Help! Family reunion trip in the planning stage and I'm in charge

[cpfolk]

We are a family of 12 celebrating planning to celebrate my inlaws 50th wedding anniversary next spring break. We decided to travel as some of the family lives in PA, some in CO. After some discussion during the last spring break, MIL and FIL chose Disneyland and SoCal having never visited and possibly to gain some points with their five grandkids ages 4 to 15.

So here's the question... where do we stay? My family of four are the only ones who have visited DL. We stayed at Paradise Pier, cheapest rates while on site. With a little Disney Magic, we ended up with a Park view room and couldn't have been happier with the location, view, or the hotel.

That said, we are open to all ideas for next March. We are considering on site, DVC (buying points, although my limited knowledge makes it seem almost impossible at DL), Good Neighbor, or renting a home. If you have any experience with a group or advice that's a little unconventional, I would love to hear about it! Budget is bigger than we normally we spend on a trip, so convenience and togetherness are our primary concern.

Thanks

 

[YukonMommy]

As much as you love family its always nice to have somewhere to go and just relax at the end of the day away from everyone else. So maybe same hotel but separate rooms. As for the hotel that is always a personal choice, but I would say if you want rooms close together the earlier you can book the better!

Have a magical time!

 

[pharmama]

First of all, congratulations to your in-laws!

As someone who often coordinates our extended family vacations, I second what YukonMommy said. I would make sure each "sub family" has their own room/accommodation to go back to each day. This also ensures you have enough bathrooms to go around in the mornings etc. That said, if budget allows on-site is great. My first choice is GCH for proximity and I like the pool (not sure how it will be after the refurb). I also happen to love that style. I do love the nostalgia feel at the DLH and pools are great there too. PPH I do enjoy with Premium View (as you had) but the bathrooms are small...depending on how many end up in a room this could be difficult. I like that both DLH and GCH have something of a 'get ready' area outside the bathroom itself.

There are plenty of off site options too though. Are you just doing DLR or other SoCal stuff too?

 

[StormyCA]

The city of Anaheim has 'locked down' on short term rentals so it may not be possible to rent a house. Be very, very cautious of any short term rentals you may see on Craig's List or VRBO-type websites.

That being said, I think others are right that it's better for each family to have their own rooms to 'retreat to'. I'd also try to build some 'alone time' in so that the individual families have time to go off on their own do to things that others may not want to do.

 

[cpfolk]

The city of Anaheim has 'locked down' on short term rentals so it may not be possible to rent a house. Be very, very cautious of any short term rentals you may see on Craig's List or VRBO-type websites.

That being said, I think others are right that it's better for each family to have their own rooms to 'retreat to'. I'd also try to build some 'alone time' in so that the individual families have time to go off on their own do to things that others may not want to do.

Oh, I was unaware of the VRBO issue. Glad I asked! We use the site frequently on the East coast with no issues. I thought it might be a great way to have a home base for DL and SoCal and give us the space we need.

First of all, congratulations to your in-laws!

As someone who often coordinates our extended family vacations, I second what YukonMommy said. I would make sure each "sub family" has their own room/accommodation to go back to each day. This also ensures you have enough bathrooms to go around in the mornings etc. That said, if budget allows on-site is great. My first choice is GCH for proximity and I like the pool (not sure how it will be after the refurb). I also happen to love that style. I do love the nostalgia feel at the DLH and pools are great there too. PPH I do enjoy with Premium View (as you had) but the bathrooms are small...depending on how many end up in a room this could be difficult. I like that both DLH and GCH have something of a 'get ready' area outside the bathroom itself.

There are plenty of off site options too though. Are you just doing DLR or other SoCal stuff too?

50 years is a pretty big deal! The anniversary coincides with our 25th and BIL and SIL's 10th. Celebrations all around

We are tossing around the 2/3 bedroom suites at GCH and DLH, but wanted to know if anyone had any experience or how they compared offsite suite hotels. Would also love to know if there is any possibility of a DVC rental buying points?

As much as you love family its always nice to have somewhere to go and just relax at the end of the day away from everyone else. So maybe same hotel but separate rooms. As for the hotel that is always a personal choice, but I would say if you want rooms close together the earlier you can book the better!

Have a magical time!

