Who's planned a family reunion for WDW?

[idontknow]

I'm just in the planning stages. I started emailing family members yesterday. Does anyone have any advice on how to get 13 people together for a weekend at WDW?


My mom and I talked last night about what would be better for her, now I'm waiting to see if anyone has any free time left this year. How do you deal with people of all ages and all incomes? (getting them to go and money matters)

 

[janiejo]

We started two years ago planning a "family" trip. It helps that both my sister and I own DVC points at the BWV. We are true Disneyites and you never have to twist our arms to go to WDW! Unfortunately, our two brothers are not so inclined. We begged, prodded, begged, and finally gave up. We decided we didn't need the brothers and their families to go to be able to have a good time. And you know what? We were right - we had a great time - all 10 of us. The sad part, however, is that my nieces and nephews from my brothers' families really would have had a good time with their cousins. But, all you can do is try! The one thing I would suggest is to be flexible. Everyone doesn't have to stay at the same place. Everyone doesn't have to go to the same park/attractions, etc. Decide in advance what things you want to do together and then be flexible. It would be nice if you could all stay at a condo and start and end the days together - breakfast together, etc. Just remember, everyone is paying a lot of money for the trip so they need to feel they are doing what they want to do! Hope it works out for you!

 

[Pat Hill]

I planned and hosted our family's first reunion January of 1999 at Walt Disney World. I sent a letter to all the family's discussing the idea of the reunion. Then I sent the plans to all the family's who showed interest in this reunion. We booked rooms at the Port Orleans which we got at a great rate. I felt that this was a nice resort for every income. Book your rooms through CRO not group sales because you have to have a contract through them and there are too many problems going through them. The person who books all the rooms are financially responsible for all the rooms and they have strict cancellation penalties. This is only if you book you reunion rooms through Disney Group Sales. If you go through CRO each family can make there own reservation an dthen you will not have any financial responsiblities for the other family members.
I would be happy to discuss with you privately the reunion in more detail. Disney is a wonderful place to have a family reunion. Our family is having their 2nd reunion right now in Estes PArk,Co and so many family's wish we were having again at Disney.
Best Of Luck,
Tracy
Disney51@prodigy.net

 

[idontknow]

Well, it looks like the number jumped to 15, but 3 people can not go. (now at 12)

For having descent sized reunions, you sure come across as being very calm! LOL I never thought about group sales at WDW. I did have the CS booked, but found a better rate at the Dolphin. I was just so worried about my grandmother having to hike it around the 15 acre lake.

I've got the air almost booked for 9 of us, and the rest are driving. I figure we have Thankgiving day dinner together the first night, eat lunch or dinner together at the MK on Friday, and then do a lunch on Sat, and brunch on Sun. That's one meal a day together.

Then I'm making a list of things that we can do together, but don't have to do them on certain nights or with EVERYONE in the group. IE: something that does not need reservations or is manditory for everyone to go. I thought we could play minigolf, check out the boardwalk, DD, X-mas decorations, the campfire, and the EWP. Minigolf and the boardwalk would be easy to do, because we are staying at the Dolphin with the teachers rate. (Yeah!)

I'm thinking of making up baskets for each room we have. I'll call the Dolphin to see if they can hold the baskets and deliver them to the room during our first evening.

How cheesy would it be to have matching t-shirts made that say "Thanks Grandma" ? Just a thought.....

 

[Pat Hill]

The planned events we had were "The Big Family Gathering Dinner" at this event I had a nice dinner planned it was at the POrt Orleans restaurant which unfortunately is closeled now but they did a wonderful job for us. We had family games with awards and pinata for the kids and the family goody bags for the reunion I distributed then. That is because we had about 60 people at our reunion. We also had a day at the MAgic Kingdom with PS at Cinderellas Castle and had a special spot for the the family to veiw the parade. Also we had a planned golf tournament now that was fun which included a specail photo with all the golfers for a golf tag that said Hill FAmily Reunion Golf tournament 1999. We also planned a evening at Pleasure Island. We had the family who did not want to go to watch the little ones so every one had a chance to have some fun.
We broke up into smaller groups most of the time. This worker out great for all of us.
Is this reunion for this Thanksgiving?
Tracy

 

[wdwnutze]

We are having a reunion in Aug. There will be a total of 15 of us. 5 from CA, 6 from MA, 3 from NH and 1 from SC. We started by having someone take charge and throw out a couple of different months. We then asked each family which month would work for them and continued to narrow it down from there. We did the same thing with picking a resort. We will be staying at the BC. We wanted to stay somewhere really nice for my mom who is very excited to be with all her grandchildren at the same time. This is a first for her. We know we will be splitting up during our 7 day stay but we will plan meals together so we can touch base and talk about what we have done. We are looking forward to a great time and our biggest goal will be to plan but not OVER plan. We will have to keep things somewhat relaxed due to the heat. I have done the planning and reservations and it has been a lot of fun. These boards have helped me save everyone a lot of money(BC waterview $209/nt instead of $325)I think I will be sad when the trip is over. Guess I'll have to start planning another trip!

