What did you do or would you do?

[budbeerlady]

I aparently did a stupid thing! In a moment of excitement when DH decieded we could go back to disney for Christmas I agreed to invite his parents. It seemed like a fab idea at the time. The guys could go fishing one morning with DD ( I could sleep in and not have to go) and the girls can do their thing and have a good time. DD could spend one night in their room, more people to entertain DD. Seemed like a really good idea at the time! Next time we have such a great idea, remind me of this situation we are in now!

Here goes. They were all gun ho to go and go big! They wanted food all the time to graze on, they wanted to eat out all the time. (Might I add they do currently eat out quite often.) They thought it would be cool to see the animals all the time (in theory) at AKL since DH and DF/L are big hunters. So I got a decent price on AKL Concierge, snacks and beer at your disposal! Wine for DM/L and I after dinner to relax. I was so excited at this great price and DH agreed it was a good deal and if they are in we are in. You can about guess where this went.

-The dining plan is to expensive, can't your eat for less. (Good Luck with that, our room is on the dining plan, we love it!)

-Why so much price diff between All Star Movies, and AKL. (Do you want Motel 6 or the Ritz)

- Cant we see it in 3 days? (Go ahead, but we are flying down and staying for a week, I am compromising at 5 days to stay at AKL. )

Would it be the end of the family if I booked AKL like we want and they can book what they want and pay for what they want? Maybe not the best idea but that is my most mind saving idea. I had considered paying the diff so we could all stay at AKL concierge like Dh and I want, but it would be about $1300 and thats a big chuck of 2007s trip (with out family and maybe by mysel!) What do you do when obviously they dont want to spend alot but we want to do an illuminations cruise, a fishing trip, and some other tours? Do you just go and they can pay and come along if they wish? Do you pay for theirs so the whole family can be together? This is going down hill quickly! I dont even want to think food anymore. Maybe each family picks everyother night or something .

Help me and thanks for letting me rant!! What have you done when it comes to family?

 

[estherhead]

Tricky, tricky. What people spend money on is so very personal. What things do you go for and which can you do without? I think I would let them research it. I just planned a family vacation where some of the people had never been to Disney. I had one of the wives come over and look at photos on the internet of everything. I printed her out little reviews and stories. I let her know everything was ultimately her decision but I was an expert and this is how I felt. They all finally trusted me, let me get my way, and it was the best trip to Disney yet. I wouldn't offer to pay all that money yet. You'll be bitter about it and have expectations. And they may not fully appreciate it. JMHO.

 

[wrldpossibility]

Just for clarification: was the original plan that you would pay your own way, and so would the in-laws? That's what I got from your post. It sounds like they agreed to your plan without asking what it cost. I would say, since the point of the vacation seems to be to be all together (with the perks of having grandma and grandpa there to help with your DD ), you either need to downgrade to what they're comfortable paying (and each pay your own way), or you need to foot the bill for the upgraded vacation you want, so they can come too. If you stay at AKL con. and they stay at all-stars or something, it just doesn't seem like it would be the together vacation you all imagined, and that would be too bad. Especially if you're on the dining plan and they're not: would you still eat many meals together?

We have a similar situation, just a bit reversed. We have reservations to go next Dec, and we're taking my parents. They usually pay for family vacations, so we're paying their way on this one as a thank you. Since we're paying the whole bill, we get to make all the decisions about where to stay, etc That means we're staying moderate, but going all out with everything else. If we were each paying our own way, they probably stay deluxe, which we can't afford, so we'd be seperated. I'd be sad and bummed if we were seperated over that. So long story short, I think if you want the vacation you have planned (which sounds great, btw), you have to pay for everyone to go, and dip into your 07 fund. Otherwise, if everyone's paying their own way, you need to compromise on the lowest common denominator of what everyone can afford. (If that's the case, I'd compromise on the hotel, and stay mod, or not concierge, not on the # of days, IMO.)

At least that's how it would probably be in my family. Good luck!!

 

[malibuconlee]

How about compromising. Stay at the All Stars resort with them for the number of days they wish to join you. Try to talk them into the dining plan. At least show them what you'll get and you'll probably need ADR's if you'r going around the holidays anyway.

Then after they leave transfer to AKL concierge for a couple of days of splurging on yourselves. I think it would be nice and relaxing especially after what could be a stressful trip.

I used to fantasize about winning the lottery and taking DH's whole family on a trip with us. I've since realized that would never happen. They would drive me insane. They're not planners, and it would be impossible to get my FIL to be anything but his pokey self. I'd be trying to get in rides for the kids and he'd be two parks back still taking pictures.

 

[pedro2112]

I would say, since the point of the vacation seems to be to be all together you either need to downgrade to what they're comfortable paying (and each pay your own way), or you need to foot the bill for the upgraded vacation you want, so they can come too.

We are taking my mother and her boyfriend to the World in May.. The DW was pressuring me to have them contribute to the vacation, but I knew these issues would come up. Each of us have different ideas when it comes to how much things cost and what things are "worth" it. So in order to alleviate these problems, I just told my mother I'd take care of everything, including the cost.

 

[budbeerlady]

So would you also pay for the extras like fishing and such, or leave them behind on it if they arent interested? Would you take your dd to cirque and tell them tickets are $x if they would like to join us (Dh sawy it already and doesnt care if he goes back)? I really wanted to do an illuminations or wishes cruise and have thought about booking it and not telling them the cost. I dont think they would enjoy it if they knew, they would be figuring a cost vs value per person. Maybe this is more my vent thread.