So true! We have kids of varying ages and interests, so I think our days may be spent going in different directions. I believe we may want to have a shared space (but separate bedrooms/bathrooms) at the end of each day to reconnect.

Thanks for the info! Keep it coming

 

[jerseyjersey]

We didn't have quite as big a group as you'll have, but we opted for rooms at the same hotel (GCH). We were able to get a good promo rate, and they were able to put us close to our other group members. Location was awesome for a group with little kids and older people, the short walk to the parks was a huge plus for us, and the ease of walking easily to Downtown Disney for dinners was helpful, too.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We have stayed in 3 bedroom suites at GCH and DLH. We much prefered the room layout at GCH. It may have just been our room at DLH but in order to get from the 3rd bedroom you either had to cut through another bedroom or go out into the hallway and back in through the main door.

I would also caution that before sharing space like that, you are sure everybody gets along very well and has similar touring styles (all get up/go to bed at similar times, etc). We realize we don't actually share space well with more than just my parents.

I might suggest, if the budget allows, that one family gets a 1 bedroom suite and others get rooms. That way you have a common area to hang out but everyone has their own space. And I might suggest PPH for that, if you're wanting to stay onsite.

 

[hanna-nana]

Depending on how many family units, I'd do what DisneyJamie suggested. We had a 2 room suite at DLH. Had a king bed in a room and a common area, connected to a two queen room. I'd imagine a one room suite so you can have a common area and then separate rooms nearby. A two room would insure two rooms are next to each other too. We loved the DLH. Especially with those ages. If cost allows, GCH would sure be great for proximity.

 

[Westcoastwild]

We have stayed in 3 bedroom suites at GCH and DLH. We much prefered the room layout at GCH. It may have just been our room at DLH but in order to get from the 3rd bedroom you either had to cut through another bedroom or go out into the hallway and back in through the main door.

I would also caution that before sharing space like that, you are sure everybody gets along like very well and has similar touring styles (all get up/go to bed at similar times, etc). We realize we don't actually share space well with more than just my parents.

I might suggest, if the budget allows, that one family gets a 1 bedroom suite and others get rooms. That way you have a common area to hang out but everyone has their own space. And I might suggest PPH for that, if you're wanting to stay onsite.

I agree with the common space. That is what has worked the best for us. Going back to the budget rooms at night is fine, but if people want to play cars or just chat, you need a nice common space.

We did a 2 bed suite at DLH once. It was nice. (my parents planned this trip when I was in college- I had no input, and I didn't see the bill until after.) so, I would say I thought it was absurdly overpriced, but it IS Disney. Before I knew the price, I thought it was pretty cool- I love Disney details, and those were also a big hit with my youngest sister and mom.

I'm not a Disney bubble person and DLH is not really much closer than some of the offsite hotels. If I wanted to spend the money on an onsite hotel, though, I'd pick GCH. I love the park entrance and the convenience. I adore the lobby.

I don't know your family. But if you have not yet had an open and frank conversation about money, you need to. That's something that is a huge problem with my extended family. Everyone says they want to stay in the same hotel. And no one wants to be the outcast. But I have hotels snobs in my family and I have people who really don't know what the word "budget" means. If I were to say for example I can do 150, someone might come back and say "I found the perfect place! The rooms are only 180!" And then there are the relatives who think everyone could get one suite and they can just sneak in air mattresses. All fourteen people in a 6 person suite. No one will notice that!

Given that it is multigenerational, I wouldn't stay any further away than the closest good neighbor hotels. Because you want people to feel like they can tour at their own pace.

 

[azdisneylover]

We are a family of 12 celebrating planning to celebrate my inlaws 50th wedding anniversary next spring break. We decided to travel as some of the family lives in PA, some in CO. After some discussion during the last spring break, MIL and FIL chose Disneyland and SoCal having never visited and possibly to gain some points with their five grandkids ages 4 to 15.

So here's the question... where do we stay? My family of four are the only ones who have visited DL. We stayed at Paradise Pier, cheapest rates while on site. With a little Disney Magic, we ended up with a Park view room and couldn't have been happier with the location, view, or the hotel.

That said, we are open to all ideas for next March. We are considering on site, DVC (buying points, although my limited knowledge makes it seem almost impossible at DL), Good Neighbor, or renting a home. If you have any experience with a group or advice that's a little unconventional, I would love to hear about it! Budget is bigger than we normally we spend on a trip, so convenience and togetherness are our primary concern.

