What would you do? (kind-of long!)

[Buttercup]

We have some really great friends & their kids who came with us to WDW last year for their very first trip. We had such a great time, they totally "got" the Disney thing and are now self-proclaimed addicts! :mickey:

So we've been talking over the last year about how they definitely wanted to come with us on our next trip, but when it came time for booking (last fall) they procrasinated and kept saying "Oh we still have time to book"... (obviously not knowing the ins & outs of booking early).

When free dining weeks were announced, I POUNCED like a jungle cat and went ahead and booked my family's trip. :thumbsup: I also told our friends that I'd booked, and they said it sounded great and that they would hustle and book their trip too. I pestered them, hounded them, and they always were wishy-washy and putting it off. I assumed they lost interest and that was that.

Last week, they contacted me and said they really want to come. And I've told them it's not likely you're going to be able to get a room at the same resort as us (CBR) and since it's free dining, you're not going to get the reservations you want. They insist they'll be able to figure something out because one of them is a travel agent. :confused:

Annnywaaay... I've done some looking online, and the only rooms left (through Disney reservations) at CBR are preferred rooms, which they don't want. I've also tried seeing if I can add 4 more people to the existing dining reservations I've got, and it won't let me. The only times left are like dinner at 9:30 at night. :(

So I've told them, I don't mind switching resorts to Port Orleans if we can get 2 regular rooms there (since it's no big deal to me what moderate we stay at and we want to be at the same resort). But I don't want to change my dinner ressies to crummy times!

They STILL haven't booked anything, and now they're saying they want to sit down with me AFTER Christmas to discuss our plans and figure out where we're staying/dining/etc. So sometime early next week I guess we'll hopefully figure this out.

What would you do? Would you switch resorts but tell them "tough luck - I'm not changing my dining plans"? :(

By the way, our trip is February 11-18.

[WRWDisney]

Can you even switch resorts and keep free dining? I thought that was for a specific number of rooms at each resort, so if that's not possible...

I don't think I'd change anything. I'd explain that you cannot do what you had planned and it is late to change at this point. You will also be inside of the 45 day window just a couple of days after Christmas.

[retiredfigment]

I would keep everything you have, explaining that you worked very hard to get it, and then with a big smile on your face explain how wonderful the transportation system is and how lucky you all will be that you can meet each day at the parks. Merry Christmas!

[eam]

I would keep everything you have, explaining that you worked very hard to get it, and then with a big smile on your face explain how wonderful the transportation system is and how lucky you all will be that you can meet each day at the parks. Merry Christmas!

This is exactly what I was thinking. And don't let their procrastinating spoil any of your vacation. Have a wonderful time, and again, Merry Christmas!

[Gregandmel]

I agree with the others. If it were me, I guess I would leave it up to them to book what they need. You have MORE THAN done your share with trying to coordinate everything with them. Meeting at the parks each day will be great and you can hang out that way, but they need to figure out their game plan and then understand the next time you say WE'RE GOING....they better be on board at the same time! LOL. Good luck!

[Ms. Mode]

I'd let them plan their own vacation and leave mine alone. If you can meet up a few times during the week GREAT...if not...to bad for them.:blush:

[cer]

I agree with the others. You cannot make your vacation about accomodating them.

If they really wanted to go and do it the right way, they should have asked for your help in the early stages of the planning. Now they really need to do their own thing, help if you want but I would NOT change my stuff for them. If you do and lose your free dining or whatever, I know for me I would be really resentful.

If you can switch resorts without penalty and not lose the free dining, MAYBE - but as far as the changing the dining reservations, no way would I do it.

Also, consider this, what if you switch resort and they end up not going, will that be ok with you?

Tough situation, but you are the "ant", don't let the "grasshopper" ruin it for you... (A little Bug's Life reference for you....) :blush:

[cer]

OOOOOOOH! I just thought of something else! That free dining offer may no longer be available. Seriously. Please make sure you check the deadline before you make any changes.

I thought I saw a thread on here that the last day to book that deal was like Dec 20.

PLEASE make sure you check on that before making any changes!!!!! Your friends might not be able to get free dining anyway and no way should you lose your free dining.

Good luck!

And above all have a great trip! :mickey:

[DizneyRox]

Yeah, I'd tell them to pound sand, but maybe with a smile. I've got a few people here that are looking to go next year and they squandered their opportunity. They will probably be paying full price for their trip. It's not like I didn't tell them, I even pointed them to the deals. Oh well, guess they got money to blow...

It's 100% their problem now, not mine.

[SBETigg]

Well, they could have their own reasons for dragging their feet on this, and while it is frustrating to be planning a trip with them, I would have some understanding. Is it more important to you to have a good time with these particular friends or to keep your dining plans? You could certainly travel with them and not always dine together. I think it could work out. You might change one or two of the plans, but keep the ones you really want. Be flexible. If the vacation and the plans you have in place are more important than the together travel time, then stick to it and just tell them that. But possibly, there's a way to have the best of both.

I would just keep what you have now, but be open to make some (not all) changes when you talk to them at their convenience. And at that time, they need to have some understanding (and I hope they will) that you got a jump on the planning and already have some solid plans in place that you don't necessarily want to change.

[Buttercup]

OOOOOOOH! I just thought of something else! That free dining offer may no longer be available. Seriously. Please make sure you check the deadline before you make any changes.

