Disney Difficulty- Muliple Families

[Weather_Lady]

As others said, the best thing is to try and strike a balance. When traveling with multiple families/generations, we've found that the best approach is to have a "suggested" itinerary that people are free to depart from if and when they wish for most of the day, with a small part of each day that everyone commits to spending together as a group (e.g., "this morning, whoever wants to can come with us to the Animal Kingdom where we've made Fastpasses, or else they can do whatever they want -- but tonight at 6pm, the whole group will have dinner together at 'Ohana and then head to the MK for fireworks"). For us, mornings/afternoons were generally the "free" time, with all of us gathering for a set dinner ADR, at which point we could all swap stories about how we'd spent the day, and share plans for the following day. That gave the one who wanted breathing room some space to formulate their own plans, while those who wanted to stick together could do so, knowing the plans for each day in advance.

 

[OliveMcFly]

Just my immediate family (parents, sibling and their kids) come to 11 and it's tough traveling all together. My one brother usually takes the lead and makes decisions that we don't agree with. Back in July he made a decision that resulted in us not being able to ride Mickey's Fun Wheel as it was closed for World of Color. It's extremely though to travel together so I can understand your frustration.

 

[BrittanyRose428]

I haven't been in a big family group in years, but as a kid my family was always dead set against splitting up and it drove me crazy! If two people wanted to go on a certain ride, the rest of us would wait outside. If one family overslept in the morning, the rest of us would be stuck waiting in the hotel lobby. Every bathroom stop, gift shop excursion, thrill rides that not everyone wants to do, we stood outside and waited through it all because they refused to split up. Splitting up into smaller groups and meeting back up for dinner would have been ideal for me lol.

 

[James Norrie]

Planning a trip for 17 in Mid to Late 2017. It's challenging, but we're going with the Split mindset. We all will stay at same resort, have a Dinner ADR together, do same parks/same days, and anyone wishing to tour together will have that choice. I'm paying for it, so my only requirement (request) that I've made is for everyone to be in certain spots for Group Photos at certain times each day. It's a lot of planning, but I think it'll be worth it so we can all experience it together but at our own pace.

 

[John C. Shepherd]

It is hard with 7 people not as hard as it would be with double or triple that amount but hard. Biggest thing we get is that the grandparents dont want to move and dont understand you cant sit in one place all day or we will not get to anything. I know my next time going to WDW will be just with my family and we will get alot more seen and done.