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Pearson and I just went to Disney World with his family! When I say “his family,” that means his mom, dad, two brothers, sister, aunt, uncle, and great aunt. Plus the two of us. If you were counting, you know that makes 10 adults ranging from 18 to 80-something!
It was an absolute blast but I have to admit it was quite a different experience from any other time I’ve visited Disney World. Especially, when we were there last year on my birthday!
So I thought I’d share some tips for experiencing Disney World with a big group! These tips are in addition to my 15+ Tips For The Best Disney Experience Without Kids. All of those tips still apply here, but I’m just adding 5 more tips. So make sure you read that post first!
Ok now on to the 5 additional tips for going with a big group!
Table of Contents
ONE || Lower Your Expectations
That one caught your eye, huh?
If you’re anything like me, you want to go go go and fit everything you possibly can into every vacation. I feel like it’s a combination of FOMO and the “finisher” in me. And probably has to do with my not wanting to waste money, too. You know what I mean? You also want to plan every last minute of the vacation to get your money’s worth.
So maybe I shouldn’t use the word “lower.” Maybe I should say change your expectations. All I’m saying here is be realistic! When there are 7 to 10 of you, you’re not gonna get to do everything. That’s just a fact!
TWO || Enjoy The Vacation For What It Is
Ok so you might not get to do everything you would be able to if you went with just your spouse. But that’s okay! That’s not what this vacation is about. When you go anywhere with a big group, it’s about bonding with each other and making memories. I tell you we had plenty of that on our trip and it was worth everything!
THREE || Have someone in the group connected to everyone on MDE
My mother-in-law had all of our tickets and Magic Bands linked on her My Disney Experience (MDE) account. (If you don’t know what Magic Bands or the My Disney Experience app are, go back and read my 15+ Tips For The Best Disney Experience Without Kids).
Since we were all linked to her, she could book FastPasses for the entire family all together. And, any of us could scan our bands for PhotoPass pictures and they would show up on all of our MDE accounts. (Again, for more info about FastPass and PhotoPass, read my 15+ Tips For The Best Disney Experience Without Kids).
FOUR || But also everyone should have their own MDE account
This way people can also get individual FastPasses if they want to do something that not everybody wants to do. And, they can download their own pictures if they so choose. Plus, everybody having the app on their phone just ensures that everyone can see the map if needed and look at wait times etc.
*One exception to the individual accounts rule is if you’ve bought Memory Maker. (Again, refer to my 15+ Tips For The Best Disney Experience Without Kids to learn about Memory Maker). Memory Maker should be linked to whoever’s account has all the tickets linked (my MIL in our situation). Then she can download all the pictures she wants and send them to other people in her party OR others can log into her account on their own phone and download pictures. That’s what we did!
FIVE || Book a condo together
For most Disney trips, I recommend staying at a Disney resort. Yeah it’s expensive but the perks and atmosphere make it worth it to me. However, when you go with a big group, that just doesn’t make as much sense.
We stayed at the Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa. This is a resort full of individually owned 1, 2, and 3 bedroom apartments. Pearson’s immediate family (there are 7 of us) all stayed in a 3 bedroom while his great aunt, aunt, and uncle stayed on a 2 bedroom. It was perfect, a lot of fun, and certainly cost effective!
So basically, you can still have a blast at Walt Disney World…
Even with a large party of people with different interests. It will be a totally different vacation than other Disney trips, but still just as fun!
Make sure you also check out my 15+ Tips For The Best Disney Experience Without Kids for more Disney tips (though I’m sure you have since I told you two like 4 times in this post).
Have you ever been to Walt Disney World with a large group? What tips would you add to my list?
Thanks for reading!
My only “large group” experience was an 8th grade field trip to EPCOT. I got separated from my group of friends, so I got stuck in another group, which meant I didn’t get to do everything I wanted. 🙁
I would love to do a trip with Dan’s family, but I’m not sure I’ll convince them anytime soon.
Oh no! I’m so sorry you got separated. One thing I didn’t mention was that I just kept thinking about how much more difficult the whole thing would have been if we didn’t have cell phones.
These tips sound super helpful. I’ve never actually been to Disney World, which seems like such a crazy thing to say because who hasn’t been? Lol. But these are certainly things to keep in mind.
Aww you should go sometime! After all, it’s the happiest place on earth!
My father and I are the only people in my family including future in-laws who’d go on a rollercoaster so I fear my only chance to be at WDW (or go again to Paris for that matter…) is by going solo. I really wish that wasn’t the case.
Aww well there are plenty of other things to do besides roller coasters! Maybe you can convince someone to go with you.
Amazing! I know nothing about traveling all over the country, what a wonderful looking place to explore.