Disney trip with large group of 12

[ShirleyBelle]

We’ve got a trip coming up in early July that will have 7 adults and 5 kids. 3 generational trip. I’ve never done a trip with so many people. Our ADRs are already booked and I’m just looking for tips and advice for anyone who has travelled with such a large group before. We have 3 grandparents, myself, my husband, my sister, her husband, and kids ages will be 5, 4, 2, 1, and 3 month infant.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Best tip to share with everyone in your party now... It's ok to not spend every moment together.

 

[MainMom]

4 years ago I planned a trip for 11 people in July. Right now I am planning a trip for 12 people in June. The typical advice on these boards is separate, don’t spend all of your time together, just meet up for a meal every day. My (extended) family is different. We spent all of our time together, traveled around the parks together and rarely separated. However, we all have similar touring styles and have been to WDW before.
We agreed on these things:
1. Rope drop is important
2. Mid day breaks
3. ADR lunch because we were all together and...
4....evening plans were more tentative.

We also agreed that if someone wanted to sleep in or not join in the evening no one was going to be mad about it. If we agreed to be at the bus stop at X time and a bus came whoever was there would get on it and meet up with the others later. These things may seem minor or petty, but I’ve read stories on here of different family dynamics and one group of early risers having to wait around for another group who was slower making people mad, missing fast passes, etc. That’s why we cleared these up in advance.

My family looked to me to lead them around. They knew I knew what I was doing and we got everything done we wanted to plus more. It is kind of daunting, but I took everyone’s wishes for rides and meals into consideration and we did it all.

Our trip this summer is taking on a different feel to the one 4 years ago. I’m planning more down time at the resort (BWV), an evening EMH for the teens as well as HDD and a dessert party for everyone. The teens may go off by themselves, some may sleep in and join later. My mom typically likes to stay back at the hotel at least one evening to get away from all of us. All of this is fine and it makes for a happier trip for everyone.

I would talk to your family. Figure out who are the early risers and who considers vacation a time to sleep in. Then use that information about their touring styles and go from there with your plans. There is no right or wrong way, it’s whatever works best for your particular family dynamic.

 

[sponica]

Does everyone have the same expectations? Same touring style?

Really the key to any trip whether it's 2 people or 20 is to make sure expectations are managed/met.

Is this a disney trip TOGETHER or a trip where you all happen to be at Disney at the same time?

Is someone looking to relax and not be beholden to plans?

Make sure everyone is ON THE SAME PAGE. I've been on trips where "majority rules" and they are not fun.

Is everyone an open to closer or does someone want a mid-day break?

Are you touring as a herd? Or do you want to break out into component groups? Is everyone in agreement if it's touring as a herd?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I've gone with as many is 14 which had 3 generations.
Just don't over plan.
Do a few things together like meals and some FP+ but don't expect everyone to be together all the time.
If you/DH/parents want to get to the parks early and say your sister and fam does not then feel free to go and say meet me later.

 

[E&As Mom]

We did a grand gathering several years ago with 14 of us. 3 generations with ages ranging from 63 to 3. While we did spend a lot of time together and did most meals together, we also split up often. Don't be afraid to admit you need a break from everyone (it can get rough with that many people and opinions on what to do!).

 

[Wild4Walt]

We have done 3 big groups with the family back in our day - 1st was 7 people all adults we spent a lot of time together and it was great. Next trip was the same 7 adults, now with 2 toddlers - we tried to plan all meals, days, activities together and it was just too much. The last trip were 7 adults and 3 toddlers - this time we planned just what park we'd all be in at some point and that everyone meet for dinner. It was much easier to plan and less stressful. Anyone who wanted to sleep in or needed afternoon breaks didn't feel like they were holding up the others.

 

[Minniemoo15]

We go with anywhere between 10-14 people. This year it’s 11.

Staying on site is key because people can come and go as they please. We usually designate one room as the “meet up room” that we all gather before going to the buses.

I print out a hard copy of our itineraries - fastpasses, Dining times, etc. So if we get separated or people choose to do something different they always know where to meet back up.

We schedule lots of down time and realize it may take us longer to do things.

