How to convince Grandparents to go to the World

[taratony]

What would you veterans suggest we do to convince my wife's parents to go on a family vacation to Disney World? These are 2 people that cherish their grandkids, yet are hesitant to travel to the happiest place on earth. These folks have taken company trips to London, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Hawaii and Vietnam. Their idea of vacation is to visit a few places then come back to the hotel to eat and relax. They don't want to "wait in line all day and walk, walk, walk". Is there something you all would suggest to heighten their interest in this trip? I would suggest the vacation planning video, but the gal in there becomes so annoying, I feel that would turn them off. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! By the way, we did tell them we would travel in February to ease their "crowd" issues.

 

[ess]

I don't know..how about you only live once? We are grandparents with 3 grandsons 6 and under and we are looking forward to going with them in November for two weeks. We are staying off site in a big house with enough rooms to hide if we are looking for a little piece and quite. We are also renting our own car so we can do whatever we want if we don't want to hang with them everyday. Maybe you could suggest something like that to them? I know where they are coming from...as much as we love our grandkids they do drive us crazy at times.

 

[merryweather20]

My Dad is an only child and his Dad died when I was about three, the first time we went to Disney as a family they literally told my grandma if the plane goes down we're all you have so you might as well be on it. She went

I'd imagine this wouldn't work for everyone though...

 

[khurley23]

My Dad is an only child and his Dad died when I was about three, the first time we went to Disney as a family they literally told my grandma if the plane goes down we're all you have so you might as well be on it. She went

I'd imagine this wouldn't work for everyone though...

hahaha! That's classic! That would totally work in my family too!

 

[myAAbatteries&aTD]

Best of luck! We're working on my parents, too since my brother and his family and our family are all going for our 2nd "Big" family vacation w/ all the kids (their 6 grandkids).... they didn't go last time, so we're trying to get them to go w/ us this time.....

 

[LilyU]

I don't know, We just told my parents we were paying for the whole trip and they came right along! We also made it clear that if they wanted to go their own way in the parks, or spend time at the resort that was fine with us.

Lily

 

[Michigan]

It depends what week you go in February on how the crowds will be.

 

[GEM]

Have the kids tell them how much they want them to go. What grandparent could resist that?

 

[ZPT1022]

Have the kids tell them how much they want them to go. What grandparent could resist that?

That's what I was thinking.

 

[I Love Pluto]

If you can't get the real grandparents to go - I will be willing to be the "substitute grandparent" for your trip. I am available in February.

Seriously - I agree with the others - have the grandkids tell them how much they would like to have them at Disney for their trip. No grandparent could turn down those sweet little faces! Prompt the kids to add those cuddly hugs, too!

 

[carissanboys]

I don't have any suggestions, just wanted to tell you how much my parents loved going with us last March. My dad hates crowds and isn't really a Disney person. He doesn't like rides (his words). Let me tell you, once we got there and my dad went on his first ride, you couldn't stop the guy! He wanted to do everything and both he and my stepmother had such a blast! I had more fun watching the two of them than I did watching my kids. My dad also wasn't into fireworks (once again, his words). He was floored by Wishes. They loved it so much that they thanked me for getting them off their butts and "making" them go to Disney World with us And, when I told them we were going back in January, my dad immediately said, "Count us in!"

I'm sure if they go they will love it. It's just convincing them of that that's the tough part. Good luck!

 

[carissanboys]

I don't know, We just told my parents we were paying for the whole trip and they came right along! We also made it clear that if they wanted to go their own way in the parks, or spend time at the resort that was fine with us.

Lily

We didn't pay for my parents trip, but we did assure them that we didn't expect them to join us for everything, that there were lots of non-ride type attractions (although they enjoyed the thrill rides the most!), and that my plan was to take it easy.

 

[Eviie]

My grandparents (i'm 13) have gone to WDW with us EVERY YEAR since 1997, thats excluding 1 year were it was just my parents, my brother and I. Our last trip to the world with them was April 07. They said that was going to be there last year coming with us because my grandpa's back is bad and he can't be walking and stuff My grandma says it just bothers her walking so much. To me a vacation without my grandparents just doesn't seem right... it's like going to the beach without a bathingsuit, rotfl2 it just isn't right and there aint much sense in going... So my thought of convincing them will be what i try to do every year giving them the guilt trip.
(Grandpa is the one that is harder to convince, my GMA is a thrill seeker!)
If that doesn't work i'll tell them that maybe some of the days they can stay at the hotel for a while or if for any reason any of them get tired they can go together, get a disney bus, go to the resort and take a nap. Then call us when they are there. I mean i don't know any other way to put it for them!

 

[poohfriend77]

Hmmm... looks like I'm in the minority here, but I wouldn't want to be at WDW with anyone who didn't truly want to be there. If I had to "talk them into it," I think I'd spend the whole vacation worrying about whether we're walking too much, seeing what interests them, eating where they like, etc. so I could "prove" to them what a great time they're having.

