Share your family vacay horror stories please

[anonymousegirl]

Hi All,

I have just bought into DVC and want to treat my sister and her family to WDW in July 2010. I am planning to stay at AKV (my resort is BLT) because the kids love the idea of the animals and we want some downtime days alternating with heavy park days.

I was planning on a 2 br for the five of them, and a studio for DH and I (for privacy and sanity).

Oh, and the kids want to stay at AKV during the day for the animals but sleep at BLT for the fireworks,

Please share with me any of your horror stories (or good advice) of your trips with ILs, sibs, parents, etc.

 

[perpetualplanner]

My family only has vacation horror stories (we call them "Quests for Fun").

As a family, it all seems to work out - we know each other well enough to know when to back off, etc.. We did take a trip with some very good friends of ours to which I've said "Never Again!". We rarely were even in the parks the same days but we had one dining reservation a day together and HDDR one night. I was very (VERY) specific about what time we'd have to LEAVE BW to make it to HDDR on time and as we were leaving to head out they were returning from the parks. They still had to shower and change, could we please wait for them they didn't know exactly where we were going. Of course, we waited and they almost didn't allow us into HDDR we were so late. I was extremely upset since I knew they don't refund your tickets if you miss the show and her husband wanted to argue with me about it. This was not the only time it happened and I wish we had just been at the same time and not had "meets". Basically, I think they wanted me to plan their vacation (since I have the knowledge of Disney) and then let them be but they never said that. We're still good friends - I just wouldn't vacation with them again!

As long as you can let things go and realize that things are going to go wrong it should turn out ok.

 

[sportsmom3279]

Sorry,
no horror stories. Our family of 23 went together last June. My family, sisters family, brothers family, parents (divorced and remarried to others), aunt and uncle and cousins. Ages from 3-65 including teenagers. We had a great time together and are planning our next trip for this July. With a lot of planning and talking ahead of time about everyones expectations you can avoid most problems. Good luck and have a terrific time.

 

[Disneypirate85]

Well took my mom with us last year (2007) at Christmas and satyed in a studio, won't do that anymore. No privacy for DW and I Will definately get a 1 bedroom in the future.

 

[homedad]

no horror stories, My parents have been twice and one time had brother, girlfriend and 83 year old grandmother. My advice is plan trip how you want, book meals for everyone, and let those who want join you.

 

[pooh2007]

My horror story is why we joined the DVC in December 2008. I will never again go on vacation with three teenage girls. They did nothing but complain, gripe, fight, argue, and have the desire to sleep. When they did manage to get up and go to the parks with my husband and myself, they then felt the need to complain about the crowds and the wait times for rides (especially since all of the fast passes were gone.) I cried the majority of the time we were there because of these three girls. I worked and planned and saved for this vacation for over a year and they didn't appreciate it one bit. The high point of all this is that we are now new members of DVC and our home resort is Animal Kindom Villas. My husband is taking me back in September 2009 when most kids are in school so that maybe we can have the vacation we deserve and enjoy the most magical place on earth. I wish everyone a prosperous 2009!

 

[JasonDVC]

I will never again go on vacation with three teenage girls. They did nothing but complain, gripe, fight, argue, and have the desire to sleep. When they did manage to get up and go to the parks with my husband and myself, they then felt the need to complain about the crowds and the wait times for rides (especially since all of the fast passes were gone.) I cried the majority of the time we were there because of these three girls. I worked and planned and saved for this vacation for over a year and they didn't appreciate it one bit.

Nightmare!!

 

[rkwier]

I think that family dynamics plays a big part in planning family vacations, at least it is for our family. My BIL is VERY overbearing and opinionated. The rest of hubby's family just goes along with what ever he says or wants to do. It is like no one else has an opinion about what they want to do and he would not even think to consult him. The last time we went to AK as a family, he just went from place to place quickly and everyone else ended up running (literally) after him, sometimes not even knowing where we were heading. (NOT a good trip.) Anyways, because we know this now, we limit our vacation time with him to short stays around 3 days max and deliberately schedule time for activities for just ourselves. Any more than that and I can feel my eyeballs start to bulge out of my head because he is driving me so crazy.