And god forbid they have talked about staying off site, That is where I draw the line. I know you can argue both ways but I dont want to make the drive in and out of the parks, give me my resort bus and I am happy! She has to have a coffee maker, nice restaurant, in room fridge, interior hallway, they would rather take the monorail around and all this other stuff that most of it is available at a moderate (but monorail and hallways) but they want to pay motel 6 prices. And I forgot to mentian that she has this quality of saying that she always did A,B,C and flew on D airlines for $x so I must be able to do this trip for $x. (Maybe in the 1980's! The last time she went was in 1983.) I had kinda thought that if they were willing to pay for their room we would pick up the park tickets and dining plan for them if they were driving us out there in their car. (airfare for us at best is $300pp) I'm just pouting since my bubble got burst on this trip.

Last time we stayed at POFQ so we could do cirque, MVMCP. wonderland tea party, princess tea party, etc. and had a great vacation and never blinked about the money. (I figured since we had already done those things we could spend the money on a deluxe.) oh, what were we thinking?!?!?!?!

 

[disneyfreak74]

We are planning for October and the plan is to take my mom with us. She is recently divorced (ugly one that she didn't see coming) and for the last 3 years she has taken care of my grandmother with Parkinson's Disease (without the help of her sister and 2 brothers that ONLY live MAYBE 25 miles from her, BUT that is a different gripe!!)

She has never been to WDW!! Would love to go and is probably gonna FLIP if she ever finds out how much we will spend when we go. THAT is the reason we are getting the package with the dining plan.

But back to the poster!! We are going with my mom because DH and I want to LOOK at things!! To walk around the world WITHOUT doing KIDCOT stations!!! I noticed that you said you had planned to let your DD stay with them a night or 2!!!
Then I think it would be worth it to compromise on where to stay. You want to stay at the deluxe and they want the value. If you stay at the value with them that puts more money available for the fishing trip, etc.
Or you can stay at a Moderate and pay their difference.
But you do need to PUSH the dining plan!! Explain that eating at Crystal Palace in the evening for 1 meal is ALMOST as much as the dining paln for the ENTIRE day!!!

 

[budbeerlady]

But you do need to PUSH the dining plan!! Explain that eating at Crystal Palace in the evening for 1 meal is ALMOST as much as the dining paln for the ENTIRE day!!!

We are getting the DP, $40 a day for an adult is cheap in my book for all the food you get. They are getting it to, I think maybe the quotes I give them again will just include it so I dont have to worry about them decieding not to get it.

 

[Em&Bec'sMom]

Oh, my gosh, yes, do the dining plan. Especially now that they've added most of the WOrld Showcase at Epcot restaurants. We paid $540 for 2 adults, 2kids, for 6 days. For that, we got a $100+ meal at the Rose & Crown, a $100+ meal at Marrakesh, two character dinners, one character breakfast, and dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe....plus 6 counter service meals and more snacks than we almost didn't remember to use. It is a bargain hunter's dream!
We stayed at POR and were very impressed. It was roomy and rather peaceful for such a busy place.
We took my parents with us, but they paid their own way. There were questions when we were booking, but thankfully, there were no arguments! Good luck. Just remember it will be worth it in the end.

 

[siestakeys04]

Kinda similar my family dh me dd10 and ds6 are going for the first time ever. Then other family members wanted to take their families of 4 so 12 total maybe at wdw in jul. I am the one planning this so to speak i gave each family options of where to stay value,mod or del. one wanted mod and one wanted val. but dh and i wanted deluxe. So if we wanted to give our kids a great experience and we want to spend that amount should we give up what we want to stay where only someone else can stay? I think each family has a right to make their own memories and i don't want to give that up for my kids. We can meet up for meals and parks and still have a wonderful time. Just make the best decision for you because you CANT make everyone happy!

 

[lilostitch]

:
Help me and thanks for letting me rant!! What have you done when it comes to family?

When it comes to family, I find the best thing to do is not vacation with them. All it does is remind you how crazy they are and how crazy they drive you!

Just kidding (mostly). The only family I can really enjoy going on vacation with is my sister and her DH and DD.

Maybe deep breaths will help and reminding yourself that this too shall pass. After all, it is Disney, so how bad could it be

 

[pedro2112]

So would you also pay for the extras like fishing and such, or leave them behind on it if they arent interested? Would you take your dd to cirque and tell them tickets are $x if they would like to join us (Dh sawy it already and doesnt care if he goes back)? I really wanted to do an illuminations or wishes cruise and have thought about booking it and not telling them the cost. I dont think they would enjoy it if they knew, they would be figuring a cost vs value per person. Maybe this is more my vent thread.

We have these same issues. I booked Cirque, but promised my wife that my mom would pay us for their tickets. I haven't told my mother; I figure if DW forgets about it, then no one will know. Regarding extras like fishing excursions, or dive quest (DM/bf is a scuba diver), they are on their own if they want to do that. We scheduled midday breaks just about every day, so that leave plenty of time for them to do things on their own. I, too, wanted to book an illuminations cruise... but frankly, we are already doing a ton of stuff, I figure we'll leave that for next time.