Strategy for a bigger group

[Bill West]

I am going on a trip in May with my family. There are 4 households going. One is my dad and step-mom. One is my married brother with one small kid - 3 years old at the time of travel. One is my other married brother with a 3 year old and a 7 year old. The last group is my wife and me - no kids - early 20s.

There is going to be a pretty diverse list of priorities. Obviously the two households with 3 year olds aren't going to have 3 fastpasses per day for thrill rides only. On the other hand I don't want just 3 fastpasses per day of only rides compatible with 3 year olds.

I am sort of the head planner for the trip but it's not like I'm just giving everybody a full daily schedule of where to be and when. So I'm trying to come up with the top-line plan.

What do you think the best general plan is? My thought was to have 1 fastpass per day that everyone in the entire group has and then each of the households would plan two more on their own. The problem with this is that I feel like we could end up only spending 30 minutes per day actually together as a family. This does at least get everyone to the same park so that we can try to meet up for meals and shorter line attractions but just getting 4 groups to meet up at a set time seems difficult to do on the fly.

Any general tips for planning a trip with this many sub-groups of people with different interests would be appreciated.

I think some types of trips would definitely be easier to plan under the old fastpass system. Having to plan multiple groups around so many different things throughout the day seems pretty challenging.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Are you staying at same resort? Do you have rental cars? Using WDW transport?

In general, planning meals and resort time together is easier than park touring with such a diverse group. Don't expect to plan an entire day together. Your idea of 1 FP together is OK, or just plan the non-FP attractions together. Plan a morning together, or an afternoon. Give everyone plenty of alone time. Plan some time just with Dad and Stepmom...don't try for all groups, but see which groups work better together. Be flexible. Don't ruin the vacation trying to do everything together, or trying to make everyone happy.
Another idea is for you to lay out your plan as a template, share it with the other groups and let them decide when they want to try to match your plans.

 

[verleniahall]

I would say that each family does their own thing, and then meet up for dinner or start the day out together at breakfst and then go your seperate ways

 

[tchris4]

We just went as a big group (14 and 16 people,depending on day). I booked everyone's fast passes, but if they wanted to change them or not do them, it was on them. I also split up so that half could take small children on a ride, while bigger did rides with height requirements, and then got rider swap passes.

Towards the end of the week, we ended up splitting more. My grandmother needed a rest day, when she usually does not take one. My little family of four ended up just going back to mk multiple days because it had the most for our young kids. My inlaws stuck to the original plan I made. The biggest thing I took away is to not stress over people breaking off. I like to make plans, so I volunteered to do it but told them they can do whatever they wanted and offer to let anyone make their own plans, which they declined.

 

[PSUGuy]

I was the Benevolent Dictator for a party of 11 last Nov., 4 of us on-site, the rest off, 5 kides from 5 to 15, wifey and I have APs. I simply added everybody to my Friends&Family list and made FP+ choices for all more than 60 days out since onsite guests get a 60 Plus 10 window. Then I gave the adults my user name and password so they could make adjustments to FP+ choices as they desired. All in the group, kids included, had the use of PhotoPass as F&F members and they downloaded their own once they got home. The adults used the app to make extra choices as they went along.

Bill From PA

 

[sponica]

I've done large group and family trips before. When it was friends we moved like a herd and only split up a couple times. When it was family, we'd all start in the same park but then split up at some point, but we always had a defined meeting spot for dinner. Like dinner at 6 at garden grill (or wherever).

You could just pick all the FPs and have the big group agree to which one is done together, then everyone else could go their own way should you choose. If you're rope dropping people, it's easier to move as a herd that time of day (well sorta, but in the morning it's generally easier to move as a larger group). Maybe in the afternoon if the sub groups want to do their own thing (like so and so just wants to go to the hotel pool) as long as they know when they have to be back and where to meet that's not a problem.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I agree with those suggesting you do breakfast and dinner together then split up in park. I’ve gone several times in big groups and I’ve found if you try to stay together you won’t get much done. And some will not get to do what they want which can cause friction. Meet up for meals and maybe fireworks and such, and otherwise let each little family do their own thing.

