Disney World with the In-Laws?

[devotedchristian]

Has anyone here done this? Can you share your experience with me? Where did you stay, eat, did you drive/fly together?

I am contemplating inviting my SIL and her 2 kids (Nephew-Age 6, Niece-Age 15months at time of travel). If I don't, I will NEVER hear the end of it. SIL is very close to me and DH and she (and the kids) have never been to Disney World. We could split costs and make it affordable for her to go.

I love my SIL very much, in fact I have appointed her as an Alternate Guardian of DS (almost 3)/Executor of our (DH and I) estate should DH and I die...which is yet another reason to encourage growth between her and DS.

But, the dynamics may be different on vacation as opposed to at home with your typical family barbeques, dinners etc. On vacation, we are STUCK with each other if we get on each other's nerves.

At least with family barbeques, we can go home. Our vacation will be very short...kind of a loooonnnnggg weekend; Friday-Sunday.

Have you done this? Disney with the In-Laws? Can you share your experience/dynamics with me?

PS, for lodging, I am looking at a 3bedroom Villa at Cypress Point Grande Villas for $135 per night. I am waiting to book.

 

[tiggercrew]

We have done Disney with the inlaws numerous times and for the most part it works out great. We have learned over the years that everyone vacations differently (some early risers, some late, some more relaxed, others on the go all the time) and as long as you are willing to give and take a little you'll be fine. One thing that worked well for us was having separate accomodations that are close or adjoin...that way each individual family can have some quiet time that is away from the larger group. It especially helps at bedtime when one child needs to go to bed earlier than the older ones.

Good luck with your planning and enjoy your trip!

 

[isla bonita]

We do it all the time. We own a rental home outside of Disney and we take family and friends down with us all the time. We rent our own cars. I tell them what we have planned for each trip. They either go their own way or occasionally join us. We have wonderful memories and have yet to have anyone not come back to join us.

 

[5wdwfans]

We vacationed last year at wdw with the in-laws it was ok but i'm not sure I will do it again. They are night people, we are morning people, we eat in the parks, they make sandwiches in the room. We do water parks and they were not interested and they wanted to stick right us but on there time. They are Slow going and we are go, go, go. There was 10 of us all together and we had fun but I felt alot of tension at times do to our differents. So I would advise going over what you want to do and where you want to eat and at what time before you go. Good Luck

 

[INDISMOM]

We haven't done Disney, but many vacations with extended family. The one rule always in place was that we didn't have to do everything together. We did a lot together, but sometimes you just want to have some special memories with just your immediate family. If that's the case, maybe let SIL know up front.

This also helps if you are travelling on different budgets. Never want to be in the situation where you feel like you have to pay for another and it's not in your budget!!

 

[tara98]

We have done this last year. Traveled with my parents and sister and husband. We had separate rooms at PC. Before we left we all agreed that we would do our own thing, and no hard feelings if someone wanted to do something different. Well, that all changed when we got there. My father wanted to be with my DS (3), to experience that, while my mother felt guilty not being with my sister and husband. The whole trip it was like this. Also, having so many "adults" around made my DS crankier than normal. We had one day to ourselves and were much happier. We would do it again, I mean they are my family, but we are planning another trip this year without them!

 

[LBKMAMA]

We went in Dec. with my parents and my sister, bil, niece and nephew.

My husband invited them all and then during our initial planning meeting set down a few ground rules. i.e. our two older boys are very different from your dtr. so it's okay for us to go our separate ways...at first I think my sister took offense and I know my parents were worried about the division of time.

We decided that we would make one ADR per day when we would all be together. They picked 2/ we picked 2....we also each picked a night to go out and the other watched the kids.

It ended up working out REALLY well. We usually split up in the mornings and then we ended up meeting for lunch in the park somewhere. Most of the afternoons we hung out together either at the park or at the hotel. Each couple got to go out for a nice dinner alone. The other dinners we had ADR's for worked out really well and we got to do some rides each night all together and see fireworks. I don't think any of us could believe how nice it turned out.

The only thing that got a little sticky was we are early risers and usually ready for the first bus to the park. My sister is not that way and is always late. It was hard to leave ahead of them and my parents felt stuck in between....that's probably the only thing I would do different since most mornings we ended up separating anyways.

