Many families come together for a Disney family reunion, or friends coordinate vacation time to do Disney together, because theme parks are so much more fun when shared with our loved ones! But when you have a large party, navigating the park can get a little tricky. That’s why we wrote this blog post with tips that you MUST remember to follow:
Link fast passes: First thing you need to do is link your fast passes together. So, ideally you will buy your tickets in advance and order them by mail or purchase them at your hotel retailer. That way you can download the Disney app and link all of your FastPasses+ prior to arriving at the park. You will need them to be linked so everyone in your party get the same Fastpass+ times and you can ride together! Visit Disney World's Website to see the step-by-step on how to link your passes .
Separate: On another note, you might want to check with your party what the rides each person would like to visit, so you can better plan out your visit. Wait times are long, so to get the most out of your Fastpasses+ you may want to break up your party for a few hours. That way if the moms want to ride a roller coaster with the teenagers and the dads want to ride Dumbo with the kids, you can make sure to do it all in one day. Just set up your passes, ride and then meet for lunch or at the exit of a given attraction.
Pack lunch: If you want to save time and money, you might want to pack your lunch. The lines at the restaurants get really long during lunch time and waiting in line and finding a big enough table for a big party can be a struggle. If you pack your lunch you can easily save at least an hour and a half that would have been wasted for lunch and hundreds of dollars if you have 15 people or more in your party! Visit Disney World's Website to see what you are allowed to take as far as food goes. Just pick a place in the shade, sit down picnic style and eat your lunch with no hurry or fuss with your party.
Make reservations: As far as dinner, make sure to make reservations if you plan on dining out at your favorite Disney restaurant. Reservations are hard to come by as it is, but for larger parties you really can’t count on luck to just walk in and be able to find availability for your whole party at once. And if you do, you most likely won’t sit all together if you don’t have reservations. You can always skip this part and cook your dinner if you stay in one of our suites equipped with a full kitchen at the Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa. But If you like to eat out, call ahead and preferably weeks or even month in advance.
Be early: If you are planning on catching a show that starts at 4pm and would like to sit altogether with your party, you might want to be at the gate as far as one hour in advance. Some shows are more popular than others and it will also depend on how full the park is, but always arrive early to catch your favorite shows, otherwise you will have to split up your party, sit way back in the auditorium or even not be allowed in if the show reaches full capacity.
Buy the Memory Maker: Having a large party is the perfect excuse to buy a Memory Maker PhotoPass.
