Traveling with 8 people?

[bsmartin2000]

We will be a party of 8 this trip. Should I attempt adrs and fast passes with 8 or should I split up and hope to get the same times? Also I am hearing about gratuity automatically added on to large parties? Any insight greatly appreciated !

 

[nickys]

We will be a party of 8 this trip. Should I attempt adrs and fast passes with 8 or should I split up and hope to get the same times? Also I am hearing about gratuity automatically added on to large parties? Any insight greatly appreciated !

For FPs I would try for 8, then split into groups of 4 and look for overlapping times. But it depends how long your trip is, the first couple of days might be tricky with a large group.

ADRs - ditto. There is a special dining line for large groups but I don’t know what size the party needs to be for them to help. You could try calling the dining helpline.

I think the gratuity will be added automatically, but personally that wouldn’t bother me since I’d be tipping anyway. It only becomes an issue if you feel that 18% or 20% is not warranted, in which case you deduct from it.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Yes you will have an automatic tip added to your party of 8. Try making your ADR's earlier or later than the popular times, that will give you a better chance of getting a table, getting tables for 8 can be more challenging. FP+ is also doable but like Nikkys said, try getting overlapping times. Having 8 people can be difficult getting everyone coordinated and to try meeting everyones desires, but with good planning you can avoid a lot of problems. Even in the parks you can split the group up at times and meet later as a group to keep everyone happy. Plan ahead with the group to find whats important to each person and what they want to do most to make the trip best for them. Realize you may not please everyone even though youve tried.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Always try for the entire party first if you all want to eat together and ride together.
I've easily gotten ADR's for as many as 10-14 and have easily gotten FP for as many as 8-10 even when staying offsite and having to book one day at a time.
Gratuity is automatically added for parties of 6+.
So if you split into 2 groups of 4 gratuities will not be adeded however you may find you're not dining together since its two separate ADRs

 

[Hcalvert]

I had a party of nine my last trip in July and had no problems getting fastpasses for all 9 when booking together (even with the more popular rides like 7DMT, SD, and FOP). I chose to split the dining with 4 and 5 in each party. I didn't have a problem getting the same or very close times for reservations (5 minutes apart). If we wanted to be seated together, the 18% gratuity was added and didn't have to wait that much longer for a table.