Thanks

I would suggest trying to stay on site if possible. Depending on how many people are going, check to see if you can get a discount on the rooms. I say, book a room asap on site, then watch for a code for a discount. Sign up at Orbitz and Cheaptickets. They do have discounts for the Disney hotels. Request a planning DVD from Disneyland and make sure you put your email in, because they do sent pin codes that are person specific. I recently received a 40% pin for a room this spring but I cannot use it and unfortunately, cannot pass it to someone who can use it. Since you are going from the east coast, it wouldn't be a problem making magic morning/early entry each day. That hour first thing in the morning has made a big difference for us every time for us. I forget where I've seen a list that details previous years' discounts; when they have come out, what they were for and when they expired. Hopefully, someone will find that list and link it.
I suggest finding out a few things from each person what they want to see, do, ride, etc so you can make sure you do at least one from each person. Let everyone know it is okay to split up for a few hours while the ones who want to ride the coaster, rides the coaster and the other ones who want to ride Flick Flyers can ride that. It can really make everyone frustrated fast when there isn't some kind of general plan and everyone won't speak up as to what they would like to do, but say instead " I don't care". Make reservations at off times for your big group. For example, have a late lunch/very early dinner 3pm at Carnation Cafe. This way, you can take your time to celebrate your In-laws 50th without feeling rushed. A Disney 50th anniversary cake would be a nice finish to a meal.
Wishing you the best in planning the trip.

 

[cpfolk]

Thanks for all the great advice! We were particularly interested in the three bedroom suites, so glad to hear from those of you who stayed in them.
I'm just not as familiar with anything available offsite or DVC.

My inlaws celebrated their 70th and 80th birthdays this year, and while an active pair, mobility is occasionally an issue. Staying close by is an advantage, but we will probably rent a scooter to share as we did during our last WDW visit. It allowed us to keep the pace and gave them a seat at all times. When they feel like walking, we park and go.

Luckily for us, we seem to get along well. We are all early risers, rope drop kind of park goers. We have done WDW together (3 times, shared resort not shared rooms) and DCL once. We are happy to do our own thing every day and meet up for dinner and a show each night. Sometimes we choose to hang together, sometimes we go our own way. It will be interesting returning to a park where the Magic Band doesn't control our every move! Totally looking forward to that

Thinking a small kitchen area would be super helpful considering we are looking at a week long stay. Any advice in this arena would be appreciated as well!

 

[cruisehopeful]

We are considering on site, DVC (buying points, although my limited knowledge makes it seem almost impossible at DL), Good Neighbor, or renting a home. If you have any experience with a group or advice that's a little unconventional, I would love to hear about it! Budget is bigger than we normally we spend on a trip, so convenience and togetherness are our primary concern.

If money is no object, rent a DVC room from one of the reputable brokers. The 3 bedroom sleeps 12. I'd call and get on the list today. I believe there are only 2 of the 3 bedroom units. If you miss out on that, you could book a couple 2 bedroom units. The DVC units have full kitchens and you can't beat being able to walk directly to/from DCA to your hotel room.

If after pricing that out, you decide it is actually too much, I'd recommend staying off site at Marriott Residence Inn or Hilton Homewood Suites or Hilton Hampton Inn. You'd need to get more than one room, but you'd have full kitchens and free breakfast every day. I think all of those also have a free evening reception, but I am never at my hotel during that time (dinner hour).

The Disney hotels have 2 and 3 bedroom suites that are not DVC. Therefore, they do not have a full kitchen. I cannot recommend highly enough to get in touch with one of the reputable brokers today to get in line for the 3 bedroom DVC unit. Owners can book at the 11 month mark. If you are not quite at the 11 month mark, yet, at least get on the list for it right now.

 

[VandVsmama]

How many family units are included your group of 12? I agree w/the suggestion of another poster to have 1 bedroom for each family. Even when an extended family gets along really really well, a week on vacation together can be draining sometimes so it can be REALLY helpful for each family unit to have their own separate space to retire to. It helps you get some mental down time.

