Our disappointing "Travel With Family" story

[crisi]

Wow! I was just talking last night about doing an extended family trip to Disney and we'll take care of the rooms with our points. Now I'm second guessing that - glad I didn't mention it to any one other than my husband . . . really need to think through how to impress upon them the importance of committing to doing the trip.

Another hint....in your case find out if the extended family wants to vacation together AT ALL, before mentioning that you were thinking of providing rooms. FREE often gets in the way of thought in these things, and if you start talking with your family about vacationing together without mentioning WDW or your timeshare, you may discover they have very different ideas.

My family had a disastrous non-trip because we all had different ideas of what to do, different ideas of the budget, and different ideas of when it would be possible to go. A "free" timeshare wouldn't really have helped the basic issues (and didn't as my flaky sister ended up saying "WDW, I don't think so" - but did have some good reasons - she didn't have a lot of money at the time, had started a new job so vacation time would have been an issue - but really, she wasn't that into the Disney World thing to start with).

 

[dianeschlicht]

Even after all of this, I must say that we have been very successful taking family and friends with us. We have only been left hanging by one couple, and we were able to find replacement guests for them on short notice. Even our extended trips with 12 or more people have turned out to be great, and all were planned more than a year out. Not once have I had to change dates for a guest.

As Crisi said, it's best to just book a room you could enjoy yourself anyway. We start with a 1 bedroom and if friends come, we extend to a 2 bedroom if possible. We've never had a problem doing that since most of our guests accept by the 7 month booking window.

I think one of the reasons we have not had a lot of issues with canceling is because we make it VERY clear up front why this is done so far ahead and why a late cancellation would be a huge issue for us.

Oh, and the couple who cancelled on us once has asked to come along again. We have NOT extended that invitation again though, and don't ever intend to. As I explained earlier in this thread, if you inconvenience me once, you will NOT get a second opportunity to do so.

 

[donald...really]

QUOTE: I think we probably expect everyone else to be as thrilled to be taking a Disney trip as we are and a lot of times that simply just isn't the case.

My cousin and her family are thrilled (or at least were thrilled) to be taking a Disney trip. This is the actual message from the youngest daughter after we told her about the trip:

OH MY GODDDD... LOVE the hotel, its fabulous, and i cant wait to go with ya'll. I'm sure what ever job i'll have will let me take a few days off, and if not, i'll quit. ha i'm not missing this Disney trip for anything in the world. My only request is that we go to Epcot and Magic Kingdom! Especially since i'll be 21! Hellooooo Germany, Italy, and Mexico! Can't wait, love and miss ya'll.

This is an actual message from the oldest daughter:

I'm so excited too!! Already got off work...so I'm good to go. I'll look into the discounted tickets work offers and see what kind of deals there are and if any will apply to us. I was thinking about the park hopper passes, so we can go to a couple different parks...maybe even one of the water parks if that's an option. I can't wait for the countries!! I heard they're awesome and I haven't been to any of them yet. The resort looks BEAUTIFUL. I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time by the beach and the pool too...and let's not forget shopping

So you can see why we were so surprised when the decided to arrive late and leave early. I think the problem is they have NO IDEA what a Disney trip really is. Their experience at WDW is a day or two at the parks and staying offsite. We were looking forward to introducing them to a different kind of Disney trip: staying on site; visiting the Animal Kingdom Lodge to have dinner, sit in the lounge, and view the animals; a fireworks dessert buffet at MK; strolling around World Showcase; sitting under the "Eiffel Tower" in France sipping champagne and nibbling french bread and cheese; visiting the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (they've never been there); etc. etc. etc. They have no idea what is there, and now they will never know.

 

[dianeschlicht]

QUOTE: I think we probably expect everyone else to be as thrilled to be taking a Disney trip as we are and a lot of times that simply just isn't the case.

My cousin and her family are thrilled (or at least were thrilled) to be taking a Disney trip. This is the actual message from the youngest daughter after we told her about the trip:

OH MY GODDDD... LOVE the hotel, its fabulous, and i cant wait to go with ya'll. I'm sure what ever job i'll have will let me take a few days off, and if not, i'll quit. ha i'm not missing this Disney trip for anything in the world. My only request is that we go to Epcot and Magic Kingdom! Especially since i'll be 21! Hellooooo Germany, Italy, and Mexico! Can't wait, love and miss ya'll.

