What is the largest group you've taken or been with

[mommytutu]

at Disney?

I am wanting to go back to Disney and I mentioned it to my best friend and she wants to go too. OK, let's plan a trip! With our dhs and kids there are 9 of us. Then my mom mentioned maybe my sister could go with us and then maybe she and my dad would go to and, of course, sister's boyfriend couldn't be left out. OK. And my best friend's parents want to go or at least her mom wants to go and all grandparents have volunteered to babysit one or two nights. Cool. So now I'm feeling guilty because we ALWAYS do stuff with my family and not dh's. And I know dh's family LOVES Disney and has been a few times. MIL has talked for years about taking her grandkids to Disney. It's been her dream since her first grandkid, my ds, was born. So, you guessed it, I let MIL know we are planning another trip. And she would love to go...add MIL and FIL. If everyone ends up going that wants to go we could have 22 people, with only 6 of those being kids, then ages 3-9. We're lucky everyone likes each other so no worries there

Of course I've already said "rule #1" is we don't all have to be together all the time and everyone agrees.

So, how do you pull of a large group at Disney? Can 22 people all do a Fireworks Voyage to see Wishes? That would be our 1 group activity if we could all do it. I have plenty of time to plan...18 months. And since I used to plan weddings, I think I can pull off plannig a Disney trip for a large group.

Anyone have a pro/con list from experience? If 22 people want to go I wonder how many people will actually end up going? Looking at my group I'm thinking 11-15 might actually end up going.

 

[Kaiya]

We went to Disneyland last October with my sister, b-i-l, their 5 kids, myself, my bf, and my mom. All in all, no problems. Had our days planned out and an afternoon break- swim and nap each day. We stuck together for the most part and were happy the whole trip. It worked out well, we were able to parent swap on the rides, take turns looking after my sister's baby - 7 mos at the time, ride with the kids and make sure everyone stayed together.

But, no kids this trip. The four of us are heading out while grandma looks after the kids. Will be some differences - won't take us as long to get around, no worries about who's where, not as many bathroom stops - you know, none of the parent duties.

Planning will help - you might want to check out www.tourguidemike.com - he can personalize your vacation depending on your group size.

Happy planning!

 

[weregoingtodw]

So, how do you pull of a large group at Disney? Can 22 people all do a Fireworks Voyage to see Wishes? That would be our 1 group activity if we could all do it.

Try Disney's Magical Gatherings. They have an entire department specifically for helping plan groups of eight or more!

 

[zurgswife]

I planned my IL's 50th anniversary 10 yrs ago and 8 families and totaled 40 ppl

 

[Momto8]

We did a group of 17 in 1998 and stayed at the YC, 5 of which were kids. Not everyone stayed together but a large group of us did for the most part. We would also meet up for our PS a lot of the time, whether it was for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

This summer we are doing a group of 13, 2 of which are 2yo, and there could be up to 6 more going but are not sure at this time. Right now we have 4 rooms at PC and will be going to POR for the last half of our stay (just my family).

We are also going to do some PS together, but will not be together in the parks the whole time. This is the hard part for me. Right now I'm planning our days and trying to determine which parks to go to on what days. Since June park hours aren't out yet, I'm going by the previous months as to which days have EMH. I hope they don't change for June. It is also difficult trying to determine what restaurants to make PS for. My DD told me to go ahead and make them, but they might not go depending upon what they decide to do that day. It's going to be hard to get PS if we end up switching them at the last minute for that large of a group. I guess I'm just going to plan my days and PS, and not worry about what everyone else wants since you can't make everyone happy. We do have PS for CRT for all of us, so that one is definite for us.

My DH and myself will probably babysit our 2 DGD (both 2) while their parents go out to dinner or do PI one of the nights just to give them a break. We'll also probably take them back in the afternoon for a rest or swim as well.

I can't answer your question about the Fireworks Cruise.

Good luck with your planning! It sounds like you are going to have a great time with your family!! It's great that all of you get along!

 

[Sandi12404]

Hey, we'll see you there! We're going in Oct. 2006 also and there are 16 of us. Started out as 7 and then everyone else decided they wanted to go too. It's going to be crazy but I can't wait to see Disney with my whole family. I havn't been there in almost 14 years!! I keep checking these boards and buying planning books and driving my DH insane because I just can't stop talking about it.

 

[tedhowe]

We had 17 of us for a week in 1998 - we stayed in 2 Grand Villas at OKW.

That was really fun, but we absolutely did not try to do too many things together.

We typically broke up into groups of 5 to 8 when we hit the parks and after the first couple of days we didn't even go to the same parks each day.

We only did one big meal with all of us out of the villa - the Pooh character breakfast that Olivia's had back then.

Mostly we ate in the villa with each adult (or adult pair) taking a turn preparing one dinner. Breakfast was usually casual and lunch was commando style in the parks.