schoen
03-25-2008, 08:40 AM
Our trip is like a reverse mullet because it will be split into two sections, the party end, and the business end. The party end will consist of me, DH, and DBIL. We are all fans of fun, and hence the party in the front. Halfway through the trip DBIL will leave and DSIL, DMIL, and DFIL will come. They are all lots of fun, but will be more relaxed and laid back, and more like the business end of a mullet. So we will see how this goes!
Have you ever traveled with your in-laws? I have. I have had mixed experiences with traveling with my in-laws. My first trip was to WDW when I was a sweet, innocent seventeen year old. We went for a few days after X-Mass. I loved that trip simply because I had never been on a vacation like that before. My family didn’t take big expensive trips. It was just not where my parents decided to put their money. I remember thinking at seventeen, “It is hard to travel with another family”.
We went again to ring in the Millennium at the World. It was PACKED, but I am glad I had the experience. I was in college at this point, and while I of course enjoyed WDW, I felt I was ready for a new travel experience.
Then came college, I couldn’t afford to travel much in college, but I did manage to squeeze in a two-month study abroad in Russia. It was basically required for my field of study (Russian Language and Culture). My second senior year in college my WONDERFUL (seriously, for the array of hooey he puts up with from me, he should be a saint!) boyfriend Matt proposed! Yay! I could seriously consider a REAL vacation. Matt and I never traveled together alone before, and I was ready to go.
At this point I was still in college, and Matt had just purchased a house, and he also basically supported me financially during my year-long student teaching. My parents and the Federal government can also take credit for making sure that I had some clothes to wear and food to eat that year. I just don’t think I could go back to the days when I had to ask for money for everything. Yikes. Long story short, Matt and I would need financial help for a nice honeymoon.
We had the wedding of our dreams, which again was sponsored by our RIDICULOUSLY generous parents, but our parents were unlikely to give us both the wedding and honeymoon of our dreams. I scratched the whole Santorini/Greek Isles idea, and came up with nothing! Matt’s parents came through once again. They have a ton of DVC points and told us we could use them. So we went to WDW.
At the time I was NOT excited (although Matt was just tickled). I didn’t think rollercoasters and men in mouse suits were going to be the relaxing honeymoon I had in mind. Long story short: I HAD A BLAST ON MY HONEYMOON.
When we came back from our honeymoon having had so much fun Matt’s family decided they wanted in on some of the fun too, and they scheduled a short four day trip in Dec.
The December trip was fun, but I learned some things about traveling with my in-laws:
1. They are not planers
2. They are reluctant to rise early
3. They are an indecisive lot, but lovely folks!
I had foolishly thought that our family trip would be as amazing, or at least almost as good as our honeymoon. My expectations were just too high. I was forgetting that it is simply easier to travel in groups of two than it is a group of eight. The three days that we were there consisted of me waking up early and getting ready to hits the parks at opening, and the rest of the family stumbling out of bed between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. They would then relax, eating leisurely breakfasts in the Grand Villa, and watching TV. They would say “what should we do today?” Then the indecision would take over. There was also a real sense of no one wanting to take on the role of leader. No one would speak up and say “we’re leaving in 25 minutes for Epcot, if you want to come be ready” So we usually left for the day around 12:00 grabbed a table service lunch and then hit the parks at the busiest times of the day. Yikes. It was a stark contrast to our honeymoon, and I just wasn’t ready for that.
This is not to say I didn’t enjoy that trip, I did. It was a great bonding experience for the family, we had good times and ate good meals. I had booked a Wishes cruise, and that was pretty awesome. We had a GREAT day at Animal Kingdom. It was a fun trip, but it was important as a learning experience for future trips, such as our trip that we are taking in May!
The May trip is happening because the only people who have been using the DVC points are my husband and myself. THAT IS IT. Even going twice a year and staying unnecessarily in one-bedroom units at more point-expensive resorts (the Beach Club Villas) They still have a TON of points left over. They are in a use them or lose the situation, and so a May trip was almost forced upon them.
