Tips for big family trips

[rajahfan7]

Hey folks. My cousin & I are looking into planning a family reunion type trip to Disney. I've only ever planned a trip for 4 people. Any tips dealing with wdw & lots of people would be great!

 

[NjMamaMouse]

So my family of 5 goes annually, but this year my sisters with their families and my mom and dad are all going, 16 in all. And since I am the Disney fanatic in my family I was in charge of planning for all.
First I gave everyone homework. I gave them a blank table with my suggested parks on given days for the week (i.e. Monday-MK, Tuesday-EP, etc.) This was based on crowd levels and any special events that I knew of ahead of time.
Next I gave them a list of restaurants that we love and asked each household to look at the Disney website to choose places that they would like to eat at. (We are staying off property)
Restaurants were probably the hardest to arrange. We have 3 meals that we are eating as a party of 16, but you cannot make an online reservation for that many. So you do need to be aware of how to make large reservations at each place (i.e Chef Mickey I could call, but Be Our Guest is via email only).

Also at Epcot two families are going to dinner together, one is eating in a different "country", and the last family isn't doing Epcot that day. So in order to ensure all was done properly I was given access to my sister's Disney Online information and for the 2 sisters that didn't have any prior to this trip, I created them for them. Therefore as needed I have made their reservations.

Now other activities within the parks are the general responsibility of each family. My family has FP+ since we were just there in November, but no one else does. So I am making selections for my kids based on their likes, but I will probably share it with my nieces and nephews

Let me know if that helped or if you needed more info. I am sure I am forgetting something!

 

[rajahfan7]

ah thanks! this was super helpful! are all of you staying off property? i think the hardest thing will be having everyone agree on a hotel. as expensive as on property is, for many it will be the first trip and it's just SO MAGICAL. I've also chugged the koolaid

but i like the idea of having "family" park days and separate activities!

 

[powellrj]

Check out the Orlando board, lots of great off-site advice on where to stay and where to eat. For a group that size, I would look into renting a house with a pool or a condo or two.

 

[NjMamaMouse]

We are staying off property at Marriott Grande Vista. We have a 3 bedroom (sleeps 12) and a two bedroom (sleeps 8). This is way more financially practical for us then everyone staying on property.

 

[rajahfan7]

Check out the Orlando board, lots of great off-site advice on where to stay and where to eat. For a group that size, I would look into renting a house with a pool or a condo or two.

with my family.... everyone needs their own rooms

 

[mrsp1030]

Depending on time of year you could also rent points for a DVC property and if you want separate space you could all agree upon a resort and just book individual rooms.

 

[happymommy]

We've done one where my sister and her husband and 4 kids came along, as well as my folks and my family. To me, it was not as much fun as just the 4 of us (or the 3, as many times since my kids were 4 and 6 I just take them or my husband has to go home early for work). It was a case of too many cooks in the kitchen! If I did an extended family trip, I'd do an all-inclusive resort somewhere instead. That's just my experience, though.

It was too much waiting for someone who didn't eat breakfast early to get something once we got into the MK, while my kids were not hungry (we ate already in the room, thought the others did too, especially since they had concierge level, duh) so were wanting to get to a ride... Just really didn't work as well as I would have liked. Too hectic at dinner for all 12. My folks don't like Disney or crowds. I could go on.

I did go once just me and my kids and my friend and her 4 kids - that was a blast. She's more laid back and will go all day and have fun, so I guess it also depends on the group!

 

[HopperFan]

There is nothing wrong with staying at different resorts. I would gather a list of your suggestions for one at each price point. Let families pick where they want to stay and if there is more than one at a certain resort have them note on their reservation for same building. Having some quiet time at your resort is okay.

What about swim time? Plan a family day at one of the waterparks. Go at opening and gather a great home base. If you have coolers/food take it with you or at least small coolers with drinks. Great day to relax, visit and hit the slides together.

We have found it best to pick about half the days with agreed upon parks, leaving rest more flexible for personal choice. Pick a meeting time that is late morning at parks , this will allow for late sleepers, eating in room or hotel, eating at park, rope drop folks. No one holds anyone up. Pre-select a place to eat at the park together, if TS, make ADR. I suggest lunch or very early dinner. The later it gets the more difficult.

Connect your MDE so you can connect your FP+.

Maybe pick one special TS that everyone will make it to, even if at a resort.

Leave your park evenings fairly flexible for those that want to go to resort or stay late at park or go elsewhere. By days end we found that when we had plans set up, many bailed out on us. If they are not used to going they don't always get the stamina it takes.

 

[Manders77]

From my experience I Would DON'T DO IT. I don't mind just going with the 4 of us and my parents. But add my brother and his two kids, ummm No. We did it once for a week trip in 2012 and the next trip I plan in 2015 will be when his kids are in school. We live in different states and we have different spring breaks and my kids go back after labor day while his go back mid August. So we are looking either spring break, mid August or even the fall is a small possibility. But my brother and my parents made me the planner and they said whatever I wanted. They wanted to do everything together. We wanted to go back to the pool, they wanted to stay at the park. We were leaving and they changed their minds and went back with us. It got annoying. My brothers kids were not well behaved and he constantly yelled at them, it was embarassing. My kids are much younger but very well behaved.

