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Oooooh Disney planning! I literally got home less than 24 hours ago, without only with my own family of 4.

I think the first thing you need to do is get a sense of how everybody wants the vacation to go. Are they ok splitting up or are they doing this to have family time? Are you thinking about doing some dining reservations or more see how it goes? If people don’t mind splitting up then maybe plan for a dinner every night somewhere cool/fun so you all have some guaranteed time together? Definitely set expectations going in, like “we want to rope drop so will be leaving at x time, happy to have you join us, if you’d rather sleep in that’s also ok.” I think if you’re a rope drop person it might ruin your vacation if you’re anxiously waiting for 8 other people to get ready and watching the clock tick - I know I would lose my mind.

Genie Plus wasn’t great but wasn’t terrible, I don’t think it will be any harder with a group of 12 than a group of 4. It does make a touring plan nearly impossible. What I did was make a rough plan for the day, like “I’m going to buy genie plus, I’m going to buy individual lightning lanes for Rise, and I’m going to book Slinky first, millennium Falcon next, then Toy Story”, etc. This article was really helpful: https://wdwprepschool.com/genie-plus-priorities-lightning-lane/

What are people into? What are the ages? It sounds like you’re planning to park hop? If you have Star Wars fans I’d say you want a whole day at Hollywood Studios (even if you aren’t Star Wars fans Galaxy’s Edge is so cool, plus Toy Story land and Mickey and Minnie….Hollywood Studios has so much to do now). The older family members might like an evening in Epcot to wander around the World Showcase.

Here’s what my plan for one of my days looked like:

Thursday, March 3 - Magic Kingdom
hours: 8:30am - 9pm
Fantasyland/Tomorrowland
Buy Genie+
Book Peter Pan, Space, Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion (skip Stretch Room), Winnie the Pooh
Rope Drop Mine Train, Pooh, Small World
Must do: Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder
Want to do: Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Small World, Peoplemover, Space Mountain
Try to do: Treehouse, Enchantment?
Buy popcorn bucket
Fireworks 8pm
Eat: Sleepy Hollow waffles, Gaston’s cinnamon roll with extra icing, Friar's Nook for lunch, coconut dole whip, Sunshine Tree Terrace potstickers
Jungle Canteen 6:20pm

So I planned where we’d start and basically an idea of the first three rides we’d get, the first LL we’d get, and what we’d try for next, and from there I just kind of went with what happened, keeping an eye on return times. You may not need the “what to eat” section.

Something that’s very useful is once you know who’s going to be in your group for that day, set it up under “My Day” in Genie. That way when you go to book something you don’t have to mess around with picking the park and figuring out who will you need to book that LL for, because times can change quickly, especially in the morning.

@ChitownRo: I’m sorry to hear you say that about the food! Where did you eat? I agree that some of it is not great, and the kids meal options are pretty terrible (my kids have never eaten so many cheeseburgers!) but we had some great meals! Jungle Canteen, Topolino’s Terrace, Steakhouse 71, the Tambu Lounge, and the grilled cheese sandwiches at Woody’s Lunchbox were all standouts.

@erinbaderin: we still don’t do indoor dining so that limited our options this time around. But we still had a great time and at least had expectations set about food. And it’s one reason we rented Airbnb rather than Disney hotel - ability to cook

But I was disappointed in Be Our Guest previously. This time, I thought the Gaston cinnamon rolls were super overrated. Same w the Mickey pretzel (yuck). We got Woodys too and it was fine, better than like Backlot Express or other quick service options. My kids ended up eating a whole lot of fries while in the park. 🤷‍♀️

Our second day started at MK. It was forecast for rain with a high of 50 and also early close at 4:30p. So MK was emptyyyy. We purposely changed our reservations for the early close day knowing it would have lower crowds. And I planned to hop to AK bc so many people seem to start there hoping for better animal safari experience (ours was great even at 3p in the rain). Like it’s common for people to start at AK and then hop to Epcot, but I wanted to do opposite of the crowds.

So:
At 7a I booked two different LL options (asked everyone what they preferred the night before)- half to Thunder Mtn at 10a and half to Peter Pan at 11a
9a I booked Space Mtn (was ILL then, now is G+). I also booked flight of passage knowing we’d hop there, got 530-630p
We rope dropped (9a bc we were offsite) fantasyland. Did barnstormer twice, dumbo twice, tea cups twice, little mermaid.
Then split and some went to big thunder (then did standby speedway)
The test of us did standby princess meet up, small world, then redeemed Peter Pan
At 11 a I booked Buzz for 1130-1230
Redeemed buzz, redeemed space Mtn (rider swap so my 8 yo got to go twice)
Ate pretzels/junk in Tomorrowland
Booked Winnie the Pooh after Buzz,
Redeemed Winnie at 1 (half of us had intended to do haunted mansion but it shut down so we all redeemed for Winnie)
After Winnie I booked Safari for 2-3p
Much of the group went home bc it was pouring and so cold. But one grandparent, my DH, his sister, our 8 yo DS, 3 yo DS and I hopped to AK.
We ordered Starbucks from Main Street and ate egg sandwiches on the drive to AK

Redeemed safari (awesome despite the rain)
Booked Navi River for 6p
Pin trading while we waited for 4p Lion King show
Lion King show
Dino (rider swap, way too scary for 3 yo) but 3yo enjoyed the boneyard and triceratops spin in the meantime
Flight of passage (rider swap so 8 yo got to go twice)
Navi river
Home!
Very fun day despite the weather. And I’m sure the horrible weather helped us accomplish so much

@PinkElephant: Plan it before your 9 year old turns 10, if you can, Disney kids are much cheaper than Disney adults!

