing way.)

As far as daytime activities are concerned, I would just give everyone a schedule with the best info I could give them re: the best times to visit the parks and let them head out on their own. (Tourguide Mike is a good resource.) People will definitely form their own ever-changing groups based on spur of the moment interests. You can let everyone know where you will be each morning at a certain time, if you like and take off from there with whoever happens to join you by the time you set to leave. As long as everyone has your cell phone number, no one is going to be stranded.

Make sure that your vacation is a vacation for you too. Oddly, taking care of yourself will result in the better, more relaxed vacation for your family as well.

 

[Christy LOVES Disney]

thanks for the advice