Bringing family members...what would you do?

[bangzoom6877]

DH and I just became DVC members, with BWV as our home resort. I know our first trip home in July 2010 is still far away, but we are trying to bring some relatives with us. However, they are not DVC members and are not familiar with how it works, as far as reservations, availability, and cancellations.

We are going to book at the exact 11-month window, which means we have to book in August 2009. We know we want to arrive the third week in July 2010. I have spoken to my parents and my sister about coming with us. They only want to go for 5 nights (we will be staying 10 nights). We could afford for them to come with us and stay on our points if we get a one-bedroom (our original plan for our trip), and they each get a studio (my nieces will be joining my sister, so they will have a room, and my parents would have their own room). This is affordable on our points, with banking and borrowing some. They all insisted on paying the going rate at the time for a value resort since that is where they would have been staying had we not purchased the DVC. I told them that I will either accept that amount, or the going rate for renting the points, whichever is less money. I tried just allowing them to pay the maintenance on the points but they were pretty insistent.

I recently spoke to my sister about this, because we got our member number last Friday so we were excited. She told me that she does not know where she will be in her life in summer of 2010, and she is not sure if she could tell me in August either. She said I should book it and she can definitely give me an answer before the 31-day mark (I explained the holding account thing to her briefly). Now, I am aware that once you make a reservation that requires you to borrow points, you cannot return those borrowed points to the original use year if you cancel that reservation. I did not think to mention this to her at the time (it just slipped my mind, I know I should have told her). So, what I am trying to avoid is a situation where my sister tells me to book it, and then for example in Spring 2010 tells me "oops, we're not going". I also do not want to get into an argument with her over this. And I know it is far away right now from booking.

So, my plan was to speak to her some time in June, 2 months before we actually have to book the trip. I am adamant about trying to get a standard view one-bedroom at BWV (our home resort) so we can stay for 10 nights on fewer points. With borrowing, we will ONLY be able to afford each of them a studio in a standard view category. So there's the importance of the 11-month booking window. I know those standard view studios go fast at BWV and July is busy season.

On the one hand, I do not want to lose my points (borrowed points would go into the 2010 use year, and expire March 31, 2011 since we have and April UY). We are going to WDW every other year, so we would definitely lose those points if we cannot rent them and I don't want to have to count on renting them either. On the other hand, I would love for my parents, sister & nieces and us to all enjoy BWV. Planning to go every other year in a one-bedroom for 10 nights each trip, this would be the only trip we could afford the points for all of us to go (since we have 2009's points coming and I am banking those into 2010 for the trip, plus borrowing 2011 points, so 3 year's worth to use).

What would you do if you were me? Book it and risk it, then rent out the points if they decide not to go? Don't book it and explain it to my sister and parents that I might not be able to get them 5 nights since the lower point rooms go quickly and I will have to book wherever I can get it the longer they wait to book? And how do I break all of this to them gently without any arguments?

Sorry this is so long! We're a very close family and this trip would be so nice together, especially for my nieces and my children but it seems so complicated.

[Uncle Remus]

Um, I'm just gonna say good luck. :hug:

[vicki_c]

Maybe I'm oversimplifying, but I would wait until the last possible time to book, so like you said August 2009 and not stress about it too much until then.

Then, between now and then, have a sit down with your family and just explain that should they decide to cancel and put you in a situation where you can't use the points, they will have to pay you for the room anyway. I recognize that's probably a difficult conversation, but I think that's what I would do -- make it very clear, up front, multiple times if needed, that you can't really cancel last minute when using points for a reservation.

Or get the money from them up front and explain that you won't be returning it if they cancel (same thing, just different process).

Hope that helps - we have unreliable type relatives (not saying your DS is!), but we haven't tried to take any of them to Disney yet!

[disneynutz]

Book for you, and if they can't commit, let them place their own reservations at the BW.

Being nice sometimes leaves you holding the bag.

[toocherie]

So here's a question: if you book a one bedroom and two studios--some using current year's points, and some using borrowed points--can you designate which reservation gets the current points and which gets the borrowed points? So that you can definitely use the borrowed points towards the reservation you keep no matter what? (i.e., the one-bedroom?)

or, with an April UY, if MS uses the borrowed points first, then can't the current year points be banked? (assuming that the reservation is cancelled 31 days or more)?

or am I confused (very possible!) :laughing:

[bangzoom6877]

Maybe I'm oversimplifying, but I would wait until the last possible time to book, so like you said August 2009 and not stress about it too much until then.

Then, between now and then, have a sit down with your family and just explain that should they decide to cancel and put you in a situation where you can't use the points, they will have to pay you for the room anyway. I recognize that's probably a difficult conversation, but I think that's what I would do -- make it very clear, up front, multiple times if needed, that you can't really cancel last minute when using points for a reservation.

Or get the money from them up front and explain that you won't be returning it if they cancel (same thing, just different process).

Hope that helps - we have unreliable type relatives (not saying your DS is!), but we haven't tried to take any of them to Disney yet!