We love going as part of multi generational trips. The extra help with the kids is really nice. When I was a kid we went annually with my grandma and it is among the fondest memories I have of her and my childhood.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We always have a group of 9, my parents, DH and me and our 5 kids, ages 19-3. We always have a few group meetings before we go, to figure out what’s important to everybody and what our plans will be. Sometimes we split up (thrill riders do ToT and RnRC while kids and older folks do shows or whatever) sometimes we stay together but we always meet for meals. Just have a plan so you’re not standing around asking each other “what do you wanna do?” I also think there needs to be a leader, someone who knows what everyone wants to accomplish and makes decisions for the group. Staying on site is great, anyone can hop on a bus and come or go whenever they want. It’s also nice to do date nights, maybe one couple takes all the kids one night then you swap. Every Disney trip of my childhood was with a huge extended family group and those memories are what makes me love Disney World so much today. You guys will be making a ton of memories for your kids.

 

[aggiedog]

We travel regularly as a group of 8 with my parents and our 4 kids. I'm generally the tour guide and we all stick together. When we add in my sisters and their families, we meet for dinners or other various set meet up times. One sister couldn't get her family up for rope drop if their lives depended on it. Frequently each family has a different list of "must dos" at the parks. Definitely talk frankly about how you want to do the parks and let everyone know it's ok to split off.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We usually have 8-12 people in our group on our visits.

-We plan a few TS meals together.
-Anyone can split off at anytime to do something they want to do. Although, most of the time we all hang out together.
-I book everyone’s FP. We mostly all pre-book the same ones except for a few here or there. I tell our group what I, DH and the kids are planning to pre-book and then they tell me if they want me to try for a different FP.

We do not set a plan other than our few TS ADRs and pre-booked FP. All the adults are very flexible and the kids are little. None of us like to stick to a rigid schedule to squeeze in a certain number of rides or anything - we just enjoy our time together at the happiest place on earth. Part of the fun for us is keeping the day pretty spontaneous - especially with little kids, we like to play it by ear. This obviously doesn’t work for every large group but it actually works for ours while the kids are little. As they get older, our style will probably change a bit when they have more things they each want to see and do.

 

[NJlauren]

Great thread! Loving all the tips and different perspectives as we have our first large trip this year!

 

[sponica]

Great thread! Loving all the tips and different perspectives as we have our first large trip this year!

It really is a whole different animal, I have one I'm planning for next year. We have agreed on two things thus far, we're all staying where we want to stay and we're doing one thing together every day so that each component group can do their own thing and also be part of the big group. We're also almost a year and a half away so we don't need to agree on much more than that.

 

[NJlauren]

It really is a whole different animal, I have one I'm planning for next year. We have agreed on two things thus far, we're all staying where we want to stay and we're doing one thing together every day so that each component group can do their own thing and also be part of the big group. We're also almost a year and a half away so we don't need to agree on much more than that.

We are just over 6 months away! ADRs in just over 2 weeks!

Its 10 people some days 11, but possible more people invite them selves... ugh!

However there is a chance 6 cancel so I’m alllll over the place with the planning!

I thought we would split up they thing we should be together the whole time, it’s a bit daunting but exciting at the same time!

 

[billlaurie]

Also a multi-generational group of 12, mom and dad (young grandmom and grandpa ), 5 kids who are all "legally" adults except a 16 YO, 3 of the kids are married and one has kids, 5 and 7. We last did this in 2010 when the family consisted of only 8 (just 1 married kid at the time and no grandkids). We are all staying at CSR in June and have reserved most meals with at least some part of the group, but are not stressing about constant togetherness beyond that! We have planned to go to the same parks each day but will probably arrive/leave at different times and do different things once we are there.

 

[minnierocks]

We have done 13 people with a large age span. We had a “park of the day” and a planned sit down dinner together...plus a day in the middle of the week that was unscheduled so everyone could do what they wanted. Some chose to have a resort day and some went to Sea World...the others went to a park but it was a day where everyone could take a break and do exactly what they wanted to do.
I also created a PowerPoint and had a family dessert night so that everyone understood the crowd size vs. time of the day (that way they knew what they were facing if they wanted to sleep late), how dining plan worked, fastpasses etc.
We had a great trip...you just have to recognize that the dynamics change with the more people you add to the trip so you have to be flexible and enjoy the time together!

