What’s my best option?

[Genie+]

One of the best features onsite offers is the ease to split up and not be joined at the hip. When visiting with extended family we like to outline stuff we’re doing together such as ADRs, VQs, night shows, etc. The rest of the time is flexible where everyone can split off as they choose, and even then we often keep bumping in to each other.

 

[disneylover81]

Just a couple of thoughts to throw out there for consideration, in case they didn't cross your mind. You have lots that you are thinking about with this trip!
1. Don't forget to factor in tolls to the cost of the rental car. It's not a huge cost, but just something to factor in.
2. The buses from SSR aren't any worse than any place else. Sometimes they are great, sometimes they are not. I've had this same experience at every WDW DVC I've stayed at where I had to take a bus.
3. Being at SSR will put you close to DS, so if your BIL and his wife end up not liking the parks, they can always walk over there and walk around and grab a bite to eat over there.
4. I would be bummed about giving up my BWV location too, but the renovated SSR rooms are quite nice. With a 2br, you will feel like you are in a mansion compared to the BWV studio. LOL!!!

I hope y'all have a great trip!

Thanks for your input. I had not considered tolls. We are just going to book Mears Connect and ride the WDW buses. DH doesn't want to be troubled with trying to drive us and the traffic to all the parks, etc. He said he enjoys not having to drive while we are there.

We've had our share of bus issues in the past as well, most recently last month, it seemed like buses were coming and going to every resort except ours when we were leaving AK. After almost an hour waiting, we finally ended up taking the 3rd Poly bus that came and riding the monorail to BLT.

It will be nice to walk to DS if any of us wanted to. We've never been able to do that before. The closest we came was POR Riverside, when we took the boat. We don't normally even go to DS, but like you said it's right there if they want to go look around. They do have a 4 year old, so they may want to go buy him a souvenir or something.

I do enjoy the 2 BR's. They are huge and great for spreading out. My family (7 of us total) stayed 2 nights at CCV & 2 nights at BLT in a 2 BR last year for our DVC Welcome Home trip. We booked so last minute, we had to do a split stay. We weren't really a fan of having to move resorts, but it was nice to be able to try out both rooms. We enjoyed the third bathroom at BLT and of course the location is amazing, the room itself wasn't that impressive though. I've always loved the WL and have stayed there several times over the years, so CCV was great.

SSR is growing on me the more I look at it, and we are only going for 4 nights, so it'll be fine. Plus when at WDW nothing gets me down!

We are booked next May at VGF for our anniversary trip, but I think I will try to get lucky again with a BWV room at 7 months or put in a waitlist and hope for the best. Especially with it appearing that the lobby might be under construction at GF.

 

[disneylover81]

I totally get you and your husbands perspectives.
When we planned our first trip with my BIL (I'm the single sister who travels with them a lot lol) I was really trying to pull all the stops (pre-DVC) and it worked b/c now he loves WDW.

We are planning a big trip in 2025 and he's inviting his parents and brothers and I'm def going to refer them to my travel agent friend b/c I've planned one huge trip before and it's exhausting!

I hope you all have a wonderful time and it opens the door to more fun family trips!

You are right. When I planned my 40th birthday girl trip (also pre-dvc), I insisted we would stay on the monorail with a MK view so I booked CR Main Tower TPV. Everyone was like we can stay in a value resort and save the money, but nope, I am not a value resort kinda girl. And when we got pixie dusted with a Main Building MK view at GF, I must say everyone was quite impressed. My one friend kept saying how fancy she felt staying there and how she would never have gotten to do that if she had booked that trip on her because she'd have been at the All-Stars or something. I do want his brother to enjoy WDW, but I guess since he's not MY brother, it isn't as important to me personally as if it were MY sister going to be so impressed, if that makes sense. Of course my sister would gladly sleep on the murphy bed and just be grateful for the free room!

