How to navigate planning for vacation with adult children?

[bcbmommy]

It's been over 5 years since we've been to WDW, and since then I've had two kiddos get married and now have one grandchild. So, there are 9 of us! We're all itching to go back, but thinking of planning for all of us is overwhelming. How do I navigate this? I plan on paying for everyone, but I don't necessarily want all 9 of us to have the same plan all week. Are they able to have their own account on the app even though I'm purchasing everything? I'm still trying to decide between mid-late Spring and early Autumn. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

 

[MICKIMINI]

How exciting!! Set expectations early on as to exactly what you will cover. Figure out your line item estimates on your own for somewhat fixed price items like tickets and transportation. That leaves you with rooms and meals. You will know what you have left in your budget after the above items. Personally, I would plan on QS and do one or two special ADR's. Don't forget snacks.

If you have multiple rooms you will have more choices with dining or ticket options. All guests in a room must all be on the same dining plan. I think planning for fall may give you more choices. Free dining would be a huge benefit to you if you can secure it as even QS will be 1K a day, conservatively for nine.

Location is key. What you are willing to spend on accommodations will make or break your trip (from 52 years experience). Being on the monorail will give your family many options and more importantly time...more time to hang out at the pool, nap and be on vacation!

Mydisneyexperience is where you plan who will be with you (they can be in different rooms) and your plans will show on your itinerary. You can share with all your family members so they can see it too. There is even a place for you to make notes for each day (meet for fireworks tonight, pool break today, etc)

Plan loose itineraries. Don't expect everyone to be together 24/7. A night out for the young couples might be a nice gift. Take your time and let the kiddos explore. Unplanned surprises are often the highlights of trips.

This is not comprehensive, but hopefully it is a start for you! Enjoy!

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

How lovely of you to offer this as a gift to your family and also how lovely that you don’t expect everyone to do everything together. Setting expectations for the group is the biggest part of a successful extended family trip, in my opinion.

For me it would be helpful to set up a loose schedule in Excel or on a piece of paper and share it with the family. For anything that everyone wants to do together, you can book for everyone. For days/times people want to split up, they can book for themselves and their own family or group. For example you might want to make a couple of dinner reservations. Coming back together as a family after a day of fun can be a nice evening activity, or planning to all meet in a specific place for a nighttime show. LL is where booking for a larger party might get tricky, so I would recommend reading up on the LL offerings to see what will work best for your party.

If you don’t want to do a monorail hotel, the Skyliner provides good access to HS and EP with cheaper accommodations.

 

[Rory607]

You can all have an amazing trip with the right expectations! It sounds like you’re already on the right track with not expecting everyone to spend the entire time together. You can each have your own account and link them on the app. When we have done extended family trips, we usually began the day together and then often split up in the afternoon and met back up for dinner.

I would choose a resort first. Then, consider food. Do you want a dining plan? If you are paying for everyone’s food, a dining plan would be easiest. Do you want to make any reservations or do quick service?

Get everyone’s general input and see what their top priorities are and go from there. You could put one adult kid in charge of lightning lanes. If you want to be an awesome grandparent (which it sounds like you are!), offer the couple with the baby some kid-free time. My husband and I like to do a “date night” at Epcot during food and wine when we’ve been there in the fall. Grandparents hang with the kids at the hotel while we have some adult time!

I really cherish the Disney trips we’ve done with our parents. My kids love it and will always have these amazing memories of everyone having fun together. My parents are getting older and it makes me sad to think our trips together are probably numbered. My mom refuses to use a scooter and her mobility has gone steadily downhill, so I really don’t think it’s manageable for her anymore. I’ve already told my kids I want to do Disney with them when they’re grown up…get me a scooter and off we go

 

[bcbmommy]

How exciting!! Set expectations early on as to exactly what you will cover. Figure out your line item estimates on your own for somewhat fixed price items like tickets and transportation. That leaves you with rooms and meals. You will know what you have left in your budget after the above items. Personally, I would plan on QS and do one or two special ADR's. Don't forget snacks.

If you have multiple rooms you will have more choices with dining or ticket options. All guests in a room must all be on the same dining plan. I think planning for fall may give you more choices. Free dining would be a huge benefit to you if you can secure it as even QS will be 1K a day, conservatively for nine.

