"You're going to Disney with HOW MANY people?" Extended Family Trip August 2019 NEW 8/22

[ThePin Princess]

"You're going to Disney with HOW MANY people?"
Extended Family Trip Summer 2020 EDIT: errr make that 2019​

Welcome to the circus!

Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for... this is THE GREATEST TRIP!

[okay okay okay Grace, calm down.]

Let's start with the who, what, when, where, and why!

Who:

ROLLLLL CALLLLLLL

***

Grace - The P.T. Barnum, the Hugh Jackman, the ring master if you will.



That's me -- 23 years old, the youngest sibling, the planner and researcher, the dreamer and visionary. I've been to Walt Disney World 20+ times, I did the DCP in the spring of 2015 (worked in Merchandise at the All Star Resorts), I've been to Disneyland once, and Disneyland Paris once! I'm a graphic designer, I love crafting, and my favorite characters are Tinkerbell, Tigger, and Rapunzel, and my favorite Disney snack food is Mickey Rice Krispy Treats with peanut butter chips on it!

***

Donna/Mimi - The Phillip Carlyle, the Zac Efron, the money source ... just kidding we're all the money source, but let's be real, Mimi is the reason stuff gets done. She's the boss lady.

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Mimi has been to WDW like 15+ times, DLR a few times in the 80's and in 2017, and she loves Donald Duck and the OG Mickey and Friends gang. Like myself, one of her favorite things about WDW is the food and snacks. We talk just as much about the snacks we're going to eat as we talk about our park plans.

***

Sister #1 Jill - the middle child, the buffoonery.. (just kidding, this circus charade is hard to keep up with) if Jill was in the circus she'd probably be doing baton twirling.. definitely sometime with two feet on the ground



I don't think anyone else wants me to share their age, so I won't, but Jill is older than me She's a hairdresser and has been to WDW about 10 times She loves Eeyore and always has.

***

Niece Jessica - the acrobat, the flying trapeze, the ants-in-her-pants girl



Jessica is 10 years old, she has been to WDW 2 times and Disneyland 1 time. She would prefer to go back to Disneyland, but tough luck cupcake. She loves all the characters, if I asked her favorite character 10 times she'd probably have a different answer every time I asked. She LIVES for getting her face painted at Disney, or any amusement park really. She belongs to sister #1 Jill.

***



Sister #2 Kelly (far left) - the lion tamer (I feel like having two boys qualifies you as a lion tamer right?)

Kelly is older than me and Jill, she's been to WDW about 5 times, and she loves Daffy Duck which yes I am aware is not a Disney character however it's one of my most distinct memories of her as a child. She obvi loves Disney and Disney characters, too. Duh, don't we all.

***



Nephew #1 Logan (the bigger one) - human cannonball

Logan is 10 years old (Logan is 4 days older than Jessica), he belongs to sister #2 Kelly, and he's a dang good big brother. He loves superheroes and Star Wars, as most 10 year old boys do. He has never been to Disney EVER!

***

Nephew #2 Nathan (the smaller one) - fire performance, just kidding we don't let kids play with fire... knife throwing??

Nathan is 8 years old, he also belongs to sister #2 Kelly, and he's a great youngest cousin. He also loves superheroes and Star Wars and he's never been to Disney either! That'd be a little mean if he'd been to Disney and his older brother hadn't.

***

Other circus members not pictured:

BIL #1 Joe - the circus handyman, he can fix anything and he's probably running around fixing the circus tent before it caves in on us all. He has never been to Disney before. Joe belongs to Jill

BIL #2 Chris - the circus chef, he keeps us all fed because well he's a real life chef. I honestly don't know if Chris has been to Disney before, I'll have to check on that and get back to you. Chris belongs to Kelly.

[Wow, I just realized I need to marry someone with a name that starts in a G because Joe & Jill, and Chris & Kelly all have that matching syllable thing going on.]

***

What: the WHAT is that we're gonna attempt to wrangle this whole crew up on a WDW trip!

When: Summer 2020 ... we'll the when is kind of fuzzy, you know? We're gonna have a gaggle of middle schoolers and can't really take them out of school so July seems like it'll probably be when this grand ole trip happens. This may or may not change

EDIT: WE BOOKED FOR AUGUST 2019 WOOOOO!

Where: Walt Disney World, OF COURSE! Hotel... we're not sure yet. This will be the biggest decision obviously. More to come on this.

The goal would be 9 or 10 nights, so there's plenty of down time for the kids and because of the summer heat, and just plenty of time to do everything!
Edit: The goal is 6 or 7 nights!

Why: ... is this even a question? Because we like FUN, OKAY THAT'S WHY!

And also because I've been taunting.. hmm that might not be the right word... instigating?.. my nephews by sending them post cards every time I go to Disney and constantly telling them how we're all going to go to Walt Disney World together for about 5 years every time I see Logan I tell him to make sure he's putting money in his Disney fund.

***

This PTR may seem a bit premature, but I was browsing the boards looking for larger group tips and trip reports or PTRs and didn't find many (or really any) so I figured it might be helpful for others trying to plan a trip for a large group to! And hopefully I'll be able to get some advice from all of you!

Plus, WDW is hecking expensive and especially when you're towing 10 people there! So we need all that time to save up

I hope you'll join our circus troupe for the journey!

 

[ThePin Princess]

Quick Links

Booking Update - January 2019
T-Minus 1 Month Til Disney!
Daily Plans: Days 1-4
Daily Plans: Days 5-8
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[ThePin Princess]

Your input! Rooming Advice! ​

Right off the bat, I want to say thanks for joining!