So sure, if money is no object, stay on site. But you should also consider hotels along Harbor Blvd. The Desert Inn & Suites has family suites that can accommodate bigger groups. The rooms also include a continental breakfast, so that can save you $$ each day. However, the pool is an indoor pool.

Best Western Park Place Inn is THE closest to the Esplanade other than the GCH. It and the Best Western Anaheim Inn, which is a couple of doors south of BWPPI on Harbor Blvd both include free hot breakfast and they have outdoor pools. The Best Westerns also have microwaves in the rooms in addition to a mini fridge. On site hotels only have a fridge. In fact, most of the off site hotels have microwave and fridge in the rooms.

If anyone in your group is going to need a scooter, just be aware that the DL scooters cannot leave the esplanade area. So if you're staying at the GCH, PPH, or DLH, you'd have to turn the scooter in and walk. If anyone needs a scooter to go to their hotel or through DTD or elsewhere, then you should consider renting one from Deckert Surgical Co (714-542-5607). They will deliver to your hotel and pick it up from the hotel at the end of your stay.

You could to a VBRO somewhere, but just not in Anaheim. However, then you'd need to rent a couple of cars. And then you're looking at the hassle of rounding everybody up in the morning to head out to the parks together. Also, staying w/in walking distance gives your group a LOT of flexibility. Some common scenarios that come to mind are:

• Grandma & Grandpa are worn out and want to take a nap back at the hotel and meet up with everybody later for dinner. The younger families & their kids want to stay all day. If not w/in walking distance, will you be staying at a hotel that's on an ART route? Did Grandma & Grandpa get to the parks by getting a ride in somebody's rental car that day? If so, will they need to get a taxi or Uber to the hotel and back later for dinner?
• Same scenario as above but only this time, it's the kids who want to take a break to swim.
• A few people want to sleep in & rest of the group wants to make it for rope drop.
• At the end of the day, some of the 12 are tired and done at 8-9pm but others want to stay later.

1 of the DIS Unplugged Disneyland podcasts several months ago did an entire episode talking about how to plan for multi-generational trips to Disneyland. I can't remember the episode #, though, or what date it was on. Some general tips & suggestions I do remember from it, though, are:

1. Don't require everybody to be together the whole entire time.
2. PLAN on everybody needing some down time away from everybody else in your group.
3. Try having everyone go on 1 or 2 rides together at the beginning of the day and then meet up for lunch. Then do 1 or 2 rides together after lunch. Repeat at dinner time.
4. If you have an agreement to meet up at a certain location at a certain time (i.e., we're going to meet at 10:30 by this tree at the hub near the castle), then ALSO have an agreement that you will wait for late comers for a certain amount of time and then you're all going to go on the next attraction together. Otherwise, you run the risk of everybody getting mad at each other quite frequently.
5. Use text messaging on your cell phones to notify stragglers/late-comers as to where you're headed next so they can catch up to you.
6. Expect every person on the trip to get a little cranky at least once. Use those moments as an opportunity to let people gracefully bow out of the current activity so they can get some mental down time.

Also, I've always followed 1 of @HydroGuy's rules/recommendations and I have each person in my family pick THE #1 THING they want to do on the DL vacation. Then I make sure that we do that in the first day or 2 that we are there. And I set expectations w/my family that EVERYTHING ELSE beyond doing their #1 THING is icing on the cake.

 

[cpfolk]

I so appreciate all the great tidbits of information. It's definitely moving me in the right direction.

The family breakdown looks like this
Grandparents
Son # 1, wife, son 16, daughter 14
Son # 2, wife, son 8, son 5
Son # 3, daughter 10

I'm not too worried about averyone getting to do what they want. Other than planning our evening meals together, we are a pretty independent crew. My crew (family 1) vacationed at DLR three years ago, and we conquered the park. I feel confident my kids would be happy to go with the flow. Last year we did four days at WDW and the eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy. We didn't plan anything except evening meals and a couple of fast passes and port adventures together. If we happened to meet up, bonus! We are totally casual although our family of four usually drags the grands along when we can.

I will check on DVC, not exactly sure who the reputable brokers are, but I think I can figure it out. I will also look into the Good Neighbor hotels that were mentioned. My kids eat me out of house and home, so a free breakfast surely wouldn't hurt . Do those hotels offer early entry as well? As east coast dwellers, it's a no brainer to be at the park for rope drop!

