White whale question - party of 10, how to tour?

[MamaMermaid]

Hi all,
My extended family is meeting in Orlando this weekend. DH, our son, and myself are FL residents/WDW vets. MIL and FIL are cast members. But, brother-in-law and his family are coming in from the West coast.

In the party we have: a 10 year old, 4 year old, 3 year old, and a baby. FIL is passing BIL's family in, the rest of us have APs. I should also mention MIL is in a motorized scooter. 10 year old is tall enough for everything, 4 year old can do most everything (he's 44"), and the 3yo and baby have height restrictions (obviously ).

I don't even know how to begin touring WDW as a party of 10 on Princess Marathon weekend... We are normally a little party of 3 who knows exactly how we like to do Disney.

Hubby and I are willing to buy G+/LL for our family of 3 (us and the 4 year old) but I am unsure if G+ is an option for BIL's family due to the fact they are being passed in.

Any tips, tricks, words of advice are greatly appreciated. I'm not married to the idea of all staying together all weekend as I know it's just not feasible but I'd like to try for hubby's sake. Thanks for your 2 cents!

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

Everybody run screaming in different random directions. That should work

Seriously, my family did a group trip of 16 of us back in the late eighties. We quickly learned that the best apporach was to split into smaller groups and do what each smaller group wanted/ We started by trying to things with all of us together and that was just a stressful, bad idea

 

[scrappinginontario]

Do you want to stay together or is separating into smaller groups an option?

Separating into smaller groups will be easier but if you want to stay together I would say anticipate getting less done. Are BIL's family newbies, Disney vets or somewhere in between?

Is this to be a family trip to create new memories together or, each group do their own thing and then meet up?

We did a trip a few years ago with older friends who are both in scooters. We went into it knowing we go often so this was 'their trip' and we let them make the decisions. Most days we only got 3 or 4 things accomplished but going in knowing that made it easier.

One tip, when it comes to making the choice as to what to do next, let one person make that decision and everyone go with it. After that, another person chooses. Trying to find a group consensus will take too much time.

 

[lockets]

My 2 cents would be... Set expectations accordingly that it most likely won't look like your group-of-three trips. And, be prepared to go with the flow - prioritizing being with fam (priceless) over what you might want to do at the parks (costly but not priceless). i.e. you might not get as much done as you would like. Oh, and have boundaries. If there's something that flat out doesn't work for you or is just ridiculous, say no or split up to do your own thing guilt-free.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Plan in standing around waiting for people to come back from the bathroom / drink vendor / shops / lockers / whatever else 10 people can come up with in various parts of the park all day and everyone wanting to do something else or getting very ohh shiny for everything.

I just did a 16 person trip and while we had a great time, I'll never do it again.

 

[CarolynFH]

I also agree with doing some things together and some in smaller groups, especially with the age ranges and different interests you'll have. When planning for our family, one thing I've done is make sure anyone who wasn't already familiar with the attractions at each park was provided with information, and then I asked each person to tell me which 3 things in each park they most wanted to do. There were some attractions everyone wanted and some that only a few wanted, so we planned our days accordingly. We also booked one sitdown meal each day for us to eat together, and we allowed time for each family to spend on their own as well.

 

[lockets]

Plan in standing around waiting for people to come back from the bathroom / drink vendor / shops / lockers / whatever else 10 people can come up with in various parts of the park all day and everyone wanting to do something else or getting very ohh shiny for everything.

I just did a 16 person trip and while we had a great time, I'll never do it again.

Actually you just reminded me I went to Epcot with only two other adults and two children and we we stopped every 10 minutes for something whether it be snacks, bathroom breaks, going inside a shop for A/C, etc.

I got to squeeze in two rides when they went on an very late afternoon break with their kids.

 

[ars0525]

Maybe have meet ups designated if your party has early/late risers? Then if people want to do some early stuff they can & others can mosey into the park when they want. Say 10:00 in front of such & such ride that you can then do as a group. Do group stuff for awhile, but then break apart for smaller groups to do things they want too? Having a good balance will help everyone get along if they're getting to do what they want also.

I'd discuss ahead of time (not while walking in the front gate or standing on Main Street at opening) what rides are priorities or important at what parks to do & work out rough plans for that. When to big group a ride & when to have smaller groups go do rides.

Your group will likely move slow when all together. Allot enough time so you're not rushed frustrated. Realize this trip might be more about making memories & enjoying each others company.

 

[mkla2015]

It really just depends on if you want to all be together at all times or if you are ok splitting up. Most of our trips over the years have been at least 8 people (and up to 12) so this is the norm for us.

For the most part, we split up- if my family of 4 wants to do something that others aren't interested in then we go and do it and meet up at a later time... most of our trips have included my family of 4, my cousin's family of 4, my mom (who uses a scooter), and my aunt and uncle. So, the older peeps in our group usually do their own thing- eating, drinking, people watching, slow rides, touring resorts and the rest of us move faster and spend more time in the parks.

Just set realistic expectations- if you plan to be in a large group at all times- it will def slow you down as others have mentioned (and thats not necessarily a bad thing). If everyone is ok splitting up then that may work out better for you- see what everyone wants to do and plan from there. Maybe you meet up for meals, shows, etc.