2 Families, Best way to Tackle Disney

[rlu929s]

So we are going back to Disney year and brining our friends and their family for their 1st trip to Disney. We will be staying at the Swan/Dolphin.

Our friends are very apprehensive about the whole reservation/ride/planning part of Disney and have asked us to basically hold their hand through the whole process and basically do it all for them as we are well versed.

So my question is, what is the best way for us to go about that knowing we are all staying at the Swan/Dolphin, etc.

1. Should we have them book their own Swan Reservation and signup for the own my Disney experience account and just friend link their account to ours giving us control to help them book etc.

2. Should we just book a room for them and have them as 4 additional "family members" in our account. Keep in mind there will be times we may want to go to different restaurants/rides.

 

[Leaping Horse]

We take other people to Disney with us fairly often. I will book the extra room(s) and do all of the planning so I just make each person as a new profile in my My Disney Experience account. I think this is the easiest way to do it when you are traveling with people that have never been to Disney or don't go often. Now, if you aren't planning to treat these people to the trip you should probably discuss the finances first if you hope to be reimbursed. People who have never looked into Disney may experience some sticker shock, although staying at Swan and Dolphin will be cost effective compared to the other resort choices in that area.

 

[scrappinginontario]

If this is their first visit, I would recommend being cautious about the up-charges. They don’t know what they don’t know so I would not try to do everything. You don’t want to overwhelm them.

Suggestions:
1. Go to MK on a party day if you can, even at the potential risk of missing the fireworks if you’re only going to MK one day. A day of shorter lines can mean so much more than a 15 min fireworks experience.

2. You do not need LLMP for Epcot or AK.

3. We visit yearly and have yet to purchase a LLSP. I just cannot justify the cost for an attraction that lasts a few minutes.

I’ll say right now others will 100% disagree with all of my suggestions. We travel on a budget but enjoy AMAZING yearly visits to WDW. I’ve earned how to do so without breaking the bank which allows us the opportunity to go more often or, stay a day or 2 longer.

 

[reeddi]

We just did our first visit with another family we were unrelated to. We stayed in a house offsite so I can't help with that part.
Yes I would have them sign up on disney themselves and just link them to you. It made it easier when booking Genie (at the time of the trip) and make changes.


A couple of things we learned:
Know what their eating habits are. We are a snack around the world and they were sit down at least one time a day for a meal. This caused some friction until the father explained why he was so put out.

Know what their pace is. We knew we had to slow it down with frequent shows in AC for some and ride ride ride for the youngers in our group. This led to missing items they wanted to do because it was so much.

Have them make a list of what they want to do. Make sure it is realistic or explain why it might not be.

All in all we had a great time but I learned not everyone loves Disney like I do.