WDW vacation with relatives/friends

[ncbyrne]

I've read many threads over the years about traveling with other people. A lot of the time for many families, it didn't work out as planned. Although DH and I have successfully traveled to non-WDW destinations with others, it seems that no two families do WDW in the same way! One time, on a trip to WDW with another couple I thought I'd lose my mind! Worst vacation of my life! Even though we stressed over and over ahead of time that each one will do their own thing and that we'll meet up for dinner, or whatever...it just never happens that way. Folks who don't know WDW feel like they want to be with us every minute...but yet want us to follow THEM in the parks! DH and I don't go to WDW to relax - those kinds of vacations are cruises, a week at the beach, mountains, etc. WDW trips are expensive and we want to get the most bang for the buck - we are commandos! How do you get other family members to adhere to the preplanned agreements without someone getting bent out of shape!?

 

[Tinkim]

I have no idea. In January 2004 our family went to WDW with my best friend's family. My best friend is a Disney lover too and she thought it would be a once in a lifetime deal. We had crammed so much stuff into our itinerary that I knew we wouldn't possibly be able to do it all. Things fell apart when we got there though because they wanted all the autographs they could get and wanted to venture in to every gift shop in the world. My kids and DH were getting impatient to "do something" and that is when the trouble began. Like I mentioned in another thread I think the other family wanted to do the leisurely stroll through the parks while taking it all in but they also wanted to hit every ride, show, attraction, parade, etc. They seemed aggravated at the end of the day with me for not wanting to wait on every character for an autograph or not waiting patiently outside of every gift store but at the same time they felt disappointed when they missed out on a ride or fireworks. My kids and I went again a year later and had an awesome trip and did so much more than the previous trip and had time to do silly things too. We are going to attempt to do the 2-family thing again next February but we have already agreed to disagree. If her family wants to stop and get every character to autograph their book they have to understand that we are going to go on a ride or something and we may have to split up. I have come to the conclusion that I can't make her family happy by making mine miserable. My DD has a lot of autographs in her book that she has been using the last two trips and she only needs a few each trip to make her happy. Her kids have lost their autograph books and need to start all over. That is a priority for them and I understand that but it won't be a priority for us. So I think we will go to the same park but split up and do our own thing for part of the day and meet up later. I just hope that they don't spend all their time standing in line and feel disappointed if we end up doing more than they do again. Time will tell. I know if this trip doesn't work out my DH probably will refuse to do it again so I am hoping for the best.

 

[shirleyb]

We are going with friends in May. They've been once, and we've been once. We're morning people, and they're not, so we've figured we would probably only spend evenings, or maybe a day in the water park together.

 

[madison66]

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[mjmcca]

I went with my 3 aunts ( one is a nun so no kids) and my cousins and their kids twice. This was while i was still single the first time and not that long after i was married the second time so i was alone (hubby doesnt like disney). I had a good time because we split up a lot and i got to spend tiem with my aunts.


This last trip i went to the parks one day with a good freind her kids her mom her sister my kids and my husbands cousin. The kids had a blast. We werent in the parks long cause we started out late.


I have been to Disney many times . I go back even if I am not sure when on my current trip i always know i am going back so i dont stress over what I dont do or see.

 

[FreeTime]

I have went on way too many trips with others that we have decided after our October trip that we have planned it will only be immediate family only. If someone else wants to know when we are going because they want to go (we have a family member who won't take their family anywhere without another family), we will tell them the dates and give them the 407-WDISNEY number. Then tell them we will meet them for dinner one night. I refuse to stress over taking trips with others any more. Sorry, I know I didn't offer any advice except to not go with anyone.

 

[Keokagal]

DH and I are going w 2 other families. We have been 4 times they have been once. I have created an itinerary based upon the children. Each fam. will have a cell phone. We had a meeting where I explained we all have spent a bundle, we all want to have fun, therefore the itinerary is an outline that can be changed at will. DH and I are early risers and are not bringing our chilren ( they are older now), we will be up and out before the other families get brkf. I told them to call when they arrived at a park and they could meet us to cont or start their own tour. We have many meals planned together. Hopefully all will go well. I don't want any stressing for anyone, hehe esp. me!

 

[suevee]

We are going with 17 people in Feb 2006. We have been before with big and small groups. What I do is plan my itinerary of what I want to do. I print it out and give it to everyone a few months ahead of time. Then I ask what Ps they would like to be included in. I make it clear I want everyone to have a great time, including ME! Everyone is invited to go along with me or to do their own thing. It has always worked out great. In fact on of the newbies I am taking has asked to go because of all the good reports I have gotten from other friends on my planning!

 

[WheresGoofy]

Reading these posts an image of a car commercial came to my mind where the husband and wife try to get up first to drive the chosen vehicle for that day. This thought could apply to travelling with friends or family that you wish to do your own thing. Wake up early and sneak off.

We have family gatherings about once every 5 years where my parents join us and my 2 sisters. I create a tenative schedule and make all of the PS arrangements after getting a concensus of what types of places everyone wants to eat at and do. Not sure how that will work with the new meal plans this next time, but I will figure it out. It should be great this next family vacation because my dw and I might actually get to ride a thrill ride together instead of doing the child swap thing.

We all gather at WDW and all know where we are eating breakfast and dinner as a family and what park we are starting out at and if at anytime anyone wants to separate, they can, if not we just enjoy getting to spend another magical vacation together at Disney as a family.

