Sharing villa with another family -- advice?

[rainbow]

Hi there. We are heading to Disney in a view weeks, sharing a villa another family, close friends of ours. There will be eight, with four kids (two 8-year old boys and two 11-year old boys -- how perfect is that?).

I'm interested in the voices of experience. How do we end our trip as friendly as we're starting it? What tips do you have for two families travelling and lodging together?

 

[minmate]

Make sure you spend some time APART, with just your respective families. Have some discussions on what you all expect... commando-style or leisure-style. You didn't say how long you'll be there, but say if it's a week, I'd only spend about 3 days together and split up the other four... with meeting up for meals or special events such as fireworks, swim time etc.... You might also consider one set of adults taking the kids for an afternoon/eve and the other set for the next aft/eve so you get couple time. Good Luck!

 

[riopooh]

We recently got back from 4 days with my sister, her husband & their 2 boys- ages 6 & 4. This was in addition to my DH & I and our DS 10 & DD 4. We planned to split & meet up but the kids were getting along so great & they were so new & a bit overwhelmed that we stuck together most of the time. We split up one morning into pairs and then each couple had some time alone while the other watched the kids (my kids hardly noticed when my Dh & I left, but my nephew cried for his mommy the entire time!)

You never know how things are going to work out - going with others does make it an entirely different experience!

 

[HappyLawyer]

that would not work for us, we had 2 room villa for 3 of us and my dtr drove me crazy0love her to death though-
may i ask why you don't get your own villa for your family, there are so many resources to get some great deals, try skyauction.com
before i bought my timeshare i got 7 nights 2 br/2bat for a total of 216.00

 

[Gillian]

2 cars! And lots of bathrooms!

I think it's a good idea if you have an organized plan with what parks for what days. Know what the plan is for each day so that you don't spend an hour deciding where to go! Ask them what they want to do, ask your family. Figure out things/meals you can all do to together. I use a simple spreadsheet & put park hours & stuff on it.

It can be a good idea to start off together in the morning if your touring styles match up. Then split up for the afternoons & meet up again for dinner.

Another way to split up might be older boys & younger ones.

I think the most important thing is to talk about it beforehand and see what the expectations are. When we went with my MIL, SIL and neice/nephew they were happy to have me lead them around. I knew what they wanted to see and the best way to get it done at a busy time (july). We split up a few times after touring in the morning & one day MIL & I went shopping while DH, SIL & the tweens did the big rides!

We went to Universal last year with BIL & SIL & their son. They are very relaxed about everything! I like to get up early & go when the parks open. They roll out of the house around 10-11. It was a little hard for me at first, but I didn't stress and just had fun. We didn't have any pressure to see or do anything, because our kids were so little and none of us are big roller coaster fans. It was really fun to hang out and not worry.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

I think you have been given some good suggestions. I hope you all have a wonderful trip.