Traveling with others

[ChasingLeslie]

Has anyone traveled with other family members or friends...? Give me the good, the bad, and the ugly!

My sister and I casually talked about taking a mini trip with just our kids (dependent on finances). It could be fun, but I know we'd have to talk about expectations. I like fairly hardcore touring, but don't expect them to keep up with us if they don't want to or physically can't.

 

[westie55]

I have traveled with extended family on several occasions. Depending on ages and personality, I think it often works out best to plan some things together and do some on your own. For example, if you are rope drop people but they like to sleep in, plan to meet for an ADR. Perhaps swim together, or plan a part of your day together. Talk to your sister about her vision of how she'd like to spend her time, and see where the overlap is. Remember, if anyone has young children even the best laid plans may go out the window anyway. Some of my best childhood memories are of Disney with my cousins and I look forward to my own children travelling with their cousins in the future! Disney has something for everyone and it's ok to like and want to do different things but still have fun together as a group.

 

[SweetMissy]

Our 2nd trip, we took my younger sister, she was 26 and my brother, he was 18. We spent the first couple days waiting and waiting on them. Finally we just said heck with it, meet us at the park. They didn't have kids, and didn't care that you HAVE to get there when the park opens. So most of the time they would meet us at like 11am-noon. @@ Such a waste IMO. To save the frustration....I would discuss things beforehand like park hours and why it's important to have plans. If not, just go on your own. We took MIL last year and all went fine because she's an early riser. Good luck and have fun regardless.

 

[glk2009]

We've done cruises with extended family and rather than plan 24/7 together, the expectation was to have dinner together and then plan a few activities together. Worked out great and we were a group of 20+.

When I first read your post, my initial thought was about traveling with my MIL and discovering how slow she went through the airport. Hopefully that's not an issue with your sister!

 

[AshleeH]

We traveled with our best friends this past October. My husband and his friend have been friends since the cradle - his wife and I have been friends since they first started dating (14 years ago) and our kids are stair stepped - 13, 10, 8, 5, 3 - and all get along great and are very nice to each other. My friend and I planned it out for over a year - we're both planners and handled everything. It went from a "Let's do a Halloween party and an ADR or two together" to "Halloween Party and 5 ADRs together!" and it was great. We all stayed at BLT in a 2 Bedroom that we always get anyway, so they just "rented" our second bedroom (translation: They paid for the Dining Plan and we paid for the room - great deal for all of us!).

We loved the time we spent as a big group (although that was only ADRs and the Halloween Party - when our costumes were dependent upon staying as a group) but we were very go with the flow. Sometimes we would disperse into random groups and go do separate things, sometimes we would split into guys and girls (fairly evenly matched at 5 and 4), most times we split off into our own families and smaller groups within the families.

I think if you try and do everything together, you would be miserable! We enjoyed the character meals we did together, but it was so much fun because we didn't care if someone wanted to go off and do their own thing. And we got a laugh about how some of the groups randomly ended up (for instance, out of our party of 9, only my husband's best friend and I were the ones who wanted to go on Tower of Terror - which was fine, I've actually known him longer than I've known my husband - so we left the chickens and went off to do that ).

Everyone had their must-dos, everyone had their own touring style, and surprisingly, there were very few times where we all had downtime in the hotel room together. It wouldn't have mattered if we were all in there at once, but we usually went back to the room earlier than they did (around noon) and they would get in late afternoon when we would be heading back to the parks or the pool, so we each had time to ourselves with just our families.

We actually loved it so much that we are planning to go back on an identical trip next year!

 

[ChasingLeslie]

Thanks for the replies so far!

If we do go, we'd be splitting a 5 person room at POR, so it's a little more complicated when it's shared space.

 

[elaine amj]

We traveled with our best friends this past October. My husband and his friend have been friends since the cradle - his wife and I have been friends since they first started dating (14 years ago) and our kids are stair stepped - 13, 10, 8, 5, 3 - and all get along great and are very nice to each other. My friend and I planned it out for over a year - we're both planners and handled everything. It went from a "Let's do a Halloween party and an ADR or two together" to "Halloween Party and 5 ADRs together!" and it was great. We all stayed at BLT in a 2 Bedroom that we always get anyway, so they just "rented" our second bedroom (translation: They paid for the Dining Plan and we paid for the room - great deal for all of us!).

We loved the time we spent as a big group (although that was only ADRs and the Halloween Party - when our costumes were dependent upon staying as a group) but we were very go with the flow. Sometimes we would disperse into random groups and go do separate things, sometimes we would split into guys and girls (fairly evenly matched at 5 and 4), most times we split off into our own families and smaller groups within the families.

I think if you try and do everything together, you would be miserable! We enjoyed the character meals we did together, but it was so much fun because we didn't care if someone wanted to go off and do their own thing. And we got a laugh about how some of the groups randomly ended up (for instance, out of our party of 9, only my husband's best friend and I were the ones who wanted to go on Tower of Terror - which was fine, I've actually known him longer than I've known my husband - so we left the chickens and went off to do that ).

Everyone had their must-dos, everyone had their own touring style, and surprisingly, there were very few times where we all had downtime in the hotel room together. It wouldn't have mattered if we were all in there at once, but we usually went back to the room earlier than they did (around noon) and they would get in late afternoon when we would be heading back to the parks or the pool, so we each had time to ourselves with just our families.

We actually loved it so much that we are planning to go back on an identical trip next year!

I'm curious - how did you manage with FP+ beforehand?

I am traveling with my brother and his family this August and we have a 2 bedroom at SSR. Spacewise, we have traveled together before and will be just fine. We started planning in the Fall and so far my brother and SIL really haven't done much (its their first visit). I'm not sure how to manage FP+. My brother and SIL have already taken me up on my offer to take their 3yr old with us most mornings to let them sleep in. Since they haven't really looked up stuff yet (I know I know...we are still 7 months out) and I don't really know if they will before the trip....I'm trying to plot FP+ to the best of my ability.

I have no issues with the group splitting up and rejoining together whenever - but it does make it complicated when trying to figure out FP+. e.g. in your case, did you guys have ToT FP+ or did you just do it standby?

On top of that, my niece will be 3.5 yrs and who know what she will end up liking/disliking. Eek!!

 

[china mom]

We did a pretty big extended family trip one year back in the old paper fast pass days. I found that we spent a lot, I mean a LOT of time standing around in one big group trying to get a consensus of what we were going to do next. No one wanted to make any decisions and they al wanted everyone to be happy so no decisions were being made at all.

At one point, I got so frustrated I said something to the effect of "I'm going to go ride XXX while you all stand around here and talk" In hindsight, maybe that was a bit B!tchy if me.

Since then, we have taken several trips with just one particular part of the family and it has ben perfect because we all know that we don't have to spend every minute together.

My suggestion is that you discuss the plan BEFORE you travel and decide a few things ahead of time that you want to do together

If you think you want the spend the whole time together, appoint one person to be the General and have a good itinerary in place.

 

[prprincess]

I like fairly hardcore touring, but don't expect them to keep up with us if they don't want to or physically can't.

I think that making this 100% crystal clear with your sister is key. I have traveled with my sister and her family and I think that communicating your feelings outright saves a ton of misunderstanding and hurt feelings.

We've spent Spring Break with my sister in Orlando, and prior to our trips, we discussed what we'd wanted to do. If we agreed on a particular activity, say a park day, then we'd make plans to meet up at the park. And I say meet because while my family is never there early enough for rope drop, we are usually there mid-morning but my sister and her family are more afternoon people. So the meet ups, for us, are the way to go...we even at times split up and then meet back up again at the parks due to ride preferences, food preferences, kid moods, etc. But on days where say, her family wants to go to a park and my family wants to stay at the pool, we will either forgo meeting up, or meet up for dinner.

The time away from each other eases any tensions, too.

So my main suggestion is to communicate wishes/expectations, but be flexible, as well.

 

[Nancyg56]

Thanks for the replies so far!

If we do go, we'd be splitting a 5 person room at POR, so it's a little more complicated when it's shared space.