I know from other vacations to misc. places with friends before marriage it was irritating when they slowed me down and dragged me to things I didn't want to go to. What I have learned from those vacations is pre-arrange meals or something on that line and make it clear that you may not hang around them for the whole time. If vehicles are required, make sure one is yours.

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

That is the reason why I'll never take a trip to WDW (or anywhere else for that matter) with another family. My parents used to live north of Orlando and 10 years ago DB and DSIL visited my parents 2 weeks before DH and I visited. They went to MK and MGM and we went to US and SeaWorld. On our trip my parents insisted on packing lunch each day-because they were so upset about the price of food, souviners, etc. To this day my DF STILL complains about how much a hot dog cost him at WDW! My family has made many trips to WDW and we have our own style of vacationing. I don't want to waste our precious time together (and $$ for that fact) trying to compromise with someone else. I considered planning a vacation with DH family, but his DS and DBIL have very different parenting styles and can be overbearing and abrassive. I can already see disaster before the deposit is even made. So, it's just fine for me to vacation by ourselves.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

We have been very lucky so far. This will be our third trip to WDW this summer and we are going with my sister and DBIL for the third time!

We have always loved our vacations and sometimes can't imagine going without them. My DH and DBIL are like brothers. Not tomention that DBIL is an avid WDCC collector and a hhuge Disney fan.

We have never had any problems touring together, they understand that with two DDs the touring is different than adults only, but that's o.k. cause we are like big kids anyway.

We discuss the vacation before leaving and they agree that we will not always be together all the time, especially if we plan on taking it easy one day. Then we all meet for dinner and go to an evening show afterwards.

My sis and DBIL are very flexible so they pretty much go along with anything that goes with touring. We went big time commando the last 2 times and have decided that we would try(!!!!) to slow down and do our favorite attractions. They love the character meals and having our 2 dds gives them an excuse to tag along!!!

We have a cruise planned for 2006, and we can't wait to see CC together along with all the cruise activities.

I think that you need to discuss with the other people before leaving, are they o.k. with touring separately on certain days? Do half days together then split-up and meet for dinner. I think that when families agree that they may need to be on their own part of the time, it makes for a very fulfilling vacation for everyone.

 

[rkrivas]

After going to WDW with my in-laws and my parents on separate trips, I am convinced that my happiness level with my trip is inversely related to the number of people that go. We joke that my in-laws were harder to deal with then my toddlers! When we went with my parents and sister in '92, my mother and sister whined the entire time at the parks that I don't think we've done anything more than weekend trips with them since then.

Fortunately, I, my DH and kids seem to enjoy doing things at the same pace -- we're up early, willing to stick to a loose itinerary, etc..., so most future trips to WDW will probably just be the four of us.

 

[Danauk]

DH and I have been to WDW and DLP with our best friends and are planning another 2 weeks at WDW with them over Christmas.
We make sure we plan ahead. We decide together which parks or activities we will do on which day. Then we decide which activities we all want to do and do these together in the morning. Then we split up for the rest of the day and meet up again at the resort for dinner. This seems to work for us.

 

[suemac]

We went last October with friends. I made my families plans and said you are welcome to tag along but this is what we are doing. I like to get the most out of our vacations at Disney. They said they "might" follow along once in a while.

Well...they followed all week. And thanked us at the end for showing them more than they would have ever sen alone!

Do what suits you! They will follow or they will not....either way , enjoy it YOUR way! It is too much time and money to have regrets!

 

[trappednabox]

we were SUPPOSED to take this trip with a very close friend of the family, we're so close everyone thinks she's my mom, but everytime I would try to get her to sit down and plan, something would come up and she couldn't do it. Then she couldn't decied what resort to stay at or if even to stay onsite. Then they wanted to exact trip we had planned, but then decided it was to much money! UGH! I was sooooo glad, as bad as that might sound, they decided they wanted to do other things with the money they had saved for their vaca. I'll be more than happy to bring her and her kids something back, but I will NEVER again tell them where I'm going on vaca!

 

[Got Quattro?]

DH and I don't go to WDW to relax :

The only reason I go to WDW instead of <insert vaction idea here>, is becuase I know I will relax at WDW. I don't have to worry about the hotel, I know that my disney hotel will meet all expectations based on the catagory I buy.

The rereation is superb, beyond the parks. Shopping, golf, pools, food. All top notch.

Since we go so often, we are not moving at light speed to see everything. if I miss tower of terror this time, oh well, i will see it next time.

So, in short, WDW is theropy for me.

 

[llij]

We've had two very different experiences with going with a large group of people. One great and one not so good.

Our first extended trip was in November 2002 with 10 people on my side of the family. I thought this was our only big trip to Disney at the time (Ha! Ha!) so I overplanned everything and ran us all into the ground. We also stuck to each other like glue which was a big problem with kids of differing interests, so alas it was not a memorable trip. I can blame myself for that one. Sadly, my sister is no longer a Disney fan and no matter how many times I have invited her on another trip she turns it down. I'm taking her kids in a few weeks though!

Fast forward a few months after that trip. A college friend of mine called to get advice on going to Disney. We had a great talk and I was missing Disney and wanted to go back to rectify that not so nice trip. My DH and I planned a trip for just our family, but it ended up being 25 of us going. (College friends, their kids, and all of our parents.) It ended up being one of the best trips. We were still in semi commando mode, but we were flexible and split up a lot. We would meet at dinner and in the end everyone was very happy.

Since then we've been to Disney with my parents and those have been magical trips. I think for us it works out great b/c we love Disney and have the same touring style.

 

[Cookie Princess]

Leave them at home. We have taken one of those "family" vacations and vow never to do it again!