who has planned a large family trip to WDW?

[momto2]

We are thinking of our entire family going to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary. There would be 16 of us ranging from under one to seniors. There are 4 families with kids plus Mom and Dad. Each family has 1 or 2 children and one family has 3. Any websites, or links that help in planning for a large group? One family has never been to WDW and neither have Grandma and Grandpa. Money is a concern for some of the families and time is always a factor, getting everyone's schedules to coordinate.

I would appreciate any help

 

[siestakeys04]

I am trying to plan a large family vacation for 3 familys mine with me33 dh33 dd10 and ds6 my aunt and uncle and their two kids dd13 ds9 and my other aunt and uncle and two kids dd22 and dd20.
I am the wdw planner so my family is staying at the wilderness lodge because this will be my first time since i was 6 and dh,dd & ds first time to disney ever. So kids wanted to stay there because of bunk beds. My aunt with other small kids decided to stay at the wilderness lodge also seeing none of them have never been to wdw either. Now my other aunt with older girls maybe thinking about staying a pop century. I told them we can still meet up and go to parks and dinner together.

My opinion is I want to make memories for my family and the memories that i might want to create may not be what the others want to create. So i will continue to plan but if they don't like what i did then they can do something else. Whether they go or not will not stop me and my family from going.

Make sure you find out what everyone wants to do and try to accomodate but someone may not always be happy. THAT SAID HAVE FUN PLANNING AND HAVE A GREAR TIME!!!!!

 

[budbeerlady]

Good luck, we are just starting to plan a family vacation with the in laws, it isnt as fun as I thought it would be. Everyone has diff vacation expectations. We see it as our one get away a year and we save all year in order to go and have a good time. We in some peoples eyes spend too much, we found out the inlaws want to go on the cheap end. (I'm thinking AKL atleast savanha view or concierge, they are thinking all star movies because of the costs.) Everyone has diff ideas of what is expensive. I would love to see Cirque again and DD has asked if we can go again, but I dont even have to ask if they would go. Maybe we can do some splitting up or something. Have fun booking your grand gathering events, I wish we had enough going to do some of those!

 

[estherhead]

I have done this. My dh family is 5 kids with their mates & their kids. The grand total is... 22 people. We opted to rent two big houses right next to each other instead of getting hotel rooms. Then everyone either drove down (we live in Ohio) or flew and rented their own car. It very much limited arguments (though there were still some) and as far as money you could spend as much or little as you pleased. The teenagers got Universal passes, the two families with toddlers got Disney passes and we had two big meals planned together. I would think it would work expecially well with a 50 year party because on the day of the party you & whoever is your biggest helper could plan the party while everyone else went to parks and stayed out of your way. And having two of your own private pools is very nice. We loved going to the parks by ourselves and then coming home to the family and swimming and playing cards at the kitchen table. Plus one of my sister in laws got very ill and couldn't leave her bed for 2 days and felt much better being in her own room instead of a motel room with her 2 teen daughters.

 

[mommystieg]

We did this 2 years ago with DH's extended family -- 13 of us in total. Trying to get them to commit was difficult but we sort of gave everyone an ultimatum and they finally agreed. Each family purchased a copy of the PassPorter and I told them to start going through it and deciding what things they most wanted to see/do and think about the places they wanted to eat. We planned 2 meals all together and then each family had at least one meal with Grandma and Grandpa. We also met up in smaller groups for the parades and fireworks. One family was leaving WDW earlier than the rest of us so we all met up their last night for Fantasmic. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is really no good way for your entire family to stay together the entire trip. Try to get each family to choose their experience and then help them plan it. Definitely try to plan a few things that you can do all together. We had a couple of pre-trip planning meetings and then I offered to help anyone with their plans if they needed me. It was a wonderful experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Have fun!!

 

[HeatherC]

We've also done this a couple of times and will doing it again over February vacation!!! It has been terrific. But that being said, there are a couple of things that seemed to work for our famiies.

First...we always stay offsite. This is just a personal preference and is something that has worked wonderfully for us. I think every family has different needs and wants of what a vacation should be and there is no right or wrong to this. There are many reasons for us doing this, but it's mainly because we ourselves have three kids and enjoy the extra space. With a large group it has worked great because everyone can get their own villa with several bedrooms and bathrooms and even washer and dryers. No one feels cramped or crowded. It also allows the flexibility for everyone to enjoy "their" vacation. With so many options in Orlando, we have stayed in some beautiful resorts for a fraction of what it would cost to stay onsite.
Some that come to mind are Marriott's Grande Vista, HGVC, Orange Lake, Regal Palms, etc.. These are all within 10-15 minutes of Disney.

Second...with the money we save on loding, everyone gets their own car and can come and go as they please. Sometimes, the kids or even adults have had enough of the theme parks and can then leave when they want. Plus...with small kids we don't want to have to wait for a bus or tram. When the kids are melting down, we just want to leave. Again...just something that works for us.

Third..we usually book a few sit down or character meals together and then meet at that time. This way not everyone has to tour all together. And not everyone wants to spend a lot on food or take the time to do a sit down meal every day. It is very hard to tour together all day with a big group and with kids of different ages. It's fun to tour with whomever you want and then all meet up at lunch or dinner to talk about what you've done or seen. Plus if you only plan one or two meals all together, people can budget and plan accordingly.

I guess the thing is to remember that it is everyone's vacation. If you plan enough flexibility into the trip, I really think everyone can have a wonderful time.

Best of luck to you in your planning.