I don't have the heart to have them pay me anyway even though they are not going. DH suggested sitting down with them and telling them that if they do cancel and we cannot rent out the points, they will have to pay the maintenance on those points. I still don't know if I even have the heart to do this.

Book for you, and if they can't commit, let them place their own reservations at the BW.

Being nice sometimes leaves you holding the bag.

DH and I talked about this and it just might be the most peaceful way to go. We'll see. I still think that maybe explaining the cancellation policy when using points to them, and then giving them the option to commit or not might work. Again, it is still a risk that they will cancel anyway (hey, things happen too beyond our control). But that is also a risk we take ourselves when booking on points since we cannot predict the future and things can happen last-minute. Still, this will not be easy to talk about with them. Why do I have a funny feeling that it will just be DH, me, and our 2 kids in July 2010?!

[westjones]

We took family with us last summer. We booked a 2 bedroom and decided that we would just enjoy the unit ourselves if they didn't come (but they did).

You know, you could always let them stay at the values and just meet up with them.....OR book them at the Swan or Dolphin right next to the Boardwalk if they can't plan that far in advance.

Good Luck!
DJ

[bangzoom6877]

So here's a question: if you book a one bedroom and two studios--some using current year's points, and some using borrowed points--can you designate which reservation gets the current points and which gets the borrowed points? So that you can definitely use the borrowed points towards the reservation you keep no matter what? (i.e., the one-bedroom?)

or, with an April UY, if MS uses the borrowed points first, then can't the current year points be banked? (assuming that the reservation is cancelled 31 days or more)?

or am I confused (very possible!) :laughing:

According to the member materials I read (the trip planner), unless I misunderstood, once you make a reservation that will require you to borrow points from the following UY, those points cannot be returned to their priginal UY should you cancel the reservation, even if it is before the 31-day window. Yes, I suppose you can use the borrowed points for the reservation not being cancelled, and bank the current year's points. That would mean banking 2010's points into 2011. The problem is that those points would then have to be used by March 31, 2012 or lose them. We are going every other July to WDW. So we will miss being able to use those banked points for our next Disney trip by about 4 months.

I know what many of you are probably thinking...just go on another trip! LOL, it still is a lot of money to go down there even with DVC (tickets, food, transportation, etc.). So every other year works for us! That's why we purchased 150 points on our resale!

[bangzoom6877]

We took family with us last summer. We booked a 2 bedroom and decided that we would just enjoy the unit ourselves if they didn't come (but they did).

You know, you could always let them stay at the values and just meet up with them.....OR book them at the Swan or Dolphin right next to the Boardwalk if they can't plan that far in advance.

Good Luck!
DJ

I know, this is another option too. DH and I figured that if they do decide to go and there are no rooms we can afford to get them on points then they can stay at a value. It would be nice though if we could all stay together, especially since the kids would enjoy it so much. That was the whole point of taking them with us, but we would still enjoy ourselves if we stayed at different hotels. I know they will not pay close to $400 a night for a room at BWI. The value is where they would be staying if we did not have DVC, no doubt (even though we would have stayed at either BWI or BC if we did not get DVC, one of the reasons we got it in the first place!).

The other problem with this is that a 2-bedroom holds 8 people and we will be 10 total. Even if it would fit all of us, they are only staying 5 nights and we are staying 10, so we would not need all that room the last 5 nights. And DH is adamant about staying in the same room the entire trip and not moving!

[Dean]

IMO, this has all the earmarks of a bad plan. If you're looking at standard view for BWV, you'll need to book at 11 months out to the day in all likelihood. Look at what you need in terms of rooms and how many points. Look at weekends vs weekdays. Envision your worst case scenario if every single person cancels and where you would be with points. Try to put yourself where you can use up all of your banked and borrowed points in your reservation. If necessary, you could leave some weekends for later to avoid borrowing points you might not end up needing. Be prepared for someone to cancel 3 weeks before your trip.

[SuzanneSLO]

I would suggest that you book 10 nights in the 1BR for your immediate family. In SV at BWV, that will run about 294 points.

When your family members commit and pay you for their accomodations, book a S-Th night stay for them. That will run you 70 points in PV and 55 in SV. Let them know that the price will be $700 if they commit at 11 months, $550 if they commit at 7 months and you will try your best, but nothing may be available at any other time.

As an alternative, book 10 nights in a SV 2BR for 402 points. Invite your parents for first 5 nights and your sister for the next 5 nights. If anyone cancels, enjoy the extra space for your immediate family and hope you are not forever spoiled and unable to book a 1BR in the future.

If the rooms you need at BWV are not available when your family is ready to commit, another alternative would be try at that time for rooms at OKW, where the points cost will be similar to a a SV at BWV.

If it makes you feel better, we used more than 2 years worth of points on our first DVC stay and never regretted it.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

[Deb & Bill]

IF Member Services would use the current year points to book the studios and the borrowed points to book the one bedroom, you would be able to still bank the points if one or both studios were cancelled. Again, IF. You would be more than 4 months from the end of your UY and they would be current year points that could be banked.

[LIFERBABE]

If your plans are that fixed, then you really dont have the flexibility to accomodate others on your points.

