Great Vacations with Extended Family

[GoofItUp]

The horror stories of vacationing with extended family are easily found on here, but I thought it might be nice to hear from those who have experienced great vacations with extended family at WDW.

We have vacationed twice with DH's parents, sister and her family. (Well, I only went on the first one. Our youngest DS was sick the 2nd time, so he and I stayed behind. ) Both trips were great! I set up all the plans ahead of time ~ deciding which parks we'd visit on which days, dining arrangements, extra things for the kids to participate in. Once there we pretty much went on my touring plan since I'm the WDW expert. On the trip I missed they even called me a couple of times to tell me where they were and find out if it would be better to do this or that. I was flexible as things came up...really don't want to walk all the way here or there to eat, can we try this closer place or whatever. It worked out great!

DH and I treated my mom and grandparents to a trip before we had kids, too. I TREASURE that trip. My grandparents had never been to WDW and my grandfather had a stroke not too long after we came back. It would be very difficult for him to do a Disney vacation now, so I'm so glad we did it when we did. All of my DVC points for a lifetime would have been worth that one!

We leave in less than a week with my brother and his family, sister and her family, and my mom for a one week stay at AKV. We have been talking and planning this trip for months. My nieces and nephews are beside themselves. My SIL has spent time showing my nieces the resort on-lineand getting them excited about their savannah view, the pool area, etc. We've planned meals together so that everyone is getting a little of what they want and we have the flexibility to split up if we need to and meet back at a certain time to eat. My SIL is so excited (her first trip ever to WDW) that she has told me it's not about her girls....SHE is the one wanting to go to Disney!

So, what's your story?

 

[mufasa0505]

My husband and I were married at WDW in 2005. At that time our families wanted to "do it again" in 5 years, so we planned a reunion for our 5-year anniversary, in 2010. We had two couples that couldn't go, but we knew about it well before the 11-month mark. We ended up booking 6 rooms at Kidani and everyone loved it.

During our wedding trip we did the parks as a group and it caused a lot of aggravation because some people in our party weren't very punctual For the 2010 trip, I booked two group dinners and told everyone they were on their own after that. That worked out well. Any time someone wanted to go to a park with us, we'd be very clear that we would be at the bus station at X time and were getting on the next bus with or without them. Most times, we were getting on the bus without them, but they would call us when they got to the park. This allowed everyone the freedom to do what they wanted, as well.

In regards to dining, I booked our reservations and told everyone what day we would be eating where. Sometimes they booked reservations at the same restaurants around the same time, so we would have fun running to each other's tables to check out food.

We had a great trip without the nightmares some people go through. I did repeatedly point out that if they canceled on us less than 90 days out (I gave some extra time there) it would cause a loss to us financially.

 

[sportsmom3279]

For the past 5 years we have been traveling with my sister's family, my brother's family, my mom, my father and his wife, and my aunt. I use our points and provide everyones rooms. They are responsible for all their other expenses. Everyone is always so grateful to me for the great resorts they have gotten to stay at. Our favorite is the Boardwalk and that is where we will be next month in 2-2bedrooms and 2 studios.

It has worked out great. We have meetings before every trip to make our ADR's. We schedule dinners every night together so that we can all meet up in case we split up during the day.

My parents and my aunt rarely go the parks. The enjoy the pool and shopping during the day and meet us for dinner in the evening.

The rest of us usually stay together in the parks or at the pool. We have a great time. We enjoy doing all the attractions as a group.

We plan these trips at 11 months out and love to talk about and plan them all through the year.

We have a group of 22 that ranges in ages of 6 to 65. We all get along very well and enjoy each others company (even when we are not on vacation) so it works out great.

In a few weeks we will be leaving for our 6th trip to the world together and we are all so excited. I know we will have a good time, we always do.

 

[DVCAmy]

We do a large group trip every other year ranging from 12 people to 16 people. It is my parents and my sister and her family and my family. Sometimes the other sister comes with her family as well. I am always the trip planner but I get input from everyone each time before I start planning on where we would like to stay, what new things we might want to do, etc. We all do well together on vacation and they all trust me to make choices for all of us. It's really been a nice experience for the cousins (6 under 12) and for the adults.

 

[cseca]

Last christmas we did a big family get together at VGC (13 people). Age ranges from 1yo to 70+. It was wonderful despite the crazy crowds. Staying on property made it possible for everybody to get into the parks early and avoid the regular opening crowds. We didn't spend every waking hours together but we sure spent a lot of them together.

I am blessed with a very grateful family. They enjoyed every minute and didn't stop thanking us for providing the accommodation. I would take them again in a heartbeat...

