2 families going to WDW?

[momminnie]

My family (DH, DS10 & I) are going to WDW in Sept. Our friends family is planning to go the same time. My question, Should we stay in the same resort or should we just meet up together at different times. They can afford to do the delux resorts we are planning to do the moderate. They are a family of 2 adults and DS11, DS6. We have never been on vacation with anyone else. Just wondering would it be too much togetherness.

 

[clutter]

Well, I can answer that perfectly!

Last year, we went down at about the same time as another family. We are me and dd11, and they are 2 parents, dd10 and dd6. My dd and I went down earlier, they stayed longer. We stayed at our DVC resort for the first part, then moved to All Star Sports. They stayed at All Star Sports the entire time. We originally planned a few meals together (WCC, because it's just not as fun when it's just me and dd!) and a few meals apart. We probably ended up spending 60% or more of our time there together. (Except the day I was sick and they all went to TL and took my dd, that was awesome!)

I think it works best to set your initial plans to be flexible. We were lucky that the kids all got along (the older girls have known each other for years, but only see each other on occasion). The younger dd ended up being my bud, and boy did I enjoy being in Disney with a young'un again! And the poor dad survived Disney and 5 females. We ended up having enough fun (including a day at seaworld) that we didn't mind hanging together. In fact, on our last day, it was dd and me, and who do we run into???

This year, my dd and I were planning a california trip for vacation. We met up with the other family for dinner. Guess what, they signed up for the bounceback offer and the girls were asking if we were going too! (We've now booked for AKV, and they're booked in my favorite - CBR!)

 

[disprincessatheart]

My family (DH, DS10 & I) are going to WDW in Sept. Our friends family is planning to go the same time. My question, Should we stay in the same resort or should we just meet up together at different times. They can afford to do the delux resorts we are planning to do the moderate. They are a family of 2 adults and DS11, DS6. We have never been on vacation with anyone else. Just wondering would it be too much togetherness.

For our wedding trip last year, everyone was at different resorts. It was kind of a pain to have to meet up somewhere each time we wanted to connect with them. For us, the next time we'll all stay at the same resort, so at least we can meet up easier when we want to. You still dont' have to do everything with them - the resorts are plenty big enough to split up even if you are at the same one.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Oh, no! Do NOT stay in the same resort!
I will say up front that I do not like group travel. We have done it twice.
Make your plans the way YOU want them, then extend an invitation to your friends to join you for SOME things on SOME days.

Under no circumstances should you book every single meal together, and if you are at a different resort then you aren't faced with "Oh, we'll be right down. Wait for us." That made me CRAZY. I am a huge park commando and if you aren't ready to be on the bus at 7:30 AM then do not even THINK about asking me to wait for you.

Plan to spend at least half of your time with just your family. You can always add more group time if everyone is having fun, but cutting back on the group time is nearly impossible without somebody getting offended.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

We travel with other friends/families all the time (we're DVC), and my best advice to you starting out is to book 1 meal a day together at a nice table service restaurant.

That way you know you are meeting up with them at least 1 time a day.

Also, create an itinerary for your family and give it to the other family and tell them, this is where we'll be at this time and this day, you're welcome to do as much or as little with us as you'd like, but you know where we are .

We've had families that followed us to the letter, and families that we never saw except at the one meal a day, and both ways worked well for us.

Because really, you're not on vacation for *them*, you're there to make yourself happy.

This, for us, has been the best way of making sure we don't sacrifice our enjoyment or comfort trying to please other people, and they don't feel left out.

 

[Tenuviel]

We travel with other friends/families all the time (we're DVC), and my best advice to you starting out is to book 1 meal a day together at a nice table service restaurant.

That way you know you are meeting up with them at least 1 time a day.

Also, create an itinerary for your family and give it to the other family and tell them, this is where we'll be at this time and this day, you're welcome to do as much or as little with us as you'd like, but you know where we are .

We've had families that followed us to the letter, and families that we never saw except at the one meal a day, and both ways worked well for us.

Because really, you're not on vacation for *them*, you're there to make yourself happy.

This, for us, has been the best way of making sure we don't sacrifice our enjoyment or comfort trying to please other people, and they don't feel left out.

I think the above is excellent advice!

Our last trip to WDW was with good family friends too and I think it all depends on your personalities. We are all pretty intent on seeing as much as possible and not on "relaxation" when we go to WDW, so because our itineraries for what we wanted on the trip were next to identical we spent much of the time together, but there were times we seperated. At Islands of Adventure we had a couple of people who don't like thrill rides, so that stayed over on the water rides area and had a blast while us roller coaster junkies went on our thrill rides and we just planned to meet up later. Being flexible is key.

As for the resort, my personal reccommendation is to stay at the same one as it makes logistics of things a lot easier when trying to do things together, but if you are only planning on meeting up on occasion I would say different resorts would be better. That said- if you want to stay at a moderate and they want deluxe it is not a big deal as long as you have a plan on when to meet up. Travelling with friends can be a blast but flexibility is the key to success!

 

[my2minnies]

We go at the same time as my friend and her family every year. She has three kids all the same ages as my kids and we do a lot of things together on a daily basis. What we do is we always stay at the same hotel and request that we be near each other. We will book only one sit down meal together and just meet up a few times. This way we have family time and the kids and adults can meet up if it works.

It is so nice though to bump into one another at the food court or pool--it is the unplanned events that we enjoy most.

This year we are doing it again and we plan on spending one meal together and then spend a day at MGM together. After that we will see what happens.
It is soooo much fun planning a trip with a good friend--it is nice bouncing ideas off one another.