Traveling with 10 children to Disney for the FIRST TIME

[CarterFamilyof12]

Greetings from Ohio!

Our large family is finally headed to Disney for their first big family vacation to Disney! We've been saving for months and months on end now, and have some ways to go. We are now using the Disney vacation club to help us save. (I just set that up when I saw we could earn gift cards, prior, I had been using a bank account.)

My husband and I, our ten children and my sister (who is vying for sainthood) is coming with us so can we can stay on property versus having to rent a house. We are planning for about 9/10 days nights.

I have been binge watching/listening to the DisUnplugged podcasts for a couple months now and now with Christmas out of the way, it's time to get serious about Disney!

I hope some angel heart out there will read this and take me under their wing and help me out here. I have bought the official guide, the unofficial guide, the secrets book. I have watch vloggers for months now over on Youtube and followed various social media accounts to get as many tips and ideas as possible and now I'm ready to jump into discussion boards in hopes that Disney veteran(s) may have just the information I need in making some of the more tough decisions.


So- I'm at an impasse here where I need expert advice.
Dining plan- no dining plan? - This may actually decide when we travel as my potential travel dates fall in line with historical free dining plan. The ages of the children traveling are 12/11/10/9/9/7/6/4/3/2 - we plan to stay in 3 rooms (more than likely at Pop Century as the person I called at Disney said they'd be able to get us on the same floor- cant promise connecting rooms but probably). Idea being 1 adult and 3 kids per room. (and the baby in a playpen)

Potential stay dates being Sept 23-Oct 2, or Oct 30- Oct 9th, or, Oct 6- Oct 15th
I have a medical convention at the Hyatt on Oct 6/7 which I plan to attend (8 hours each day) so if we are there during that time, I'll break away from husband/sister and the kids for- if we travel in earlier in September, I'll just fly back down for the next weekend.

So... jumping right in... and hoping someone can can feel out the situation a bit and give me your best advice. I dont want to spend a fortune, although we surely will, but the smaller the fortune the better lol. Right now with just plugging numbers into the online system and multiplying packages by 3 I am getting a rough estimate of about $9,500 ish- that is with park hopper 9 day ticket for 12 people / 3 rooms.

Heather

 

[noahdove]

First off, do you have to have park hopper? Then as for dining plan, are the children good eaters?
Since you are going to be there for many days, I think you can really save with not getting the park hopper.
I know when I go in August, we will only eat CS as my grandson isn't a big eater, nor, do I want to spend
the extra money for him to see the characters. I have done the dining plan in the past, and it worked
well as we all ate most of our money's worth. Use your fast pass like a guide, get touring plans.com
and figure out the crowd numbers and the days that are the best to visit.I like getting to the parks early and
getting to bed early to start the next day. I also take an afternoon break, usually after the afternoon parade.
The break is needed no matter the age. If you don't want to leave the parks, ride the train around or find a
good place to sit and just recharge with ice cream or a good snack.... That's my unofficial thoughts, I have used
the Unofficial Guide to Disney and I do subscribe to Touring Plans...Once I get my Christmas celebrating done
I will get my Disney face on and plan plan and plan more. Oh, don't think you can do everything the first time,
but, mostly, enjoy the moments..

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I would skip the hoppers. We never use them anymore so we stopped adding them on. It would save you quite a bit. Also, the best way to make a decision about the dining plan is to look at the menus on the wdw website or allears and determine how much you would spend without a dining plan. Would your kids share any meals? Will you bring some of your own snacks from home? If there is free dining, take it. I think POP is the best of the values, so that is a good choice. Their food court is nice and the views of the lake are an extra bonus.

 

[CarterFamilyof12]

The only reason I factored in park hopper at this point IF we do the dining plan- its required for free dining. (at least in 2015 it was required to qualify for free disney dining)

We are all 3 thinking if we use touring plans and make use of EMHs so we can take an afternoon nap, we can go without feeling like rush rush rush.

I am not genuinely concerned with trying to see it all. My main concern is avoiding crowds and avoiding long wait times. With the dates we've chosen, according the crowd calendar, the crowds are pretty low.

I think I need to sit down and look at how much eating is going to cost us each day. I'm going, is it worth it to spend more for the potentially free dining plan and having an abundance of food choices- or, just pay for discounted resort, base tickets only, and pay as we go for dining. Our family is committed to live debt free, so, I want literally 100% of the trip paid for before we go- so I really need to nail down the budget to ensure we have enough saved for dining. Several of us are looking forward to adventurous eating- that is the big draw to the dining plan (and being able to hop over to epcot to eat dinner.) So its really going to come down to crunching the numbers- that is, unless I hear some gleaming opinions to convince me that disney dining plan is a must or park hopper is a must for this or that reason.

