Welcome to planDisney, Donna!
I am practically giddy with excitement for your family's upcoming adventure to
The Most Magical Place on Earth! There truly is no better place to be together with those you love than "home." I applaud you for taking on the oh-so important role of Fairy Godmother for your family, because managing the magic for a party of 21 isn't always as simple as saying bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. I know from personal experience planning vacations for my large, multigenerational family that it takes quite a bit of pixie dust and time, so let me just say, YOU ROCK!
My family also chose
Disney's Art of Animation Resort as our home away from home on our first trip together to celebrate my niece's birthday. She loved the larger-than-life Disney characters throughout the Resort! I think you've made the perfect choice for your family's accommodations, because with the
Disney Skyliner on site, getting all 21 of you to Disney's Hollywood Studios and EPCOT will be a literal breeze. Ahead of your trip, it's best to link all of your family's Resort reservations by calling 407-560-2428. You'll also want to make sure all 21 family members are connected in your
My Disney Experience account by adding them to your
Family & Friends list. Both of these steps will help streamline your vacation experience.
You can purchase
Disney Genie+ service in your My Disney Experience App starting at 12:00 midnight on the day of use. I recommend you do this before 6:00 a.m. in case there are technical glitches. At exactly 7:00 a.m., access your Tip Board in the app, and click on your family's first
Lightning Lane selection. A list of all eligible connected Guests with valid Disney Genie+ service for the day will appear. I'm happy to report that there is no limit on the number of Guests you can select at one time when making a Lightning Lane selection, so select the names of all the family members in attendance and finish out the prompts to complete your booking. Repeat this process for subsequent selections.
On your trip, take every opportunity for group photos with the
Disney PhotoPass photographers throughout the theme parks. They're experts at capturing snapshots of magical moments, even for a large family such as yours. Make sure to ask if they have any Magic Shots for an extra special dose of pixie dust in your finished photo. I highly recommend adding
Memory Maker onto your vacation package, so you can download photos from your PhotoPass gallery in your My Disney Experience App as you go. Even if your group splits up, their photos will still appear in your gallery as long as they're on your Family & Friends list. When you return home from your magical vacation, you can even
order a Disney PhotoPass Archive USB flash drive that will have all the photos from your trip loaded onto it.
I hope your family's Walt Disney World Resort vacation is everything you've dreamed of and more, Donna.
Wishing you all the pixie dust,
Alyssa