Where to stay with a large group?

[audrey444]

For my in-laws' 40th wedding anniversary, they want to take all sixteen of us to Disney. (How awesome!) Our plan is the week after Thanksgiving, which will be a very low point season.

We have offered up our DVC points, which will total 426 at the time of our trip with banking and borrowing.

There are 5 families going...
MIL and FIL (2)
DBIL and family (4)
Us (4)
BSIL and family (4)
DBIL2 and girlfriend (2)

My plan is to get 2 THV. We would stay in one with DBIL, making a total of 4 adults and 4 children. The other THV would be MIL/FIL, DSIL, and DBIL2, for a total of 6 adults and 2 children.

I've never stayed in the treehouses before. Is this too many adults in the second villa?

Other options? I thought about OKW with a grand villa and 2BR, but we would have to rent points and we would lose our advance booking with SSR.

I'm interested to hear what others think about this and what other options I may not have thought about yet.

Thanks!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'd get two two bedroom villas - one for your family and BIL family, one for ILs and SIL and family - and then a studio for BIL and girlfriend.

 

[PEANUT1]

I'd get two two bedroom villas - one for your family and BIL family, one for ILs and SIL and family - and then a studio for BIL and girlfriend.

I don't think they have enough point for that. I don't even think there is enough for 2 THV's unless you are buying some extra points. We stayed in a THV with 5 adults and 3 kids and it was fine for space.

 

[bookwormde]

You might want to try 1-2br and 3 studios at OKW ,even if you have SSR points you should have a backup plan even booking at 11 months. While it is not likely you might want to check on a GV and 2 studios at OKW.

If you regerster as a grand gathering they should be able to keep your rooms relatively close together.

bookwormde

 

[MerriH807]

My advice is to play around with your points and see what sleeps the most amount of people using the least amount of points. We are taking another family with us in January and it is less points for us to book 2 studios than it is to book a 2 bedroom (we we could each have our own bedroom)

Also, is it important to have a kitchen? What about number of bathrooms? THe THV will give you the room you need....Ive never stayed in one but some of the posts Ive read on here about them say they are best when you have a car with you.. (just what I read, don't know from personal experience...)

When I planned out family trip, there were 9 of us and luckily we all fit in a 2 bedroom at BLT...nice with the 3 bathrooms and the younger people took the fold out sofa.

Good luck finding what works for your family. You will have a great time no matter what!!

 

[audrey444]

The benefit of THV is that you get three bedrooms for the points of a 2BR. We will have just enough points to do this. We may have enough points to do a GV at OKW and a 2BR, but I will have to play with those point values.

We won't have a car at any resort partially for cost savings and partially because we can't haul 16 people around and deal with 6 car seats.

Still thinking...

 

[Dean]

If you would have a car, OKW or the THV would be your best bet. If you will not have at least one car, and you stated you would not, I would not do either personally. I'm assuming you're doing 5 or 6 nights else you don't have enough points for 2 THV anyway. The cheapest options, and the best for some, would be a 2 BR at OKW with 3 studio (as bookworme suggests), depending on the makeup of the groups (looks like all the kids are younger with those car seat references) but still an issue without a car.

There are other factors we don't know such as what parks the group plans to do, how many park days, any group plans such as shows or dinners. All of these may affect your best choices. I'd suggest you decide what would work best for your group and work backwards rather than trying to fit the group within your points. You can always pick up extra points or the equivalent such as renting days on cash likely with the 25% member discount. Depending on your preferences, you should only have to rent a couple of days on cash for most options as long as you stay away from the GV and other top end choices. If you can't get the group to cover those costs then it's likely you'll have other problems with such a trip anyway. Surely the in-laws could cover that if they were planning on taking the entire group until you volunteered to pay for it yourself (with points). Just remember, if there are members of that group that are prone to having "issues" at family functions, unreliable, etc; expect that will not change for such a trip.

Given the ages of the group, and ignoring any family quirks, you're likely to have a split between those going to more adult oriented parks and those headed to the MK and possibly those wanting to do nothing (our recent family trip). You may want to consider BWV standard view with a 2 BR and multiple studios OR AKV standard view, the latter esp if you don't plan much park time though the lack of car would be a deterrent for AKV also. Regardless, I'd book your best thoughts for SSR at 11 months out even if you plan for something else at 7 months.

 

[got4boys]

I would recommend a car with that many people, especially if you are booking OKW or SSR as it is farther out. In case the kids or adults get tired and want to go back to the room (and not ride the buses). Also for groceries off site (less expensive) unless you are planning on eating on site all the time or have a dining plan.

 

[Dean]

I would recommend a car with that many people, especially if you are booking OKW or SSR as it is farther out. In case the kids or adults get tired and want to go back to the room (and not ride the buses). Also for groceries off site (less expensive) unless you are planning on eating on site all the time or have a dining plan.

Let me expand. Orlando is generally a cheap place to rent a car (or 2). But even if you just got the cheapest option available it'd give you options including groceries. Generally car seats are exempt from airline charges if checking them. No ideal for 16 people but far better than not having a car, IMO.

 

[drusba]

Because the time you mention, week after Thanksgiving, is one of the highest DVC demand times of the year, I believe you will end up taking what you can get unless all those points are at same resort and can be used 11 months out for that resort. I think you have a low probability of finding THVs at 7 months out for that time of year. So if you have to deal with 7 month window, you should be considering what your options may be if you cannot get first choice, including making ressies 11 months out at different resorts and then trying to change at 7 unless all the points are at the same resort.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Because the time you mention, week after Thanksgiving, is one of the highest DVC demand times of the year, I believe you will end up taking what you can get unless all those points are at same resort and can be used 11 months out for that resort. I think you have a low probability of finding THVs at 7 months out for that time of year. So if you have to deal with 7 month window, you should be considering what your options may be if you cannot get first choice, including making ressies 11 months out at different resorts and then trying to change at 7 unless all the points are at the same resort.