Let’s introduce them, shall we?
DFIL early 50’s- The leader of the pack if you will. He is the boss, everywhere he goes! At his house, at his accounting firm, just everywhere. For some that could be bad, but his heart is golden, and he is quite literally the most generous person I have ever met. He is pretty go-with-the flow on vacations, but he will start to resist if he feels he is being tied to a specific schedule. He does not care for parades or fireworks. I don’t get it…
DMIL early 50’s-She is the “planner” of their family WDW trips (she has delegated this task primarily to me for this trip). She is a people pleaser. She wants everyone to be happy, and will do anything to accommodate any request. She rivals her husband for the most generous person alive title. Not only would she give you the shirt off her back, she would give you her whole closet, and then she would knit you some items so that you had some extras. I am not over exaggerating, even in the least. She is pretty awesome. She likes to have a plan, but her family’s reluctance always wins out (because she is a people pleaser). She is an amazing woman, but sadly she lives with chronic back/neck/leg pain. She takes a lot of meds and tires out pretty quickly. This is not a problem, but a reality for her. There are things she has to do on a daily basis for her health maintenance. She often needs to be reminded not to push herself.
BDIL 22- A college senior who has had a hard year in school. We are particularly trilled that we will go just after his graduation. His graduation will be a VERY special event for him, and this will be a well deserved trip. He is among the most laid back people that I know. Very easy going, happy-go-lucky. He is very excited about his first trip post turning 21. He has mentioned drinking around the world and pleasure island as priorities for this trip.
DSIL 20- A very sweet girl. She likes to have a good time, and in less than a year she will be able to do so legally. For now though, she is underage. She is a college sophomore. Very indecisive, but willing to do anything. She will speak up if she is unhappy, but she is very rarely unhappy!
DBIL 26-and DSIL28- There is another brother, and his new wife. They will not be joining us for this trip because it falls during Mother’s Day and DSIL’s mom’s B-day. DBIL also has a new job working on a campaign, so I think it is hard for his to get away from work. The election is in November. I wish they were coming, but we will be thinking of them.
DH 28-Also works in politics, but as a lobbyist, so he can take time off He loves WDW and is also very laid-back (are you seeing a trend) He wants very much for his family to enjoy this trip, and he is excited to be getting back.
ME- 27- Not a teacher, but looking for a teaching job. Currently an independent contractor offering training and education services to the restaurant industry. I love going to WDW. I love planning, and I especially love anticipating WDW trips. I am not as easy going as my family, but I am trying to learn. I am ready for a laid back trip with them.
The family is big. They have crazy schedules, and it is pretty tough to get everyone in the same room. We decided on May because there is a week (or really half a week) that the two youngest have off school.
The schedule will look like this:
Tuesday May 6th: Work till 5:00 for DH. I have a class in town in the am, and could potentially schedule one more for the PM, but either way I will be done by 3:00. Hopefully we will be packed. Drive to the in-laws house to drop off the cutest black and tan mini-daschund that ever walked the earth. We will be sponging off the in-laws dog sitting service. My in-laws also live much closer to the airport than we do, so we will be closer to DTW for our relatively early (8:50) flight. We will want to be there by 7:00 ish, so we will have to leave EARLY maybe 5:45… yikes
Wed May 7th- Me, DH, DBIL fly to Orlando to stay in a one-bedroom at OKW. Poor DBIL will have to sleep on the pullout, but he is young, it shouldn’t bother him too much.
Epcot, FW during the afternoon and drinking round the world in the pm. Capped off by Illuminations. Dinner at Le Cellier.
Thurs May 8th- Sleep in, maybe swim in the morning. Head over to AK for Yak and Yeti lunch and evening EMH. Depending on whether we get the Deluxe dining plan or no dining plan we will either have a late dinner at Jiko or Boma.
