Where is the best place to have a family reunion?

We did an Alaskan cruise which was really fun and have also gathered in Tahoe, Yosemite and in the Carmel/Monterey area. All of these places worked well for us. I highly recommend separate accommodations for each family unit with only a few planned activities for all. I think we would not have happily survived sharing a large house or spending every minute together.

Check out bigcedarlodge.com. It has lots of different options for accommodations and all kinds of stuff to do.

Katie - great topic but isn't it awfully late to plan a summer family reunion? Trying to get reservations for a huge crowd would be very tough at any popular destination.

You might look into the Sebasco Resort (Lake Sebasco?) in Maine. We had a couple reunions there

I'd choose the NC Coast or OBX due to affordability & availability of large 'cottages'. However, it depends on where folks are coming from as OBX is not easy to get to. Most people can fly into MB or Wilmington, NC. My family has been going to Holden Beach, NC for 45+ years. Since my generation were the first kids to go (back in the 60's) & we all now have kids (& some grandkids). We can't all go together anymore, as there are just too many of us. You will however, likely find portions of my family there most anytime of year, but particularly June-October.

The YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, CO hosts a lot of reunions.

Have you ever thought about the area that your ancestors came from (in the U.S. of course? My family came from Eastern Kentucky and I love the idea of walking the same ground that they did....just an idea?

My question comes more from an interest in whether any of you still do this and if so, where you've had good reunions where everyone in the group was satisfied with the spot. I don't see many mentioned here in the Forums---but thought perhaps there'd be some good ideas for destinations, especially since you all like to travel.

How often do you normally plan in advance? Would you say August is the most popular month? July?

BTW - a portion of my family has one every year in Cincinnati @ a Park (whose name escapes me). My Great-Grandmother lived in that area & it has continued there since her passing. Lots of my family comes from Ohio, Kentucky & NC, so location-wise, it makes since. If you want people to show up, location & accessability is key.

We had a great family reunion in Sunriver, OR. Lots of houses available for rent and a variety of outdoor sports to keep us busy. We held ours in August and the weather was beautiful.

Breckenridge, CO; Hawaii; and the Disney Cruise WDW.

We have had them all over the country:

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Saugatuck, Michigan
Branson, MO
Las Vegas, NV
Olympic National Park, WA
Biloxi, MS
Wisconsin Dells
Ozark Mountains, Arkansas
Jacksonville, FL
Berkeley Springs, WV
Virginia Beach, VA

My personal favorite was Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. Lots to do for all ages, gorgeous scenery, wide range of accommodations options for all budgets, great hiking, etc.

This year it's in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

We have an enormous extended family spread all over the country and try to hold it in a different place each year. We hold it on the same weekend every year. Not everyone makes it to every single one. We try to choose places that are not too difficult to get to, with plenty to do to keep all ages occupied, and affordable places to stay.

I think the key tip is that not everyone has to do everything together. We usually plan one big dinner together for Saturday night. Other than that, everything is optional. Some people like to golf, some like to shop, some like to hike, some like to spend the afternoon at the pool, some play tennis or horseshoes -- people tend to break out into small groups and do their own thing. For those with little kids it might be mini-golf or a water park. Someone might lead a craft demonstration or share old family photos. Someone might give a genealogy talk. Sunday morning someone leads an early morning stretch class and someone else leads a bible study and other people just sleep in. Some people arrive Thursday but most arrive Friday and leave Sunday.

You have to have a little bit of structured time -- like set aside several hours for a cookout or picnic one day -- and other time that is unstructured. If you try to force everyone to spend the entire weekend together you are asking for trouble.

If the first family reunion goes well then people usually want to repeat it. I think they should be held every other year but I have been outvoted on that so they are held every year in our family. You can't put too much pressure on people to attend every year though because it just isn't always possible, either because of other time commitments or for financial reasons or whatever.

The Hyatt Hill Country Resort is a great spot. It's located in San Antonio which offers loads to do from the Alamo to Sea World and the River Walk. The property even has a lazy river that winds around the property that you can inner tube on, nice spa too. At night, you can roast marshmallows over the campfire and make s'mores - kind of like camp for grownups!

We have been having our family reunions at Bradenton/Holmes Beach since I was an early teen. I'm now in my late 40's. My Dad has 5 siblings, all are married and have 3~4 children each so it has always been quite a throw down.

We have been staying at the same small condominium complex the last week of July from the start. This year 2 of my uncles and 1 of my aunts has been diagnosed with various forms of cancer...one is incurable. This year will be a litte sad I'm afraid...I still would not miss it for the world!