This is an actual message from the oldest daughter:

I'm so excited too!! Already got off work...so I'm good to go. I'll look into the discounted tickets work offers and see what kind of deals there are and if any will apply to us. I was thinking about the park hopper passes, so we can go to a couple different parks...maybe even one of the water parks if that's an option. I can't wait for the countries!! I heard they're awesome and I haven't been to any of them yet. The resort looks BEAUTIFUL. I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time by the beach and the pool too...and let's not forget shopping

So you can see why we were so surprised when the decided to arrive late and leave early. I think the problem is they have NO IDEA what a Disney trip really is. Their experience at WDW is a day or two at the parks and staying offsite. We were looking forward to introducing them to a different kind of Disney trip: staying on site; visiting the Animal Kingdom Lodge to have dinner, sit in the lounge, and view the animals; a fireworks dessert buffet at MK; strolling around World Showcase; sitting under the "Eiffel Tower" in France sipping champagne and nibbling french bread and cheese; visiting the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (they've never been there); etc. etc. etc. They have no idea what is there, and now they will never know.

You need to send that part I bolded to them personally. They don't know, because no one has told them. Be the one to tell them what your intent was, and they may change their minds.

 

[photobob]

QUOTE: I think we probably expect everyone else to be as thrilled to be taking a Disney trip as we are and a lot of times that simply just isn't the case.

My cousin and her family are thrilled (or at least were thrilled) to be taking a Disney trip. This is the actual message from the youngest daughter after we told her about the trip:

OH MY GODDDD... LOVE the hotel, its fabulous, and i cant wait to go with ya'll. I'm sure what ever job i'll have will let me take a few days off, and if not, i'll quit. ha i'm not missing this Disney trip for anything in the world. My only request is that we go to Epcot and Magic Kingdom! Especially since i'll be 21! Hellooooo Germany, Italy, and Mexico! Can't wait, love and miss ya'll.

This is an actual message from the oldest daughter:

I'm so excited too!! Already got off work...so I'm good to go. I'll look into the discounted tickets work offers and see what kind of deals there are and if any will apply to us. I was thinking about the park hopper passes, so we can go to a couple different parks...maybe even one of the water parks if that's an option. I can't wait for the countries!! I heard they're awesome and I haven't been to any of them yet. The resort looks BEAUTIFUL. I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time by the beach and the pool too...and let's not forget shopping

So you can see why we were so surprised when the decided to arrive late and leave early. I think the problem is they have NO IDEA what a Disney trip really is. Their experience at WDW is a day or two at the parks and staying offsite. We were looking forward to introducing them to a different kind of Disney trip: staying on site; visiting the Animal Kingdom Lodge to have dinner, sit in the lounge, and view the animals; a fireworks dessert buffet at MK; strolling around World Showcase; sitting under the "Eiffel Tower" in France sipping champagne and nibbling french bread and cheese; visiting the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (they've never been there); etc. etc. etc. They have no idea what is there, and now they will never know.

Wow, no mixed signals there at all. I can see why you were floored by their sudden about face.

 

[VrBchJ]

Do you have any idea why their initial enthusiasm changed so drastically? Now meeting friends on the way down takes priority, the family trip the next week takes priority etc. It just seems as if something is out of whack.

Having said that, you are so much nicer than I am. If it were me since the Disney trip seems less important than other things in their lives and since you don't particularly want to go in July any way I would cancel. That's presuming that you won't come out on the losing end with your points.

 

[PSC]

Sorry to hear of your situation. Many of us have read these types of stories and figured that would never happen to us. Personally I've had some great trips with friends and family and some trips where I thought the week would never end. At he end of the day I just remind myself that I'm going back to Disney no matter what. Quite honestly, my best trips have been with my DW alone, or with my college age nieces without their parents. As a new grandfather I'm looking forward to trips with my grandson in years to come. I figure the rest of the family will understand that they just dropped a run on the free trip ladder and their expectations will drop.

Good luck!