I dont book for anyone unless I am prepared to use them or lose them. You can explain, have a contract, etc. but it can still fall thru.

It does not sound like you would use the points before they expire and you dont want to risk losing them, so imho you are not a good candidate to book for others.

I personally would not put my family/friends in the position to commit or ruin my family's future vacation plans.

There will be alot of resentment if this deal falls thru and that would stop me from doing it.

I have hosted large family trips, but each time I was prepared to use or lose those points if they flaked. I had a studio go empty at HHI last May, because not everyone came but I was prepared to lose those points to ensure I was able to accomodate everyone. I am just back from a solo trip that a friend was to join me on. She cancelled last minute and I went anyway. Use them or lose them when dealing with friends or family.

[disneynutz]

I don't have the heart to have them pay me anyway even though they are not going. DH suggested sitting down with them and telling them that if they do cancel and we cannot rent out the points, they will have to pay the maintenance on those points. I still don't know if I even have the heart to do this.



DH and I talked about this and it just might be the most peaceful way to go. We'll see. I still think that maybe explaining the cancellation policy when using points to them, and then giving them the option to commit or not might work. Again, it is still a risk that they will cancel anyway (hey, things happen too beyond our control). But that is also a risk we take ourselves when booking on points since we cannot predict the future and things can happen last-minute. Still, this will not be easy to talk about with them. Why do I have a funny feeling that it will just be DH, me, and our 2 kids in July 2010?!

IMHO you are setting yourself up for failure. Based upon your comments, your good intentions may cause a major fracture with the family. No matter what you do, some will think that you are talking advantage of them because they don't understand the DVC system.

You would be better off telling them that you are going on vacation and would they like to meet up with you, paying their own way and making their own arrangements. I bet no one will show up.

The idea of a wonderful Disney vacation is in your mind not theirs, and they will never appreciate the Magic like you do. :tinker:

[disney0210]

we came back from a recent trip (10/5-10/13) with DH's family namely mom and dad, sister 1 with husband and 2 kids, sister 2, sister 3, brother 1 with wife; add to that DH, me, DD6 and my dad - 14 people in total spread out over 4 studios. we offered for them to come and use our points. no one offered to pay and we would not have accepted anyway.

we have a december use year and what we told DH's family is that it is okay we book for them using our points, but we told them if they would cancel, they had to cancel by our banking deadline, which was july 31st. we told them the repercussions for us if they cancelled past that date, and we think they got the point, being that this is free accommodation for them.

glad that your family is really close. i thought i was close with DH's family too, but being at WDW with varying families (some with kids, some without) and different likes/dislikes, was really tough. DMIL really pushed a lot of buttons and really got in my nerves. and to think i was the one who concocted this whole vacation thing with my in laws and proposed it to DH! what in the world was i thinking! i told him if he ever heard me planning on sharing our points again with his family, that he had my permission to pull my hair, grab my head and bang it against the wall so i'd wake up.

[disneynutz]

we came back from a recent trip (10/5-10/13) with DH's family namely mom and dad, sister 1 with husband and 2 kids, sister 2, sister 3, brother 1 with wife; add to that DH, me, DD6 and my dad - 14 people in total spread out over 4 studios. we offered for them to come and use our points. no one offered to pay and we would not have accepted anyway.

we have a december use year and what we told DH's family is that it is okay we book for them using our points, but we told them if they would cancel, they had to cancel by our banking deadline, which was july 31st. we told them the repercussions for us if they cancelled past that date, and we think they got the point, being that this is free accommodation for them.

glad that your family is really close. i thought i was close with DH's family too, but being at WDW with varying families (some with kids, some without) and different likes/dislikes, was really tough. DMIL really pushed a lot of buttons and really got in my nerves. and to think i was the one who concocted this whole vacation thing with my in laws and proposed it to DH! what in the world was i thinking! i told him if he ever heard me planning on sharing our points again with his family, that he had my permission to pull my hair, grab my head and bang it against the wall so i'd wake up.

And if anything goes wrong it will be your fault. Some families can get together and have a wonderful time. We have found that most can not, including ours.

We were at the SSR bus stop when a 12 person family group started showing up. People would pair off and bit** about the other people, use of points, no one cares, they are always late, they didn't like the food, it went on and on.

We decided to wait for the second bus.

[Kathi OD]

Personally, I would not make a reservation for your sister until she is sure she can go. If you can get her a room at that point, great. If not, that's just how things go.

[permavac]

If your plans are that fixed, then you really dont have the flexibility to accomodate others on your points.

I dont book for anyone unless I am prepared to use them or lose them. You can explain, have a contract, etc. but it can still fall thru.

It does not sound like you would use the points before they expire and you dont want to risk losing them, so imho you are not a good candidate to book for others.

I personally would not put my family/friends in the position to commit or ruin my family's future vacation plans.

There will be alot of resentment if this deal falls thru and that would stop me from doing it.

I have hosted large family trips, but each time I was prepared to use or lose those points if they flaked. I had a studio go empty at HHI last May, because not everyone came but I was prepared to lose those points to ensure I was able to accomodate everyone. I am just back from a solo trip that a friend was to join me on. She cancelled last minute and I went anyway. Use them or lose them when dealing with friends or family.


