Whats the biggest group you've gone to Disney with???

[WDWmazprty]

We're already talking about our 2012 trip, and it seems like the whole family is in talks too and may come with us.

IF everyone decides to come, it will be a group of about 20 altogether.

Half of the group will be kids under 10 years old. Needless to say, it will be an adventure if everyone goes.

So, question is, whats the biggest group you've gone to Disney with and how did all your arrangemnets go???

 

[DisneyJoe]

15 people, 4 families. Don't attempt to do everything together or you will go crazy.

We scheduled 2 meetups per day, one at a meal, one at an event such as a parade or fireworks; otherwise we basically just all went to the same park each day.

Many of the spontaneous get togethers were more fun that the planned ones.

Some people slept in, some were early risers. Some liked the bus, others hated it. Some liked parades, some hated them.

It was fun being together.

 

[WDWmazprty]

15 people, 4 families. Don't attempt to do everything together or you will go crazy.

We scheduled 2 meetups per day, one at a meal, one at an event such as a parade or fireworks; otherwise we basically just all went to the same park each day.

Many of the spontaneous get togethers were more fun that the planned ones.

Some people slept in, some were early risers. Some liked the bus, others hated it. Some liked parades, some hated them.

It was fun being together.

Yeah, thats what we were thinking too. We'd be the experienced ones, everyone else has been before, but its either been a looong time since they've been or they had only been once.

We were definitely thinking just to meet together for all our meals and maybe some special shows.

 

[Master Yoda]

I was part of a group of about 1200 that were there together on 10/1/2007. That day worked out quite well.

As a travel agent I have done groups that were around 25 +/- guests. In my personal travel the largest group I have been with would be around 12.

Quite honestly once you pass the need for one room it is all pretty much the same from the technical aspects of reserving the rooms. Dining can become a little tricky as several restaurants will have to be called directly to make reservations for groups that large and some will want a credit card to make the ADR.

In the parks I would highly recommend breaking up from time to time. Getting 20 clocks to chime at the same time is a pretty hard thing to do.

 

[DisneyJoe]

We were definitely thinking just to meet together for all our meals

I doubt that will happen, sorry. Even with our 4 families and 1 meal meetup per day, usually 1 of the 4 families were missing each time, except for the Hoop Dee Doo Dinner show and the Cinderella's Breakfast, which of course were either paid for in advance or had credit card holds....

 

[WDWmazprty]

I doubt that will happen, sorry. Even with our 4 families and 1 meal meetup per day, usually 1 of the 4 families were missing each time, except for the Hoop Dee Doo Dinner show and the Cinderella's Breakfast, which of course were either paid for in advance or had credit card holds....

Sorry, I meant to say all of our TS meals for dinner.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Sorry, I meant to say all of our TS meals for dinner.

AHH - much better odds for that! Still not 100%, but much closer!

Just set everyone's expectations appropriately and you won't be disappointed.

 

[buseegal]

in Aug went with a group of 11(3 families). had 5adults and 6 boys( 9 yr,6 yr, 5.5 yr, 5 yr, 2.5 yr, 16 months). ts meal as a group each day, rest day each family did their own thing. ready to do again in 3 years.

 

[mousefan1972]

Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but that does not sound like fun to me!! Our everyday lives are so hectic, with Mom and Dad both working full time, kids in school all day, after school activities like soccer, Brownies, gymnastics, etc. that when we are on vacation, it is 100% family time. I don't want to share that time that with anyone else. All it would take is one of the 20 people to decided that Disney is 1. too crowded 2. too expensive 3. just an "amusement park" 4. too structured or 5. all of the above... and that person can then ruin the trip for the rest of the group. Even only meeting up a couple of times a day would be too much. Ugh, that sounds like torture to me. :lol:

 

[Master Yoda]

Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but that does not sound like fun to me!! Our everyday lives are so hectic, with Mom and Dad both working full time, kids in school all day, after school activities like soccer, Brownies, gymnastics, etc. that when we are on vacation, it is 100% family time. I don't want to share that time that with anyone else. All it would take is one of the 20 people to decided that Disney is 1. too crowded 2. too expensive 3. just an "amusement park" 4. too structured or 5. all of the above... and that person can then ruin the trip for the rest of the group. Even only meeting up a couple of times a day would be too much. Ugh, that sounds like torture to me. :lol:

You are correct. You have to have the right group of people to make it work. More often than not our travel party consists of anywhere from 5 to 15 people and there would be no way it would work if we all were not Disney compatible. I have had a few acquaintances suggest traveling with us to WDW and I have refused simply because I know that we would clash in the parks.

 

[WDWmazprty]

Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but that does not sound like fun to me!! Our everyday lives are so hectic, with Mom and Dad both working full time, kids in school all day, after school activities like soccer, Brownies, gymnastics, etc. that when we are on vacation, it is 100% family time. I don't want to share that time that with anyone else. All it would take is one of the 20 people to decided that Disney is 1. too crowded 2. too expensive 3. just an "amusement park" 4. too structured or 5. all of the above... and that person can then ruin the trip for the rest of the group. Even only meeting up a couple of times a day would be too much. Ugh, that sounds like torture to me. :lol:

You are correct. You have to have the right group of people to make it work. More often than not our travel party consists of anywhere from 5 to 15 people and there would be no way it would work if we all were not Disney compatible. I have had a few acquaintances suggest traveling with us to WDW and I have refused simply because I know that we would clash in the parks.

