Magic Gathering in September Vacation Planning Tips & Tricks Discuss Magic Gathering in September in the Vacation Planning forums; Hi Everyone! My family is planning a Magic Gathering vacation in September. My Sister is a DVC member so we will be staying in two 2 bedroom Kidani Village Villas ...

[Jujube]

Hi Everyone!
My family is planning a Magic Gathering vacation in September. My Sister is a DVC member so we will be staying in two 2 bedroom Kidani Village Villas in September (13-18). I have been to Disney many times (in fact we just got back on March 6), and have stayed at Animal Kingdom before but wanted to know if anyone had some tips for me since I have never been to Disney with more than one of my own kids (sad, I know, since I now have 4 princesses!)!
Here's the basics: There are 18 of us going, Myself, my Husband and 4 girls (9,7,5, and 1 1/2), my parents, my two sisters and my older sister's son and daughter (8 and 7 months), my Brother and Sister-in-law and their 3 daughters (14, 12, and 7) and my Grandmother. As a group we are planning on doing the Grand Gathering breakfast at Tony's and maybe a few attractions at MK but other than that we will be on our own as families. My little clan (if you consider a family of 6 little!) is planning on Akerhaus Breakfast, 1900 Park Fare Dinner and Le Cellier as definite meals that we will be booking and I would like to do Hoop-Dee-Doo, Tutto Italia, 50's Prime Time Cafe and Yak and Yeti. My oldest wants to go on just about every ride but I have told her she may not be able to do everything!

My Questions:
How far in advance can you find out Extra Magic Hours?
What would be your all-time must see/ride/eat at thing as a family at WDW?
Has anyone stayed in Kidani yet? Is it even finished yet? (lol)
Has anyone had a Grand Gathering breakfast at Tony's and if so how is it?
Any tips for keeping my Grandmother busy? She's almost 80 and had a stroke two years ago. She gets around o.k. but slower than she used to. Should we rent a scooter/power chair for her on or off property?

Well, I think that's all for now. Thanks for any input you can provide, I really appreciate it!!

[starxcrossed]

For the Extra Magic Hours .. I'm going in July and they aren't releasing the hours until April. So, I'd say that's about three or four months in advance. (Not exactly convenient, I'll say!) Sorry I don't have the answers to any other questions!

[J&J]

a must is a scooter for grandmom call care medical 407-741-2282 cost $3o per day . they will deliver to your hotel and pick up from your hotel you will have it for 24 hrs. each day. great help no walking then she can keep up with you. renting from disney parks is very expensive and can only be used in the parks.

[MagicMom]

Jujube:

I was on a Grand Gathering this past November with my 4 children. My oldest (and #3) is from China, and this past November was her 5 year anniversary of becoming part of a family. There were 13 girls in her adoption group, 9 of which made the trip to WDW last year for the reunion.

We had a total of 39 people in our group. The majority of the kids were girls age 6. We also had three 11 year olds, two 4 year olds, two 3 year olds, and two 1 year olds. My kids were 5, 4, 1, and 1. My mother and aunt were there with me, and like me, they are 30+ time veterans, so they took the babies back each afternoon for nap and in the evenings for bed time.

Our group opted out of doing any kind of "Grand Gathering" official meals. What we did do was really fun, though:

Our first morning we booked the first 15 (or whatever) times at the Cinderella Castle Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We each got our girls a Crown Package makeover (around $65 with tip) which they all really enjoyed. We took our own gowns with us rather than buying new ones. Right after all the girls were done we went over to Cinderella's Royal Table for a princess character breakfast. You get a picture of your family with Cinderella as part of you meal now.

The food was wonderful, the princesses paid lots of special attention to our little princesses, and we all got to sit together. They tell you on the phone that they can't guarantee seating together, but the ladies at the podium really did a wonderful job for us. We had the elevated area just to the right when you first walk in all to ourselves.

Another meal that was really accommodating for families was Chef Mickey's. Again, they put us in an area that was off by itself, thus we practically had a private dining area and character greeting. The food, again, was very good there. Lots of people like to book there.

One thing I can tell you is that everything moves slower when you are a larger group. The girls had an amazing time together, but we as a family did less then we ever have before. I probably saw less this time than on my first visit in 1979! Be ready to sacrifice some things if you want to stay as a group the entire time. Our group decided that we would have one planned meal together each day and if we hook up in the parks or plan to be together otherwise it was fine. Luckily every family buy one in our group was made up of seasoned veterans or we would have done even less!

It would probably be a really good idea to get a scooter for your grandmother. It would be better for her that way.

I hope you have an absolutely wonderful time.