VERY sage advice indeed. I've been there - with the rose-colored glasses on - oh wouldn't it be nice to have everyone come on our fun beach week :rolleyes: - so my first caution is be careful what you wish for ;) Who me? Bitter? Don't get me wrong - sometimes these family trips can turn into some of the best memories you will ever have in your life, BUT, if your expectations are too high AND if there is a chance to get burned with money (or in this case, more importantly, points!) then you might want to rethink the plan. If you want to do a really generous thing and use your points for your family to accompany you, then joyfully book those studios at 11 months and tell your family members the date that they must cancel by so you can at least do something else with your points. If they cancel after that date, you are allowed to feel slightly bitter towards them :scared: . Asking for reimbursement (even if they cancel the day of) may cause bad feelings because as much as DVCers love their points, it's hard to explain to some that you are "out" anything because they might not equate it to money and will feel that you weren't asking them to come join you, but were shaking them down instead. Also, many times, if one isn't the initiator of the vacation, they have no vested interest in it above other things they might want to do and don't see it as canceling "plans" - more that they just decided not to come to visit you after all. (FYI: Saying all this does not mean that I approve of such churlish behavior - on the contrary - I have suffered enough to know that I can't control other people's actions so I will just control my own) So I guess I'm saying take the zen approach ;) - book it and hope they will come. If not - go ahead and have the best vacation ever. If they do, ditto.

[permavac]

And if anything goes wrong it will be your fault. Some families can get together and have a wonderful time. We have found that most can not, including ours.

We were at the SSR bus stop when a 12 person family group started showing up. People would pair off and bit** about the other people, use of points, no one cares, they are always late, they didn't like the food, it went on and on.

We decided to wait for the second bus.


One other thing I forgot along these lines. If your sister has two kids staying in her room, she may see a studio as a downgrade from a value hotel like Pop Century because they have two beds (my own sister would see it that way and you'd be blue in the face before you could ever convince her otherwise ;) ). If she does agree to go, you might want to let her know about the accommodations and sleeping arrangements just so she is prepared... Oh - and you may find that she is just not that interested in going and hopefully she will be honest about it.

[BroganMc]

I just advise caution.

I am almost exactly like you. I love Disney so much it is ingrained in me to share the experience. I keep offering to take people so often that I'm convinced it's a disease.

As it is I've got a gathering scheduled for my 17 member family next June that I dreamt of for years and now wish I could just cancel. (If only my 10 yo nephew didn't greet my return home with an ecstatic, "And next year I get to go to Disney on my birthday!")

Get your priorities in line. Your family's booking is the most important. That should be on the soon-to-expire borrowed/banked points. Make that clear to Member Services when you call.

Next comes the most likely guests. Look carefully at those point charts. If I recall correctly, it is actually cheaper to book a 2 bedroom lockoff than a 1bedroom and studio. You could book a 2bedroom for 5 of the days and downsize to the 1bedroom for the other 5. I know at SSR the Front Desk has let members just give up the studio when not needed. I believe BWV will too as long as you're talking the same exact category. At most you'd get new keys on the switchover day.

The last thing you do is book a room for the least likely guest (i.e. your sister). She's already giving you signals that she may wig out. You can not count on her at this point so shouldn't. It'll only leave one of you resentful. Discretion is the better part of valor here. Now if she changes her tune by the time you book next year and is making plans around the around vacation, then I'd think about upgrading her to a likely.

One last thought, don't think for a moment that the warnings here mean anyone thinks less of your generous nature. It's part of why we all love Disney so much. It's just that the timeshare world is frequently misunderstood and abused by family & friends.

[Dean]

I posted the cautions earlier however, we do a group trip about every 2 years, sometimes more recently. We provide the accommodations, we set the time of the trip and we invite people to go. I don't allow others to set the time but I do consider the groups likely availability and sometimes ask some of them "if we go X time, would you be able to go or even be interested". If they say no or are reluctant, I may ask F/U questions to see if there's a better time. Generally we plan those trips for summer when kids and teachers are out of school.

I have a few simple rules things like.

We set the time of the vacation.
You don't wait on me and I don't wait on you.
Every pays their fair share of the groceries they use.
We have a group meal out dutch treat.
There will be an occasional alcoholic beverage, actually very occasional but I needed that rule for my Mom and my brother the minister.
If these are not OK, DON'T GO!!!


I get the accommodations and then invite people until we're full. If someone backs out, I invite someone else. I have one family that always gets invited, otherwise we rotate my wife's and my family. This past summer we had Nine 2 BR units at Gatlinburg for 35 people. It was wonderful and I'd encourage it if your family dynamics are favorable. But I would always set it up so that if a lot of people cancel late, you're still in good shape. With the Gatlinburg trip I used Bluegreen points which I can cancel up until 10 days out with no penalty and used mostly one years points though I do own a fair amount of BG points.

Just realize there is always someone who will push the limits. If someone breaks the rules, they are excluded from future trips. No one has gotten on that list yet for our family but my brother has come close and if he wasn't my brother, he likely would have been on that list.

