Oh! You're going to be in Florida? Let's get together.

[MeanestMomEver]

There should be a name for this.

You're spending the equivalent of your child's Freshman year tuition on a Disney vacation and every person you know, kinda know or might be related to in the entire (very large) state thinks you should stop by, hang out or get together.

Well sure, why would I want to ride Soarin' when I could sit on your sticky, plastic covered sofa and listen to your clock tick while you slowly make delicious bologna sandwiches and tell me about your neighbor's dentist's daughter-in-law's food processor incident?

Even attempts to downplay or even fail to mention the trip don't seem to help. Someone blabs.

And if you have older kids and they have friends going to Disney on their spring break as well... Yeah, they think they should hang out while there.

 

[vicki_c]

LOL. I totally agree. I try to avoid all trips to relatives while on vacation, unless that is the stated purpose for the vacation.

 

[andyman8]

 

[Skjhjb]

My husband is from Scotland. His Aunt and her 5 kids and their families are all back home.

We'd love to someday take the kids to see where DH is from....but DH says he'd not tell family we were going! Lol

We would be in SO much trouble if we didn't visit...

But I agree...we are there for Disney, not to visit all we know that May be near Florida!

 

[MacDalt]

My DD and I flew down last October to celebrate her Sweet 16 with a mother/daughter trip. Great time!! My mother lives an hour away from WDW. We didn't visit. In fact, I didn't even tell her until about 2 weeks before our trip. But she understands that we didn't have a car and I'm a big sissy when it comes to driving where I'm not familiar.

 

[pigletto]

There are some people I would be happy to run into. Others ..not so much. It always seems to be the others that will be there at the same time.
One in particular lives pretty close by. All I could think was "We don't hang out together at home.. why in the world would I do that on vacation?"

 

[Alice Royal]

My freshman year tuition was just over $50,000...

Are you SERIOUSLY spending that much on Disney?!

 

[bumbershoot]

So far I've made sure most of the family visits have been while AT WDW. Soon I hope to move those visits over to Universal, since 2/6 of the family (2/3 of the adults) have found the love we have for the place.

But I'm actually the one who lets people in a given state know that I'm visiting their area, because I think it would be weird if we accidentally ran into each other and I *hadn't* told them.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Where we live, everyone has "snowbird" relatives in Florida. We always plan a few hours to visit family while in Florida and occasionally a Disney day, but MIL says that back when DH was a kid people spent all their time in Florida with family and didn't go to theme parks and take cruises. My parents were apparently the exception to that rule.

 

[disfanforlife]

I hear you. We have relatives in Florida. We did a split stay about eight years ago - 5 days Disney five days family vißit. Now we strictly do Disney. Enough said.

 

[Mickey & Minnie Mom]

My freshman year tuition was just over $50,000...

Are you SERIOUSLY spending that much on Disney?!

You SERIOUSLY spent that much on tuition?!

 

[aVASTGrl]

My Aunt and Uncle get really offended when we go to Disney and don't visit them in Tampa. Oh well too bad! If they want to meet us in the parks for a day, that's fine, their daughter and her husband did once and we had a blast, but we're not going to take time and money out of our well-planned vacation to make them happy. Family visiting trips are separate affairs for us!

 

[MeanestMomEver]

My freshman year tuition was just over $50,000... Are you SERIOUSLY spending that much on Disney?!

Yikes! Noooo. My kids all attend(ed) an in-state, state school. (Boiler up!)

And I may, possibly, have somewhat exaggerated a little bit in an effort to distract people from their Fast Pass + angst.

 

[RalphinSC]

For me, it's more like:

"Hey family, I'll be at Disney again this Summer. It's the only time I plan on coming to Florida this year. Here's the dates I'll be down there.....

If you want to COME TO DISNEY to see us, let us know and we'll expect to meet you in the parks. IF NOT, well maybe you can catch up to us when we come down there for vacation another year.

Now, I WILL go visit relatives in Florida before or after a Disney vacation if I can tack on the days and they room and board us. But I'm not going to cut a single second out of my trip for them. Great if they want to come along and try to keep up with us.

For example, this summer, I'm going to Disney from June 6-the 14th. I have a cousin and his family coming over from Tampa to meet us for one day in the parks and then AFTER our trip, we'll go spend a couple of days in Tampa with them. The Tampa days were added after the fact and are only because they'll provide room for us. We might hit Busch Garden, Ybor City, or some Gulf Coast beaches, but this isn't to take a penny or second away from the initial trip I booked.

