Is Disney fun when you try to combine two families?

[sleepingbean]

We are planning a two family trip (8 people) and I think it will be a lot of fun for the four girls (2 from each family) to be together. I know the adults enjoy conversing together and such too. I just worry that it will be a pain to actually do everything in a group of 8? (get going at the same time, eat together, rides together). Is it unrealistic? We are going to be tightly tied to our dining plans because of our food allergies. It makes life much easier if we have reservations made for each meal and stick to it (since my daughter has few choices available from normal selection). I am worried that our rigid planning will be too stiff for the other family?!
Any experiences or thoughts to sharE?

 

[NY Disney fan]

You will find a lot of different responses on this topic. I do not like to travel with other families. Last time we did that we got into a huge fight outside of the MK with the other family. It ruined our Whispering Canyon dinner plans and I never got to eat there. I say hell no.

 

[labdogs42]

We're trying it for the first time in May. I'll let you know how it goes! I think as long as people are flexible and don't think they have to do everything together ALL the time, things will go OK. We do have dinner plans as a group every day, but I reserve the right to eat CS if we've had enough of each other for the day! You might want to suggest to the other family that they make some separate ADR's so you don't have to eat every single meal together.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[flipflop]

DH and I went with two other couples last summer (babies stayed home but I don't think that effects the applicability to your question). We had a few ADRs together and a few "open" nights where each couple could schedule their own thing. Our mantra for the week was "if you don't want to do something another couple wants to do, speak up and no one will be upset if you do your own thing." We had no issues at all. I don't think you should tie yourself to the other family all day long and with every ADR. Some days we went to the parks together and then split up if we wanted to see different things - some days we met at the park b/c someone wanted to sleep in - at least one day we went to different parks and then met up for dinner.

 

[beattyfamily]

We've done it twice now and for the most part, it was fun.

My advice is to NOT do everything together. Plan some time on your own.

It is absolutely doable.

 

[solgent]

We went with another family & had a great time. Our kids were 5, 5, and 1. Theirs were 5, 3 and baby on the way. We were all FL residents at the time and had APs about to expire. Thus we had been a quite few times within the year & did not feel pressure to do a lot. We played it pretty loose and just did what we/kids were in the mood for. We were also going at a VERY slow time of year, so did not have crowds or heat to contend with. One thing we often did was "mix and match"-- depending on what everyone felt like doing, the group would split up but not into the two families. The kids were fine with any of the adults.

 

[devotedchristian]

We are doing it-in July. Family of 8, 4 Adults (Me, DH , DH's Sister, Her Ex-Husband) and 4 Kids (Ages 2, 4, 7 and 15.

This is going to be interesting because SIL and Ex-BIL are divorced and can barely go an hour without arguing. But, EX-BIL is going for "my kids".

We are all going in a Van and staying together in a 3 bedroom resort.

DH and I are working on Ground Rules for everyone to adhere to and will go over them before we depart Atlanta.

It's a weekend trip...leave Friday...be back Sunday so hopefully we last for 3 days.

We are planning lots of down time at the resort so this should allow everyone to go do their own thing.

The resort is a destination in itself and offers for enough activities for everyone in the family.

 

[MichelleVW]

We are doing it-in July. Family of 8, 4 Adults (Me, DH , DH's Sister, Her Ex-Husband) and 4 Kids (Ages 2, 4, 7 and 15.

This is going to be interesting because SIL and Ex-BIL are divorced and can barely go an hour without arguing. But, EX-BIL is going for "my kids".

We are all going in a Van and staying together in a 3 bedroom resort.

DH and I are working on Ground Rules for everyone to adhere to and will go over them before we depart Atlanta.

It's a weekend trip...leave Friday...be back Sunday so hopefully we last for 3 days.

We are planning lots of down time at the resort so this should allow everyone to go do their own thing.

The resort is a destination in itself and offers for enough activities for everyone in the family.

No way would I go on that vacation...I can't stand to be in the same state with my ex...I can't imagine it being fun with them fighting...

 

[mabenoab]

We've gone with other families, and we've gone with just our own. Once we went with 8 other families: what a hoot!! (it was a company trip). For us the trips with other families were fun, vibrant, and exciting, but also full of compromise. As much as we said we'd all go our own way if we wanted to, we found that easier said than done. With other families, we found there was much more "waiting" time. waiting for them to finish breakfast, waiting for us to get dressed for dinner, waiting, waiting. Cell phones and walkie talkies were a MUST, as were ADRs. But I treasure the memories of these trips, and my dson was able to go on a lot of rides that his dad and I are too chicken to go on!

The only trip we took with another family that wasn't so great was one time with my mom. She had a bad knee and couldn't walk for long but was too proud to use a wheelchair...She'd try to go out with us, but then would have to just sit every thirty feet or so...it was a little frustrating for the kids. We'd go with her again, though, now she's had her knee surgery (as a matter of fact, I'm doing Vegas with her and my two sisters in August!!)

I guess they're just two different kinds of trips, both wonderful, IF everyone is compatible.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm going this summer with my sister, BIL and their three kids, my mom and my two kids. I've rented a 5 bedroom house so there will be plenty of room to all spread out. I've traveled with my sister before and we get along great. The trick is to let each family do their own thing. My kids and I (and my mom) tend to get up early, hit the parks for a few hours, come back to the house for a swim and rest and go back at night. My sister and her family like to sleep in and get a later start. We try to have a few meals together, but don't plan to spend the day with each other. Sometimes we'll meet up in the parks. We find this works best for us.

 

[mnasmom3]

We're traveling in September w/my friends family. We've traveled together once before and had a blast. That said...we didn't spend every waking moment together then and we don't plan on it this go around either. We did make ressies at the same hotel and our ADR are the same, but we'll part ways at some point probably daily like we did on our last trip w/them. We use cell phones to keep in touch.

 

[Kerri10]

We're going with my SIL, her husband and her daughter. We're doing our 3 sit down meals with them and are going to do the same parks on the same days with the understanding that we may need to split up at some point.

 

[Tinkim]

Most of my trips the WDW have been with another family. On our first trip the kids were little and we took my mom and aunt and met up with DH's parents and sister and her DH. We had a good time. We did some things together and some things alone. No one felt the overwhelming urge to be together every moment.

I have been three times with my best friend and her kids. She wants me to plan and she likes to just follow. There have been moments that are wonderful and moments that are awful. The first trip my DH was there and we had a huge van and a condo that we all shared. Her DD was 14 then and was a pain in the butt. My friend had never been to WDW and she wanted to look in every gift shop on the property. This greatly annoyed everyone in my family because we were waiting all the time for them. Her kids were also super slow and got lost several times . . . another annoyance but scary.

The second trip she left her teen DD at home and we had 2 rental cars and one rental vacation house that we shared. Much better trip probably because her DD wasn't there (BTW . . I know that sounds harsh and her DD didn't bother me really but gave her mom a super hard time). The things that I knew aggravated my family, i.e., waiting for them to check out every gift shop and stand in every character line and her kids wandering off were easier to deal with because we just didn't wait for them. I told them to wait in line or shop and we would catch up with them after via cell phones. We like the rides and there were a lot of rides that none of them wanted to go on so this worked out much better splitting up for some things.

The last trip was in Feb. Friend's teen DD came again and it was absolutely miserable. Again, she didn't bother me but they fought constantly. My DH didn't go this time so we had to rent 2 cars and my friend had to drive. This was a great source of frustration because she was scared to death to drive down there and kept getting lost. We did arrive in WDW before them and left before them so we stayed in a condo together and they stayed at Pop after I left. I really enjoyed most of the time we spent together but there were times when I wished we had spent more time apart.

I think it depends on what your expectations are going in. Even though this was her third trip she still likes me to plan and she likes to just follow. My kids all like rides, even my DD who is only a year older than her youngest DD loves rides especially TOT and RNR and her DD's don't. I feel it is crazy for them to wait around for us while we do thrill rides and I encouraged them to go do something else because I had no intention of waiting around for them to do things that don't interest us. They had their pictures done at Epcot and it took almost two hours. There was no way we were waiting so we went to ride TT and got in the single rider line and rode 5 or 6 times. Her DD was angry that she didn't get to go. So with the mom and her DD fighting and her kids not being able to make a choice about what to do and be happy with it and her not feeling comfortable navigating or making a plan for the parks those were the main challenges. Her DD told her she was useless without me.

If you are able to discuss these things ahead of time and have realistic expectations I think you'll be okay. Every family and situation is so unique I think it is really hard to tell what the vacation will be like until you actually get there. This girl is my best friend and we get along so well at home but on vacation there is always at least one day that is very strained. I still love going to WDW with her but I have to admit it can be stressful. Just make sure that your family is able to do the things they want to do so they aren't resentful of the other family. Be sure to spend some time with your own family and focus on some of the things you enjoy the most. I think if you do that you will find it easier to enjoy the other family's company and deal with the compromises that usually arise. Sorry this is so long. I think it can be enjoyable to go with another family but you really need to discuss things ahead of time and agree to split up if the need arises. It may be the only thing keeps your sanity and friendship intact!

 

[perdidochas]

We are planning a two family trip (8 people) and I think it will be a lot of fun for the four girls (2 from each family) to be together. I know the adults enjoy conversing together and such too. I just worry that it will be a pain to actually do everything in a group of 8? (get going at the same time, eat together, rides together). Is it unrealistic? We are going to be tightly tied to our dining plans because of our food allergies. It makes life much easier if we have reservations made for each meal and stick to it (since my daughter has few choices available from normal selection). I am worried that our rigid planning will be too stiff for the other family?!
Any experiences or thoughts to sharE?

Well, having been on a cruise with extended family, I think the best thing is to agree to meet sometimes, but have no plan to tour all day together every day.

 

[Starr W.]

Last year 2 girls from my son's 3rd grade class went to WDW(left early before Spring Break). I helped out in the computer lab, the girls had been very friendly as I believe the families were. Well all that went to "you know where" in a handbasket. The teacher had messages from both moms that on her voice mail that they wanted the girls not to sit together anymore. The one girl told me the families got into a really big fight and they weren't allowed to be friends anymore.

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

We tried it last June, and we will NEVER do it again. There was 11 of us between the two families, and we didn't enjoy ourselves. I think the biggest problem with our situation was the fact that the other family didn't want to do any of the planning, and then when we got there they had different opinions of what they wanted to do. But for months on end they were to busy, so we did it on our own. If the other family was an equal participant in the planning, then you might have a better experience.

 

[sleepingbean]

This has been great feedback! So I gather from this thread that I should just plan our trip (super organized as always )
And ask them what they'd like me to include them in ahead of time (one meal a day, for example?) and then we can just wing it from there!
I know they will want to hang at the pool way more than we will, for example. I know we are into the character dining more then they will likely be too. I am sure we'll bounce around and still have time to visit. I really appreciate reading your stories and I feel relieved to not feel like I need to plan everything for all 8 of us for the non stop trip!

 

[pigletof4]

Let's just say, that I don't think I would travel with another family again. We went in March with my best friend and her family and we got in a fight at the MK during the P&P party. She complained about the bill at O'hana's because we were a party of 8 and it included the tip. (They don't tip well) They wanted their own bill which didn't happen.

 

[Mean Queen]

We have friends we can travel with to WDW and friends that we can't. I think it all depends on how you're travel styles go. We have a group of 13 of us that go a few times each year for a quick trip. We (usually me) plan a meal or 2, then an event (usually MNSSHP) and then the rest we just do by ear so that there's no stress involved of "we have to do this!" As long as someone in the groups is a planner, and the rest are go with the flow types, you should be okay. But if you have more than one planner (control freak, like me) then you're in trouble.

 

[WaltD4Me]

It can be done!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rules to Travel By:

1. BE FLEXIBLE!

2. Don't take it personally if someone doesn't want to do parts of your plan.

3. Accept you are going to miss some things.

4. Let it be okay, to split up.

5. There is no penalty if you made an ADR for 8 people and only 4 show up.

6. Have a plan in case you get seperated.

7. Allow for some spontaneity

I did a trip with 3 families in 2004...I was the planner and the most knowledgeable about Disney and while I made alot of plans, if someone really didn't want to do something, I just let it go. I'd say..."We have reservations at this restaurant, at this time." If someone didn't want to go, they didn't go, I left it up to them pretty much. If alot of the group didn't want to go for some reason, we all skipped it. I made ALOT of "suggestions", most were followed, but we got off the plan quite a bit too, it worked out fine.

Funny story though, the night we went to MVMCP, my plan was to get to the park about 4pm so we could do Adventureland...but the kids and most of the adults wanted more pool time, so we didn't get to the park til almost 7pm, never making it to Adventureland....the WHOLE trip. So my brother says after we got back "It's a shame they don't have Pirates of the Carribbean anymore." -- I said "WHAT?! Pirates is still there!" He would NOT believe me!
I had to get out a park map and show it to him. Then he wanted to know why we didn't ride it....I said "You gave up Pirates for the pool!"