Would you go at WDW with an other family???

[Manon]

Hi everyone!!

We are possibly planning a trip for New Years at WDW, and we we're thinking of asking some friends to come along with our family. We are 5 (3 children 9,5,5) and they're also 5 with 3 kids (9,5,3).

Do you think it's a crazy idea??? :confused:

We wouldn't necessarily do everything together!

Would you do it????? :hyper2:

[dangler]

Absolutely! I think it would be so much fun to go with another family!!! Go for it :cheer2:

[hockey mom]

It sounds easier than it is actually. You would be surprised at little differences that you don't think about but could ruin a trip. Whether they are late/early risers/,eating habits, shopping habits(do they spoil their kids while you don't).

With that said we have done this twice. First time with my sister and her family and it was a nightmare.

Second time with 14 of my family and it worked out great with a few comprimises.

Would I do it again- sure -every few years.

[Houzer]

You will love it if you get along with the family and children. We have traveled with other families to many different places. This past year was on a 7 day Disney Cruise and we're doing the Land and Sea with them and a third family is going us. We do things together or apart and always make a point of having dinner together just to catch up on the day and how things went. You'll love it!
Houzer :banana:

[minnie56]

We have done it...
As previously mentioned...you would be surprised how after a few days, especially with kids, you all want to do your own thing and start to pull in opposite directions! The little things can start to bother and niggle at you and before you know it you can't wait to get home and that's kind of sad :sad2:

[riu girl]

IMHO, I would not do Disney with another family. There are some very specific things I need to adhere to (when I wake up, when/where I eat, certain rides/attractions I must do etc etc) and I think another family would interfere with that. Considering Disney is a very pricey vacation, I would not consider doing it with another family. After a few days of compromising, waking up perhaps when I don't want to etc etc., it would be too much for me.

But would I consider going to a different type of holiday with another family (such a beach or camping holiday)? YES, I would not even consider it, it would be great since that sort of holiday is not structured whatsoever and much more kick back relaxing type of holiday.
Suzy V.

[Dislifer]

In my opinion....NO! Even if you get along great now, people will begin to get on each other's nerves and will naturally want to do different things. Also, I think WDW keeps family ties close which is especially important as the children get older.

[MECH8T7]

I would do it only if each family was responsible for their own planning and the concept was that you would only commit to doing stuff together for a portion of the vacation and not the whole time together.

Last spring, we did something like this. We had been planning for months to go to WDW during March break and about 8 weeks beforehany my DS announces that they will be in Orlando during the same time. They were staying offsite. Once I learned that they were going to be there at the same time, I showed them the itinerary I had in mind for our family and it probably freaked them out -- they were only thinking of spending one day at WDW! So, they decided to spend one day with us going to MK (we were there from opening, had breakfast at the castle, they came back with us to the Poly to relax and then have dinner at Ohanas, and we went back to MK to catch Spectromagic and Wishes) and later that week they joined us for dinner at Boma when we we were staying at AKL. Fortunately, AKL CL IPO was VERY helpful in helping us with our "revised" character meal and dining arrangements during this very busy period of their year. We all had a great time, when we were together and I didn't have the pressure of feeling like I was forcing the other family to do an "over-the-top" WDW vacation because they just tagged along to the things that they really wanted to do. (They actually turned down our invitation to join us on our Illuminations cruise!)

[tiffsko]

.

[eleanor]

I would vote no. It has to be a really loving friendship for everyone to get along for a trip of that magnitude. Even going with members of my own family can cause a lot of tension. I guess I am just to selfish with my time when it comes to WDW.

[Manon]

Thanks for all your comments!!!

These people are dear friends to us, and we've been on vacation to Canada's Wonderland & Niagara Falls with them and everything went fine, but a Disney trip would be so much different!!!

We know that if we go all together, we don't want to spend all day long with each other, we would only meet for diner, and MAYBE breakfast.

I see that we have a lot to think about and to talk about!!!

