Traveling with another family...

[kowalchicky]

We are thinking of asking another family to join us on one of our future trips.
I've heard good stories and I've heard bad stories about traveling with another family....I'm excited to ask them to join us but at the same time I'm afraid they might say no. We're thinking of asking my husbands brother and his family......I know the cousins would love to all be able to go together...We are DVC members so the accomendations would be on us....of coarse they would have to pay for all the other expenses...airfare,dining,etc....ANY suggestions on how to ask in a reassuring way that things will work out well ....
Also any helpful advice on traveling with another family would be greatly appreciated.

 

[carpetride]

We are doing it the first week in May, we have planned mostly together time but some separate time as well. Also each couple will get a night to go out for an "adult" dinner with out kids. The cousins will have a sleep over that night and mom and dad will get to sleep in a little the next morning.

 

[LISAVWL]

We've traveled with extended family on the past 4 or 5 trips and it's been great! We are DVC ovners too so there is more than enough room. We don't expect them to pay for accomodations, but park tickets, meals, etc are their responsibility.

I usually make out a rough plan for our family and tell our guests that they are more than welcome to join us but if there is something they'd rather do then they should feel free -- we won't be offeneded and probably could use the break. A little too much togetherness is not always a good thing!

I do make ADR for dinner for the whole group. But again, if they'd rather eat somewhere else -- fell free. We usually have breakfast in the room and counter service at the parks so that's pretty flexible too.

We have a Disney planning party about 4 months away from the vacation to decide on restaurants, rides, attractions and to get the guests familiar with the place if they haven't been before. We set "ground rules" and make sure everyone agrees well before the trip. That way no one feels like they're hurting feelings or invading on privacy issues.

 

[chris4disney]

We have gone to WDW three times in the past 2 years. Our second trip was with another couple and their 9 month old son. At the time our son was 2 yrs old. Their 9 month old was not as "easy going" as our son (to put it nicely ), so that put a damper on our trip. We did have a good time, but DH and I agreed that we would never go on another Disney trip with another family again. Atleast not for the whole week, maybe just a couple days, but then the rest of the week we would want just us two and our kids. I think part of the problem we had was that the other couple had never been to WDW before, so we felt that we should stick with them. Plus, the other couple had no problem starting an arguement between the two of them, which would make us a little uncomfortable at times. If in the future we would decide to travel with another family, I would definitly plan ahead to have certain days and/or evenings apart from them.

But don't let that stop you from traveling with another family. Lots of people do it and it works out fine. It just isn't our cup of tea.

 

[Alysa]

We have taken 21 family members and then 18...
Our advice - get seperate rooms if you do not share early bird/night owl tendencies - don't share a grand villa or two bedroom. I would only do this with my sister with whom I am very close. Only go with people you adore.
I think trouble occurs when you have someone who hates Disney and is being made to go by other family members (my brother), or someone who expects you to organize everything. Schedule lots of time apart - don't feel you have to go to the same parks every day. A trip like this does take a lot of planning to make it go smoothly however. Just do it quietly and be ready for everything.
Negative parts of our two trips:
1. My nephew and his dad got annoyed because their other cousins loved doing character greetings and my nephew and his dad just wanted to go on roller coasters together. Send everone out to do what they want to.
2. My uncle was a HUGE early riser - we are talking coffee grinder going off at 6 am. Solution - they had a studio - get food delivered for them in their room, not the grand villa kitchen only. Don't give out extra keys!
3. My aunt and uncle wanted dinner in the room together a lot to save money and we always felt bad about this because we love eating out at character meals with our kids. If you are going to share food, let your room-mates know if you are planning other meals.
That being said, that is three incidents in three weeks of vacations together with lots of people. I don't mean to sound negative or to imply that you should not try. We LOVE going with our family and they keep asking to come back every three years. Our next trip is already scheduled for next Christmas.
My favourites things about going with my family:
1. My daughter and nephew (same age) having SUCH a blast together.
2. Tonnes of extra laughs
3. Watching my mum cry at the fireworks
4. Extra babysitters and easy baby swapping
5. Reconnecting with my sister and parents
6. Taking my grandmother and memories of her the Christmas before she passed away.
Let me know if you have any other questions! Have a blast!

 

[Every_other_year]

We are planning our second trip with a large group. Our first trip went great. We were a group of 13 (4 families). We were on the dining plan and planned our TS meal together everyday. Other than that everyone was on their own for the rest of the day.

We stayed at POFQ, our rooms were all near one another. We would kinda gather together and if anyone's plans for the day overlapped they would kind of link up. If we got to the park and touring plans were different we would separate. We all knew where to meet for dinner that night. It worked out great. Like other posters have said. It was a great way to reconnect with people and also great for extra babysitters.

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[jakoky]

Our family went with 2 other families to WDW 2 years ago and it was great...we are a family of 5, there was another family of 5, and a family of 4...my kids were 13,11, and 9 and the other kids ranged from 3-13...because our expectations before we left were the same as the others, things were perfect...we hung out lots at the motel, planned a few meals together, and went to both water parks together...as for disney, a few days with met up with the family whose kids were close in age to ours and hung out for a couple of hours and then split up...we had NOT even 1 issue, it was great, and we are now in the process of planning a trip to mexico with the one family....have fun, it can definately work out and be a ton of fun, just discuss what everyone wants well ahead of time
sharon

 

[kowalchicky]

Thank you for all your advice......
I really appreciate it

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!