Travelling with friends - WWYD

[Andy Lou & Meg]

Hi all, its been a while since my last post (although the daily reading of the site still happens)

A group of us have decided to travel to the world next year. This will be our 6 visit and the first time for our friends. Having left the entire trip in my capable hands I was just wondering how you would deal with the accommodation.

Do we go for a Villa, Hotel, Disney or one of the vacation resorts?

I have been given a budget of £7,000 per family but that has to cover everything from hotel, car hire, tickets, hotel, flight and spending money.

There will be 4 adults and 2 teenagers (both girls)

Any suggestions / recommendations

 

[queendisney]

I think the first question here is just how well do you get along? Have you ever spent that amt of time together before? Do you think that maybe you would want to have some away time in the evenings? I know that when we went as a huge family plus a friend, we was VERY glad to have separate accommodation from them. We were all in the same resort but the rooms were spread all over the resort! I am so grateful that we didn't go for a big villa!!!

 

[laura_<3]

I think the first question here is just how well do you get along? Have you ever spent that amt of time together before? Do you think that maybe you would want to have some away time in the evenings? I know that when we went as a huge family plus a friend, we was VERY glad to have separate accommodation from them. We were all in the same resort but the rooms were spread all over the resort! I am so grateful that we didn't go for a big villa!!!

I agree. No matter how close I am to my friends, I think I would prefer my own space (I'm sure they would also ).

 

[Disneynutinlondon]

Agreed with PP. When we went with friends as per my sig pics we had separate rooms at the hotel. We asked at check in if we could all be on the same floor so we were all quite near each other but it was lovely to have some "family time" 1st thing in the morning and last thing at night.

 

[WiganTony]

Something else to consider besides how well you get on with the others, is are you all on the same "wavelength" when it comes to getting up to visit the parks (will some want to start early, others later, some may want to decide on the day whereas others may want a bit of a plan etc etc).

As noted above, rather than rent a villa, consider an apartment/studio per family to give yourselves some space away from each other, and I would also consider renting at least two cars so that the group can split if they want to do different things on any day.

At the risk of sounding like Victor Meldrew, after once planning to go to the Canaries with some friends and problems we had even before leaving, I am now very much of the "travel on our own" view - that way we only have ourselves to please!! Must be a sign of getting old(er)........

 

[Constant]

Do we go for a Villa, Hotel, Disney or one of the vacation resorts?

One year we went rather than a large villa we booked a couple of Town Houses in Windsor Hills (I think 3 beds?) which each had their own little splash pool. We went direct with owner so we were virtually next door and they were big enough to have group meals in but almost the same price as a 5-6 bed villa.

We are DVC members now and if the girls get on well how about renting DVC points. Their is a rent / trade board on Disboards and DVCrequest.com is a Disboards sponsor. With a 2 bed villa in Kidani and in Bay Lake Tower you can have a 3 room 'suite' which has a double and single sofa bed, we are going in a similar situation with friends and the girls are best of friends so they are staying in the living area and the adults each have their own 'private space'. Also has 3 full baths. The adults in the studio get their own door to come and go, the ones in the master bed get a bigger bathroom.

Costs are $13 a point and worst case in August is around $6916 for Animal Kingdom standard and $8567 for Bay Lake Tower so from around £4400 total. I doubt you could get cheaper and stay on site, we have stayed in both and they are both fantastic being able to walk to Magic Kingdom.

Otherwise a villa, you can find some with great space so you may not feel too trapped but it depends on how well you know each other.

 

[RDP]

Hi all, its been a while since my last post (although the daily reading of the site still happens)

A group of us have decided to travel to the world next year. This will be our 6 visit and the first time for our friends. Having left the entire trip in my capable hands I was just wondering how you would deal with the accommodation.

Do we go for a Villa, Hotel, Disney or one of the vacation resorts?

I have been given a budget of £7,000 per family but that has to cover everything from hotel, car hire, tickets, hotel, flight and spending money.

There will be 4 adults and 2 teenagers (both girls)

Any suggestions / recommendations

I would suggest each family getting their own transportation. Friends of ours went with a family that had a completely different way of holidaying and they found it very restrictive that they only had one car. Unless you all get up and out in the morning at the same time, like the same parks / activities on the same day, all like shopping together…..you may find the holiday a bit restrictive. The best option in my view is to go your separate ways in the day and all get together to compare notes and socialise in the evening. HAVE A GREAT TIME!

 

[dixonsontour]

Never been with friends but have seen many a moan on here and the dibb about holidays with family and friends.