 

[kikiq]

So far, I have only taken my brothers and father. Two trips, one to WDW SSR and the other DLR VGC. The WDW trip was wonderful because it also included my DDs BFF and mom who have become part of our family. We planned 2 big dinners but otherwise ate in our villas. Each family did their own thing during the day. My dad listened to each group's plans and then went with whoever he wanted. The day, the ladies were in the SSR spa, he decided to go with my DH to the MK area. They checked out the MK resorts and then my DH decided he wanted to return to SSR. My dad (83 at the time) decided that he wanted to tour MK, so went on his own, no cell phone or anyone with him. My DSIL and I were in panic mode when we found out, but he managed to find his way back.
This last Memorial Day, we had everyone except my dad but a new member of the family, my DGD with us at VGC. Rented a cabana, invited some local family to the villa for dinner, my brothers again did their own thing in the parks, came back to the villa for meals.

BUT our family traveled quite a bit when we were younger because my Dad worked for United. We're use to each other traveling habits. My older brother is my favorite traveling partner (not my DH, who hates long trips sitting in the car or plane anywhere). My DH doesn't want to travel with his family so it makes it easy.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

What a wonderful thread!

Every 3 years or so we host our family reunion at Disney. We welcome family and friends from France, New York, England and Tennessee (11-14 +/-) to be exact. We get an OKW GV, and pack in, sometimes we get an additional studio if need be. We're together for most of the week, we plan ADR's, special activities like one year we did the Bass Fishing Excursion, another year we did the Fireworks Illumination Cruise. We always fit in a few days at TL or BB!

We actually like being together, we cook together in the villa to feed all of us (I bring the crockpot). Getting back together and seeing how our children have grown and sharing stories around the dinner table, we all love it. We love to hang out and BBQ by the quiet pool, cocktail hour is popular!

We go to the parks, but we don't kill ourselves, the point of the trip is to do stuff together. Early in the planning of it we ask each family if there is something special they want to do or somewhere they want to eat, and we try to give each person/family say so in the vacation planning, afterall it's everybodies vacation.

I then make all of the ADR's and plans and then send out an itinerary! After the trip, we compile our photos and organize them into one huge photo album, one for each family. The memories we've made, makes me smile just to think of it! Even with the few meltdowns or the bad attitudes (and we all have them from time to time) you can encounter during these massive trips, I've got nothing but good memories out of it!

We've had 3 so far, and we're looking forward to the next one, Summer 2013!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our purchase was specifically to give DMom the 85th birthday party that she dreamed of...at WDW. We had 14 people, friends & relatives, 5 villas & it was all we hoped for. We do not overplan things to do. for the party, each family group asked for something to sponsor...breakfast, Fantasmic dinner, CP dinner package, Epcot international dinner. We were all there for 4 nights, one planned activity each day. It was the year of a tremendous east coast December snowstorm '04! Getting home was more of hasstle then any part of planning!

We often have 13 to 18 different people for our summer trips at VB and WDW. not everyone comes to both, and they have lasted 6 to 10 days. I've had gals trips 4-6 different friends and we've gifted a few nights to friends and family.

I like the "family & friend" trips more than DH does, but we work that out too!

 

[DisneyEater]

You can find the full TR on my blog, but the summary is that we took my Mom and my wife's grandmother with us for mother's day. While there were some bumps in the road, overall we had a fantastic trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[nunzia]

I contributed to the 'horror story' thread so here is my good one
We were going to F&W at DLR...B&SIL asked if they could come along..sure..they planned on getting off site motel but I told them I'd see if I could get them a room at VGC..no extra studio available but they did have a 1 BR (glorious BTW) so we took that. Then SIL says that maybe another BIL wanted to come..again, fine if he doesn't mind the little Murphy bed since 1BR sleep 5..he thinks he'll come, he thinks he won't, he'll stay on Harbor, no he won't..whatever..he's single and a lawyer with a wacky schedule..Finally he is coming..he even rides the train with us and enjoys it (not so much B & SIL) He spends the whole train ride there telling us that he's renting a car and taking off solo for a day or so, etc etc..he does this alot being single and pretty much not liking to fit in to anyone's plan. OK..great..you can rent a car at DTD. Well...he never left our side, loved EVERY MINUTE had forgotton how wonderful DLR was and had the best time. No gripes about the Murphy bed, everyone loved the place and lots of ohhs and ahhs watching WOC testing from the balcony..great trip!
B & SIL then took their kids and grands to DLR..naturally weet Spring Break ( I tried..really) stayed at HOJos (fine really, but still) and had a nice time but really saw what I meant about busy DLR and NOT busy DLR..so then SIL decides she wants to buy VGC...waiting list..and I've tried to talk her out of it because they are really not Disney people..their annual trip is AI to Mexico (that I have to go to this year..a bit boring) where the main selling point is free booze.
It was such a great trip and I may have to stay in 1 BR again...so lovely.

 

[bwvBound]

What a nice thread -- thanks for starting this!

We often travel with extended friends and family. As related to DVC ... we were joined by both my parents and my husband's parents last Oct for a week during Food & Wine. This is the first time the two sets of "parentage" have met since our wedding 15 years back. We shared a Grand Villa at SSR which afforded each couple sufficient privacy and space. SSR was perfect for the "non-Disney" couple who preferred Downtown Disney to the parks. We stuck mostly-together for the first two/three days before splitting up for special interest activities. We regrouped once each day for a sit-down lunch/dinner. Admittedly, we did too much running -- but it all worked out g-r-a-n-d.

