Family Tired of your Planning?

[Missytara]

Both my family and my friends' families cannot wait until we go in about 7 weeks, because they are so sick of hearing us talk about our trip.....

 

[Dziactor]

I'm in the same boat. While my wife is cool with it, my family isnt. I'm taking my Father, his wife, my brother, his wife, and my stepsisters kid. I am trying to plan out all our TS meals, and they are not used to having to plan so far in advance and cant fathom that you have to. Hope it all goes well, got to make our diding reservations in Nov for May.

 

[Coach81]

is it mostly the wives who do the planning? am i on my own here? my wife is like OMG dont you EVER think about anything else? and, we just got back and i dont want to hear another word about next year till it gets close!!!! and, did you ever think i might want to go to Ocean City instead. the answers to those questions are.............no.....................tough..................are you kidding?

I'm with ya!!! 'Cept me and my wife are equally sick about Disney.. so I guess my wife should really appreciate me...

 

[andijean]

Well, I was right there with all you guys. But I have to tell you be careful what you wish for. I really wanted to have someone to chat with about our plans and the cool things we could do and what they thought. Well, we are doing a grand gathering this year and my inlaws want to have input in the decisions and chat about the plans, but they haven't been in 6 years and don't read any info, so their ideas were not real good or helpful. Example: they didn't want to make dining res b/c we shouldn't have a problem just walking up(ha!) or we just want to hang out on Main street and decide then where the kids want to go(on thanksgiving day ha, ha!) It ended up causing major issues with our planning b/c they didn't trust my ideas or plans. They didn't realize the amount of info us obsessive planners know. Now, they think I am a total nut case and have a problem(hmmm??) with Disney.

So, I now am ok with the fact that no one understands the fun you can have with obsessive planning and I will keep all my little tidbits to myself (and my close friends on the dis b/c they understand me). I will secretly(hopefully) guide our group to the rides we should go one so we aren't in line an hour. I will let you know how it goes. It certainly will be interesting and I think I will pass on grand gatherings in the future and go with my little family.

 

[mossy1]

Hey guys… add one more male to the compulsive planning list. I have a hard time talking to anyone about WDW since I find so few people out there that know (or care) about it as much as I do. My family just gives me that glazed over look most of the time.

Add me to the guys mix as well. Love to plan, and I am always surprised how many people just take the "We'll just show up" approach! I don't think the non planners in my family have any idea of the thinking that goes into some of our adventures. Maybe someday.

 

[Mesa Verde]

I’ve found that being the “planner” of my family can be a blessing and a curse. Over time I have become the one who picks the hotel, where we eat, and which parks to visit on what days. All of that is the fun part (including reading the boards for the opinions of fellow Disney fans). I will say that I have to choose the right time to bring up Disney topics to DH. I just drop little ideas a few times during the week just to try starting a dialogue. If he doesn’t seem interested, I drop it for a later discussion.

What gets hard is trying to satisfy everyone else’s idea of the “Perfect” Disney vacation. Mom & Sister like table service restaurants every night. DH prefers counter service. Half the family thinks DAK isn’t worth dedicating a full day, while the other half gets mad if we rush through the place. Everything seems to be a battle!

 

[Rainkiss]

Fortunately, it's just hubby and me, so, just two people to please. (So far, anyway.)

I planned the first trip, so hubby said he'd plan the second trip. After about three or four weeks of hearing nothing, I dropped a "how's that planning going?" He hadn't gotten anything done, other than lining up the dates on the planner on the web site, nothing scheduled. He handed it back.

At this point, all he wants to know is, more or less, when to show up. When he wants to know what's planned, he'll ask, and I've got it all on a spreadsheet, printed out in my binder.

 

[bullwinkl]

I’ve found that being the “planner” of my family can be a blessing and a curse. Over time I have become the one who picks the hotel, where we eat, and which parks to visit on what days. All of that is the fun part (including reading the boards for the opinions of fellow Disney fans). I will say that I have to choose the right time to bring up Disney topics to DH. I just drop little ideas a few times during the week just to try starting a dialogue. If he doesn’t seem interested, I drop it for a later discussion.

What gets hard is trying to satisfy everyone else’s idea of the “Perfect” Disney vacation. Mom & Sister like table service restaurants every night. DH prefers counter service. Half the family thinks DAK isn’t worth dedicating a full day, while the other half gets mad if we rush through the place. Everything seems to be a battle!

I know about that curse side of things...everybody looks to me to plan and when I ask them what they want to do they tell me that whatever I want is fine. Inevitably, someone who never spoke up won't have a good time, and even though they'll say everything's fine, you can't help but feel guilty. It's kind of an unfair expectation on their part--it's impossible to please everybody. My next trip is back down to 2 adults, so hopefully it won't go that way again...I don't think the wife has any fear of speaking up!

 

[MacFam4]

Well, I was right there with all you guys. But I have to tell you be careful what you wish for. I really wanted to have someone to chat with about our plans and the cool things we could do and what they thought. Well, we are doing a grand gathering this year and my inlaws want to have input in the decisions and chat about the plans, but they haven't been in 6 years and don't read any info, so their ideas were not real good or helpful. Example: they didn't want to make dining res b/c we shouldn't have a problem just walking up(ha!) or we just want to hang out on Main street and decide then where the kids want to go(on thanksgiving day ha, ha!) It ended up causing major issues with our planning b/c they didn't trust my ideas or plans. They didn't realize the amount of info us obsessive planners know. Now, they think I am a total nut case and have a problem(hmmm??) with Disney.

So, I now am ok with the fact that no one understands the fun you can have with obsessive planning and I will keep all my little tidbits to myself (and my close friends on the dis b/c they understand me). I will secretly(hopefully) guide our group to the rides we should go one so we aren't in line an hour. I will let you know how it goes. It certainly will be interesting and I think I will pass on grand gatherings in the future and go with my little family.

I've never done a grand gathering, but I imagine it would drive me absolutely insane

My first two disney trips, my parents tagged along. Fine, no problem really, I love them more than anything. BUT, on our 3rd trip, it was just DH, our 2 DS's, and myself. That was THE best trip I hate to say it, but we got so much more accomplished and still went at a speed that was good for us. I couldn't imagine trying to accommodate any more people- we would definitely have to go our own way at times.