Trip with Friends

[Golden Rose]

There are so many horror stories on the Dis about all the things that can go wrong when you bring friends along on your DVC trips that I just quickly wanted to share our experience. We love to go to WDW, several of our friends love to go to WDW, and our friends know we go relatively often. A bit over a year ago, one of the families we're close to suggested, "why don't we go together next year?" I said, "great, we'll get a 2 bedroom villa; plan to stay with us." Our friends love WDW, but had never stayed on property before. We let them choose the week that worked best for their schedule. I reserved a 2 bedroom Boardwalk view room at the BWV right at the 11 month mark. I made it clear to our friends that once booked, we had to go _that_ week, and we needed a month or more notice if they weren't going to be able to make it. They knew we were going to get the room on points, and they said they wanted to reimburse us in some way for their share, but we did not work out any details of how to handle it. I know, this sounds like it could be a recipe for disaster. It wasn't.

Our group was me, DH, and DS, age 5, and our close friends who have a DD, age 13, and a DS, age 6, who is one of our DS's best friends. Our friends were blown away by the BWV; they loved the location, they loved the view, they loved the space, they didn't even mind the clown pool. They couldn't believe how easy it was to walk to Epcot and DHS. They let me plan all the ADRs and the schedule; they weren't used to doing a lot of sit-down meals, and had no idea that there were restaurants the quality of Cali Grill and Bistro de Paris at WDW, even though they'd been there many times. In their previous trips, they had generally done the parks commando style... we go often enough that if the line isn't short and we can't get a fast pass for a reasonable return, we just skip the ride, and we don't stress about what time we get to the parks. They decided to try it our way, (although they did get up early the first morning to be at the MK for rope drop, and met up with us about an hour and a half later when we got there.)

Honestly, it was the best trip we've ever taken. We loved having friends along. My DH and DGF and her DD13 love the thrill rides and did a fair number of them together; the other four of us did other things. I can't explain what made this particular trip so magical, except that sharing it with friends we love made it more special. We had a lot of good food, good alcohol, good conversation, and great times. We keep APs, and obviously our accommodations were covered, so it wasn't even particularly expensive for us, since all we were paying for was food. (And, with our full kitchen, we had all breakfasts in the room...) We also got a TiW card, and it saved us a fortune. (It paid for itself on night two alone, at the Cali Grill.)

The one and only fight we had with our friends was upon our return, when we tried to figure out how to handle the money. They wanted to reimburse us for rack rate for the room. We laughed ourselves silly at that thought, and had to explain how DVC was such a good deal in such excruciating detail that they have decided that they will probably buy DVC next year. I suggested that they should just give us what they would have paid for the place they got the previous trip, if they were determined to pay something. They laughed themselves pretty silly at that one, since the quality and convenience of the BWV was so far superior to their previous accommodations. Coming to a compromise that we could all live with on the money was actually surprisingly tough - they wanted to pay us far more than we thought was reasonable, and we would have been perfectly happy to treat them. We were all determined not to let anyone feel taken advantage of, and in the end, I think we're all reasonably content. (We still think they gave us too much money, they still think they gave us too little.)

It was such an amazing trip. We would be happy to bring them along with us any time we go. We've all agreed that we will do this again, probably in 2012. They are hoping to purchase DVC by then, and we're all hoping that we can convince other friends in our group to come along at the same time.

Anyway, for those of you thinking about taking friends with you, all I can say is that it can be an amazing way to enjoy WDW. I know when I asked about it here, when we were still just considering doing it, I got a lot of warnings about how bad it can be. I am so glad we did the trip with friends, and now am hoping we can plan most of our trips with others that we love.

 

[Chuck S]

Most of my trips with friends have worked out just fine, but there have been a couple of trips that did not work. It really depends entirely upon who you take. Some people are "selfish" travelers, and think the world revolves around them. The best people to take, for us, are the ones that are laid-back and go with the flow. We do very little planning, except we do usually reserve a TS for lunch, so we do have a little bit of an idea what park on which day. We break off into our own sub-groups during part of the day, so everybody gets to do what they want, and it works out.

Traveling with relatives is usually harder than traveling with close friends.

 

[bobbiwoz]

It's wonderful when trips with family/friends work out, like yours did. We have been fortunate in that regard as well. On our first large group vacation, one of my DGFs, who was without her own family on the trip, mentioned how wonderful it was to travel with lots of people all of whom would welcome one another if he/she cared to join their smaller group.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Bobbi

 

[Cee]

Last Nov. I took my bff to WDW for the first time. She is a real cynic and I was concerned that I would have to toss her if she "dissed" my Happy Place. But when we got to SSR she was transformed. She said, "I don't know how to act in such luxury!" Mind you, she's used to staying at Budget Inns and the like when visiting her DS in college.

When I asked about dining, she said that I was the expert and she would leave it all up to me. I've never known her to relinquish control and so that was another first. One day we were eating outside at the Brewery on the BW and she sighed and said, "I think I'd like to stay here next." NEXT???? There's going to be a next time???

I also did not make it a park trip. Toward the end of our stay she said, "I think I'd like to go to EPCOT." So off we went. She actually threw her arms up on Test Track.

Let me tell you folks, WDW transforms people. This was a whole different person. A happy, relaxed person and I was thrilled to have helped with that transformation.

Sometimes going with friends can be life changing....in a GOOD way.

 

[goofy4tink]

I went to WDW with a friend and her dd a few years ago..it was a wonderful mother/daughter trip for the four of us. I had reseved a boardwalk view 2 bedroom villa. My friend wanted to pay for 'her share', and refused to go if I didn't allow her to pay something. I just took the total points I used, subtracted what the difference between a one bdrm and a two bdrm was..then charged her about $10 a point for the difference. She got a great deal..made her happy and I was thrilled she didn't have to pay a huge amount.
I'm heading down with another friend and her dh next Oct. Not sure how that's going to work. I think I'm just going to book two studios..that way, if they back out, I can just cancel one studio..then my dh and I can go down by ourselves. Not sure how we'll handle the whole issue of 'paying' with this couple. I took just the wife down last year..and didn't ask her to pay anything towards the villa, even though I got a one bedroom vs a studio for 4 nights.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Anyway, for those of you thinking about taking friends with you, all I can say is that it can be an amazing way to enjoy WDW

Lovely post, your experience mirrors my experience with family/friend travel. We always take friends and family with us and we extend our DVC accomodations to them at no charge. Most will buy groceries or treat us to a nice dinner as a thank you but it's truly not necessary. We've hosted several family reunions (9-11 of us) (OKW GV's, superb) and those times have been magical. Maybe it's pixie dust clouding my memory but I can't remember any of us not getting along or worse yet experiencing some of the unpleasantness that I've read described on these boards.

We've enjoyed having all of them with us over the years. This Thanksgiving we are again taking a few friends and family with us to Disney and I can't wait!