Thanks again!!! :wave2: :wave2:

[MelindaKiah]

We went to Universal in December with my MIL and my SIL, her mother and two kids. Right from the beginning, it wasn't good. My SIL is very self-absorbed...doesn't pay attention to timings, sleeping late, etc. It was obvious from the first day we were there. So, I ended up making it very clear that this was probably a once in a lifetime family trip for us and we were going to enjoy it. I told them what time we made reservations at Citywalk restaurants, and if they chose to meet us then, great...otherwise, they were on their own. We all went to the parks on our own as well. If we hadn't done this, we wouldn't have enjoyed the trip and would have been very resentful.

[princess aurora]

Been there done that! It was fine for us. A few more stops and starts than we would have liked. It's tricky to coordinate 4 kids and another 4 adults for pee time ;)
It was nice to see their excited faces when I showed them things and we acted mostly like their tour guide. We did split up a few times which I would suggest. To give each family a break and just to spend time on your own as a family. They tended to go back to the room earlier than us and it was ok on a few nights that we stayed out later and they went to hotel...no one was pushing the other family to do the other thing.

I would do it again but be careful you are on the same "wave length" with this family and discuss a plan first before you go.

Have fun!

[CharlesTD]

We do this often we have a group of 21 coming with us on our next trip in 06.

[twinz]

The two of us (we dont have kids of our own), went with a co-worker of mine and her three boys....we had a BLAST. It was sooo different seeing things through kids eyes (that is my biological clock ticking LOL :rotfl2: ). We still get along great, and the kids always ask when we are going back, I tell them to ask their mom cause we are always willing to go.

[bscs]

No way! One of the things I like about vacationing is the family bonding time. It wouldn't be the same with others there. Also I'd be worried that spending so much time with the friends may lead to getting on each others nerves and ruining a friendship.

[StarWarsMan]

Not when it's busy at the parks...only if it was off-season.

[SnowWhite]

NO ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!! We invited a friend and her boyfriend years ago and he backed out at the last minute but she came anyway (which we encouraged her to do). The trip soon became the trip from hell!!! We of course had taken her car down and she isn't a very good driver but insisted on sharing the driving. First mistake!! We made all sorts of excuses to get her from behind the wheel and then it just went downhill from there. She never got a hotel room to herself (said she would) she always shared ours. Then she decided she missed her BF and cried one evening all night and wanted to go home early! We were supposed to go down to Treasure Island to meet my Bf's grandparents (which she had agreed to previously). Needless to say we went and she complained the whole time so we left early and headed home in a snowstorm where we were pulled off the road by the State Troopers because it was so bad but she wanted to drive herself to get home to her BF sooner!! We didn't speak for about 8 months after the trip although I had to break down to ask her to be my maid of honour at our wedding!!!

So in closing, would I travel with others?....Maybe....but have separate cars so everyone can do what they want and make sure that is planned ahead of time! :smooth:

[SandrA9810]

Hopping in from Florida....
WOW, it's amazing the mixed review on this. But down here, it is awesome to go with friends. Especially if the kids get along great. And want to do stuff together, you could take turns babysitting. Plus there's the sandcastle club that's offered in the evening for out of diaper age kids - 12yrs old. That way the kids will be on thier own, and you parents can do your own thing.
I think a lot of you guys have a misconception of how much there is to do, and how easily you can split up. You don't even have to do dinner together, maybe just breakfast at the resort, or in your room.
Plus I don't know how this worked, but I was talking with disney about getting two rooms at Port Orleans French Quarters, and the second room would be discounted to like half off. So it's not like you're gonna be up together, eating together, and everything else together.
And so what if you make plans to meet (unless it's swapping kids or something) if the others don't show up. You could be there for 2 weeks and not get to do everything.

It's probably a major help if you are driving. And when you're on a road trip, no one likes getting up early/late, sitting in the car for 10 hours, eating at stupid road-side places. Every one suffers through those. I hated my g'parents when we would leave for trips to Indiana, they would wake me up at like 3 or 4 am before the sun would rise, and I just slept for the next few hours. Any other day after that, I think we were up at about 7am. But no matter what, we stopped in whatever city/town at dinner time, found some place to eat, then found a hotel, and if there was any time, see if there was anything cool to see in town before going to bed.

