Planning Tips for a Large Group

[zeebs758]

Next March 2017, I will be traveling to WDW for my Bachelor Party. We will be a party of 8 and I've never planned for this large of a group before.

I need help with setting my expectations of traveling with a large group. As far as I know, the guys going said they will want to stick together the entire time but I know that probably won't happen. I could use some general tips of going with a larger group and hear some of your experiences.

I've never used magic bands or the new fastpass+ system but I understand how it all works. Last time I was in WDW, the magic bands were just rolling out to more resorts. Is there anything I should keep in mind when booking fastpasses for such a large group?

Again, any help will be great. Thank you!

Some notes about our trip. We have flights and hotel booked so we are good there. All of us are in our late 20s besides my nephew who will be 17 when we go.

 

[Weather_Lady]

My advice from planning a multi-household, multi-generational trip -- although I don't know how well it would be received by a bunch of young guys -- is to have a meeting. Like an actual, complete-with-handouts (e.g., restaurant descriptions, park maps), watch-the-planning-video-together and talk about it, and take notes, kind of meeting.

Objectives: Find out everybody's:
(1) typical waking/sleeping times, sleeping preferences, and ideas of how much time to spend in a park each day and how to spend it (so you can make a generalized touring plan and park itinerary for the group - people depart from it and do their own thing when and where they like, but at least you'll have a plan so nobody's staring at the others each morning going, "what do you wanna do? I dunno, what do you wanna do?") If possible, decide whether most of you are early risers or night owls, and try to plan your park touring (and meals, and golf or bar crawling or swimming or whatever else the group is really interested in) around that.
(2) dining preferences, including CS vs. TS and when to have them, food allergies and aversions (so you can make ADRs for the group -- make sure everybody understands that there can be a penalty if enough people don't show for TS ADRs, and is prepared for the cost of WDW meals, so they won't suffer from sticker shock when they get there)
(3) attraction preferences, including who gets motion sickness or can't stand heights or really wants to meet Ariel (so you can make FP+ for the group).

What worked for my party was to have an itinerary (which parks on which days) with touring plans mapped out (always beginning at rope drop, and including FP+s), with breakfast in the hotel room with stuff we brought from home, a CS lunch (place TBD each day, depending on where we were and what we felt like at that moment) and a TS dinner each evening. All of those plans were made using the feedback I'd gotten from the group ahead of time, but the only thing everybody was expected to do as a group was the TS dinner. In other words, people could join in the main itinerary when and where they chose, leave and do their own thing if and when they wanted (and have me change their FP+ to suit), but we all knew that we'd see each other again at dinner to recap and go over our days. That way, everybody felt like they had a say in what they did, but we still got to do lots as a group. (After we arrived and unpacked on the first day, I made sure that everybody had a copy of the proposed itinerary for each day, along with a list of all park hours and showtimes for that day, our FP+ reservations, and TS ADRs/confirmation #s, and a list of phone numbers for the whole group, so we could all stay on the same page.) And as it turned out, the entire group stayed together from morning to night almost every day, anyway.

Good luck!

 

[dreamfinder]

Discuss it with the group. For large groups I'd usually suggest picking a few rides each day, as well as one or two meals as a group. Beyond that, what happens happens. Trying to get everyone on the same page all day long can be rough. You end up with some early risers, night owls, etc and it just becomes messy over time.

 

[zeebs758]

My advice from planning a multi-household, multi-generational trip -- although I don't know how well it would be received by a bunch of young guys -- is to have a meeting. Like an actual, complete-with-handouts (e.g., restaurant descriptions, park maps), watch-the-planning-video-together and talk about it, and take notes, kind of meeting.

Objectives: Find out everybody's:
(1) typical waking/sleeping times, sleeping preferences, and ideas of how much time to spend in a park each day and how to spend it (so you can make a generalized touring plan and park itinerary for the group - people depart from it and do their own thing when and where they like, but at least you'll have a plan so nobody's staring at the others each morning going, "what do you wanna do? I dunno, what do you wanna do?") If possible, decide whether most of you are early risers or night owls, and try to plan your park touring (and meals, and golf or bar crawling or swimming or whatever else the group is really interested in) around that.
(2) dining preferences, including CS vs. TS and when to have them, food allergies and aversions (so you can make ADRs for the group -- make sure everybody understands that there can be a penalty if enough people don't show for TS ADRs, and is prepared for the cost of WDW meals, so they won't suffer from sticker shock when they get there)
(3) attraction preferences, including who gets motion sickness or can't stand heights or really wants to meet Ariel (so you can make FP+ for the group).

What worked for my party was to have an itinerary (which parks on which days) with touring plans mapped out (with FP+s, always beginning at rope drop), with breakfast in the hotel room with stuff we brought from home, a CS lunch (place TBD each day, depending on where we were and what we felt like at that moment) and a TS dinner each evening. All of those plans were made using the feedback I'd gotten from the group ahead of time, but the only thing everybody was expected to do as a group was the TS dinner. In other words, people could join in the main itinerary when and where they chose, leave and do their own thing if and when they wanted (and have me change their FP+ to suit), but we all knew that we'd see each other again at dinner to recap and go over our days. That way, everybody felt like they had a say in what they did, but we still got to do lots as a group. (After we arrived and unpacked on the first day, I made sure that everybody had a copy of the proposed itinerary for each day, along with a list of all park hours and showtimes for that day, our FP+ reservations, and TS ADRs/confirmation #s, and a list of phone numbers for the whole group, so we could all stay on the same page.) And as it turned out, the entire group stayed together from morning to night almost every day, anyway.

Good luck!

Wow! Thanks for the write-up. I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this out! I think having a meeting is a great idea. I will definitely take a lot of this into considering.

 

[TDGMedley]

We had a group of 15 last year in December. Has long as you know you can not please everyone. We planned and planned and when we got there we got divided into 3 groups no one wanted to wait on the other. I say try to talk about it before you go, see what everyone wants to do so you have an idea on how to plan and set fastpasses. and we did table service every night so for the ones that went off on there own we got to see them at dinner.

 

[Noellikechristmas]

I planned for my family of 8 and am going about with 8 people and in my experience....I think giving people less options will help you in the long run. If you're going with someone who is a fellow Disney fan, involve them, but for the general crowd that doesn't know anything about the World, plan for them. Get everyone's input and wishlist and make an itinerary.

-Like the PP said, I would definitely plan for which park you will visit on what days.
-Make sure everyone sets up a MDE account and link them all together so you can make your fastpasses
-Buy tickets ahead of time, so you can make fastpasses ahead of time 30 or 60 days in advance
-Based on everyone's budget, narrow down the TS restaurants to some 'top picks' and then talk to your group and make reservations based on their feedback. Letting 8 people look at 100+ restaurants would be a major headache.

At the very least I would pick a 'park of the day' for each day your there, book fastpasses and make dining reservations. The rest of the day will easily fill up.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Discuss it with the group. For large groups I'd usually suggest picking a few rides each day, as well as one or two meals as a group. Beyond that, what happens happens. Trying to get everyone on the same page all day long can be rough. You end up with some early risers, night owls, etc and it just becomes messy over time.

Excellent advice.

Years ago we did a family group of 15, 4 families. After having meetings, we ended up deciding on 1) the park of the day; 2) the table service meal of the day; and 3) one event to share together, such as watching a parade or fireworks.

This gave us much flexibility, and allowed for many times where we spontaneously ran into each other and would share attractions or quick service or food court meals.

I can see it being a little different with 8 individuals.