Big Family Trip July 2018

[osucbsb]

My wife's parents are wanting to plan a trip for a group of 12 to Disney World the last week of July 2018 (arriving on Sunday and leaving on Saturday). Since my family is the only part of the family that has ever been to Disney (WDW 4 times and DL 2 times), I have been asked to be in charge of the planning. We have been to the parks as a big group with my side of the family, but we have always stayed off site thru my brother's timeshares. For this trip, my wife's family wants to stay on site so they can experience everything Disney. An estimated budget would be to do it in less than $20,000.

We have talked about doing a 2 bedroom villa and a 1 bedroom villa at Old Key West to accommodate us all. We have also talked about just getting 3 rooms at either a value or moderate resort. We are planning on 4 days of tickets and the middle of the road dinning plan.

There will be 6 adults and 6 kids (ages 15, 15, 12, 10, 9, 1). My first question is where and when do I start?

 

[monykalyn]

I've been trying to get the family to do a big family trip- I think it would be fun to have the grandparents along! Good for you in laws for wanting to do this.
We all have timeshares however, so staying 6 days in one room with the kids just wouldn't make for happy vacationers.
Have you looked at renting DVC points? A grand villa would sleep 12, give you a kitchen for snacks/breakfasts, a washer and dryer and space to hang out. Can still get dining plan added. Also would allow you to save some on tickets from an authorized reseller. Old key west is pretty reasonable. Can keep PoP reservation until/if a DVC rental comes through.
Just a thought - I know my family would be miserable in one room that long (in fact we are renting at SSR this august for 4 of us) but many families find it to be no problem. Have fun planning!!

 

[rufio]

Thanks for the input. I never thought of the Amtrak. I just looked into it and that won't work for us. We live in Oklahoma. I looked into the house rental, but my wife's parents really want to stay on property. One of the perks they liked was hoping a bus back to the resort during the day. My wife and I have the 15 year old and 12 year old..so the little ones are my brother in law's problem.

I'd highly recommend renting DVC points.

 

[osucbsb]

Since we are all booked for our family trip, I am starting to think about ADRs and Fastpasses. With a group the size of ours, how difficult will it be to make the reservations for dining and fastpasses for all of us?

 

[Megbutnotmegan]

Since we are all booked for our family trip, I am starting to think about ADRs and Fastpasses. With a group the size of ours, how difficult will it be to make the reservations for dining and fastpasses for all of us?

When I booked for my family I didn't have any issues when I booked things right as the window opened up. One thing to pay attention to is the group size maximums for restaurants. At the Garden Grill I had to book 2 ADRs to accommodate our group. We had them at about the same time but had to sit at different tables. For FP+ I didn't book too many that were whole group because we have different ride interests but we did a few whole group things without issue. Any time you can't find something for the whole group try a smaller group and you can probably get them close for 2 smaller groups. Good luck!!

 

[osucbsb]

When I booked for my family I didn't have any issues when I booked things right as the window opened up. One thing to pay attention to is the group size maximums for restaurants. At the Garden Grill I had to book 2 ADRs to accommodate our group. We had them at about the same time but had to sit at different tables. For FP+ I didn't book too many that were whole group because we have different ride interests but we did a few whole group things without issue. Any time you can't find something for the whole group try a smaller group and you can probably get them close for 2 smaller groups. Good luck!!

Thanks for the info! I do plan on booking when our window opens. I was just worried getting all our plans together with a group of 12.

 

[DfromATX]

There are so many things to think about..... Parents with a 15 year old are going to have different plans and must do's that the parents of the 1 year old. The 1 year old will need naps where the older kids may not. Because of this and other reasons I would say the more rooms/space you can have the better.
When it comes to meal plans they may be ok if everybody is on a separate reservation. 12 people on 1 reservation with a mixture of adult and child credits makes me really nervous. The other thing to think about is tips and extras. If parents "want to pay for everything" then gift cards may be the way to go so that all dining expenses can be charged to the gift cards. Or have everything charged to the room with the parents card as method of payment.
When it comes to MDE make sure each family has their own account. Putting them all on one can be a disaster if they need to be split up or adjusted in the future. I would offer to set them up for everybody and then email them their username and password. You can link them to your account so you can include them on changes if needed.

Before you leave make sure everybody is clear on expectations. We did a family of 11 trip a couple of years back and by the end we said we would never go with family again. As we were the Disney veterans there was a level of expectation that we would "hold their hand" from checking in at the airport through the end of their trip (we stayed 3 extra days). We had connecting rooms and by the end of 4th or 5th day we would quietly get ready and just go. We are all about helping family have a great time but in the end it was our vacation too.

We are a family of 6 (2 adults and 4 older kids). Since we're the parents and we pay, our kids go with the flow lol. For the first time, we are considering adding a Significant Other to our group and I'm a little nervous about it. Since they are all technically "kids," I think we'll be ok. However, when adding other adults to the bunch... I think that's when it gets more tricky. I think you brought up a good point about you, being the veterans, being held to certain expectations. That's why I hesitate to have the rest of my family (brother & family, mom, etc.) come with us because I feel like I would be responsible for their good time. Also, with my family, we have our routine down. When you add other people, it will be hard to please everyone. I've been trying to talk the rest of my family into a big vacation (like Disney or even a cruise), but I don't know if that would work.