Location is key. What you are willing to spend on accommodations will make or break your trip (from 52 years experience). Being on the monorail will give your family many options and more importantly time...more time to hang out at the pool, nap and be on vacation!

Mydisneyexperience is where you plan who will be with you (they can be in different rooms) and your plans will show on your itinerary. You can share with all your family members so they can see it too. There is even a place for you to make notes for each day (meet for fireworks tonight, pool break today, etc)

Plan loose itineraries. Don't expect everyone to be together 24/7. A night out for the young couples might be a nice gift. Take your time and let the kiddos explore. Unplanned surprises are often the highlights of trips.

This is not comprehensive, but hopefully it is a start for you! Enjoy!

Thank you! I love the idea of having a loose itinerary. I remember the days of planning for all 6 of us, and although it was fun, it was also exhausting because I packed our days pretty tight. I'm going to have to refamiliarize myself with Mydisneyexperience! I didn't realize we could all have different accounts. And I love that we can make notes to each other. Thank you for that suggestion!

We've always stayed at either Beach or Yacht Club on our past trips, so that's where I'm thinking for this one.

 

[bcbmommy]

How lovely of you to offer this as a gift to your family and also how lovely that you don’t expect everyone to do everything together. Setting expectations for the group is the biggest part of a successful extended family trip, in my opinion.

For me it would be helpful to set up a loose schedule in Excel or on a piece of paper and share it with the family. For anything that everyone wants to do together, you can book for everyone. For days/times people want to split up, they can book for themselves and their own family or group. For example you might want to make a couple of dinner reservations. Coming back together as a family after a day of fun can be a nice evening activity, or planning to all meet in a specific place for a nighttime show. LL is where booking for a larger party might get tricky, so I would recommend reading up on the LL offerings to see what will work best for your party.

If you don’t want to do a monorail hotel, the Skyliner provides good access to HS and EP with cheaper accommodations.

Thank you! I think that's a great idea regarding expectations. I haven't been great about that in the past, but I know I definitely need to for this particular trip. I'm honestly excited about getting to have some alone time at Disney with my hubby, knowing all the kiddos are off having fun of their own! At least some of the time. Can you remind me what LL stands for? It's been so long since I've visited here. Thanks so much!

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

Thank you! I think that's a great idea regarding expectations. I haven't been great about that in the past, but I know I definitely need to for this particular trip. I'm honestly excited about getting to have some alone time at Disney with my hubby, knowing all the kiddos are off having fun of their own! At least some of the time. Can you remind me what LL stands for? It's been so long since I've visited here. Thanks so much!

LL = lightning lane. It’s the current version of the fast pass system, but the user has to pay for the passes and it can be complicated because there are different rides for different passes.

In big groups it is easier to just wait standby but I always prefer to buy lightning lanes because we have a lower tolerance for lines due to some minor medical issues.

If you choose to purchase LL and you all want to ride certain things together, it would be easiest for one person to purchase and book so you can all get the same ride times.

 

[bcbmommy]

You can all have an amazing trip with the right expectations! It sounds like you’re already on the right track with not expecting everyone to spend the entire time together. You can each have your own account and link them on the app. When we have done extended family trips, we usually began the day together and then often split up in the afternoon and met back up for dinner.

I would choose a resort first. Then, consider food. Do you want a dining plan? If you are paying for everyone’s food, a dining plan would be easiest. Do you want to make any reservations or do quick service?

Get everyone’s general input and see what their top priorities are and go from there. You could put one adult kid in charge of lightning lanes. If you want to be an awesome grandparent (which it sounds like you are!), offer the couple with the baby some kid-free time. My husband and I like to do a “date night” at Epcot during food and wine when we’ve been there in the fall. Grandparents hang with the kids at the hotel while we have some adult time!

I really cherish the Disney trips we’ve done with our parents. My kids love it and will always have these amazing memories of everyone having fun together. My parents are getting older and it makes me sad to think our trips together are probably numbered. My mom refuses to use a scooter and her mobility has gone steadily downhill, so I really don’t think it’s manageable for her anymore. I’ve already told my kids I want to do Disney with them when they’re grown up…get me a scooter and off we go

Thank you! We've done the dining plan a couple times, and a couple times we've just paid as we went. I tend to be one who looks at prices on the menu more than I probably should (old childhood habits die hard), so getting the DP is appealing so I won't be tempted to do that.
How wonderful that you have those memories with your parents! And how special for your kids!

