travelling as a group advice

[ellis9905]

so DH, DS, DD and I had planned and booked our trip for march, then my mum booked to join us too- so that made 5 of us

now my sister , brother in law and 3 children are coming too!!

so in total there will be 10 of us! whilst im super excited to be sharing this special holiday with my niece and nephews ( who have never been before) its the whole group thing that bothers me....


7 yrs ago we went with my hubbys family to florida - there were 16 of us and it nearly drove me mental... waiting around, struggling to move round the park all together, struggled to find tables etc..... I swore id never do a group Disney trip again!!

so any advice on how best to 'do' Disney en masse?? if booking things like wishes dessert buffet - are we best booking two tables as will we get stuck right at the back with a large table?? are 2 or even 3 smaller car hires better than one huge van?? does anywhere offer discounts on tickets or entry for group bookings?? ( yeah im probably dreaming on that one!!)


any advice gratefully received!!!

 

[scoobydooby]

Definitely get a car per family. Then you are not knitted together. I would also agree some days apart from the off.

 

[flortlebap]

I've done the group thing too and I don't think I'd go back in a group other than with my own family, which is large enough with 4 kids

The problem is with that many people you spend your whole time trying to please everybody, which will basically be impossible. It seems like a good idea at the time, but my two group touring experiences have been very stressful.

If I did it again, I'd ask for rooms at different sides of the hotel so you get some respite from each other. I'd split up at the parks so that people who don't want to do something aren't waiting around and wasting time. You also appreciate each other more when you meet back up for dinner or whatever.

Trying to keep ten people happy with the same tour plan is unrealistic and tempers fray much quicker, however easy and relaxed your family usually is I don't mean to sound negative but it's worth being prepared for what could happen so you know how to deal with it in advance.

 

[flortlebap]

Ps - rather than group discounts, meals can actually be more expensive as they put a compulsory 20% tip onto table service meals for groups over a certain size. Make sure you check the bill so you don't tip twice!

 

[Chilly]

Plan on days and meals apart so get a car each. Some places are easier to do as a group than others like the water parks.

I'd suggest when visiting the main theme parks together you make sure you've already been there on your own already on the holiday so that you've hit the main rides etc that you want to do and then as its a 2nd visit you'll be more relaxed about what you do. But even then be prepared to split up and meet up again later.

Discuss what sort of things you want to do before you go so its not a surprise when you get there such as one family might want to queue up for character photos and another doesn't, if you know this in advance when it happens it won't cause any arguments if you know already what the rough plan is.

 

[Aliceacc]

We're planning a group trip next summer: the 5 of us, my brother in law and his family (4) and my sister in law and her husband... so there are a total of 11 of us.

Just yesterday I sent out an email, with basics... the dates that are good for the NY end of the family, the resorts they like (Carribbean Beach) and the one we're stayiing at (BC) along with the fact that the booking window opens this week. I included the name of our travel agent, the fact that we like the DDP, and a lot of other related stuff.

Then I asked how they all wanted to do all this. I offered a few scenarios, from "OK, we've all done Space Mountain, now does anyone have to go to the bathroom before we do Splash?" to simply agreeing on a park for the day and hoping we meet up. My kids are a good 15-20 years younger than their cousins, so I can't imagine the 11 of us spending every minute together; the different families simply want different things from a Disney vacation.

What I do think we'll end up doing is this: at a minimum, planning several dinners together, then touring the parks we're in those nights together. And I think it would be a great idea if we book the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert party for all of us.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

7 yrs ago we went with my hubbys family to florida - there were 16 of us and it nearly drove me mental... waiting around, struggling to move round the park all together, struggled to find tables etc..... I swore id never do a group Disney trip again!!

Four years ago we were with a group of 19, and from the sound of it, we had similar experiences! I can completely relate to your fears! My advice to you would be, first, think about what went wrong the last time and what can be decided upon ahead of time to make things go more smoothly this time.

I think it's best to make breakfast or dinner ADRs together (if you make the ADRs for first or last settings with a large group they will seat you at several tables clustered together....that much of our trip worked like a charm! Then plan one or two big events together, i.e. a Wishes cruise, a dinner show, a tour etc. Our group did the family magic tour and a wishes cruise which worked for all ages. Also plan at least one or two times (perhaps just after breakfast) to be together for group PP pictures at the castle, etc.

