Adult Family 2019 WDW Trip

[TerReuv]

Our family is planning our first trip to WDW since my kids were little. They are now grown and married! Now we are planning a trip to WDW with my parents (late 70's/early 80's - one in a scooter), my brother & his wife and my DH & myself (all mid 50's) and my kids & their spouses (late 20's/early 30's). This is going to be interesting! LOL

I have started doing all my research and we have decided on the last week in September of 2019 (thanks to Daughter who teaches and has an early fall break), which looks like a great time to go. At this time, I believe we will be staying off site as there are no reasonable accommodations that will have 5 bedrooms. We prefer not to try and cram 2 couples in a bedroom. I have located many large homes that we can rent for less than $2K for the 8 nights, if anyone has an on-site property that can come even close to that, I would love to hear about it. Especially since we wouldn't be paying for parking & the strong possibility of free dining plan during September if staying on-site.

I would love to hear from anyone who has done WDW with a large group of adults. How did you handle everything? There is probably so much that I am not even sure what to ask yet. LOL

So, please give me any tips or suggestions you might have to tackle this vacation and be ready when it's time to get on the road next year! TIA!

One more note - My Mom has AAA and we have AARP that we can use for discounts.

 

[LeighM]

I've only traveled with a party of 4 adults and that was enough for me LOL. I found it stressful trying to plan rides and dining around everyone's preferences. My one piece of advice is don't forget to do the things you want to do as well. I was so focused on making the trip great for everyone else, that I completely forgot about myself. It was only when the trip was over that I realized I didn't get to do anything of the things I wanted to do. It would've been nice if we were able to split up for part of the day but the other couple wanted to stay together. Also, my husband and I have twice went to WDW the last week in September. When we were there, it was super busy and crowded, hot and humid, and twice our trip was affected by either a tropical storm or a hurricane. It's best to go to Epcot during the week so you can experience Food and Wine Festival with less crowds than a weekend. Also, Magic Kingdom closes early a few days during the week for the Halloween Party, so you'll need to pay attention to those dates when planning.

 

[TerReuv]

I've only traveled with a party of 4 adults and that was enough for me LOL. I found it stressful trying to plan rides and dining around everyone's preferences. My one piece of advice is don't forget to do the things you want to do as well. I was so focused on making the trip great for everyone else, that I completely forgot about myself. It was only when the trip was over that I realized I didn't get to do anything of the things I wanted to do. It would've been nice if we were able to split up for part of the day but the other couple wanted to stay together. Also, my husband and I have twice went to WDW the last week in September. When we were there, it was super busy and crowded, hot and humid, and twice our trip was affected by either a tropical storm or a hurricane. It's best to go to Epcot during the week so you can experience Food and Wine Festival with less crowds than a weekend. Also, Magic Kingdom closes early a few days during the week for the Halloween Party, so you'll need to pay attention to those dates when planning.

Thank you for the tips. I agree that it might lean toward stressful. One thing we have decided is that we are OK with dividing during the day and doing our own things. Since we all live in Georgia but one couple, we will have 4 vehicles. That will make splitting easier. Surprised to hear about the crowds. Everything I have read so far shows low to moderate for crowds. Oh well, the best part is it won't be as bad as during the summer and there might be less kids. Rain/storms not a worry, we have rolled the dice many times for our October cruises and so far so good! (Fingers Crossed)

 

[ItsJustMeAgain]

We have gone as a group of 7 adults (parents and adult children) and would definitely recommend the off-site houses/villas..so much space for such a good price! The other benefit is you can self cater which makes things more flexible..you don't always need to meet up and organise lunches and dinners because you can get in some oven pizza or have a large lunch before you go, where everyone can buy what they want at a supermarket.

I would say key to tackling the parks, as others have mentioned, is being flexible and occasionally splitting up. This means you can cater to everyone's attractions taste..and perhaps more importantly their pace (I would try to stick to the same parks on the same day though, or carshare to one park then split to another using Disney transport as multiple cars means you will pay a ton for parking).

As far as organising fastpasses goes, i would just book everyone the same ones to start with..usually the hardest to get/most thrilling- and then those that want to opt out can change theirs (this is easier than trying to organise everyone's separately based on individual ride preference). We also chose to eat quick service more often as it gives you much more flexibility on the day and as adults it's easier to work on a whim!

Essay over!