Multi-generational family trip - please critique!

[Jennkneefir]

Will anyone in the group need a scooter/wheelchair? Staying off site, means some planning for that. If you rent one from a off site vendor, will you be able to get it into a rental car.

Hi! Thanks for asking! Luckily everyone is mobile, and no special accommodations will be required.

 

[Jennkneefir]

You are well on your way with planning. It appears you have discussed and made decisions on many issues that may derail a group traveling together. Two suggestions: I do not know if they have Costco in Canada but if you are a member: You know they have great premade wraps, lasagne, slads, and other casseroles. They have delicious muffins and bagels etc. Great fresh fruit and veggies. I suggest as meal prep (depending on what your family likes to eat0 gets considerably easier with Costco. (Great paper products too.) Another suggestion that works for all ages and would be so fun for a large group is the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review. This is a fun evening event with great food for all.

We are all big time costco fans! I jsut need to double check if we can use our canadian membership in the states. I agree itll be a really easy way to feel a crowd!

 

[jo-jo]

Hi! Thanks for asking! Luckily everyone is mobile, and no special accommodations will be required.

Sorry to be a downer, but your trip is year away. You might want to get jot down a phone number or two, just in case the parks are too much. The easiest and cheapest would be a rollator, if someone needs just a tad of help. It helps with walking and if they need a rest , there is a seat. You could even get one at walmart. They fold up well and no issues with getting into cars.

Just something to keep in mind.

Last year, I had no issues, now my knees have gotten achy. I still have no issues walking, but my knees don't like steps.

Oh don't forget to take lots of pictures. We have made a few family trips, Us, kids, grandkids and my DD made books for us. Just lovely to take a book off the shelf to see them all.

 

[5disneymama]

Just one thing about MDE- it sounds like you are planning to take the lead and will be making some FP+ reservations for your group. Just remember once you have linked all those groups, everyone has access to everyone else’s plans. Both so see them and to change them. So another family could accidentally cancel and important FP+ that you have planned for yourself! We often link MDE with multiple groups of family and friends and have never had a problem but it’s important to be aware. Especially if some in your party are relying on you and don’t really understand how it works, then decide they want to go in and change something.

What I’ve learned to do with very large groups is only plan what I actually want to do. Very few exceptions. I plan my own immediate families’ itinerary/touring plans and make the FP+ reservations we want (and I’m happy to include anyone else and make them the same ones). In the past I have made touring plans for multiple families before with compromises - planning rides that other people wanted and things like that. Then, when they inevitably chose to split off and do something else, I was frustrated. Ironically, most of the trips that we’ve planned what we want to do with little input, others tend to stick with us for much of the time and do what we’ve planned.

 

[Shellyred8]

Hello!

I am in the early phases of planning a trip for August/September 2022 with my extended family. It will include myself and my spouse (we are childless), my brothers and their families (each have 2 daughters - ages 5, 6, 10, and 13 in 2022), our mother and her partner (in their late 60's), and possible one of my brothers in-laws (in their early 70's), for a total of 14 people! I am the planner in the family, and love getting into the nitty gritty details of curating a great trip. No one else is particularly interested in the time involved in reservations, booking fast-passes, etc. Each family unit will vary their own schedule slightly, but we plan to spend at least one meal a day together, and will plan to take a few days to just relax together by the pool, etc. For many in the group, it will be their first time at disney. I'll provide info to everyone, and once decisions are made independently, i will take it all, find the overlap, and schedule accordingly.

I would love feedback on the proposed trip, but would especially love feedback from anyone who has embarked on a similar multi-generational Disney trip.

Accommodations - Windsor Hills Home rental (largest bed/bath combo they have). We aren't interested in staying on property, as we want space to spread out and relax. The options at Windsor Hills seem like they would suit our needs, and save us all a fair bit of cash. If anyone has other resorts to recommend with similar amenities, I would love to hear them.

Transportation - Each family unit will rent their own vehicle. Some of us plan on rope dropping the parks, while others only plan to spend 1 or 2 days total at Disney. This way we can all get around without feeling stuck in one place. Some family units may opt to only rent a vehicle for a portion of their trip to reduce cost, and will plan on taking uber/lyft to and from the park. We are Canadian, so all will be flying.

Food - Each family unit will be on their own for breakfast/lunch, but we will combine forces for dinners. One night one couple cooks, etc, etc. If there are days when no one will be home for dinner, we may opt to skip those nights and eat out, or bring snacks. Groceries will reduce cost across the board, and we will each get a cupboard or shelf in the fridge. While i would love to assume that it'll be easy and no one will mind just splitting groceries equally, the reality is that everyone has their own budget, and i don't want anyone to stress over inadvertently covering someone else's cost. This way everyone can be as lax or strict as they like.

Reservations - Will be minimal. None of us are overly keen for character meals, and there are some excellent cooks in the group. Reservations that jump out at us as maybes include - Yak & Yeti restaurant @ Animal Kingdom, Ohana breakfast on a non-park day, and Sci-Fi Dinner for the fun atmosphere. Main justification for a reservation during the day is to give everyone a chance to sit down and beat some of the midday heat, and cool off. For this reason we would most likely make a reso mid-day for lunch, rather than a breakfast or dinner.

Day 1- Arrive (around noon). Check-in. Pickup groceries (one member of each fam will either go shop, or we will order groceries for delivery). Relax by pool. Possibly go out for dinner.

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom. No reservations at restaurants.