I don't blame you about referring them. I have been there trying to plan for 15 people in my family, and hardly any of them had ever been to WDW before. You just can't please everyone. And we went in 2019, when they still had FastPasses & Dining Plans that I had to manage for the entire group. The struggle was real. We had a great time with a huge surprise for my parents. See my dad had been fighting cancer and wasn't sure about going since it was July and so hot and he just didn't do well with the heat, but my sister and I just kept encouraging him to come with us for this once in a lifetime trip, since he was 70 years old and had never been to WDW. I have a brother in the military and he was about to be sent out of the country for a minimum of 4 years so we all knew we wouldn't get to see him or his wife and kids for quite some time. Well behind the scenes I was working tirelessly with my brother to pull off a big surprise where he and his family would show up at WDW without my parents knowing they were coming the whole time I was planning the trip. My parents just thought it would be mine and my sister's family there, which we all live within a 5 mile radius of each other so they see us all the time. We were waiting in the Bug's Life standby line and when my daddy got a tap on his shoulder and turned around in line and saw my brother standing there, he completely lost it. And then my mom was just in shock and disbelief. I'm sure it was quite a scene with all 15 of us standing in line crying like big babies. It truly was a magical and special moment and worth all the stress I went through to plan the best trip ever for my parents. My daddy said Disney was one and done for him though. I think if he went in the fall, he'd love it more like for Food & Wine, but we had to go in July that one time for my brother. Maybe one day, I can convince him to go back...

Thank you for your kind words.

 

[disneylover81]

One of the best features onsite offers is the ease to split up and not be joined at the hip. When visiting with extended family we like to outline stuff we’re doing together such as ADRs, VQs, night shows, etc. The rest of the time is flexible where everyone can split off as they choose, and even then we often keep bumping in to each other.

You and I are alike in that way. That's exactly how I like to do things, even with my grown kids. I don't want to be with them the whole time either because they have kids of their own and they need to do things that their small children can do. DH & I want to ride say the Rock'n'Roller Coaster, not babysit while my grown kids go ride it. My kids can't understand that concept though. They don't want to miss out on any of the good rides either, so now we just have to tell them they aren't allowed to come to WDW with us every single trip so we can enjoy it ourselves. It's hard when our youngest child is 17 and we haven't had to deal with toddlers in 15 years on vacation. lol

I am the kind that says we can eat together and ride a ride or two together, and then split up. It just seems like with a first timer, they will want to be together the whole time since they will be completely clueless as to what's going on. I am not a fan of too much togetherness, especially when I am at my Happy Place!

 

[10CJ]

Have you discussed how much time you will spend together with them? Since they are first time visitors and you go often, I would try to tailor the touring to what they would like to do. I would consider not rope dropping the first morning if you are getting in really late the night before.

 

[holden]

If they decided to come at the last minute, can't they be responsible for making their own arrangement? Getting their own room, transportation, etc.?

I haven't read the whole thread, but if I didn't have enough points to make a change I'd tell them so. That's a lot of pressure, calculations, and extra money/borrowing of points. They made the late game decision and they are adults. They can book their own hotel, etc.

 

[paults]

congrats on making the choice on a 2 bedroom so you have plenty of room.

 

[disneylover81]

Have you discussed how much time you will spend together with them? Since they are first time visitors and you go often, I would try to tailor the touring to what they would like to do. I would consider not rope dropping the first morning if you are getting in really late the night before.

We haven't really discussed anything yet. I helped them purchase their plane tickets - because neither one of them have ever even been on a plane before - and then they left town the next day to go to the beach for the week. So as soon as they get back, I am going to have to sit them down and see what they plan on doing in the mornings. DH & I plan to rope drop, but if they don't want to, that's fine. I will show them where the bus is and they can find us later. They said they want the "Full Disney Experience" and don't want to waste any time missing anything so to me that means no sleeping in! lol

 

[disneylover81]

If they decided to come at the last minute, can't they be responsible for making their own arrangement? Getting their own room, transportation, etc.?

I haven't read the whole thread, but if I didn't have enough points to make a change I'd tell them so. That's a lot of pressure, calculations, and extra money/borrowing of points. They made the late game decision and they are adults. They can book their own hotel, etc.

Yes, if that were the case, definitely, but to be fair, I only booked our trip like 2 days before we invited them to tag along. So it was last minute for us too. I have found this new found freedom with DVC and AP to just go at the last minute and not have to spend 6-12 months planning my once a year visit anymore. I am loving it. Last month, I booked a graduation trip for my daughter and I on Tuesday night and we left on Thursday night! We got lucky with a BLT Studio, which was blew my mind because I knew for sure we'd be stuck at SSR since it was so last minute.

I ended up having to borrow 12 points from next year for this trip, which doesn't thrill me, but I also know we are planning on going to Aulani next year with the points from the second contract we just bought, so I guess that's one less WDW trip next year we were going to take anyways. I could have bought OTU points and not borrowed, but I decided not to do that either.