Getting "buy-in" from group

[Dale-n-Chip]

First of all, I know and admit loudly I'm an anal-retentive, over-the-top, commando vacation planner, especially Disney vacations. The concept of flying by the seat of my pants on a Disney vacation. . . well, that's what nightmares are made of in my world.

So here's where I find myself. . . Just convinced DParents (70+) to join us on our Dec pilgrimage to DL for 4 nights/3 days. I am in FULL FRONTAL PLANNING ATTACK mode. They are in shock! (It will be the five of us: me, DH, DS, and DParents)

I need their participation in planning, at least to what they do/don't have an interest in doing. I am PERFECTLY capable of planning the commando "do-it-all-or-die-trying" three days at DL. I'm also certain no one would enjoy it! I'd rather create a plan of attack that allows more down time and flexibility without wandering aimlessly and spending 50+% of our time in lines. I could use some advice/suggestions on getting their participation.

They are a plane ride away, so it's not like I can go over for Sunday dinner and lay out a map.

DH suggested breaking the parks into smaller chunks and creating documents with attractions and a "yes, maybe, no" set of columns, then wrapping up with a final "Top 5 Must See/Do List." Everyone gets to fill one out. Any other ideas?

D-n-C

 

[samkj]

I'm no help on this one. My dear sweet husband has already warned me that he was going to be burnt out on DL before we even get there if I didn't stop telling him every detail. My parents and In-laws will be there for two of our 5 days and I finally just let go of one of those days. The other day I have a tour (I don't think MIL is thrilled about the tour but we're doing it anyway for my sons birthday!)and dinner reservations which will occupy much of the day.

Have a great trip!

 

[denyd]

I'd suggest allocating at least part of each day to be apart to allow the different groups to enjoy what the Disneyland expierence means to them. It's just as hard to get teenagers into Small World as it is to get senior on Splash Mountain. Plan things to do as a group (like POTC, HM & Dining) and block out times to try different things.

 

[Tink33]

You are not going to like my answer.

Relax, it is a vacation. Don't plan every minute of every day. Sometimes, the most magical parts of vacation are the things that are unexpected and unrehearsed.

Try to do the things you really want to do first thing in the morning when crowds are low. Standing in line with your family is not always bad. You can use the time to talk about life. You can meet other people. You can tell your son about your favorite memories of visiting Disneyland/WDW.

Maybe your parents just want to experience Disneyland with their grandson and really don't care. I know when my Grandpa was alive, he took me to Disneyland so that I could have a good time. It didn't matter if we went on Small World 100 times or he waited for me outside Space Mountain. He went to create memories that would last a lifetime.

 

[HydroGuy]

I am going to disagree with some of the "don't plan too much" posts. First, I agree that a full on commando approach will likely be a turnoff. But that just increases the value of planning.

I would say you should pursue a "flexible plan". Let me summarize the approach I used on our four day August trip, which everyone in my family told me they enjoyed. My family is DW and four DS's 9, 11, 12 and 14.

Basically, I researched everything. I had FastPass down pat, and gathered lots of FPs to give us flexibility of going on all the big rides. I knew which rides had the shortest lines throughout the day. I figured out how to maximize Early Entry. I figured out where to stand for parades and fireworks, and how early to get there. I bought RideMax and used it to prepare itineraries as guidelines. I made reservations for Blue Bayou way ahead of time. Before we left home I knew what everyone wanted to do on the first day. I gathered show and parade times for every day we were there, so we always knew when things would be happening and what we needed to do on which days in order to see everything we wanted to see.

Then, after I had everything figured out, I took input from everyone and made suggestions on what and when we should do what each person wanted. Sometimes we did things that were plain inefficient, but overall we made smart decisions and I had a lot of info on hand to use for guidance. For example, on Day 1 my kids wanted to do POTC first thing. POTC is the highest capacity ride at DLR, in addition to being 16 minutes long. I explained that we would be better off going on POTC at 10AM and doing other things early in the morning that were slow loading and had short lines in the morning. Sure enough, we got to POTC at 10AM and the line was like 4-5 minutes.

In summary, my "plan" did not schedule every minute, but instead brought forth timely information so that the group could make decisions. Over four days during mid-summer, we never waited in a line for more than 20 minutes, and on day four my family said that the trip was very relaxing. And we got on tons of rides without being commando in a conventional sense.

See my trip report here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=886607

See my FastPass thesis here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=885132

See my RideMax critique here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=885134

Have fun with your planning and your trip!