Any other big families? (Disney vets?)

[12_Ears_Dad]

We are a family of 8.

Me, Dw, DD 13, DS 9, DS 6, DS 5, DD 3, DS 1

We are going in our first Disney World trip March 14-21 and we are staying off property in a 5 bedroom rental house.

Just looking for any other big families that have done Disney before that we could talk to directly.. i.e. pm. For advice and such.

 

[jensenmom72]

following

 

[LizC]

Not sure if we qualify as a big family, I only have 2 kids. We always travel to WDW with my parents, sister, and often assorted other relatives. In 2012 we rented a 4 bedroom house, we had 7 adults and 2 kids that trip.

 

[JasonDeyoung]

Not a big family but my entire family did have a family ruinion at WDW once

 

[Weather_Lady]

I've traveled to WDW with a larger, multigenerational family group before. One bit of advice if you make advanced dining reservations (ADRs) -- even if you log on exactly 180 days before your visit, you may find that the website tells you that there's "no availability" for a party your size. This isn't necessarily true: it's just that the website only "sees" availability for a party of 8 if there's a table for 8. Call and make your ADRs with a cast member instead: they have additional options to assist you (like assigning you "split tables," two adjacent tables for 4 or 6 that can be pushed together to suit 8).

 

[John C. Shepherd]

We are coming with 7, not all kids bring FIL and MIL. We found that it wasn't cost effective for us to stay on site cause of the needs for a 2 bedroom villa. They had them but were more then we wanted to spend. we could have done value resort but my wife wanted a villa. I will say if you don't mine the cost you can stay on site with that many, or there are many homes you can rent at a good price. We are lucky my SIL works for a hotel chain and got a discounted Condo for the week.

 

[12_Ears_Dad]

We are renting a 5 bedroom house for 950$ for the week. I stated in my post that we are staying off site lol

 

[jensenmom72]

following

We have 6 (3-17)and are staying at AoA in 2 little Mermaid rooms. My daughters requested. The majority of us haven't been and it will probably be years before we go back again. Some tips I've found are get glow stuff at stores before you go to save money

 

[Kristamouse]

I am currently 20 weeks pregnant with our 6th child. In June when the baby is born ages will be 11, 10, 6, 5, 20 months and newborn.
We have gone to WDW 15 time since 2002 13 with kids, 11 on property. Our last trip was Labor Day 2014 Free Dining All Star Family Suite. I know his had been debated to death on these boards but with 2 adults, 5 kids and 1 baby Free Dining was a deal.
It was our 4th or 5th Free Dining experience. Once the new baby turns 2 we will loose the Family Suite option and will Probally start to stay off property more frequently.
My biggest Beef is with the new FP+ with a large party you have little to no options after your 1st three Fast
passes finished. We want to stay together, with the exception of height requirement attractions we spend the trip together. We don't want to split up. I feel like large parties are penalized in the aspect. It's not like I have extended family/friends like above posters have it's our children we want to stick with while touring the parks.
Our last trip the crowd were very low (we refuse to go to WDW during a peak season. I refuse to pay inflated room and food prices to wait longer and deal with more crowds. Our kids are in private Catholic school and all work in completed upon our return and we have been blessed with good students so missing school has not been as issue for them or school as far as attendance number go, I know Public schools
Have the attendance issues .
Anyway even with low crowds we still
had problems doing attractions together and just decided to stop wasting time trying for FP's and wait in line. No line was over 10 expect Mine Train and Toy Story which we FPed in our 1st 3 Options.

 

[Kristamouse]

We are an up and at 'em family and make rope drop most mornings. After an early lunch we head back for a nap and then return for dinner and evening fun. We have seen the night time shows enough and use that time to make an quick exit. We drive, hate dealing with sleeping kids, stroller and bags on and off a bus. We also hate waiting when we want to leave. When returning mid day we ask the attendant if we can check for a closer spot. They always let us and there are always many spots to choose from.
I only pack water bottles and healthy snacks for the parks. We usually have the Dining Plan and want to use snack credits on fun things like ice cream and dole whips. Even when paying for food we still only pack fruit, pretzels and
water and pay for Micky Premium Bars.
We do not to junk or souvenirs ever, anywhere, save a Christmas Ornament for each trip. Kids don't even ask any longer.
We do not park hop or do water parks. Our last day is always MK. A typical 7 day trip is one day each in EPCOT, DAK and DHS with 4 days in MK. Our DS 4 loves Dinosaurs so our early day at AK we stop in DTD at TREX for dinner.
Not sure what else you are looking for but Please ask and I will try to help