Anybody with large group experience...?

[singerella]

Unfortunately, it has become a little unwieldy now. Difficult getting 14 people ready at the same time with babies, teenagers and the more mature all moving at different speeds. Been fantastic but it is now our plan to take each family group individually. Elder grandchildren, younger kids and their partners last year, elder daughter, her husband and 2 kids next, middle daughter thereafter.

To get my "family" fix all 16 of us will go to Centre Parcs for a weekend this Autumn.[/QUOTE]

That sounds fantastic! I hope to be able to do stuff like this when mine are all older with families of their own. How wonderful of you

[SuperCSG]

we are very lucky

[Disney_time]

No experience of Disney in a large group, but our last "family" holiday was 6 adults, a 7 and a 3 year old. (also 14 peices of luggage and 8 hand luggage and a terminal transfer at Heathrow) I would say allow extra time for the airport check in. It took 30 minutes just to check in. Once we were through security we split up, but fortunately as mostly adults, we were all responsible for our own passports and to get ourselves to the gates.

[P&S]

I've been with family as groups of 8, 9 and 13 and each family unit had their own car. We shared a villa but made sure we all had our own rooms/bathrooms and the pool areas were a decent size. We did a variety of days together and days doing our own thing.
Before we went we had a get together or 2 and discussed plans and what everyone wished to do. It always worked for us and we had wonderful holidays

[l33na]

Hi, we have just come back from our large group experience. Normally it is the 7 of us in a minivan. This time we had 9 and hired a minibus. I would recommend two vehicles as things took longer with 9 of us. We spent more time shopping and it limits you if anyone wants to do something different. Overall it was a lovely experience and there are pluses to travelling together but if you can have two cars then go for it.

[MrsG1973]

Thanks all! We are looking in to getting 2 vehicles now. I'm sure we will have to draw straws to drive them from the airport to villa though! I like a wine or two on flights! So, it won't be me!

[filharmonic]

We took 6 adults and 5 kids in October only had one minibus it was a little stressful at times but on the whole it worked out ok if I was you I would at least think of getting a minibus big enough for you all even if you get two vehicles because most of the time you will all be going the same Park and you don't want to be paying for parking twice and the extra fuel and such,when we went the plan was to hire another car for a few days/a week but we never needed it

[Frankie & gang]

Hi we’ve been twice with 2 families, group of 7. First time 2 normal cars, this meant always taking 2 cars, twice fuel & twice parking.
2 nd time we had an 8 seater & family car. When doing different things, we’d have a car each but on park days went together - saved on fuel & parking & was more fun. I’d recommend that option.
Hire car prices go up! I’d book now. Try Andy at discountfloridacarhire. Very good service, if price drops he adjusts it no charge.

[lorimac]

We have been to WDW as a 7 and a 6, and Disneyland California with 14.

My tips would be:
1. at least two vehicles, or be prepared to use Uber, taxis or buses - otherwise, if you are like my family, you will have people wanting lie-ins, others wanting really early starts and the organiser (me in my group) going a bit grey with the stress of trying to keep everyone happy!
2.Be flexible with your plans in the parks, unless you agree to split into smaller groups
3. Possibly split into smaller groups to go around the parks, then agree to meet at specific attractions, or for lunch or dinner
4. Realise that you can’t please everyone all of the time!
5. You are on holiday- don’t get upset when plans go a bit awry!

Have fun planning and have a great holiday

[Persnicketty]

Largest we did was extended family group of 12. 9A & 3C, blood relations and in-laws, various generations.

Hindsight is a great thing, and with that said, we would never do it again. :-)

At least, we would never do it in the manner we did. 12 people who routinely gather for family celebrations, all seemingly pleasant, even-tempered, likeable and yet it took only 2 days for one person to erupt and behave extremely, totally out of expected character. Cast a mood over the rest of the holiday and damaged relationships for a long time after.

We were wrong in assuming everyone was aligned in how best to all occupy the 7 bedroom villa and that our expectations of how to "do Florida" were equally aligned. This happened despite a lot of open planning/consultation within the group before departure.

Truth is, the anticipation of being on holiday always struggles to match the reality of it... lack of privacy, annoying habits, conflicted priorities etc. By week 2, even we hd gotten weary of being unable to chill poolside, since you really had to keep an eye on the kids safety - their stressed parents would use you as unofficial babysitters.

We decided that in future, we would never share the same space with so many people, nor always plan the same activities every day. And a car for each family group for added independence, though i agree one being a larger car to save on parking fees is worthwhile.

We've done groups since and it definitely works better than being crammed together.