I would do it again - in fact we probably will in Dec. of 07!

 

[sara74]

I'd say a short trip like that is a great way to test it out. We have vacationed twice with another family, the same one both times, and are renting a condo again with them this summer and I have to say that even though they are our best friends, it is still hard to mesh different families into one vacation. Even simple things like me liking to pack up the night before we leave so we can spend our last day at the beach and her liking to relax the last night and scurrying around like mad in the AM caused a bit of friction. I can't imagine doing a trip like Disney with so much more planning/itinerary - unless of course I was allowed to do all the planning and everyone followed me! I think your description of how close you are will help you - best of luck!

 

[bjscheel]

DH invited SIL the other night to go in December- she is "thinking about it". It will probably be a big help and the DDs will be thrilled to have her- she is single and childless, so we are her family. I'm a little worried that in the end, if she goes, there will be a little grumbling about the cost. We'll see. But she would just follow along with us.


He has mentioned inviting his other sister with kids along someday but that one wouldn't work out as well.

 

[babiesX2]

We took the in-laws (Dh's parents), and they refused to pay the few dollars for a rain poncho so they wore. . .​

GARBAGE BAGS!
​

They looked like complete idiots. I was embarrassed and I offered to buy them a poncho. They refused my offer because their garbage bags were working just fine. All they did was punch out a hole for their head. Their "rain gear" rendered their arms completely useless. Oh, yeah, and there was nothing to protect their heads from the rain.

 

[Stitch#1]

We have gone many time with my parents and if we want to do different things we go our seperate ways and meet up later.

But a couple of years ago we took my husbands family. We aked them 2 years in advance and said we would take care of the room (we have dvc and had rooms at the Boardwalk overlooking the boardwalk).
Well other then my brother in law I could not wait to get the vacation done and over with.
My MIL, SIL & niece don't really do rides so they would just follow us around. My MIL had hip replacement surgery the year earlier and is not the most mobile person to begin with but refused to rent a wheelchair or scooter, Oh and did I mention we were there the last week in August (VERY HOT) since that was when my SIL could go.
Well dear old SIL never even said "Thank You" after we had played travel agent, took care of the room, purchased all the airline tickets and park passes, plus we even paid for dinner one night!
She never stuck her hand in her pocket even to buy us a cold beverage!
Needless to say I will NEVER-EVER go on vacation with them as long as I live!

 

[Nik's Mom]

I traveled with 10 of DH's family members (in-laws, sister, brother-in-law, aunt and several of their children). We had a great trip, but the large group definitely slowed us down. We took the same flight and stayed at the Poly, but we made sure we had some separate time too. For me, it wasn't that big of a deal. My DH's parents only speak spanish, and I only speak english. Hard to fight when you can't understand each other. We just smile at each other.

 

[Gillian]

DH & I went with his mom, sister & her 2 kids (tweens) before we had kids. It went very well, and we attribute this to:

1. Lots of planning with input from everyone
2. Separate cars (very important!!)
3. 3 bathrooms (stayed at cypress pointe as well)
4. 2 refrigerators

Our planning started with me printing out things for them to read (packing list, etc.) and things for them to decide on (just a few restaurants and any rides they really wanted to see). After I knew what we all wanted to do, I planned the days for everyone. We mixed it up, with mostly mornings together doing commando touring led by me (crowded time of year) and afternoons at a relaxed pace (or resting).

I don't know how many people you have. We did cypress pointe GV this way:
-MIL shared king room with SIL
-neice & nephew shared the twin room
-DH & I had the queen in the lock out unit. I guess there is also a fold out sofa bed on that side, but we didn't use it. That person/people would have to use the bathroom and tv in the room DH & I slept in.
-no one had to use the living room couch, which was nice.

It'll be fun!

 

[disney longhorn]

We went several years ago w/SIS, FIL and MIL and it went well. We stayed at the Poly in different rooms--a key to any successful vacation w/other parties--b/c you need that time away from one another. We also, at times, did our own thing and then would meet up again at a set time. I enjoyed it and so did they.