[dzorn]

I don't have the heart to have them pay me anyway even though they are not going. DH suggested sitting down with them and telling them that if they do cancel and we cannot rent out the points, they will have to pay the maintenance on those points. I still don't know if I even have the heart to do this.



DH and I talked about this and it just might be the most peaceful way to go. We'll see. I still think that maybe explaining the cancellation policy when using points to them, and then giving them the option to commit or not might work. Again, it is still a risk that they will cancel anyway (hey, things happen too beyond our control). But that is also a risk we take ourselves when booking on points since we cannot predict the future and things can happen last-minute. Still, this will not be easy to talk about with them. Why do I have a funny feeling that it will just be DH, me, and our 2 kids in July 2010?!

When explaining don't forget to mention that you will be borrowing point for them and they cannot be returned to the orginal UY. If they are thinking they can just cancel 31 days out without any consequence to you they are more like to treat it as such. If they understand you will lose points (thus money) they may see it differently.

Good luck. We had two couples cancel on us for Feb. Luckily we were able to switch to a 1-bedroom. Still using more points than we would have since we would have used a different view category if we had just booked for just us at 11 months. DH has said never again. Too much stress for us.

Denise in MI

[Dean]

When explaining don't forget to mention that you will be borrowing point for them and they cannot be returned to the orginal UY. If they are thinking they can just cancel 31 days out without any consequence to you they are more like to treat it as such. If they understand you will lose points (thus money) they may see it differently. My experience and that I've gleamed from many similar posts on this board is that no matter how much you explain people simply don't understand and/or care. I don't believe any amount of communicating the risks to non timeshare people is likely to be effective. Most people look at it as free to you regardless of what you tell them.

[dzorn]

My experience and that I've gleamed from many similar posts on this board is that no matter how much you explain people simply don't understand and/or care. I don't believe any amount of communicating the risks to non timeshare people is likely to be effective. Most people look at it as free to you regardless of what you tell them.

For my family at least this is not true. They offered to pay for any loss we had. Even though we would not have accepted the fact that the offer was made is important. We are only out a few points but have a nicer view category than I would have chosen just for us.

Denise in MI

[fishermouse]

What would you do if you were me? Book it and risk it, then rent out the points if they decide not to go? Don't book it and explain it to my sister and parents that I might not be able to get them 5 nights since the lower point rooms go quickly and I will have to book wherever I can get it the longer they wait to book? And how do I break all of this to them gently without any arguments?

Sorry this is so long! We're a very close family and this trip would be so nice together, especially for my nieces and my children but it seems so complicated.

JMO, since they had originally planed to stay in a value resort, why not let them make thier own reservations and just meet up for the times you want to stay together. If you book a room and they fail to come it will just cause tension down the road. The transportation is such that you should have no trouble getting together especially at BW. The other option is wait until they are ready to commit and try to get a room if nothing is available, well you did all you can, they should not expect you to book at 11 months without a firm commitment on thier part. For some reason people have a hard time looking at points as money but basically that's what they are. Would you buy someone airline or park tickets if they were not sure they were going, to me it's the same thing.

[eliza61]

Disney makes family vacations look so wonderful. Everyone has this picture in their heads of a "magical" vacation with siblings,grandparents, cousins etc etc. Unfortunately that pesky real life often gets in the way.

Take an honest look at your family,
I have 1 sister who can't commit to a trip to the local walmart :mad: She has burned me before so whenever I invite her I lay down strict guidelines. My mother in law by contrast is a gem. rarely complains, go with the flow type of women and is usually just slap at to be at Disney with her grandkids.
One thing is definite, you've got some time before you're 11 month window so don't stress about it until then. Oh you may want to consider moving your sisters cancellation date from 31 days up to maybe 41 days :rolleyes1 if she's the non commital type.

[Mickey'sApprentice]

IMHO you are setting yourself up for failure.

The idea of a wonderful Disney vacation is in your mind not theirs, and they will never appreciate the Magic like you do. :tinker:

i thought i was close with DH's family too, but being at WDW with varying families (some with kids, some without) and different likes/dislikes, was really tough. DMIL really pushed a lot of buttons and really got in my nerves. and to think i was the one who concocted this whole vacation thing with my in laws and proposed it to DH! what in the world was i thinking! i told him if he ever heard me planning on sharing our points again with his family, that he had my permission to pull my hair, grab my head and bang it against the wall so i'd wake up.

After planning a trip with both of my sisters, I suggest that you RUN! not walk away from this plan. I so relate to what Disneynutz said about this trip being your dream and not your family's. My family was so not into Disney, but the kids were in elementary school, and we were providing the room, etc. They never wanted to plan anything, never got excited, or anything. All of the fun planning stuff was like pulling teeth. Trying to plan ADRs made me come off as an OCD foodaholic. I went in the hospital 3 weeks before the trip with a resting heart rate of 150, that stayed that way for 3 days. [I'm not saying it was related, but...maybe.] The only reason I kept any of my sanity was the fact that I booked the trip early in my use year.

