Trip to WDW for 15 family members. Help me plan!!

[cman]

My family and I are going to BWV in Feb '05 for our second trip as DVC members. The people coming range in age from 8-62 years old. They include my wife and kids, my parents, my in-laws, sister-in-law anf her family.

Here's where I need help. Planning some special things to do is an overwhelming task. I know there are a million things to do - but that's the problem. I need to narrow things down.

We are the type of family that tends to plan our days in the park once we arrive at WDW. We look at the weather, crowded days at certain parks, how people are feeling.....

Because of this, scheduleing somenting in certain park on a certain day 6 months ahead of time can be difficult.

We are big enough to qualify for Grand Gathering events. The Illuminations one requires park entrance and might be difficult to plan for the reasons stated above.

So......... can you give me some advice. Thanks!!

 

[fkj2]

Well, you probably won't fit into a grand villa so are you contemplating two two-bedrooms? You could have your parents stay with you and you SIL take the in-laws, depending on how many children, ages, gender. The kids you could mix/match in the rooms at night.

Then, will you want to spend all your time together? The parents/in-laws might want to spend time shopping, esp. at DTD and the kids might want to go to DisneyQuest. You could plan a meal around that.

And, had you considered doing any of those group tours like Keys to the Kingdom. Haven't done it myself yet but it's on the list.

 

[cman]

I should have stated that I already booked two 2-bedroom units and they are divided just as you said.

We have 7 days to fill out excluding our travel days. 5 of those days will probably be spent together as a group. This is what we did 2 years ago and it work out fine.


What is Keys to the Kingdom. I'm assuming these are the type of things I'm looking for some feedback on.

What about the other Grand Gathering events? Any information is appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[WANNABE@WDW]

I am also in the early stages of planning our grand gathering for Feb 2005. There will be about 25 people on this trip. We will be there during the Mardi Gras holiday. Our group will be coming from several different states and on various types of transportation. We have decided to do the Pirate desert cruise our first night. We wanted everyone to get together the first night just to kick offf the trip with a bang. Some of us will be in the parks on the first day and some won't go until the next day. We have gone on several smaller group trips but this will be a real adventure for me to plan. I have decided to try to have a couple of group meals, like Ohana's ( the dinner and the view are awsome) and the Whispering Canyon Cafe. The kids in our group will be doing the pirate cruise at the Grand Floridan ( it was one of the highlights of our last trip!) Some of our group like everything planned and some don't. For our group being together all the time doesn't work. Everyone really seems to enjoy our special events that are planned, though. My biggest tip ... BE FLEXIBLE!!!!!!!

 

[Poohs Pal]

We are going with a group of 14 adults and 3 babies(10-18mths).
I get to do all the planning and I love it. We allready have our HDDR night booked. We will also do one sit down meal together per day. Place's like Boma's, Marakeesh, O'hana's, Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare and for our first night Chef Mickeys. We will use a in room babysitting service for the adults to spend a night together at PI and eat at Fultons, another adult's only night will be at the boardwalk and dining at Flying Fish. Will be there 12/05 so we will also have MVMCP and CP at Epcot. The park planning will take into consideration that there will be 3 babies with us and I also have an adult H/C son. We will take turns taking all 4 back to the rooms to rest during the day. Of cousre i'm sure us grandma's and great grandma will be more than happy to do this. Sometimes I like a mid day rest myself(LOL). I also think that some of the grand catherings sound nice but we will just do something ourselves. Things your group could also due, putt putt and the water mice. Spend an evening ay one of the monorail resorts and watch the EP. Well just have a good time. Susan

 

[Bracho]

My family is the same way, they don't want to really plan anything until they arrive so they can see how things are going. Me on the other hand have all of my dining and special events planned months in advance. A few years ago I had planned to stay at the Beach Club and was treating myself to the Grand Plan. I got a call a few months before the trip from my brother and he said that he was going to bring his family down to Orlando during that period so we might as well hook up.. GREAT NEWS for me!! then I got a call from my sisters, one at a time and within 2 weeks, everyone was going and we had a family reunion going on...

Well within 3 weeks everyone was starting to complain about all of the plans I was making and that we should just wait and see how everyone was feeling once we all got there.. well a few days of that mess and I put my foot down and EXPLAINED!! I was going on vacation and I was planning my trip like I always did, I sent everyone a copy of my schedule and told them that if I got a chance to see them it would be great "BUT" I had planned on this trip for months before they hoped onboard. I was not going to miss out on my favorite place to have dinner or lunch, or miss out on some of my favorite events just because I waited to the last minute and then nothing was available.. no..no..no!!

Well the bottom line is that after the first night, my family understood the importance of planning...LOL and the rest of the trip went great. We are all going together again in a few years and everyone wants me to take care of the planning.

We all here at the Dis know the importance of planning, there is just to much to do. Not to do some kind of planning could become a major problem and with a group as big as yours, I would think that planning an event that everyone will attend would become a MUST and if your select to do one of the Grand Gathering events, I would think advance planning would have to be done.

I kinda had to put my foot down with my family just because I know what I was going to be in for if I didn't have meals or special events planned. The last thing I want to do on my vacation is spend alot of time in line or waiting 45-50 minutes to eat!!!

The very best of luck!

 

[canwegosoon]

I think you might be good planning 3-4 mornings of activities(one for each park, if you think your bunch can do EE, then schedule a 1/2 day at the EE park) Afternoons and the other days can be on the fly. I think 1st breakfast together at Chef Mickey's would get everyone in the mood, but after that you could eat most Breakfasts in the room. The fireworks cruise sounds like fun for a large group to be together, perhaps you could schedule that for the 1st or second night before people start to loose steam. I think that having famlies host a dinner in rooms might be good (they could also be incharge of arranging PS if they don't want to cook). The only problem is if you make any changes to PS you get issued a PS and that might be difficult with a large group...but perhaps you could do 6@6 and 6@6:15 etc. Have fun, but I would not micro plan...that's a large age difference to deal with. I would also recommend HDDR/the Beirgarten.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I have 18 going in August, we range in age from 4 to 74. We are coming from several different states. We are all staying at the same resort (PC) for convienence sake, but I am only planning one get together per day. Here's what we're doing, maybe it will help you:
Sat. July31-Arrive in Orlando by noon. Shop at outlets and DTD. Dinner at Chef Mickey's at 6:40. Magical Gatherings fireworks voyage at 8:45.
Sun. Aug 1- AK/TL
Mon. Aug 2-MGM. Lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe at 12:20
Tues. Aug 3-Epcot. Ice Cream Social at 3:00.
Wed. Aug 4-MK. Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern at 7:05.
Also e-ride night.
Thurs. Aug 5- sleep in, some of our party is leaving on this day. Hang out by the pool, maybe some mini golf or the Boardwalk.
Fri. Aug 6- Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure
Sat. Aug 7-leave to come home.

Hope that helps! I'll post a trip report when we get back to let everyone know how our "magical gathering" experience went, and also what worked for a large group and what didn't. Happy planning!