Disney Family Reunion--what/where/how?

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Sat, 01/10/2009 - 19:20

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Disney Family Reunion--what/where/how?

Bali's Grand Gatherings question made me start thinking about what people do for family reunions, Disney style.

I know the idea's been thrown out to take a cruise, because then everyone's on the same boat and there doesn't have to be as much "planning." If you're at WDW, though, where do you stay? And do you stay all together, or at separate resorts?

Just wondering what the "optimal" would be.

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Sun, 01/11/2009 - 22:03

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We have stayed at OKW in a 2 bed room villa both times when we have gone with 6+ family members. We enjoy being able to stay together as well as the amenities that the villas offer (full size kitchen, washer/dryer, etc) We are thinking of Boardwalk villas this Oct for Food and Wine and my nephews birthday celebration.

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Mon, 01/12/2009 - 15:01

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shelleyg74 wrote:

We have stayed at OKW in a 2 bed room villa both times when we have gone with 6+ family members. We enjoy being able to stay together as well as the amenities that the villas offer (full size kitchen, washer/dryer, etc) We are thinking of Boardwalk villas this Oct for Food and Wine and my nephews birthday celebration.

Thanks, Shelley! I think it really depends on the family and how well everyone gets along. I think we could get away with a big villa if certain people attend, but that might not work so well if there are others in the mix.

We're also considering a couple of one-bedroom villas at the same resort, just to give everyone some privacy.

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Tue, 01/13/2009 - 15:20

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If you're already thinking of a cruise, you could do the land and sea package. That way, you can focus on togetherness at sea, and anyone who wants to stay for the "land" part can do a more planning-on-your-own type thing...?

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Wed, 01/14/2009 - 19:57

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Family reunions there would be fraught with peril. There are a LOT of questions to be answered.

Thu, 01/15/2009 - 02:53

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I think we've really hit on the most important question first which is:

Is it going to be an "everyone does everything together" trip, or a "do your own thing but meet for certain events" trip. I strongly recommend the second. It's too hard to coordinate everyone for everything. Just plan certain events and all meet up at those times. Sure, uncle Joe will forget and miss some things, but it's way better than the stress of trying to manage Uncle Joe all the time.

Fri, 01/16/2009 - 01:48

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I can't imagine trying to shepherd everyone around to the same rides. The teenagers would HATE that too.

Fri, 01/16/2009 - 03:22

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We've been very lucky on both trips that we were all happy to be together. LOL!

We did have to tell my brother befor the trip that I would be doing the planning and he just needed to go with the flow. My husband told him that "Disney is Shelley's thing, when we decide as a family to invade a country then he can plan it out, but since we were just going to Disney I was doing the planning." (BTW my brother is a Marine serving his 4th tour in Iraq)

After that conversation he was fine and we had no problems with everyone doing everything together. We did have one morning though where my husband, brother and sister in law wanted to sleep in so myself, mom, dad and grandma hit the parks without them.

We also did not have any kids or teenagers that we had to deal with so that helped. Most everyone in my family had been to Disney with me before so they know I like to have a loose structure to the day. Not that plan's can't change but I like to know what we have planned for each day. Also when you make ADR's for the group it makes it more difficult to do different parks.

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Fri, 01/16/2009 - 03:43

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shelleyg74 wrote:

(BTW my brother is a Marine serving his 4th tour in Iraq)

Thank him for us, please.

shelleyg74 wrote:

We also did not have any kids or teenagers that we had to deal with so that helped.

See! That's what we've been saying all along! The surefire way to enjoy Disney World...ditch the youngsters at least for a while!

Fri, 01/16/2009 - 18:34

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shelleyg74 wrote:

We did have to tell my brother befor the trip that I would be doing the planning and he just needed to go with the flow.

You definitely need a captain, and like all ships there can only be ONE captain! Mutiny must be met with harsh justice!

Fri, 01/16/2009 - 21:34

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shelleyg74 wrote:

We did have to tell my brother befor the trip that I would be doing the planning and he just needed to go with the flow. My husband told him that "Disney is Shelley's thing, when we decide as a family to invade a country then he can plan it out, but since we were just going to Disney I was doing the planning."

