Help! Grandparents trying to plan a family WDW adventure and overwhelmed!

[FishSlayer]

Hello! My husband and I are taking the three adult kids 8 grandchildren to WDW the beginning of May 2024 for the first time. The grandchildren range in age from 3 to 13 and of course we want to make the most of it. I keep hearing about planning multiple itineraries and making reservations but how do you know how long it will take to get from one adventure to the next? And how do you plan an itinerary? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[sheilafri]

With that large a group you might think about using a travel agent. Several specialize in WDW travel. I’ve never used one so can’t give a specific recommendation. I would think they could walk you through the ins and outs of WDW parks if you aren’t familiar with them. It has become pretty complicated. I handle things for DH and myself and could probably handle one child/spouse and grandchild but would be hesitant to do a larger group on my own if unfamiliar with the parks. On the other hand, if you are easygoing and don’t mind potentially making mistakes, just get the flights, hotels, and park tickets and go from there.

 

[jo-jo]

Where are you staying?

We did a trip with a few less people. We tended to do everyone tall enough go to space mountain, short people come with grandma and grandpa and go to little mermaid. We'll take a spin on people mover and meet up at buzz. There is waiting for the other groups. but filled the time with juice boxes and snacks.

 

[FishSlayer]

With that large a group you might think about using a travel agent. Several specialize in WDW travel. I’ve never used one so can’t give a specific recommendation. I would think they could walk you through the ins and outs of WDW parks if you aren’t familiar with them. It has become pretty complicated. I handle things for DH and myself and could probably handle one child/spouse and grandchild but would be hesitant to do a larger group on my own if unfamiliar with the parks. On the other hand, if you are easygoing and don’t mind potentially making mistakes, just get the flights, hotels, and park tickets and go from there.

Thank you, I have wondered if travel agents could help with this planning.

 

[FishSlayer]

Where are you staying?

We did a trip with a few less people. We tended to do everyone tall enough go to space mountain, short people come with grandma and grandpa and go to little mermaid. We'll take a spin on people mover and meet up at buzz. There is waiting for the other groups. but filled the time with juice boxes and snacks.

We rented an Air B-n-B about 20 minutes from Disney. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Micca]

Divide and conquer! Trying to keep a large group together for hours on end is stressful. Split off into groups (and group members can vary) otherwise there's just one group standing around waiting for the other group so you can move on to the next thing. You can meet up for meals, and maybe there's a key attraction in each park where everyone rides together. Attempting to keep a large group together will result in a restroom break AFTER.EVERY.RIDE.

 

[CamillaF]

I took 13 family members to Disney. The age range was from 9-77. We had one person who needed a scooter to get around. I would recommend being fine breaking up into groups, trying to move as that big of a group is nearly impossible with how big the crowds can get. You could book a large meal at the middle/ end of the day so you have a time/place to meet. Perhaps getting a fireworks or fantasmic package so you could easily enjoy the night time events together. I would get a travel agent. Getting reservations for that many is stressful. Have fun! Also recommend enjoying the Air BNB and your down time together.

 

[FishSlayer]

Divide and conquer! Trying to keep a large group together for hours on end is stressful. Split off into groups (and group members can vary) otherwise there's just one group standing around waiting for the other group so you can move on to the next thing. You can meet up for meals, and maybe there's a key attraction in each park where everyone rides together. Attempting to keep a large group together will result in a restroom break AFTER.EVERY.RIDE.

Great advice! Thank you!

 

[Deb1993]

Hi - we've done large trips with your age ranges multiple times. I was the primary planner and thankfully my group followed the plans for the most part. Best to be as flexible as possible with your expectations as your group will move slowly. Our group had just as much fun with sleepovers and birthday cake singing (we got a celebration cake and lit candles and sang for each month that had birthdays) as they did in the parks. I typed out an itinerary that was shared with everyone weeks before we left and it included sit down lunches/dinners out and dinners at our timeshare with what was being cooked, what park we were going to on what day, etc. We have wonderful memories from those trips - wishing you the same.