However, at the time, we did not have children. We just recently went to Disneyland and met friends there during part of our stay. Be prepared to slow down. We found that we accomplished more on our own w/DD age 5 than we did when our friends joined us (they too had a DD 4). We also had separate rooms from this family as well.

So, keep in mind that being in groups slow you down considerably and that even the best of friends need to have time away (even on short trips).

Enjoy the magic!

 

[DawnM]

We were invited.

We didn't go!

We like to do Disney on our own!!!!!

DH had to work so it worked well for us to get out of it gracefully.

Dawn

 

[bdg100]

We have gone to Disney with inlaws before and have always had a great time with them. The kids get to know them better and, after all, it is the happiest place on earth. One funny story was this. My wife and I were approximately 40 at the time and had always wanted to eat at Victoria and Alberts, without the kids. With the inlaws there we grabbed our chance. We were staying in a 2 bedroom at Old Key West. I am a non-drinker but wife enjoys a glass or two of wine with dinner. Never anymore. Well, V & A's offers a glass of wine with each course for an additional $45 or so. Just enough money so that you didn't want to waste it. Trouble is there were like 15 courses. Let's just say it truly was the happiest place on earth for her that night. When we arrived at OKW that night we felt like we had to be real quiet and sneak into our room without being caught. She said it felt like her college days when she had to sneak in after a night of partying. BTW, the food, service, atmosphere AND WINE were all fantastic that night. It is a night that at least one of us will never forget.

 

[crisi]

My advice (we took my MIL and her sister a few years ago - my BIL last year - and are taking my family next year):

1. Seperate rooms for each family. Space is important. And don't be afraid to say "you know you've always dreamed of the Poly, its ok to stay there, even though we will be staying at the All-Stars - we will meet up in the parks."

2. Managed expectations. Figure out if the expectation is "every minute together" or "see each other in the pool for an hour each afternoon." Recognize how realistic these expectations are for YOUR party. With my mother in law, there was no way we'd spend every minute with her and keep her and our preschoolers happy. So we let her and her sister explore the shops in Epcot while we rode rides they had zero interest in. When my extended family goes, my mother will be the oldest at 65, my brother in law is very overweight and doesn't move fast, he will come with a 14 month old and a three year old (and my sister), my other sister is 35 and single, and my own two kids will be eight and nine. The nine year old is not going to have the patience for Dumbo - so we will split up a lot. Remember a small party is easier to keep together than a large party - even if a large party has similar interests, fifteen people moving through the parks together may be too difficult to pull off.

3. Good communication - especially on the financial part. And respect - especially on the financial part. Understand that not everyone thinks $70 for Cirque is money well spent. Some people don't want to spend $4 on rain ponchos. The other important one is to respect people time and desires. Everyone will want different things from their vacation, if someone wants to sleep in - because that is what vacation is to them, you need to respect it and figure out a way to work with it (we will meet you at 11:00 for lunch at Peco's Bills).

 

[Danaans]

Just did it last year with the whole family....
9 people, who roomed in three connecting rooms at the ASMo (consisting of six adults and three children 8, 3, 13 months) and then my parents and grandmother who is 92 caught up with us for the christmas holidays.

Here's the truth about it all. It was nice.. it was good, but it's not for everyone. It's because everyone has their own idea of fun, and vacation.

Remember for the most part, everyone does not like or enjoy what you do. If you can get a handle on that, that your trip should go well, not perfect --mind you... but well.

Any big groups, that expect to do the whole thing together at all times, are not being realistic, or just have been in the sun too long. Everyone is not the same, and like Heinz katsup, we all come in different flavors.

Expect to have some time together, plan ahead for free time, and go with the expectation that you just might never get the opportunity again.....

 

[Danaans]

we are going again next week but staying at the carribean...by ourselves this time Yah!!!!!!!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We just did our 1st trip with the in-laws in July. DH and I were both nervous about it but it worked out just fine. We had separate rooms at YC, close but not connecting. I made it clear before we went that they were welcome to spend as much time as they wanted with us but if they felt they needed a break no hard feelings. Everything worked out really well. They hadn't been to Disney in 20 years so I made all the ADRs and hoped for the best. They liked it so much that they are talking about coming next year too! Now we went for 15 nights and in-laws only stayed 7 nights so we had some "just our family" time too.