My suggestion is to ask one more time, then let it drop if they say no. That way you can focus on planning a great trip for the people who REALLY want to be there. Sure, it would be great for kids to have happy grandparents at WDW, but it's not fun to be around people who are grumpy, complaining, tired, etc. (OK, maybe I have a bit of personal experience here. I'm not calling YOUR parents grumpy! )

 

[DISNEYJAZZ]

oh man i cannot imagine not going with my grandbabies...i have 7 ,5 yrs. and under and when the my dd/dsil decied they would like ot go and had seen the vacation planning dvd and the kids were all excited to tell me about it, the 1st words out of my mouth were " how much extra for a nanna & pawpaw to go/" and she said we were about to ask you if you wanted to go ! other g'ma was asked but declined we talked about it for a few weeks then decided yes we'd all do it! then next thing you know dsil is chekcing things out online,as am i! and then we put down dep.for room only { family suite at allstar music} in june,and booked magic your way fro 6 nights/7 days in aug. we will be there for spring break,crowded but we can't wait. i get so many great ideas from this board and have started getting things we will need and ant a bit at a time and i have so enjoyed the planning ! i am so addicted that i am already pre planning a trip with other dd/dsil and their twin girls when they turn 5 [ hoping fro free dining as it will be sept.2009] and their baby sis will be 2 1/2] and prepreplanning a trip with ds/ddil and thier kids in may 2010! i am working on a yearly thing here ya see...i know i will be tired but it will be the best tired ever and i love to htink of then grandbabies when they are older and have the wonderful mmories of nanna and pawpaw to share with the families when they go to disney!who wouldn't wanna share the magic...

 

[PittypatBR]

Maybe have them read the trip report from our trip last May? I am the grandmother, and I like to do it all, but my DH spends a lot of his time at the resort and joins us for some touring and meals, but goes back early. He has a bad back and doesn't like to walk as much as we do, but he still has fun. Stay on site if you can, because then the transportation isn't an issue and everyone can come and go as they please, and do it at their own pace. We split up in different combinations a lot, and DH and DGS would go back and swim while DD, DGD, and I kept going, or DGS and I would go early while DGD slept later, etc. The trips with our grandchildren have been the best vacations of our lives, and I can't imagine missing the looks on their faces and sharing it all with them.

 

[DISNEYJAZZ]

I agree with PittypatBR.let them read the report { which iIplan to do! } but also do a search for grandparent/grandchild pix at Disney World.I cannot wait to see the looks on thei rlil faces when they see the 'real' castle for the 1st time. Just seeing it on t.v. is awesome and sets their imaginations on fire about if it is 'really' big and if you can 'really ' see tinkerbell fly around the castle.I am enjoying telling my grands different things I have learned on these boards and also playing games like the 'name a charater for each letter of the abc's' they love that and my dgs who's 3 and I { dd & I both work at the same daycare,have since before the grands were born,so i see Blaze every day }and we have what i call the " I love you more than Disney' game. when we see each other I tell him "I love you more than Donald Duck" {one of his favs} and he will reply with something like " I love you more than the 7 dwarfs' which he is proud to have memorized! it is and awesoem way to enjoy the magic before we even leave the real world.well i am off to find Pittypat's report and then share it with my dd and her family.I also send them email pix when I find some of their favorite charater pix in a report.Good Luck in your endevor! Princess hugs & Pirate arrgghhss

 

[PurpleEars]

I would suggest talking to them about the "other things" they can do there (i.e. things other than rides). My niece just turned 1 so my dad decided that he wanted to do a "family trip". Initially everyone balked at my idea of "oh why don't we go to Disney World?". I explained to them that there are things they can do other than rides. I just highlighted different aspects of "going to the World" with each person. I told my brother and my sister that we'll go to table service restaurants every night (we'll be on the dining plan). I showed them the menus and they were convinced. I told my brother (the same bro) and my sister-in-law about shopping, they were sold in under 5 seconds. For my parents, I just told them that there will be lots of opportunity take pictures of the family during the trip. I also emphasized that most of the rides are not "fast and crazy" rides.

If they show some interest, I would include them in the vacation planning, such as picking a resort, table service restaurants, etc.

As you can see, we are going in Jan 2008. I can tell you that all the adults are excited to go - even though they won't admit to it!

By the way, my family includes DDad (early 60's), DMom (late 50's), DBro, DSIL, DSis (all in their early 30's), DNiece (1), DH and myself (in our late 20's).

I hope this helps!

 

[mom2aredhead]

Hmmm... looks like I'm in the minority here, but I wouldn't want to be at WDW with anyone who didn't truly want to be there. If I had to "talk them into it," I think I'd spend the whole vacation worrying about whether we're walking too much, seeing what interests them, eating where they like, etc. so I could "prove" to them what a great time they're having.

I agree with you 100%. If they need convincing, they should probably stay home.

 

[PittypatBR]

If the grandparents do decide to go, be sure to subscribe to the Unofficial Guide to Disney World site or the Tourguide Mike site. You will get invaluable information about how to tour to minimize waiting in line. They will tell you which parks to visit on which days to hit the smaller crowds, and how to plan your day to see what you want to see. Let everyone choose a couple of attractions from each park that they most want to see, then you can do very effective planning. Also remind the grandparents that almost everything at Disney is totally planned for all ages and abilities to enjoy, so there are lots of things to do besides RIDE! The shows are all wonderful and a great chance to sit down and rest, the parades are fun, and many of the rides are restful as well. (Think - Transportation Authority at MK - my favorite rest and let the little ones nap ride!) Heck, just riding the monorail or the MK train provide a little break from activity if you don't want to go back to the hotel. Depending on who is a morning person and who is a night person, you can adjust your schedule to suit everyone as well. Grandparents can go out and see a few things while the crowds are lighter in the morning, then go back to the hotel for a rest, run over to DTD to shop and/or eat, rest or swim, and go back out for a nice meal at one of the other resorts. Lots and lots of options! UG and TGM make it easier to avoid the lines, though, along with the fastpasses. We were so successful with using them that when we had to wait in a ten or fifteen minute line for Soaring my DGS complained about the long wait - that was probably the longest one we had the whole trip!