My family travels together often, and I think it can be done, even when sharing a room. But you need to be realistic when it comes to space, and travel styles. These rooms are not big, so when you have 5 in that room, you need to be clear if you can deal with clutter, etc. Also, you should plan well when it comes to how you will store cosmetics and toiletries. You would be surprised how annoying a week of a mess can make someone.

I would plan meals and parks together with the understanding that a plan does not mean command performance. It's okay to split up, or not to travel to and from the parks together every day. Shower schedules may need to be compromised as well. With one bathroom, you kind of need to be flexible and respectful of each other. I think the respect carries through all levels of vacationing together,

 

[Shrfleen]

We (Mom, Sister and I) will be traveling with our extended family, Aunt, Cousin and her two kids (9,2) and our grandparents plan on joining us for at least one day since they live in Florida. We plan on planning all dining reservations and Fast Pass+. We are in 2 rooms at WL. We invited them to join us on this vacation and they are excited. They haven't been in years so we are glad to help plan the vacation. We plan on doing things together and also breaking into groups to do other things. It's important to us that our 9 year old cousins gets to do everything she wants to do. We plan on having a day where we watch ride videos, look at pictures and make a list of things she wants to do, do in time and can skip this time.

 

[sharkyandbones]

We just came back from what will likely be our last trip with our mothers, all 8 of us in a 2 BR villa. If they weren't like extra kids that we had to take care of, things might be different

On the plus side, the 2 BR villas can comfortably accommodate all of us.

 

[happymommy]

I've done a few trips with extended family (not really my choice but it worked out okay, for the most part).

The one biggest recommendation I'd make is get two rooms, even at a value resort. You will want some space and alone time! I couldn't sleep in a room with other kids personally, even my nieces or nephews.

Also, be very clear about what you want to do together and apart. If the kids are tweens or older, decide ahead of time what freedom they can have (my kids were fine on their own over the years, but they know Disney very well).

 

[AshleeH]

I'm curious - how did you manage with FP+ beforehand?

My account was linked to my husband's (where the primary reservation was booked) and my friend's was linked to mine, so she and I got together to hash out ADRs and had a list of FPs. For the most part, we stuck to family groups for FPs, so we each made our own, but any that fell with the full group or any combination of my family and hers, she put me in charge of making those. Simplified things.

We could each see the other's FPs when logging in, so if you go, make sure you trust the person implicitly! I've heard horror stories of linked family members canceling ADRs and rearranging FPs to be nonsensical because of some random reason, without consulting the original planner! She and I would never even dream of messing with the others reservations unless we talked it over in detail, so it worked out great, but I would lose my mind if someone logged in and canceled sought-after ADRs at perfect times because they wanted a FP for Dumbo for their kid.

 

[AshleeH]

I have no issues with the group splitting up and rejoining together whenever - but it does make it complicated when trying to figure out FP+. e.g. in your case, did you guys have ToT FP+ or did you just do it standby?

On top of that, my niece will be 3.5 yrs and who know what she will end up liking/disliking. Eek!!

I realized I forgot to answer this portion of your question! Sorry! No, we had our FPs for a different park later in the day. We went at Rope drop to HS. Originally we were going to Rider Swap Rockin' Rollercoaster (my husband and son went on that one with us), so my friend wouldn't have to stay with my younger two kids and her own two kids. Then her husband and I were going to hightail it over to ToT. This didn't work out as planned. My friend told us all to just go on RnR because we were a little late getting to the parks and she would be fine with all the kids (and my oldest was 10, so capable of helping her with my 3 year old - it was a nonissue anyway, since my daughter loves her and her kids, so her daughter ended up entertaining mine the entire time). The line was already backed up to a 45 minute wait - only took us about 25 minutes for the 4 of us to get through, but then we only had a 15 minute window to make our Hollywood and Vine ADR (another reason we were worried about leaving my friend with four kids and no other adult - if we'd been late, she had planned to go on over there and check in for us).