 

[eliseisawkward]

Also a multi-generational group of 12, mom and dad (young grandmom and grandpa ), 5 kids who are all "legally" adults except a 16 YO, 3 of the kids are married and one has kids, 5 and 7. We last did this in 2010 when the family consisted of only 8 (just 1 married kid at the time and no grandkids). We are all staying at CSR in June and have reserved most meals with at least some part of the group, but are not stressing about constant togetherness beyond that! We have planned to go to the same parks each day but will probably arrive/leave at different times and do different things once we are there.

Are you me?? This is almost the exact plan we had with our group of 12! Grandparents (late 50s), sibs (at the time 39M, 29F, 27M, 25F, 25F), spouses of three sibs, plus oldest bro has 2 kids (5M, 12F). We had 2 big meals with everyone, but broke up into smaller groups for most meals. The kids had very different desires from each other and us adult kids, so we didn’t worry too much about constant togetherness. We did Safari and Pirates all together, but ride wise that was it.

We really liked the planned togetherness at specific times and places that we all wanted to see/do, but also the freedom to do what we wanted individually.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Planning a trip for a large group as well this summer so I feel you. 11 people ranging in age from 2-62 and two who cannot speak English. Should be fun

Three of us have been before but no one else has which makes things rough because the other 8 people who haven’t been don’t know what they like yet. We all agreed on Poly and rented points which was great.

Every few weeks we have a conference call to discuss any questions or concerns. This has been massively helpful.

We agreed to one ADR Max a day, with most days going rope drop, FPs, late lunch and then those who want to stay can, and those who want to go back to the resort can. Everyone wants to stay together so hoping it works out... but also hoping that once we are there everyone does exactly what they want to do

 

[billlaurie]

The similarities are uncanny. We do have a few meals planned with all 12, dinner at Ohana where we are celebrating multiple BDs, 6/6 (GS), 6/14 (S), 6/15 (me), BOG lunch, 50s Primetime, but the rest are broken into smaller groups. We will try to get some FP together. Funny that Pirates and Safari are also ones that everybody will do! Other than that, there is a wide range of likes and dislikes so we will break off in smaller groups.

Are you me?? This is almost the exact plan we had with our group of 12! Grandparents (late 50s), sibs (at the time 39M, 29F, 27M, 25F, 25F), spouses of three sibs, plus oldest bro has 2 kids (5M, 12F). We had 2 big meals with everyone, but broke up into smaller groups for most meals. The kids had very different desires from each other and us adult kids, so we didn’t worry too much about constant togetherness. We did Safari and Pirates all together, but ride wise that was it.

We really liked the planned togetherness at specific times and places that we all wanted to see/do, but also the freedom to do what we wanted individually.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Our first big family trip was ten days long, with 4 generations, from two 3 yr olds and a four yr old to the 89 yr old matriarch. It was the first trip for the youngest and oldest and one in the middle! There were a few "oops" moments, but very few and nothing serious. We opted for offsite, paying well under $200/night for a spacious, well-equipped 5 bedroom/5 bathroom house.

Besides the amazing value, it meant we pulled up to our door every night, not into a huge parking lot. We carried sleeping toddlers straight into our front door, and to their beds, not through long corridors. The kids splashed about in our private pool while we put breakfast together, which was often eaten poolside. We were together, with a big common space where we could relax and go over the next day's place, even soak in our private spa,while the kids slept. We also had ample room in our spacious foyer to roll in and recharge my mother's ECV every night.

We toured long hours, but with the kids napped in strollers and we made lots of time for the relaxing attractions. The children played in every water fountain and play space in every park. Although we swore it was not necessary to keep the pack together, we wound up that way most of the time, purely by choice. It was actually very convenient because it wasn't forced. We were our own baby swap system for everything from attractions to shopping.

The biggest thing that worked for us was the rule of too. Every adult was responsible for themselves as well as for a watchful eye on everyone in the party to make sure no one got too hot, too hungry, too tired or overstimulated. We agreed to try to head off those conditions at all cost. We would chose to laugh, rather than snap, if something didn't go our way.

In ten days, we had exactly two meltdowns and they were over quickly. One was the result of our youngest DGD leaving her treasured Little Mermaid lunch bag on a monorail, which was tracked down by her dutiful father. Our youngest DGS wanted to push his stroller rather than ride, when his mom said no. He was quickly, quietly scooped up and set straight by his mother!!!! A crowded park is no place for a three year reckless driver.

We alternated Park and water park days, and even did a MVMCP. Magical memories to last a lifetime. I hope your trip will be every bit as good for your family.