You can always get one of those big ice chests to put in the van and fill with drinks and snacks. You know what your kids like, they know what their kids like. And at night, just borrow some ice from the ice machine at the hotel. Or buy a bag at 7/11 for a buck.


If I could go back to when I was younger, and plan a Disney trip with friends, that would be so cool. And if you split expensis, you just might end up with some extra money for souveniers, and who doesn't like lugging around a big mickey, with a pair of ears on, and a pin trading lanard around your neck, and wearing the coolest disney shirt that's probably 2 sizes too big.

Each family can make thier own iteneraries and if you plan to do things like the specialty cruises, just make sure you both agree on the day. But if you do want like group photos in front of the castle, just get it all over with in the first day. And if you get the park hopper, you can just leave and do something else at another park without worries of bumping into each other.

[grover]

Yes it can be a happy magical experience if everyone is willing to make it that.
I think the problem comes when some friends/family decide they want to follow you around 24/7, wait for you to plan everything, complain...and generally make life difficult!
So while YOU may want to make it a great experience and go out your way to create it..it only takes one dud in the group to wreck things..and truely you won't know until you get there..by then it could be too late!
Grover in Winnipeg

[CanadianPaco]

Do you think it's a crazy idea??? :confused:

We wouldn't necessarily do everything together!

Would you do it????? :hyper2:[/QUOTE]


NEVER!!!!! Unless you don't want to remain on good terms!! :guilty:

Every little issue can blow up. Wake up time - wake up speed. Do they dottle? Are you speedy? Does this bother them? Does this bother you? Or DH? Or the other DH? Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!! Every little issue!!! Think of it!!!


Good luck! :wave2:

[CharlesTD]

We have only taken 3 trips without anyone and one of them was our honeymoon. The others seemed quite slow and a little boring we love going with others and it feels odd when we don't have people down there with us.

[MouseDogMom]

I read the question out loud to DH and he couldn't wait to hear the answers!

We did it ONCE and will never do it again - for all of the reasons mentioned. We have one child - now 14, and went with another couple whose daughter was our DD's best friend. We thought we were very compatible and would have a great time together. Found out we had different sleeping habits, VERY different eating habits, and extremely different parenting styles. Both of us ending up leaving a day early to come home, and it hurt the friendship so much that we aren't friends at all any more (4 years later).

This year we tried just being there at the same time with another family we knew fairly well, and still had issues of their wanting exclusive family time while we didn't feel quite the same way. We ended up with a lot of hurt feelings by the end of the week.

I'd recommend taking a friend along for the kid(s), but will not ever do it with another family, no matter who or how close we are!

[Cosmic Girl]

I've taken two trips with friends that I've known all my life. We planned the trips together and had great fun and wonderful memories.

[SandrA9810]

Well see when you try to stick together, of course there are going to be problem. And if you're on the road, you're only stuck together for what, 2-3 days each way. Disney provides transportation all over the place, and in every way. I know, I just spent three days up there on disney transportation. (We went for the water park, and got rained out, and our seasonal passes aren't good till august 18th.)
In any case, who cares about sleeping habits? If you want to do a character dining, why not choose lunch, if you want to get all the kids together for a group photo. That way if one family doesn't normally eat breakfast, they don't have to.
And eating habits... Try doing something with the most pickest eater of all time. And generally a family style place would be good for any picky eater. Or just go over to the grocery store and pick up something that doesn't need heating. You can find anything there.
You don't plan the trip as a great wonderful time together... but more like "yay, we're going to Disney"... and we're gonna do our own thing.

