DH and I have been planning to do a Tron trip in Jan/Feb 2022. DH’s parents just visited last weekend and we were telling them all about our recent trip last month. DH mentioned how we got to try out the Tron cycles for the upcoming ride, and DH’s Mom joked that she should go to WDW for her 70th bday when Tron opens. So… today, we get a text saying that basically DH’s family wants to do a group Tron trip with us. That would mean me and DH (2) + DH’s parents (2) + DH’s sister’s family (5 or 6) = 9 or 10 people depending on if the toddler (currently 3 yo) would come.
I think if this happens, it will be the 3 groups trying to match up 3 vacations as closely as possible, but not all taking 1 giant vacation together. I kind of doubt the rest of the family will go for 8 days for example. So, we wouldn’t have 1 combined DME or anything. I imagine us trying to overlap as many days as possible and trying to meet up for parts of the day, or for certain rides/ meals.
Now, I love planning a WDW vacation, and planning 3 of them overlapping sounds like a fun challenge… but this is all a bit overwhelming. Most of the people in the party have been to WDW or DL, but DH and I are the only ones who have gone recently and who understand how to plan. No one else probably has any slight idea of what they want or how much it will cost or exactly when they want to go. I have so many questions!
I plan to compile a list of questions to ask them so that I can get an idea of how to start planning and gauge their interest. Things like… what kinds of theme park rides does each person enjoy? Does anyone prefer hot or cold weather? Is taking the kids out of school a possibility? Budget? Etc.
Would any of you who have planned large groups like to give ideas of questions I should ask them? I appreciate all the help I can get! No question is too small!
Again, its Me(36), DH(43), DH’s Mom(70), DH’s Dad(70?), DH’s Sister (40’s), DH’s Sister’s Husband (40’s), 4 Kids (18) (16) (12) (5). Ages are based on about how old people be at the time of the trip.
I would talk with them to figure out overall travel dates. That one needs to be decided together, and it is easier to just talk about it.
I have tried making spreadsheets with all rides and preferences, but it didn’t work so well. In the end what worked out best for me and my group was making plans for myself and making them super public and easy to follow/copy, and making reservations for everyone if plans agreed (including FPs and ADRs I let the group know in advance and asked them to opt out of the things they didn’t want).
For instance:
I will be staying at X hotel, from day A to B. Cost per night is Y, book here (link). Other recommendations are H and G.
Park days: Sept 2nd - MK, Sept 3rd - Epcot…
ADRs inside parks: …
ADR outside parks:…
And then you do park plans based on who is coming to which park.
Definitely agree that we need to talk about available travel dates first!
The thing is, DH’s family lives 4 hours away, and the next time we see them probably won’t be until Christmas. Conversations via text or phone are rare and almost impossible (don’t ask me why, I don’t know.) So I was hoping to have a list of questions for them when we see them in December. We may or may not have travel date info from them at that time… probably not.
All that being said, I like your idea of making our own plans very public. Perhaps I can put together a nice Google Doc for them to see. I could include other information too to help educate them, like rides lists, restaurant ideas, etc.
Remember to be very clear and specific about who pays what. Just because you make the ADR doesn’t mean you’ll be paying for it. This includes tips! I once had a huge argument about tipping because they didn’t agree with the 20% standard (it’s much less in Mexico). We ended up getting separate checks. Also agree on the no show charge. You don’t want to be stuck with that!
This is a great point! I bet we could all agree on separate checks to make it easy. Question on the no show charge - say we make an ADR for 10 people, and not all the party shows up. Is there still a no show charge? Or could say, two of us still use the reservation?
Yes! That was my initial reaction… Especially since I have never gone with kids. However, since DH and I just enjoyed a really amazing splurge trip, I feel I can probably be okay with it. I know DH has always wanted to go with his Dad to Disney… so it’s hard for me to say no.
Good to know! Yes, I would not want to look bad by having most of the party no-show. I’m guessing we won’t have many ADR’s anyway… probably a lot of QS. But thanks for the info!
