20 People?

[MadameCheshire]

My friends and I are thinking about planning a trip after graduation to WDW. We are in the process of brainstorming, and I am interested on your input. Has anyone gone on a trip with 20 (or so) people? Where would you recommend staying? We are going to split the costs of the rooms and such so price isn't that big of a deal.

Any tips/suggestions?

Thanks,
Sam
:sohappy:

 

[amykissangel]

Sam,

My three best friends and I did that after graduation - it was awesome!
I am now trying to plan a trip for my whole extended family - only 12 people though I know they (Disney) can help you with this - if you call them, they can tell you all the things they can plan with your big group.

Here's what I've done:

Checked prices of : 4 rooms at the All Star vs. a suite at Saratoga Springs or one of the nicer hotels. Suites = not worth it. The four rooms are still cheaper when you compare them with the amount of sleeping space and the number of bathrooms. If I were you, I would go as SOON as you graduate so you're not competing with schools end of the year trips. We actually went winter break of our first year of college - totally empty parks, cheap hotels, it was great! (I'm assuming you're graduating from HS...if you're graduating from college, go at the end of May. It's SO dead even though it's Memorial Day. It's fantastic!)

IMO, get five rooms (4 people in each) at one of the All Stars or Pop next to eachother, get a couple with adjoining rooms if you can, and talk to your friends. Do some of you want to just lay at the pools? Do you ALL want to go to the parks the same amount of days? If so, book the hotel and tickets together. (As long as one of you puts down the the initial deposit, when you get to the hotel you all can pay seperately...or at least we did.)

If you all want to do different things, have everybody buy their tickets seperately. Granted, it's cheaper to buy them in bulk, but if there's the whole issue of payment, you may want to do it that way. (That's a lot of money to put on someone's credit card, so make sure everyone's on board before you do it or you might get stuck with some extra rooms or tickets.) Otherwise, online, you can pick whatever tickets you want...for ex. Five 6-day Park Hopper Passes, Two 4-day Park Hopper Passes with Water Park option....there's just tons of choices :~) Sorry if you knew all this already:wave:

And I'd still call Disney and ask them what they can do with a party of 20...I bet they have some great ideas!

 

[typhoonguy]

Sam,

And I'd still call Disney and ask them what they can do with a party of 20...I bet they have some great ideas!

Anything with a party of 8 or more is considered a Grand Gathering. Ask to speak to a Grand Gathering Agent when you call the Disney Reservation Center. They will be most knowlegable in scheduling what your group will need. There is no extra charge for this service. I'm a Cast Member I utillize grand gatherings every time my family comes to visit. Any discounts you have can also be applied (cast member discount, AAA, ect). Have fun!

 

[tampabrad]

Just a tip...If you book your room and tickets together and some one cancels, the tickets will cancel as well. If you buy tickets seperatley and someone cancels, they are stuck with the tickets.

 

[JimboJones123]

If you get a group discount -- USE IT. You can make the reservation and pay it off with whatever cards you want. If it is a grand gathering -- they don't just bill one person for the 50 or even more people. I'm sure they can split the invoices, or just have each person call in and pay with their card. I have paid for vacations on several cards before -- no problem.

 

[bgraham34]

Thats a whole lot of people. I would love to get a group that big together, i think it would be a blast but eating together would be hard.

 

[slappy magoo]

Depending on how long you're going, you might want to think about one or two members of your party popping for a Annual Pass. Annual Passholders get some pretty decent room discounts, depending on the time of year and how many rooms are currently booked for the time. Plus, one Annual Passholder can book up to 3 rooms at any one time. You could, in theory, book a couple of two bedroom suites and a one bedroom at one of the Disney Vacation Club resorts and then you'd also have full kitchens, washer-dryer in each room, whirlpool tubs (you know, if your kinda party becomes THAT kinda party. :animwink: or if someone is just groggy from the heat and needs to soak). Or, if that's too much $$$ you can still get some nice rooms at a moderate resort, or even some of the deluxes.

 

[MadameCheshire]

I will definitely look into the "Grand Gatering" Thing. That sounds like it'll be a plan. I think we are going to go the first week in June. It is traditional for some of the seniors to go to the beach on the week after graduation, but we are doing to go for this instead. I think it might get a little crowded.. but there are too many other things going on at the other times.

I have an AP for this year, and I think I may try to renew it for the discounts and all the good stuff that comes with it. My parents have AAA so we have multiple discounts. My Dad also has a DVC membership, but I don't think we are going to use any of the points for the trip. It would take from the family trips. Those would get used as an absolute last resort.

I looked into the multiple bedrooms at OKW, and they don't seem like they fit that many people for the pirce. Although the hot tubs are.. amazing! And would be used.. It sounds like we are leaning towards PC, or the cabins at FW. FW is quite a bit higher though.. with less space, but they have a kitchen..

Thanks for all the tips!!