 

[bcbmommy]

LL = lightning lane. It’s the current version of the fast pass system, but the user has to pay for the passes and it can be complicated because there are different rides for different passes.

In big groups it is easier to just wait standby but I always prefer to buy lightning lanes because we have a lower tolerance for lines due to some minor medical issues.

If you choose to purchase LL and you all want to ride certain things together, it would be easiest for one person to purchase and book so you can all get the same ride times.

Okay, thank you! I do remember now hearing about having to pay for fast passes. What a bummer! Have other things mostly gone back to normal pre-covid days?

 

[Mle8308]

Thank you! I love the idea of having a loose itinerary. I remember the days of planning for all 6 of us, and although it was fun, it was also exhausting because I packed our days pretty tight. I'm going to have to refamiliarize myself with Mydisneyexperience! I didn't realize we could all have different accounts. And I love that we can make notes to each other. Thank you for that suggestion!

We've always stayed at either Beach or Yacht Club on our past trips, so that's where I'm thinking for this one.

What a great trip for you and your family! You mentioned going either late spring or autumn. Is that this year? If so, the main pool (Stormalong Bay) at the Y&B is closed for refurbishment through the end of June. Something to consider if you are looking at this late spring. Best of luck with your planning, lots of great resources here!

 

[bcbmommy]

What a great trip for you and your family! You mentioned going either late spring or autumn. Is that this year? If so, the main pool (Stormalong Bay) at the Y&B is closed for refurbishment through the end of June. Something to consider if you are looking at this late spring. Best of luck with your planning, lots of great resources here!

Yes, this year. I'm always a last-minute planner, lol.
I'll have to ask my kids if they'll be spending much time at the pool. That used to be one of their favorite things, but I just don't know how much time they'll spend there now. Thank you for letting me know that!

 

[Mle8308]

Yes, this year. I'm always a last-minute planner, lol.
I'll have to ask my kids if they'll be spending much time at the pool. That used to be one of their favorite things, but I just don't know how much time they'll spend there now. Thank you for letting me know that!

Nothing wrong with last minute planning, those can sometimes be the best trips! We went down almost 2 weeks ago with less than 3 weeks planning and it was a lot of fun! And yes, I did want you to know about the pool, it would definitely influence where I wanted to stay. I like to relax by the pool in a lounger and with no main pool, the quiet pools at Y&B will definitely be busier. Maybe try Boardwalk if you like that area. That pool is good to go!

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

Okay, thank you! I do remember now hearing about having to pay for fast passes. What a bummer! Have other things mostly gone back to normal pre-covid days?

Some will say there is less live entertainment provided (e.g., in the Grand Floridian lobby). The biggest difference to me pre-covid vs now is price, but I think that’s true of a lot of travel and goods in general. I’m sure others can provide a lot more detail.

Extra morning hours are now early entry (30 minutes at every resort). Rope dropping can be a big benefit if you stay on site.

Since it looks like you’re staying deluxe, you can do extra evening hours on certain nights and parks. Right now it’s Magic Kingdom on Wednesdays and Epcot of Mondays, I believe, but this might change in the fall when Halloween parties start.

 

[cruising spud]

We recently did an eight-member family trip to Disney. I started planning ten months out.
No one else was interested in doing any planning-"You do it Mom. We trust you."
The order in which I did things:
Made sure everyone understood what I was paying for and what I wasn't paying for.
Firmed up the dates.
Chose a hotel-before booking, checked with everyone that the hotel was okay.
Thought about meals-I decided to make one sit down reservation and a reservation at Oga's, because I felt that reservations would keep us from fully utilizing LLSP and LLMP. Also, didn't want to tie us down-not sure how everyone would feel at mealtimes. Looking back-I am glad I didn't make reservations-scheduling LL meant we worked our meals around them. We planned to stop at a grocery store and got breakfast food and snacks for the trip.
We had not been to Disney since 2019, so I watched a ton of YouTube videos on LL. Also told my grandkids to watch ride videos to see which rides they wanted to do. They wanted to do everything.
Booked transportation from our house to the airport and back. I looked at rental cars, uber, etc. A towncar was simply the easiest for our larger group.
Booked transportation from the airport to Disney and back-while in Orlando, we used Tiffany Towncar. They were on time and gave us a stop at a Publix Grocery store to pick up pre-ordered food. We created an order list as a group, before we left home.
Created an itinerary for what we were doing each day.
Booked LL. One of my daughters did this with me. Glad about this-good to quickly double check rides with someone else. I needed two credit cards.
Had a group meeting a week before we left. Gave Disney maps, with our rides circled, to everyone. Explained what time we needed to leave the hotel each day in order to do early entry. Discussed Extended Extra Hour days.