Good point. At seven months, you might get a two bedroom somewhere or a studio somewhere, but you could have difficulty getting all the villas you need. What is your home resort? Book what you can there and then see if you can move it around at seven months. Getting a GV at OKW will be difficult to say the least at seven months out at that time frame.

 

[joandegennaro]

Based on the orignial comment of losing her advance booking at SSR if they went with and OKW Grand Villa I assume her home resort is SSR which would give her the 11 month window for the Treehouses. While relying on Disney buses can be a bit of a pain...trying to co-ordinate car transport for 16 people (not to mention the car seat issue) might be worse. I would definately consider renting a car for a day for some of the adults to head to the grocery store to stock the room with food. Feeding that many people just isn't cost effective in the parks

I personally would go with OKW but that is just because I am a new owner and am a little partical to it. But I would book your Tree Houses at 11 months and then look at what might work better points, location and availablity wise at the 7 month mark.

Good Luck!

 

[rentayenta]

There are 5 families going...
MIL and FIL (2)
DBIL and family (4)
Us (4)
BSIL and family (4)
DBIL2 and girlfriend (2)

One of the bedrooms in the THV has bunk beds so I would make sure the kids, if any, are spilt up into both THV so adults aren't having to sleep on bunk beds.

 

[audrey444]

Thanks for all your responses. We are planning a 6 night visit with park tickets available each day.

MIL is planning to do DDP for everyone. Much easier than planning meals for 16 and cleaning up afterwards.

Regarding parks. The expectation is that each family does their own thing during the day. Early families can go early, late sleepers can go later. Everyone meets up for the planned dinner that night. Everyone will have park hopper tickets, so having dinner at a different park won't be an issue.

Grocery - I've done garden grocer in the past and planned to do that again for breakfast, drinks, and snacks in the room.

The bunk beds in the third bedroom at THV will be perfect. DBIL2 and girlfriend will not be sleeping in the same room. One will have a bunk with one of the little cousins, and the other will sleep on the pull out.

After looking at the points, OKW grand villa would also work, but as many pointed out, probably not at the 7 month window. I think that THV will be our best bet for price and size. We'll just have to add extra travel time onto every trip, and that will be one of the down sides of the trip. I'm not sure how else to accomodate so many people. The current plan of 2 THV is about 424 points, whereas a SSR Grand Villa and 2BR will be 631, and SSR GV and 2 studios will be 583 points.

Now that I look at it, 2 2BR and a Studio at SSR is 496 points, and may still be in the price range that MIL is looking for. I'd still be at my home resort, better bus service than THV, and meet all the other needs.

Thanks for all your advice. I'm still looking for anything I've missed, and I'm sure I'll be back for more. Travelling with this many people is never easy, but hopefully our "meet for dinner" strategy will work.

 

[MrShiny]

My suggestion would be to stick with the 2 treehouses. The way things are divided they should fit everyone well (as you've already figured out who gets the bunk beds) and they are gorgeous - much nicer imho than an SSR 2BDRM for the same cost.

Although we did have a car, when we used the busses we did not find them to be a big problem. A bit more of a hassle because you have to ride to SSR and then get a bus to your destination, but while we were there in the summer we found we never waited much.

You might want to consider renting a vehicle that folks could share - maybe one driver from each THV. This would allow groups to split up more easily and grocery runs, etc.

Not only are the THV very nice inside, the area is pretty and very peaceful. The boats are a good option to get to Downtown Disney and SSR too. We were very close to a bus stop and a boat landing, so it was great. The small THV pool was also a short walk and never crowded.

 

[MrShiny]

And as far as car seats, if yours are airline rated, I strongly suggest using them on the plane (assuming your group(s) are buying seats for the kids (which I also strongly suggest - even for babies - turbulence can be nasty)).

 

[Dean]

Thanks for all your responses. We are planning a 6 night visit with park tickets available each day.

MIL is planning to do DDP for everyone. Much easier than planning meals for 16 and cleaning up afterwards.

Regarding parks. The expectation is that each family does their own thing during the day. Early families can go early, late sleepers can go later. Everyone meets up for the planned dinner that night. Everyone will have park hopper tickets, so having dinner at a different park won't be an issue.

Grocery - I've done garden grocer in the past and planned to do that again for breakfast, drinks, and snacks in the room.

The bunk beds in the third bedroom at THV will be perfect. DBIL2 and girlfriend will not be sleeping in the same room. One will have a bunk with one of the little cousins, and the other will sleep on the pull out.

After looking at the points, OKW grand villa would also work, but as many pointed out, probably not at the 7 month window. I think that THV will be our best bet for price and size. We'll just have to add extra travel time onto every trip, and that will be one of the down sides of the trip. I'm not sure how else to accomodate so many people. The current plan of 2 THV is about 424 points, whereas a SSR Grand Villa and 2BR will be 631, and SSR GV and 2 studios will be 583 points.

Now that I look at it, 2 2BR and a Studio at SSR is 496 points, and may still be in the price range that MIL is looking for. I'd still be at my home resort, better bus service than THV, and meet all the other needs.

Thanks for all your advice. I'm still looking for anything I've missed, and I'm sure I'll be back for more. Travelling with this many people is never easy, but hopefully our "meet for dinner" strategy will work.

I would not do THV for that group with the DDP for the entire time, YMMV. I'd either drop part of the days from the DDP or pay OOP where applicable.