 

[Bill West]

Are you staying at same resort? Do you have rental cars? Using WDW transport?

In general, planning meals and resort time together is easier than park touring with such a diverse group. Don't expect to plan an entire day together. Your idea of 1 FP together is OK, or just plan the non-FP attractions together. Plan a morning together, or an afternoon. Give everyone plenty of alone time. Plan some time just with Dad and Stepmom...don't try for all groups, but see which groups work better together. Be flexible. Don't ruin the vacation trying to do everything together, or trying to make everyone happy.
Another idea is for you to lay out your plan as a template, share it with the other groups and let them decide when they want to try to match your plans.

We are all staying at French Quarter and are using WDW transportation. Luckily I think this is probably the most convenient set up.

I definitely don't want to overplan for everyone else and didn't expect to spend all day with everyone. I like the general consensus given of starting the day together and breaking off as the day goes on.

One thing that has me worried though is that both of my brothers and their wives have either never been to WDW or haven't been in 15+ years. My dad is a bit more experienced but still hasn't been in almost 10 years. My wife and I are AP holders and invited everyone to come on a trip together. So basically I don't want to leave others out to dry with no plans - they don't know a lot of the tips, strategies, etc. of WDW.

The other random tidbit is that my step mom is leaving after the first 3 days because she will have to go back home for work - so my dad will probably be jumping around somewhat randomly between the three other groups.

I was the Benevolent Dictator for a party of 11 last Nov., 4 of us on-site, the rest off, 5 kides from 5 to 15, wifey and I have APs. I simply added everybody to my Friends&Family list and made FP+ choices for all more than 60 days out since onsite guests get a 60 Plus 10 window. Then I gave the adults my user name and password so they could make adjustments to FP+ choices as they desired. All in the group, kids included, had the use of PhotoPass as F&F members and they downloaded their own once they got home. The adults used the app to make extra choices as they went along.

Bill From PA

I like this idea. I will probably do this but I will want to make sure they know that they should probably spend some time adjusting their individual plans

 

[nkereina]

DH and I took his family, a group of 9, last summer. They were all first timers and are slow pokes in general, so I was pretty stressed about it. I created MDE accounts and linked all of us under mine so I could control the FPs and ADRs. I tried to leave the rest of the day as flexible as I could and gave everyone the expectation that if we are going to stick together, we will NOT see and do everything. Overall, the trip went well and everyone was happy with it. The FPs and ADRs worked out and we did the major attractions in between. While we didn't move at the speed DH and I are used to and we didn't get to do all our favorite attractions, we were able to do everything together and the kids had a blast.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

So basically I don't want to leave others out to dry with no plans - they don't know a lot of the tips, strategies, etc. of WDW.

Might seem like a silly question, but have you asked them how much they want you to plan for them? I can imagine some people who would feel adrift at sea in WDW for the first time, and others who'd be happy to split off and just see what they can see when you guys aren't together.

 

[rwdavis2]

I would say that each family does their own thing, and then meet up for dinner or start the day out together at breakfst and then go your seperate ways

^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^

It's too complicated to plan for all those people. What happens if one family wants to do something else? Or wants to sleep in instead of rope drop?

 

[bopper]

We went with a big group like that...We had dinner reservations together.
During the day, we would split up into smaller sub groups with similar interests.
You could also do your thrill ride FP later in the day and go on tamer rides together in the morning.

Be very careful doing the "we must all be together always" type of thing when some get up late/early, some like thrills/not thrills.
Figure out how to do part of the day together and then split up, and regroup for dinner.

 

[mamaofsix]

We are probably the odd ones out here, but our group of 10 (myself, husband, 6 kids aged 4-14 and 2 grandparents) tour the entire day together. Our trick is that we plan fastpasses for the older kids / adults on thrill rides that are geographically close to fastpass locations for more tame rides for the younger kids/grandparent crowd.

For example, we plan fastpass windows at the same time for 6 of us on 7DMT and 4 at Winnie the Pooh. Or 6 of us on Space Mountain and 4 at Dumbo. Or 5 of us ride Tower of Terror at the same time as 5 of us go to see Beauty and the Beast. This way, we all experience attractions geared towards our interests, but we still get to experience walking around and doing certain shows together. Some fastpasses we do all together (Jungle Cruise, Pirates, etc).

