When will I learn to stop inviting people

[corpcomp]

For these kind of reasons, we don't even tell family members we own DVC. Only invite we do is my brother's son who is my son's age (14), but brother never allows him to go to WDW. Oh well.

 

[crisi]

I wish our friends WOULD have bailed on us last November.

The short version. Ten day trip in a two bedroom AKL Villa. First night there my friend (of 30 years) and I are down at the pool. My wife and Lady ex are up in the room getting ready to join us when lady ex drops the bomb. She has met another man and is leaving her husband after the vacation. Nice. Thank God it was a two bedroom lock-off.

Our "Lady Ex" decided to become "Lord Ex" - he did save this bombshell until months after the vacation, but since he was working through some pretty major issues at the time....it was an unusual trip.

 

[delaneyc52]

We never ever ever invite family with us to WDW ever ever ever. Ever. Did I say ever? Ever. Never ever. We KNOW better. If you want to join us, go make your own reservations, meet us at Big River Grille and maybe we will join you in some park excursion....or maybe not. DVC is ours and all ours. I will never ever...did I say ever? ... let anyone in my family spoil my precious vacation. Ever.

 

[dbs1228]

I do have to say, we have stayed at the cabins for many years and have had family join us with their own accomadations and we all went with the understanding "do your own thing on your own time" For the most part it has worked out! I know for sure my mom, dad and aunt and uncle can travel with us any time, it works. DS and DBIL well.... another story

 

[dianeschlicht]

I had my first cancel this last trip. My mom was coming with us. We flew out of Milwaukee and mom was flying out of Cincinatti. I was standing at baggage clain in Orlando when I got the voicemail from my mom, she decided not to come. You couldn't have told me yesterday?

I told her she wasn't invited again. I mean it too.

Burn me once-shame on you. Burn me twice-shame on me.

So has your mother always been that inconsiderate???? I can NOT imagine ANYONE cancelling in that particular way, and especially your own mother!!

 

[Dean]

So has your mother always been that inconsiderate???? I can NOT imagine ANYONE cancelling in that particular way, and especially your own mother!!

I don't know if it applies here but as I've said a couple of times lately, the ones that cause problems are normally known to be problems before the invitation. I think people delude themselves not uncommonly in this situation and convince themselves it will be fine when they know certain people are a significant risk.

 

[Inkmahm]

It seems to be that we are on a schedule of every other year. One year it is DH and me only for all trips, the next year we have family for the spring and December trip with October being for DH and me only.

I enjoy having family come with us but it does cause more stress and lots more $ cost for us. Still, I look forward to it. My mom is in a wheelchair. My inlaws aren't in the best of health and my MIL will likely need a scooter for our trip in December. It is a lot more working taking them with us than it is going without them. But I know we won't have them forever and I enjoy every minute we can get with them while they are still here and able to travel. Someday we'll have wonderful memories of time spent with family members who are gone. I have such memories now of time I spent with my dad at WDW. I wish he were still here to enjoy more trips with us.

My nieces and nephews are my next generation to provide children for us to take to WDW. We take the nieces and nephews now. I'm looking forward to all of them getting married and providing great nieces and nephews for us to take to WDW, too! There's nothing like Disney with kids to spoil.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

It seems to be that we are on a schedule of every other year. One year it is DH and me only for all trips, the next year we have family for the spring and December trip with October being for DH and me only.

I enjoy having family come with us but it does cause more stress and lots more $ cost for us. Still, I look forward to it. My mom is in a wheelchair. My inlaws aren't in the best of health and my MIL will likely need a scooter for our trip in December. It is a lot more working taking them with us than it is going without them. But I know we won't have them forever and I enjoy every minute we can get with them while they are still here and able to travel. Someday we'll have wonderful memories of time spent with family members who are gone. I have such memories now of time I spent with my dad at WDW. I wish he were still here to enjoy more trips with us.

My nieces and nephews are my next generation to provide children for us to take to WDW. We take the nieces and nephews now. I'm looking forward to all of them getting married and providing great nieces and nephews for us to take to WDW, too! There's nothing like Disney with kids to spoil.

I guess that's why I continue to bang my head against the wall to invite people. It does cause more work and more stress, and yes, we usually wind up footing some extra bills, too. But all that aside, there is still an up side of getting to enjoy the parts that do work. And to quote the song, "what's too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget. So it's the laughter we will remember." Probably why I do it again the next year.

On the other side of the coin, I'm also with you. We usally go for two weeks each summer. The first week is often with friends or family, the second week is always just the two of us.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yes, we learned long ago that a trip with guests MUST be followed by at least a few days by ourselves after the guests leave!

 

[BroganMc]

It's funny. For a long time I craved having people come with us so bad. Now the last 4 trips we've had guests each time. The next two will also include guests. And I may be planning to spend a large chunk of our points on another big get together next year. while I absolutely love sharing the magic, I also find myself feeling more stress than I expected. I end up leaving Disney feeling slightly cheated. Cheated because I didn't stick the kind of schedule I would have had without guests. And I always find myself stuck with studios for a short time because I'm point poor. Is it crazy I'm now longing for the days of 2 weeks alone at SSR, just me and my dad?

