Please advise - 2 Couples Trip

[apagano]

My best friend and his wife have generously offered to let DW and I stay with them at their timeshare for a week. We live in different cities and only get to see each other once or twice a year, so this trip will definitely involve a lot of coordination to make it work right. Would it make more sense for us to plan all our days together or for each couple to do their own planning, but arrange to meet up every so often? Example: "We're going to Epcot today, what about you? Animal Kingdom? Cool. Meet us at Spaceship Earth at 6pm." versus all four of us being together most of the week. I can see pros and cons both ways, so I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Planning separately gives us all more flexibility, but on the other hand it's not as much of a group trip. Maybe we should plan 3 days together, 3 separately? Or something I haven't considered?

 

[CJK]

HI! You may want to check out the Disney Adults page here on the DIS for more advice. I've travelled with friends before and if I did it again, I'd do it much differently. If possible, talk to your friends before the trip and find out what their expectations are, what their habits are, pace of touring the parks, meal plans, etc.... I recommend planning occasional meals together but do plan on spending some of each day apart. Our problem was we did everything together and we ended up driving each other crazy! Be up front in the beginning. You may want to tour the same park on the same day, but do it separately for a few hours and meet for dinner. Be honest with each other about what you want and have fun!!

 

[snuggles]

One thing I would suggest is to not try to stay together all the time. We went with our whole family (15 of us) and found that having some time away from the group really helped. The worst thing was having to wait and wait for someone to meet up. How about buying some of those radios and use them to communicate. That way if you plan to meet and get stuck in route you can let each other know. I wish we had thought of them back then. I'd go with the flow and see what happens.

 

[Bill From PA]

Two trips ago we lost loads of time trying to meet up with our adult daughters and dates, never again. If you're getting too much of each other, hit the park together in the morning and tour for a while, then go your separate ways. You can re-group at the time-share and either go out for the evening together or separately.

Another consideration is, are you all "WDW Veterans"? Could either couple uses some guidance in the ways of the 'World' from the other? I would've put up with almost anyone who would've spared us the rookie mistakes we made on our first trip down.



Bill From PA

 

[apagano]

We are all veterans to an extent, although the other couple goes there every year and we don't. In other words, we'll have an agenda of places we really want to go and for them it's no biggie to skip things because "there's always next year."

 

[opal]

We used to go every year with my brother's family. We didn't really plan it, but we fell into a routine of spending our mornings apart, mostly because of conflicting preferences of what time we wanted to get up in the morning. We would meet back at the resort pool after lunch for a few hours and then head back to a park mid-late afternoon, have dinner and spend the evening together. Having some time apart is important. It gives everyone a change to do and see the things that are important to them. We would deviate from that routine occasionally to enjoy a Character Breakfast or an Early Entry morning together as a group.

 

[eeyore0062]

Even though you love your friends and don't see them often, the worst thing you can do is try to do EVERYTHING together.

Your best bet would be to plan times when you do things together, and times when you have "couple" time.

Different people have different likes and dislikes as well as interests, and you don't want you or your friends to feel as though they or you didn't get to do what you wanted, because you were trying to stay together. Your friends may be worried about the same things.

When we went with my parents (more like going with friends), we would meet in the morning, and do the chosen park, then split and meet back up for dinner. Of if one of us didn't feel like doing an early morning park, we would coordinate a meeting time for later. We all carried our cell phones, so we could keep in touch, in case we were delayed, etc. It worked really well, and we enjoyed each other's company and still got a chance to have time to explore our favorites.

Hope everything works out for you!

 

[Gabe]

The first time we went to wdw in 1992, we also went with another couple. We didn't think there would be any problems, since they are our best friends.

We started out together, went to MGM the first day. But when we got back to hotel they wanted to stay and rest (she was 6 months pregnant). So my wife and I went to epcot while they stayed back. The next day, we were ahead of them by half a day, which only increased as the days went by, with them going back to the hotel early.

To make a long story short, we ended up not going to the parks with them after the first day, but would always make plans to meet in the evenings for dinner or other activities when they felt up to it. we all had a great time, nobody got on anybody elses nerves and nobody felt pressured to do anything they didn't want. It was great!

My point being is, everyone is different and likes to spend vacation time differently and with so much money spent on this particular destination, it's important that everyone has a great time doing what they want. If this is clear beforehand, then if you spend time together great, but if you don't nobody feels bad.

 

[XStAnt]

You say both couples have been to DW before, but they go more often. Therefore, I'd recomend you and your wife decide what things you definitely want to do/see on this trip. Then see if the other couple wants to do them as well. Find out what they want to do and see if you and DW want to do it as well. That will give you a number of activities to do together and to plan around.

For example, you could spend the morning together at MK doing the attractions you both want to see, grab lunch together (if you agree on the type of meal--i.e. sit-down, counter service, etc.), than split apart in the pm and do things they don't want to do. You can then meet for dinner or later in the evening.

I don't think you should spend all your time together because you'll drive each other crazy. But, you are going to see people you rarely see. Just spending a couple of evenings together hardly seems like enough time with good friends that you only see 1-2 times/year. Plus they did invite you to stay at their timeshare. How can you say, "We're going to the parks and will see you later. Thanks for the place to stay."?

Talk to the other couple and do some planning with them. Things will probably fall into place very easily.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

We're going this fall with our family of six, FIL & MIL and BIL & SIL & niece.

We are planning to get together to discuss expectations ahead of time. Since my DW is an excellent planner I think everyone will go along with her suggestions. We have tentatively planned to eat a sit down meal (with reservations) together on our park days.

We have two-way radios and based on other experiences where we have tried to meet up with other groups at different times throughout the day, I would suggest setting a meeting time (say, noon at Splash Mountain) and then have a second meeting time (Astro Orbiter at 3pm). If one group isn't there by 12:15 it's understood that the waiting group can take off and you can try again at the second meeting time. I've thought we might try to work in meetings at popular rides and get fast passes for around the time we have to meet.