A Grand Gathering at Walt DIsney World

Amy Blades
amyb@wdwtravels.com

Grand Gatherings usually happen one of two ways: you’re planning a trip to Disney and friends or family decide they want to tag along, or your dream to take a trip with friends and family is finally coming true. Either way, Disney knows how to make it magical. In order for your trip to qualify as a Grand Gathering, you must be staying at a Disney Resort, and there must be at least 8 or more in your gathering. If there are, then Disney has extras for only you!
When you plan, make sure to do it far enough in advance so you can get all of your dining reservations together. I would recommend 180 days prior to your trip. If you have less than that, make dining reservations your first priority. If you choose to stay together, you can count on the Deluxe Villas to meet your needs. If you’re looking to spend a little less, you can book rooms next to each other at any of our other resorts. This way, you can still be close together without spending the extra money for a Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resort. When booking the reservation, mention that you want adjoining rooms or nearby rooms, whichever your preference may be.
The extras that are for Grand Gatherings only include an incredible Safari Celebration Dinner. This special event begins with an end-of-day trip on the Kilimanjaro Safari attraction. Following your Safari is dinner in the Tusker House Restaurant. Your all-you-care-to-eat dinner is served family style, and features African inspired cuisine.
The International Dinner and Illuminations Dessert Reception is another fantastic opportunity to enjoy something special, which is not offered to the general public. While eating your meal, there is storytelling and live musical entertainment. This event features some of your favorite Disney Characters who join the guests on the dance floor. Once you've enjoyed your evening of food and fun, you're escorted to a reserved viewing area for the nightly "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth" light, laser, and fireworks show, where a delicious dessert buffet is served. My personal favorite is the Good Morning Character Breakfast, where you are welcomed by “Tony” at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. Here, Tony invites you to enjoy a delicious all-you-care-to-eat breakfast. Mickey and Friends are there for treasured photos and fun interaction. Each event has different days of availability. Make sure to plan ahead so you can fit everything into your magical gathering.
In addition to the Grand Gathering events, groups can order Magical Gathering T-Shirts (90 to 10 days in advance of arrival), and schedule spa treatments, childcare, tours, etc.
A Disney Vacation is a magical time of memory making, in a place where dreams come true. What could be better than your own family enjoying the magic, as well has having the incredible memories of close friends or extended family, that will last forever!

Michael's VIPs Tours

by Angie Kennard
1-800-709-4573
Angie@wdwtravels.com

Let me start by simple stating “AMAZING”!!!!!

I had a handful of Agents all down for a Earmark Conference in Disney World in November 09 and I couldn’t think of a better thing to do than a MICHAEL’S VIPs tour for my agents so they could experience firsthand EVERYTHING Michael’s VIPs tour does for our clients who chose to use them.

It started with an itinerary. We were all going to be at Magic Kingdom, and since we were all coming in at different times, we were not the common client that goes to the park all at the same time. Not a problem! Our tour guide Andrew even called me to see if we needed anything and even offered to have a different service to bring us from the Airport.

There were three of us (Laure, Stacy and I) that had arrived and checked in and were on our way to the Magic Kingdom. We got a call from our guide, Andrew, wanting to know if he could pick us up at the Resort and take us over to Magic Kingdom himself. It was the first of many things that impressed us with such a level of service that I can’t even explain. When Andrew pulled up he had bottled water for each of us for our afternoon. As we got into the Magic Kingdom he helped with taking our pictures on Main Street as almost every guest does. We headed to Small World and he started by taking our tickets and being the Fast Pass runner to Thunder Mountain. This is normally a job my husband does on our trips and I know my husband was wishing he was there so he could not be the runner…lol. We rode Small World and Andrew greeted us when we got off and noticed that I used the sanitizer when we got into the park that he stopped to get us all our own hand sanitizers, again a level of service that was BIG! We then rode ride after ride with the guided best times to ride them to less traffic ways to get to them. Everything was amazing that Andrew did. Andrew was soon a part of our WDWTravels family since he loved Disney just as we did. He told us useful facts about each ride that even some of us didn’t know which was surprising. We ate a late lunch at Plaza and were seated right away with no reservation. The food was great and a nice stop for all. After lunch we met up with our fourth agent, Samantha. We then rode more rides with little or no wait. If we ever needed a tissue, drink or a break Andrew was right there with whatever we needed. We got to ride everything we wanted to in the time frame that we scheduled. One of our last stops was Main Street Bakery before we headed over to Epcot to meet up with our fifth agent Patti who had just arrived. As we got to Epcot we met up with her and had a cheers drink at the UK and of course I had Patti’s favorite blueberry muffin from Main street waiting for her since she missed our tour at Magic Kingdom. We then went to Turtle Talk with Crush, which was amazing even without kids :). Then off to Soarin, which is one of my favorite rides. Andrew gave us his great knowledge of touring each park to get the most of our days. Michael's VIPs is the same "Mike" of Tour Guide Mike fame. Most of us at WDWTravels use Tour Guide Mike to help plan every one of our clients vacations so they may get the least busy days at each park. This is a great service we provide at no cost to our clients.