 

[Niltiac]

I've organized family trips in the past, and I've got to go against what many others have said, because I favor having everyone stay in a house together, or have one large group in a house and maybe some family units in nearby hotels if they prefer. The reason is for the common space. It's great to have a place where people can all hang out without having to go out to a restaurant, and it's great when kids can go up to their room to sleep or have some alone time, even if the parents want to stay up and talk. But it has to be a big enough house that you're not all tripping over eachother. Others have mentioned the problem with short term rentals in Anaheim, but if disneyland isn't your only priority, you could look outside Anaheim and drive to the parks.

If you do decide to go with separate hotel rooms, I would try to have them near eachother and have one group book a suite with some kind of living space. Try to get extra keys for that room and give one to each family unit, so that a few people can choose to go back and watch a movie in the afternoon while other people choose to stay in the parks, for example.

 

[jamsmom-cal]

I used this broker https://www.dvcrequest.com/ for a 2BR. It worked out great and the company was easy to work with. You pay up front - there's no cancellation like a regular hotel, so trip insurance may be a good idea.
To look into DVC rental, you need to understand the cost based on your stay dates (there are 4 price seasons)
https://www.dvcrequest.com/point-chart/villas_disneys_grand_californian_2018.htm
March/spring break time can be pricey.

Having the full kitchen and in room laundry was wonderful. The site I linked has floor plans so you can see the various room layouts. They also will chat with you and answer questions.

Good luck!
PM me if you have more questions specific to what I did. Happy to share

 

[PrincessIM]

For my 40th bday my family and I travelled to DL with my 2 sisters and their families. We were a total of 12 with kids ranging in age from 2-11. We stayed at the DLH hotel and had requested that we all be placed close together and luckily they managed to place us right next to each other. We made sure we listed each other on our room requests. We all had our separate rooms but the kids would be in and out of all the rooms. Out of all the standard rooms of the 3 onsite hotels I found the DL to have the largest rooms. We also ordered groceries in for breakfast options and snacks. Most of our time was spent at the park or the pool so we didn't spend much time in our rooms. We preferrred to hang out by the pool whenever we were back at the hotel.

 

[jamsmom-cal]

Ooh! Can you give more details on ordering groceries?

 

[PrincessIM]

I believe it was Von's we ordered from. FRee delivery over $50. Ordered online and they delivered it to us. We didn't have a kitchen but it was nice to have water, yogurt, fruit, milk, cereal to get us startedfirst thinthe morning a well as some snacks.

Ooh! Can you give more details on ordering groceries?

 

[the donut]

Congratulations to your in laws! We just completed a family reunion trip at Disneyland this past President's Day. Although we had some issues with the construction at the Grand Cal, that should be all complete by next year. We are DVC members and stayed in the villas. Our party was kind of similar in size to yours. We took 1 2BR where two family units stayed, and 2 studios for the grandparents and the final family unit. Although the rooms weren't that close to each other, the 2BR was the natural gathering place for the group. We have also stayed in the Grand Villa in the past, but it's a pretty hefty number of points, and the kitchen is only slightly bigger than in the 2BR. One thing it does have is a table that can seat at least 8. We had to use both the table and the kitchen bar seating to accomodate everyone at once in the 2BR. There may have even been a couple of people on the couch? I can't quite recall.

As a group, we planned to eat most of the meals together, whether it be cooked in the unit or reservations at a restaurant. Beyond that we would stick together for some things and go off independently for others. Some of our meals prepared in the unit included, frozen lasagna or rice casserole with salad, Korean BBQ, and breakfast sandwiches. We also brought microwave popcorn and other snacks and beverages for the group. The restaurant reservations included Naples, Carthay Circle, and Ralph Brennan's for brunch. We also did one meal at Uva (they don't take reservations.) It all worked out beautifully, and it was pretty crowded even by holiday weekend standards.

This is the second time we've done a large family trip to Disneyland, and both times we ate at Carthay Circle, they put us in the wishing well room when we showed up. This is the private room in the cupola tower of Carthay Circle. We didn't request it, but that's where they put our party of 12. It was absolutely an amazing and luxurious meal. If you're interested, I would mention it's your in-laws 50th anniversary, and perhaps you could also get this room. My father in law was so happy with that meal with the family all together like that. A fantastic experience.