How it worked for us.
Our hotel rooms were side-by-side.
We arrived in the afternoon, checked in, unpacked, grabbed a meal at the hotel, and went to bed.
For the next four days, we all met in the hallway early enough to get to the parks for early entry - so glad we did this. Between that and LL, we did every ride we wanted to. Stayed together each of those four days until mid/late-afternoon. At that point people split up-go back to room and rest before going back to the park later that night, stay in the park until closing, go back to room and collapse for the evening.
On our last full park day, we split up. Everyone revisited the park of their choice. One daughter and her family wanted to find a breakfast with Mickey waffles before going to the park, another daughter wanted to get sleep in a bit and then head to HS, etc.

I made it clear that anyone could opt out of anything if they wanted to. Example-Couldn't pull yourself out of bed in the morning to meet the rest of us in the hall at 7:15? Fine. Text us when you get to the park.

It ended up that everyone stayed together for the majority of the time. Mid/late-afternoons were when people split up. We all had a blast. So very glad we went.

If I were going to pick September or later in the fall to go to Disney-I would go with the fall. September is hurricane season and can still be quite hot.

 

[mjkacmom]

Thank you! I love the idea of having a loose itinerary. I remember the days of planning for all 6 of us, and although it was fun, it was also exhausting because I packed our days pretty tight. I'm going to have to refamiliarize myself with Mydisneyexperience! I didn't realize we could all have different accounts. And I love that we can make notes to each other. Thank you for that suggestion!

We've always stayed at either Beach or Yacht Club on our past trips, so that's where I'm thinking for this one.

We took a trip with our 5 kids and my parents, parents paid for most, I did the planning. We rented DVC points and got a 2 bedroom villa at the BC and a studio for my parents, perfect location being able to walk to two parks, easy to split up. We did the DDP but it was back when it was a good value (I think kids under 10 were free and we had four of those). I wouldn’t buy it today.

 

[Rory607]

Another option for food you could consider is club level. Yacht and Beach don’t have the best quick service choices. A few things to consider:
1. If you all are rope drop to close people, this isn’t a good fit. If you want some relaxing time at the resort, it could be a good option.
2. No, it’s not necessarily the most cost-effective plan but you are paying for convenience.
3. You would still end up paying OOP for some meals.


Once we discovered club level, my parents won’t go without it. Breakfast is taken care of everyday, snacks, coffee, adult beverages, dessert, heavy apps at night are all included. If they want to head back to the resort and relax for a while, the club lounge is there. It’s also a nice place to end the evening together if you’re not closing down the parks. We often take an afternoon break with the kids as well, so we’ll grab snacks and drinks for the room. -aa

 

[Mouse Tracker]

I've had two kiddos get married and now have one grandchild. So, there are 9 of us!

I would start by figuring out how the group will be broken down for accommodation purposes.
Our family of 8 (2 married daughters, 1 grandchild) had 3 rooms at Pop last summer. I,DW,DD / DD, Spouse / DD, Spouse, GC.
Each person was linked under Family and Friends.
Aside from a common Park reservation, everyone could do as they pleased, pitching in to help with the little one.

I provided preloaded Disney Gift Cards to each of the married couples to help with food, I also paid for a few $LL and G+ on a couple park days.