We then did some shopping before heading over to Mexico to see Illuminations on the lagoon. The seats were the best we all had ever had and we all have been to Disney MANY times. The park was closing after this and it was time to say goodbye to our new friend Andrew.

As we headed back to our resort we couldn’t help but talk about our day with Andrew and how amazing everything was and that we really need to let more of our clients know about their services. Our services are all the planning before you get there to make the best of everything Disney has to offer but MICHAEL’S VIPs are exclusive private tours by guides who do this every day for families of 4 to groups of 20!

Our tour guide Andrew with a group

Michael's VIPs invites you to be a kid again when exploring Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, or SeaWorld. Your VIP Private Guide greets you each day and guides everyone through the parks best attractions, shows and dining choices. Maximum fun, minimized waiting, minimized working and no hassles. Everything is top of the line with Michel's VIPs; from the contact of the initial request to following up after your tour. We highly suggest adding MICHAEL’S VIPs to at least one day of your vacation but be careful … you may get so spoiled that you hire them for another or even more!
MICHAEL's VIPs info:
407-445-7253
email: tours@michaelsvips.com

Grand Gathering Tip of the Day

Disney Tip of the Day:
If you’re traveling with a large group to Disney World, don’t try to spend every minute together. Instead, plan to meet up for an evening meal to discuss your day at the parks.

In my family, a Disney vacation was a part of growing up. Being the oldest of five siblings, I adopted some of my mom’s vacation practices with my own four children and our vacations to Disney. Because of the size our family, any trip to Disney means we’re traveling with a large group. Every Disney vacation is a Grand Gathering!

When my siblings and I were younger, all six members of our family did everything at Disney together. We all dressed in outfits from the Sears catalog, and they were all the same color. (I’m afraid that I’m dating myself…!) We were horrified for awhile, but our mother was firm. Truthfully, we were at Disney, and we didn’t care what we looked like! But, every ride we rode, and every meal we ate, we were noticed by every cast member we saw. We were the “Red Family,” or the “Green Family.” It very quickly became a fun game to see how many would call us by those names.

As my siblings and I grew up and had families of our own, it became glaringly apparent that we needed a new strategy. The Sears outfits of old turned into same-color shirts for my children, my husband, and me. It still has the same impact…especially when we wear tie-dyed shirts!

Because we vacationed with large groups, and still do today, it taught me how traveling with that many people can be stressful. It can be so difficult for everyone to be able to do what they want to do, and for everyone to have a great time together. That is, after all, the point of traveling together!

Since our family now consists of eleven adults and nine children under the age of ten, we have had to adopt a new plan that could work for your large group also. Now, our goal for each day at Disney is to meet for a meal together at night. During the day, we sometimes stay together, and we sometimes separate. Some of us still need a nap in the afternoon; some of us want a swim in the afternoon, and some of us are Park-Troopers. Since we decided to stop forcing the issue of everyone spending every minute of the vacation together, it is much less stressful. We enjoy each other, our children, and our vacation much more. Try this tip for your next Grand Gathering…it may bring even more Magic to your vacation!