Am I the only one that is completely overwhelmed?

[lisalonglash]

There is just TOO MANY options and too much information available on Disneyworld, I think LOL The trip isn't even until October 2008 and I'm ALREADY past my information-overload limit Also, the trip will be our own family and pretty much all my husband's family - already some issues with planning We'll either be staying at ASM or off-site at either a local hotel or a family villa - and we'll either be flying from Vancouver or from Seattle. See the problem potential? LOL

Thanks for letting me vent

If anyone has any advice regarding simplifying this trip, I'm all ears!

 

[SandraC]

You answered your own question....

SIMPLIFY!

1. Read everything you can...try not to get overwhelmed. Just read it as "fact finding" info. I remember reading all about boat rentals even when I wasn't interested in them. But years later, I was! So the info came in very handy.

2. Not all folks are able to do this [I am]....but screw the extended-family if they come between you and your WDW dreams. My Family is dh, dd, ds and me. If anyone else wants to join us, GREAT! But I'm doing my thing with my dh and kids. We can meet others later, but the bulk of MY vacation is MY VACATION.

3. Make WISH LISTS! First a BIGGY WISH LIST! Then begin to narrow it down to a realistic Wish List.

ENJOY! S

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Have to agree with everything Sandra said!

Plan your vacation for you and include a few things to do with family or let them know what YOU are doing and they are welcome to join in.

Make that wish list as to what you, kids and dh all 'must' see and do then narrow it down.

Happy planning and remember this is going to be a FUN vacation!!

 

[amw]

The last WDW trip we took (Sept 2005) was with my family and my parents. My parents love Disney and we had extra aeroplan points. However, I didn't want them to feel like babysitters or tag-alongs, and I didn't want to be overwelmed by them either.

1. I booked a 3-bedroom condo at Cypress Pointe. At the time, it cost me $85/night with hotelkingdom.com. My parents had one bedroom, my kids had another, and we had the third. There was also an sofa bed in the living room if you had more people. This way, we weren't on top of each other and we each had personal space to escape to.

2. My parents rented a car and we rented a car. That way, we weren't tied to what the other was doing.

3. I told my parents they could have 2 park days with us. For 2 days, they could see the parks through their grandaughters' eyes (they were 3 and 5 at the time). The rest of the time, they could go where they wanted to go at their own speed. This way we both had our own WDW vacations. Incidentally, we ran into them at the parks on off-days. It really is a Small World afterall...

4. I booked a family dinner at CHef Mickey's which was a highlight, especially the family photo.

5. I booked a golf day for my DH and father. They had alone time from us, and the girls went shopping.

6. We went for 10 days so we didn't feel park overload, we had plenty of time to do our own things, and combined things. It was also a very slow off-season time which took away from the "hectic" feeling.

Overall, let each party do their own planning, include some together time, but allow each group to explore on their own sa well. It turned out to be one of our best trips. It made me feel good that I could provide both my DDs and my parents with some magic Disney memories.

 

[lisalonglash]

this trip was initiated by my mother-in-law (who is wonderful ) as a "family vacation" - for all of us. This isn't a trip just for my family and they're tagging along - it's a whole family thing (I hope that makes sense).

It's not the family that's overwhelming me, it really is the sheer volume of available information and options. Doing the legwork now will hopefully save us (us being me and my sisters-in-law that are planning the whole shebang) some annoyance later.

I think I just need to figure out how to break this trip down into smaller "bites" so that we don't lose sight of the point of the trip in the first place - family time together at WDW

Thank you all so much for your input and advice! Much appreciated

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

There is alot of info out there and it can be overwhelming!

First place I always go is to check out the resorts to see which one I'd like to stay at - value's are nice if you are never going to be in the room/resort but if you want to spend time at the resort it might be worth upgrading to a moderate. they aren't that much more but they do have more ammenities and the rooms are bigger - the pools all have a slide too. I can't help you with off site accomodations as we always stay onsite when we are doing the disney portion of our trip - adds to the 'magic' IMO.

You need to go to the 'free maps' on the Disneyworld.ca website and look through them with your family so you can decide what you want to see and do at each park. That will give you an idea as to which parks you are doing and if you think you need a whole or 1/2 day there. I'd suggest not sticking together in groups to do the parks and just meet up at specific times to have dinner/lunch together - or set a specific time to sit together to watch the parade. Makes it easier to get more done if you aren't in a big group.

Then go to www.allearsnet.com and check out the menu's from the different Disney restaurants and suggest the other members in your party do the same. If you aren't doing the dining plan then perhaps each family can choose 1 or 2 dining experiences so you can all have your meals together.

then the fun comes putting it all together - it's always better to do Disney with a clear plan - if you don't have a plan then chances are you won't see or do even 1/2 of what you want to. When I say a clear plan I don't mean to schedule every minute of every day - we usually use a loose plan with which park we are doing and what we want to see there and ADR times. We like to stop and people watch or stop and enjoy the entertainers on the main drag at MGM or the barber shop quartet at MK etc. Stop and smell the roses so to speak!

For my 'planned' trips we usually use an excel spreadsheet to fill in park hours, dining reservations and such. Keeps it all together in one spot and I can share it with the rest of the group we are going with. Last May when we went we said it wasn't going to be a planned trip but I still did a spreadsheet of hours and ADR#'s. Last October we took the IL's and I let MIL do most of the choosing of restaurants and what they wanted to do with guidance lots of it Was a great trip and I made sure I had plenty of days to hang out and relax by the pool.

Good luck planning - it's not an easy thing to do when you are taking a big group but at least you have plenty of time to do it in!

 

[tracyvansmith]

From all the trip reports I have read about groups, it is best to make plans on certain stuff you want to do as a group (meals or rides) then let everyone go their own way. I have a trip report for you to read, I was going to PM you with it but you have your PM turned off. It is from another site and is a group of 9. If you would like to read it PM me and I’ll send it to you. (I also have other info that might help you too).

 

[lisalonglash]

I have now figured out how to turn my PM on (didn't know it was off lol).

Tracy, please PM me when you have a chance, now that my PMs are turned on
Dianna, if you wouldn't mind sharing your Excel sheet, I'd love to see it )

Thanks everyone for the step-by-step information - that's really helpful for planning!

The more guidance I have from you WDW-experienced people, the better off we'll be - thank you all!

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

It's nothing special really - I just make a calendar on Excel according to the dates I'll be away and under each date we add confirmation numbers for everything from hotels to flights to cars to ADR's, park hours, which park we'd like to be in each day. It's rather simple to do but sure keeps everything organized!
At the bottom of it I keep our 'wish list' of specific things the kids really want to see/do during that trip.

 

[tracyvansmith]

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.aspx this is were you can get the travel times for an approximate times of travel between Disney properties.

 

[SaraMc]

There is a lot of info about WDW its true. And there is a lot to do at WDW but remember you cant do it all in one trip so dont even try. It will make everyone happier if you dont try to see it all. What we have done when we have travelled with family is say, ok well we will meet you here. ( pick destination) We made our own travel arrangments and met up for dinners ect and did spend some time in the parks together but not always. Made it much easier to do our own thing yet have time together.