Then beyond that, I would just let people know where you plan to be, but all be on the same page that it's ok to split up! Touring with 19 people 24/7 drove me so batty! Yes, I know I was in Disney and tried to make the best of it, but emotions can run high when you put so much time and effort into a trip only to have one person dictate everything you do! It was the only time I ever looked forward to coming home!

So my best advice is to say "we will all have together time to start and end each day, but each family is on their own otherwise.". If you happen to spend the entire day together, great! But if not, it's been worked out ahead of time and no one will be let down.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[lolainkent]

We're traveling as a group of 16 next Feb - first the cruise and then 3 days at a WDW resort with likely 1 day at MK. Only my brothers live in the same city, my dad and step-mom are a few provinces over and DH, our kids and I are in the UK so at least we aren't already in each others faces.

That said, a few of us have chatted about how to manage our expectations of one another. We're all spending a fair bit of money on this so being told what to and possibly missing out on something just isn't right. The only specific group activity we've planned is going to the Kennedy Space Centre right after the cruise. Once at MK, we're likely to split up. While on the cruise, I imagine we'll be booking different excursions. We're all renting our own cars.

I think before you go you either need to get together as a group (if you live near each other), or have a mass e-mail or big Skype chat and talk about everyone wants out of the trip. If one family HAS to go to Epcot and another would rather spend an extra day at MK, then everyone should be okay with that. In our group, we have 1 vegan and while I respect my brother's choice, I'm not walking 8 miles out of my way so that he can get a vegan falafel or whatever when my kids are happy with a hot dog. That seems to be understood. It's figuring this stuff out before you go!

 

[seashoreCM]

Plan it from the beginning as separate small groups. Then add some get togethers. Of course, with restaurant reservations, everyone has to be at the restaurant at a particular time.

Good time for everyone to get together -- for a parade. You'll want lots of folks to help hold the staked out area.

One humongous van or separate car hires? If only one of you knows how to drive on the wrong side of the road then you'll have to go with the van and everyone has to ride together.

 

[paul_toria96]

3 years ago we went with another family so made a total of 8, we decided before we went that we would have separate cars and do our own things, but most of the time we went to the same park on the same day and just split off and met up at a certain time.

We are going again with them next year but because our children will be older (12,13,14,15) the children will be spending the time apart from us and we will stick together at least some of the time, there will still be plenty of family time.

We all stay in a 4 bed villa and saying that we are only friends we are still talking and couldn't wait to go back as a group again

Have fun and remember to have some you time

 

[MrRomance]

so DH, DS, DD and I had planned and booked our trip for march, then my mum booked to join us too- so that made 5 of us

now my sister , brother in law and 3 children are coming too!!

so in total there will be 10 of us! whilst im super excited to be sharing this special holiday with my niece and nephews ( who have never been before) its the whole group thing that bothers me....


7 yrs ago we went with my hubbys family to florida - there were 16 of us and it nearly drove me mental... waiting around, struggling to move round the park all together, struggled to find tables etc..... I swore id never do a group Disney trip again!!

so any advice on how best to 'do' Disney en masse?? if booking things like wishes dessert buffet - are we best booking two tables as will we get stuck right at the back with a large table?? are 2 or even 3 smaller car hires better than one huge van?? does anywhere offer discounts on tickets or entry for group bookings?? ( yeah im probably dreaming on that one!!)


any advice gratefully received!!!

I'm totally with you on the whole big family trip driving you mental thing. Every year we get ambushed with people coming with us and for our Disney Wedding Vow Renewal last year, there were a ton of people to keep track of and figure things out with. NIGHTMARE!!!

My tips would be....

Each party get their own car - drove me nuts playing taxi driver!

Agree at the outset that each party can do their own thing if they so choose - couldn't bear the daily debate about what we were all going to agree to do!

Don't book restaurants in one booking - you'll get hit with the automatic gratuity and getting a table for so many is a headache.

Last but not least - Vallium!

This year we kept our trip secret for ages and even now no one knows the exact dates in our family because we just want to have a trip on our own where we can do what we like!

 

[MickeyHammer]

Hi, we're doing a big family trip later this year and there will be 11 of us. So far we have two cars, 2 villas and adrs for a 6 and a 5. We won't always be together as one group will be doing princess adrs and the others won't. Fingers crossed it will work out!