 

[KARm123]

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a HUGE family trip for Thanksgiving week 2015. It started out as a trip for my family of 5; a last family vacation before our oldest graduates from HS & somehow grew from there... Right now we are up to 7 groups coming, ranging in sizes from 2 adults to a family of 7!! I am slightly addicted to vacation planning, and am pretty good at organizing people/things, & finding deals, so I've been elected lead planner for the group, or as they have taken to calling me lately "Our Vacation Planning Goddess"... I just tell them to bow before my greatness! LOL. The other strange part of this planning process is that the groups coming are a mix of my family & my DH's family... Not sure how everyone is going to get along for the week. My biggest struggle has been that a couple of the groups aren't going for the whole week, so I've been trying to plan certain things for the days I know everyone will be there. I have been very clear w/everyone that I am planning what I want to do, so if it isn't what they want to do, feel free to make their own plans or any adjustments to what I've decided. I promise not to be offended!

What we as a group have loosely agreed on so far is: we are staying at ASMu, w/the exception of the family of 7 who will be staying off-site. We will NOT be in MK on Thanksgiving (from everything I've read it is CRAZY in that park that day! ). We are trying to only plan one "family" meal for any given day, for a couple of reasons: A) we don't want to be a pack of 50 roaming the park together all day in anticipation of a dining reservation, B) we don't want to have our vacation dictated by dining, & C) I like the spontaneity of just grabbing something that looks good when we are hungry.

So far I've printed an 11/15 calendar & put which parks I think we will be in on what day. I have a few restaurants I know my family REALLY wants to eat at, and I've listed them on the calendar when I think we will be there (MK restaurants on MK day, etc). I've printed up some sample menus of those restaurants & a couple others for people to look at - gives everyone an idea of types of food & prices at some of these places. I'm putting together mini vacation packages for everyone for Christmas - sort of a joke in the family (they keep asking for the WDW Vacation PowerPoint! ) & as a seriously helpful start to them (hopefully) putting their own spins on each day.

I think the idea of taking a trip w/your whole family is amazing. I can't wait for ours! My biggest fear about the whole thing is that there will be people afraid to go off & do their own thing, & I don't want to be a tour guide all day! I think you should plan YOUR vacation the way you want to go & plan one meal together each day, or 1 or 2 rides together, etc. That way no one will feel that they didn't get to do something b/c the rest of the group wanted to do this, or whatever... Good Luck w/your planning & Have a great trip!!

 

[KerTggr]

Biggest tip I can offer is to explicitly plan for days / time apart. We have done family trips every couple years since mid-90s. As the family has grown (from 7 to 12), we have found that time apart is needed, but since we live in different states we all want to spend time together - as much as possible and that can sometimes lead to getting on each others nerves. If there is a plan with time apart, no one feels like they are ditching G'ma and G'pa or their grandchildren.

 

[sk!mom]

We have previously done a trip for two families (9 people), multiple families (21 people), and I am currently planning a graduation celebration trip for 3 families plus a bonus Senior (10 people). We have enjoyed both previous trips and expect to enjoy the upcoming.

We like to stay onsite and find that it works well for a large group because everyone then has transportation if they want to go back to the hotel, sleep in and meet up later, or whatever. We all fly and off site would dictate rental cars and the need to wait around on people or at least group up. Our compromise for all group trips has been staying Value which my DH dislikes but it fits everyone's budget so we do it.

Meals- We are doing the dining plan so we have booked 5 sit down meals for all 10. I asked everyone to weigh in on what looked good and we decided pretty easily. These will be the one thing that I will stress that the majority need to show up for. Now that Disney charges $10 pp if you don't cancel 24 hours in advance, we need to be pretty much locked in for these.

Touring- On the past trips we have started off together in the morning- even with 21- and enjoyed riding together following touring plans. We would typically leave the park early afternoon and then break off into smaller groups. Some would head to a Waterpark, some napped, some lounged by the pool.

Evenings- If we have a dinner ressie we met up. Otherwise it was the small group factor again. Some went back to a park, some were done for the day and stayed at the hotel, some would head to DQ.

As far as the frustration of waiting around on people, that is the one thing that we do not do. The plans are made and we agree ahead of time that everyone is free to join in those plans or not but there will be no waiting around. If you choose to sleep in or not make it to the bus stop by 8:15, that's fine- no one is mad- but you also can't be mad when those who do make it get on the bus as scheduled. Just text us when you are ready to catch up.

 

[KARm123]

As far as the frustration of waiting around on people, that is the one thing that we do not do. The plans are made and we agree ahead of time that everyone is free to join in those plans or not but there will be no waiting around. If you choose to sleep in or not make it to the bus stop by 8:15, that's fine- no one is mad- but you also can't be mad when those who do make it get on the bus as scheduled. Just text us when you are ready to catch up.

THIS is exactly the point I told my DH that I wanted to stress to everyone we are going with. Our individual families are so different - some w/teens, a couple w/pre-schoolers, some w/those in-between ages - that everyone's schedules are just going to be different. I want us to agree on a plan for the next day & anyone that can't make it, or doesn't want to, can do their own thing & meet us later. No hard feelings from anyone!

 

[kpgriswold]

I've done 3 trips with extended family: my family of 6, my parents, two brothers and SILs, our nanny, and now a toddler nephew. With a little advanced planning, it's a wonderful thing to do!

As a PP said, we find that staying on site is the easiest way to go. We like having our own rooms to retreat to, rather than having to share a house. Disney transportation makes it easy for everyone can come go on their own schedule.

I used surveymonkey.com to send a poll to each family member regarding room and restaurant preferences. After we agreed on a resort, each family made their own travel and room reservations. Then I planned out which park we would visit on which days, and make the corresponding ADRs for all of us at each. That way we had at least one event each day that everyone attended. We also met in smaller groups for pool time, rides at the parks, and such. One night, the grandparents watched the kids while the adults went out for drinks. Another night, I watched my nephew so his parents could have dinner alone at Victoria and Albert.

Have fun with this!