The one sister that kind of went along in the planning was a complete pain once we got down there. She and her hubby complained about everything, and even threatened divorce while down there. I love my sisters and thought it would be just like vacationing when we were kids! OMG! I was out of my mind.

OK, so here is the good part. The sister that saw no need for planning - actually kind of enjoyed the trip. They booked another trip on their own for the next year. They made the ADRs, planned the trip out and did a lot of planning stuff that they were supposed to do, and already knew about fastpasses, getting around, etc. They came back from the 2nd trip grinning from ear to ear. They had a wonderful trip and thanked me profusely for showing them the ropes.

[Starr W.]

Family trips or multi family trips to WDW seem to bring out the best in people.:rotfl2:

A few years ago, 2 kids in my son's class took a trip to WDW for Spring Break(2 families). I helped the teacher in the computer lab, so on the first day back the teacher is telling me she got emails that the kids are not supposed to be "friends" anymore and were not to sit at the same pod. Both families got into some big drag out fight during the trip. :scared1:

I would have to think long and hard about trying to take my sister again(long story). She is such a stress for me that I really don't like to go anywhere with her.

[WaltEeyoreWorld]

I agree with the earlier post on being prepared to lose the points. We just returned from a week at OKW 2BR with just DW and I because friends backed out with short notice from what was suppose to be a golf trip to the world. :confused3

It happens. The best advice is enjoy the extra space if you can not reuse the points and relax. :hippie:

BTW, we are also planning a large family trip in 2010 with 5 units and out thinking is that if we end up with extra, we either invite others or we cancel and add on the days for ourselves at what ever is available at that time. :wizard:

[WaltEeyoreWorld]

This biggest problem with Time Shares is you have to share the time with others. I hate planning ahead but that is the name of the game. Otherwise they would be called Go Anytime Shares. :3dglasses

[dudelydude]

I have 1 sister who can't commit to a trip to the local walmart :mad: She has burned me before so whenever I invite her I lay down strict guidelines.


This is the situation that I would be in...a sister who cannot commit. Like you, I have a very close family who likes to vacation together. If your sister says, "She doesn't know where her life will be in 2010," than she doesn't deserve your generosity and thoughtfulness. What I mean is that we all have priorities in life and some priorities trump the others. I have something going on every single weekend of my life, but if a family birthday gathering comes up, I drop everything. There are certainly more important things in life than Disney, but how many times have you said to someone, "I can't do that, because we will be on vacation that week." Not too many things trump the vacation (especially at the World). She should commit, make it her priority and work everything else around this vacation.

[Goofy's apprentice]

I think there is a lot of good advice here. We have invited friends for a number of years and the vacations go great, but it is the specific people that meld well.

We are planning a family trip next March which will include both my sisters and their families. The rooms are booked, but I have given them until Christmas to back out. I indicated that they can cancel but I can't guarantee any additions as availability is scarce.

Some of my coping mechanisms....
- we are not all in the same unit the whole time, some separation is good
- i have strongly indicated that we don't have to spend the whole vacation together. I will plan what my family is doing and they can participate or not, no biggie. If they want to use our experience to tour the parks, fine but they can also go on their own. I won't be offended.
- i intend on using my two kids to help. They are teenagers and can take their two young cousins to the parks as well.
- sister and her two young ones are not great candidates for eating out, so the consensus is that they have a unit and can cook if they like. The rest will either spend time with them and help or go out if they like.
- I will book one character breakfast, not at a park, for everyone.
- I am always available to be taken out for a drink if the group is driving everyone crazy, including me.
- I have told my kids to plan a few things that are 'do or die' for them and I will ensure that they have the time to do them.

We have travelled together before and the everyone on their own schedule works for us. My family is also used to travelling with a larger group of friends.

Remember, as DVC members you will be back. This trip does not need to provide the ultimate Disney memory for your family. It can, but if not, there is always next year. We'll treat it as a chance to spend some extra time with our extended family in a place we love. We'll try to provide ideas for them to have a good time but won't feel entirely responsible for that.

Now......see if I feel so confident as we get closer.....and see how I feel after. It may be a disaster, but I want to ensure that family relationships are not scarred as a result.

[crisi]

We just did this - just got back.

Its my family (four of us) my parents. I have two sisters - one married with two children and one single.

We originally planned to go about three years ago, but the baby sister got a different job before I could book it, and so we moved the trip six months so it would be when she could get vacation.

Then, before I could book the now delayed trip, my other sister got pregnant, we threw it on hold, she had a baby, then got breast cancer, spent a year on chemo, and we booked for this year.

The baby sister didn't go, she has been having her own issues over the past few years.

We booked two two bedrooms - that allowed my little sister to come and stay in our room if she decided she needed to come last minute.

Unless this is a huge rush, I'd wait until you get your first trip under your belt - or only invite people who you can comfortably cover for (we can invite another family of four and put them in the second bedroom while my kids sleep on the pullout in the living room - if they flake out, we have the luxury of both bedrooms. If they don't, my kids are used to the pull out - they'd rather have their own bedroom, but if we have invited people they like, its a sacrifice they make willingly).