 

[osucbsb]

We are still a ways out from booking our dining reservations, but I am looking at booking Chef Mickey's for our first night. We have decided to fly instead of driving so we will be without personal transportation. I have a couple of questions.

What is the best way to get to the Contemporary from Pop Century?
Do you bus to Magic Kingdom or Epcot and then jump on the monorail?
How much time should be allotted for getting to our reservation?

 

[Tuvalu]

What is the best way to get to the Contemporary from Pop Century?
Do you bus to Magic Kingdom or Epcot and then jump on the monorail?
How much time should be allotted for getting to our reservation?

The fastest and least hassle way would be to use Uber ($10-15) or the new Disney Minnie shuttle ($20). Allow 45 minutes prior to your ADR time.

The cheapest (free!) and most direct way would be take a MK bus and walk to the Contemporary. Allow yourself 60-75 minutes before your ADR time for this option.

 

[osucbsb]

The fastest and least hassle way would be to use Uber ($10-15) or the new Disney Minnie shuttle ($20). Allow 45 minutes prior to your ADR time.

The cheapest (free!) and most direct way would be take a MK bus and walk to the Contemporary. Allow yourself 60-75 minutes before your ADR time for this option.

Awesome! Thanks

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

They have now released the packages for booking in 2018. Should we book this trip now or wait until some discounts start coming out? It is pretty high right now for July 2018.

Book now and keep an eye out for discounts.

 

[osucbsb]

Book now and keep an eye out for discounts.

We got our trip all booked. We only have about 170 days to wait before we can start booking the dining reservations..let the planning begin.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

We got our trip all booked. We only have about 170 days to wait before we can start booking the dining reservations..let the planning begin.

Yay so exciting!!!!!!

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

We got our trip all booked. We only have about 170 days to wait before we can start booking the dining reservations..let the planning begin.

Any idea where you'll want to eat? There's so much to choose from!

 

[osucbsb]

Any idea where you'll want to eat? There's so much to choose from!

We are wanting to eat Chef Mickey's, Be Our Guest, and Mama Melrose (Fantasmic Package) for sure. Other than that, we haven't gotten together to see what everybody wants. You are right, there are so many choices!

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

We are wanting to eat Chef Mickey's, Be Our Guest, and Mama Melrose (Fantasmic Package) for sure. Other than that, we haven't gotten together to see what everybody wants. You are right, there are so many choices!

So much fun! Enjoy planning!

 

[osucbsb]

So it is 180 days...YEAH!! I was up at 5:00 this morning booking our reservations. We got Chef Mickey's, Yak & Yeti, Askershus Royal Table, Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic package, The Crystal Palace, and BOG for lunch.

I knew it was going to be difficult booking reservations, but I was surprised all that a few we wanted weren't available. It might have to do with the size of our party (12). We really wanted BOG for supper and Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast (I knew they were going to be very difficult), but I was also unable to book Mama Melrose Fantasmic, The Plaza, and Via Napoli. It surprised me that the last 3 were unavailable. It is crazy to logon as soon as possible and still not be able book a reservation.

We have the Disney Dining Plan and I had a question about our booking of BOG for lunch. Will this count as a quick service meal? What is lunch like at BOG?

 

[Tuvalu]

@osucbsb ~
Mama Melrose (for some unknown reason) does not open at 180 days for the Fantasmic package. And Via Napoli ADRs are sometimes released later too. Keep checking back for both.

The Plaza has gone more to walk-up (so fewer ADRs) but a party of 12 would be very difficult to seat together. You would be better splitting up if you want to dine there.

BOG is a quick service credit on the DDP. At lunch you choose your own table. There are some larger tables in the main ballroom, but BOG gets very busy so you should be prepared to split up. You can find the lunch menu on Disney’s site.

 

[osucbsb]

@osucbsb ~
Mama Melrose (for some unknown reason) does not open at 180 days for the Fantasmic package. And Via Napoli ADRs are sometimes released later too. Keep checking back for both.

The Plaza has gone more to walk-up (so fewer ADRs) but a party of 12 would be very difficult to seat together. You would be better splitting up if you want to dine there.

BOG is a quick service credit on the DDP. At lunch you choose your own table. There are some larger tables in the main ballroom, but BOG gets very busy so you should be prepared to split up. You can find the lunch menu on Disney’s site.

Awesome info! Thanks

 

[osucbsb]

We made it back from our trip. As far as plans go, the trip went really well. My family loves Disney and we hated to leave. We were able to get 4 character meals and fastpass most every ride we wanted. We didn't fastpass Flight of Avatar, but ended up waiting in line to ride it. All I have to say about that ride is WOW! It was well worth the 1.5 hour wait. We ended up taking a road trip to Daytona Beach and that was a lot of fun. It is very hard to mix that many people who vacation very differently.

 

[DfromATX]

Thanks for the follow-up! I bet your other side (who spent 75% of time in their rooms) were simply exhausted. Did y'all take breaks?

I don't think I'd want to go in a group that big. We did 7 in June and that was hard enough. Luckily for me, they were all my kids and a girlfriend, plus my husband, so I was able to "corral" them when needed.