That's awesome!

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Sat, 01/17/2009 - 18:31

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I think it's dismissive to say "JUST planning a trip to Disney." I mean I suspect it's pretty hard to invade a country, but Disney trips are no walk in the park either!

Sun, 01/18/2009 - 02:59

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dsoup wrote:

I think it's dismissive to say "JUST planning a trip to Disney." I mean I suspect it's pretty hard to invade a country, but Disney trips are no walk in the park either!

Amen to that! Between ADR'S, Fireworks Cruises, GF Photopass session,and Mom's birthday it wasn't easy!

Of course what he does for a living is 15 million times harder than what I do. I couldn't be more proud of him

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Sun, 01/18/2009 - 21:26

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dsoup wrote:

I think it's dismissive to say "JUST planning a trip to Disney." I mean I suspect it's pretty hard to invade a country, but Disney trips are no walk in the park either!

Mon, 01/19/2009 - 02:25

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Hey--I forgot about those photopass sessions they're doing now.

Shelley--would you mind giving a quick review of your experience, costs, etc?

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Mon, 01/19/2009 - 02:52

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bali wrote:

Hey--I forgot about those photopass sessions they're doing now.

Shelley--would you mind giving a quick review of your experience, costs, etc?

I pre purchased the CD at a cost of $99. I called approx. 7 days before the trip to book the photo session. When we went last April they were only offering Grand Floridian sessions, but I believe now there are many resort locations available. We actually had it scheduled for an afternoon early in our trip but it was POURING rain so we called and we able to reschedule it for another afternoon with no extra charges. The cost for the session at the time was $125, but if you pre-purchased the CD then the cost of the session was only $25. I think the prices have gone up to $75 plus the cost of the CD.

We were told to arrive at the GF approx 30 minutes before our session began. The photographer took us to several locations both inside the GF and on the grounds. The guys in our family saw a 1928 Caddy outside the guest entrance and just had to have some pictures with it. We also went to the beach and took several pictures there as well. The photographer took around 80 pictures, so posed and others just casual shots. Our session was only supposed to last around 20 minutes but I would say it was more 45 minutes long. After it is over, they will put all of you pictures on your photopass card and you can view them at that time as well. We tried to give our photographer a tip but they are not allowed to accept them.

You can see some of the pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigjim/sets/72157605109769343/
and here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39849&l=a5fd8&id=640154224

It's the ones of all of us in red shirts/khaki pants.

We ended up with around 600 pictures on our Photopass after a week long
vacation and all the edits. It was well worth the $125 for the CD.

Hope this helps

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Mon, 01/19/2009 - 21:11

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I really hope my beard looks as good as the white haired gentleman's one day. It's like PURE white.

Mon, 01/19/2009 - 22:34

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Brad wrote:

I really hope my beard looks as good as the white haired gentleman's one day. It's like PURE white.

I had no idea what you were talking about at first. But that guy really does have great hair/beard. Just makes me wish I had gone gray(white) instead of bald.

Tue, 01/20/2009 - 03:28

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cdub wrote:

Brad wrote:
I really hope my beard looks as good as the white haired gentleman's one day. It's like PURE white.

I had no idea what you were talking about at first. But that guy really does have great hair/beard. Just makes me wish I had gone gray(white) instead of bald.

That's my dad and yes, he is mistaken for Santa often

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Tue, 01/20/2009 - 03:32

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Great info, Shelley. I'll go check out the photos soon!

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Wed, 01/21/2009 - 18:41

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I'm ready to grow out a serious beard and dye it white!

Tue, 01/27/2009 - 22:29

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shelleyg74 wrote:

We did have to tell my brother befor the trip that I would be doing the planning and he just needed to go with the flow. My husband told him that "Disney is Shelley's thing, when we decide as a family to invade a country then he can plan it out, but since we were just going to Disney I was doing the planning." (BTW my brother is a Marine serving his 4th tour in Iraq)

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