 

[bcbmommy]

We recently did an eight-member family trip to Disney. I started planning ten months out.
No one else was interested in doing any planning-"You do it Mom. We trust you."
The order in which I did things:
Made sure everyone understood what I was paying for and what I wasn't paying for.
Firmed up the dates.
Chose a hotel-before booking, checked with everyone that the hotel was okay.
Thought about meals-I decided to make one sit down reservation and a reservation at Oga's, because I felt that reservations would keep us from fulling utilizing LLSP and LLMP. Also, didn't want to tie us down-not sure how everyone would feel at mealtimes. Looking back-I am glad I didn't make reservations-scheduling LL meant we worked our meals around them. We planned to stop at a grocery store and got breakfast food and snacks for the trip.
We had not been to Disney since 2019, so I watched a ton of YouTube videos on LL. Also told my grandkids to watch ride videos to see which rides they wanted to do. They wanted to do everything.
Booked transportation from our house to the airport and back. I looked at rental cars, uber, etc. A towncar was simply the easiest for our larger group.
Booked transportation from the airport to Disney and back-while in Orlando, we used Tiffany Towncar. They were on time and gave us a stop at a Publix Grocery store to pick up pre-ordered food. We created an order list as a group, before we left home.
Created an itinerary for what we were doing each day.
Booked LL. One of my daughters did this with me. Glad about this-good to quickly double check rides with someone else. I needed two credit cards.
Had a group meeting a week before we left. Gave Disney maps, with our rides circled, to everyone. Explained what time we needed to leave the hotel each day in order to do early entry. Discussed Extended Extra Hour days.

How it worked for us.
Our hotel rooms were side-by-side.
We arrived in the afternoon, checked in, unpacked, grabbed a meal at the hotel, and went to bed.
For the next four days, we all met in the hallway early enough to get to the parks for early entry - so glad we did this. Between that and LL, we did every ride we wanted to. Stayed together each of those four days until mid/late-afternoon. At that point people split up-go back to room and rest before going back to the park later that night, stay in the park until closing, go back to room and collapse for the evening.
On our last full park day, we split up. Everyone revisited the park of their choice. One daughter and her family wanted to find a breakfast with Mickey waffles before going to the park, another daughter wanted to get sleep in a bit and then head to HS, etc.

I made it clear that anyone could opt out of anything if they wanted to. Example-Couldn't pull yourself out of bed in the morning to meet the rest of us in the hall at 7:15? Fine. Text us when you get to the park.

It ended up that everyone stayed together for the majority of the time. Mid/late-afternoons were when people split up. We all had a blast. So very glad we went.

If I were going to pick September or later in the fall to go to Disney-I would go with the fall. September is hurricane season and can still be quite hot.

Wow, I'd like to hire you to be my planner! I'm not sure if my perimenopausal brain can do this! lol. In all seriousness though, that sounds like a great vacation! I do think I'd need a bit longer to plan if I'm scheduling all our days, though. Thank you for sharing your experience!

 

[bcbmommy]

Another option for food you could consider is club level. Yacht and Beach don’t have the best quick service choices. A few things to consider:
1. If you all are rope drop to close people, this isn’t a good fit. If you want some relaxing time at the resort, it could be a good option.
2. No, it’s not necessarily the most cost-effective plan but you are paying for convenience.
3. You would still end up paying OOP for some meals.


Once we discovered club level, my parents won’t go without it. Breakfast is taken care of everyday, snacks, coffee, adult beverages, dessert, heavy apps at night are all included. If they want to head back to the resort and relax for a while, the club lounge is there. It’s also a nice place to end the evening together if you’re not closing down the parks. We often take an afternoon break with the kids as well, so we’ll grab snacks and drinks for the room. -aa

I've wondered how club level is at Beach & Yacht. The only time we've done club level is at Universal, which is a really good value there. I think when our kids were younger we wouldn't have gotten much value in it, as we were definitely rope drop to close people. But now I may consider that. Honestly, I had the idea yesterday of possibly planning a quick trip with just my husband here in the next few weeks, and I think club level would be great for us. I need to escape this snow for a few days!

 

[Rory607]

I've wondered how club level is at Beach & Yacht. The only time we've done club level is at Universal, which is a really good value there. I think when our kids were younger we wouldn't have gotten much value in it, as we were definitely rope drop to close people. But now I may consider that. Honestly, I had the idea yesterday of possibly planning a quick trip with just my husband here in the next few weeks, and I think club level would be great for us. I need to escape this snow for a few days!

Do it! You definitely need a pre-trip to do some research before the big family trip We have done club level at Poly and YC, but not Beach. I’ve also heard good things about Boardwalk club level, but have not stayed there.