 

[Stini228]

Yeah, its so hard. People just dont get it. Family/vacation time is precious, stinks that some just dont understand.

We just completed a stay with a cousin who came down out of state. A week before, another cousin decides she is coming with her husband and two kids and "joining us". Um, say what??

Needless to say, we are planning a trip re-do in May.

 

[MeanestMomEver]

For me, it's more like: "Hey family, I'll be at Disney again this Summer. It's the only time I plan on coming to Florida this year. Here's the dates I'll be down there..... If you want to COME TO DISNEY to see us, let us know and we'll expect to meet you in the parks. IF NOT, well maybe you can catch up to us when we come down there for vacation another year. Now, I WILL go visit relatives in Florida before or after a Disney vacation if I can tack on the days and they room and board us. But I'm not going to cut a single second out of my trip for them. Great if they want to come along and try to keep up with us. For example, this summer, I'm going to Disney from June 6-the 14th. I have a cousin and his family coming over from Tampa to meet us for one day in the parks and then AFTER our trip, we'll go spend a couple of days in Tampa with them. The Tampa days were added after the fact and are only because they'll provide room for us. We might hit Busch Garden, Ybor City, or some Gulf Coast beaches, but this isn't to take a penny or second away from the initial trip I booked.

Now YOU have the right idea. We had a trip in 2008 in which we made the mistake of inviting my inlaws to join us for a few of the days.
We even treated them to MVMCP tickets.

Big mistake.

They just did not, and would not, get Disney.

They hated eating and being silly at Whispering Canyon (also our treat).

They hated Epcot. ("What is the point of this?")

Grandma got angry that Malestrom was too scary.

(They did like Biergarten.).

At MVMCP they rode the train and rolled their eyes. They complained through a show. They weren't impressed with Monsters Laugh Floor.

"Grandma, did you like it? Wasn't it cute?"

"I guess it was cute ...for children."

They bought a watch for a different grandchild/cousin and left after 90 minutes. And they were insulted that the rest of us stayed.

They wanted to hang out in the hotel room and show us video on Grandpa's laptop of the toddler grandchild who was, evidently, in desperate need of a Mickey watch. And they wanted us to eat pie they brought from home while sitting on their bed. If we'd had Mickey watches, we would have been looking at them while tapping a foot anxiously.

Relatives and vacation don't mix. At least not for us.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

Saying "no" in a polite way isn't that hard. Just let people know you have already planned out your entire vacation, but it makes you feel good knowing that they wanted to see you. You didn't want to impose on other people when making your plans and you are sorry for not including them. Maybe next time.

 

[Stini228]

Relatives and vacation don't mix. At least not for us.

Quoted for truth!

 

[Schmeck]

Last April, for the first time in a decade, hubby and I went away together, just the two of us, down to Richmond VA.

My mom wanted me to stop on the way there and visit her old friend (who used to babysit me 40 years ago, last time I remember seeing her was 35 years ago) because old friend was dying. I suggested she should go visit her friend.

MIL wanted me to visit one of her friends down there that we had been introduced to many years ago - we didn't even really know who he was. No thank you.

MIL's friend wanted us to stop on the way down and visit her son. We knew him, really liked him and his awesome family, but it was really out of our way. So that was a no too.

We did go visit dear friends of ours who moved down that way recently. We hadn't seen them in years, and it was wonderful to reconnect. That was part of our plan though, and was part of the loop we made around the area.

I made myself a promise to try to never talk to someone about their trip and use the phrase "you should go see"!

 

[Ametista]

Yeah. I keep my mouth shut now. ONE TIME I told a friend about our trip over spring break, and of course they were going to Tampa at the same time, so we met their 13 year old at Busch Gardens. My son took off for the day and I never saw him til the end of the day. So I had nobody to ride roller coasters with and it was just a sad day for me.

Never, ever, will a friend be involved in our family vacation again. I spent the whole day with nothing to do, and my son spent all of his "play time" with that friend at home anyway. Even now I have DD's best friend asking if she can come with us and I just wont allow it. Its the only time I really get to hang out with my kids with no homework, etc..

And don't even get me started about the time we invited my mom, who has mobility issues and hates amusement parks. Talk about a buzz kill for 2 weeks.