Day 3 - Hollywood Studios (if able to get boarding passes). If unable to get boarding passes, will switch to Epcot. This might change if fast passes are a thing. If Hollywood studios, will try and book reservation for late lunch at Sci-Fi dinner for all who are interested.

Day 4 - Day off. Relax at house. Possibly breakfast reservation at Ohana.

Day 5 - Epcot or Hollywood Studios round 2.

Day 6 - Animal Kingdom. Late lunch reservation at Yak & Yeti Restaurant for any interested.

Day 7/8 - Days off. Relax at house. Possible road trips to Nasa/Clearwater beach/St. Augustine/ Cocoa beach, etc. Some families might opt to repeat one of the parks.

Days 9/10 - Universal Studios/Island of Adventure - most of us have been to universal before, so this will be pretty lax. Just hitting our favourite rides, and experiencing new ones.

Days 11/12/13 - Days off. Relax days. Possible road trips/day trips. May opt to repeat Universal if they have their buy 2 days, get 2 days free passes. Might opt to visit Legoland, Seaworld, etc.

Day 14 - Head home!!

We are basically hoping to have a concrete enough plan that we see each other, without it being overly strict and stressful. If fastpasses are available, we will try and book them for the entire group that is at the same park the same day. Ie. if 8/14 of us are at Hollywood studios, we will all be booked for the same fastpass at slinky dog for 10am. That way if we arrive at different times, or opt for different rides at rope drop, we will still plan to meet up to ride slinky dog together. The only issue with this plan is height restrictions.

I am a big thrill-ride lover, so some of my older nieces may opt to tour with me rather than their parents for a few hours. At least one parent from each unit will have a US data plan so we can communicate via whatsapp.

If anyone has any great logistical suggestions, please share!!!!!

If they still have the Park Reservation system in place when you go, I would recommend making park reservations at Hollywood Studios on both Day 3 and 5. This park usually fills up first and it's usually easier to change from HS to EP than from EP to HS at the last minute.

On your road trip days, if anyone has seen the move Dolphin Tale (1 or 2) it might be fun to go see the Clearwater Marine Acquarium and see Winter and friends.

This sounds like a fabulous trip!!!

 

[Elephantay]

If they still have the Park Reservation system in place when you go, I would recommend making park reservations at Hollywood Studios on both Day 3 and 5. This park usually fills up first and it's usually easier to change from HS to EP than from EP to HS at the last minute.

On your road trip days, if anyone has seen the move Dolphin Tale (1 or 2) it might be fun to go see the Clearwater Marine Acquarium and see Winter and friends.

This sounds like a fabulous trip!!!

We've visited there! Definitely watch the movies if you are planning to go. The aquarium is small, but we added to our visit with a boat excursion in Clearwater Bay and that was well worth it.

 

[Macprincess]

I have stayed and organized several Windsor Hills week long stays with a large group. My daughter plays softball and when playing in tournaments in Orlando we often stay as a team either in a couple of vacation homes or several condo rentals. It can be a cost effective way to travel with a group, but it does require planning and patients when your sharing space with those who don't typically live together under the same roof.

First, since you mentioned that each family unit would be renting a car you should know that parking rules are strictly enforced in Windsor Hills. No parking on the street overnight. Also, no part of a vehicle may go over the sidewalk while parked in the driveway of a residence. Security has no issues towing cars here so don't risk breaking parking rules. Most vacation homes in Windsor Hills have turned the garage parking into game rooms. This basically means you only have room to park two vehicles in the driveway. There is over flow parking by the volleyball courts, but this could be a distance away depending on which residences you rent. Other then the parking issue home rentals here can be great for a large group. As it is very nice to have several bedrooms/bathrooms, a large kitchen, living room, and a backyard pool deck to BBQ and hang out in.

I would also suggest looking into the possibility of renting condos here. They offer both two and three bedroom units. You may find that putting each family unit in there own condo or perhaps two smaller groups together might be just as cost effective as a home all together. This affords a bit more privacy then a rental home all under one roof and still lets you be near each other. Parking is in an open lot for the condos in Windsor Hills and is plentiful. You can probably get condos near each other in the same building. Even if your not in the same building the buildings here are fairly close to each other and easy to walk to each others units. The pool and amenities are quite nice at Windsor Hills. In addition, if all parties have their own condo vs a shared vacation home rental, if one family needs to cancel then the whole group is not stuck having to shell out the cancelled part of the families portion of the accommodations.

Best of luck with your multi generational trip planning. I wish you the best for a magical adventure full of special memories.

 

[kwdw]

Sounds like fun! My main critique is about shared meals at the resort. Your families with kids likely won’t want to be back at the house several nights for dinner. That works well for a beach vacation, but not as well for a Disney trip unless everyone wants to end their park day at dinner. I might pick a couple group dinners and a couple group breakfasts, and late sleepers can eat leftovers from breakfast or be on their own. On a 10 day trip shared with my brothers family, we did several breakfasts, but only scheduled one dinner because we couldn’t predict when either of the two family units would want to come back to the resort for dinner. We also did some TS lunches in the parks for shared time. We are early bird and they are late sleepers, so they would be eating breakfast in pjs and still need to get ready to head to the park after breakfast, but we’d be ready to head out immediately after eating. You know your group, but there no way any part of my family could successfully leave a park, drive off property, to meet up with family for dinner during a Disney vacation. Sure, yes if we had an agreed upon non park day or one intentional special dinner, we could handle that. But multiple days, nope..... Again, for family trips to the lake or the beach, shared family dinners work great for us so I totally understand the idea. But not at Disney due to folks wanting to be in the parks at night.