I guess I see the one problem with foriegn travellers, you only get to make one trip down here every so many years... especially when you got kids in school. So you want to make the best possible trip for every one. Down here in Florida, you have a bad trip and you say, well we can go in a few months just by ourselves.
And generally if you invite a friend of your kids, and not the family, the kid will adapt to your schedule of eating, sleeping, and such. Plus if they gave thier kid like 500$ to spend on whatever, they'll sometimes be more willing to be "little things" for your kids if you say no. Like if you say no to a autograph book, they'll be like "I got money, I'll buy it for you".
Another option, if you can't get along wonderfully like the kids can. Get some two way radios, and let the kids have fun together (as long as they are of age), and you don't have to bother with the other parents and you can have a leisurly afternoon any where in the park.
There's a million ways to make it work. And you just have to let every person do thier own thing. And if you got grouchy grumpy people that dont want to be there. Then tell them, enjoy yourself, and we'll see you at the end of the trip. And if they really want to back out, tell them to hop on the Magical Express and get a plane ticket home.

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Just so y'all know, MouseDogMom is my mom (hee hee, I came up with the name). To reinforce what she said, NO! The first time, I thought it would be sooo cool to go with my best friend and her family. Big mistake. We are a very relaxed family when it comes to Disney and they would barely let their daughter 3 feet away (we were 12). The trip highlighted all the little quirks they had and, like my mom said, we don't speak to them anymore. The second trip I thought would be much better because we were going w/ my boyfriend's family. *Sigh* how I would rewind that if I could. We ended up spending one day and one dinner together. It didn't help that I couldn't call or text message, not even to say "where are you". His mom was afraid of the bill. She also thought Disney was a time for family so opposed greatly to us getting together. My dad also got on bad terms with them because their younger son was burping nonstop so my dad turned around and burped loudly back. They weren't too happy. So now, 6 months later, I'm single again, and we don't refer to them. Disney is just a bad place to try to build strong ties. It ends up severing them.

[grover]

Well see when you try to stick together, of course there are going to be problem. And if you're on the road, you're only stuck together for what, 2-3 days each way. Disney provides transportation all over the place, and in every way. I know, I just spent three days up there on disney transportation. (We went for the water park, and got rained out, and our seasonal passes aren't good till august 18th.)
In any case, who cares about sleeping habits? If you want to do a character dining, why not choose lunch, if you want to get all the kids together for a group photo. That way if one family doesn't normally eat breakfast, they don't have to.
And eating habits... Try doing something with the most pickest eater of all time. And generally a family style place would be good for any picky eater. Or just go over to the grocery store and pick up something that doesn't need heating. You can find anything there.
You don't plan the trip as a great wonderful time together... but more like "yay, we're going to Disney"... and we're gonna do our own thing.

I guess I see the one problem with foriegn travellers, you only get to make one trip down here every so many years... especially when you got kids in school. So you want to make the best possible trip for every one. Down here in Florida, you have a bad trip and you say, well we can go in a few months just by ourselves.
And generally if you invite a friend of your kids, and not the family, the kid will adapt to your schedule of eating, sleeping, and such. Plus if they gave thier kid like 500$ to spend on whatever, they'll sometimes be more willing to be "little things" for your kids if you say no. Like if you say no to a autograph book, they'll be like "I got money, I'll buy it for you".
Another option, if you can't get along wonderfully like the kids can. Get some two way radios, and let the kids have fun together (as long as they are of age), and you don't have to bother with the other parents and you can have a leisurly afternoon any where in the park.
There's a million ways to make it work. And you just have to let every person do thier own thing. And if you got grouchy grumpy people that dont want to be there. Then tell them, enjoy yourself, and we'll see you at the end of the trip. And if they really want to back out, tell them to hop on the Magical Express and get a plane ticket home.

I see what your saying but people have to be prepared for the fact that if you take someone with you...no matter how well you plan things to go well..and even if you do all the above..you just don't know for sure how other people will behave--and they may not have the same ideas as you as to how things will be..even if it is planned out in advance.
Yes you can tell them..Seeeeeeee ya..and go about your merry way--but how much fun would you have knowing you have a tiff between you and a friend/family because of different travelling styles.

