Tips for a large group

[wisegal]

Hi All

This is my 1st post here. I am starting to plan a trip for my family. I think that there will be about 12 -15 of us. Ages are from 67 to 1. We re thingk of late Aug / early sept or late sept / early oct. When would you go. About half are 1st timers. I can not wait to experence my favorite place for through the eyes of others. I am looking for some tips on where to planning for a large group, thins we sould so together, best places to stay. Everyone budgets are pretty tight so ant cost sutting tip would be great as well. Thanks

 

[Krissy Marissy]

Hi All

This is my 1st post here. I am starting to plan a trip for my family. I think that there will be about 12 -15 of us. Ages are from 67 to 1. We re thingk of late Aug / early sept or late sept / early oct. When would you go. About half are 1st timers. I can not wait to experence my favorite place for through the eyes of others. I am looking for some tips on where to planning for a large group, thins we sould so together, best places to stay. Everyone budgets are pretty tight so ant cost sutting tip would be great as well. Thanks

How exciting for you all to be planning this trip! We travel in a group that large when we go and I LOVE it! Our age range isn't quite as high as the eldest is 56 but the littlest will be 11 months. I would go in sept/oct because I dont do well in heat, although this last fall has been awfully warm too!! But the holiday decorations might be neat to see! However there are some who do not like HM as HMH and therefore would advise you to visit the park before it closes to have the overlay done.

Check out hotels that offer suites so that more people can be put into one room, that will help cut down the costs. Desert Inn is a short walk but the reviews are so-so. I am sure someone else here can give you better info on that than I can. Also if you book early the hojo has an entertainment rate that is really good so rooms would be much cheaper if you could use that.

 

[Brady's Mom]

I love going with a large group. Here are my tips!

1. Have one group leader - probably you since you have been before and know a lot of stuff. Plus, you are here on the boards and can get a ton of info here! Don't be afraid to use what you know and learn to make the best trip possible. This will help the others in your group have a really great time!

2. Don't be afraid to break off into smaller groups for some things. We like to take our little kids to Fantasyland, but not everyone in our group really wants to go there. So sometimes the tweens will go with other grown-ups to ride bigger rides.

3. Have a plan. When are you going to watch fireworks and fantasmic, what about shows and parades? Is it important for little kids to have naps in the hotel room? If it is schedule it in. How about Magic Morning? Are some of your group later morning people than others - plan on meeting them later.

4. Use your cell phones to communicate. We call each other frequently to meet up for rides or shows or parades. It works great and then we ride certain things together.

5. Since you have little kids and older adults - schedule meal times at regular mealtime. I know this can make things a little more crowded, but it helps little kids and even grownups have more energy and stamina.

6. Drink lots of water - get cups of ice or water at counter service places for free and fill it with your own water bottles or just drink the water!

7. Bring your own snacks into the park especially for the little kids. For sure bring in things that they think are treats or they don't get all the time at home. I don't often buy fruit snacks for my kids - so when we go to DLR we bring the ones from Costco that are all fruit and no artificial stuff. My kids think it is great. I also bring - granola bars, dried fruit, nuts, jerky, the cracker sandwiches with peanut butter or cheese, goldfish. Whatever I think my kids will like that trip. I find the grownups like a little snack almost as much as the kids.

8. Find as much info on Photopass as you possibly can. It can be a great way to have ALL of the family in photos. They will also use your camera to take pictures. This way, you don't have one person always missing from your pictures. Plus you can share the cost and it make it very manageable. Currently it is $59.95 plus about $4 shipping. You can use the same account for everyone and split the cost of the CD.

9. Hotel - we have 3 rooms reserved at HoJo. All of them with the Ent. rate of $59 a night. 2 of the rooms are requested as connecting, so Grandma and Grandpa can help with our little kids if we want to take our tweens to the park later. That way our littles can get to bed at a reasonable time and not be cranky and our tweens can have some more "grown-up" time at the park.

HTH
Shannon

 

[Husker Mickey]

We also have gone with big groups before - one time we had 23 people. It was a lot of fun watching and listening to the first timers! Another hint is to plan to share meals. I don't eat much and can share with my DMIL most times. Bring water into the parks. The bottled water is very expensive in the parks. I always buy a gallon jug at the little convenience store across the street from the park on Harbor. I refill a couple of water bottles each day, twice. Once in the morning and once if we make it back during the day to the hotel. Don't buy beverages at meal time. Use the water you brought or ask for water with your meal. It will save you a lot of $$$.
Pay attention to these boards. The expert DLers are here and you will glean a lot from their expertise. Have a great time!

P.S. We are 8 days and counting until our next trip!!!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Definitely think about the Photopass CD. I was able to combine my WDW pix and 4 trips (so far) to DLR on one CD (well 1 purchase, actually will be multiple CDs-same price ) It's great fun to go around the parks and try to get all the enhanced (or magic) pictures they can take (holding Tink, Mickey or Minnie seated next to you, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy soarin' over your head, fighting Hook, fighting Darth, Stitch coming out of the ground, etc.) Plus when you upload your pix to their site you can add more enhancements-Year, logo, frames, autographs, etc. With edits I now have over 1080 pictures. And I should be able to squeeze in a few more trips to DLR before I need to order (I got a 30 day extension by buying one thing on website before first expiration was reached).

As to traveling with a large group-I wish you luck and patience. And be prepared for a little confusion. We normally go to DLR with only our immeadiate family-as small as 2 (DD9 and myself) and maybe up to 6 with other family members. Just recently we have gone with another family, or met up with a family we met at DLR a few weeks before. I noticed that more than one group definitely adds some confusion. Everyone wanting to do different things, eat different places. Everything takes longer as well. My suggestion is make as many decisions ahead of time that you can but be prepared for last-minute changes. And definitely let smaller groups split off.