Need Group Trip Tips!

[emilita423]

Hi all!
We have a trip planned for May 2019 and our friends are possibly thinking of joining us. We have always visited WDW just our immediate family which is myself and my husband and two boys ages 4 and 2. Their family consists of mom and dad and two girls ages 4 and 3. They have never been to Disney while we have been many times. Any tips for planning a trip with another family?? They are super laid back and looking to us to do a majority of the planning which is fine with me because I live for it. I just want to make sure we stay friends afer the trip! Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

When we traveled with a big family group, we negotiated out some ground rules upfront... things like: which activities are "group" things (usually one meal a day, maybe a few rides together) and which were not (our early morning rope drop hard core plans); limits on what grandparents could buy the grandkids to avoid whining and comparisons; who is running the show in the parks as to where the group goes when (to avoid the "I want to spend the first thirty minutes of park open time in Starbucks/this shop/etc"; basically, we tried to set things up to be flexible and not disappoint people.

For your case, I might level set on how to handle kid "I wannas" (if you buy your kids mickey bars, they're probably going to need to buy for their kids too!), how to handle breaks, naps, etc... get input on what things they are not interested in and try to plan accordingly.

We did some funny ground rules too (everyone needs to try new things a least once, if one person goes potty everyone goes, etc) and it made things run a little smoother too.

Good luck! Talk a lot upfront, so when it's the heat of the moment and emotions are running high you have ground rules you both can rely on

 

[Lynn CC]

When my son was young we traveled a lot on large family trips 8+ adults plus all the kids.

It was always nice for the adults to take turns going out with their spouses while the others entertained the kids. An adult meal together is always nice, even better if the kids all “camp out” at a sleepover together that same evening at the persons hotel room that are watching the kids... they have fun & well, so do you. Just a thought.

Also, it might be a good idea to check on another’s sleeping schedule& plan accordingly.
Some people like to sleep in on vacation & others are night owls. You can always meet up at different times this way no one is waiting around wasting time they could be enjoying the parks or pool etc.

Also, make sure your budgets match. We like to do all Tableservice meals, others don’t

Sounds like fun, enjoy!!

 

[emilita423]

When we traveled with a big family group, we negotiated out some ground rules upfront... things like: which activities are "group" things (usually one meal a day, maybe a few rides together) and which were not (our early morning rope drop hard core plans); limits on what grandparents could buy the grandkids to avoid whining and comparisons; who is running the show in the parks as to where the group goes when (to avoid the "I want to spend the first thirty minutes of park open time in Starbucks/this shop/etc"; basically, we tried to set things up to be flexible and not disappoint people.

For your case, I might level set on how to handle kid "I wannas" (if you buy your kids mickey bars, they're probably going to need to buy for their kids too!), how to handle breaks, naps, etc... get input on what things they are not interested in and try to plan accordingly.

We did some funny ground rules too (everyone needs to try new things a least once, if one person goes potty everyone goes, etc) and it made things run a little smoother too.

Good luck! Talk a lot upfront, so when it's the heat of the moment and emotions are running high you have ground rules you both can rely on

Thank you! Great tips! I love the funny ground rules too especially trying something new at least once! Definitely going to implement that!

 

[emilita423]

When my son was young we traveled a lot on large family trips 8+ adults plus all the kids.

It was always nice for the adults to take turns going out with their spouses while the others entertained the kids. An adult meal together is always nice, even better if the kids all “camp out” at a sleepover together that same evening at the persons hotel room that are watching the kids... they have fun & well, so do you. Just a thought.

Also, it might be a good idea to check on another’s sleeping schedule& plan accordingly.
Some people like to sleep in on vacation & others are night owls. You can always meet up at different times this way no one is waiting around wasting time they could be enjoying the parks or pool etc.

Also, make sure your budgets match. We like to do all Tableservice meals, others don’t

Sounds like fun, enjoy!!

Great ideas! And to go off of your adults meal idea I even thought maybe we could take turns watching the kids for the evening so each couple gets a date night or even just us moms could go out for a girls night!
Budget and Sleep schedules are definitely something to talk about! A trip can turn sour I’m sure if it’s not addressed beforehand.
Thank you for your input!!!

 

[QueenIsabella]

Yeah, definitely talk beforehand about expectations, family style, and so forth. Kids that young might need a mid-day break--or not. They might sleep in--or not. I would plan on being in the same park on the same day, and meeting up (assuming one family likes sleeping in). On the good side, in this day and age, it's fairly easy to meet up at 11am or whatever. But, this could potentially be an area of contention--if you're rope-drop people, you could get mad if they're slow starters. meanwhile, they're getting irritated because you guys are up at the crack of dawn!

I would plan one TS meal every day or every other day, depending on budget (time AND money). Probably stick with character buffets. I also like the idea of swapping off for a parents night.

We keep the "try one new thing" even now--my youngest is 12. He also has to try one new food a day (you don't have to do that one, mine's a picky eater). I was very proud that Mr. Mac and Cheese even went to Europe and tried new foods! We did let him have mac and cheese once in each country--but only once.

Also, prepare your friends for the amount of walking you'll do. If they've never been, they might consider a stroller to be optional. But with kids that young, it could be a godsend!

 

[unrequited23]

I think friends with kids is probably the best group to go to Disney with. You will have no complicated family relationships to navigate. They will understand that how kids can get because they are still in the trenches and not decades removed. (According to my MIL, my DH & SIL slept through the night at 1 month, ate any type of food without complaint, potty trained themselves and never had a tantrum.)

Don't be afraid to split up.

I would find out what they think of when they imagine a Disney trip. Is it the classic rides? The characters? The monorail? Thrill rides? Any try to incorporate that into the plan, so you are not worried the whole time if they are having a good time.

