Thoughts on going as part of a dance group or separate ?

[DaniMoon]

We have been planning to go back to Disney in August 2017. We just found out my niece will be performing with her dance school in June 2017. So we are going to switch our plans, no biggie, it still is quite far ahead.

Has anyone gone with a group (dance/cheerleading/football, etc). Pros and cons? I did have someone tell me that when they went with their dance group last year they were not able to do FPs ahead of time because they couldn't link the tickets to MDE beforehand. This bothers me! If it were my child in the dance, I would not hesitate to be where everyone else is, but I kind of like the idea of "being there, without being THERE". There's a 7+ year age difference between my brother's kids and mine, so I know interests will be different, so I don't anticipate being together all that much.

They are staying at CBR, which would be nice. If we wouldn't go with them, we'd stay at POP, which we love, so not that big of a deal.

I really want to go when they are there, and there are few things in life I am a control freak over, but I know I would not be happy if I couldn't make FPs ahead of time. (as much as I actually hate the idea of doing it, I am not willing to give up that ability) -- contradict myself much?

So any thoughts? What I should ask ahead of time regarding the group package? Thanks.

 

[HelloMimi]

I went to WDW last March as a chaperone for my sisters' school's performing arts department trip. The choir teacher/department director didn't receive the tickets until about a month before the trip (we were off-site though, so we wouldn't have had the 60-day perk anyway). I had my sisters bug him a couple of times about bringing home our tickets to book FP, but he wouldn't let me take them until one week before the trip when we had a group meeting. I was able to bring home the tickets for the group I was chaperoning and link all of them to my MDE account. Even though it was only a couple days' advantage, being able to book the FP ahead of time was awesome, and the girls in my group were all so smug about being the only ones with FP! Definitely have your brother ask the dance school if he would be able to do the same.

My trip experience will probably be very different from yours since I went as a chaperone and was tied to the group's schedule and rules (not fun). If you can, definitely try to figure out how much of a discount the dance group is getting, and if extended family would even be eligible for that discount. Honestly though, unless you need a special ticket to watch your niece perform, booking your trip separately from the group might be the most stress-free way to go. I'm a bit of a control freak too, and not having control over some of the details of the trip was really frustrating!

 

[dprincessmom]

We went as a group one - 10 girl scouts; 10 moms = total nightmare! Everyone has a style that works for you and if you aren't in a position to plan it, then it will be tremendously frustrating.

Example day 1: Arrival day - we all had individual cars and the plan was to arrive whenever you wanted and go to Animal Kingdom. We live about 4 hours away and this would be a "quick trip." Our car which held me, DD, DD friend and the other mom who loves Disney like we do. We left our town at 3 am - drove down, checked in (and got a room) and were at the park for rope drop. We did everything we wanted to do. About 2, half the group was just getting to the park and the other half weren't in town yet.

Having done AK, we hopped the first trip bus back to a resort and then moved over to Downtown Disney, had a great meal at Wolfgang Pucks express and looked around at DTD for a while. Went back to the resort and enjoyed a swim. When we got back to the resort, the last half of the troop had arrived and were checking in and the ones that were at AK earlier, were finally getting back to the resort (after an extra hour on the bus because of wildfires).

Day 2 was Epcot and the big Girl Scout event. We all got on special buses and were at Epcot before they opened for the event. We participated in the event and later went to our scheduled events. I was going to be the FP runner and went to get Soarin FP; get back with the paper FP and have times later that afternoon. Half the group balked and said that was too late and they were going back to swim. Later several in our group were disappointed because they couldn't walk in for dining at the WS locations.

Day 3 - MK. Again everyone agreed to do their own thing. It was much smoother and we again were there for rope drop and did everything we wanted to do, plus went back to the park for MK EMH that night and closed the park. Our girls had so much fun, but I felt bad for the girls that hardly got to do anything.

My suggestion would be, once you learn the groups movements, see if there is a time when you could meet up and join in on their plans for a few hours.

Good luck - the group thing (unless it is family and then I get to make the plans) is not for the faint of heart.

 

[DisneyOma]

We have been planning to go back to Disney in August 2017. We just found out my niece will be performing with her dance school in June 2017. So we are going to switch our plans, no biggie, it still is quite far ahead.

Has anyone gone with a group (dance/cheerleading/football, etc). Pros and cons? I did have someone tell me that when they went with their dance group last year they were not able to do FPs ahead of time because they couldn't link the tickets to MDE beforehand. This bothers me! If it were my child in the dance, I would not hesitate to be where everyone else is, but I kind of like the idea of "being there, without being THERE". There's a 7+ year age difference between my brother's kids and mine, so I know interests will be different, so I don't anticipate being together all that much.

They are staying at CBR, which would be nice. If we wouldn't go with them, we'd stay at POP, which we love, so not that big of a deal.

I really want to go when they are there, and there are few things in life I am a control freak over, but I know I would not be happy if I couldn't make FPs ahead of time. (as much as I actually hate the idea of doing it, I am not willing to give up that ability) -- contradict myself much?

So any thoughts? What I should ask ahead of time regarding the group package? Thanks.

They are offering people outside the dance group in on the package deal? Are you sure?

I'd skip being part of the package - if anything comes up, you'd have to go through the group to change things, cancel (if you even can?), etc. Do you know the person who is the organizer?

Still plan on being there to see the performance (is it at Disney Springs?), which is going to take up a few hours of one day (if that - are you staying for all the performances from the school, or just the niece?), and then plan the rest of your trip the way you want.

 

[Crystal824]

I would just book my trip at the same time and go to the performance but otherwise plan my own trip.