[mousemagic mom]

I know this is a super early planning question, but I'm stumped. My family has been to WDW twice in 3 years. I know how to book all details of our vacation online (hotel,MYW tickets, dinning plan and reservations,airfare)
This time it won't be just the 4 of us (2 adults, 2 teens). All 3 of my grown kids and thier families are joining us. Total of 15 people (8 adults, 7 kids).
We are planning our trip for October 2010. We plan to make all reservations for travel (airfare and hotel,tickets and dinning plan packages) next April. Hopefully also paying in full at the time.
My problem is all sites that I have looked at will not let me book for more than 6 or 8 people at a time. I want us all to travel there and back together and stay together in the same disney resort. There are a total of 4 families . Should I just try to make 4 individgual family reservations and just hope there is enough room for us all to be together? Contact a travel agent like Mouseketrips? Or Disney's Grand Gathering people? Any opinions would be greatly appriciated!
Also, once booked, how hard would it be to go back and do add ons? We know we want to do MNSSHP, but also know prices would not be out till may.
Some families might want to add hopper or waterparks too.

[bethishooked]

I've always dealt with Disney Travel, over the phone. I like talking to a human being, putting me more at ease that they are working with me as a team to make the perfect arrangements. With you having such a large group, I would recommend the grand gathering team to help you. That's what they specialize in, and I would imagine walk you through your process with ease.

[mommyof2]

My suggestion would be to go with a travel agent that specializes in Disney. I have used Mouseketrips and have always been happy!! I always contact Keith, and I do believe a lot of people on here have used him also. If you want his contact info let me know!!!! Happy planning!!

[MerlinMatt]

Disney calls this a Grand Gathering. You should call them.

I believe there are a couple of options. You can book everything yourself, or if there are multiple people paying for rooms, they can be booked individually and then linked.

Honestly, the folks in the call centers are VERY helpful (with occasional exceptions, but you can always hang up and call back to get someone else). You should call and explain what you're doing and they give you very good advice.


P.S. You'll find that for many people here, there's no such thing as planning too far in advance.

[alilmagical32]

I agree-- Grand Gathering is the way to go! I booked a trip for 10 through them and it was super easy! We were complicated too as we were flying from 3 different airports and two of us didn't need park passes. Happy Planning!

[missymouse]

We did a big family trip about 4 years ago. We are a family of 5, my brother's family is a family of 4, my mom and dad, and DH's mom and dad--we all went together. It was a total of 8 adults and 5 children. We all made separate reservations, but I called first. When I made our reservation, I alerted them that we would be doing a Grand Gathering, and that we would all want our rooms together. They made a note of it and gave me a Grand Gathering number, if I remember correctly. When each family called, they used the Grand Gathering number and that tied us all together. DH and I had a connecting room with his mom and dad and my brother had a connecting room with my mom and dad, and all of our rooms were in a little row together. This way, each family gets exactly what they need and want, and when it's time to buy the extras, you just call back and do that individually as well. I actually called and made all of our ADR's and we were all pleasantly surprised that when we arrived for check-in at each restaurant, they were always able to accommodate our large group. There are also all kinds of things that are exclusive to groups doing a Grand Gathering. Good luck! Sounds like you will have a wonderful trip together. I know our GG was one of the most fun trips we've ever taken.

[Dana]

Originally Posted by missymouse

We did a big family trip about 4 years ago. We are a family of 5, my brother's family is a family of 4, my mom and dad, and DH's mom and dad--we all went together. It was a total of 8 adults and 5 children. We all made separate reservations, but I called first. When I made our reservation, I alerted them that we would be doing a Grand Gathering, and that we would all want our rooms together. They made a note of it and gave me a Grand Gathering number, if I remember correctly. When each family called, they used the Grand Gathering number and that tied us all together. DH and I had a connecting room with his mom and dad and my brother had a connecting room with my mom and dad, and all of our rooms were in a little row together. This way, each family gets exactly what they need and want, and when it's time to buy the extras, you just call back and do that individually as well. I actually called and made all of our ADR's and we were all pleasantly surprised that when we arrived for check-in at each restaurant, they were always able to accommodate our large group. There are also all kinds of things that are exclusive to groups doing a Grand Gathering. Good luck! Sounds like you will have a wonderful trip together. I know our GG was one of the most fun trips we've ever taken.

this is the way to go.