 

[permavac]

I think that family dynamics plays a big part in planning family vacations, at least it is for our family. My BIL is VERY overbearing and opinionated...

I couldn't agree with this more! In our family, it's my own mother who is the troublemaker. She will complain long and loudly and is amazingly able to coax her adult children to argue over things that we never would have dreamed about. My first advice would be to not invite the "troublemaker" - the last trip I took with my brother and sister I had the best time I had ever had with them because my mother was not invited. That said, if you can't not invite the troublemaker (it's only your family and your sister's), then try to mitigate the situation with a loose plan that others can either choose to follow or go their separate ways. Sounds like you're doing a great job already with the accommodations - you will definitely need your own space. If you don't have a troublemaker in your group, then I agree with the other post about communication and setting the right kind of expectations - especially for you the "planner". If you are taking this trip in order to feel good about familial ties and enjoy a "once in a lifetime" experience just remember that that is your expectation and maybe not everyone else's - so that you're not crushed if things go wrong... Good luck!

Terri

 

[CaliMouseVacationeer]

Just went to DLR with my sister's family and parents, and had a great time. We got a 1 bedroom suite for my family and my parents, and my sister's family had their own room. We stuck together most of the time (only in the evening did we separate if kids were tired, etc.). We checked with everyone which rides they just "had" to go on, or places they just "had" to eat at. Other than that, we just played it by ear. It was fun and actually relaxing!

 

[anonymousegirl]

Well, I admit I love to plan and I hate to wait, so I love to plan for WDW. But, on a solo trip last December (when I bought BLT) I realized I could now slow down a bit and on my third day (after two very full and fun days) I just said to heck with the schedule and slept until 10 am and completely threw that day's itinerary out the window. So I know I can be at WDW without a plan.

My fear is that the kids will either miss out on so much because of not planning, or they'll (and us adults) become too hot, tired, annoyed, because of the crowds and not planning.

I think I'll be sitting down with DSis and DBIL and sorting out how much planning I should do and how much planning my DBIL can take. I also have never traveled to WDW with young children but I do realize that I won't be able to follow a plan every second, especially with the character greetings and such.

My mantra will be "It's for the Kids, It's for the Kids." That and a stiff martini at 5pm should work wonders.

 

[DiznyDi]

Nightmare!!

I'll second that!

11 persons ranging in age from 3 months to 86 years. I should have realized what was to come when BIL left their park tickets at home.

It's alot of time, energy and effort to plan a trip. I'm glad we did it once, but I won't do it again.

 

[disney0210]

Shared our points with DH's family in October- we were 13 in all. I love his family to death but I realized that was because we've only done sleepovers and never anything spanning 10 days!

Two words for you. Never again.

 

[crisi]

Our last trip was ten of us. We broke up a lot - so it wasn't bad....but we all had a hard time dealing with my sister's husband.

My sister has two young kids. And is recovering from cancer. And he didn't lift a finger to help. My mother sure did, but the kid's father - nope. And he was having a hard time understanding that a trip with small kids revolved around small kids - he still wanted to do everything he wanted to do (and did, because we all just let him, knowing the path of least resistance is best). He is also perpetually late - so we had dinners we were late for. And, he barely thanked us for the room, but he did have complaints.

We let him do his own thing as much as we could and ignored it all as much as we could, but it was grating.

At least my flakey sister didn't come, that would have had my father on edge.

We've also done trips with my husband's family and friends. The friends were perhaps the worst - they really were troopers and tried really hard to have a good attitude, but Disney was not there thing and they attached themselves to us at the hips.

My advice....

Make sure everyone who you think is coming is actually committed to come. Be upfront about the costs, and be understanding that this is a big committment in money and time and you understand if they choose not to take you up on the offer. The worst stories are the ones where family leaves you holding the bag for a room at the last minute - and out the points.

Give everyone (each family) there own room if you can swing it. For grownups, space is critical to sanity.

Have reasonable expectations.

Plan some together time - but set the expectation that there will be some "seperate" time - if you have to, build it into your trip by sending everyone else home two days early!

