Planning a trip with multiple "parties"

[pschro1]

My next trip to Disney wont be for a couple years once my youngest turns 4. But my OCD Disney brain is already planning the trip in my head. This next trip will be different though as we plan on "inviting" some other family members to tag along if they would like to.

• Parents - will most likely tag along with us when we are in the parks, but might want to stay at a Deluxe hotel while we will stay at a Moderate.
• SIL - she is a follower and most likely will just do whatever we do.
• Brother and SIL - Could potentially want to do their own thing and not want to "hang" with the rest of us. They might even go to Universal for a day or two.....Shocked Face!

For the ultra Disney planners out there, how do you cope "planning" when multiple parties are involved. Obviously I am not going to make everyone follow the exact same schedule. But it would be nice to maybe do some things as a group during the day. To ease booking, I might help them but I don't plan on fronting the money for the trips. So there could potentially be 4 separate reservations to manage/plan. Do I just let everyone do their own thing? Do I link all four together so that I could book common FP+ or dining reservations? What advise would you give an OCD Disney planner.

 

[mshanson3121]

My next trip to Disney wont be for a couple years once my youngest turns 4. But my OCD Disney brain is already planning the trip in my head. This next trip will be different though as we plan on "inviting" some other family members to tag along if they would like to.

• Parents - will most likely tag along with us when we are in the parks, but might want to stay at a Deluxe hotel while we will stay at a Moderate.
• SIL - she is a follower and most likely will just do whatever we do.
• Brother and SIL - Could potentially want to do their own thing and not want to "hang" with the rest of us. They might even go to Universal for a day or two.....Shocked Face!

For the ultra Disney planners out there, how do you cope "planning" when multiple parties are involved. Obviously I am not going to make everyone follow the exact same schedule. But it would be nice to maybe do some things as a group during the day. To ease booking, I might help them but I don't plan on fronting the money for the trips. So there could potentially be 4 separate reservations to manage/plan. Do I just let everyone do their own thing? Do I link all four together so that I could book common FP+ or dining reservations? What advise would you give an OCD Disney planner.

I would link all parties on your MDE so that you can plan common FP+ and dining. They can buy their own tickets, reservations etc... Perhaps you can make all the joint FP+ and ADRs, and then those who want to do their own thing, can make the rest of them?

But overall, in general, I'd get together and discuss the things you will want to do together. But I would start with YOUR itinerary. You're the one with kids, so IMO, that trumps the others. Set your plans, and then go over them with everyone else, and see who wants to join in/when etc... Ask them if there's anything THEY really want to do all together, and then see how you can work it out for everyone.

 

[rwdavis2]

based on what I've seen others do, ask them what they would like to do. Are they early riser or sleepers? What I would do is plan out the trip YOU want to do and tell everyone "here's what I propose." Then they can either make their own suggestions or follow along.

The above post is a good one. Maybe plan one group meal a day. If people want to sleep in then have them meet you at the park. You want to avoid the group standing around saying "what do you want to do next?"

 

[pschro1]

Thanks you both. My family will probably be the first to rise in the morning. So I fully expect that they will be a day or two when we are at the parks before everyone else. I will probably link everyone's reservations to MDE so that I can make the reservations for them. If I don't, they will procrastinate and miss all the good times. I just hope that someone doesn't try to go "I want to go to Epcot when everyone else is going to Magic Kingdom".

 

[mshanson3121]

Thanks you both. My family will probably be the first to rise in the morning. So I fully expect that they will be a day or two when we are at the parks before everyone else. I will probably link everyone's reservations to MDE so that I can make the reservations for them. If I don't, they will procrastinate and miss all the good times. I just hope that someone doesn't try to go "I want to go to Epcot when everyone else is going to Magic Kingdom".

And that's when you say, "Have fun!"

 

[pschro1]

Yea I can see my brother an SIL being anti-social little buggers.....

 

[mshanson3121]

Yea I can see my brother an SIL being anti-social little buggers.....

I think that's something you'll have to accept at the beginning. If YOU want this to be a "we all do the same thing" trip, then... you'll want to strongly consider who you invite and if they're going to be content to do what you want. But, if you're okay with just meeting up here and there, then... I guess if they want to bugger off and do their own thing, including their own park, so be it. And really, unless you're footing the bill, then everyone is entitled to do some stuff they want. But you'll have to be aware of that, and not get upset by it. I think expectations for "togetherness" will need to be made very clear.

 

[pschro1]

Thanks for the advise.

 

[kj2mom]

We went this summer with one other group. They spent two days at Universal which my children did not want to do. We went to AK one day and Sea World the other day. I think it is really important to have a meeting (yes, I know how silly that sounds) to meet and go over what everyone's wants and expectations are. We knew we weren't going to stay together all of the time but we did book our ADRs together so we knew we would see each other at meals. One day we saw the other family only at our ADR and not at any other time, that was just how it played out. I was a little sad for my children because they didn't get to spend as much time with their friends as I had hoped but they kept telling me they were happy with it being just us so we went with it. I really do think communication and some planning can be the key to a smooth trip with multiple parties. Discuss meals, discuss rides and parks and if things don't gel then agree to separate and meet back up at later time.

 

[TXMemaw]

We spent a week at WDW last month with 27 of us, during Thanksgiving week. Each family group set up their own MDE which I then connected to so that I could see everyone on my MDE account. We had already decided that we would meet together once a day for a meal and so at the 180 day mark, I was on the phone with Disney dining setting up our reservations. Before the 60 day mark, I determined which would be the preferred park for each day (used easywdw.com and Touring Plans) and then got a list of the FP requests from everyone. I was able to set up the FP's so that all those on a particular ride were within a 20-30 minute time frame so that if they wanted to, they could coordinate and ride together. It actually worked out really well and was easier than I'd thought it would be. Because we were all pretty much in the same park at least at the beginning of the day, we were able to be "together" without having to stay together all the time. In fact, my nine year old granddaughter was just commenting this weekend how much fun it was to keep running into everyone each day at the parks and to get to ride something together before taking off again to do something on their own.

