[tigger]

Ok I need input.

Mrs Tigger and I go to WDW every couple years and have a great time. When telling friends and family this time we have been jokingly tell them the date of our next trip and to come a long...well they want to meet up with us next time...

Is there any suggestion anyone can give me in planning a group trip (at this point I have know idea when or how many).

Pointers to help everyone have the best time.

And any other advice from people that have been involved in group trips.

(if this happens it will be really interesting. It could include people from both sides of our families, friends from college and places beyond...we have lived all over the country and have friends in asia, central/south America, the Middle east and europe. Most of them don't know each other. I only expect a handful of family and friends to be experience the magic.)

[MickeyRon]

**** Here is my suggestion ****

Cancel your dates and replan your trip, but don't tell anyone! :whistle:

Then go and enjoy your trip to WDW!!!! :cry:

Okay... just joking (am I????), but I would put a schedule together of what I wanted to do... then I would let them know what they are welcome to join and what they are not welcome to join...

I would then let them know that you are doing what you want to do, and if they want to join great, but the schedule is what you will be doing... of course if you opt to change your mind then they have to deal with it... but this way no one else is dictating what you will and won't be doing!:D

Many of us have had bad experiences, but I believe if you are upfront with plans and expectations you can have a very successful group trip.:dazed

[cbeccaboo2]

I'm ready to read all the posts on this thread. We leave in 17 days and counting with 6 of us. I know we all will have fun but am getting a little nervous about everyone having to go and do things all together at the same time. We are all close, (my brother, sister-in-law, two wonderful friends, and a wonderful new friend) and want to remain that way. I know that we don't have to be together 100% of the time and that is a "good thing". Let the help start coming in:D

Becca

[BDavis932]

Originally posted by MickeyRon
**** Here is my suggestion ****

Cancel your dates and replan your trip, but don't tell anyone! :whistle:

Then go and enjoy your trip to WDW!!!! :cry:

LOL!!!!! That's too funny!

My suggestion would be is to have a "planning party" with everyone involved about 4 months before the trip. That will give everyone time to decide what they want to do and what meals to eat together. Then everyone make their PS's 90 days ahead of time so that you get the meals together that you want.

Try to spend the first day together as a group, then plan to meet up at certain times for a special meal or a favorite ride or two after that. Don't try to stay together the entire time or you won't get to do everything you want and visa-versa for them.

There were 17 of us that went in May/June of 2003 and we all had a great time together doing it this way.

[cbeccaboo2]

We did do the 90 day pre planning party, the 60 day pre planning party, and the 25 day pre planning party. We have had so much fun. Now we are just waiting to the "Big" day to fly out for WDW. We have watched the DVD from WDW and things from the travel channel and Discovery chanel that we taped and had dinners. What a better way to plan a trip that this.

Becca

[llama]

MickeyRon - love your answer - speak from experience?:hmmm

I agree with everyone else here. I've never been a part of such a large group, but I would say the key is COMMUNICATION. Clearly come to an agreement on how much time you will be spending together, how much time you need privately. You can point out that this is not to hurt anyone's feelings, but to give everyone a chance to have a little space and privacy. Everyone sets out with great expectations, but the fact is that a large group of people, all with different interests and touring styles, is going to cause some friction, somewhere along the line. We once went with another family and we all agreed that each of us was allowed one "hissy fit" during the trip. Once it was over, it was forgotten. Unfortunately, some people don't know when to stop at one! :madmad

[tigger]

Thanks everyone for your input so far...I don't think we will be able to do much group planning because so many of the people are all over the planet.

Does anyone have any input on airfare, rooms, group dinning?

I was hoping that we could do a couple meals as a group. Maybe a big dinner that would let everyone mingle. Or take over a counter service like Tusker House (kind of like a flash mob). I know with the diversity of the group everyone will want to go their own way but might want to joins. I would love to have everyone stay at the same place and have a pool night (or afternoon)..just my thinking so far.

I'll let you guys knock around some more suggestions or observations, cuz you're doing great!

Thanks so far,

P.S. most of the people that are most interested don't know each other so that will make it interesting in itself. In fact one person is a brother of a friend that I have never talked to except with AIM.

[BDavis932]

Some great options for group dining will be #1) O'hana!!!! This one is a must.

Another great place for groups is the Teppanyaki Dining Room in Japan at Epcot. They cook right at your table and about 8 people can sit at each table.

Can't help you on airfare....we always drive.

Where do you all usually stay when you go to WDW? There is such a big difference in price between Value and Deluxe.

