Our big trip -- any thoughts?

[KiminChicago]

So, ever since we bought our points in 2007, DH and I have been asking our families to join us in a trip to WDW, but other than my sister and her family two years ago, no one has wanted to go. So, DH and I have decided to share our points with some good friends.

Right now it looks like it will be a party of 12: Dh, me, our son (14) and daughter (12), another couple with daughter's best friend (also 12) and her brother (14), who is a friend of our son, and the third couple with two additional boys (14 and 17). The boys are all in Scouts and cross-country together and the girls have been best friends since they met in ballet class when they were 4. DH has shared several camping trips with the other dads, and we've gone out with the other couples several times and enjoy their company. I think it will be a fun group.

It's going to take 3 years (banking and borrowing) to get together enough points to go on this trip so we're currently looking at 2013. This works out nicely since the oldest young man will be graduating from high school and the girls will both be graduating from middle school, so we've decided that this will be the big "Graduation Celebration." We've spoken with both of the other couple and let them know what we were thinking, and right now everyone's interested. Of course, we've let them know that since this is a long way in the future, there is no obligation until we actually make the reservation.

Right now we're thinking that two 2BR villas makes the most sense -- DH and I in one of the master br, another couple in the 2nd br and the girls on the sleeper sofa in one villa, the third couple in the other master br and the 4 boys sharing the 2nd br in that villa (they're used to doubling up in the tents on Scout camping trips). That will also give us either 4 or 6 bathrooms depending on which resort we choose. And each adult couple will have a room to themselves.

Since our school year ends before Memorial Day, I've suggested Memorial Day week as a possible week for this trip. We have a June UY however, so that makes the scheduling a little trickier. I've checked the point charts, and unless there's another point reallocation, we'll have enough to reserve just about anything except for a MK view at BLT. Right now I'm thinking that I'll reserve at AKL when the 11 month window opens, then if everyone decides they'd like to stay somewhere else, I can switch when the 7 month window opens. At that point everyone would have to have a firm commitment to going.

Any thought? Things I haven't considered?

 

[Jillpie]

Your plan sounds great. The only thing I would strongly reconsider is location. Given the kids ages, they will have their independence. They would LOVE the BCV's for that. They can all come and go as they please to Epcot and DHS by a short walk or boat. Not to mention how much they (and you) would go crazy over that huge pool. Just a thought.

 

[rocketriter]

I agree about BCV's, although 2-bedrooms can be hard to reserve at 7 months. As for arrangements with the other families, I would suggest that as reservation time approaches you should:

• Make it clear that backing out or changing dates/numbers of travellers would cost you bigtime, both financially and in impact on your own family's future vacations.
• Make sure that every family gets financially invested early in the process. One way is to get everyone to purchase their own airfare, and do it at the same time you're making the room reservations.
• Months in advance, have a meeting with the "trip leader" in each family to plan events (Cirque, Hoop-de-do or whatever) and dining reservations. Make sure they understand the cost of each option.
• Don't make the entire trip a big ball of togetherness (which often turns into a big ball of cabin fever). Include days and times when families or groups of teens can go to parks or swim on their own, and find their own meals on-the-fly.
• Find out in advance who likes to sleep in and who likes to get to the parks at rope-drop (and who says they like to go early but actually takes forever to get out the door). Rather than looking for ways to force outliers to conform, look for ways to accomodate different preferences so everyone feels they're on vacation rather than a forced march.

In short, make your plans with clarity, flexibility and a clear understanding of each family's responsibility. You'll have a wonderful trip!

 

[ajf1007]

I agree about BCV's, although 2-bedrooms can be hard to reserve at 7 months. As for arrangements with the other families, I would suggest that as reservation time approaches you should:

• Make it clear that backing out or changing dates/numbers of travellers would cost you bigtime, both financially and in impact on your own family's future vacations.
• Make sure that every family gets financially invested early in the process. One way is to get everyone to purchase their own airfare, and do it at the same time you're making the room reservations.
• Months in advance, have a meeting with the "trip leader" in each family to plan events (Cirque, Hoop-de-do or whatever) and dining reservations.
• Don't make the entire trip a big ball of togetherness (which often turns into a big ball of cabin fever). Include days and times when families or groups of teens can go to parks or swim on their own, and find their own meals on-the-fly.
• Find out in advance who likes to sleep in and who likes to get to the parks at rope-drop (and who says they like to go early but actually takes forever to get out the door). Rather than looking for ways to force outliers to conform, look for ways to accomodate different preferences so everyone feels they're on vacation rather than a forced march.

In short, make your plans with clarity, flexibility and a clear understanding of each family's responsibility. You'll have a wonderful trip!

Awesome suggestions and one's I'm using for my trip of 10 people in 2012! I think your suggestion about booking airfare is spot on, it doesn't allow for wishy-washy and people are then less likely to change plans or back out at the last minute, especially considering the amount of points needed to make it happen as OP said (borrowing, banking, etc) isn't cheap and does effect future vacations. I really think unDVC'rs don't realize the long term effects sometimes of the people trying to do something nice!

Thanks again!! If you have anymore thoughts or suggestions - don't be shy!

 

[KiminChicago]

BCV or Boardwalk were the ones I was considering at the 7 month mark, but I still plan on reserving AKL at the 11 month mark so I'm sure we'll have something. I've already emailed a couple of links to the other families so they can check out all of the resorts.

One of the families that are going are big Disney fans too, the other family hasn't been there in several years, so, at least for right now, everyone's really excited. Now that we are DVC members, we don't do the commando style of touring anymore, so I'm content to just go with the flow. The nice thing about this trip is all the youngsters will be old enough that they can go off on their own a bit and we old folks can do our own thing. I'm planning on making ADRs for some sit-down lunches (those being a little cheaper since I'm also trying to be budget-concious here) where we can all meet up, but other than that, we'll just wing it.

We'll drive down rather than fly since I can't stand all the current hassles of flying, so I'm also planning on making a grocery run and stocking up on beverages and breakfast items. We did that when my sister went with us and it saved a lot of time in the morning since some people can be making breakfast and eating while the others are getting out of bed and using the bathrooms. Since the boys are all Scouts and used to preparing meals, I figure I can put them on mess hall duty once or twice too, so no one person ends up doing all the cooking.

The past couple of years have been difficult for all three families -- all of us have had some periods of unemployment and some other bad luck, but right now it looks like that might all be behind us, so it feels good to be able to try and do this for our friends.