So we ended up splitting up after we ate and the two of us went to ToT, while they went elsewhere. I don't know if they stuck together - I don't even know if I asked - but I think they took all the kids on standby for Toy Story while we were in line for ToT. I remember we met up with all of them in the Pixar area after ToT. Cell phones make these type of plans so much easier, since it takes all guesswork out of when to meet up with your family again. We just texted our spouses when we were finished and found them in less than 5 minutes .

As for the 3.5 year old - that was the age of my daughter and she had very little input in our planning. I scheduled a few things I knew she would love, but she had no prior knowledge of Disney, since she didn't remember previous trips, so everything was new and fun for her. A much different experience with the trip I'm taking her on next week - she remembers things for this one and has put in requests for her favorites now! But most of those requests are just meeting the princesses, which is what that entire trip is about, so that's not a hard thing to fulfill.

 

[Halleann]

Been there, did it, done it! Set expectations early. Being you are staying at a WDWR there is transportation to everything. So if people aren't ready or don't want to do something you can go your separate ways. Make dining reservations ahead of time. Lots of wasted time standing around and discussing what people want to eat etc...! Plan, Plan, Plan early. Have each person going pick one thing they definitely want to do and make a plan for that then go on from there. Realize that if you try to just "wing" it you will waste lots of time and everyone will become a "Villain"! Just know going in that you will only do half of the things that you wanted to do. Enjoy!

 

[dprincessmom]

Thanks for the replies so far!

If we do go, we'd be splitting a 5 person room at POR, so it's a little more complicated when it's shared space.

We have done this and it was fine. Like others have said set the expectations early so no one gets hurt feelings later. Know that it's ok not to spend all day every day together.

The 5 people in POR is doable, you just kind of have to move in shifts. Highly recommend air freshner and an over the door shoe holder for organizing. A pop up hamper goes a long way too.

 

[Camshell]

Has anyone traveled with other family members or friends...? Give me the good, the bad, and the ugly!

My sister and I casually talked about taking a mini trip with just our kids (dependent on finances). It could be fun, but I know we'd have to talk about expectations. I like fairly hardcore touring, but don't expect them to keep up with us if they don't want to or physically can't.

It sounds like you will more co-parenting as it is two adults and some kids in a room travelling together. This may change the dynamics as opposed to two separate families, in separate rooms travelling together. In your situation I would probably want to spend more time together than apart (but maybe that is just me) cause I'd welcome having the other adult around. That said when it makes sense to split up I would, but I'd also try and plan more joint activities, rides, etc. than if there were two separate families. Just a thought.

 

[JinxedSydney]

I've done it twice, with 11 and 8 people. Loved it both times. In fact, we are gearing up for a 2018 trip with 16! And just found out more may attend.

I tend to be the coordinator and link up the accounts for reservations and FP stuff. Before all of the changes, I would reserve a couple of FP times, one right after the other, for sets of people. Dinner reservations were set up the same way. Actually, I have a spreadsheet (yes, yes, sounds all horrible but I can see the days) and let everyone know which meals will be on what days (like a character breakfast or the Hoop Dee Doo) and they tell me if they want to opt out. Since we were big groups, it was easier to shuffle kids between tables for reservations and FP times. We also got REALLY good at sending runners to grab FP's with all of the cards (last time, we had MB and cards for FP).

Like everyone has said before, you've got to give yourselves buffers. My parents like to swim in the afternoon. We didn't the first trip but found that it was wonderful the second time. They didn't show up for some meals. That's fine by me. Someone want to go off on a specific tour? Cool. We'll be in line for Space Mountain. No big deal. We chose not to orbit around group decisions, just one or two specifics that anyone could blow off.

The one and only thing that caused heartburn both trips?! Flight delays and reschedules. Snikey, running through Houston or finding out the night before that half of your family is on one flight and the other on one two hours later because of weather is maddening.

 

[momimouse27]

I think its a great idea if everyone knows the expectations. Some people are easier to do things with than others. If everyone in the party adheres to the "let everyone do their own thing" mantra, then all goes way smoother. My family is good like that. People don't get their feelings hurt when we all want to go different ways. We meet up for meals and such, enjoy the company and then separate accordingly. It works well for us.