Our family reunions are a little different because most of us have grown children and are now facing up to the challenges of traveling with small grandchildren. We also have family on both coasts, so our get-togethers have run the gamut from the Oregon coast to Orlando, Maine and Charleston. We've also been to Scotland and Germany on family trips, which we do annually for a week, but not at the same time each year. We try to go somewhere different, usually a place not everyone has visited before, and spend a week soaking up the area.

We always rent a large (VERY large--in Scotland, a castle) place. With a large group, it's much less expensive than getting multiple hotel rooms. We also usually plan to stay in during the evening, unless there's a special event we want to attend, which saves $$. Also saves worry about having drinks with dinner and making your way home, esp. if you're staying in a Scottish castle! One family unit is responsible for the evening meal-planning, shopping, cooking and cleanup. That means you have six nights to loaf and have free gourmet dinners, because we all love cooking and eating! Then we spend the rest of the evening playing board games, shooting pool (yes, some houses come with pool tables), swimming (same with pools), reading (the castle had a library with a fireplace) or whatever you feel like doing. A group walked to and from a gasthaus down the road from our place on the Mosel River in Germany for an evening nightcap. We spend days sightseeing, making day trips, doing all the local fun things and generally getting into the local culture/activities. We always have lunch at a recommended local restaurant, never a chain.

Obviously Orlando is good for families with young ones. There are a million rental houses of all sizes and at least a half-million things to do for people of all ages. We loved the shore in Maine (different lobster recipe every night) and the rocky coast of Oregon. The primary purpose is to all be together and recharge for the next year of separation from loved ones, esp. as we all age and begin to face health problems. This year we're off to Ireland, even in the face of the Euro! Yikes! Takes months of planning by some dedicated person, many votes, and lots of price-checking, but in the end, it always comes off great and if something goes wrong, it's just a great story for that year's trip.

Twice we've had big family reunions in Gatlinburg. We rent two enormous cabins. We have no organized activities during the day, everyone sort of matches up and joins whatever activity they want. We all just eat dinner together every night, with each family taking turns cooking. That's important because that way you know one day you work, the others you can relax. And, everyone contributes liquor!!!

The first year we were 34 people, 10 years later, with marriages and kids, we were 52 people of four generations. My mom has 10 brothers and sisters

The area is beautiful with plenty to entertain the different generations. They are great memories.

hawaii

Our family (starting with 83 yo dad) has been having reunions for over 20 years. We sometimes do alternate "no kids" years, with six couples only (usually a cruise). But the big family years (we number 34 and counting) are always spent in the Outer Banks. Always a whole week.

I am the planner and Nags Head area always wins out because of the large mansions (like FlaAnn's castles) - complete with pool, hot tub, pool tables - the last one even had a cabana house with wet bar and screened room where we made our sushi lunch. We have tried cabins in Maggie Valley, NC, condos in Myrtle Beach, duplexes on Long Beach Island, NJ, but those incredibly equipped mansions win out. We're weird - we love to be together and most all love to cook. Those who don't cook are clean-a-holics, so that works out great!

Each family plans a different dinner, and now that the grandkids are old enough - they cook and we watch the babies!

As for timing, school/college breaks etc, always always ends up being mid June for our family. But those mansions need to be booked between Labor Day and Christmas, in the new year only the highest priced places are left. So planning is best done in the fall.

We have had ours in San Diego (twice), Chicago, Nashville and Las Vegas. San Diego was my favorite. OBX is one I'd like to try in the future as well as Seattle and Portland.

There are a lot of great tips here; my family never really did these reunions but we'd like to in the future. Many of us are in the south... the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Tennessee's Rocky Mountains, and Charleston have all come up.

At this point, I don't think we'd have ducks in a row enough to do it this year, but if we started now perhaps July 09 would be a possibility.

I'm eyeballing some of these recommendations to see if every region is well represented. Seems like it except maybe for parts of the West and the Northeast. Where do all of the Texans go?

Cruising doesn't personally appeal to me but it really seems like a great answer for a large family with several generations represented.

If you're seriously thinking about July, I'd think Mts. Charleston can be a bit on the miserable side, that time of year.

West Coast
Washington State Parks have some great locations...
Yosemite

On East Coast
Kings Mill Resort

Any Busch Seaworld etc property

BTW Busch just announced they are building a Busch entertaiment complex in Dubai to open in 2010

I'd say on a cruise ship! Most cruise lines will give you a free cabin for every so many booked. Check it out!

lisa, I'm interested in your upcoming reunion in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Are you staying downtown or at the Mall of America? I'm originally from MSP and once had a small conference of board executives from the 50 states. They were very excited about Mpls, especially downtown with the very walkable Nicollet Mall and its weekly mostly Hmong produce market. I hope your family has a great time there. MSP is a wonderful destination--especially in the summer.

Hi Julie. Actually my aunt & uncle live in Maple Grove so we are having it there. They have a pool & grill so they will host the gatherings for dinner & brunch; I think most people are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Maple Grove or Hampton Inn. Small groups are planning to hit the zoo, Mall of America, maybe do one of the Segway tours, Valley Fair, Science Museum, Art Institute, & assorted other stuff. I did not know about the produce market but now it is on my to-do list, so thanks!

Forgot to mention that each year at one of the dinners or brunch, one of the topics for discussion is always where to have it next year. It is usually decided by consensus. Whoever lives closest to the chosen venue usually gets the job of finding a hotel or two in the area and reserving a block of rooms and emailing everyone with the details. That's about it.

I heartily second elburr's suggestion of Sunriver, Oregon. It's a great resort in Central Oregon with a whole bunch of cool stuff for everyone to do. The Sunriver community includes a guest lodge with restaurants, cabins and rooms, as well as a whole bunch of vacation houses that are available to rent. I'm pretty sure they aren't totally booked for the summer.
There are 3 really good golf courses on the property, as well as swimming pools and a bike path that winds around and tunnels under the streets so kids can ride safely. The Jeld Wenn Tradition, one of the majors for the senior golf tour is held in Sunriver in August. http://www.visitcentraloregon.com/listing.html?cID=128
Lots of good restaurants in Sunriver, and a whole bunch more in beautiful Bend, 14 miles north. Also, about 28 great golf courses within about a 20 square mile area. Hike the central cascades, visit a volcanic caldera, go whitewater rafting, visit Bend for live theater and outdoor concerts. (Some concerts at Sunriver too!). The biggest risk you take at visiting is that you'll want to move there, and that's not all bad.
Check the Sunriver website, also the Bend website for lots of good info. If you're coming by air, you'll fly into Redmond Airport, then drive through Bend to Sunriver. It takes about 40 minutes from the airport to Sunriver. It's a great place for a family reunion, with a lot for everyone to do.

Katie, we did our last two on Isle of Palms (2006) and Sullivans Island (2007).

My yankee cousins found so much to do in the area besides the beach and it is a 15-20 drive to downtown Charleston South Carolina.

We also found houses that could sleep up to 50 people.

My husband and I are sick of it but they refuse to go anywhere else now.

If I could pick anywhere in the USA for a family reunion, I would pick Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch in Stanley, ID. Fabulous hiking, horseback riding, rafting, historical sights, gorgeous views...and incredible food. What's not to love?

Hi Katie_H,

I read your post on the cruise forum and followed your link here.
I had an experience booking a cruise for over 500 people back in 2001 and it was quite an experience.

We were on the then refitted Carnival Senation, sailing from Tampa to the Western Caribbean, after the Superbowl weekend in Tampa. (so it was a slow week for cruise ships)

We had a very good travel agent who helped us with the travel documents for all the people, tracked everyone and booked all the air for almsot everyone. To make things easier, they suggested using the cruise ships fly option as the cruise line will do the work, get them there the day before, put them up in hotels and ground transport them to the ship.

We also negotiated with Carnival and received very favorable rates all around. We paid roughly 2/3 of the regular fare. (We booked almost 25% of the ship) We were given a contact at the port and a contact at their admin office to help us with thye planning and special requests.

We also received several upgrades to junior suite. I forgot what the number was ( I think we received 1 suite upgarde for each 25 cabins booked?) We ended up with 11 suites in all and paid only our outside cabin rate. We also have people in wheel chairs with us and they have specail wheel chair accessed cabins for them.

A group of us (6 couples) were given early boarding priviledges at 10 am (general boarding starts at noon) so we can get to our cabin, freshen up, and set up for our own welcome reception. They even arranged to have our luggage there early.

Everyone was put into the same seating for dinner in the same dining room. We were given a welcoming reception table at the promanade deck. We used one of the lounges for our own private welcome reception. The captain showed up to shake hands and photo ops. We had the night club booked entirely to oursleves for 3 afternoons from 1 pm to 3 pm.

All that for no extra charge. We just have to pay for the drinks.

We booked our own shore excursions for the entire group at one of the ports with a local tour company and Carnival did not complaint.

We tipped the matri'd $100 and he had his wait staff put out the gift bags at the dinner table. We did tipped the wait staff separtely as well for the extra work.

