Some group planning help required please.

[Rosabelle]

Hi all, calling all group organisers

well we're almost at the month countdown so I thought I'd start working out some logistics. (who am I kidding I've been at it since booking in july! )

anyway here's the story,

there are 10 of us going to dlp this trip and I foresee 4 days of them all following me around like little ducks and me being solely responsible for every tiny decision

So can you help me with some tactful planning?

Our group is us 4, that's me, dh and our 2 smallies. (17 & 7)

my brother(1st time to dlp) and his 2 girls ( 10 & 7) (2nd time to dlp)

my mum (2nd time to dlp) and my two nieces (19 & 10) (1st time to dlp)

now, when we went the first time it was with my mum and she was so scared of getting lost, making a wrong decision etc that she offered no help whatsoever which resulted in me having to manage everybody. it caused all sorts of stress for me and it marred the trip. I'm hoping to avoid that whole palaver this time by tactfully "insisting" that we split into groups somehow and we meet up during the day or for dinner,

the catch is that our dd has a sp. access pass (she's in a w/chair) and we use it if there are loads of queues, this will be awkward if we've to leave the others standing in line while we skip on if ye know what i mean

so what do i do? and how do i do it

more importantly without hurting anyone's feelings ?

i know this may seem trivial to some of you but my family are terrible at organising anything! And I really don't want it to cause a row on our lovely christmas trip .

looking forward to hearing your wisdomness

rosabelle x

 

[Danauk]

If I were you I would insist on having a chat with everyone before you go. Ask everyone to look at the park maps and rides and decide what they want to go on. Then things everyone wants to do you all do together, then split up into smaller groups depending on what others want to do together. If your family don't want to take the time to do that then just do what you want to and let them suffer the consequences of following you. At least they then had the choice to do differently. When it comes to rides that you need to use a different entrance to with your DD point them to the regular line and get arrange to meet up when they have ridden. If your mum is scared of getting lost then maybe have a designated meet up place at specific times and make sure she has a map with her and maybe a mobile phone.

 

[DLPdaft]

You have my sympathy and hugs - I've only ever done a family trip once, and we split up and did our own thing loads, but I still felt a bit hindered (in the nicest way) occasionally.

Danauk is spot on with her advice - the only thing is, for the newbies, they might not have a clue what they'd like to do . They might prefer to all be together with you for the first day or so, until they can actually see whats there and what they fancy doing.

 

[stargatebarbie]

Well i took a party of 12 and the good thing is that we are all still talking We did manage to stick together all the time it was my 7th trip and I am now known as Tourguide barbie To be honest I think they were all really grateful that I knew my way around and I dont think they would of got half the things donethat they did and they didnt seem to mind me being a bit !!! bossy Have a meeting point if anyone gets lost (the big beanstalk in fantasyland is ours) and go separate ways at meals times if anyone needs a break or on our last day we all split up for a hour or so in the village to do shopping ,Its a lot of fun in a big group and we were always having a laugh on the rides and in the queues and we had about a million photos to look at when we got back You can read my trip report its called The all in this together trip report and it was done in july in the trip report section under stargatebarbie,good luck in planning (thats half the fun)

 

[mommy2ash]

i would organise a date for you all to get together before you leave. have all your info to hand and let people decide what they would like to do most. meeting up for meals and parades and shows would be quite easy. with the varying ages in your party the chances are staying together all day for the rides would prove difficult. you can explain about your dds pass. as far as i know there is a limit to how many people can use it so they will have to understand that it is there to make the holiday more enjoyable for your dd.

 

[Jonjo]

We don't have this problem with my family when we go out for a family outing. What tends to happen is that all the teens hang out together and the Grand Parents look after the younger ones, and thoses other adults without kids, like DW and I play auntie and uncle for the day and look after the other childern to give the parents a bit of a break. Then we all meet up for lunch and have a swap around of who we are looking after.

I would split the group up in two for two days as you have enough older teens and adults to do this and each group do a diffent land and agree to meet up for lunch.

You have the advantage this time that your brother and mum have both been before so know their way around the parks.

I'm sure all the teens in the group willl want to hang out by them selves anyway for one day. And that your mum would enjoy looking after the younger ones one afternoon too.

Plus remember for at least one day to get some you time with your DH and DD's.

 

[noodlesmum]

Hi! Everyone has already given some really good advice already but thought I'd add that DLP can be pretty intimidating first time round - I'm taking my Mum with us this year and I know she would hate to be left to her own devices as she wouldn't know where to start! So maybe your first day you could do all together so that the rest of your group feel more confident to go off by themselves on subsequent days? If you have gone over things at home with maps and plans before hand like others have mentioned then stick together on the first day and do a fairly typical day e.g. Breakfast, EMH in MK, maybe stay in the MK till lunch, pop over to the studios - watch the parade, do a few select rides but point out other rides/shows, back to MK for evening parades etc on the other days they might feel a bit more at ease navigating between things, finding the loo, putting tickets in the machines, getting fastpasses etc. You will end up being the tourguide for a day, but that in itself would be quite fun (for one day!) and everyone else should be a bit more at ease with the parks.

I know the first time I went with DH we looked at the maps before hand but I don't think he "got it" till we were actually there with a map if that makes sense? Also going from other non-disney holidays I've had in a big group - nothing can cause arguements like choosing where to eat - esp when you are tired and hungry (and cold!) - I'd discuss eveing meals in advance with everyone and then have them all booked in advance so that's one less thing to worry about!

 

[jothp]

Hi, I think you should definately try to talk to your family to sort out what you will be doing before you leave to avoid arguments when you are there.

Maybe you could suggest spending the mornings together and then splitting up after lunch to give everybody time to do their own thing? You could then meet again later in the day for dinner. Perhaps have a plan to do a different part of the park / studios each morning so you can do lots of different things
together then sell splitting up as a chance for everyone to do their favourites again.

If your family are disorganised perhaps you could make a little information sheet for them with some good places to eat, the rides to get fastpasses for, the best rides to do early before the park gets busy etc. Armed with this information they might feel more comfortable spending a whole day alone.

If you are planning on eating any sit down meals together then it would probably be worth deciding and booking tables as you are a large group.

This is a very tricky dilemma and hope you get it sorted without upsetting anyone.

 

[Rosabelle]

awww you're all so good i don't feel as pressured now!

tourguide barbie i was thinking of you as i wrote this post

ok i think you're all dead right, i'll get some maps and planners and we'll have a sit down strategy meeting before we go .

there's 2 teens and one is my dd who is disabled and needs minding so she cant really go off with my niece by herself but i'm sure we'll figure something out so they can have some time to themselves without the mammies around

now, where do i get maps and scedules before we go?

thank you all,

rosabelle x

 

[loladelorean]

It's a great idea to have a meeting beforehand, and probably a necessity!
I would suggest that you start off the meeting by giving them information, maybe print out info from dlrpmagic (you can print out maps from here! i've already done it), or pass around guidebooks. Use Youtube to show them ride videos etc.
Another important thing I'd recommend is having a mini meeting every night DURING the trip too, to plan who is doing what the next day. You might still have to take on the organiser role to get this done, but its better than doing it as you go along!