I don't know if I am making any sense here--does anyone get what I am saying?? :confused3

I am not saying that it won't ever work for some people..just saying you have to be prepared for the fact that no matter the attitude you hold--people can change your experience by their behavior!

G in W

[Cosmic Girl]

SoccerDogWithEars-
Sorry to hear about your trips! When we went with friends we discussed our preferences and likes and dislikes before our trips. Did you and your friends do this before your trips? That seemed to help us alot. Then there were no surprises in the parks and hopefully no hard feelings.

[PhotobearSam]

We went for 2 weeks and friends joined us for 4 days...That was enough.


We did all our must do's ahead of time and went at their pace and their ideas...Even though we did a lot of cool things, our styles were so different that it was enough after 4 days. They are meeting us there again this time, and you guessed it...4DAYS....

We are doing Bush Gardens with them, then Sea World and then the MNSSHP and one day at Epcot or AK...There may be 5 days with them but we have 2 1/2 more weeks after they leave...I think it was a money thing...We had planned and saved and all they would say was "I wish we could afford that or this" It got boring.
We are not rich but I don't go anywhere without enough money to enjoy myself a little. I'm not a Ponderosa Girl... :teeth:

[isla bonita]

We have a pool home in Emerald Island Resort. It is a 6 bed room 5 bath home.We always bring family and friends when wer go downl. We have great times and wonderful memories. If it dosn't work out you never have to do it again.

[calena]

Both years we have gone my parents (in their 70s) have joined us. One year they joined us for one week. This year they came for about 4 days. It is nice to be with them and do things together, but when we hit the parks it is much better to go on our own. As DH says, taking 7 people around the parks is like dragging a lead balloon! Each year we did one park day with them and the other days we just stayed around the pool or we went to the park and they did "their" thing. One year good friends were arriving in Florida a day after we left and we were really dissapointed we did not "overlap" our trip. It would have been fun to meet at Magic Kingdom for a day. That would have been fun, but staying together, driving together, no. We went to Maine one year with some friends and it was a nightmare!

[jakoky]

yes, yes yes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hi there, last december we travelled from bc,canada to WDW...we are also a family of 5, we travelled with another family of 5 and a family of 4. The ages of our kids varied, mine were 13, 11, and 9 and the other family was 11, 7, and 5...and then 5 and 3....the kids all enjoyed each othe thoroughly. We knew before leaving we would spend time together, but first and foremost, it was family trip. We drove to the airport, flew together, stayed at the same hotel, did some swimming together, ate a few meals together(we were there 9 nights)...what surprised me was the amount of rides we did together. Many of the days we started at the same park, and a few of them, we spent a good 2 hours hanging out...actually, my family and the othe family of 5 did this...we had a blast. We would then split up and eventually see eachother at days end and have a visit and excitedly talk about the day. We went to both waterparks, all 3 families and again, had so much fun doing this. I think as long as both families have the same ideas in mind, and no one will be put out if someone wants to do something else, all will be good. I am best friends with the other mom of 3 we went with, and we had a girls shopping day so i think there were 5 of us that went.....it definately worked for us and we are in the process of planning a trip to DL next year with the family of 3(the other family said they want to wait til there kids are older as they have alreay been to both WDW and DL...
sharon

[thelionqueen]

We went with my cousin and her family and had an absolute blast!! In fact we're going again with them in Oct. Here are some tips that worked perfect for us....

1. Don't plan on doing anything together. I know this sounds weird, but if you "wing it" and don't plan everything/anything together it gives you the same freedom as if you went alone. What we would do is get up at different times (we're early birds, they're later) go wherever we wanted to go, then call eachother during the day. If we were close, we would meet up, if not we wouldn't. We would usually meet for dinner or to relax at the end of the day, it was wonderful!!

2. Stay close to eachother, but not too close. We stayed in the same hotel, but different buildings. This eliminated the "olbigation" feeling to see eachother if you were both in your respective rooms. If we really wanted to see eachother for some reason, we would make the trek to the other building.