[LAURENGOLD]

Tigger-

How much fun!!! We went 2 years ago with 8 of us, and we spent the whole week together. It really went great. The thing with my family though is I'm the only type A vacation planner;) . Everyone was pretty willing to go along with what I planned. We didn't do an official "pre-disney planning" but I would type out different ideas for dinners, shows, etc, and then the ladies in each family group would make the decision after talking with the husbands. We had a blast. If I were you I would do like everyone suggested with making your own plans, and letting everyone going with you know what they were, and if they are welcome. I'd check out the thread here about the meet n greet because Anne and Amy have done a great job with planning for so many people. Good luck, keep us posted.


Ron-you are to funny;)

Lauren

[DisneyTeacher]

We always go to WDW with friends or family. Vacations are more fun with others along. It is different going with others I will say that but it can also be a lot of fun.

I think pre-planning is key to a good trip with or without extra family or friends along. I think you need to state what you want to do and agree that you do not have to spend every minute together.

Plan a couple of dinners where you all get together, 'Ohana is great for large groups, Chef Mickey's would make a fun breakfast or dinner for a big group as well. You could also set a time to meet for a few parades, then the ones who want to hang out together have a set time to meet up if they want to spend part of a day alone. Meeting once a day for lunch/dinner or a parade as a group would make it possible to tour alone as well as part of a larger group.

Most of all, have fun, this sounds like it could really be a blast.

[disneyjenny]

Tigger,

I have done some research on group trips to WDW. In April we are going and there will be 14 to 15 of us. Here are my suggestions.....

Airfare, from what I have learned there is not any type of "group rate". There is "group reservations". What this means is you will all be sitting in the same section of the plane. We have 15 seats held for us now; we have to use (I think) at least 13 seats to not be charged for the extra seats. Oh yeah, the airlines "groups" are generally 10 or more.

Room are not really "guaranteed" to be together. You could be right next to each other or several building apart. Might not be too bad :D

Dining.... This could get a little confusing. When and if you make PS arrangements for 8 or more people you need to ask for group reservations. Again, this is not your normal "reservation". They will ask for you to put money down to hold the tables for you. It is $10 per Adult (I think). I asked why we needed to do this, because if they hold a large table for say 14 and 5 people in your group does not show up, there is a table that they could have used. They may have had to make other guests wait longer than necessary. Also, I could make "reservations" for 8 people and then there are actually 4 in our group just to get seated quicker and better seating.

I hope this helps out! Any more questions, just ask. You actually might need a better explanation of PS.


Jennifer :)

[BDavis932]

For most of our meals for our group, we made our own PS's. We were told if we want to be seated together or near each other, to show up an additional 10 or 15 minutes early. They always accomidated us nicely!!

[Thumper]

First, I have to say that MickeyRon's advice is the best!!! :) But, as an alternative, my only real advice is that everyone needs to agree that there will be some group time, but that everyone also has the freedom to do their own thing! This will help to avoid any disagreements, or any hurt feelings. Last year, our group was only 10 people, but we made the mistake of not making some things clear up front, and although we had a great time, there were moments... :o

[graybill]

We just did our first group trip in Oct and it worked out very well.
Our group was 16 at WDW with 11 of us on the same flight.
We used a group reservation for our flight, which was very advantageous to us. I don't know if all airlines have the same policy as Spirit Airlines, but this is how it worked for our group. We made our reservation about 7 months prior to our trip (DVC members will know that 7 months is your booking window for a resort which is not your home resort). At that time the fare was 243.00 per person for the round trip. They required only 25% for a deposit instead of non-refundable payment in full as is the case for normal reservations. The balance was due around a month before the flight. During the time between making the reservation and balance due date, the fares for that flight dropped twice. Both times I called Spirit and both times they honored the new fares. We ended up paying 158.00 per person which was a savings of over 900.00! Because I hadn't paid the balance yet, I only had to pay the difference between my deposit and the total of the new fares. Normally if they were to honor a fare reduction, they would give you a voucher for the difference since you have already paid. As far as seating, they guaranteed that the toddlers in the group would be seated with their parents and said that if we arrived to check-in early, which we always do anyway, we would all be seated together. We did check-in early and were all seated together. The only difficult part was getting all 11 of us arriving in 3 separate cars at the airport close to the same time, because the entire group had to be together at check-in. At 4:45 AM with a 2, 3 and 4 year old it was a little tricky, but it all came together very well. Sorry to be so long winded, but I just wanted to pass on our experience and hope that it might be helpful. I'll post again with our experiences upon arrival in Orlando with a couple of things that we found helpful.

graybill

[DougiesMommy]

You have gotten great suggestions already. Only thing I would add is to go a few days earlier or stay a few days later than the rest of the group so you are guaranteed some alone time to do the things you want to do.

The before makes my DH much happier as we have most must-do things done before ever meeting up with the group so he isn't so impatient with the slow moving group.