Tips for touring plans with extended family?

[Megara5115]

We are planning a trip next year that will include our family, my parents and my brother and sister in law. We will have a 12 year old (who will go on all rides) and a two year old. My brother and sister in law are experienced Disney goers and know what they like to do and my parents will most likely go with the flow for the most part. Any tips on how to make this all work with fast passes, ADRS etc etc? We don't have to spend all day every day together and I imagine we will end up staying at different resorts. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Bete]

Start off with agreeing on which parks on which days. I would try to get everyone to agree on core hours of being together. Those core hours should be later morning into the afternoon. For those who want to sleep in then this will work out okay. Pick a meeting point at the park fo everyone to gather together. Then, whoever wants to take the lead can do the fastpass reservations for everyone. This is not written in stone, either. You could always change a fastpass on the run.

You can get into a lot of shows without difficulty. You can see parades and fireworks without too much difficulty. Think about doing the desert party for MK, the Fantasmic meal package, and an Illuminations cruise. Do a backstage tour together.

Utilize extra magic hours for those who can get up early and stay up late.

Figure out a meal time that everyone can live with each day. Then make your ADRs. It might be nice if everyone took a turn to pick a place. Then, there shouldn't be any hard feelings.

 

[minnierocks]

We took a trip with 13 of us. We had a park of the day and we had dinner together...we also had a "do whatever you want to do" day, in the middle of the week. I (the official planner) made all the ADR's for the group and picked the park of the day based on crowd predictions. This plan worked really well for us. It allowed those who wanted to sleep in or stay late do so. It allowed for the different age groups to do what interested them most...and the day in the middle of the week, allowed some of the group go to Sea World which was very important to them. We kept in contact during the day and spent a good portion of the day together, but the flexibility made sure that everyone was able to plan their days without feeling pressure to stay together. We had a great week! Dinner was a good time to sit down as a family and talk about our day...and afterwards-everyone was off to do their own thing.

 

[tanyaegangibson]

I am the family planner for these sorts of vacations, which we take with our kids and my in-laws. (We are doing our first WDW one next week but have done 5 DLR intergenerational trips.) I did a ton of pre-planning for the upcoming one, which included a lot of ADRs because my in-laws really like table service, FPs that took into account rides that my MIL won't do but my FIL and DH are dying to do, and a character meal that my kids will love but DH and the in-laws would pay money NOT to attend. I've sent two "newsletters" that let folks know what they can opt into or out of and have made it clear ahead of time that the kids and I will be taking advantage of EMH and are leaving the resort at a specific time and that folks who don't want to get up that early are free to meet us later. In addition, everyone is getting a printed-out guide to possible things they might like to do at WDW (not a schedule, but a list of options).

I do think that putting out there in advance that you understand that everyone's "perfect" vacation is different and including a lot of options (we could do x or we could spend more time at the resort swimming in the pool--everyone choose what they want to do and we will meet at the restaurant at 8:00 pm) really helps to keep people from resenting each other! On our earlier trips, I know my in-laws probably wished they could just relax at the hotel but felt obligated to go back to the parks. And similarly, I was frustrated about sitting at the pool when I would have rather been on rides! Now, because I put in writing that we are not obligated to do everything as a group, it's so much more pleasant. Being specific ("anyone who wants to go to EMH at MK will go to the bus top at 6:15 a.m. If you would rather go later, we will leave the car for you") really allows people to do what they really want.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Our trip will be at the end of January with my family (me, DH, DD9), my parents (mid-late 60s), DH's Brother and family (BIL, SIL, NPH15, N5) and his mother (late 60s). BIL's family goes to WDW at least every two years. DH hasn't been since a child, my folks since 1990.
I'm the planner of our group (my family, Parents, MIL), which I am okay with as they will just do whatever we plan. BIL's family I'm trying to be arms-length to their plans. Meaning, I don't really want ownership of that, nor they might not want me to anyways!

I'm only concerned around FP times. We could realistically be at opposite ends of the park all day and not get to ride together. I'm not sure how much of a planner BIL/SIL are when it comes to WDW. They don't typically stay on property either, so the FP booking 60 days out will certainly be new to them.

There are some great tips above about setting expectations and meeting times.