@PinkElephant: she’s totally going to love it even at 10 years old! I was never a Disney person before, but after this last trip I’m sold
(And I think the cost difference is like $20, so don’t feel bad!)

@erinbaderin: @ChitownRo: ok question!

We are going with 11 people in 10 days for 10 days!. My in laws, my brother in law, his wife, 2 year old. My mom, my fam of 5 (kids ages 3,5,8).

Staying at animal kingdom for 3 nights then have a house for a week.

Question re genie +. So at 7am I book my first ride- I cannot book another until I’ve done that rise or 2 hours has passed - correct? My friend said you can book 3 at the start of the day spaces out - I didn’t know if that was true. I don’t think we will purchase individual LLs.

@HappyBaker: When you buy tickets they should send you plastic cards, like debit cards. I saw a lot of people with those on lanyards tapping them. You can also do it on your phone but it seems like a lot more hassle with a big group, especially when you're trying to flip screens to get all the kids.

And yeah, I set a timer on my phone to remind me when to book the next one, which I found really helpful - it would frequently go off and I'd be like "What is that even OH RIGHT!"

@Mrs. Champagne: Your friend is wrong - like you said, you book your first Lightning Lane at 7am and then you can book your next one either a) when you use that one, b) when the time window expires, or c) two hours after park open (in the park that you booked your first one). Clear as mud, right?

So, for example:
a) at 7am you book Peter Pan for 9am-10am. You tap in at 9:15, then you can book your second one.
b) at 7am you book Peter Pan for 9am-10am. Your kid decides they're terrified of Captain Hook and refuses to go on it. You let it expire, and at 10am you can book a second one. (although in this case you'd be better to cancel and just rebook that way. Note that if you can only book a LL for each ride once per day. If you let this one expire it's considered that you've used your ride on Peter Pan, if you cancel it you could rebook later)
c) at 7am you book Peter Pan for 4pm-5pm. Magic Kingdom opens at 9, you can book your next LL for 11.

Some additional complications! Say you have reservations for Animal Kingdom, but you're planning to park hop to Hollywood Studios, so you book your first one for Slinky Dog at 5pm. Animal Kingdom opens at 8 and Hollywood Studios opens at 9, you can't book your second one until 11.

Also you probably know this but be warned that this is what they call a "live system" so just because you click on a time doesn't mean you'll get that time, either with the free or the paid ones. I clicked on a 10am Rise of the Resistance and ended up getting one at 2:30. It's INCREDIBLY annoying. Be prepared to move fast.

This website is super helpful for deciding what order to book LLs in: https://wdwprepschool.com/genie-plus-priorities-lightning-lane/

Just following along on this thread because I am planning on a trip for the 5 of us in January or February of 2023 and I am already stressed about it.

@Cait1: A few problems. Space Mountain is no longer a ride that you pay for, it’s just a regular lightning lane ride. Also because you’re not staying on site, you can’t book Seven Dwarfs Mine Train until the park opens at 9am. You also can’t book your second lightning lane until two hours after the park opens, not two hours after you book your first. From there you can book a new one EITHER every two hours OR when you use one. So if at 7am you book Jungle Cruise from 9:20-10:20 and you tap in at 9:25 you can then book your next one. If you book it for 4-5pm then you book your next one at 11.

@erinbaderin: thank you so much! This helps a lot. So, if I go on the Genie+ app at 9am when the park opens, I should be able to reserve Seven Dwarves at that time (but it would be for a time-slot sometime later in the day)?

@Cait1: Right - and sorry, I think I wasn’t clear. You can book your first genie plus ride at 7am, but Mine Train is different (as is Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom, Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, and Remy at Epcot, you have to buy those separately). So you could book Space Mountain (as part of the genie plus package) at 7 but you can’t book Mine Train, as a ride you pay separately for, until 9am.

We just got back from Disneyland so some of my experience won't be relevant to DW, but:

1) Definitely buy Genie+. We didn't, I regret it.
2) Definitely buy a ton of snacks and bring them in your backpacks for keeping kids busy in line.
3) Buy the Disney bubble wands for keeping everyone amused in line. There are some on Amazon and Ebay.
4) Utilize Rider Swap so that your older kids can ride the best rides twice in a row. For us, usually we had LO1 ride with us, then he rode with my parents. Meanwhile, LO2 was hanging out with the non-riding adults and doing littler-kid rides in the area.
5) Everyone should go to the bathroom at the same time, even if they "don't have to go."
6) Familiarize yourself with the app.
7) Use mobile ordering for food.
8) Go do rope drop with whoever is ready. If others aren't ready, they can meet you up when they are.
9) If some people are there for rope-drop but they're slow walkers, maybe they can be in charge of getting lockers and doing another potty break while you do a ride real fast..... This is what my parents did, along with LO2 who didn't qualify for some rides.

40 inches in height is the main deal-breaker. Here's an example, sorted by height so it shows it more clearly:

https://www.mousehacking.com/blog/disney-world-height-requirements

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/faq/parks/height-requirements/