And yes, inviting others down always seems to mean increased expenses for us. Not totally outlandish stuff but enough to hurt a bit. And like I said, we really do enjoy taking each of our guests. We're just a bit more sanguine about it now.

 

[kim532]

I don't know if it applies here but as I've said a couple of times lately, the ones that cause problems are normally known to be problems before the invitation. I think people delude themselves not uncommonly in this situation and convince themselves it will be fine when they know certain people are a significant risk.

Yes my mother is always this inconsiderate. Dean nailed it. I deluded myself thinking this would be different.

 

[BroganMc]

Yes my mother is always this inconsiderate. Dean nailed it. I deluded myself thinking this would be different.

Don't beat yourself up over it. Hope springs eternal... especially in a place with pixie dust.

But this does begs the question, did you forget to celebrate Mother's Day after? Maybe a text message at 11:59pm saying "Oops, I forgot to tell ya..."

 

[Dean]

Yes my mother is always this inconsiderate. Dean nailed it. I deluded myself thinking this would be different.

And that was my point, usually this happens with people you know will be an issue. Hoping for the best is a recipe for disaster. I'm sure there have been those that escaped but more often than not when we see these type of stories, it was predictable.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

The only down side is that we have a multiple split stay, now. Unless the pixie dust comes through on a waitlist request, we'll have to move twice in the 12 days we'll be there. This will be an inconvenience, but it isn’t the end of the world. I'm just glad we were still able to get a Savanna view at Animal Kingdom for part of the trip. The silver lining is that we also managed to get 5 nights at Bay Lake, which we’ve really wanted to try. We’ll be in a lake view room, there. Unfortunately, those 5 Bay Lake Tower nights are in the middle of the stay, so unless the waitlist comes through, we're packing again to head back to Animal Kingdom for the last 3 days.

A great surprise when I checked the member web site this morning. Our waitlist has come through. AKV Kiandi Savanah View for the first half of the trip, then BLT Bay View for the second half.

I'm excited. These are the last two WDW DVC properties we haven't stayed at.

 

[Telcogirl]

A great surprise when I checked the member web site this morning. Our waitlist has come through. AKV Kiandi Savanah View for the first half of the trip, then BLT Bay View for the second half.

I'm excited. These are the last two WDW DVC properties we haven't stayed at.

I have stayed in both room types and they are both stunning in their own unique way. Have a great trip!

 

[wbl2745]

We've had several trips to Disney World (pre-DVC) with some friends. It has worked best to agree on dates and hotels, and then everyone makes their own reservations. We agree that we don't all have to do the same thing at the same time and some times split up. If someone wants to sleep in, they do so and then call us when they are moving to find out where we are. We've traveled together several times and always had a good time. Last month they joined us for our inaugural DVC visit at VGC and it was a lot of fun for everyone.

Now they say you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family. This December I'm arranging six days at AKV for my two brothers and their wives. I'm hoping this will go well. By staying at on-site we're thinking that we are not all stuck to each other and can return to the room for some peace and quiet when needed. We've never all traveled together as adults.

The next trip will be just DW and me, a 1-bedroom at VGC. I'm looking forward to not having to plan things for everyone.

 

[starstruck93]

You sound like the sweetest person; bless your heart! You also sound like someone I would love to vacation with! This story reminds me of myself in my early twenties (I'm 36 now). I was always the one organizing everything, trying to help everyone with their planning, making all of the calls etc. I learned very early that some people just do not appreciate the hard work nor do they take things seriously. It's very sad, and most of these people were my family. I just do not invite them places anymore. I have a cousin who has 3 children (7, 12, 14). I went to see her in Alabama back in March. OMG... her house was a total disaster You could'nt even walk through the dining room, just stuff thrown all over the place! The laundry room had clothes piled up so high I could even get to the washer and dryer! It was insane! Well, we got on the topic of Disney and DVC and she mentioned how much fun it would be for all of us to rent a treehouse. I warned her that I run a tight ship, and that even on vacation I make my beds, pick up everything and take out the garbage, hang up towels.... I treat it like my house. She said "yeah, maybe we should get our own room because we would drive you crazy!" I tried to help her clean her house when I saw her in March, but I was fighting a losing battle.... none of the kids helped her nor did her husband. I can't imagine traveling to Disney with them! I think your trip may be better than going with a bunch of flakes anyways. Have a wonderful trip! April

 

[starstruck93]

A great surprise when I checked the member web site this morning. Our waitlist has come through. AKV Kiandi Savanah View for the first half of the trip, then BLT Bay View for the second half.

I'm excited. These are the last two WDW DVC properties we haven't stayed at.

That's wonderful news!! Congrats! See...things are working out great for you!

 

[bookwormde]

BirdsofprayDave,

I day when a WDW plan comes together is always a great day, have a fun trip, Kidani is great.

bookwormde

 

[dbs1228]

Just returned from a great 6 night trip with 2 of my best friends. I went with my neighbor to celebrate her 50th birthday and my college room mate (which we went to Disney 25 years ago together when we graduated college). My friends did not really know each other but got along great! We had a ball and everyone was just happy to be there. We all felt like little kids, and bringing them and seeing everything through their eyes was the best experience!