GrumpyCAdad
Now a GrumpyCODad
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2004
- Messages
- 303
A little background first.
My wife and I have different opinions on the whole Disney World vacation. We married in 1998 and had kids right away. At the time we lived in Northern California. My oldest son grew up and was mezmerized by the MSEP video. When they first brought the parade back in 2001 we booked our first trip to Disneyland. In 2004 we took our first trip to WDW. My youngest was 2 at the time. We made one more trip in 2009 over Thanksgiving break.
My wife prefers DL over WDW while the rest of the family (the 3 kids and I) love WDW. My wife will complain the minute the kids and I start tossing the idea of going back for another WDW visit.
The twist on this new adventure is that we want to take a trip with our good friends who have never been to Disney World. They also have 3 kids, so our group will be a total of 10 people, 4 adults and 6 kids who will be 15,15,13,13,11,11 in the fall of 2013 when we are planning on going. We are looking at Thanksgiving break since all of our kids have the entire week off.
My questions to all of you trip planning experts is:
Where is the best place to stay with such a large group?
Do you think on site or off site is better/cheaper?
My preference is to stay on site, but the trip would be much cheaper if we did not stay at a WDW resort, unless they offered free dining during our stay.I want them to get as much of the WDW experience as possible, like I did on my first family trip there. What are your thoughts?
Some of the things we want to do are:
Golf for the 2 dads and 2 of the boys
Spa for the 2 moms and 2 daughters
Water Park one day
Mickey's Backyard BBQ
Chef Mickey's (I have never been there)
Our first trip we went all out (we both worked so money was not an issue) and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. Our trip in 2009, money was tighter but we still had fun (duh!!!) staying at the Port Orleans Riverside. My kids were older and sometimes I was wanting to knock them silly because all they wanted to do was swim in the pool!
Good thing is my wife just found a great job after 16 months of looking (woo hoo!!)
so we are hoping to put some money away in the much needed vacation fund. She's still not thrilled to be going back to WDW but is happier that our friends are going with us. Once we get there she will be fine, I just have to put up with her growling until then!
Thanks for the long read!! Any help/opinions would be greatly appreciated!!
Jim (GrumpyCAdad...well, now Grumpy in CO!)
My wife and I have different opinions on the whole Disney World vacation. We married in 1998 and had kids right away. At the time we lived in Northern California. My oldest son grew up and was mezmerized by the MSEP video. When they first brought the parade back in 2001 we booked our first trip to Disneyland. In 2004 we took our first trip to WDW. My youngest was 2 at the time. We made one more trip in 2009 over Thanksgiving break.
My wife prefers DL over WDW while the rest of the family (the 3 kids and I) love WDW. My wife will complain the minute the kids and I start tossing the idea of going back for another WDW visit.
The twist on this new adventure is that we want to take a trip with our good friends who have never been to Disney World. They also have 3 kids, so our group will be a total of 10 people, 4 adults and 6 kids who will be 15,15,13,13,11,11 in the fall of 2013 when we are planning on going. We are looking at Thanksgiving break since all of our kids have the entire week off.
My questions to all of you trip planning experts is:
Where is the best place to stay with such a large group?
Do you think on site or off site is better/cheaper?
My preference is to stay on site, but the trip would be much cheaper if we did not stay at a WDW resort, unless they offered free dining during our stay.I want them to get as much of the WDW experience as possible, like I did on my first family trip there. What are your thoughts?
Some of the things we want to do are:
Golf for the 2 dads and 2 of the boys
Spa for the 2 moms and 2 daughters
Water Park one day
Mickey's Backyard BBQ
Chef Mickey's (I have never been there)
Our first trip we went all out (we both worked so money was not an issue) and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. Our trip in 2009, money was tighter but we still had fun (duh!!!) staying at the Port Orleans Riverside. My kids were older and sometimes I was wanting to knock them silly because all they wanted to do was swim in the pool!
Good thing is my wife just found a great job after 16 months of looking (woo hoo!!)
so we are hoping to put some money away in the much needed vacation fund. She's still not thrilled to be going back to WDW but is happier that our friends are going with us. Once we get there she will be fine, I just have to put up with her growling until then! Thanks for the long read!! Any help/opinions would be greatly appreciated!!
Jim (GrumpyCAdad...well, now Grumpy in CO!)