If your sister cannot commit eleven months out, I'd wait to make reservations until she can commit - it might mean losing out on the standard view room - but you could probably switch the whole reservation to OKW when you can get a better committment from people if you don't have the preferred view points. Or let her know that you will try and get a reservation for her when she does commit, but it may not end up at the same resort as the rest of the family.....

One good idea I've heard is you make the reservations when they have airfare (or if you need to make the reservations before airfare is released, you cancel reservations on date X if they don't have airfare). Airfaire is a committment on their end to take the trip.

Also, you always need to be aware of guests financial situations. ESPECIALLY when you have guests who insist on paying you a fair amount (guests willing to accept gifts you can choose to cover). Even if you completely cover the room, Disney is an expensive trip.

[JasonDVC]

Personally, I would not make a reservation for your sister until she is sure she can go. If you can get her a room at that point, great. If not, that's just how things go.

This is the best advice so far.

The way me and my wife handle it is that we are going if you want to join us, GREAT, we'll try to hook you up. If you can't commit, then you are on your own. If you commit later, I'll see what I can do. We are going regardless and will have a good time either way.

We enjoy having others with us but we have to worry about ourselves first and I think you should too before you get burned

[bangzoom6877]

Great advice from everyone! I have some ideas and I think they are pretty good. I think it is all about how I approach my family in the beginning so that they don't feel misinformed, and so that I don't misunderstand them either. Here are my ideas:

1. Sit down with them in June and show them the DVC trip planner, specifically the part about the borrowed points NOT being able to go back to their original UY.
2. Show them on paper, visually, how our points work for our specific contract (UY, number of points, etc.), and also the points chart for BWV.
3. Explain to them that if we do not book 11 months out, it may mean a shorter stay for them on our points (and maybe making it a split stay with another resort) or staying at a different resort (OKW studio and also AKV Value Studio are the same points per weeknight as BWV standard studio). We are NOT willing to stay at another resort other than BWV so we are not changing OUR reservation for a different resort. That will be told to them as well.
4. Let them know that there are of course no hard feelings if they feel they do not want to commit to this. We will not feel insulted if they decide to book last minute and we cannot get them a room on our points so they go ahead and book a value resort.
5. Also mention that for other things, like theme park touring (I am very specific in my touring plans and they work well for us), dining ADRs, etc., they should not feel pressured to stay with us at all times. It is okay with us if they separate, or if they even want to do something totally different on a specific day than we do. For example, I know my sister will want to go to Sea World with her girls, but we are waiting until our kids are 5 and 7 to go (mine are 1 and 3 now and will be 3 and 5 on our trip) since we will be going to that area so many times in the future anyway.
6. Also mention to my parents specifically that if they want to do what my sister and the girls are doing on a day that is different than us (or a meal at a different restaurant, like the castle because my nieces love that but my sons are not interested in it), we are fine with that too.

We have taken cruises together before, but never a theme park vacation altogether and I know they are vastly different, especially throwing in the DVC factor. Plus on cruises, pretty much everyone does their own thing during the day and we normally meet up in the dining room for dinner each evening. Sometimes we do things together if the same things interest us, and we tend to go to the ports together most of the time. Also to the evening shows usually. But during the day, we mainly do different things and catch up later on. I know that theme park trips are so different, but we really could still all do our own thing at times and I know that DH and I would be fine with it.

The other thing I keep in mind is that in case things were to get very hectic with everyone being on the trip together, they have all stressed to me already that they do not want to spend more than 5 nights at Disney. My sister said that is a good amount of time to definitely at least get to Epcot, MK and Sea World, and possibly something else like Universal or DHS. One great thing about her is that she will be right there with me at those parks very early and will probably trust my touring plan anyway and go with it. My parents really don't care about the touring plan and are fine with it if I plan it. However, there would maybe be some attractions they won't want to do that we will do, and vice versa, and we can separate then. The meals would be the main thing. My nieces love the princesses, and I have 2 boys. While they seemed to have enjoyed 1900 Park Fare back in July, I can't see dining in the castle being worth 2 TS credits for us and 2 boys! (We would be on the dining plan). But my sister and nieces are mesmerized by the castle and the restaurant!

Anyway, I am just rambling on now. Thanks everyone for the great advice. I have a feeling this will end up just being DH, me and the boys in the longrun. We'll see...I think it will depend on availability booking closer to the trip because I can't see them committing to this 11 months out unless they surprise me completely. I think they will not want to risk it and I know they would all feel bad if we lost the points.

[dcfromva]

bangzoom6877,
If you are going to go ahead with this, here is the way I recommend you make your reservations:

1. book the rooms for your family (which you will not be using) first.
2. bank your points after you have booked the rooms for the family.
3. make your reservation third utilizing the banked and borrowed points.

Set a date that you will cancel the family reservations (within your banking window time frame) if you do not have a firm commitment from them.

If your family cancels within the banking window time frame, you will be able to bank those points into the next UY and use them for your next vacation.

