Traveling with a Group

[tracylynnhare]

We have booked 3 rooms to take our immediate family on a big trip!! My DH, DD and her DB (both graduating HS); DS his DW (recently married!!) and our two grandsons (both 8), and finally DS and his girlfriend. Should we attempt to stay together most of the time? I know the two teens will wonder off and do their own thing and I know I will 'want' to see the grandkids enjoying the trip! But how much is too much!? For us or for them? Anyone tried this?? Have suggestions.... 'horror stories' or 'warm fuzzies' ... lol

 

[sunshinemelody]

I would leave everyone else to their own devices. Your grandkids should definitely stay with you, though. I'd meet up for certain rides if you'd like and for meals, but other than that, let everyone do their own thing.

 

[PSUGuy]

In 2004 I sprung for a trip for our family, wifey and I, oldest daughter, younger daughter and her hubby and grand child, son and his GF and my 78 yr old Mom. I ran the show as a Benevolent Dictator. I got all of us to the park du jour at RD but we went our separate ways, if desired, in the afternoon. The videos I took of that trip are among our favorites so I've got fresh reminders of the 8 days. Only my son and his GF split in the pm, most videos show the rest of us all together most of the time, by choice.

Bill From PA

 

[princess_ariel_85]

I would leave everyone else to their own devices. Your grandkids should definitely stay with you, though. I'd meet up for certain rides if you'd like and for meals, but other than that, let everyone do their own thing.

This.

As much as I love mine & DH's family and it was a genuine pleasure getting my folks over to WDW for their first ever trip I can safely say touring in groups is exhausting lol.

Everyone has different likes/dislikes, for instance my Mum and FIL don't like big rides and spent a lot of time as designated bag holders, or my parents are the early to bed early to rise kind of people so they'd be in bed when we were out at the parks and vice versa. Then in the parks you get to the toilets and 7 out of 8 people want to go, then ten minutes later the 8th will chime in they need to go and before you know it you've visited every restroom in the Magic Kingdom . We often refer to the 2011 trip as the 'Tour of the toilets'

On the other hand it's nice to have photos of everyone in them and some experiences are worth the 50th trip to the loo.

 

[2Gma]

It really depends on your family dynamics. Do you guys enjoy being together and visiting? get along with each other? does everyone seem to enjoy going the same pace? is this a first trip for anyone? If I was going with a larger family group it would be fun to hang out for certain rides/meet and greets and dinners but would expect everyone has certain priorities or things they want to see so breaking apart and rejoining would be expected. This should be pretty easy nowadays with cell phones/texting. It would be nice to have a loose plan for the week of which parks/ADRs and pool days are planned so everyone knows what to expect/where to be. Vacation can be a great way to strengthen or rebuild family bonds, but watch out for signs of family overload and adjust accordingly

 

[Mikie]

My 3 generation family trip was much like @PSUGuy describes, though I was some kind of "elected dictator" and I didn't foot the bill!

We had a sit-down meal all together once per day and went to the same parks (we didn't do hoppers) and I tried to tell everyone "here's what I'm doing. It may not best fit your sub-group, so feel free to split up and we'll reassemble" but we rarely did split. Pretty much when there was a split between thrill ride or not, we split just for that ride and rejoined quickly. One day my group didn't rope drop but everyone else did and we met up before noon, remaining together after. After dinner or evening fireworks, we split off to our rooms, so some evenings, that meant a bit more personal time (rest, pool, tv) from 8:30 or so on, but some eves that meant straight to crashing in bed.

I would set a minimum expectation of togetherness - perhaps one meal per day, perhaps rope drop through lunch, etc. then let folks do as they like, which may still include a lot of voluntary togetherness!

If you plan to split, make sure you "assign" each couple or sub-group some time with you, so you don't find at the end of the trip that you completely missed out on together time with one person.

I think it's best to plan some private time daily and be pleasantly surprised in everyone wants to stick together, vs planning too much group time and finding someone going nuts, not sure whether to rock the boat and defect!

 

[tracylynnhare]

All such good advice! I guess we will play it by ear and I just hope that we all end up spending alot of time together! I am guessing the two 17 year olds will wander off alot... they have a lot more energy, hahahah. I don't know if DH can keep up with them OR the 8 year olds!! hahahah, but we sure are going to try! I can't wait to see how it all turns out! Thanks for all the advice .

 

[mindeola]

We travel with three generations and there are 15 of us. When we have done Disney, we have one table service meal a day together and we do the same park each day. We tend to split up- My mom and I will take little ones and all the adventurous ones will ride bigger rides. We try to meet up at some shows. For the most part it is fairly easy. You just have to have a plan ahead of time. Planning is key. Nothing gets a group frustrated like standing around trying to figure out what to do. We do not live near each other, so on vacation we want to spend time together.