 

[CarterFamilyof12]

I would be interested to know how big the food portions are. With a 3 year old, 4 year old and 6 year old making the the youngest 3 of the bunch potentially receiving dining credits, I go... can they share meals and we use the credits towards additional meals through the trip? (ie breakfasts) Thats my line of thinking.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I would be interested to know how big the food portions are. With a 3 year old, 4 year old and 6 year old making the the youngest 3 of the bunch potentially receiving dining credits, I go... can they share meals and we use the credits towards additional meals through the trip? (ie breakfasts) Thats my line of thinking.

They would be getting kids meals. Some can be split depending on how much they eat. My two teen daughters and I often split two adult meals. Then we use the other dining credit for breakfast. Sometimes if they don't want much for breakfast they will use a snack credit for a bagel or muffin. For us, the free dining plan has always been worth it.

 

[nherbert]

The meals are huge. You can definitely share meals.

When considering the DDP think about which one getting, the free one when staying at a value resort is just two quick service meals. As you mention Epcot and adventurous eating then you might want the next one up, which includes one table service meal and one quick service meal, so you would have to pay to upgrade to this one during free dining period if at a value resort such as Pop. I would suggest comparing rates between POP with upgraded DDP and somewhere like POR or CBR. At those resorts you can get rooms that sleep 5 and so it wouldn't be so squashy and as much bed sharing. Even at Pop the requests for room locations and connecting rooms are just requests and they can't be guaranteed.

You have a two year old - doesn't need ticket and doesn't get dining plan. All the kids over 9 will be considered adults on the dining plan and get adults credits (lots of food)

Our experience we enjoy having the dining plan as it creates a package and everything is pre paid (including food). There is a huge amount of food and we don't worry about trying out restaurants or what we order. Do we save money? - definitely not. We end up using lots of credits for things that are under value, eg bottled water, bananas, simply because we need/want them and always have excess credits. With your number of people you will have excess credits and an amazing amount of food. Your kids will share quick service meals after awhile.

If you decide to go with DDP then you need to read some threads on maximizing the value. For example a quick service meal does not have to be a kid meal, they can be used for adult meals. Table service is different and there is a distinction between adult and child. With three people we normally use two QS credits for two meals that feed 3 of us, by converting the drinks/desserts into snacks. We use the supplied mugs for the drinks at the resorts.

I strongly suspect if you crunch the numbers with so many people/kids that using free dining you would come out ahead (if you are big eaters) on the DDP. The possible problem is you need so many rooms and need to upgrade to DDP with table service meals, which might mean the numbers are close.

 

[CarterFamilyof12]

Hi Nicole, thanks for your input. Last night I spent a few hours crunching numbers- and you are right, to upgrade to a moderate resort (Coronado Springs or CBR - as those are two that were not excluded last Sept from the free DDP) would cost us almost 2k more for our length of stay. Staying at a value and upgrading our package would only save us a few hundred dollars. I'm beginning to think- perhaps just paying out of pocket for a couple TS meals would be the way to go.

 

[bushdianee]

Don't forget that all of the resorts now have small refrigerators in them. You could order breakfast items, snacks and most importantly bottled water. I have only used Garden Grocer but there are other places also. I know that last year if you ordered early they gave a percentage off your total. I think it was 10%. Plus it is another thing paid off before the trip!

 

[moethorne]

Have you thought about renting points to stay at one of the DVC properties? they have grand villas that would sleep all of you in one villa. They are full villas have 3 bedrooms and full kitchen. If you look into this check out Old Key West as it's the most ecomnical of the resorts and biggest room size. If you are no longer thinking of doing the dinning plan this might be more economical. I've not priced out what it costs 3 rooms at a value resort so I'm not sure of the price. You could also look into the Disney youth education classes. We went with a family this summer who bought their park tickets thru YES. http://www.disneyyouth.com/our-prog...ion-series/#categories-youth-education-series. Bascially they are classes run by Disney in a variety of subject usually one morning but if you take a class you can get discounted park ticket for you whole party for the length of stay. I heard the deals were not as good as in the past but the family we enter with said it was still a good savings for their family. They took a class one morning at Epcot and got the 5 or 6 day park hoppers at discount. Just some ideas.

 

[brockash]

Greetings from Ohio!

Our large family is finally headed to Disney for their first big family vacation to Disney! We've been saving for months and months on end now, and have some ways to go. We are now using the Disney vacation club to help us save. (I just set that up when I saw we could earn gift cards, prior, I had been using a bank account.)