HeatherC

 

[kdtwiss]

I think the most important thing is to realize - there is no way you will all be together all the time. The most important thing is that you decide what everyone wants to do together. For us a biggie was A Small World which is my mom's favorite memory of DW when we were kids- so we made sure to plan for that. We also synchronized so that we were all at the same parks the same days - which took quite a bit of give on my part, since I planned obsessively and they wanted to "wing it" - UGH never again! I planned everything - meals, shows et. by what days they said they would go where - then at the last minute they changed their minds. We did enjoy three family dinners together - Park Fairre, Crystal Palace and our last night we di O'Hana's and rented two BDAY fireworks cruise boats that launched from the Poly. That was by far everyone'e favorite memory! I would suggest Mickey's Philharmagic in MK first and all together - you will be ready for DW then! Grand Gatherings is very helpful!

 

[danalee]

I just did this for 10 of us this past August~

First off nail down the dates you are going, and then where to stay.
What I did first was go online and got differnt quotes for differnt hotels and dates then we all compared. So at least if they can give you a ballpark time frame you can do this, it was a big help~
Also you will need to figure in traveling, we flew so we did a package and it was all included.
We thought about all the different places, and settled on All Star Movies that way it fit everyones budget!

As far as planning out parks and eating, this board was a BIG help, I did go other disney sites & boards but this one helped me soooooo much!

I also told everyone to get some type of disney guide book so they could "help" in the planning, like anywhere they really wanted to eat or a show they wanted to see? This way nobody felt left out!
Once I had that from everyone I started planning, I made an agenda (anal I know) but it worked! Really well!!!!

I figured what day for what park, and what time and where we would eat that day, now dont get me wrong I was no drill sgt! BUT it really did help, that way every morning you didnt waste an hour doing the "where do you want go to go? I dont care where do you want to go?" that drives me crazy!

So this way if somebody wanted to go on there own they could and then we met up for dinner!
We did do all 4 parks, no water parks this time~

I guess this is out if the norm, but for the most part our group stayed togther, with the exception of my MIL, and that is another post all its own, but we had a blast!

And on our next to the last we planned a "Do what you want day" where everybody went on there own. That way if there was something you wanted to do again you went back or something we missed you wanted to see you could go~ But that in mind we did decied on that day we would meet up later in DTD for dinner at RainForest Cafe~
We had a blast at all of our dinners, and had a great time!

I always tried to make dinner ressie about the same time everyday, it was easy to remember and kinda plan around. We had the dining plan, which was a big plus for us.

We only had one major "Melt Down" and you guessed it, my dear MIL
Other than that we all got along great and had a blast!

And they did laugh at me at first with my "Agenda" but as they will all tell you now, they loved it after we got there and could see how overwhelming it could be!

Sorry so long but hope I helped ya little!!!

Have a great time planning
Dana

 

[budbeerlady]

Pray tell, where did MIL stay? And was she happy there?

 

[danalee]

Do you know her??
She stayed with us at ASM she was in a room with my SIS (she is my MIL in training, sad very sad)

But on that note she must have liked the hotel, because she spent ALOT of time at the arcade there! It worked very well for the rest of us!

Needless to say she wont be returning in December with us

 

[budbeerlady]

Sorry I had read your post wrong I had read it like MIL didnt like the hotel options everyone else had taken. I made the mistake of including MIL (actually I am blaming this one on DH) but they want champange on a water budget for a trip to WDW.

I told a friend at work today if I dont make it through the planning of this trip please scatter my ashes at WDW!

 

[prestonsmomma]

Just subscribing for ideas. I'm starting to plan our family trip for Feb 2007.

 

[SylviaL]

You might consider renting points to stay at one of the DVC resorts. Part of the fun for our kids is sharing a villa with their cousins. Since it's your parents' anniversary, considering doing a Grand Gathering cruise. Good luck!

 

[HappyLawyer]

we have ours for dec, 8 possibly 10 for us, it is nice as relatives live in different states.

 

[momto2]

Thanks so much everyone. What great ideas! I am meeting with my siblings in a couple of weeks and the more info I have the better.

Thanks again

 

[1of6]

Great ideas! I think we might go Jan. '07 as a group of 19. One thing I have learned from my Aunt (she has gone 2 years in a row with 16 and 24) is to plan a get together every day. Either a character breakfast or some type of dinner plans.

 

[josh0208]

I'm in the "thought" process of possibly suggesting this for my family. My mom has always wanted to do a family vacation and I think this might be the trip. I've been looking at all the large (6-7 bedroom) homes which look amazing. My only concern is putting everyone in the same house. I'm not sure it that will go over well with all members of the family. How do you find smaller size homes that are next door to one another? I think that might work a lot better. Plus...what is the average time you go for those that have done this already? I'm guessing it would be about 14 people at this time.

 

[lynninpa]

bump I am in the midst of planning a surprise trip for 9

 

[josh0208]

How do you plan something like this with it being a surprise? Do you actually pick the dates as well? How far in advance can I reserve a home for something like this?

 

[lynninpa]

How do you plan something like this with it being a surprise? Do you actually pick the dates as well? How far in advance can I reserve a home for something like this?

How am I planning it as a surprise?! One step at a time!

Step 1: I wanted more than almost anything to take all the kids, their spouses and their kids to WDW.
Step 2: I told my DH about my "dream."
Step 3: He said, "Great! When do we leave?!"
Step 4: We picked the dates.
Step 5: I picked 1 TS meal for each night for a family dinner
Step 6: Now I am sleepless at night on thinking of how to surprise them all!
note: Also sleepless over the cost for 9 people including airfare, 3 resort rooms, park tickets and dining plan for all.

That's all my planning-so far!