How to get Grumpy Grandpa to DW

[addie]

OK, so my father-in-law is not really Grumpy, (actually he is great)and we have a really good relationship, but he is being difficult with the trip we want to take.

Grandma is in and really, really wants to go. But Grandpa is saying that it looks like a waste of $ and he should proably not take the time off work, .......ahhhhhh..... we are giving them 6 MONTHS NOTICE!!

They don't get to see their grandkids that often, and not only is my family going but their other daughter and her family. I would hate to see him miss out on this.

He has never been to DW, and I'm sure he THINKS he will be standing in line for 5 days straight, and will not have any fun. He really does not even know what to expect, and how much fun he would really have.

He is very into sports and golf. (I'm sure if we were going on a golfing trip he could get time off work ) To top it all off we are even going on a cruise, and he is not even excited about that??

Any ideas on what to do?

Anyone had any luck on anything like this?

Thanks!

 

[Chuck S]

Hmmmm....if they're anything like my Grandparents...Grandma could put her foot down and tell Pops he's going, end of discussion.

 

[NCRedding]

Having taken my "grumpy" dad on a Disney Cruise with the family last year, here are my suggestions: See about sending him golfing one day, which would appeal to his sporting side, and will let him know that he can do "his own thing". Also, depending upon when you will be there, you might see if there are some other sporting events occuring at Wide World. Bribe him with the ESPN restaurant at Boardwalk. My dad loved the Illuminations Cruise that I booked--he raves about it today. He also loved the character breakfast. If I understand that you are going on a cruise, let me put in my 2 cents. The first 2 hours of our cruise nearly ruined the trip for my dad. If I were taking him again, I would send him to the cabin and either order room service or take in from Plutos. My dad despised the welcome buffet--they wouldn't let us in Parrot Cay, so we had to fight the crowds at Topsiders, and sit out in the sun. I am not kidding when I say it put him in a bad mood. At some point during the first night he and Mom argued until she told him "you can just go to h**l. I'm going to enjoy my cruise" Have fun!

 

[Fantasmic303]

I'm not sure how old all the grandkids are, but I bet they'd be the most convincing method!!

Perhaps each family of kids could make a video plea showing the things they can't wait to do on the trip and stress how special they'd be with Grandma and Grandpa there with them. For example, if there's a little girl, maybe she dresses like a princess and says how much she'd like to take her prince (Grandpa, of course!) to see Cinderella's Castle. Maybe a little boy wants to take his favorite space commander (Grandpa again!) to fight the Evil Zurg on Buzz Lightyear. There are loads of little themes you can think up, for boys and girls of all ages!!

If the kids are shy and don't want to do videos, maybe they can write letters, or you could get some Disney postcards they can send from home to Grandpa.

I agree with some of the other people - show him things that HE'LL enjoy (the Illuminations Cruise, golfing, etc.), and then show him the reasons he can't miss out on this, that this is a special adventure, not just a vacation.


PS - If you need any help thinking up things for the video, let me know - I love to do that kind of stuff!! LoL!!

 

[addie]

NCRedding- I am cracking up reading your post!

Thanks everyone for the info. I will send him some golfing and fishing info, and tell him about ESPN.

Any other ideas? Bump

 

[wld]

My mom just told my dad that the kids and grandkids were going to disney and so were they. She appropriated the tax refund and told him he didn't have to like it but he better not ruin it for the grandkids. He said he'd go, hate it, and was eating at McDonalds every day because anything else would be too expensive. Seems as though he thought WDW would be like a big Cedar Point (amusement park)

Well, he went, was seriously impressed by the quality of the plastic ware and loved it all but Tower of Terror. Not my fav d/t claustrophobia so the second time he, I and my 4 year old nephew people watched. Oh and he loved having the two way radios to play with even though we didn't separate that much. Never did make McDonalds.

On his last morning he woke up and told my mom to see if the hotel was available for another week. It's been 2 years and he still doesn't let my mom get a word in edgewise when the subject comes up.

So grumpy grandpa ended up having a great time despite himself.In the end he just enjoys spending time with the grankids and this was alot of quality time.

 

[Kallison]

We forced grumpy grandpa and grandma to go on our first trip and they spent the entire week moping, complaining about cost of food, heat (in December!) etc. My parents went also, I'm glad we did it once with both sets of GP's especially since grandpa is no longer with us. But I would never want to do it again with that many people. Good luck, but I wouldn't go too far with the persuasion. Maybe just take Grandma along.

 

[Mike]

Have you ordered the free vacation planning video or dvd? I would think that would be a pretty effective tool as well. Disney marketing at its best.....