 

[GaryDis]

If Brother and SIL want to go to Universal, don't insist on a scheduled meetup those days - except perhaps for early breakfast. You haven't said where everyone lives, but assuming that the family is close enough to see each other regularly through the year, it's ok to skip a day or two while on vacation.

I'd even be tempted to play some of the WDW park days by ear. Not everyone is OCD, there are some good TS restaurants that can deal with late reservations or walk-ins (like the Swan or Dolphin), and it's ok to say "Let's meet here at 6, and talk about having dinner together, but if we can't agree, that's ok."

 

[Monkida]

My next trip to Disney wont be for a couple years once my youngest turns 4. But my OCD Disney brain is already planning the trip in my head. This next trip will be different though as we plan on "inviting" some other family members to tag along if they would like to.

• Parents - will most likely tag along with us when we are in the parks, but might want to stay at a Deluxe hotel while we will stay at a Moderate.
• SIL - she is a follower and most likely will just do whatever we do.
• Brother and SIL - Could potentially want to do their own thing and not want to "hang" with the rest of us. They might even go to Universal for a day or two.....Shocked Face!

For the ultra Disney planners out there, how do you cope "planning" when multiple parties are involved. Obviously I am not going to make everyone follow the exact same schedule. But it would be nice to maybe do some things as a group during the day. To ease booking, I might help them but I don't plan on fronting the money for the trips. So there could potentially be 4 separate reservations to manage/plan. Do I just let everyone do their own thing? Do I link all four together so that I could book common FP+ or dining reservations? What advise would you give an OCD Disney planner.

I usually travel with my extended family to WDW (now 15 of us age 9 months to 68) every two years or so, and I am the main planner. What I have found works best is that I find out how many days everyone is spending in the parks and their must do's. I then consult the crowd calendars and our preferences and propose a daily plan. Once everyone is onboard with that, I pick the restaurants to try for at 180 days. Then, I make all the FP+ ressies for them as one group and let them readjust their own later, if they want. I don't have any issues with people switching things around or using their park hoppers or going to different parks and doing their own thing. My only rule is that if I am getting up at 5 a.m. (CT) 180 days in advance to make your ADRs, you had better be there! Since we've traveled so many times together I generally know everyone's touring and vacation style so it is easy to propose plans and gain consensus.

That said, I have another WDW trip later this year with my husband's extended family (10 of us) who have not been to WDW since the 1980s. I will have my work cut out for me on that trip!

 

[tabrizia]

My next trip to Disney wont be for a couple years once my youngest turns 4. But my OCD Disney brain is already planning the trip in my head. This next trip will be different though as we plan on "inviting" some other family members to tag along if they would like to.

• Parents - will most likely tag along with us when we are in the parks, but might want to stay at a Deluxe hotel while we will stay at a Moderate.
• SIL - she is a follower and most likely will just do whatever we do.
• Brother and SIL - Could potentially want to do their own thing and not want to "hang" with the rest of us. They might even go to Universal for a day or two.....Shocked Face!

For the ultra Disney planners out there, how do you cope "planning" when multiple parties are involved. Obviously I am not going to make everyone follow the exact same schedule. But it would be nice to maybe do some things as a group during the day. To ease booking, I might help them but I don't plan on fronting the money for the trips. So there could potentially be 4 separate reservations to manage/plan. Do I just let everyone do their own thing? Do I link all four together so that I could book common FP+ or dining reservations? What advise would you give an OCD Disney planner.

We are doing a 17ish person trip in 3 weeks. I sent everyone our planned schedule and planned meals. They then decided if they wanted to join us or not. I then made ADRs for everyone who said yes. We are staying off property and my Mom is paying for everyone's lodgings so I didn't deal with that piece. My Mom actually bought tickets for everyone as well, so we did it on my account and I have everyone linked to their ticket there, no one but me and my husband have MDE accounts actually. I sent out an email and talked to everyone to figure out what FP+ they wanted and went from there to plan them.

The general plan is we will all be doing the same parks each day, most of us have meals together and FP+ at the same time, other then that everyone can do their own thing. We don't want to force everyone to do everything together. There are a few days when only small groups of 2 or 3 are going to the parks, and there are days when it is all 17ish of us. We figure with a couple of set plans everyone can do what they want but still meet up and do fun things with everyone else there as well.

 

[MainMom]

I really think it depends on the personalities of each family within the group. I planned for 11 people this summer. We all stayed at the same hotel. We were technically 3 families. The other 2 gave me some input on meals & agreed to early mornings with afternoon breaks (July!), but really just trusted me to plan it.

We all toured together every day. I made lunch ADR's for every day since we would all be together and scheduled our FP's for late morning. We took afternoon breaks where some went swimming, some shopping, some sleeping. Evenings were QS dinners and evening shows. I purposely left evenings unscheduled. We all agreed no one would be offended if someone needed to sleep in or skip a show. My Mom didn't see MSEP, too tired. We all split up one evening that was supposed to be Epcot. One family did the FP's I had scheduled. (This was a waterpark day so I scheduled FP's just because I didn't schedule them anywhere else.) 2 others decided to stay at the hotel and sleep. We all did our own dinner.

It can work. Just don't get upset if they don't do things how you do. It's not worth the stress. But I also wouldn't hang around waiting for people either. (Most) everyone has a cell phone. It's easy to let your party know where you are these days!