[tink10]

Hi! I am new to posting but have read lots of helpful information in the forums. I have lots of questions about our upcoming trip and I decided that this is the best place to find the answers. It seems that there are many experts on this site!! We are going to WDW the first week of October for 7 nights. We have the dining plan ( we are arriving on the 30th of September so we got it FREE ), we have an 8 day park hopper that includes the water parks and Disney Quest. There is a large group of us going at the same time. A total of 28 people. Since there are so many of us going we want to have a good plan in place before we go. I didn't realize until I started reading the threads in all the forums exactly how much planning we would need to do. I guess I need to get to my questions!! Is is a good idea or not to go to the parks on the days that have the EMH? Also on the EMH, are the night time hours always three extra hours after the closing time listed on the calendar? I had thought it might be a good idea to have an ADR for our evening meal at a park that had EMH but after reading some of the posts it seems that some people don't think that is a good time to be at the park-or maybe I misread that. Is it necessary to have an ADR for any sit-down meal or just for the character meals? I have seen some mention of MNSSHP but have not seen the cost for those tickets. Does anyone know the cost and is it worth it? I have a DS who will be 10 when we go and a DD who will be 8. The oldest child in our big group is 12 and the younges is 4. I am sure that I will have many more questions as I continue to try to plan this trip. Thanks in advance for all your help!!

[DisneyTeacher]

First of all, welcome to DC!!

Originally Posted by tink10

Is is a good idea or not to go to the parks on the days that have the EMH?

We do some EMH and skip others. If we are not using the EMH we try to skip the park since it will be busier than usual. We can get a lot done in the first 2-3 hours at MK if we go on an EMH morning then we hop to another park after a resort break.

Originally Posted by tink10

Also on the EMH, are the night time hours always three extra hours after the closing time listed on the calendar?

Yes, evening EMH start after the park closes.

Originally Posted by tink10

Is it necessary to have an ADR for any sit-down meal or just for the character meals?

We like to know that we have a place to have a sit down meal each day so we make ADRs for any restaurant we know we want to try. All but a few have no cost involved if you cancel or don't show up so you might as well make all the ADRs you want.

[Experiment6-2-6]

Originally Posted by tink10

There is a large group of us going at the same time. A total of 28 people. Since there are so many of us going we want to have a good plan in place before we go....

Is it necessary to have an ADR for any sit-down meal or just for the character meals?

While I am more of a Disneyland junkie, I can say that with 28 people, you will HAVE to do ADR if you want any chance of eating together.

Even if you split up because of different restaurants chosen by those in your group, having an ADR REALLY DOES help in reducing the stress level.

Besides, waiting in line to get seated is merely a waste of valuable ride time..

Welcome to DisneyCentral!!!

[snow'sfriend]

Welcome to DisneyCentral! With 28 people (is this everyone's first trip?) I would suggest getting ADR for any resturant that you plan to go to all together. If you are going to split up you might be able to get away without getting an ADR but just to play it safe I would probably get it for every sit down resturant.

[Amelia's Man]

I agree with getting the ADRs, especially with 28 people! ABSOLUTELY!!

Oh, and welcome to DC! You will LOVE it here! We're all nutsQ

(And I mean that in the nicest way!)


Hey! I just got to quote Captain Amelia!! Kudos to Amelia's Man!

[lhraz]

To eat together you must have ADRs. But you should call Disney about getting help through the MAGICAL GATHERING program. This is free and will help plan the whole thing for the group. Magical Gathering is for anuy group over 8!

[M's DD]

Yah, ummmm i'm new to this too. How do you start a thread?

[llama]

Originally Posted by M's DD

Yah, ummmm i'm new to this too. How do you start a thread?

Welcome!!! to both of you!!! Yes, we are nuts, but basically we're harmless.

