Tiny Bubble? I'm Here, Big Bubble - A July 2025 TR *Updated 2/19

[disneyAndi14]

It sounds like you had a couple awesome trips and a couple more to look forward too how fun is that!
I think we stayed in that same room at Portofino Bay, this is our favorite out of the three premier resorts. We haven’t stayed there the last few trips because of the AP rate. We stay were the price is the best with the AP discount.
We find Royal Pacific the most hectic, the lobby is always crazy busy where PB is always so calm and like another world from the parks.
Excited to hear where your next “living” adventure will be. I hope it is a warm place! We just had a blizzard this week and blessed with 15+ new inches of snow ugh It is a winter wonderland here once again! It does look pretty but only for like 2 minutes, haha

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Alicia, it’s wonderful to get an update from you! Universal looks like so much fun at Christmas - I’m glad you got to experience it! And wow, your porch at Portofino looked incredible! Unlimited Express Pass at Universal is such a great perk - it’s great you were able to enjoy such short waits.

Your trip to Disneyland looked fun! I’m impressed (but not surprised) that your kids joined you on the races. Have a great time on your April trip as well! I’m glad your friend is able to join you and that you’ll get to enjoy some solo time.

And wow, 14 people?! That will be a lot! It will be tons of fun, but it’s tougher to navigate anywhere with a group that large. Planning will be a big undertaking, but you’re such an experienced Disney vet that you’ll do a great job. Dining-wise, I’m pretty sure you have to call rather than book online when you’re booking big groups (perhaps it’s groups larger than 10?), but you can do multiple ADRs and then ask to combine them at the host stand. @Mollydolly334 planned for a similar-sized group back in 2024 and wrote a great report (and I think PTR?) that may help you. There were more adults in her group, but there was a similar number of moving parts and they had a bunch of ADRs.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Exciting times ahead for you and all the family Alicia. The family too sounds absolutely fab! The kids are great ages and sure the wee ones will love having their older cousins to play with.
I hope you’re all happy with your new placement and I look forward to hearing where you’re going to be for the next chapter in your life.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We don’t have official orders yet, so we are keeping it under wraps (obviously the grandparents and siblings and my two dear friends know) so I won’t say anything right now. I’ll just hint that it’s going to be another big change for my family!

Now I am dying to know!!!

 

[rdkeim]

Wow, so much fun to look back on and more fun ahead! Your balcony at Portofino looks fabulous. Perfect spot for some relaxation time. Nice the crowds weren't terrible. Disneyland - how fun you all participated in the runs. Your kids are really growing up. Looks like you had beautiful winter weather. Grown up time in April - perfect! How wonderful of your parents to host your big family group! It will be different with such a large group but lots of bonding opportunities. Can't wait to hear where your next move will be?? My first thought was international.....

 

[amazingact21]

So what I do is reserve a 6 when online opens up and then call an hour later and explain I actually need a reservation for 10. What they usually do is they are able to create a reservation for 4 and then they merge the two reservations. It will still show two different confirmation #'s but they will be the exact same time. You can't do that online as it will say you have a competing reservation. They usually can put tables together for the larger party but sometimes it's side by side tables. But always the same server.

This is extremely helpful information, thank you! I appreciate that even if we're at side by side tables, the server is the same so it won't matter who is sitting where.

I think we stayed in that same room at Portofino Bay, this is our favorite out of the three premier resorts.

The room was pretty far from the elevators, but you can't beat that view! I hope I can stay there again someday. (Maybe this will be Evie and I's HHN resort. )

Excited to hear where your next “living” adventure will be. I hope it is a warm place! We just had a blizzard this week and blessed with 15+ new inches of snow ugh It is a winter wonderland here once again! It does look pretty but only for like 2 minutes, haha

15 inches of snow sounds terrible. It's pretty to look at but terrible to deal with.

 

[amazingact21]

Unlimited Express Pass at Universal is such a great perk - it’s great you were able to enjoy such short waits.

Express Pass is amazing, and I'm so grateful we got to experience it once. We're not sure how long it'll be before we go back to Universal, so it was nice to end on a high note.

I’m impressed (but not surprised) that your kids joined you on the races. Have a great time on your April trip as well! I’m glad your friend is able to join you and that you’ll get to enjoy some solo time.

Landon is ready for more 10K races, but I don't think Evie loved it enough to do it again soon.

It will be tons of fun, but it’s tougher to navigate anywhere with a group that large. Planning will be a big undertaking,

I try to think a trip this big will be organized chaos. I did have to give my mom a little grief that she's asking me to help plan this thing when I'm trying to get ready for a move. Talk about juggling a lot of balls this spring. In reality, though, this is the only good time for a long while. By this winter my brother will deploy, by next summer Alex will most likely be deployed, and my other brother wants to start trying for a second kid next fall. So it was now or never.

Dining-wise, I’m pretty sure you have to call rather than book online when

This seems to be what I'm discovering. Fortunately, my mom only wants to do 2 TS restaurants with the entire group, so I'm hopeful I can get it sorted.

Exciting times ahead for you and all the family Alicia. The family too sounds absolutely fab! The kids are great ages and sure the wee ones will love having their older cousins to play with.

I know my kids are going to have a blast hanging out with their cousins. I just need my mom to hurry up and tell them, because I'm terrible at keeping secrets and have almost slipped and said something on numerous occasions.

I hope you’re all happy with your new placement

It took several days for me to process the news, but I'm looking at it with a positive outlook now. I mean, I don't have any other choice so might as well go into it excited.

 

[amazingact21]

Now I am dying to know!!!

I make Alex check his emails at the beginning and end of each day to see if the official assignment has dropped yet. I just want the confirmation already!

Your balcony at Portofino looks fabulous. Perfect spot for some relaxation time.

It was such a beautiful spot. A little oasis away from the chaos of the parks. Our flight ended up being delayed by 3 hours that afternoon, and I wish they'd pushed it before we made it to the airport. We had a late checkout, and I could've spent more time out in that space!

Your kids are really growing up.

And they have the attitudes to match now. This has definitely been an interesting age range to navigate.

It will be different with such a large group but lots of bonding opportunities.

I'm looking forward to spending time with my family. I've actually never met my brother's girlfriend so this will be a good opportunity to get to know her.

Can't wait to hear where your next move will be?? My first thought was international.....

Funny story: Two days before our Thanksgiving trip to Florida, the overseas list dropped. We were presented with the opportunity to go back to the base we were at in Germany. It was really tempting to go back and experience Europe with older kids. Plus, the familiarity was comforting. Already knowing which villages to live in, where to shop, what internet providers to use, etc.
Ultimately, though, we decided to pass for 2 reasons. The first was that I firmly believe what made our time in Germany so special was the community I surrounded myself with. Some of my best friends came out of my time there, and I worried I'd spend the whole time missing what was and who wasn't around anymore.
The second reason was because it was a 3 year commitment, and I'm really feeling like we'll be ready to retire in 2 years. Plus, trying to retire while overseas is a nightmare! So, sadly, we are staying in the continental United States.
But you want to talk about a stressful week! Trying to have these massively important conversations while traveling and being around the entirety of Alex's side of the family. While also not letting them know we were actually considering moving overseas again. I'm glad that's over with!

 

[Disney102015]

I have my April trip fast approaching. One of my friends was able to 100% confirm she’s coming so this is now an official girl’s trip.

So exciting! My sister and I are doing a girls trip for springtime surprise as well. (Well, girls plus one nursing baby who can’t realistically be left at home - but 1 tiny sweet baby versus the collective 7 feral kids we usually roll with basically FEELS like zero kids!!) It’s our first Run Disney experience, I’m a little nervous but also so excited.

Can you even book dining for 14 people?! Am I going to go crazy booking Lightning Lanes for over a dozen?!

We are headed down next week with fifteen people! 8 adults and 7 kids: 12, 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, and 3 months. Again: nervous but also so excited! For most dining reservations, we broke it up into 2 groups (sometimes 3), which was a little tricky because we were using 3 MDE accounts to book. I’ve learned that if you want your tables to be combined, or at least near each other, the best bet is to check in at the host stand, rather than on the app.

Lightning Lanes, on the other hand, were super easy once we made sure everyone was linked up as Friends and Family, and had their tickets linked to their accounts in MDE. Party size didn’t seem to matter much with 1 exception: if you’re booking multi pass for, say, 15 people, but only 10 of those people want single pass for that day, it’s 2 separate transactions. Kind of annoying but not a huge deal.

We have traveled with a group of 12 before and my best takeaway was to just get everyone on the same page about the (relatively few) things we absolutely want to do as a group, and then not worry if we split up for anything else. Example, my mom really wants to do Small World with all the kids and see the 4 little girls do Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. So we’ll make sure she’s there for those 2 things and otherwise, we’ll go with the flow. Much easier than trying to keep the whole crew together 24/7.

I’ll let you know if I come back with any other tips for big groups, if I survive next week!!