 

[bumbershoot]

We're no experts in this, but we had a lovely family trip in December.

It was a bit mixed up, as it was our first time to WDW, but we were the ones treating relatives to DVC accomodations. Our relatives are WDW experts, they go ALL the time. It was kind of fun to be the newbies, but to be providing them with an experience they hadn't yet had.

My cousin and I promised each other that there was NO need to be attached at the hip...but then we *wanted* to be! They were there for 4 nights (cousin's hubby doesn't get official vacation days), and our stay was much longer than that, so it was totally fine to have togetherness while they were there.

There were a few little issues, but then, many of the group hadn't met each other, and the ones that had hadn't seen each other in years...not a surprise to have communication problems crop up, but the promise to be direct, not passive-aggressive, and to *do what you want to do* kept us on the right track.

We're planning a similar trip in September, same group, same OKW (fell madly in love with the place, and even though my family lives in coastal Florida they don't live in "old" Key West, so they loved it there too!), anticipating the same sort of good trip.

 

[wehavesix]

On most trips, our eldest son, his wife, & our grand children are with us. Sometimes our 2nd eldest son joins us too. My DHs sister and my daughter's friend came with us last trip. We had expected a nephew and his wife to come too but they had to cancel. They did so several months ago so it wasn't a problem.

So far we've been lucky that no one has left us holding the bag. BUT, my DH is very clear that there can be no last minute cancellations outside of an emergency and we check with our fellow vacationers often to be SURE there are no problems.

Next year my sister & I are planning a large family trip using both our DVC points to host some extended family too. We've all successfully cruised together so I foresee no problems with this trip either.

 

[Arthur27]

I will forever be grateful for what DVC provided for me and my family back in 2008. We took my Dad and Mom as well as my brother and his girfriend to HH. It was great. We had dinner in our kitchen and sat out on the porch overlooking the water; it was lovely. One month later my Mom died of cancer. It was her last trip. It wasn't a surprise, we knew she had cancer. Making that trip happen was awesome and I'll have it with me for the rest of my life.

 

[wbl2745]

We purchased DVC last year and seem to always take friends and family with us. The most recent trip in December (reported here) was with my two brothers and our wives. We stayed at the AKV for six nights and had a great time. My SIL said that I should be a professional WDW tour planner. I had reservations for Le Cellier, the Candlelight Processional Dinner, the Illuminations Cruise, the Hoop-Dee-Do Review, and Artist's Point, to name just a few. Everyone was free to go their own way when they wanted to, but we tended to stay together. So far we haven't had any horror stories.

 

[Disneyaunt4]

DH and I go bring my sister and her 4 kids with us all the time and we have the best vacations. So much fun and quality time with each other. If we ask, they will come

 

[GoofItUp]

Thanks for sharing such wonderful stories!

 

[sschu717]

This is an awesome thread!

We have several family members who are DVC members. Each time any of us bring a non member, they shortly do become a member. So, back in 2009 we stayed at OKW with my cousin, this was our first trip to WDW in years... I'm talking like 25 years. My wife and I became members on that trip.

We planned our first trip as owners for a stay at BLT. We wanted to bring my sisters, their families, and my parents... 15 people in total, but one of my sisters and her husband couldn't join us. It was a special trip as my sisters and I grew up with a mother who adored (perhaps adored is too mild of a word) Mickey Mouse but never made the trip to any of the Disney properties. I'm talking Mickey Mouse was EVERYWHERE in our house. During the weeks leading up the the trip my mom was more excited than the kids were.

We had a great time. There were several memories created that week that I will never forget. First one was my mom tearing up watching Wishes from TOTWL. Next, was her trip into MK... She was overcome with emotion when she first saw the Castle. It was an amazing experience.

We've made several trips with family members and, for the most part, they have been wonderful experiences. Of course, even with the best trips disagreements are bound to happen, but they're nothing compared to the positive experiences that are shared.

Eventually, all of my family members who are DVC members will plan a super family Magical Gathering trip. That'll be about 50 people... that'll be a planning experience.

 

[jekjones1558]

Our trip this coming Oct. will be our third big family trip. We will be a group of 21. The other 2 were lots of fun, so I am planning on a repeat. I book a bedroom for each family group so no one has to sleep in a living area. We only put families together in a unit if they want it that way (so the GV and 2 bedroom families CHOSE that option). I do almost NO planning of activities or ADRs. We will do Chef Mickey's and MNSSHP together. The rest of the time we do things separately or in small groups. We sometimes get together for meals off property or in the GV. We find that this loose organization is less stressful and allows the families with nap-age kids to meet their kids' requirement for down time as needed. It works for us!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have always had great experiences with family going to WDW with us. Our few issues have come with friends, and most of those have gone great as well. In 14 years, we've only had one bad experience, and that couple will NOT be given another opportunity to do that to us again.