Our Disney vacations are a time for us to reconnect, so it would feel like we didn't see enough of each other if we just spent a few hours of the day together. But, to each his own. Also: there are several in our party that would get nothing done and just wander around and get frustrated if I didn't plan things...There really is something magical about us all being together as a group to see the fireworks, or share a boat on a ride.

On our 'rest days' between park days we split up and do whatever we want.

 

[MainMom]

2 years ago I planned a trip for 11 in July. My family of 4, sisters family of 4, grandparents and a niece. We all stayed together all of the time and I led them around. This worked for us because we all agreed to tour the same. We all knew the benefits of rope drop in July, mid day pool breaks and relaxed evenings. We agreed ahead of time that if anyone wanted to split, or needed to take a morning/evening/day off we were all fine with it.

My plan was rope drop mornings with fast passes and an ADR lunch. We were usually out of the park by 1. I made no ADR’s ahead of time for the evenings because I didn’t know for sure if people in our group would be too tired to join. Lunch ADR just made more sense due to the majority of us being in the park. I also didn’t make evening fast passes for this reason. Now, I did add plans some evenings once we were in the park and knew who was going to be there. It really was a great trip and we only had one evening where we were getting on each other’s nerves and each did our own thing. We rode everything in my plan plus some, had plenty of pool time and just time to enjoy being together.

Personally, I would sit down with your family and find out what their expectations are. Maybe they do want to you to lead them. Maybe they don’t think they need to be in the park until 10. Maybe they are all early risers. Find out these things, make some suggestions and go from there.

 

[PSUGuy]

I neglected to mention previously, our group of 11 hit the same park at rope drop and did the same rides, every afternoon wifey and I would hop to WS for F&W, our adult children and 5 grand kids usually stayed at the early park to get in more rides before joining us at WS or at our room at Board Walk. Our younger daughter and family hasn't been to WDW since 2009, the elder and her crew since 2004 so they had a lot of catching up to do.

Bill From PA

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Anyway you do it, you’ll have a great time and make a lot of memories. When I was a kid, we always went to Disney World in large groups and those are some of the best memories I have. Maybe have a meeting before you leave and have everyone list there must dos and figure it out from there. Group people together who want to do the same things, and teach the whole group the WDW basics (FAst passes, single rider line, child swap, ADRs, etc) sort of like a DW boot camp!

 

[Canesfan3234]

the bigger the group the harder to manage. set fastpasses for everyone then give them access to make any changes they need. meet up for dinner.

 

[TinkerPan]

I would vote to try to generally tour all together. Your group is really not that diverse. You and your spouse have annual passes and invited the others, so I would assume spending time with family and doing what they want is important to you. I would guess your parents would think likewise.

1. Get a consensus from your group before hand on whether they would like to try to tour together or separately. I'm betting they would generally like to stay together. Mostly the adults want to see Disney through the kids eyes versus taking in all the thrill rides. It may slow you down a bit, but so be it.
2. Go ahead and do a tentative touring plan that is young child centered and run it by the group. You can tweak it as necessary. I'm betting most will be more than happy to go along with your expertise. If not then let them speak up now. Feed back is your friend.
3. With little ones in your group an afternoon break sounds advisable. Some kiddies may nap while others in the group may want resort/pool time.
4. Group ADRs were some of our happiest memories.
5. Stay flexible.

Have Fun.

 

[JerseyJanice]

As mentioned by PPs, the best way to do Disney with a group is to not do things as a group.

Each household should make their plans, and meet up with the others when and where it makes sense.

One of the best things about staying on-site is the transportation system because people can travel independently. Text messaging is a great tool. You can blast out what you’re doing and invite others in the group to meet up.

“Going to Small World now then grabbing lunch at Pecos Bill. Gonna watch the parade after we eat. LMK if you want to meet up.”

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Plan for separation of all parties. Do the BIG Family for things like Parades, Fireworks, Waterpark, Character Breakfast or lunch/Dinner.