My husband and I, our ten children and my sister (who is vying for sainthood) is coming with us so can we can stay on property versus having to rent a house. We are planning for about 9/10 days nights.

I have been binge watching/listening to the DisUnplugged podcasts for a couple months now and now with Christmas out of the way, it's time to get serious about Disney!

I hope some angel heart out there will read this and take me under their wing and help me out here. I have bought the official guide, the unofficial guide, the secrets book. I have watch vloggers for months now over on Youtube and followed various social media accounts to get as many tips and ideas as possible and now I'm ready to jump into discussion boards in hopes that Disney veteran(s) may have just the information I need in making some of the more tough decisions.


So- I'm at an impasse here where I need expert advice.
Dining plan- no dining plan? - This may actually decide when we travel as my potential travel dates fall in line with historical free dining plan. The ages of the children traveling are 12/11/10/9/9/7/6/4/3/2 - we plan to stay in 3 rooms (more than likely at Pop Century as the person I called at Disney said they'd be able to get us on the same floor- cant promise connecting rooms but probably). Idea being 1 adult and 3 kids per room. (and the baby in a playpen)

Potential stay dates being Sept 23-Oct 2, or Oct 30- Oct 9th, or, Oct 6- Oct 15th
I have a medical convention at the Hyatt on Oct 6/7 which I plan to attend (8 hours each day) so if we are there during that time, I'll break away from husband/sister and the kids for- if we travel in earlier in September, I'll just fly back down for the next weekend.

So... jumping right in... and hoping someone can can feel out the situation a bit and give me your best advice. I dont want to spend a fortune, although we surely will, but the smaller the fortune the better lol. Right now with just plugging numbers into the online system and multiplying packages by 3 I am getting a rough estimate of about $9,500 ish- that is with park hopper 9 day ticket for 12 people / 3 rooms.

Heather

Wanted to start by saying I'd get rid of park hopper...for that many ppl. it'll save you a good amount and we feel like park hopper is a waste and probably wouldn't use it even if it was free. I think it's a little different if it's just adults or older kids going, but we've found it's kinda exhausting to try to get around to more than 1 park/ day. I'm also guessing you won't need/want 9 days worth of tix...you'll want a few down/pool days or possibly a day or 2 to do Disney Springs.

If you can, I'd try to go during free dining to "save" on food and not have to worry about what ppl order etc.

Stroller (s)?? - I'd definitely take athe least a double (and probably 2 doubles) or rent them from one of the rental places in Orlando.

 

[scrapquitler]

The only reason I factored in park hopper at this point IF we do the dining plan- its required for free dining. (at least in 2015 it was required to qualify for free disney dining)

We are all 3 thinking if we use touring plans and make use of EMHs so we can take an afternoon nap, we can go without feeling like rush rush rush.

I am not genuinely concerned with trying to see it all. My main concern is avoiding crowds and avoiding long wait times. With the dates we've chosen, according the crowd calendar, the crowds are pretty low.

I think I need to sit down and look at how much eating is going to cost us each day. I'm going, is it worth it to spend more for the potentially free dining plan and having an abundance of food choices- or, just pay for discounted resort, base tickets only, and pay as we go for dining. Our family is committed to live debt free, so, I want literally 100% of the trip paid for before we go- so I really need to nail down the budget to ensure we have enough saved for dining. Several of us are looking forward to adventurous eating- that is the big draw to the dining plan (and being able to hop over to epcot to eat dinner.) So its really going to come down to crunching the numbers- that is, unless I hear some gleaming opinions to convince me that disney dining plan is a must or park hopper is a must for this or that reason.

You are going to have to look at the numbers, and check the menus to see what you think your kids will actually order and eat in the restaurants. Five of your children are 'adults' by Disney ticket standards, and if they aren't going to eat adult meals, it might be a waste to pay for the dining plan for them.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I just want to say hey as a mom of 9! We are taking our first trip in Sept. We are only able to bring our natural four as other kiddos are not able to get visas out of Honduras until adoptions are complete. Bringing kids 11/10/8/6 and kids 7/6/2/2/1 will need to wait for a future trip. Just wanted to say if you have a Target Red card you can buy Disney Gift cards to apply to your vacation at 5% off. It will save a few hundred dollars for you and it is a way to prepay for dining if you choose oop.

 

[MommyPoppins]

Mom of 8 here, are you dead set against renting?

The last time we did onsite with the dining plan, it was so stressful. Restaurants are all so small and not large family friendly. Trying to single file everyone into counter and sit down restaurants was horrible. We usually stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, which is closer than some Disney resorts.