Fri May 9th- No real plans. I would imagine DHS. No dinner or lunch plans. If we get the Deluxe dining plan I would like to try the Brown Derby. Maybe Flying Fish dinner, topped off by Fantasmic? I would imagine some swimming during this day.
Sat May 10th- Maybe MK morning, but if I was a guessing gal I would imagine that we will sleep in and not be bothered with waking up after three pretty full days in the park. DMIL, DFIL, and DSIL will arrive today. Their flight will get in around11:30 am. They should be at the resort by 2:00ish depending on how they get there… Dinner will either be at yatschsman steakhouse, ‘ohana, or Teppan Edo. I would imagine there will be time spent at EPCOT or maybe MK is we do ‘ohana
Sun May 11th- DBIL will leave early. His flight back to MI leaves at 11:30. We have tentative plans for today. We may go to the Mother’s Day brunch at Epcot, maybe some other brunch type place? It will depend on if we do the deluxe dining plan. We may go to CA grille for dinner, or ‘ohana. I secured an adr at Le Cellier, but we may cancel. I would like to get to MK for spectro, wishes, and evening extra hours. We will see though, DFIL doesn’t like parades or freworks… so we will see. It could be a solo event for us. They will be pretty tired from traveling.
Monday May 12th-And then there were 5. We are hoping for BB or TL today, but maybe DHS. Maybe both? We have adr’s at ‘ohana for dinner.
Tuesday May 13th-Animal kingdom. Yak and Yeti for lunch. Artist point or DD for dinner
Wed May 14th- Maybe breakfast at Kona, then to MCO for a 1:30 pm flight. Arrive in Detroit, fight rush hour traffic to get to the in-laws, pick up the doggie, then DH and I will start the 90 minute drive home. What a day! I may need to take the next day off just to recover!
Overall it will be a lot of repetition for DH and me, but we know that going in. I also assume that plans will change at least fifty times.
There are still a few things that we need to figure out. The biggest decision, I think, will be what we do for dining. DMIL had thought we should do the DxDDP, but DFIL thought that it was a lot of money per-person per day. It would be even more expensive because we would have to pay for DBIL for three days that he will not be there. But we will have to see what we will do. I think that we will most certainly have the DDE too, so maybe no dining plan at all? We will have to see.
Have you ever traveled with your in-laws? I have. I have had mixed experiences with traveling with my in-laws. My first trip was to WDW when I was a sweet, innocent seventeen year old. We went for a few days after X-Mass. I loved that trip simply because I had never been on a vacation like that before. My family didn’t take big expensive trips. It was just not where my parents decided to put their money. I remember thinking at seventeen, “It is hard to travel with another family”.
We went again to ring in the Millennium at the World. It was PACKED, but I am glad I had the experience. I was in college at this point, and while I of course enjoyed WDW, I felt I was ready for a new travel experience.
Then came college, I couldn’t afford to travel much in college, but I did manage to squeeze in a two-month study abroad in Russia. It was basically required for my field of study (Russian Language and Culture). My second senior year in college my WONDERFUL (seriously, for the array of hooey he puts up with from me, he should be a saint!) boyfriend Matt proposed! Yay! I could seriously consider a REAL vacation. Matt and I never traveled together alone before, and I was ready to go.
At this point I was still in college, and Matt had just purchased a house, and he also basically supported me financially during my year-long student teaching. My parents and the Federal government can also take credit for making sure that I had some clothes to wear and food to eat that year. I just don’t think I could go back to the days when I had to ask for money for everything. Yikes. Long story short, Matt and I would need financial help for a nice honeymoon.
We had the wedding of our dreams, which again was sponsored by our RIDICULOUSLY generous parents, but our parents were unlikely to give us both the wedding and honeymoon of our dreams. I scratched the whole Santorini/Greek Isles idea, and came up with nothing! Matt’s parents came through once again. They have a ton of DVC points and told us we could use them. So we went to WDW.