You have to know who you are planning for. Do they view a trip to Disney as a militaristic beach invasion where success is tenacity, steel meddle and 5:30am wake-up calls? Or are they sleep 'til noon and roll with it types? I think this is why TP is great, it allows effective planning for either situation.
I know one that was big for me when I did a trip for 17… was recognizing that different family units eat differently. My family does not do well with heat + full stomachs… so when it’s hot we tend to go light on the food. My other family units do not operate like that… had to make some adjustments. But again… adjustments is why TP is great.
Even though planning for a big group can be stressful, imagine trying to do so without TP. People do try to do that. I pity them.
Yes I think our 3 groups are going to have 3 different vacation styles. Thanks for bringing that up… we will have to discuss that over Christmas. I think it will be easiest to talk about in person with them.
Definitely a situation to have certain times when the group is together and times when it’s not. I think if you can nail down dates and maybe a hotel preference (or 3…depending on what’s available…) that’s the best place to start. This is so far in the future that a lot of things might change between now and then. You can do your pre pre planning but don’t need to stress yet about particulars too much.
You are right. Two years out, now is not the time to stress. I’ll do some pre pre planning for funsies, but nothing is set in stone. DH’s family could decide tomorrow that they have changed their minds altogether!
Also - yes - I like making SURE there are times when we have ‘alone’ time away from the group. I think that will be important.
I just planned a trip for 17 people last October, and I have to say that it was my least favorite trip I’ve taken. I did all of the ADR’s, FPP, and planning, and everyone showed up and had fun. I spent the entire time trying to make sure everyone was having fun, and put my experience and preferences way down on the priority list. Had a melt-down in Batuu about 4 days in… it wasn’t pretty.
So, from that, if I were doing it again, I would plan one ADR a day all together, and then I would be happy to consult with the other families and help them decide what they want to do. In retrospect, everyone didn’t necessarily want to do the same rides in the same order, and maybe wanted to stop and smell the roses at different points each day, and it was torture trying to drive the herd around the parks. If each family had their own itinerary, with different touch-base points for the group along the way, it would’ve been much better. I would offer to help them know when to make FPP and hotel rez, and all the things…but if I wasn’t in charge of every moment of ever day, I would’ve had a much better time.
oh, and MDE had a really hard time with all our stuff being linked. I spent 3 hours at GE on 3 different days because it was dropping FPP and things like that. They ended up telling me that it was because I had so many people that I was planning for, and one MDE just couldn’t take ADR’s, FPP, hotel rez for 17 people on one account.
Wow, that is a great point. I would be so depressed if I ended up being too stressed out to enjoy the trip. Maybe if our trip does actually happen, I will have to be clear that we will all be on different schedules except for meet-ups, and I won’t be in charge of anyone else’s plans. I could certainly help them get fastpasses 60 days out, and all the planning advice, but once we were there, it would have to be up to them. Also, to your point below, I have decided already we would not link MDE’s. I don’t want any glitches with my FP’s!
Got together with DH’s relatives today for a funeral. They actually brought up Disney and wanted to “pick a date”. At the moment, mid-September 2021 will be the trip, assuming Tron is scheduled to be open by then.
I asked how long they want the trip to be and they can only do a “long weekend” … so 3-4 days. Assuming this trip does indeed happen, DH and I might just do a second trip of like 8 days in Jan/Feb 2022. Would it make sense to get annual passes for a 4-day trip + 8 day trip?
I’ve never had AP’s … my mouth waters at the thought.
By my super fast calculations, yes. I would do the annual pass. A 4 day park hopper for Oct of this year is $504, and an 8 day park hopper is $627. The combined total is $1131. An annual pass (without water parks) is $1195. You’ll save the difference in food and merchandise discounts, and you might be able to score an annual pass discount on a hotel for your second trip.
I would buy the first ticket on UT, and then convert to AP when you are at the park. That way you’ll get the additional discount on the tickets, but WDW will credit you the full amount as if you had paid WDW directly for the first ticket. Convert it toward the beginning of your trip so you can get the AP discounts during your trip. (And maybe consider a Tables in Wonderland card as well…depending on what type of dining you are going to be doing.)
Also IMHO it just feels good to have a current AP. And you can’t put a pricetag on that.