Having a huge place and full kitchen is so much easier for us. We can eat decent breakfasts, pack sandwiches for lunch and come back and eat dinner. Just a thought.

Also when we have stayed onsite, we usually end up driving to the parks anyway because again, with so many it's just easier!

 

[andiraye]

Don't forget that all of the resorts now have small refrigerators in them. You could order breakfast items, snacks and most importantly bottled water. I have only used Garden Grocer but there are other places also. I know that last year if you ordered early they gave a percentage off your total. I think it was 10%. Plus it is another thing paid off before the trip!

I agree about this thought. With kids, even if you buy snacks in the park you also need to bring healthy snacks with you. You never know who is going to be hungry when. And we also found eating cereal and milk in the room out of big solo cups was so much easier than hauling over to the restaurant, even if it was just for muffins. Make use of those in-room refrigerators!

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

OP, is your crew flying or driving down? That may determine what is most practical logistically and financially in terms of where you stay and how to handle meals,etc. The dates you are looking at late Sept/early Oct do seem to fall in line with free dining dates for 2015 and I remember they indeed required the park hopper or water park add on for free dining which certainly didn't make free dining the deal it once was; but if you plan on staying at a value resort and have a lot of people then I can see how free dining would be appealing. If you are driving down and will have your own vehicle with you then I second the option of looking at an offsite rental house. There is an abundance of 4+ bedroom vacation home rentals within a ten minute drive to the Disney parks for less than $150/nt in communities like Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Indian Creek, Rolling Hills, etc. Like pp stated, with so many young children it may be easier (and more affordable) to eat most meals back at the house and just plan for a few TS meals and counter service lunches here and there. I can certainly understand the appeal of being onsite if it is your family's first Disney trip though, especially if you are flying down. We stayed onsite for our first WDW trip but we only had four kids then and they were all 9 years and under which made it all work out for that trip. Good luck with your planning. I admire large families that can do these kinds of trips. We have five kids now and it is getting tougher to plan and figure things all out across the board, and this won't be our first Disney rodeo

 

[btk2333]

Wow. You all have my admiration. We're going this month with twin 22 months olds and another couple and their one year old. We thought were brave...

 

[TwoMisfits]

Mom of 8 here, are you dead set against renting?

The last time we did onsite with the dining plan, it was so stressful. Restaurants are all so small and not large family friendly. Trying to single file everyone into counter and sit down restaurants was horrible. We usually stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, which is closer than some Disney resorts.

Having a huge place and full kitchen is so much easier for us. We can eat decent breakfasts, pack sandwiches for lunch and come back and eat dinner. Just a thought.

Also when we have stayed onsite, we usually end up driving to the parks anyway because again, with so many it's just easier!

I gotta agree with this advice. Disney is not really set up to cheaply or easily sleep large families, but plenty of condos, townhouses, and resorts in the area are. And having a real kitchen is a lifesaver on food costs when you have that many people (free dining can't be counted on b/c it's getting more and more limited and more and more restricted). If it were me, I'd find a really awesome off-site place to stay for 1/2 the cost of Disney which has water features onsite, which has a hot tub in your room (to just soak one's feet in the jets after kids are asleep - priceless), and which has 4 bedrooms + sofa bed in the living room and which has a full kitchen and dining area. Having rooms to put kids to sleep so adults don't disturb them is priceless...

 

[chekhovgirl]

I agree with the others as well. If you are driving, I would definitely rent off-site. You would be guaranteed to be together and it would be a lot more comfortable space-wise. Also, having the flexibility of a kitchen, laundry, etc. would be great. All that food and all those clothes! You'd also be able to find better amenities than a value when it comes to pools and such, which you should work into your trip!

 

[kookiekat02]

Hi! We went down in April with 6 of us (3 kids, 3 adults). I had been crunching numbers for years on that trip and figured out that for us the dining plan was not worth it. I managed to budget $60 a day for food for us plus $600 for two character meals in our 10 day trip. We did this by bringing lots of snacks and microwavable meals in our suitcases (we flew Southwest). Then we got two grocery deliveries through the trip (garden grocer) with lunchmeat/cheese/bread, water, fruit, beer, and juice boxes. Our total food budget was $1500 and we ate well. Just plan your counter service stops well so you get the better options and stretch multiple kids meals with packed munchies. The kids meal at Disney is definitely the better deal and definitely saves you some $. I packed a collapsible cooler daily with sandwiches, snacks, and cold water bottles then we stuck it on the back of the stroller. The kids loved having snacks and sandwiches at hand so they could eat when they were hungry and we made sure to stop once a day and sit and eat and rest.