My experience has been it is very difficult to explain all the nuances of the program to non-members. There are just too many details to remember no matter have well you have explained it. ( To be fair, I would wager there are even members who don't totally understand how the system works. ) We have some friends who own a different timeshare to which we were thinking of buying. They have explained some of their rules to us and I can't say that I have totally figured out how their program works.

[bangzoom6877]

bangzoom6877,
If you are going to go ahead with this, here is the way I recommend you make your reservations:

1. book the rooms for your family (which you will not be using) first.
2. bank your points after you have booked the rooms for the family.
3. make your reservation third utilizing the banked and borrowed points.

Set a date that you will cancel the family reservations (within your banking window time frame) if you do not have a firm commitment from them.

If your family cancels within the banking window time frame, you will be able to bank those points into the next UY and use them for your next vacation.

My experience has been it is very difficult to explain all the nuances of the program to non-members. There are just too many details to remember no matter have well you have explained it. ( To be fair, I would wager there are even members who don't totally understand how the system works. ) We have some friends who own a different timeshare to which we were thinking of buying. They have explained some of their rules to us and I can't say that I have totally figured out how their program works.

I think your idea is terrific, except for one thing. We are not going to Disney the following year. We are going every other year. We bought a 150-point contract at BWV because it fits perfectly into our travel plans for Disney. We had planned on going for 10 nights every other year throughout our children's childhoods (they are 3 and 1 right now). At 294 points for a one-bedroom at BWV in the summer (our regular travel time for big trips), 150 points was perfect so that is what we decided was right for us. We do not want to go every year. The idea is to do something else in the non-Disney years. Right now the plans are Hersheypark and Lancaster, PA for summer 2009, Disney for summer 2010, a cruise for summer 2011, and Disney again for summer 2012.

If we bank the 2010 points that are not used for the reservation due to cancellation, those points will go into the 2011 UY and must be used by the end of that UY. We have an April UY, so that would mean that the banked points would have to be used no later than March 31, 2012, but that would be close to 4 months before we would go to Disney that year. So this would not work, as we would still lose those points. As I stated in an above post, the only option at that point would be to try and rent out the points before they expire. But I don't think I am willing to take that risk. Not totally sure about it though, something we will have to think about. We did tons of research on renting and are currently trying to rent out some points that we will not use (there were some 2008 points left in the resale we just bought, but we will not be able to use them so we are trying to rent them). If this works out and we find the rental process to be not too difficult or stressful, we would consider just giving the family up until a certain date to let us know for sure (like maybe 6 months before the trip), and then it would give us plenty of time to rent them out if necessary. At least that way, we would get some cash to put towards dining or park tickets for the trip.

We shall see how this all works out. The one person who has been asking me a lot about how our DVC membership works is my father. He seems interested to know how it works for us. So I am sure there will be no problem explaining certain things to them when the time comes. And hey, we will be going no matter what in 2010. If they want to join us, great. If not, that is fine too, no hard feelings of course.

[daisyduck123]

What would you do if you were me? .

Honestly, I would just let them be responsible for their own reservations. It doesn't sound like your sister is that excited about it & it seems that most "non DVC" just don't get it about our booking windows, points, etc.

[La2kw]

Leave all the relatives at home, and go enjoy your first trip with your husband. Taking family can be more of a hassle than what it's worth. If they truly want to come along, let them make their own arrangements.

[SuzanneSLO]

...We bought a 150-point contract at BWV because it fits perfectly into our travel plans for Disney. We had planned on going for 10 nights every other year throughout our children's childhoods (they are 3 and 1 right now). At 294 points for a one-bedroom at BWV in the summer (our regular travel time for big trips), 150 points was perfect so that is what we decided was right for us. ...

If we bank the 2010 points that are not used for the reservation due to cancellation, those points will go into the 2011 UY and must be used by the end of that UY. We have an April UY ...

It looks like you have some Apr 08 points, which you cannot use for your 2010 trip, so you are trying to rent them

For your 2010 trip, you wil be using April 09 points (banked) and Apr 10 points (current) just for a 1 BR for your family. You would then borrow almost all the points needed from Apr 11 points for your family reservations.

I would suggest booking your immediate family's room as soon as you can. Don't book for your extended family until they commit and pay for the room. It is very likely you will be able to get PV studios for summertime after the 7 month window. For Sun-Th, this will cost you 15 points more than for SV, a total of 70 points. So 2 PV rooms will still be less than the 150 points you have available for Apr 11 UY.

In the alternative, book a SV 2 BR for 376 points (borrowing 76 points from Apr 11). Invite your parents to stay for 5 nights in the connected studio and you sister to stay the other 5 nigths. If either cancels, your family can enjoy all the space in the 2 BR. For the next trip in 2012, you will bank the remaining 74 points, use 150 current points and borrow 70 from Apr 13.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

[Eventer98]

We took my dad and his gf with us this past Aug. When I booked last Sept we agreed on $10 per point. They paid me half of this when I booked and the other half when my dues were due in Feb. They didn't have the commitment issues that it sounds like your family might have. I would definitely ask for a deposit upfront that you would refund only if you were able to rent out the points you were stuck with. Good luck! :goodvibes