Things that seem to cause fall outs -

1. Different touring styles eg one person who wont get out of bed, one person who only wants to sunbathe
2. Only having one car if you are offsite
3. Different eating styles - one person wont eat anywhere other than mcdonalds, other DH wont tip etc

Would onsite work in 2 rooms or studios with free ddp. Then you can use disney transport to come and go how you please. Also if you eat together you will only have to worry about the tip no dividing up bills.

Maybe set out the options and pros and cons and have a planning meeting?

If they are clueless get them to read the brit's guide to orlando by simon veness first to avoid the which disney park is harry potter world in conversations

 

[queendisney]

If they are clueless get them to read the brit's guide to orlando by simon veness first to avoid the which disney park is harry potter world in conversations

That made me laugh because that came up in our conversation...we also had the one person that just wanted to sit next to the pool and drink a beer all day. One who thought Disney and Universal were the same company and that their WDW pass would get them into US/IOA, also they thought that 'staying in the heart of the magic' meant the hotel was actually in the park...I may add this happend AFTER we had a planning meeting...Luckily they only went for 2 weeks and we stuck them on the Magical Express at the end turned to each other and just smiled with relief and enjoyed our 3rd week SO MUCH!

 

[zippy99]

You probably have seen a trend here - but having gone with friends last year and staying offsite I cannot stress enough the need for two cars!

Our friends are pretty laid back but liked to lie in - I was eager to get to parks for 9am for opening so we could do key attractions first then relax a bit - whereas they wanted to leave at 9am, then stop for breakfast... by the time we got there it was 11.30!

If you stay on site you have a bit more flexibility as you can use the Disney transport.

We much prefer onsite and have always stayed this way - but our friends thought it was restrictive and expensive... hence the villa. I remember him saying to me in the second week - "so how do you enjoy the freedom of not staying at Disney" - I bit my lip because all i could think was never had i felt so trapped, restricted and held to ransom by others!

Don't get me wrong, we would go with friends again, but we would ensure we were fully self-sufficient to come and go and do as we please.

 

[UKDEB]

The first thing that occurs to me is that £7,000 per family is a healthy budget. We're not ones to scrimp and that would do us well.

We've been with several different groups of friends over the years (and all multiple times with each, so it can work!) You've already had some good advice. Separate cars are key, I'd say. You'll have a honeymoon period at the start of the trip where everyone is just happy to be there and wants to be together, but then your differences will start to creep in. Having your own cars means you'll be free to do your own thing and just meet up when it suits.

Over the years we've pretty much covered the gamut of accommodation options. We've stayed offsite in villas, offsite in hotels; we've had times where we've stayed at villas for the duration with a night or two onsite, and others where we've spent the entire holiday onsite. There are advantages and disadvantages all around. For us, the villa option is perfect when we're travelling with others. Some of the best laughs we've had have been back at the villa after a day in the parks, playing pool in the games room or just relaxing around the pool. My ideal for your party make-up would be a villa with maybe two nights onsite at Universal.

 

[paulh]

agree with most here, separate cars a must,plan were your going and advise them what your doing.leave it up to them to decide if they want to do the same
If going to same parks on same days as its there first time,at start show them the ropes then leave them to themselves
if planning on eating together meet up for it rather than trapesing around all day together.That way you can discuss your day as a highlight of the meal
Remember its your holiday as well as there's
think there is a theme growing among the threads.
Paul

 

[joolz1910]

I would want my own space, but that's the way I am. Also two teenage girls could easily fall out (not to mention the adults )! I would go for adjoining hotel rooms onsite with DDP.

Unless everyone is very similar or laid back, you might find yourself feeling like you are compromising to make their holiday special. Like others have said - I would have separate itineraries with time built in to meet up.

 

[lin85prest]

Definitely need own transport and if you decide to go for a villa make sure the adults at least have master suites it makes a huge difference having own bathrooms.

 

[LauraDaveCharlie]

We have been with the same set of friends a few times. The first time we stayed at POFQ in rooms next to one another. This was pretty good but we still had some tricky moments when we discovered one of us was not good in the morning!

The next time we stayed at the ASMo but in different buildings - this was better still but still was a bit tense on a few early mornings and late nights.

The third time we stayed in seperate resorts - this was perfect! We met up after breakfast (very important) in the parks and said goodbye in the afternoons after a pleasant day touring. We then had evenings to ourselves. This was definitely the best relationship we had with anyone we have been on holiday with!!