need some lg group advice

[crusader]

There will be 12 of us staying together in a 3br. (adults!) I posted a thread about the check-in protocal on another forum because I am planning on flying in and heading right to Universal IOA and am certain I will not be the first one to arrive at the BWV.

Here's where it gets somewhat complicated - with this amount of people I do not want to plan anything for them. I am however, concerned with how to handle the various ticket options they may all want. Especially since it is during halloween 2003. I really do not want anyone to have charging privileges to the room so, how do I avoid this? What if someone wants a length of stay pass?

Has anyone dealt with this before? I would like to be able to offer some suggestions to my guests and avoid taking on the responsibility of making the arrangements for them.

 

[KittieKat]

Well,I am just 15, but I thought Id throw in my 2 cents anyways..Me and my friends are going down for a solo trip when were all 18, after graduation...frankly, I dont trust my friends to make reservations, I think its too complicated for their lazy minds, secondly they have no idea how to..so Im making them all myself and Im forcing them to pay me before I make the reservations..just talk to them about it.

 

[ilovefh]

They can get UPH (LOS) passes without having charging capabilities on their room key. My parents didnt let us have charging capabilties until we were 14 or so. (And this was only for emergencies for us!). Just let the front desk know (if the room reservation is in your name) that NO room keys may have charging capabilities! And if they wont be insulted ( I dont know your friends, and most people wouldnt be, but there is a small percentage that would be insulted) tell them that they can get their passes on the room key, but if they are asked about charging they are to say no. (obviously you can word it A LOT better than I was able to!!)

Also, if you want to make suggestions to them as to what kind of passes are the best deal go for it!! (especially if they are newbies and you a WDW vet!!)

 

[MELSMICE]

You can definitely get room keys w/out charging priveleges - we just did last week - even for adults.

I would print the ticket options & prices off of the Internet & give everyone a copy then let them decide what they want to do as far as tickets.

I would plan a few meals together - whether it is in the room or in a restaurant.

I would mention to everyone that you may want to plan a few days together & a few days apart. Honestly, it is very difficult to go to the parks with such a large group, you usually accomplish just about nothing!!! If you all want to do something together, your best bet would be to plan a "pool day" & just hang out.

Make sure that everyone is "on the same page" before you leave & everyone is in agreement about a few things that you should or should not do.

Have fun.

 

[carone0318]

I was down there in June with a party of 12, 3 different families. My family and another are DVCers and the other family we brought down as our guests. We booked them their own studio. When we checked in, we got no charging priviledges on their cards and then purchased their tickets. This is how we worked our trip:

We had a meeting about 2 weeks before our trip and that is where we talked about the tickets we were buying and such. We had no set plans with anyone, but we did plan 1 meal per day that we would meet up and all be together. Some days we had planned to do the same things and other days we didn't. The one thing I would recommend though is 2 way radios. They were great. We only had our set, but if we were planning to meet up in a park, we would say what time and then turn on the radio until we met up. This worked for us great, because our fellow DVC friends were staying at OKW and we were at BWV. Highly recommend the 2 way radio!

 

[Laurabearz]

We are headed to WDW in just 9 days...... with 9 people (2 families)

What I did was talk to the other family about the kinds of things they wanted to do..... then decided which days we would do which parks...... That was so I could make a PS for lunch (or Dinner) where we could all hook up....... (tip.... large parties really need PS's and book them early!)

We do plan on touring most of the days together, but when we want to split up we can...... I just let them know what time the PS's are for, show them on the map where the restruant is (they are WDW newbies lol) and tell them to hook back up with us about 15 minutes prior to the PS....


Of course your question stated (as I am rereading it) is how can I avoid making all the plans........ lol sorry about that. I should read carefully before posting! LOL

My advice would be to let them know the PS guidelines, offer some suggestions on places you like, dislike and tell them to have fun planning....... Planning a WDW is 1/2 the fun!

I do think that you should try and have a couple of whole group acitivies planned though....... again, I would talk with them about it and go from there...

Others have answered your charging questions so I will stop here.... before I ramble on too much!