 

[karebear1]

I think I'd attach the phrase "family reunion" to it- maybe that'll make a difference. BTW- LOVE the idea about having the kids do a video pleading their case- give it to him for Father's Day with a gift basket of Disney stuff and the video. Maybe you could make him the official photographer for the group. Check out the Disney Sporting complex for the time you are going. You could give him a list of all the sporting events that would be happening there at the time. How about that Richard Petty Driving Experience? There is also a book out about WDW for Adults- maybe they could read that.

 

[addie]

Thanks everyone! These boards are great. I love the video idea, that is a project for tomorrow.

"Family Reunion" good idea!

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

Explain to "Grumpy Grandpa" that he's lucky to have an opportunity to take his grandchildren to WDW. My terrific DFIL passed away unexpectedly 2 Sundays ago at the age of 59. He had a massive heart attack at work and died instantly (he'd never been sick in the 16 years I'd known him and no history of heart disease and he passed a stress test a year ago). He planned on retiring soon. I asked my in-laws several times to go to WDW/DCL with us, but they're not vacation people and always said no. Now, he'll never have the opportunity to see my 5 year old twins faces light up when the see Mickey or Cindy's Castle. We have a vacation to US/WDW coming up the end of April and are going to ask DMIL this weekend if she wants to go. I hate to ask so soon after his passing, but right now we only have 30 days until we leave and I have a lot of re-planning to do if she goes. Once again, tell him that work isn't everything (my DFIL put in massive amounts of overtime) and no one knows when their time will come and he should create memories for his grandchildren to cherish now.

 

[idontknow]

Just incase you get him to go and he is still grumpy in WDW, this is what I had to do with DH on one trip. DH doesn't care what he does as long as he isn't at work. BUT, sometimes you can tell that he just isn't enjoying himself. He is not a complainer. His mother taught him to eat all of the veggies on his plate, even if he didn't like them, so he applied that to his life. (get the picture?) So, at the gate of MGM one year, I looked at him and told him that if I didn't hear the word "NO" come out of his mouth, it ment "yes". End of story! For the rest of the trip, he did the "I don't care," "sure" and "aha" to most everything I had planned. But, on a few occations, he did actually say the word "no" and he did not have to do it. (teacups, character breakfast, etc) He learned that if he spoke up, he would get his way. (and we would do what we wanted without him) This plan actually saved him from going to the parks one day, just because he said "no". Unfortunately, he seems to have forgot that last Sept and everyone was miserable.

 

[NCRedding]

Tay N Evie's Mom: I could have written your post about my FIL who passed away at 62 in March of 2001 of a sudden unexpected heart attack. The only difference is my FIL loved to travel. I think that was one of the reasons I was able to convince DH to use some of his dad's money to buy into DVC. It is so important to spend time with our families. My MIL had been killed in a car accident 3 years earlier, so we know that life can end at any time. I am sorry for your loss, and your children's loss. My DD to this day changes the subject when we bring up FIL. She talks about him, but it has to be on her terms.

 

[chatty]

We had EXACTLY the same problem with Grandpa!!
We took him over all our free Disney VHS tapes and the newer DVD one's..
" IT WORKED"!!!!

It's the Power of the Disney Magic!
Good Luck!
Chatty

 

[perdidobay]

Call Disney and get them to send you the "Grandparents" planning video for him to watch... heck, I don't even have Grandkids and after watching that ...I wanted 10 grandkids just to take to WDW!

 

[gonga]

Tell him he can either go ...or I will send MY pain in the ***, rain on your parade, throw mama from the train, chain smoking,complaining, malcontent raggady *** mother to spend time with him while you are gone. I will send her to you free of charge too....that will fix his wagon!

Actually she's worse than that, I left out a few choice descriptions

 

[karebear1]

Oh MY!!! She sounds lovely!

 

[LAWalz23]

Grumpy grandpa may never change but the video or grandkids asking him to go may do the trick. Just beware even if he goes he may not do a return trip. We got my dad to go two years in a row and now he refuses to even consider WDW for a 50th anniversary family trip even though my mom wants to go to WDW.

Tay n Evie's Mom- know how you feel. Your MIL may welcome a trip to WDW to get her mind off of FILs death. She also may not be able to handle everyone enjoying themselves so soon. We went 15 months after my sister died suddenly and for us, I don't know if we would have had such a good time earlier. The grandkids will really help her. My sister's kids "saved" my parents.

 

[WDWorBUST]

My dad is a complete no crowds type person and the only way he said he would even consider a trip to Disney was if I give him a granddaughter (my sister has two boys) but we won't know for a few months still.....I just might use some of these ideas those if it turns out to be a boy.