 

[rbuzzotta]

Thanks for all the ideas. I am trying to plan a family get together at WDW for MY side of the family. We tried with my DH's about 6 years ago and his brother who lives in Georgia decided there wasn't anything to do for kids there!!!!!!!!1 YOU GOT ME!! We went anyways and took my MIL for her retirement. We had a blast and now that she has had a stroke and can't travel anymore we look back on our pictures and remember how much fun we did have.

My dad really doesn't like the heat or FlA for that matter (I guess I didn't get his genes!!) We are hoping to plan to go sometime in early to mid December for a long weekend. I am not sure if I will use my points for the Grand Villa because it may just be too close for comfort. I would love to stay at one of the monorail resorts and this way we can get back and forth easier and my dad and just relax at the resort.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[idontknow]

Thanks for all of your relpies! I love reading about your past/future reunions! 60 people, holy moly, that's a lot of people! Every holiday for years I tried to get my family that lives in the same area together. No one would ever get back to me in time and I finally gave up a few years ago. My Grandfather passed away last July 5th. I really regret not pushing everyone harder to get together, but I realize I did what I could. That was the last time my entire family was together. This reunion means a lot to me. I think it means a lot to my Grandmother, too. ( when I asked her what she wanted to do when the first person said they could not go, she said go anyway. Then the "can't go" list jumped to 3, she still said GO! I think she wants to do something/go somewhere and a reunion is just what she needs/wants) Just by planning this I have learned a lot about her. I found out she rode space mountain at one time! LOL

Tracy aka Pat hill - Yes, we are going from Thanksgiving to the following Monday. (3 are leaving Sun or possibley sat night for work reasons)

I never thought I would get to see the holiday dec's, I thought they did not start until Dec. (I'm glad I was wrong ) I would love to be able to stay at the Contemporary for the monorail, but I thought that was just too much for Grandma to pay. (she's paying for the air and hotel) I think the Boardwalk/Y&B area has enough for everyone to do or they can hop on a bus and go somewhere. (they can take a bus to epcot and until 9pm they can get anywhere from there. Easier than busing to the TTC and coming all the way back to go to DD)

I'm trying to have everyone come into MCO on the same flight if they are flying. (the flight I have "Group 1" booked on lands at 10:14am....fingers crossed) Group 2 has not told me how many of them there are, yet, along with Group 3. My mom said "don't sweat it, if they have to take a later flight because they did not get back to me quick enough, then they come in later." That was a mind clearing statement! Why should I fret if they don't get back to me in time, it isn't a big deal. They will just have to pay more to get from the airport to the resort. (won't be able to share TTCar service with other "groups") So anyone currently planning a reunion, that advice was invaluable to me.

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[Pat Hill]

Definately make time for the family to eat at the Wilderness Lodge at Whispering Canyon for Dinner what a great place to have a family gathering. The Restaurant is very casual and wonderful . If you chose not to dine there still go to the Lodge this is a wonderful resort at Christmas to take pictures . The Villas there are also a great loacation and there are not alot of guests hanging out in the lobby area. Also go to the Grand Floridian and bring your Tripod and take pictures outside . right before you enter the resort there is a little courtyard area wonderful for pictures and behind the courtyard is hundreds of poinsettias. Last year we went over to Disney right before Thanksgiving to do our family christmas pictures for our christmas cards and we chose the picture at the Grand Floridian. Boy did it turn out beautiful.

I would love to hear about your reunion plans.
Take Care,
Tracy

 

[idontknow]

Oh Tracy, that sounds WONDERFUL!!!

(did you just tell me to take my tripod? Do I really get to take it and use it? It's been soooo long, I don't know if I remember how to use it. LOL)

I figured we would hit the monorail hotels just so we could ride the monorail and take in all of the holiday dec's. It should be a fairly relaxing afternoon. Thanks again!