How to take your best friend on a Disney trip

[Disneynerdz16]

hi guys,
I'm thinking about taking my best friend on a trip to Disney... She is very much a homebody and doesn't like to leave out of state that much,how can I get her excited for it or at least willing to go without her mom?

 

[FCDub]

How far away would she be traveling? It might be worth trying to find something closer to home, then build up her confidence and comfort over time – leading to a WDW trip.

 

[NeuroCindy]

Is she a homebody because of anxiety (generalized or social)? Or just because she's introverted? The answer to that drastically impacts the answer I'd give.

 

[Disneynerdz16]

It mostly is separation anxiety over her dog (not a service dog) and she's been to Disney before twice but i figured that I can do a trip with her without parental supervision since we are in our twenties only a year apart...

 

[kiford]

I have three cats, one of which has a serious medical issue so every time I leave, I have a bit of anxiety about her (and she has an enormously good ability to make me feel guilty every time I go away even though I know she gets a lot of attention while I'm gone and she loves it). DH has to prevent me from calling the vet or my friends (who look after the other two) to check on them. What's most important is that your friend find someone who she trusts (and who the dog likes) to look after it. Perhaps she could either board the dog at the vet or get someone who might be willing to look after it to take care of it for a day or two in advance of the trip to get comfortable with it. That can lessen the anxiety of a longer trip.

 

[com_op_2000]

You can bring the dog with you and board him/her at the kennel onsite.
There are now some onsite rooms that allow dogs.

 

[BadPinkTink]

hi guys,
I'm thinking about taking my best friend on a trip to Disney... She is very much a homebody and doesn't like to leave out of state that much,how can I get her excited for it or at least willing to go without her mom?

honestly, this sounds like a recipe for disaster. Ive done Disney holidays with friends many times and now I prefer to go solo. It sounds like her parents usually organise everything and take care of this person, are you ok stepping into this role, possibly having to compromise on things and plan the trip around her needs and wants?

You really need to talk and plan EVERY aspect and I mean every aspect. There is probably alot more but this is what first comes to mind. All of the points below are things which you and your friend should discuss BEFORE your holiday

Travel, hotel and park tickets
How much can each person afford to spend on travel and hotel? Who will do all the bookings? What are each persons expectations of hotel / motel? Is sharing a room ok, or do you expect to have separate rooms?

If one person books and pays for something for both people, how and when will the other person pay? This is important, for shared bookings, you need to set out a specific time by which the other person will pay their share. Often its easier for one person to do all the booking and paying in advance and then to split the final total. You should make sure that any paid in advance money is paid by the other person BEFORE you leave for your holiday.

Food
The basics - meal times, do you have a regular meal schedule at home that you expect to follow at Disney or does it matter what time you eat at? Breakfast, you expect each morning to have a "proper" breakfast before you go to the parks or are you a grab and go person?

Type of food - do you only eat a certain type of food, are you adventurous with food, do you expect to eat the same type of food at Disney as you do at home?

Price of food - How much would you pay for lunch / evening meal? All counter service only, all table service only, mix of both, one splurge meal and the rest counter service etc etc.

ADR and Dining packages- do you want to do these, if so who will book them?

Time to get up / Bed time
Are you an early riser or do you like to lie in? Are you a get out of bed smiling person or a morning grump? What time do you go to bed? Do you expect to follow the same getting up and going to bed routine at Disney as you do at home? What happens if one person wakes before the other?

Alcohol
Do you want to party at night, have a drink in the evening, try day drinking? What kind of person are you when you have alcohol? Do you want to go after one drink or stay for a few? What happens if one of you wants to stay out and the other wants to go back to the hotel? What happens if one of you wants to have alcohol and the other doesn't?

Rides
Whats your favourite ride, whats the ride you will never do? The other times you have been to Disney do you have a plan and schedule or do you just wander and take a more relaxed attitude?

Do you use the Fastpass system?

What happens if one person wants to go on a ride and the other doesn't?

Shopping
Do you like to wander around the shops, taking your time to look at everything? Does spending time in the shops feel like a waste of park time?

Park Time
Do you like to rope drop? Do you take afternoon breaks? Do you stay until close? What happens if one of you has enough of the parks and wants to go back to the hotel?

Afternoon Breaks
Do you want to go back to the hotel and rest in the room, or go for a swim?

Shows and Character Meets
Do you want to see shows and parades? Are meeting characters important to you?

Walking
Are you good on your feet or do you like to take frequent rest breaks?

 

[Scifidiner]

When I read the title my first thought was a dog.

 

[JFox]

Disney isn't for everyone. And even those who like Disney can be categorized into general interest versus type A commando. Disney virgins need a lot of help. More help than I want to provide when planning a vacation.

