Planning a Disneyland family reunion or a trip for a large group? Here’s how to plan a seamless Disneyland vacation with a big group in mind.
Disneyland Basics for Your Large Group
I plan a family reunion every summer for my extended family. It’s a chance for aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and more to get together at The Happiest Place on Earth for a few days. But all that magic doesn’t come together with the wave of a magic wand. There’s certainly lots of effort put into organizing such a huge Disneyland group.
Here are a few things to know as you begin planning with your family members:
- Disneyland Resort is open every day of the year, go when it works best for everyone then see what’s happening on our Disneyland Calendar of events. For our family, it’s typically every July.
- Everyone age 3 and up needs a ticket. Child tickets are for ages 3-9, while adult tickets are ages 10 and up at the time of travel.
- Multi-day tickets will save you the most money, but you know what will save you even more? Booking a large group discount package with my partners. Email me to start the process (jessica@thehappiestblogonearth.com)—these are unadvertised Disneyland group ticket prices.
And of course, someone needs to be the group leader or fulfill various roles during the Disneyland reunion. Here are some ways you can get the family involved—or—do it all yourself, either option is allowed.
- Point of Contact: This person coordinates travel dates, hotel specifications and other important travel details with me and my team via email and/or phone. Email me to start the process (jessica@thehappiestblogonearth.com).
- In Park Leader: This person is in charge when everyone is in the theme parks. It helps if everyone else knows this person is in charge. They typically lead the group as they navigate through the parks and let people know which ride is coming next, when and where the next bathroom break is, when and where meals take place and they handle booking and redeeming Lightning Lanes.
- Pre-Park Prep: This person helps coordinate family t-shirts, hats, snack bags or anything special you’d like to do for the trip. They’ll gather sizing, order and distribute items as needed.
Disneyland Family Reunion Group Rate
When you’re planning a Disneyland reunion, you’re probably looking for discount group rates. Disneyland itself does not offer discounts to large groups unless you are a non-profit organization or going on a school field trip. In fact, their planDisney answer says:
“While there are group rates for certain corporate events, meetings, conventions, trade shows, and other various events through Disney Meetings & Events, I don’t think it would be applicable in your situation.”
Group Rate on Disneyland Tickets
But I’ve got better news for you! My ticket partners can in fact get you those same discounts and sometimes even better. Not only on tickets, but group hotel rates. Again, get that email to me started so we can work some magic!
Ticket savings add up fast when you’re planning for a large group. Your best choice is to buy through our ticket partner and save over the prices offered direct through Disney. You’ll pay less and have all your tickets under one umbrella, making it super easy to manage.
Group Rate on Hotel Room Blocks
One guest of mine was planning a youth group trip for tons of theater kids to go to Disneyland and do their Youth Performance classes. They did what anyone would do when looking for hotels—found a hotel that sleeps 6 to a room, offers free breakfast and within a short walk of the theme parks.
Then they called the hotel directly and asked for the group rate on a block of hotel rooms. And when they worked with me and my partners, we were actually able to call the hotel and because of our relationships—they offered a rate a LESS than what the hotel quoted when the client herself called. That’s crazy right? You’d think they’d prefer a direct booking. But that’s how much these relationships are valued.
Feel free to get a base rate when you’re browsing for hotels, but consider that a starting point and our group booking team will work to get it to go down from there.
There are many hotels within walking or driving distance that can accommodate large groups. My top picks include:
- Residence Inn at Anaheim Convention Center, walking distance full kitchen and family suites
- Cambria Water Park Hotel, full kitchens, massive outdoor water slides and pool area, lots of dining nearby
- Courtyard Marriott another water park hotel with bunk beds in every room, the whole family will love it
- The VIV Hotel, bunk bed space, newer hotel with ART pick up right outside the lobby
And when you book your Disneyland family reunion or large group event with me, we can even set up payments to be all together on one bill or send an invoice to each paying member of the extended group. We aim to make it as simple as possible!
Disneyland Itinerary for Big Groups
No matter how many days you’re going to Disneyland (I recommend at least 3), your group will likely want to do some things together, and some things apart. Our large family has decided we like to spend the whole time together—but with many people brings a variety of interests and priorities.
I suggest starting the day together with this “All Together Now Park Plan.” I created this especially for large groups to use to maximize a magical day. The itinerary outlines what to ride as a group at both Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park, plus has dining suggestions to allow everyone fun and magic during your Disneyland reunion.
This downloadable itinerary has a half day plan for both parks, for the price of one full day’s itinerary so your group can remain flexible and have a blast. It helps you start your day at either Disneyland or California Adventure Park and keeps you together as a group until after lunch.
Buy it once, and forward it to everyone in your group as your role of In Park Leader.
At that time many groups like to split up for naps, thrill rides or some pool time. Get your plan now and enjoy a magical Disneyland reunion with the whole crew.
Disneyland Family Reunion Gear
Every big group at Disneyland loves matching shirts, hats or something to stick together and easily spot each other in a crowd. Your Pre-Park Prep Person as described above will love browsing the many offerings online. We love to get cousins in “teams” and put them in matching shirts.
I like these Disney Family hats to coordinate with your Disney shirts and gear for the day.
Along with your Disneyland group t-shirt, many reunion groups like to put together welcome baskets for everyone.
Every night when the sun goes down, things get pretty dark at Disneyland Resort. Keep track of your group, and keep kids busy creating, with this mega pack of glow sticks for making bracelets, necklaces, crowns and more.
Put all your Disney swag into these drawstring backpacks so everyone can bring exactly what they need for a fun day at Disneyland Resort. 
Do you have more questions about your Disneyland reunion, I am happy to help! Email communication is the best way to start, contact me individually or CC the whole group jessica@thehappiestblogonearth.com. And yes, I can even hook you up with help planning a reunion to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
