In beginning stages of planning for extended family travel on thanksgiving week 2019. 15 (10 adults, 5 kids ages 5 to 13). Planning to stay off property for first time. My immediate family has been recently (Oct 2017), everyone else has been at some point but many not for 20 years. We are all going together to experience star wars and Harry potter. Here is what I am thinking 7 days + travel days. Plan 5 days all together with 2 days at hs/starwars/toy story, 1 day mk, 1 day ak/pandora as most going have never done ak and we LOVED pandora on our most recent trip, then 1 day universal specifically for Harry potter (no one has ever done universal). Other 2 potential park days could include a 2nd universal day, but would likely be days where all 15 didn’t travel together, as people may want to focus on different parks /some want a beach day if weather cooperates/etc. I plan to Rd parks on our together touring days, starting all together and then letting groups go their way midday, meeting back up in evening for night time shows or entertainment. Having never been to studios before, will we want 2 days? Harry Potter is the priority, but worried with crowds at thanksgiving that we will want 2 days. . . Tricks or tips in traveling with a large group appreciated
Planning an extended family trip for 9 myself. Can’t give much advice on Universal. Last time we went there was no HP. Seeking advice in a post of my own for large group planning the comments I received favored planning mornings and evenings with everyone all together and leaving afternoons open. So it sounds like you got the right idea there. As for offsite lodging are you looking to rent a home where all 15 stay together? We rented an 8 bedroom in Champions Gate for our upcoming stay and also rented a 15 passenger transit van for transportation. Both were reasonable. Got the home for around $2000 for 8 days/7nights and the van for about $400. If I can be of any help in those areas feel free to reach out. Sounds like an epic trip. Enjoy the planning. I know I have.
Thanks, we are looking at 8 bedrooms in that area, I think we will end up with a few vehicles even though parking will cost more it will let groups be able to split off for their own thing easier.
We searched many a homes through many companies. Ended up booking through Magical Vacation Homes as they were offering a 15% discount off the final cost. Found prices to be around the same whether searching through VRBO, MVH, Homes to go, Airbnb, & Homeaway. All have apps you can download to your phone or tablet for easy searching except for MVH. There are 4 or 5 decent resorts with home rentals all within 10-20 minutes of WDW. The ones we concentrated on were Windsor Hills as its real close and gets the most reviews and Reunion resort which is a few miles further but the homes seem nicer, newer, but also a bit more expensive. Most have pools and most in windsor hills are screened in. Many reunion homes are on golf course but pools are not screened in. After all the searching in windsor hills and reunion resort we ended up with a home in Champions Gate. Lol… further away than the other 2 resorts but the house had all the amenities we were looking for and a much lower price.
I recommend contacting property managers and asking any questions you may have. For each listing there is a link to contact property manager. Don’t be shy to negotiate either. It never hurts to ask. Some of the property managers are owners and many manage multiple properties. Tell them what your looking for and let them look around for you as well. If you don’t want all the hassle I recommend contacting MVH and give an agent what your looking for and let them do the legwork.