Tried and true? Or something new?

These are all such helpful tips. Thank you! Any other advice for planning this kind of big trip while I’ve got your ear?

Things that make large group travel easier for us:

-staying on site helps a lot. People can come and go as they please via Disney transportation. My parents often head back to the hotel in the afternoon with a couple of kids and they can just go without having to worry about car seats, timing others in the rental car, etc.

-For booking dining, it is sometimes difficult to get a reservation for 14. We often have to make 7 and 7 for the same time. When we get to the restaurant we almost always are able to sit together, or at least near each other. This website has a good list of how many people each restaurant will let you book on a single reservation https://www.google.ca/amp/s/wdwprepschool.com/booking-large-groups-for-dining-at-disney-world/amp/

-I make all of the FPs and we usually do most of them together. If there are different selections, I try to keep them at the same time. Ie: 8 of us do Flight of Passage at 1:00, while the other 6 do Navi River at 1:00

- if someone wants to break away from the group it is no big deal and we just meet back up whenever

-I make a colour coded spreadsheet and give each family a copy. It sounds crazy but it has our Park plan, FPs and Dining reservations. That way everyone can do their own thing but know what time to meet back up for dinner or a certain ride, if they want.

-We always put into our schedule one big group photo in front of the castle. It’s always one of my favourite memories from the trip!

Have a great time!! There is something special at being at WDW all together. It does add a certain layer of craziness but I think it adds some more fun as well.
 
We typically stick to what we know. My family includes a couple non-too-adventurous eaters. But our most recent trip we decided to try a couple new places. We were so happy we did! We ate at The Wave one night for dinner then one morning for breakfast, and we will definitely go back there next trip. And we decided one night to try Pecos Bills (primarily because I wanted to try the spicy chocolate mousse cake). We all loved it there, too! I will admit, the fixin's bar kinda grossed me out, but we tried it anyway. Another place we'll visit again. Now the tough part is figuring out what places to drop.
 
Ugh this is what I was afraid of! I don’t want them to get the check for a Disney price meal they don’t like and feel like that’s MY fault!

Can you tell me more how you walked them through the options and menus and helped them decide? I just feel like the huge big list of ALL the options is so overwhelming and no one else really enjoys that kind of intense planning but me. I don’t want to make it seem like a chore and have that hard work feeling hanging over it either.

I can imagine if I just gave them all the menus my grumpy brother would just throw his hands up and insist on eating whatever QS they happen to be standing next to when they get hungry. And then will be mad that they don’t have any down time in A/C and that they end up with some crappy theme park food instead of the awesome meals I’ve been raving about.

Any ideas for helping them pick without making it so intense?
I would talk to them more about budgets (how much are they comfortable with per day/whole trip). This is a point we have issues with in our groups - I have insisted on DDP a few times to avoid fighting with certain members of the party (and I only do 1-3 TS meals a trip - depending on my budget). But if you know what they are thinking of spending then you can pick options that work for everyone over time. Maybe someone has a tight budget - but if they know what meals will be cheaper and which will be more expensive then they can plan their ordering better so they save where they need to so they can splurge at the right time.

Then I would talk to them about any food issues - any allergies, foods that people dislike (wouldn't want to book San Angel if someone in the group can't stand Mexican food), foods people LOVE (so you can think about that too).

I would also ask if anyone has heard of a place they are dying to try - heard about from work, friend, etc.

Then go with what you know - add some $ info from AllEars and book it out. I send everyone an itinerary when done and encourage them to do some research on just the chosen locations. However, I only have 1 or 2 people that have done that.
 
Planning a multi-generation, multi-family trip and trying to wrap my head around ways to dining. I know we’ll split up for different tastes, budgets, and interests but also want to share a TS together several of the days. I’m also the planner and most of the group is new to WDW so they don’t know what they like or want...

Big picture, my first trip I researched all the restaurants and made careful choices and LOVED almost every experience. That makes it really hard not to want to recreate that itinerary for my own family and also to lean toward things I believe my extended fam will like. But I also know my tastes aren’t always the same and wonder if I’d be missing out not to do mostly the same places...

How do you approach planning dining for first trip friends and family? Stick to your own tried and true? Or try something new and hope you really understand their tastes and preferences?
Disney simplified the task for you by filtering meals by cuisine, cost, etc. Use that tool to help your group narrow down their choices.
 



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