 

[goofyernmost]

To me the hardest part is getting them to commit to go and then for them to follow through with it. I had a girlfriend a few years back the even made noises like she really wanted to go to WDW. It was serious enough that for Christmas I even bought her admission tickets. (That was back when you could buy in advance and they never timed out). I showed her all the video's that I had collected yearly from the vacation planning packages they used to send out. We discussed staying offsite, but, that was no problem because she had never been and didn't really care if it was onsite or not.

Then I went to make the Airline Tickets (something else we had discussed earlier) so I called her and asked her if she would prefer and early morning flight or later in the day and she told me that she was afraid of flying (all of a sudden, I guess). I suggested we make it a road trip, she was very enthusiastic about that so we planned our day of departure, and I made hotel reservation in Kissimmee and just started to prepare for the trip. Two days before the trip she called me and told me that she couldn't find anyone to take care of her cats, so she couldn't go. (She was a friend of my sister, who would have taken care of the cat, but, was never asked), so I finally figured out that she really just didn't want to go. She had left her admission ticket with me for safe keeping and without going into detail about it, there was no reason to question that move, as she would probably at some point be on the Hoarders: Buried Alive program.

I had been looking forward to that trip for a long time, so, I went without her. In fact, I had planned it as a solo before I asked her if she would like to come along with me. For some reason she got mad at me for going without her and expected that if she didn't go, neither would I. (Sorry, I've known Mickey longer.) Needless to say we broke up over it. Dodged a bullet with that one and as a bonus I still had her ticket that I used the following year. I guess I am not much of a romantic, but, all I felt was relief.

 

[JFox]

I would rather go on a solo trip than with anyone.

 

[boojiboo]

The last time we went to Disney, one of my cats had to be euthanized two weeks before our departure date. I'm always paranoid about leaving my pets, and this just cranked it up to 10. So every day of our trip, our pet sitter (my best friend) sent me videos of her walking around our house and locating each cat and showing me that they were fine. It REALLY helped! Video was way more helpful than a verbal assurance, or even a photo. Would your friend have a pet sitter who could send her video of her dog every day? Perhaps it could help her, too.

 

[Alicefan]

Honestly, I agree with the other person that said it sounded like a recipe for disaster. I don't think you should bother trying to find ways to get someone excited about something YOU love to do. I did this with a boyfriend with the mindset of "how could anyone not love Disney once they see it." I was nothing but disappointed the entire trip. After every ride and every meal I would say, "did you like that?" and he would shrug his shoulders and say, "It was okay." Disney is far too expensive a trip to spend it with someone who is "meh" about everything. You'll go crazy trying to impress the unimpressed. Do yourself a favor and go solo. You'll LOVE the freedom. There is nothing worse than having to go around your favorite place on earth angry or aggravated. It's a real lesson in "not everyone is going to be as obsessed as I am". More than likely this friend will ruin the trip with anxiety over her pet no matter how fun you try to make it.

 

[Truxi]

Alicefan is right. There's really nothing worse than showing someone something you love so much and them being underwhelmed...unless it's that every minute of every day for a several day trip, at great expense to the both of you.

I brought my best friend to Disney in January. It was his first Disney trip and he had a wonderful time. But he was already amenable to going and he is a giant nerd who absolutely loves so many Disney properties.

I wouldn't try to force it. It sounds like your friend has some serious anxiety issues that may make it very difficult for her to really enjoy Disney or any trip. Those aren't yours to solve. That's for her and perhaps a therapist (as someone with very bad anxiety who also does worry a lot about my cat every time I leave, I know it can be bad, but no one can pull you out of it, and sometimes the feeling of "I COULD do this cool thing if I could just NOT be the way I am" just serves to send you into an even worse shame spiral regarding the Cool Thing).

You could, perhaps, see if she's interested in any of the youtube channels about Disney. My buddy loves DefunctLand and...shoot, I forget the channel name, but the girl who does them is Jenny something? She had a great video about Pandora and another about Buzzy. The Dis Unplugged and Disney Food Blog are also good for stoking up that excitement.

You can't force it and you shouldn't try, but I hope one day y'all do get to go together and have a lovely time.

 

[ManOfSteel4488]

You could, perhaps, see if she's interested in any of the youtube channels about Disney. My buddy loves DefunctLand and...shoot, I forget the channel name, but the girl who does them is Jenny something? She had a great video about Pandora and another about Buzzy. The Dis Unplugged and Disney Food Blog are also good for stoking up that excitement.

You can't force it and you shouldn't try, but I hope one day y'all do get to go together and have a lovely time.

DefunctLand is the best! Might not be the best selling point to get someone to Disney, as it's all about bygone attractions - but it's way interesting.