What do members do when taking newbies?

eva

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We are planning a trip for this May that will include my sister (who hasn't been since 1978) and her husband (who has never been). I hate doing WDW commando style since we are members and go quite often but I also want to show my sister and her huband the world. We love OKW but wonder if we should stay at BWV for the convience. I know that a lot of you take along friends and family members that have never been. How do you make it an enjoyable vacation for yourselves as well as for your guests? Should we stay at OKW or BWV? Also, we really want to keep this trip just the 4 of us. But since my sister lives in Boston and the rest of my family lives here in Illinois I'm pretty sure that the rest of my family will try to tag along. Any ideas on how to handle this situation?
 
First of all, I would do OKW for several reasons. The points are less, so larger accommodations might be more comfortable if the rest of the family tags along. Also, it will be easier for you to relax from trying to show them the whole world! We usually take plenty of guests with us. It is great to plan special things with them. I usually plan each day the evening before. We decide which park we will start out at and what are the must see places there. Then we determine where who will go where. We usually put them on there own mid-day and plan on meeting at a dinner spot or back the the villa at a specific time. That keeps the stress down on you, the planner!

Since it is likely to be just two couples, I doubt you will be a stressed as when there are young people around. You will find that sometimes it will be the women going one way and the men another, while other times you will divide up by couples. We find that the end of the trip usually has the newbies going there own way more. This is good, because then you can get a break.
 
I think the key to any group vacations is the understanding that you don't all have to be together 24/7. If your sister and BIL want to go commando style and you don't, then just arrange a meeting place later in the morning to get together.

If they don't think they will be coming to WDW very often, it is hard to justify trying to get them to slow down and relax! On the other hand, if you have shaken your need to "do it all" every trip, you don't want to have a "rush-rush" trip that you won't enjoy either.
 
hi: we've taken over 10 newbies with us on different trips. it's a lot of fun. we usually hand them a birnbaum's guide a couple of months prior and tell them to look through and highlight any "must do" items, including restaurants. we will usually make some ps for our favorite places to share as well. if they are more ambitious than we are, we'll split up and meet for a meal. it really depends what they want from the vacation.
 

We took my sister and nephew back in '93. We made the mistake of thinking that we had to show them everything. She's still complaining.;) ;) ;)

We stayed at OKW, and she likes to ask "did they have a pool there??" We were so busy doing commando, that we didn't give them a chance to relax.:(
 
Thanks for the great advise! I think that we will show them some of our favorites and then let them go it alone sometimes. I like the idea of starting together in the morning and then branching off to do your own thing in the afternoon, which means hit the pool for us. Thanks for the idea of giving them a planning book. I decided to give them a box with a number of items in it for the trip for Christmas. I have the new video, Birbaum's book, and a coupon that I made that gives them one free dinner on us. I also decided to include menus from Deb's site so that they can choose a restaurant. Does anyone have anymore ideas on what I could include in their box? I want to treat them to Tiffany Towncar too. Can you pay for this ahead of time so they don't have to worry about paying for it and us reimbursing them?
 
You can prepay for Tiffany Towncar. I did this last year for my neice. We flew in from Maryland early in the morning. She was flying in from New York in the afternoon with her 3 year old daughter. I emailed Tiffany with the flight numbers, her name, the airline and the fact they would need a childs car seat. They called me to get my credit card number and confirm the info. I also had a coupon for a discount on the car, all was taken care of without a hitch. My neice took care of the tip for the driver. She felt that Tiffany handled everything top rate.

Have a great trip.

Sandy B.
 
Last January, we took my brother and his family (3 kids) to WDW and stayed at OKW. When they arrived at the Hospitality House (before we did), they had no idea what type of resort this would be. When we arrived in our rental car, the kids came running up with all sorts of questions such as the use of the pool (told them there were others), the use of the boat to Downtown Disney and the buses to the different parks. When we got our room keys, they could not believe the size of the complex (being built around the golf course) and then the type of accommodations (2 bedroom). After a week there, they left and we stayed for a few more days before visiting VB. Upon our return home, in our driveway (amidst the snow) was a palm tree with a big picture of the three kids with a message from each saying it was the best vacation ever! It was nice to see kids having such a great time, and with the type of living arrangements afforded by being a member of DVC, it made for a very relaxing time that did not tax the mind set of two families living together while on vacation (note: our children are older, with the youngest at 21 being with us on this vacation). DVC is a great way to vacation!
 



















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