To post a thread, go to the forum you're interested in posting in. On the top left-hand corner on homepage of the forum you will see a little box with "new thread". Just click on that.Title your thread, write it and click "submit new thread". That box is located at the bottom of the post. (for instance - if you are interested in posting a thread in "Resorts". Go to the Resorts forum.

[NokeyNose]

Hi Tink 10 and everyone else! I just made our ADR's for September last week and they actually had a hard time fitting my family of 6 in some places so I would highly recommend talking to someone in Magical Gatherings about getting ADR's for your rather large group.

Also, when my DH and I went 5 years ago on our honeymoon, we knew nothing about ADR's or as they used to be called PS's so we never made them. We had a hard time trying to find someplace to eat at night that was not CS, so I made sure that we have ADR's for this trip. You won't regret it and if you change your mind you can always cancel. Good luck and enjoy your time!

[bali]

Welcome! Congrats on getting the free dining plan--that arrive-on-the-last-day-of-the-promo-but-take-advantage-for-the-entire-trip tip doesn't usually get used very often, so I'm glad you found out about it!!

The EMH debate is a strong one. People have their different opionions, and I think it depends on a lot of factors, such as the time of year you're going, the crowd-tolerance in your particular group, and your previous experiences. The early October time frame usually isn't too bad (that's when we usually go) and we find that EMH's (morning and evening) are fun and not too crowded.

I agree with everyone that you should sign up with Magical Gatherings. Just go on the disneyworld.com website and search for Magical Gatherings, or call Disney and ask about it. It's probably the only way you'll be able to make ADRs for that many folks at one time. Even if you're planning to split up for meals, I still suggest making ADRs for your meals. October is the time of year when the "foodies" go to WDW for the Food and Wine Festival, so the best restaurants are often packed. I already have my ADRs made for the first week of October, in fact! :)

Finally, MNSSHP is a great night and I really think everyone would enjoy it. You can get all the info you need here: http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/mk/mnssh.htm
There's trick or treating for kids and adults, characters dressed in costume, a spooky (but fun!) Halloween parade, and costume contests for the kids. It's quite an enchanting evening and we've gone for the past three years.

We love answering questions around here, so feel free to ask away!!

[tink10]

Thank you all so much for your help. We will definitely start making our ADRs right away. I know that we will split up some but many nights there will be a big part of the group eating together. I am sure I will be back soon with more questions!

[Erin]

Welcome, Tink! I'm glad you're here! You're asking EXCELLENT questions! You're going to have a great trip. You're going at such a NICE time of year!

Please don't hesitate to ask ANY question at all! Where are you staying?

[mickaholic4077]

Welcome to DC!! A toll-free number for Disney is 1-877-939-3932. It will save you alot of money if you have questions that you want to ask Disney directly.

[Cavey]

Welcome to DC.

I don't know what your group dynamic is like, but in most cases, I would not plan for 28 people to do everything together. Just getting everyone to get started on time in the morning would be an amazing feat! Then you have park and ride preferences, park navigation, even trying to get everyone onto the same bus or monorail!!!

If I were planning a major event like this, I would take the pressure off of everyone by allowing each family set their own agenda, with common events 2-3 during the trip. I subdivide meal plans so that everyone is having meals with smaller groups and rotating through the masses.

I would purchase each family set a copy of the Unofficial Guide to WDW as a gift. I would have each family group take 2-3 months to read through the Guide and select the plan that they want to pursue (the "up early's" vs. the "sleep in's," the "park commando's" vs. the "take it easy's"). Then see who's preferences mesh. Perhaps they'll want to do things together. Perhaps not.

My point is, you can't create magic for 28 individuals. So rather than becoming the "scapegoat," give everyone the knowledge they need to find their own magic at their own pace.

[missy H]

Welcome to DC! Booking ADR's when WDW are offering free dining is a must!

We used the morning EMH at christmas in MK and AK, you can get so much done is a very little amount of time! By the time the evening EMH came around we were too tried and our plans went out of the window!