Planning a family trip!

[jenperich]

So, it's official, we'll be taking a family trip in December! We booked our suites at BLT. there will be 6/7 adults(7 if my brother from FL comes) and three kids(4, 2.5, & 2). Yikes!! Any helpful tips?? TIA!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Yea! How awesome - enjoy planning!

I think the first step for a family vacation is to decide what you're going to do together as one large group, and what you're going to do on your own or in smaller groups.

[chefmickey3]

Sounds like fun! You have picked a great resort! Don't plan to stay together for the entire trip. Plan special meals and fun fastpasses or parts of a day together. It's okay not to do all the same things especially with little kids. Make dining reservations at 180 days out and call Disney if you party is too big to book online. Ask everyone what they want from the trip - also their must dos. With a larger group, take scheduled breaks instead of every 5 minutes. Ask questions on Intercot because their are many helpful people! Enjoy the planning!

[Pirate Granny]

We've taken three family trips, ten people. We stay in a GV and planning is key. The two sets of cousins are both the same ages, and we do stay together mostly all the time. We let each person (Yep, the kids too!) pick a restaurant. That is the beginning. Then we decide which parks, which days...since we go for 15 nights, we have have two water park days and two stay at home days...and fit in the ADRs, (last time we had two breakfasts, one lunch and the rest dinners), then the fast passes+, that takes the most thought and time, my daughter Duffy Lover is a wiz at that. Outside of baby swap (which we can't utilize the 2017 trip), we all had the same FP+ except once when the gals and one boy cousin went to see Anna and Elsa, and I took the older boy on Jungle Cruise. We are already in the planning stages (point wise and locations) for our June 2017 trip. Enjoy your trip, even if you have snags every now and again, it will create beautiful memories.