Carnival served exclusively Coca Cola products. We made arrangement to have Pepsi products on board (they were a friend and sponsor for our shore excursion) and they allowed the use of their products for all our special private functions and in our cabins (they charged us $1 per flat of 24's for handling) We have several pallets of products (180 cases to a pallet) as we put one flat in each cabin plus extras for the functions. we had left over products and we gave them to the crew.

We were given the use of their office equipment (phtocopier) so that we had our own daily newsletter. Our then 10 year old son delivered the newsletter nightly with his 14 year old cousin.

It was a blast. We kept running into people we know everywhere we go for very obvious reasons. W organzied pingpong games, card games, video games etc with the help of the pursers. For those who wanted private time, they did manged to get away from the "group" as there are many places to "hide" on such a big ship. I knew we did. Since we only booked one shore excursion for the entire group, everyone chose where they wanted to go on shore excursions for the other portsand every men, women and children for themselves.

Of course, the whole group was together during dinner plus the 3 private functions. And with so many of us, no one would have known if people skipped the private functions anyway.

We have a large family, but because of the great pricing we received, we decided to expand it to include friends of the families. Everyone is allowed to bring friends. Besides, we kept the upgardes to ourselves, so the more people we get onboard, the more freebies we received. That's the benefit for doing all the work.

I am not singing the praise of any particular cruise line but I am sure that all the cruise lines will help you organize your reunion especially when you are booking so many cabins.

One last note, we started the planning and organizing more than 18 months in advance. We tentatively booked 350 cabins and I think we ended up with a bit less than 270 in the end. We paid an up front deposit to hold all the cabins ($15,000) and we had to made more payment as it got closer to the sailing date. There was a drop-dead date where we must either commit or release the cabins on hold. I think it was 90 days. As it turned out, we had one extra cabin so we had our kids in the extra cabin so it all worked out. Otherwise, they would have to crowded in with us as 3rd and 4th passengers.

It was a lot of work and the group of us worked together and each one doing one part of the job. The travel agent helped as they assigned one staff specially to us. There are many people who had never cruised before and they walked them through the proces and answered all their questions. The travel agent collected money from everyone and made money on the deal. We had to pay the initial deposit but as money came in from all the booking deposits, we got our up front money back from the travel agent and they made the rest of the payment to the cruise line as money came in.

Mind you, the owners of the travel agent are family friends and they were on the cruise with us as well.

It was quite a get togther and people are still talking about it to this day in our own smaller gatherings 7 full years later and asking when is the next one.

Think about this: the whole clan (and friends) spending 7 days together, have dinner together every night but everyone have their own private space and activities, get to travel in warm climate in the winter months, all meals looked after etc. What more can you ask for?

We rent condos in New Braunfels, Texas in the Texas Hill Country. There is something for everyone. A big river, a small river, a great water park, Gruene Hall for nightlife, the Gristmill for dinner out. The condos sleep 6, have a full kitchen and you can reserve the complex's clubhouse room for communal eating and gathering. The clubhouse also has a full kitchen and is adjacent to the swimming pool. Need to book by March, though. It's a very popular destination.

My family (75 to 80 people) reunites every five years. Whoever lives in the host city arranges a block of hotel rooms, a hospitality suite, a Thursday night buffet welcome dinner, a Friday picnic or other get-together, Saturday golf or sightseeing and a Saturday night dinner-dance. We have had reunions in Lawrenceville, IL; San Jose, CA; Washington, DC; St. Louis, MO; Vincennes, IN; Phoenix, AZ; and in 2010 it will be in Charlotte, NC. Some folks come in the weekend before or stay a few days later to see other attractions in the area that they peek their interest. The Charlotte reunion in 2010 will give us choices from Asheville, NC in the Great Smomky Mountans to Myrtle Beach, SC. Everyone looks forward to the reunion and having the opportunity to visit another part of the country.

Hi Katie; How about two years in the planning for my 40 wedding anniversary. Had friends, neighbors, brother, sister, niece nephew, children and grandchldren who met in Basil and cruised to Amsterdam. With my grandchildren running up the gang-plank to greet her, this was SPECIAL. A total of 25 people were on board. So,this was a COMPLETE suprise for my better half. Then we had a final dinner for everyone in Amsterdam. The restaurent was wonderful theeboom.com .Consider, I collected money every three months, reduced everyones cost by dividing one free passage. Became good friends with Raja, Indian, [working for KD cruise line] married to an Austrian woman, who have visited us in the states and we have visited them in Austria. The newspaper reviews are hanging on my wall, THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME. Iris

madrebt, if you don't mind my asking, could you post the name of the condos in New Braunfels? We've stayed at the Schlitterbahn park, and I don't think those rooms have been updated since 1970 - serious harvest gold and avocado decor and pretty pricey. I'd love to have some other options.