 

[rdaky]

We've done very large group trips with my in-laws and I'm going to be honest- they were so stressful that we no longer do them. I'd encourage everyone to do their own thing, what they want, and maybe meet up for meals or a couple of special rides, as someone mentioned earlier. One of the things that made it difficult was that we had people who tried to keep everyone together with their agenda and the reality is that not everyone vacations the same way. Some want to rope drop, some want to sleep in, some want to go go go, some want to stop and look for hidden mickeys or listen to a piano player, some want to keep going until close and others just want to go back to the pool and swim. None of those things are right or wrong. I would just choose the park each day, choose lunch or dinner where you will meet (and again, probably just choose one or the other) and be ok with splitting up, especially since you're all sleeping in a house together.

 

[FishSlayer]

We've done very large group trips with my in-laws and I'm going to be honest- they were so stressful that we no longer do them. I'd encourage everyone to do their own thing, what they want, and maybe meet up for meals or a couple of special rides, as someone mentioned earlier. One of the things that made it difficult was that we had people who tried to keep everyone together with their agenda and the reality is that not everyone vacations the same way. Some want to rope drop, some want to sleep in, some want to go go go, some want to stop and look for hidden mickeys or listen to a piano player, some want to keep going until close and others just want to go back to the pool and swim. None of those things are right or wrong. I would just choose the park each day, choose lunch or dinner where you will meet (and again, probably just choose one or the other) and be ok with splitting up, especially since you're all sleeping in a house together.

Thank you for that perspective! I hadn’t thought about it that way but it makes sense!

 

[NickC]

I haven't done WDW with a large group, but I've done other vacations that way. Splitting up was mentioned, but I would also add to make a small plan each night for the mornings. Something simple like, 'who wants to rope drop? We leave at 6:30. We can meet up with everyone else at 11 to hit some rides together before lunch.'

I was away for a week at the beach. Me and my son planned to get up at 5 and go crabbing. As we were walking out the door, someone would wake up and say they were coming too. BUT--first they wanted coffee. Then someone else would wake up and didn't need coffee, but wanted to go for a 30 minute run while, in the meantime, the person who just wanted coffee was taking a shower. Which woke up someone else who wanted to hang out on the dock but needed a donut on the way....

 

[sponica]

With a group that big, based on experience these are my recommendations:
Talk about overall group expectations. Is this a family trip at Disney World or a Disney trip with family? They aren't the same. And if someone thinks it's option A but someone else thinks it's option B, nobody is happy.
Keeping a group that big together will be challenging, let some people go off and do different things and maybe set a meal for everyone to meet at once a day. Whether it's lunch or dinner or what have you.

The other thing to keep in mind, since you're off site at an Air BnB, transportation will be more complex. It was the one thing I hated about staying off site on a family trip years ago. There were 2 cars, so we basically left whenever the drivers of those cars left and came back when they came back. Within the grounds of WDW, we could do our own thing. Granted this was in the pre-Uber and Lyft days, now this isn't as much of a problem....unless you have a kid in a 5 point restraint.

 

[tjmw2727]

Has anyone in the party been to Disney?

If so, they would be a natural lead, if not I would find out what everyone's expectations are for the trip and make sure they take some responsibility for their own vacation. If you can get everyone together for a planning dinner - maybe adults only that's a good start. What parks do they want to visit, must do attractions, character greetings (this could be parlayed into a meal if lots of kids like the same character). What's everyone's meal budget and preferences, early dinner vs late lunch, sit down vs quick serve.

With essentially 4 families I would have at least 2 if not 3 rental cars or plan to use rideshare.

It's been said upthread but be willing to split up - early risers vs night owls. We have done trips with extended family and that was the key. Some days we left together and split after lunch, other days we met at lunch and stayed together for a few hours. We usually stay onsite but not all together, depending on each family's budget and it works for us.