3. Talk to the kids about your rules. Reinforce to the kids that your rules may be different from the other families rules. We are very strict with our children, my cousin is not. My kids knew long before we went that our expectations of them were the same, and would not be compromised, which luckily they weren't :goodvibes

4. Don't share a rental car. This limits the time and places you can go if you don't have your own car.

That's about it. We had a fabulous time, never worried about feeling obligated to do anything we didn't feel like doing, and I know my cousin felt the same. Everyone asked us "wasn't it weird or uncomfortable going with another family?" The answer, no way, we had a blast
good luck!

[TinknBoys]

Oh boy, this sure was some interesting reading, but as we all know there are always two sides to every story. : :wave2:

[TENIA66]

we've been with another couple as well as alone, and either has it's advantages and disadvantages. when traveling together, decide ahead of time, when driving, what types of resturants are you going to stop at, how many hours between stops. some people stop every fifteen minutes, others every 4 hours, and the two together can present problems. also, decide what type of food on the road, sit down meals or drive thru and go? while at the parks, decide if you are going to take off together or just meet up later. get up and go folks don't necessarily mix well with stay in the room and rest folks. we solved some of these problems by carryiing walkie talkies and just buzzing each other when they arrived in the park after us. now we'll use cell phones as we are all "in" network. some other advantages to together: one can run get the fast passes while the group waits in line for a ride. one can toilet the kid who "has " to go while the group waits in line, one can grab and drink or snack for group while the rest of the group waits in line, you get the idea. have lots of fun!!! :banana:

[Laurajean1014]

Last April my family, DH, me and DS9 to WDW. We met 4 other families there. We had dinner arrangements for a few nights with each of the families.

We did not spend every day with everyone - that would be too much pressure. However, we mixed it up and had a terrific time.

We also went down with another family 2 years ago and had a blast. We go often, and the other family doesn't. So, we went where-ever the other family wanted to go. It was great.

This April, we are going with 3 or 4 other families - so we are off to having a great time at WDW! :cool1:

[Disney's My Life]

It has been very interesting reading the different posts regarding taking a vacation with another family, or going down at the same time as another family. The successful stories have been fantastic. The failures have been sad.

I am a Disney fanatic and have always enjoyed our trips regardless of whether we went by ouselves, with someone else, or saw friends down there. The key to any trip though is good communication and knowing everyone's expectations, both family and friends, prior to the trip. This will help to minimize any misunderstandings when you get there. Even with proper planning and communication, there is always to possibility of problems occurring. There are so many things to do and so little time. Everyone may not agree on what they want to do and with whom. Some people prefer to have family time at Disney because it may be one of the few times during the year that they can have quality time together due to work, school, extracurricular activities, and volunteering when they are home. Others may not have that problem and aren't as concerned about spending as much time with their family. That's why the expectations should be discussed prior to the trip.

There is no right or wrong side of the story here. It is a matter of personal preference and comfort level. That's what makes us individuals. We all have different opinions, even within families. It would be a pretty boring world if we all agreed on everything.

It is sad though that friendships can be lost, and families being split as a result of someone getting angry that their trip did not meet their expectations, or that their feelings were hurt to the point of no return. I'm sure that if they think about it, they will find many fond memories of the trip with friends and family, maybe that they even discussed in other posts.

I have always tried to take all of the fond memories from Disney trips and forget about the negative things. We have not always had perfect trips, whether we were with someone else or not. They still seemed perfect though because we were at the Happiest Place on Earth where we had been sharing special moments with friends and family. When we returned home, we put any problems in the past and tried to maintain the friendships and family ties. We didn't hold grudges against friends or family with whom we had disagreed while down there.

I don't think that holding grudges is the way to solve any problems. It gets back to communication. If you didn't communicate properly before the trip, do so afterward and mend any fences. Don't be petty. Life's too short! Disney can and does build stronger relationships. You just have to look at the positives and let go of the negatives.
:love2: :earsboy: :love: