Million dollar challenge

[pjweaver]

So you won the lottery for 1,000,000. Not enough for you to buy an island or move into a castle in France, in fact you plan to keep working and enjoy a comfortable life. One must do on your bucket list is a WDW vacation that introduces your family to Disney that hopefully explains your obsession with the World.

This goes back to how my wife and I became hooked. Friends of our from college had done the college program and bought DVC, and after graduation used their points on a two bedroom villa at OKW for eight of us. Now I want to look at paying it forward, but with family, and families tend to drive themselves crazy if they're stuck together for seven days straight. So consider spending time together in the parks, but everyone has their own resort to chill out at.

Here is my list, then share with us yours.
Parents - retired who rarely travel anywhere for vacation
Mother in law and Aunt - retired and widowed who travel together for weekend trips often
Brother and partner - 30's and always doing the new trendy things
Sister, brother in law, and two infants - their life is about work and the kids
Sister in law and kids - a divorcee and her adult son and daughter
Us of course - Married couple who obsess Disney

I put my parent at the AKV. Great view, the bus situation wont confuse them, and there is plenty to do without going to a park.

MIL & Aunt will be at POR. Roller coasters aren't their idea of fun, but DS would be and the boat access will keep them from calling me every time they get lost.

Brother and his partner get Beach Club with easy access to the boardwalk, a great running trail, and that pool that everyone loves.

Sis and BiL have a cabin at Ft Wilderness. Two young kids in the bunk beds make it easy to keep and eye on them and the boat launch to the MK, which is where they will spend most of their park time.

SiL & kids are all of drinking age and have some WDW experience. I put them at the Poly since it has bigger rooms, great access to everything, and some good late night drinking spots.

We will be at the Contemporary CL park view because it's our money and I want to. Plus it's located perfectly to meet up with just about anyone and easy to escape when we want alone time.

 

[rteetz]

Interesting question. My family understands my obsession and shares it with me.

I suppose I would spend it this way

Grand villa at Bay Lake Tower with Theme Park view for myself, two sisters, parents, and grandparents.
Rooms inside the main building of the contemporary for my aunts and uncles, and cousins.

I would do a split stay though and move over to a poly bungalows for a few nights. My mom, uncle, and aunts grew up going to Ft. Wilderness so I'll have at least do an ADR or something at Ft. Wilderness.

With the left over money I still have I will be taking an Asian Disney trip to Tokyo Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland.

 

[loves to dive]

Well, I'm going to be selfish, if any of my 5 brothers want to go to WDW, either get a job for those who are grown up adults and too lazy to get one, or pay for yourself for the two who actually have jobs, one of whom I haven't spoken to in over 10 years.

I would take my son, who goes with me at least every other year anyway.
I might convince my honey to go if I got a 1 bedroom and he could just lay around the room, he's not a fan of crowds or parks.
I might take 1,2 or 3 of my nieces and my great niece but not sure about my nieces husband, just because I don't know him that well.

First I'd book a week in the LA area and go to DL and stay at the Grand Californian or whatever the name of the place is. I went when I was around 2 but obviously don't remember it. I'd take my son on that trip and we'd also take in some sites around the area. Come to think of it, that better be a two week trip so we can go to Napa valley too.

Second I'd book a lake view at YC for myself and a separate room for my son (believe or not we don't like CL and a one bedroom in BCV or BWV might be ok but I love me some YC). Might do a split stay with 3 or 4 days at GF 1 bedroom then move over to YC for a week. My married niece and/or her husband and daughter would get WL, that way they would be close to MK but not in a monorail resort which might overwhelm them. They used to live in Daytona Beach so are not unfamiliar with WDW. Her two sisters (both adults) would get to pick whichever moderate they wanted to stay in or if they wanted, I'd book a 1 or 2 bedroom villa at WL for all 3 girls, hubby and kid.

Oh, and I would so quit my job. I'm close to retirement age anyway so it would just be a few years early.

 

[disneysteve]

Do I have to bring my family?

Seriously, I have no desire to travel to WDW with either my mother or my MIL. DW would not want to travel with her siblings. Maybe we have a few cousins that we would be okay bringing along but that's questionable, too. And I wouldn't want to spend time together in the parks.

I'd much prefer to just do a really nice trip for the 3 of us (or even better, just the 2 of us). We prefer to stay offsite but if we need to stay onsite for the purposes of this thread, I guess I'd want DVC so that we had more space and a kitchen. I'm not familiar with the options so can't really say which one we'd want but that's probably the way I'd go if I had to pick onsite accommodations. Being able to walk to Epcot would be nice so I guess one of those. If I can pick anywhere, I'd rather rent a nice house offsite.

Oh, if friends count, I'd bring along @Princess Jes.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'd probably just throw it out there to whoever wanted to join us on a Disney Cruise ... this way they get the "Disney magic" but everyone can do their own thing

I've planned trips for a group of 10 and just organizing people and waiting at meet ups is a challenge

 

[1Grumpy9]

This is an interesting question...

-I would bring my parents (they have only ever stayed at FW on property), and I would put them at Wilderness Lodge
-My cousins on my dad's side that I am closest with (the two that go to the hockey games with me and don't travel as much)
-My best friend from high school and her family (they are a military family and don't get to travel as much because of this)
-My cousin, boyfriend and little girl on my mom's side (I want to see WDW through their daughter's eyes...she just turned 1)
-My best friend who travels with me to WDW all the time

Last but not least myself...I would stay at my dream resort, the Poly...maybe even one of the Bungalows.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Great thread, PJ!!

I'm loving everyone's answers, and especially the ones that have "thought outside the box" with the DL and DCL answers, so I'm thinking I'd do a mix of locations/resorts/people with me, etc.

The one thing that would always remain a constant with me would be - NO FAMILY ALLOWED. Friends are the family of your choosing, and that's who I'd choose to have with me. Haven't seen any family members (LUCKILY!!!) in almost 20 years, and I'll keep it that way, thank you. When I wont my DVC prize (225 points for 3 years), I took friends along, and especially those who hadn't been/hadn't been in long time/couldn't afford to go any other way. So - I did get to pay it forward to those I WANTED to spend time with - and it feels great, to this day!

 

[10MoreMinutes]

This was harder than I thought. I have a huge family, so I limited it to just my immediate family.

-My parents: I would put them at the Poly theme park view room because it's a bucket-list resort for my mother and they'd both love to be able to watch the MK fireworks without having to actually be in MK.
-My oldest brother, his wife, and their 3 kids (ages 11, 9, and 1): I'm thinking BC for them...the older kids would LOVE Stormalong Bay, and I think my SIL would like the proximity to Epcot.
-My other older brother, his fiancee, and their two kids (ages 8 and 1): Probably BC for them too, both for Stormalong Bay and because this brother likes thrill rides, so I think he'd like to be near HS.
-My younger brother and his wife: This SIL can literally shop for HOURS, so I'd probably put them at POR or POFQ so they'd have easy access to Disney Springs.
-My youngest brother and his fiancee: These two are the hard ones...I think probably an AKL savannah view room, because she loves animals.

For me, I'd stay at the Contemporary in a theme park view room all by myself because while I love my family, I also really love quiet time and there are too many strong personalities in my family for that to happen when we're all together

I imagine we'd probably plan a few meals or things to do all together, but then split off into smaller groups for the most part.

 

[Aerin75]

I think for me I would have to do Grand Floridian, concierge. That would be my husband and me and our preteen daughter (who would, strangely, enjoy the elegance).

Family I would take - my brother and sister in law. They would also probably enjoy the Grand Floridian.
My best friend/"other mother". She would be Port Orleans.

I would not at this point in my life take my parents or my mother in law.

On the other hand, if I had a million dollars and enough left over after paying off all debt and taxes , I would go to Aulani! Then do a Panama Canal Cruise, then do an Alaskan Cruise. If I had to abandon all my family to do so, I would! (Wait, they won't see this, will they? )

 

[KingLlama]

I'd probably just take my favorite DIS'ers.

I have a list.