You asked about travel time - to be realistic - air BnB 20 minutes from Disney means at least 45 minutes to an hour travel time once you add in traffic and then actually getting to the park, esp. MK where you will also need to take a boat or monorail. Once onsite travel between parks can take an hour or more, not sure if that's what you meant,

I would suggest watching some you tube videos to get a better idea of what is offered at each park, "All Ears" has some great ones as does "Mammoth Club".

Don't try and do it all, focus on a few must do's from each family member and take it from there. If you miss something that's just a chance to return in the future

 

[Genie+]

I agree with divide and conquer strategy. It’s really the kindest for all concerned.

Of course every family is different but in general:

I would not recommend planning meals out together everyday. One or two the whole trip is PLENTY.

Similar for rides. Just pick the few that are most meaningful and worth coordinating.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

My answer is on the fly but here goes:
I will assume you are going for 7to 8 days

Keep reading info here everyday!!
Keep dining reservations to an acceptable level like 3 / one of those a character meal . All others can be counter service, it's just cheaper and quicker! Look into getting a grocery delivery . This is something one of your adult kids can take charge of!!! It is so nice to have bottled water and snacks/ fruit in your room for early mornings and later at night.
Plan on one non- park day where everyone will go to the pool, or bus to Disney Springs or venture to other resorts to look around ( Animal Kingdom Lodge is great to visit because it is so unique!. OR, this day could be a do what ever you want day too so all families can feel like doing their own thing for a day!

Another consideration is to let everyone do their own thing every day and then meet up after dinner at the pool. Or everyone go to the same park but do their own thing and then meet for fireworks - some bodies need to save space at least 60 to 90 minutes ahead of time.

But realize WDW is HUGE and expansive and you can't see or do it all!

I'm excited for you!!!

 

[Orcmeat]

My opinion is to decide what is a "must" and what is a "would be nice"....focus on the musts, see what you can fit in....then just keep the "would be nice"'s in your mind and let "fate" decide. my guess is you may actually enjoy NOT having the stress of "must be here by 6", "gotta leave in 5m to do..." and instead just be more spontaneous.

another thought with such a big range of kids is that you might need multiple "iterineries" for the older versus younger kids. Just thinking thru what parts of magic kingdom they'd be interested in is enough to hurt my feet.

 

[FishSlayer]

My answer is on the fly but here goes:
I will assume you are going for 7to 8 days

Keep reading info here everyday!!
Keep dining reservations to an acceptable level like 3 / one of those a character meal . All others can be counter service, it's just cheaper and quicker! Look into getting a grocery delivery . This is something one of your adult kids can take charge of!!! It is so nice to have bottled water and snacks/ fruit in your room for early mornings and later at night.
Plan on one non- park day where everyone will go to the pool, or bus to Disney Springs or venture to other resorts to look around ( Animal Kingdom Lodge is great to visit because it is so unique!. OR, this day could be a do what ever you want day too so all families can feel like doing their own thing for a day!

Another consideration is to let everyone do their own thing every day and then meet up after dinner at the pool. Or everyone go to the same park but do their own thing and then meet for fireworks - some bodies need to save space at least 60 to 90 minutes ahead of time.

But realize WDW is HUGE and expansive and you can't see or do it all!

I'm excited for you!!!

Thank you!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I saw on the news a couple of weeks ago...."Classes to Navigate Disney World."

 

[tinkerjo]

We have done multi generational trips for years. Some are great, some are stressful. We do all go to the same park every day. Mostly we break up into individual family groups. Grandma and grandpa normally go with the family that needs more help with littles(my younger brother) my older brother/kids were park commandos, we are rope drop-3-4 pm kinda people. We would meet up for a special ride/experience or grab a quick service with someone if we were in the same area but other than that, we may not see everyone until supper. We always tried to eat supper together, even if it was back at the resort eating hot dogs and Mac and cheese. It was fun talking about your day, comparing notes, and planning the next day. The miserable people are the ones walking around together as a group of 20. I would have 1 main planner to plan the big picture(room, a meal plan, transportation) but let each family handle their own daily plans like Genie+, lightning lanes and such.