disney with a large group

We're planning a trip to Disney next year. One of the parents in our group suggested renting a whole house on VRBO. It's pretty close to Disney and it's a fraction of the cost. I've never done this before and would love to hear the pros and cons. I haven't been to Disney since I was like 7 so I'm a complete outsider.

Re: disney with a large group

We're renting a house in Windsor Hills, it's smaller, 3BR for me, DH, the kids, and my parents. It has its own pool, full kitchen, W/D, etc. and is costing me $100 night We're leaving in 18 days so I don't have a review quite yet. It's ten minute from the parks.

This is why we're doing it:
-I want everyone to have space and their own room so that when the kids go to bed the adults can relax.
-I want to be able to prep real food because we're going for two weeks and I assume will get pretty sick of restaurant food.
-Having our own little pool will be great, the resort has it's own huge pool that we can use too.

The cons so far.. paying for parking at the parks ($20/day) and not being able to drink a lot of booze at Epcot because someone will have to be the designated driver

disney with a large group

I've never not stayed on Disney property when visiting and I don't think I would change that. IMO it is much easier and accommodating to stay on Disney property; especially with small kids.

Also, we have done vacations with large groups (not Disney) but that in itself is work, trying to get everyone on the same page at the same time for each day is crazy, so being on WDW property allows a much easier flow of coming and going in regards to transportation and parks etc.

Re: disney with a large group

I would think that with a large group, staying on premises is easiest so people can come/go as they want. Once you have rental cars in the mix, everyone needs to stay/go together or at the same pace as the elected drivers. From my experience, by the end of the trip, the group divides up a bit for everyone's sanity.

Plus, think about everyone going and their level of care in daily clean-up. I know we stayed with 9 people in a dvc suite, and a few people pissed me off on several occasions not putting coffee cups in the dishwasher, not leaving the shared bathrooms clean, etc.

disney with a large group

we have gone to Disney twice with a large group and different families. So much easier staying on site with a group! First the transportation and everyone just having to worry about their own room and what they eat and stuff. THe disney transportation makes it easy to do your own thing and allow people to come and go as they please. The last thing I wanted to worry about was who was leaving when and who came with who, etc. I also needed the break at nighttime from the group. I was happy to just be able to go back to our own rooms.

Re: disney with a large group

Renting a house with a large group would be OK for me on a relaxing type vacation - Beach House, Lake House, Ski House .....
One where everyone has their own car, there's no MUST do's, everyone is kind of in the mind set that they're going to come/go as they please and come together in a common area at certain times etc .........
You want to hit the beach? Great, 5 others are coming along while another 5 stay in the pool while another 5 go play golf ......KWIM?

Disney is NOT relaxing. It's FUN - but NOT relaxing. And with a big group, I'd personally need my time at the end of the day to be away from people, NOT be forced to come/go with everyone else (ie: Disney transportation is key when staying on site) If someone's kids are melting down, they can leave without the WHOLE group having to deal w/ it - KWIM? If one family wants to stay in the park until 2 am, cool, while another family wants to be in bed by 8:30 -

Doing Disney as a large group is difficult enough, I'd need the convenience and my 'own' space

Re: disney with a large group

OK so i'm thinking the group rental isn't a good idea now lol. Thank you all for your input. Realistically, how many days at Disney are ideal with a 3 year old?

Re: disney with a large group

Posted by melbalalala

We're renting a house in Windsor Hills, it's smaller, 3BR for me, DH, the kids, and my parents. It has its own pool, full kitchen, W/D, etc. and is costing me $100 night We're leaving in 18 days so I don't have a review quite yet. It's ten minute from the parks.

This is why we're doing it:
-I want everyone to have space and their own room so that when the kids go to bed the adults can relax.
-I want to be able to prep real food because we're going for two weeks and I assume will get pretty sick of restaurant food.
-Having our own little pool will be great, the resort has it's own huge pool that we can use too.

The cons so far.. paying for parking at the parks ($20/day) and not being able to drink a lot of booze at Epcot because someone will have to be the designated driver

disney with a large group

I went to Florida with another family. We rented a 4 bedroom house which had a pool and it was perfect. It was about 20 minutes away so we just drove to the parks. It was SOOOOOO much cheaper than staying on property even if you take into account the parking fee ($17) and the car rental. We also would eat breakfast at the house and made sandwiches for lunch and brought snacks with us.

Re: disney with a large group

I think it's a great idea.
I don't like staying on Disney property (I've done it both ways) & I get "Disneyed out" after 2-3 days. I do like staying at the Universal properties (Hard Rock, etc)...
We prefer to chill out the majority of the time & do a relaxing vacation with a few days at the parks as a highlight.
For your $$, you will get a much better experience staying off site. We have friends who bought a place because it was so cheap & fun.
There are cabs in Florida, so you can split up.

Re: disney with a large group

I think it would be easier being on site, preferably on the monorail or boat access.

My friend recently went with many of her family members and everyone was speaking negatively of her sister who was being a "dictator". I just laughed because I know how Disney schedules go because I am usually the one who makes them. I would think the larger the group, the harder to move together unless one said person is calling all the shots and everyone follows.

As pp said, Disney isn't a beach vacation where anyone who wants to go to the beach can go while people who want to stay at the house and cook can stay at the house. People may wake up at different times. You can't just waltz into line. It's pretty hard to coordinate with just one other family, especially when fast passes come into play and not everyone wants to do the same thing.

Re: disney with a large group

Message edited 3/31/2016 8:15:24 AM.