Right now we're in the pre-planning stage and trying to get a feel for how we want to go about rooms.

We know we want to stay on property for sure. Right now our/my thought, is to rent DVC points and stay in a 2 or 3 bedroom villa, depending on how many of us go for sure. It'll definitely be Grace (me), Mimi, Jill, Kelly, Jessica, Logan and Nathan, but the men are up in the air at the moment. It'll be 7 for sure, most likely 9, potentially 10.

So if you have any experience with staying in a 2 or 3 bedroom villa I'd love to hear about it! I'm thinking Old Key West will be our best option, maybe Saratoga Springs. We really like the idea of the villa because of having a kitchen and being able to cook some of our meals.

OKW Grand Villa - 3BDR ​

A few people I've talked to said they went on big trips and just split up into different rooms at Port Orleans, or wherever. The other thing we were thinking was 2 Art of Animation family suites. But again, the kitchen would be nice so we don't always have to eat out.

If you have any large group experience let me know how you handled rooming and overall how the experience was, I'd love to hear about it!

- Grace

[Oh I forgot to mention in the intro, but I'll go add it now, that we're planning on staying 9 or 10 nights. It's gonna be a long trip!]

 

[ThePin Princess]

Planning Research!​

This past weekend, the fam was at a water park together. And while Jessica, Jill, and Joe were out having fun in the wave pool, Mimi and I were sitting at the edge chatting Disney.. like you do. We were talking about this big trip, hence why I made a PTR and have been so excited about it, and how long we'd want to go and all that jazz.

Well flash-forward to last night, when I was on the phone with Mimi chatting about my research. And she's like "woah woah woah, ten nights?! I never said 10 nights" and I'm like "rewind the tape, because we definitely were talking about doing 10 nights.. aka a week and a half" Well she reeled me back into reality, said she was thinking more like 6.. maybe 7 nights. Just a week.

So I've redone the research and here I am! Ready to share. Does anyone else love researching Disney trips, and just trips in general or is that just me!

thanks google.​

Renting DVC Points

So as I mentioned before, the main thought in our minds is to rent DVC points and stay in a multiple bedroom villa for our big family trip. The tricky part comes into play is that we're not sure exactly how many people will be coming on this trip, anywhere between 7 to 11. So room size comes into play.

DVC rooms that sleep 8
- Animal Kingdom Lodge - 2 Bedroom Value
- Beach Club - 2 Bedroom
- Saratoga Springs - 2 Bedroom
- Boulder Ridge - 2 Bedroom
- Copper Creek - 2 Bedroom
- Copper Creek - Cabin
- Polynesian - Bungalow

DVC rooms that sleep 9
- Old Key West - 2 Bedroom
- Saratoga Springs - Treehouse
- Animal Kingdom Lodge - 2 Bedroom Standard
- Boardwalk - 2 Bedroom
- Grand Floridian - 2 Bedroom
- Bay Lake Tower - 2 Bedroom

DVC rooms that sleep 12
- Old Key West - Grand 3 Bedroom
- Animal Kingdom Lodge - Grand 3 Bedroom
- Bay Lake Tower - Grand 3 Bedroom
- Boardwalk - Grand 3 Bedroom
- Grand Floridian - Grand 3 Bedroom
- Saratoga Springs - Grand 3 Bedroom
- Copper Creek - Grand 3 Bedroom

The bold options are the ones that I'm looking into and considering. I've done the research for 6 nights and 7 nights in July, by looking at July 2019. With DVC the points are static so the number of points will stay the same, but the cost per point can change depending on what service you're renting through or if you're getting/renting them from someone direct, so the prices could be slightly different come July 2020 but this is a good place to start to at least get and idea.

July falls in the "Magic" season for DVC which is the second most expensive. I'm also looking into late August a little bit which falls in the "Dream" season and is a little bit less expensive than July. The kiddos usually go back to school the last week of August though, so it would depend on how the days fall and when the school year starts in the fall of 2020.

So here's the deets on what our 6 nights is looking like for July. I did the days Wednesday - Tuesday because that's how our trip would most likely fall.

Old Key West Grand 3 Bedroom Villa - 414 points approx. $6624.00
Old Key West 2 Bedroom - 256 points approx. $4096.00
Boardwalk 2 Bedroom - 260 points approx. $4420.00
Animal Kingdom Lodge 2 Bedroom - 248 points approx. $4216.00
Saratoga Springs Treehouse - 316 points approx. $5056.00

I've spoken with a few people. Some recommended staying off property, some recommended cabins at Fort Wilderness, some recommended just staying in regular guest rooms. It's been a big mix of opinions. I had a friend say he's stayed in a 2 Bedroom villa with 9 people before and it was a bit stuffy so he would recommend a Grand 3 Bedroom because everyone would have their own space.

thanks Disney for the picture​

I really want to stay at OKW anyway so I'm leaning towards that option. I like the idea of having a kitchen to cook meals, all being together in one space, but having separate rooms for everyone. And being on-property of course, for the Magical Express, the parks transportation, and the extra added magic (I'm a Disney-snob, okayyy).

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Other On-Property options

I looked into AoA Family Suites and Cabins at Fort Wilderness for the middle of July 2019, again, not the actual year we're going so it'll be a bit more expensive in 2020 (one would assume) but it's a good starting point. Also these numbers are room only, no tickets.

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Art of Animation Family Suites (we'd need two)

$430/night/day
$2,900 - 6 nights x 2 rooms
$5,800.00 total

Cons of AoA - no kitchen, couldn't make meals in.

We have stayed at AoA before and it was great! We stayed in the Lion King suites and we loved it. I love the theme-ing inside and think my nephews would really enjoy staying here, especially the Cars suites.

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Cabins at Fort Wilderness (again we'd need two)

$366/night/cabin
$2,470 - 6 night x 2 cabins
$4,940.00

Cons of Cabins - we'd probably need to rent golf carts $60/night/cart -- add $720 = $5,660.00

Both of these options seem like a lot less space than staying in a 2 bdr or 3 bdr villa too. I've never staying in one of the villas and I've never stayed in one of the cabins so I don't know from first hand experience, but from looking at floor plans and pictures it seems that way to me.

They way we would break up our groups would be 2 adults and 2 kids in one room and 4 adults and 1 kid in the other room. So the other room options would be at Caribbean Beach Resort or Port Orleans Riverside, both have a pull down child bed. Now Jessica slept in one of those bed when she was 5 and it worked great. She was little then. But she's about 5' 2" right now and I think she'll be even taller in 2 years so I'm not sure those would work. Plus it's just so little space for a lot of people. So I didn't even bother writing those options down. All Star Music also has a suite option with a pull out couch but again so little space for so many people.

See! She was so little then!
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*Other* Options - a.k.a. Off-Property options.

I said it before I'm a Disney Snob.

I stayed off-property with a huge group in 2010 and it was fun the house was nice and I had a great time, but I definitely felt like it was a little less magical than my regular on-property Disney stays. I don't know that's just me, don't be offended if you love staying off-property. I know lot's of people prefer it!

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Rental Home

I looked into renting a house in the same rental neighbor I stay in 2010. I looked at a 5 bedroom house for a week, because it's slightly cheaper to stay for a week than 6 nights.
House 1 week - $2,010
Rental Cars (2) - $1000
Parking (at Parks) - $350
total: $2500 rounded up

The current parking rate at the Disney Theme Parks is $22/car/day I rounded up to $25. So that's renting two cars and parking for two cars everyday.

I've also had people recommend renting through Airbnb or VRBO.

The next option I looked into was the Wyndham Bonnet Creek

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Their 3 Bedroom Suites are all booked for next summer I guess because I was only able to see rates for 2 bedroom suites with a max of 8 people, so here's the info for that.

Bonnet Creek 2 Bedroom Suite

$369/night
$2490.75

We'd either have to rent cars or use some form of shuttle from the airport to the hotel and then pay for the hotel's shuttle service to the parks which is $7/per person/per round trip.
So $7 x 8 people x 6 days (at least 6 round trip shuttles more if we wanted to come back during the day) = $336 for the hotel shuttle

$3000 for 8 people

I looked into Bonnet Creek because my mom has heard about it before and I have read a couple trip reports of people who stayed there and it seemed nice.

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So all in all that concludes my hotel/lodging research! I'd love to hear about any experiences you have staying at OKW, the Cabins, Bonnet Creek, a house off-site, really anywhere!

I know that the house off-site is the cheapest option, but again I'm a Disney snob and I really want to stay at Old Key West for the extra Disney magic elements.

Are you a Disney snob, too? Or does the cheapest option always win your heart over? I'm like a Disney snob who loves a Disney Deal So the cheapest Disney option usually wins me over.

*All the photos are from the internet, and belong to their rightful owners (except the two of Jessica which are of course my own photos)*

 

[friend2Figment]

We stayed AKL 2bd standard. 3 adults, 2 teens, 1 tween, 3 littles(1 was 2yrs old). Space wise we were fine. The full kitchen was nice and the master bath was a delight. There was actually 3 bathrooms which made getting ready easy. The kids loved the animals and pool.
We also stayed WBC we had a 3bdroom deluxe. Full kitchen and washer and dryer were really nice when young kiddos are along. It had 2 bathrooms. There are outdoor grill areas with places to picnic. Pools were nice in the evening. I had an annual pass and we drove from home so no extra cost for transportation. No extra magic hours is the only real downfall I can think of.
I am starting our June 2020 trip planning and I am able to see prices for a 4bedroom presidential @WBC ~$354 a night on VBRO.
We are leaning towards renting DVC points again but then our plans will need to be solid. WDW room only is so much more flexible so we will most likely book room only until we are solid on our plans then switch.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Joining in!

Just keep in mind it may be hard to rent that many points so just have a backup plan in place if that were to not work. But honestly if I were in your position that would probably be the route I'd go! If that is the case you could possibly do a split stay - half OKW/half AKL or whatever you prefer which may get you the number of points you need.

Also, Disney did change the points per night but for rooms larger than studios I believe the points went down so you may actually be over quoting your prices! (Disney can change the points to allot to the different categories - DVC members seem very ticked! I mean I would be lol)

I think a group trip like this sounds so fun though! I wish my family would do one but they all scoff at the idea of an adult family heading to Disney. (Yet me, my Mom, my sister and my husband go often and my brother just went with his gf so I think they are all just party poopers!) I can't wait to hear the rest of your plans!

 

[Gina Starr]

I know you haven’t posted on this in a while but I just found it and thought I would throw in my experience. My husband and I went to Disney with my sister, her husband, and their five kids two years ago. The kids were ages 1-11 at the time. Our experience was a little different as we didn’t stay at the same place. I’m a Disney snob 100% but my sister couldn’t afford to stay onsite for seven people so she found some timeshare that was crazy cheap like $200 total for 3 nights or something. They could also only afford two days at the parks while we had AP and stayed 10 nights. So luckily my only planning was adr and fp for 9 people (I guess 8 for fp since the baby didn’t have a ticket) I know you are still pretty far away from those types of plans but if you have any questions let me know!

 

[ThePin Princess]

We stayed AKL 2bd standard. 3 adults, 2 teens, 1 tween, 3 littles(1 was 2yrs old). Space wise we were fine. The full kitchen was nice and the master bath was a delight. There was actually 3 bathrooms which made getting ready easy. The kids loved the animals and pool.
We also stayed WBC we had a 3bdroom deluxe. Full kitchen and washer and dryer were really nice when young kiddos are along. It had 2 bathrooms. There are outdoor grill areas with places to picnic. Pools were nice in the evening. I had an annual pass and we drove from home so no extra cost for transportation. No extra magic hours is the only real downfall I can think of.
I am starting our June 2020 trip planning and I am able to see prices for a 4bedroom presidential @WBC ~$354 a night on VBRO.
We are leaning towards renting DVC points again but then our plans will need to be solid. WDW room only is so much more flexible so we will most likely book room only until we are solid on our plans then switch.

Thank you for all this info! I know I never responded but it was super helpful in weighing our options!

Joining in!

Just keep in mind it may be hard to rent that many points so just have a backup plan in place if that were to not work. But honestly if I were in your position that would probably be the route I'd go! If that is the case you could possibly do a split stay - half OKW/half AKL or whatever you prefer which may get you the number of points you need.

Also, Disney did change the points per night but for rooms larger than studios I believe the points went down so you may actually be over quoting your prices! (Disney can change the points to allot to the different categories - DVC members seem very ticked! I mean I would be lol)

I think a group trip like this sounds so fun though! I wish my family would do one but they all scoff at the idea of an adult family heading to Disney. (Yet me, my Mom, my sister and my husband go often and my brother just went with his gf so I think they are all just party poopers!) I can't wait to hear the rest of your plans!

Hi Cloe! Thanks for the info! You gotta talk your family into a big adult trip! If you just keep talking about it I bet they'll wear down!

I know you haven’t posted on this in a while but I just found it and thought I would throw in my experience. My husband and I went to Disney with my sister, her husband, and their five kids two years ago. The kids were ages 1-11 at the time. Our experience was a little different as we didn’t stay at the same place. I’m a Disney snob 100% but my sister couldn’t afford to stay onsite for seven people so she found some timeshare that was crazy cheap like $200 total for 3 nights or something. They could also only afford two days at the parks while we had AP and stayed 10 nights. So luckily my only planning was adr and fp for 9 people (I guess 8 for fp since the baby didn’t have a ticket) I know you are still pretty far away from those types of plans but if you have any questions let me know!

Thank you so much! I'll probably have lots of questions on how your big adr and fp for 9 people! That's our party size too! Where did you eat?! And which restaurants did you find best for your large group?

 

[ThePin Princess]

BOOKING UPDATE:

Oh hey there! How have you been?! My, oh my, how things have changed!

So rewind to August when I started this PTR! We were Disney Dreaming.. but Italy planning first! Our family game plan for the next few years was Italy trip summer 2019... THEN this big Disney trip in the summer of 2020.

WELLLLLL we changed our minds!

Mom and I were in Disney in September and the week before we left we thought: HEY! Why don't we upgrade to APs and then go on our family trip NEXT summer in August while we still have the APs. Nathan (youngest nephew) will still be 9 so we'll save an itty bitty bit of money since he's a kiddo in Disney's eyes. And Logan and Jessica with be on the brink of 12 and at in that last year of being able to do some of the "kid stuff" in the parks.

So our When has changed & our Where has been booked!

When: August 2019, 8 days, 7 nights
Where: Pop Century


Picture from wdwinfo.com

As you probably read above, we weighed many different options for room options and we settle on separate rooms at Pop Century.

I was very into the DVC villa route, but I'm not the one footing most of the bill so my opinion was veto'd. Which is completely fine because I think Pop will be so much fun! I absolutely love POP and I think my nephews will love it, too!

The last time I stayed at POP was Mar/Apr 2017 and the rooms hadn't been renovated yet.

We booked 3 rooms at Pop Century and are splitting it up by immediate family.

Room 1 $965 - Mom & me, we have APs and don't need park tickets
Room 2 $2332 - Jill, Joe, Jessica (11) - 7 day single park passes
Room 3 $2768 - Kelly, Chris, Logan (11), Nathan (9) - 7 day park passes
Total:

Mom booked flights last weekend because Delta had a great price so we're all flying from Boston to MCO together as well.
Roundtrip Flights for 9 people: $2400 / $265 per person

We decided to do single tickets because this is the first trip for half our party, it's gonna be hot, we plan on spending on time at the pool. And reviewing our last few trips with Jessica (at age 5 & 7) we only park hopped because we felt obligated to.

Fun things we'll be celebrating:

Jessica & Logan's 12th Birthday (they're born 4 days apart)
Jill's 30th Birthday

This trip is everyone's Christmas gift from Mimi/Mom , so our Christmas was really just everyone getting and giving Disney gift cards

The kiddos each have like $250 in Disney gift cards, so honestly they're like set.

ADR Planning:

We're thinking we'll being mostly doing quick service meals, but we do want to do a few sit down dinners as well!

We want to do 1 character meal. This will probably be a breakfast.

Options:
Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palace
Tusker House
Garden Grill - lunch

We were thinking Chef Mickey's because that's such a classic and somewhere our family has always done on our trips.

Does anyone have any experience with big groups at Garden Grill? We think that would be a fun pick, but we don't know seating wise?

Also, we've never been to Disney with boys! We're a girl family so we do a lot of girl things and when planning we want to make sure we're picking things the boys will like too.

Other dining:

My sister wants to do hibachi for her birthday celebration dinner. Mom and I went to Teppan Edo in September and thought it was great! The tables only have 8 seats, do you think they'd be able to just add a 9th chair to the table? Has anyone ever eaten at Teppan Edo with a large a group?

If anyone has any recommendations for fun table service restaurants for a large group, I'd love to hear about your experiences!

Questions!

1. Autism! Nathan (9) has autism. He's done theme parks before, he's a Canobie Lake pro, but Canobie Lake is definitely not in the same league as WDW. Has anyone ever used DAS? We're unfamiliar with it, and don't want to use it if we don't think we'll need it. I'd just love to hear anyone's experience with DAS in general if you don't mind sharing!

2. Boy Moms & Dads ! What are some WDW experiences that your boys have loved! I think the boys would love the Jedi Training but I don't know much about it so I need to do my research on that! And non-boy moms (aka everyone) what are some of your favorite off the beaten path Disney Experiences with or without kids?

3. Ordering food before the trip! We have never ordered food and had it delivered to the room before. Have you guys done this? Where do you order from? Do you ever find that you order too much and are left with a bunch of snacks?

I think that's all for now folks! I'M SO EXCITED! Can you tell?

​

 

[siren0119]

What a fun trip! POP is AWESOME, we only booked elsewhere this year because we got a crazy deal.

As to your questions:

1. I can definitely offer my personal experience with DAS. Our older boy needs it and it is VERY easy to set up. On your first day in any park, just head to Guest Services and let them know you have a child that requires accommodation for issues waiting in lines for long periods. They don't require any documentation or diagnosis, just a reason for the accommodation. They will take a photo of the kiddo needing DAS accommodations, and then scan each of your MB's to be attached to his record. The limit for DAS is generally 6 people, but if you have more they should be able to link all of you together, but might limit how many people can get on a ride with the DAS rider at a time. Just something to be aware of.

DAS will allow him to go to a ride's fastpass line, and schedule a return time. So you can't just use it to walk on rides, but the CM will look at what the current standby wait time is and give you a return time that's 5 minutes less than the current wait. It basically works like a placeholder in the line, you can go do other things, run around, get a snack...then come back near the time you would have been getting on the ride if you had gone through the standby line and enter through the FP line. It honestly made the whole trip for my son, no line anxiety, no outbursts, we could keep him moving but still let him enjoy the attractions.

2. DEFINITELY do Jedi Training. You sign up when you arrive at Hollywood Studios (the signup is around the corner to the left after you pass the 50's Prime Time Cafe) and schedule a time later in the day. They train with a Jedi Master and then "fight" Kylo Ren or Darth Vader in a little show in front of Star Tours. My boys LOVED it. If they are into superheros, they have Incredibles meet and greets in Pixar Place now!

If you're going to be in Magic Kingdom, my kids loved Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom Game. It's kind of like a deck battle game (like Pokemon, Magic or YuGiOh) but played through MK at special portals. There's also a Pirates Scavenger hunt game in Adventureland, we didn't do this one last time but plan to on our next trip.

3. We got a grocery delivery from a local supermarket last time, they aren't doing it anymore but Publix does delivery to WDW through Instacart. From what I've seen they are the cheapest overall, and they've gotten great reviews. We definitely ordered too many snacks last time, but we saved them for snacks on the plane ride home

 

[Gina Starr]

Yay for the trip being a year earlier!! So for my trip with 9 we did just a few adrs. T-Rex at DS was super simple to get and we were all able to sit together. At Epcot we did Nine Dragons in the China pavilion. Again, no problems with getting the reservation but they wouldn’t seat us all together which sucked. We had two tables back to back so it wasn’t even side by side so we could still talk.

I was most worried about getting reservations at Magic Kingdom. We did Cinderella’s Royal Table for breakfast. For some reason I couldn’t get a reservation for 9 online so I had to split it up. First I made a reservation for 6 and then I went to grab one for 3 and it wouldn’t let me make another one for the same time. I had to call which made me nervous but I was able to get one for 3 for the same time. I was told there was no guarantee we could sit together here either but they seated us at tables right next to each other so it worked out. It was a pre park opening reservation so that might be why were able to get the tables together. Then we did BOG for lunch which was easy to get and of course you seat yourself so no problems there.

 

[FIREMICKEY55]

Sounds like a fantastic trip. I know your plans changed and you are now staying at POP but I will put in my 2 cents for the Grand Villas. We have been DVC Members since 1993 (then it was just us and our son and daughter but has grown over the years like our DVC points have ) and do a major family vacation with our kids, their spouses and our granddaughters (10 of us all together now) every other year and have stayed at GV at OKW, SS, BLT, BW and this year will be in GV at GF & AK. This year we have 21 nights in July, 9 with our family then when they leave we have 7 nights with friends and their families, then 5 nights just the 2 of us.

For a group like yours the GV are amazing. The OKW ones are huge 2500+ sq. Feet and definitely the best value. It is great to have a common area for all to gather, eat, play games etc. then each group can retire to their own room but if some are early risers they can slip out to the kitchen and family room to relax with coffee until the others get up. Or can start cooking some bacon then the others will soon rise Bacon, Bacon and more Bacon.

There is nothing like being all together under one roof it is a blast.

BW GV are amazing, they are on one floor and overlook the boardwalk.

SS GV are very nice, 2 story, not as large as OKW and good resort ammenities.

BLT GV are one of my favorites, we always get theme park view, you are at the top of the tower and the units are 2 stories (like OKW). There was nothing like seeing my granddaughters sitting on the window sill watching the fireworks at the MK. The view of the park, the monorail, the lagoon and the horizon are priceless.

If you can afford it they are worth the extra money to have the full kitchen and washer/dryers help out so you can pack lighter and have simple meals when you get tired of the park food (and food prices).

Just things to think about for futures treks to the happiest place.

 

[Cloe Colton]

POP is awesome! And I think will be great for the kids and more of a Disney feel than a villa. I mean a villa would be nice but POP is super fun! Me, my Mom and sister will usually stay there on our Park Commando trips and love it!

I feel like Chef Mickeys would be super fun for your whole group! So iconic and super cool with the monorail going by!

And I am definitely going to keep pushing my family! Although I suspect most of them won't bite until someone has a kid to bring lol and since I'm the only child who is married and I don't want a baby right this minute we may be waiting! hahaha

 

[ThePin Princess]

Sounds like a fantastic trip. I know your plans changed and you are now staying at POP but I will put in my 2 cents for the Grand Villas. We have been DVC Members since 1993 (then it was just us and our son and daughter but has grown over the years like our DVC points have ) and do a major family vacation with our kids, their spouses and our granddaughters (10 of us all together now) every other year and have stayed at GV at OKW, SS, BLT, BW and this year will be in GV at GF & AK. This year we have 21 nights in July, 9 with our family then when they leave we have 7 nights with friends and their families, then 5 nights just the 2 of us.

For a group like yours the GV are amazing. The OKW ones are huge 2500+ sq. Feet and definitely the best value. It is great to have a common area for all to gather, eat, play games etc. then each group can retire to their own room but if some are early risers they can slip out to the kitchen and family room to relax with coffee until the others get up. Or can start cooking some bacon then the others will soon rise Bacon, Bacon and more Bacon.

There is nothing like being all together under one roof it is a blast.

BW GV are amazing, they are on one floor and overlook the boardwalk.

SS GV are very nice, 2 story, not as large as OKW and good resort ammenities.

BLT GV are one of my favorites, we always get theme park view, you are at the top of the tower and the units are 2 stories (like OKW). There was nothing like seeing my granddaughters sitting on the window sill watching the fireworks at the MK. The view of the park, the monorail, the lagoon and the horizon are priceless.

If you can afford it they are worth the extra money to have the full kitchen and washer/dryers help out so you can pack lighter and have simple meals when you get tired of the park food (and food prices).

Just things to think about for futures treks to the happiest place.

Thank you for all your input with your experiences! I love hearing about it! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that if we ever do a second big family trip we'll stay in a villa! I think it would be so fun to all stay together, it'd be more homey like the family beach vacations we took as kids!

POP is awesome! And I think will be great for the kids and more of a Disney feel than a villa. I mean a villa would be nice but POP is super fun! Me, my Mom and sister will usually stay there on our Park Commando trips and love it!

I feel like Chef Mickeys would be super fun for your whole group! So iconic and super cool with the monorail going by!

And I am definitely going to keep pushing my family! Although I suspect most of them won't bite until someone has a kid to bring lol and since I'm the only child who is married and I don't want a baby right this minute we may be waiting! hahaha

I'm so excited about POP! You're so right it'll be very much of a Disney feel, fully immersed! I'm thinking Chef Mickey's too, it's just a classic! Understandable! Lots of time to plan for that big family vacation

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

ADR Planning:

We're thinking we'll being mostly doing quick service meals, but we do want to do a few sit down dinners as well!

We want to do 1 character meal. This will probably be a breakfast.

Options:
Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palace
Tusker House
Garden Grill - lunch

We were thinking Chef Mickey's because that's such a classic and somewhere our family has always done on our trips.

Does anyone have any experience with big groups at Garden Grill? We think that would be a fun pick, but we don't know seating wise?

Also, we've never been to Disney with boys! We're a girl family so we do a lot of girl things and when planning we want to make sure we're picking things the boys will like too.

Other dining:

My sister wants to do hibachi for her birthday celebration dinner. Mom and I went to Teppan Edo in September and thought it was great! The tables only have 8 seats, do you think they'd be able to just add a 9th chair to the table? Has anyone ever eaten at Teppan Edo with a large a group?

If anyone has any recommendations for fun table service restaurants for a large group, I'd love to hear about your experiences!

Questions!

1. Autism! Nathan (9) has autism. He's done theme parks before, he's a Canobie Lake pro, but Canobie Lake is definitely not in the same league as WDW. Has anyone ever used DAS? We're unfamiliar with it, and don't want to use it if we don't think we'll need it. I'd just love to hear anyone's experience with DAS in general if you don't mind sharing!

2. Boy Moms & Dads ! What are some WDW experiences that your boys have loved! I think the boys would love the Jedi Training but I don't know much about it so I need to do my research on that! And non-boy moms (aka everyone) what are some of your favorite off the beaten path Disney Experiences with or without kids?

3. Ordering food before the trip! We have never ordered food and had it delivered to the room before. Have you guys done this? Where do you order from? Do you ever find that you order too much and are left with a bunch of snacks?

I think that's all for now folks! I'M SO EXCITED! Can you tell?

​

Hello! I just found your PTR today. I'm enjoying it very much so far! I just wanted to chime in with my thoughts on some of your questions.

Teppan Edo: We've eaten there with larger groups before. I think the largest was a group of 10. It's been a few years, but I would think you would be okay with 9.

Autism: My oldest DS is on the spectrum and we've used DAS many times. It's honestly the only reason that we are able to enjoy WDW. We've been to other theme parks that do disability services differently and we prefer DAS hands down. Typically, we visit Guest Services first thing in the morning on our first park day and explain what he needs (less crowded line environment, stroller as wheelchair, etc). They get everything set up and we go on our merry way. Sometimes this can take a while, depending on how quickly we are able to get in line at GS. Anyway, whenever we approach an attraction, we just tell the CM that we need a DAS return time and they scan our bands. It's all pretty simple and straightforward. We've never really had any issues, thankfully.

Boy things: My oldest DS has done Jedi Training multiple times and LOVES it! It's one of the things he is most looking forward to for our next trip. He has also done Pirates League in MK and enjoyed it.

Preordering food/items for the room: I've used Garden Grocer in the past and it worked well. I have Amazon Prime and used Amazon Now for our last trip. It was very easy and I'll probably do it again on our next trip. The first time I ordered, I did overestimate and order WAY too much stuff, which I couldn't take home with me because we were flying. Luckily, I knew someone from DISboards was checking in at my resort the next day, so I messaged them and was able to leave my extras at bell services for them.

Hope my thoughts have been helpful. Looking forward to more updates!

 

[ThePin Princess]

Hello! I just found your PTR today. I'm enjoying it very much so far! I just wanted to chime in with my thoughts on some of your questions.

Teppan Edo: We've eaten there with larger groups before. I think the largest was a group of 10. It's been a few years, but I would think you would be okay with 9.

Autism: My oldest DS is on the spectrum and we've used DAS many times. It's honestly the only reason that we are able to enjoy WDW. We've been to other theme parks that do disability services differently and we prefer DAS hands down. Typically, we visit Guest Services first thing in the morning on our first park day and explain what he needs (less crowded line environment, stroller as wheelchair, etc). They get everything set up and we go on our merry way. Sometimes this can take a while, depending on how quickly we are able to get in line at GS. Anyway, whenever we approach an attraction, we just tell the CM that we need a DAS return time and they scan our bands. It's all pretty simple and straightforward. We've never really had any issues, thankfully.

Boy things: My oldest DS has done Jedi Training multiple times and LOVES it! It's one of the things he is most looking forward to for our next trip. He has also done Pirates League in MK and enjoyed it.

Preordering food/items for the room: I've used Garden Grocer in the past and it worked well. I have Amazon Prime and used Amazon Now for our last trip. It was very easy and I'll probably do it again on our next trip. The first time I ordered, I did overestimate and order WAY too much stuff, which I couldn't take home with me because we were flying. Luckily, I knew someone from DISboards was checking in at my resort the next day, so I messaged them and was able to leave my extras at bell services for them.

Hope my thoughts have been helpful. Looking forward to more updates!

Hi! Thanks for joining and thanks for all your great tips! I'm so excited our trip is only a month away now!!!

 

[ThePin Princess]

T-MINUS 1 MONTH TIL DISNEY!

We booked our rooms back in January and I can't believeeeee our trip is less than a month away!!

Recap on the official trip info:

7 days/8 nights at Pop Century
Party of 9:
Mom/Mimi (Donna), Grace,
Jill, Joe*, Jessica,
Kelly**, Chris**, Logan*, Nathan*
* first trip ** hasn't been in 10+ years

I am the cruise ship director for this party, so I'm the one that's been handling all of the planning. Mom and I like to consider ourselves seasoned Disney pros, we usually have no plan and wander around and do whatever we please and don't worry too much about getting stuff done because we've done pretty much everything and we know we'll be back in the future.

HOWEVER, this trip is different because with so many people and so many first timers we need a solid plan. So I've done just that, made a plan for each day.
I know some people don't believe in plans, and while our plans have a general time guide to them, we're not like crazy punctual people and we're not attempting to do things down to the minute, it's just a general gist so we know what's going on.

We got together back in June to have a family planning party and talk about what rides and attractions everyone wants to do before it was time to book our Fastpasses. Mom handled booking the Fastpasses and she got great ones!

We're having one more family meeting before we go on the trip to go over the plan, for me it's really important that everyone know the plan and trust in the plan (lol) because if I have 6 people constantly asking me "when are we doing this?" "can we do this now" "I wanna do this" it'll be miserable for me and I'll probably freak out at someone. And we can't have that happening at the happiest place on earth, now can we?

And the real purpose of the plan, is that everything will get done. There's plenty of time for pool, and there's no rushing, and every attraction that someone wants to ride will get ridden (err rode?).

So let's start!
-----
Quick Overview:

Day 1: Travel day & MK
Day 2: DHS
Day 3: EPCOT
Day 4: MK, ADR Hoop De Doo
Day 5: ADR Ohana
Day 6: DAK
Day 7: EPCOT, ADR Teppon Edo
Day 8: Travel home

-----
I'll start breaking it down day by day in the next post!
​

 

[ThePin Princess]

Daily Plans Days 1-4

Day 1: Travel Day & MK

This will be one of our longest days, but might as well do it at the beginning of the trip when everyone is cheery and in good spirits.

We have a 7:45am flight to MCO landing at 11:10. We're doing just carry-on's and we'll probably check 2-3 suitcases that will go straight to the hotel on DME.

Land at 11:10, head over to DME.
LUNCH
We're going to bring Uncrustables to eat while we wait for the bus rather than stopping and getting lunch at the airport or waiting until we get to the hotel and everyone is hangry.