If you get non-planners, try to at least get them to give you a top five list. It might be as disjointed as "I want to see Mickey, ride Pirates of the Carribean, eat at the restaurant my friend told me was great, ride the Jungle Cruise and buy Mickey Ears." It may be filled with things you don't like - but if do try and give everyone a chance to do their top five (it may mean seperating the party). If you have to, get the planning DVD, stick it in, and make everyone watch and tell you five things they thought looked interesting.

If you do drink, the resorts sell bottles of rum and 2 liter bottles of Coke.

 

[EllaM]

If you do drink, the resorts sell bottles of rum and 2 liter bottles of Coke.

I prefer vodka. Where do they sell that?

Sharing the Disney experience is a noble goal many DVCers have, but like all good deeds sometimes they do go punished. Of all the advice I've heard on the subject the best one is to plan what makes your dreams come true first and don't get too attached to your guest sharing the same dream.

Traveling with young kids is usually a volatile situation. You really won't know how a child reacts to an experience until they're in it. There's a lot of sensory overload for kids and when they flip out it becomes a test of frustration and patience for the adults. (Mostly because you're pulling your hair out trying to figure out how to get the child out of meltdown mode.) Summertime adds the additional downers of heat and crowds. Little ones can quit easily under those circumstances. A mid-day break when the sun is its hottest is a good thing.

The advice here about the troublemakers and family dynamics is accurate, I find. Some people just should not vacation together. Unfortunately, many times you don't find that out until after the vacation. And then sometimes you take a chance on inviting someone and they become a better travel companion than you imagined. You won't know until you try.

 

[Brenle]

Hi All,

I have just bought into DVC and want to treat my sister and her family to WDW in July 2010. I am planning to stay at AKV (my resort is BLT) because the kids love the idea of the animals and we want some downtime days alternating with heavy park days.

I was planning on a 2 br for the five of them, and a studio for DH and I (for privacy and sanity).

Oh, and the kids want to stay at AKV during the day for the animals but sleep at BLT for the fireworks,

Please share with me any of your horror stories (or good advice) of your trips with ILs, sibs, parents, etc.

I can't talk about it. Still in therapy!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

IT WAS AWFUL!!!

My sister did nothing but complain, and left early so that she could go to Daytona Beach. The only time she wasn't complaining was when she and her husband were fighting and threatening divorce with each other. Of course, it was all worth it for the child. Nah, afterwards the 8 year old complained that it was too expensive. NEVER AGAIN!!!

My sister and her family were very angry with me that even though they signed on for the trip 5 months after my other sister and I, and needed a smoking room, that she was GIVEN a studio and was not in the 2 bdrm. They bought food and wasn't close to us. I requested rooms close together. I paid $700 oop to get transferred points because I had originally planned to take both sisters separately. I then said that I would get another studio and both sisters would pay $350 for the room. After hearing them complain about money, I decided to just cover the $700 since I had originally wanted to treat them both so we took it on the chin.

Relations between me and my sister has gone from not great to just awful.

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[DisneyNutzy]

We just did a family reunion and had as many as 16 people in the parks together. We had a great time because we realized with kids of different ages and interests we had to split up. We did some meals together, the Halloween Party and a few hours together in the parks. I have learned from experience you can't play tour guide and get your expectations up that your friends and family will love Disney as much as you do.

Plan a few meals together.
Some midday meets at the parks.
Time together at the pool.
If someone can't make it let the rest of the group on and have a good time.

 

[chepic]

Like Ella...I prefer Vodka!!!

We have been on multiple trips, with multiple family members and friends and they are all filled with laughter and tears of frustration. I am a planner by nature, and I don't care how carefully you plan something out, you have no control over anyone but you!! People are people, and if there is something to complain about, they will. We have had issues on each and every trip that involved other people.

My best advice....plan things for you to do alone as a back up when the group issues occur, that way, you can just walk away from it all. I have found that getting together to eat works the best, and then maybe gathering at the poolside for drinks and to talk about what happened in each groups day.

Good luck,

Cheryl

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=29194551#post29194551

Here is my thread from the CB on this exact topic.