Well, I understand, but the family all like Disney. Its just that we all are different in how we do the parks. Me and my family are more fast paced since we know what we like and how to do it to get the most out of the day. Everyone else is more slow paced and more inexperienced. But, let me tell you they all love the parks!

 

[Master Yoda]

Well, I understand, but the family all like Disney. Its just that we all are different in how we do the parks. Me and my family are more fast paced since we know what we like and how to do it to get the most out of the day. Everyone else is more slow paced and more inexperienced. But, let me tell you they all love the parks!

Then you should be good but I would still plan for some alone time.

 

[mousefan1972]

You are correct. You have to have the right group of people to make it work. More often than not our travel party consists of anywhere from 5 to 15 people and there would be no way it would work if we all were not Disney compatible. I have had a few acquaintances suggest traveling with us to WDW and I have refused simply because I know that we would clash in the parks.

I would think most people wouldn't know that they aren't Disney compatible with their traveling companions until they get there, and by then it woud be too late. I'm not willing to risk my vacation, no matter how much fun it could potentially be.

Well, I understand, but the family all like Disney. Its just that we all are different in how we do the parks. Me and my family are more fast paced since we know what we like and how to do it to get the most out of the day. Everyone else is more slow paced and more inexperienced. But, let me tell you they all love the parks!

Liking Disney might not be enough! :lol: Ok, I'll leave your thread alone now, since I don't have any good tips for you. :animwink: Good luck.

 

[WDWmazprty]

Then you should be good but I would still plan for some alone time.

Oh definitely; we'll most likely just try to make all of our ADR's for dinner together. Because frankly, the way they do things, I dont want to be with them :brick:. We like getting our FP's, and going to certain rides first and what not.

They would just take their time and get on the rides when they could. Which is fine. But not for us .

I think as long as we can have our main meal together as a family, we should be good and have fun.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

We had a group of 15 a few years ago and it didn't work out that great. We were 4 separate families with a number of small children. Too many people wanted to do too many things and it just didn't work out well.

I went a couple of years ago with a group of 9 (the cool kids in college went to Disney on their winter break like we did). This worked out much better and we had a very good time. I was also able to regale all my friends with lots of Disney trivia.

 

[Allioop]

About 10 years ago, we went with a group of 17 (9 adults and 8 kids). It actually worked out pretty well. We stayed at Fort Wilderness in the cabins and had 3 cabins side by side. We did the Hoop Dee Doo Review and one other big family dinner and ate the rest of our meals at the cabins. One night we split up and two of the adults took all the kids to a movie and the rest of the adults went to Pleasure Island. We had a buddy system to keep from getting separated. If there was a group who wanted to do one thing and a group who wanted to do something separate, we would split up and arrange to meet up again in an hour or so. But we kept it all in one park. For example, the day we went to Magic Kingdom, several people wanted to go to Frontierland and some of the younger kids wanted to go to Fantasyland. We split up for a couple hours and met back up at the train station. It was one of our best trips!

 

[Sweet Melissa]

Unless I count the trips to Disneyland with the high school marching band, drum line, flag team and drill team, the biggest group I've toured a Disney park with is a group of four. Most of my trips have been with just one other person. I may be a bit of a misanthrope, but sometimes even four is too many. :lol:

 

[knnyrobb]

So far... 11. Next Sept we had a trip planned and if everyone goes it will be 21

 

[erstwo]

My biggest group will be the one in December, so I'll have to let you know about any other tips when I get back! :xmas:

But here are my planning stages tips:

a) Go with a Travel Agent (I'd recommend a Kingdom Konsultant of course! We have had Marie as our agent, and it has been a 110% FABULOUS experience!)
and here's some of the many reasons why: #1 insider info (I know, we know it all right? but I found out that there might be *some* things I didn't know about taking a large group! :animwink #2 Everyone has a "go to" person - other than you! - to ask questions about payments, etc. and speaking of payments, my personal #1 reason for using a Travel Agent is that I didn't have to handle ANY of the money things. Money can be a sensitive issue, especially among family, so it was really nice to just say, "Here's the form. This is where you sign. This is where you put your cc# and this is the number where to fax/ email the form."

b) Have a planning meeting! Nothing really productive gets done at our planning meetings (besides the handing out of the forms :lol but they are SO much fun. And they add to the excitement of the trip!

 

[Disneykidder]

The most I have ever gone on a trip with is 9 but I can tell you that it is very difficult with a larger group. My friend went with about 20 people a few months ago and disliked some aspects. She said the worst part is waiting for others. Eateries don't take parties until everyone is there and waiting to go to the parks can be hard.

My advise is to do your own thing until about noonish and then meet everyone up for a few hours or dinner and rides in the evening. You can't please everyone and it isn't worth getting into arguments over so agree to seperate for part of the day. Making 20 people happy is impossible.

Or, you can be the ring leader and make an itinerary and tell everyone that this is your reccommended list and if they don't go to those places then ok but that is where you will be. You need to determine how many people are onboard for reservations so you can make them accordingly. Then maybe tell them that they will have a 10 min wait and whoever isn't there doesn't get seated.

Good luck!!:wave: