The Blog

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On my last trip I toured the parks and shared meals with about 25 great friends.  Sometimes our numbers fluctuated, but on average we had about 20-25 people in our posse.  Just imagine the looks on cast members faces when they saw us coming!  Despite the fear in cast members’ eyes we had a blast so I wanted to share some advice with readers about how to tour with their own large parties.  Whether you decide to head to Walt Disney World for a family reunion or just to enjoy the company of good friends, rest assured that traveling all together doesn’t have to be a headache.

First things first when traveling with a lot of people; make sure everyone is on board with your plans.  Tools like google calendar and plancast have been really helpful when planning my last few trips.  With these online tools, the planner (i.e. me) can post all of the events, dining reservations, and park hours for the entire group to see.  My google calendar for my last trip was shared with close to 20 people and they could all add events when needed.  It was great to have a centralized reference point for the trip!  For most days we had an ADR planned and maybe a touring plans meet to attend, but otherwise we decided what to do as we went along.  We usually designated a park for the day and often hopped to another park in the evening, making sure everyone knew where we could be found.  With a bit of advanced planning everyone was ready for our daily adventures without 25 people trying to decide where to go and what to do standing in the Magic Kingdom hub.

Something you’ll want to get onto those calendars as soon as possible is dining plans.  It is essential to make Advancing Dining Reservations as close to your six month window as possible.  Disney will do their best to fit your group in, but the earlier you make your arrangements the better.  I’d also recommend trying to hit some places where they serve family style meals or buffets to make life easier.  There are plenty of buffet and family style options around property many of which include time to rub elbows with your favorite characters.  My group had a blast at character meals as well.  Since we are all adults we usually don’t spend a lot of time seeking out characters so it was a nice change to try them out last month.  We had breakfast at both Chef Mickey’s and O’hana and had a blast at both.   The characters really seemed to play it up to our big crowd and we had a blast with them.

Once you have all of your ADRs lined up, you’ll want to try to figure out how your group will pay for all of that food.  I know it sounds crazy to think about that in advance, but I think the biggest issue we faced with the size our group was paying for our table service meals.  When people wanted to split up the check, it could be a challenge for the restaurant’s cast members.  Most of them tried to be accommodating, but it often took close to an hour to figure out the checks.  The next time we travel as herd we are going to have to come up with a better system for paying our bills.

Aside from eating what are some good things to do with a big group?  There are several attractions which lend themselves nicely to larger parties.  Any show can easily handle a family or crowd of Disney fanatics.  For example, your bunch should be able to find seating all together at the Beauty and the Beast stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Festival of the Lion King.  Just be sure to arrive far enough in advance of the performance to grab enough seats for your party.  Also, attractions with continuously loading ride vehicles such as Spaceship Earth and the Haunted Mansion work well.  As long as you are willing to wait and cooperate with the cast members no attraction is really off limits.

Don’t think that all of you have to stay together during every waking moment of your trip.  In this day and age of cell phones, smart phones, and technology it is easy to keep track of each other if your group splits up.  Some folks want to go check out the parade while others want to take advantage of a short like on Space Mountain?  No problem!  Arrange to call/text/tweet each other when you are finished with your various activities and select a meeting spot.  It couldn’t be easier to satisfy everyone’s Disney vacation needs. Maybe your group needs to split up for most of the day?  That’s no problem either, but I’d recommend planning to all come together for a meal or to take in the fireworks in the evening to end the day as a group. On a similar note, don’t think you all have to stay in the same hotel either.  With over 25 folks heading to WDW we all had different budgets and needs so we stayed in several different hotels.

The next time I tour with a big group like this I think I will try to get help from a travel agent.  Our trip started as a few friends heading to WDW together, but morphed into a huge group of folks who love the mouse.  If I had any idea how many people would be joining us I would have gotten help.  A travel agent can assist a large group in so many ways from making ADRs for everyone to arranging Magical Gathering activities.

What’s a magical gathering you ask? Well, it’s Disney’s way of creating something extra special for big groups like ours or maybe a family reunion or wedding party.  Groups of eight or more people over three years old can enjoy the benefits of having a travel planner dedicated to their group.  Folks who select to take advantage of the magical gatherings can also participate in special experiences such as an Illuminations dessert party or a safari celebration dinner at the Animal Kingdom.  If you think you might be interested in a grand gathering for your next trip, check out Disney World’s website to get started or call your favorite Disney travel agent.

So would I travel with a big group again?  You bet I would! Not only would I travel with a big group again, but I’m already making plans for our big bunch during the first weekend of December!  I love spending time in one of my favorite places with some of my favorite people.  Not only would I do it with these folks again, but I’d love to explore the option of going to WDW with my entire family or having an all girls get away some time.  I’m sure my travel agent would be happy to book spa treatments for the girls or a character meal for my nieces and nephew.  Oh the possibilities!

Have you traveled with a large group before? I’d love to hear some of your advice on the topic! Please share any strategies you may have used with your large family or crew of Disney friends!

Next week I’ll discuss a great place to go with a big group, the Whispering Canyon Cafe…

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