This is the story by the way that I mentioned in my op. We included both tips from our editors and tips from some of you on this thread. Thanks for sharing your experience---I can't imagine planning 2 years out but I imagine that such planning really pays off in the end. Especially with a big group.

http://www.fodors.com/news/story_2996.html

Our destinations for the 22 members of my immediate family have been a Caribbean crusie, Yellowstone Nat. Park, Bar Harbor Maine, and Lake Tahoe. We loved each selection but what has turned out to be the favorite and least expensive thus far is Bar Harbor Maine where we rented a very large house that had enough bedrooms for all of us. The cost is extremely reasonable when it is split 22 ways. Room selection is done by lottery. We pool our money for the food and families volunteer as to what meal they will cook for the gang. Everyone has the option of eating in with the gang or eating out. We go our separate ways during the day. We have one optional planned family adventure where we all can join in.
A cruise is the easiest way to go especially for a large extended family. We feel 5 to 7 days is ideal.

If I were to schedule a family reunion for our brood, I'd hold it locally at Asilomar. http://www.visitasilomar.com/ It's the perfect location for reunions. Asilomar is located across the street from the ocean. It has banquet halls, a pool, a dining hall, catering, you name it. Asilomar is located in Pacific Grove, CA. The central CA coast is heaven on earth. If your family is mostly in CA, you'll enjoy this location.

No matter what part of the country you live in the absolute best place is always the same.

Someone ELSE'S house.

dbledewars

Hi Katie. My family has been having reunions just about every 2 years for the past 40 years. We now number 40-45 and have found that we most enjoy reunions where we are able to lodge close to each other...in Vermont we had a number of rustic cabins near a lake, and were able to rent the whole place, which included a rec building with pool table, etc. In Maine we rented the Round Table Lodge outright as well which was across the road from Sebago Lake - it was a number of very nice cabins. In Maine you can also arrange a lobster boil/clam bake - they bring the equipment & have your food ready in 30 min. - it was great! I missed the Pigeon Forge reunion but heard it was horrible traffic getting places. Also we've found that in mountain areas houses are often a bit far apart, so there's less opportunity for the AM coffee by the lake, that sort of thing. We've done a couple of Outer Banks (I live in NC) reunions; Oak Island was the best - you can rent a number of houses close together and the beach is always there for an activity, with Wilmington close enough for a fun day trip. It's family-friendly, not as crowded as Ocean Isle or some of the others, and less trouble to get to than, say, Duck, up the coast. Nag's Head is very crowded and not as pretty as other parts of the Outer Banks. On Oak Island we chartered a boat to take a cruise on the intercoastal waterway, and were allowed to bring on our own pizza & beer, and that was a lot of fun. We also attended a local fish fry (there are a fair number of year-round residents) which was neat. 40 years ago, we camped...but as we've all grown-up and our parents are getting older, there aren't too many who camp. One thing that worked really well for planning our last reunion was free web survey software which one of my relatives used to narrow down what was most important to the majority (how close to an airport? shopping? nature vs. city? etc.) With a large group of varying ages (3 to 80) I think that really helped. Good luck!

Web survey? Do tell--- my family would definitely like something like that. Sounds very democratic!

Katie - I have asked my cousin who did the survey; I'll post a link if she's still got it & can send it.

TTess, I'm trying to get my family together in a couple years in the Monterey area, and will check out Asilomar. I think I need to do a practice trip.

Katie - Here's what my cousin had to say about the survey software: "The survey software I used is Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com). They have a "Professional" membership for which you pay, but I was able to do our survey with the free basic membership, for which you just need to submit an e-mail address and password. The free membership doesn't track who's responded, so you'd want to include a required "who are you?" question in the survey." Good luck planning!

volcanogirl, those Schlitterbahn rooms are very dated. I would recommend searching for "New Braunfels condo comal river" to get the best condos.

Some well known condos are: Inverness, Warnecke, River Run. The only one I've stayed at is Camp Warnecke, for our honeymoon, but it wasn't the best as the a/c went out and they wouldn't do anything about it. Here is a link to get more info, but I don't know anything about the company it belongs to:

http://www.newbraunfelsresortaccommodations.com/pages/condos.html

If you are thinking about coming again, I would be happy to go by and check out a property for you. Just let me know (and maybe post on the lounge if I don't respond here).