At the time I was NOT excited (although Matt was just tickled). I didn’t think rollercoasters and men in mouse suits were going to be the relaxing honeymoon I had in mind. Long story short: I HAD A BLAST ON MY HONEYMOON.
When we came back from our honeymoon having had so much fun Matt’s family decided they wanted in on some of the fun too, and they scheduled a short four day trip in Dec.
The December trip was fun, but I learned some things about traveling with my in-laws:
1. They are not planers
2. They are reluctant to rise early
3. They are an indecisive lot, but lovely folks!
I had foolishly thought that our family trip would be as amazing, or at least almost as good as our honeymoon. My expectations were just too high. I was forgetting that it is simply easier to travel in groups of two than it is a group of eight. The three days that we were there consisted of me waking up early and getting ready to hits the parks at opening, and the rest of the family stumbling out of bed between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. They would then relax, eating leisurely breakfasts in the Grand Villa, and watching TV. They would say “what should we do today?” Then the indecision would take over. There was also a real sense of no one wanting to take on the role of leader. No one would speak up and say “we’re leaving in 25 minutes for Epcot, if you want to come be ready” So we usually left for the day around 12:00 grabbed a table service lunch and then hit the parks at the busiest times of the day. Yikes. It was a stark contrast to our honeymoon, and I just wasn’t ready for that.
This is not to say I didn’t enjoy that trip, I did. It was a great bonding experience for the family, we had good times and ate good meals. I had booked a Wishes cruise, and that was pretty awesome. We had a GREAT day at Animal Kingdom. It was a fun trip, but it was important as a learning experience for future trips, such as our trip that we are taking in May!
The May trip is happening because the only people who have been using the DVC points are my husband and myself. THAT IS IT. Even going twice a year and staying unnecessarily in one-bedroom units at more point-expensive resorts (the Beach Club Villas) They still have a TON of points left over. They are in a use them or lose the situation, and so a May trip was almost forced upon them.
Let’s introduce them, shall we?
DFIL early 50’s- The leader of the pack if you will. He is the boss, everywhere he goes! At his house, at his accounting firm, just everywhere. For some that could be bad, but his heart is golden, and he is quite literally the most generous person I have ever met. He is pretty go-with-the flow on vacations, but he will start to resist if he feels he is being tied to a specific schedule. He does not care for parades or fireworks. I don’t get it…
DMIL early 50’s-She is the “planner” of their family WDW trips (she has delegated this task primarily to me for this trip). She is a people pleaser. She wants everyone to be happy, and will do anything to accommodate any request. She rivals her husband for the most generous person alive title. Not only would she give you the shirt off her back, she would give you her whole closet, and then she would knit you some items so that you had some extras. I am not over exaggerating, even in the least. She is pretty awesome. She likes to have a plan, but her family’s reluctance always wins out (because she is a people pleaser). She is an amazing woman, but sadly she lives with chronic back/neck/leg pain. She takes a lot of meds and tires out pretty quickly. This is not a problem, but a reality for her. There are things she has to do on a daily basis for her health maintenance. She often needs to be reminded not to push herself.
BDIL 22- A college senior who has had a hard year in school. We are particularly trilled that we will go just after his graduation. His graduation will be a VERY special event for him, and this will be a well deserved trip. He is among the most laid back people that I know. Very easy going, happy-go-lucky. He is very excited about his first trip post turning 21. He has mentioned drinking around the world and pleasure island as priorities for this trip.
DSIL 20- A very sweet girl. She likes to have a good time, and in less than a year she will be able to do so legally. For now though, she is underage. She is a college sophomore. Very indecisive, but willing to do anything. She will speak up if she is unhappy, but she is very rarely unhappy!
DBIL 26-and DSIL28- There is another brother, and his new wife. They will not be joining us for this trip because it falls during Mother’s Day and DSIL’s mom’s B-day. DBIL also has a new job working on a campaign, so I think it is hard for his to get away from work. The election is in November. I wish they were coming, but we will be thinking of them.
DH 28-Also works in politics, but as a lobbyist, so he can take time off He loves WDW and is also very laid-back (are you seeing a trend) He wants very much for his family to enjoy this trip, and he is excited to be getting back.
ME- 27- Not a teacher, but looking for a teaching job. Currently an independent contractor offering training and education services to the restaurant industry. I love going to WDW. I love planning, and I especially love anticipating WDW trips. I am not as easy going as my family, but I am trying to learn. I am ready for a laid back trip with them.
The family is big. They have crazy schedules, and it is pretty tough to get everyone in the same room. We decided on May because there is a week (or really half a week) that the two youngest have off school.
The schedule will look like this:
Tuesday May 6th: Work till 5:00 for DH. I have a class in town in the am, and could potentially schedule one more for the PM, but either way I will be done by 3:00. Hopefully we will be packed. Drive to the in-laws house to drop off the cutest black and tan mini-daschund that ever walked the earth. We will be sponging off the in-laws dog sitting service. My in-laws also live much closer to the airport than we do, so we will be closer to DTW for our relatively early (8:50) flight. We will want to be there by 7:00 ish, so we will have to leave EARLY maybe 5:45… yikes
Wed May 7th- Me, DH, DBIL fly to Orlando to stay in a one-bedroom at OKW. Poor DBIL will have to sleep on the pullout, but he is young, it shouldn’t bother him too much.
Epcot, FW during the afternoon and drinking round the world in the pm. Capped off by Illuminations. Dinner at Le Cellier.
Thurs May 8th- Sleep in, maybe swim in the morning. Head over to AK for Yak and Yeti lunch and evening EMH. Depending on whether we get the Deluxe dining plan or no dining plan we will either have a late dinner at Jiko or Boma.
Fri May 9th- No real plans. I would imagine DHS. No dinner or lunch plans. If we get the Deluxe dining plan I would like to try the Brown Derby. Maybe Flying Fish dinner, topped off by Fantasmic? I would imagine some swimming during this day.
Sat May 10th- Maybe MK morning, but if I was a guessing gal I would imagine that we will sleep in and not be bothered with waking up after three pretty full days in the park. DMIL, DFIL, and DSIL will arrive today. Their flight will get in around11:30 am. They should be at the resort by 2:00ish depending on how they get there… Dinner will either be at yatschsman steakhouse, ‘ohana, or Teppan Edo. I would imagine there will be time spent at EPCOT or maybe MK is we do ‘ohana
Sun May 11th- DBIL will leave early. His flight back to MI leaves at 11:30. We have tentative plans for today. We may go to the Mother’s Day brunch at Epcot, maybe some other brunch type place? It will depend on if we do the deluxe dining plan. We may go to CA grille for dinner, or ‘ohana. I secured an adr at Le Cellier, but we may cancel. I would like to get to MK for spectro, wishes, and evening extra hours. We will see though, DFIL doesn’t like parades or freworks… so we will see. It could be a solo event for us. They will be pretty tired from traveling.
Monday May 12th-And then there were 5. We are hoping for BB or TL today, but maybe DHS. Maybe both? We have adr’s at ‘ohana for dinner.
Tuesday May 13th-Animal kingdom. Yak and Yeti for lunch. Artist point or DD for dinner
Wed May 14th- Maybe breakfast at Kona, then to MCO for a 1:30 pm flight. Arrive in Detroit, fight rush hour traffic to get to the in-laws, pick up the doggie, then DH and I will start the 90 minute drive home. What a day! I may need to take the next day off just to recover!
Overall it will be a lot of repetition for DH and me, but we know that going in. I also assume that plans will change at least fifty times.
There are still a few things that we need to figure out. The biggest decision, I think, will be what we do for dining. DMIL had thought we should do the DxDDP, but DFIL thought that it was a lot of money per-person per day. It would be even more expensive because we would have to pay for DBIL for three days that he will not be there. But we will have to see what we will do. I think that we will most certainly have the DDE too, so maybe no dining plan at all? We will have to see.