1:00 Arrive at POP, check-in
Hopefully we'll get there earlier than 1pm, but you never know.

2:00-3:00
Leave for Magic Kingdom
Photos on Main Street - going to try and squeeze these in before the parade hits Main Street

3:00-5:00
Pirates of the Caribbean
SNACK
Jungle Cruise *
Tiki Room *
4:30-4:45 Big Thunder Mountain (FP)
4:55 Splash Mountain (FP)

5:00-9:00
Haunted Mansion
DINNER
Columbia Harbor House or Cosmic Rays
Tomorrowland
People Mover
7:30 Space Mountain (FP)
Carousel of Progress
Laugh Floor

EMH 9:00-11:00
Buzz
Speedway*
Astro Orbiter*
Barnstormer*
Dumbo*
Mad Tea Cups*
Many Adventures of Pooh*
Little Mermaid*

Back to hotel

*if there's time/ if people want to do that
-----

Day 2: DHS

This will be another long and early day, but it's also the last long or early day so we figure the kids will be fine.

7:00-7:30
Leave POP to DHS
BREAKFAST - eat a granola bar on the way

8:00-9:00
Rope drop DHS and head straight to sign up for Jedi Training
*this is a big to do for the boys and our only day in DHS*
Their time slot will dictate the rest of the day depending on whether they can get in an early or later slot, but we'll just **** the plans around that when we find out.

9:30-1:00
Toy Story Land
Slinky Dog Dash
Alien Saucer Spin
12:50 Toy Story Mania (FP)
LUNCH

2:00-3:00
2:35 Rock n Rollercoaster (FP)
Tower of Terror

3:00-5:00
Star Wars Launch Bay
VISA Character Meet
Walt Disney Theater
4:05 Star Tours
Muppet Vision

6:00-8:00
DINNER
Might go back to the hotel, might not?

9:30
Star Wars: A Galaxy Spectacular Fireworks

Back to the hotel

Those will be the two longest and most jammed packed days and the other slow down a bit.

-----

Day 3: EPCOT

7:00-11:00
BREAKFAST at POP
Swim

11:30
Leave for EPCOT

12:00-2:00
12-12:30 Spaceship Earth (FP) (ends 12:30)
12:40 Test Track (FP)
Mission Space* (I don't think anyone will want to do this)
Seas Pavillion
Nemo & Friends
Turtle Talk*

2:00-4:00
SNACK
VISA Character Spot
3:05 Figment
Club Cool

4:00-9:00
World Showcase
LATE LUNCH/DINNER
La Cantina de San Angel
Gran Fiesta Tour
Explore

9:00 Illuminations

Head to hotel

-----

Day 4: MK & Hoop De Doo

7:00-11:00
BREAKFAST at POP
Swim

11:30-12:00
Leave for MK

12:30
Arrive at MK

12:30-2:30
12:40 Meet Mickey & Minnie (FP)
Pictures on Main Street
SNACK

2:30-4:00
Boat to Fort Wilderness

4:00-6:00
DINNER Hoop De Doo
Boat back to MK

6:30-8:00
6:35 Peter Pan's Flight (FP)
It's A Small World
Philharmagic
7:40 Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (FP)

8:00-9:00
Find spot for Fireworks
SNACK

9:00
Happily Ever After

Head back to hotel

-----

Days 5-8 next post​

 

[ThePin Princess]

Daily Plans Days 5-8

Day 5: 'Ohana & Unplanned Day

9:30
Minnie Van to Polynesian

10:20
BREAKFAST
'Ohana

Unplanned
- we have a park ticket we could use this day
we're also thinking about maybe doing a water park this day
or just hanging at the hotel or mini golf
It's all very up in the air

-----

Day 6: DAK

7:00-10:00
BREAKFAST at Pop
Swim

10:30
Leave for DAK

11:00-12:00
Arrive at DAK
Family Pictures
Get in line for FOLK

12:00-1:00
Festival of the Lion King
12:35 Expedition Everest (FP)

1:00-2:00
Dinosaur
Primeval Whirl*
LUNCH

2:30-4:00
2:30 Flight of Passage (FP)
Navi River

4:00-5:00
3:45 Safari (FP)
Exploration Trail

*We might go back to the hotel and just swim and hang out or we might stay for Rivers of Light, no one in our group has ever seen Rivers of Light so I'd love opinions if it's worth staying/seeing or if it's okay to skip*

I think Rivers of Light will be at 7:00 & 8:00

-----

Day 7: EPCOT & Teppon Edo

7:00-12:00
BREAKFAST at Pop
Swim

12:30-1:00
Leave for EPCOT

1:00-2:00
1:00-1:30 Soarin' (FP)
1:40 Living with the Land (FP)
LUNCH

2:00-9:00
SNACK
World Showcase
DINNER
7:50pm Teppan Edo

EMH 9:00-11:00
Frozen Ever After
Test Track
Soarin

Head back to hotel

-----

Day 8: Travel Day

8:00
BREAKFAST at Pop

9:00ish
DME to MCO

12:00pm
Flight back home

-----​

 

[MimiMoments]

We are staying at Pop this August too! Your trip sounds great. Can't wait to read more!
I'm also a Mimi and would love to take our kids and grands on a magical trip in a couple of years. That would be a group of thirteen!
This year's trip will be our first since 2011, so a lot is very new to me. I was a wreck trying to book FP's for just two of us, lol. Did your Mimi have any trouble getting them booked for a group of 9?