 

[ajwolfe]

We've gone a few times with family groups and friends. I'm going to go against the curve a little and say that I see a lot of advice given on this board about planning on splitting up and only spending a portion of your day together and such - in our case that wasn't what we wanted. Sure there were a few times were someone would sit out a ride or take a kid to ride something next door to what the group was riding but for the most part we toured the parks together.
I think my biggest piece of advice is before hand talk about budget and expectations for the trip. Talk about if they want to sleep in or stay up late and how much time they actually want to spend as a group vs separate. Clearing the air of all that before the real planning starts is perfect. When it comes to making dining reservations let each group have input same with FP+. In my case I'm always the planner and folks defer to me to come up with the overall plan but I still make sure everyone gets input.

 

[sponica]

Manage expectations. Are you both on a Disney trip as one big group, or are you both going to Disney at the same time? What do both parties expect and/or think?

Since they'll be focusing on a ton of firsts, they might need some days where it's just them (for example, I get overwhelmed at MK so I minimize my time there, that wouldn't fly for most people's first trips).

Another thing to consider is price points if you want to be at the same resort. I find moderates to be a happy compromise, for me at least the price difference between the values and moderates is minimal but the increase in amenities is substantial.

A word to the wise, rope drop to close people don't travel well with people who want to take it easy...my husband and I will spend the entire days in the parks (to the extent our kid lets us) but my in laws COULD NOT keep up with that.

 

[sullyfam]

I find with first timers, they don't know what they don't know. And so for now, they'll follow your lead on all the planning simply because they have no clue what to do and they have no sense of what it's truly going to "be like." So they may think something sounds good now, but upon arrival, dealing with 2 small kids, unpredictability and moods, things can change.

Communication would be my number 1 advise. As everyone has already mentioned, talk about everything up front. And number 2 would be not to over do it with combined plans. I would make 1 TS reservation per day together and plan your park(s) of the day and leave the rest open. Let them make their own FP and set their own pace. If you end up doing everything together, that's great but leave it open so that if that doesn't always work, nobody is disappointed.

Everyone does Disney their own way and people have to figure out for themselves what their park touring style is. Traveling with other people is stressful and I have people in my immediate family and very close friends that I love dearly, but that I wouldn't go to Disney with even if it was all expenses paid. It's a delicate thing but if you find people you CAN travel with, hold on to them tight! It can be a great thing.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We always travel to WDW as a group of 9 (me, DH 5kids and my parents) and have been there with even bigger groups a few times. I just recommend not trying to keep the whole group together at all times, maybe split up often so everyone feels like they get to do what they want. We also have pre-trip planning meetings where we figure out what’s most important to everyone and try to work it all in. Maybe try to do like 1 meal a day together so everyone can catch up. Going with a group can sometimes be stressful but it’s also so much fun. And you have free babysitters so you can have a date night (and you can reciprocate).

 

[QueenIsabella]

We always travel to WDW as a group of 9 (me, DH 5kids and my parents) and have been there with even bigger groups a few times. I just recommend not trying to keep the whole group together at all times, maybe split up often so everyone feels like they get to do what they want. We also have pre-trip planning meetings where we figure out what’s most important to everyone and try to work it all in. Maybe try to do like 1 meal a day together so everyone can catch up. Going with a group can sometimes be stressful but it’s also so much fun. And you have free babysitters so you can have a date night (and you can reciprocate).

This is pretty much how we did it (we had a group of 11-12). In the case of the OP, the kids are all pretty young, and thus unpredictable. You don't know if one child will be afraid of the characters, or one will want to ride Small World 10 times in a row (kill me now!). Flexibility and a good sense of humor are the most important things to plan on! When my kids were that young, we always needed a mid-day break, but BIL and his family never took one. I had a son who would pass out and seize if he got overwhelmed--they had a kid who would "withhold" and get constipated. Mine were timid, DNiece was a daredevil. DNiece would sleep in her stroller...mine wouldn't. Ever. We also found that, being in the same park on the same day, and meeting for one meal (usually dinner for us, YMMV) worked quite well--the kids had a chance to catch up and have "cousin time".

Most kids this age simply cannot go from rope drop to fireworks unless they take some kind of break. If the other couple has no idea what they're in for, the parents might not be able too, either. It's a LOT of walking in the heat! But, I also find that, at that age, children are enchanted by little things that most adults blow past, and it's charming to see what speaks to them.

 

[emilita423]

Ahh! Thank you all for such great responses and tips!!! So so helpful!!

 

[hsmamato2]

My advice is to talk ahead of time, find out how much planning they want you to do, and then be very cautious about overplanning. I'd personally plan to meet the other fam at a certain time dail within the park of choice(you decide) and fo a few FP rides together. Then after that point daily you can decide if you want to keep sticking together,or split up to do different things. I've found from experience in booking for my own family group that I asked clearly ahead of time IF the others wanted me to just choose each park for the day,and if they were ok with me choosing the FP we needed. Then we all met at a certain time,did our 3 FP rides together,and afterward either split up or stuck together depending on the day. And on one of my carefully planned days, one family in our group turned my carefully made FP plans upside down by choosing to head into a different park than I had planned for our group. No worries, Myself and my fam still did our planned stuff that day, the other group went to a different park and did what they wanted, we all swam together at the pool later that night.(of course first we went on MDE together where we removed their FP from our planned day,and they redid them on their own or whatever) most of our group had no planned meals, some brought lunches in,but there were a few days where we all ate together anyway without planning at a cs (uncrowded) restaurant,some of us bought our food, others unpacked their lunchbags. It was very chill overall,except for our 3 FP times which were a bit stressful b/c of timing etc. But this really limited the 'stress' times by choosing that one period in each day to meet up for sure. Oh, and everyone pays for their own plans upfront,no surprises that way. (hotels, airfare,etc)