I thought I saw a thread on here that the last day to book that deal was like Dec 20.

PLEASE make sure you check on that before making any changes!!!!! Your friends might not be able to get free dining anyway and no way should you lose your free dining.

Good luck!

And above all have a great trip! :mickey:
Oh you know what??? You're right! It IS finished. Well that settles that then. I guess I'll be breaking the news to them... DARN IT! Why do people have to be such procrastinators! My intention was not to lose my free dining package (NO WAY!) but to just transfer it to another resort. But if I don't have to switch, I'd rather not. I have everything organized the way I want it!
They can still get a room-only discount and then just pay cash for their meals, but they're probably going to gripe about it, while watching us have all these character meals for free! UGH... well, I guess this is how they'll have to learn. :mickey:

[jmj18]

I'm going to agree with everyone else. I would not change a thing! You tried your best and that is all you can do!

Have fun!

:mickey:

[MOJoe]

Some people, you just can't help.:confused:

Give them all your plans. Explain that they are welcome to join you. And let the travel agent try to figure it out.

[faline]

While they may have had personal reasons for not booking earlier, you gave them every opportunity to plan along with you. Since they chose not to, I would keep your plans exactly as they are. If they do get reservations for the same time frame, meet up with them as you can - perhaps sharing quick service mails - and separate when your dining plans don't merge. After all, if you were unabel to add them to your dining reservations, chances are they will also have difficulty getting reservations at those same dining establishments for around the same time you're dining. While it's more convenient to be at the same resort if you're spending park time together, you can certainly meet up with them at parks instead of traveling to parks together with them. Maybe after this trip, they'll get the importance of the trip planning portion of Disney vacations as well!

[DebK]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. I would not change anything either......

[gerald72]

Don't change a think. They will end up not going and it'll spoil your vacation. They had time.

[mom2morgan]

OOh- that is probably really disappointing, since you WANT to stay in the same place and eat together! I think I'd have to turn it over to them at this point - "Great! Since you are a travel agent and can pull strings, go ahead and book your room and add yourself to our dining reservations!" Who knows, maybe they are right and can do something like that. But if not, the ball is in THEIR court - you don't have to change anything, and if they find that they cant get the ressies they want, you can meet in the parks and have quick service lunches together -and they can chalk it up to experience.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

You can also check with the restaurant the day of your ressies to see if there is availability to add them in. We did that a couple of times with friends of ours. Other than that, we just spent time with them before and after our meal. It can still work out fine as long as they get it in gear and actually BOOK the trip!

[IloveDisney71]

I agree with everyone else who has previously posted. I wouldn't change your plans at all. You reminded them several times and they didn't listen to you so it's not your fault.
I've traveled with friends and family members and it's hard to balance making everyone happy. I've learned over the years to take this approach: tell whoever will be going with us what I plan to do. I offer to book their dining plans with ours so our dining plans can be together. I tell them where we are staying so they can link their stay with ours if they want. If they aren't ready to book when I am I don't wait for them. If they choose not to book with us then they are on their own with their planning. I've also learned that everyone will not agree on where to go at all times so sometimes it's a good idea to split up and take breaks from each other and then meet back up at a later time.
This approach may not work for everyone but it's what works for me and it saves me from lots of headaches in the long run!:thumbsup:

[PrettyMinnie]

We have never gone with friends but have known people who have done it. They stayed at separate resorts, had separate ADRs but still met up for parks and quick meals. They had a blast, so if I were you I wouldn't change anything because you can still have fun with them and keep your own vacation.

[Buttercup]

:bang:
Okay so they were over here tonight and we talked about Disney.
:bang:
So they are fine with the fact that they can't get the free DDP anymore, because they figure they'll just pay out of pocket for food. Cool, that's their choice to make.
I told them that I couldn't change my resort anymore because I'm at about 45 days so I might get charged a penalty for changing things (which may or may not be true, but it was a pretty good excuse!). They agreed it wasn't worth me switching and they would be fine staying at Port Orleans or whatever since we'd see each other during the day.

So basically, all of that is agreeable: they don't mind staying at another resort, and they don't mind that they can no longer get the free dining plan.

But they're still so wishy-washy on everything! I said "So then you're coming, but staying at Port Orleans instead?" and they said "Well, I don't know....." They're humming & haawwing about whether they're going to go at all now because their DD13 is giving them attitude and they don't know if they want to suffer through a trip where she's acting too cool for everything.... stuff like that.

So whatever. If they come, great, if not, oh well. I made it pretty clear that I'm not changing anything. Thanks INTERCOTEES for making me realize I don't need to change my plans to accommodate them! :mickey::rocks:

[Gregandmel]

SO happy to hear this!!!!! I"m sure at this point you are MORE than glad you didn't try to move heaven and earth to accomodate them. Sounds like even if you DID, you might have really messed up some of the things you worked so hard for, only to have them not go anyways. Sounds like they are really struggling with trying to go and my bet is that they WON'T go since they will have to do all the planning and with a 13 year old with attitude, takes the fun out of planning a trip to WDW. You will have a WONDERFUl time at WDW, with or without your friends with you. ENJOY!!!!!!:thumbsup:

[Cinderelley]

They may want to go, but are having money issues and are just too embarassed to tell you.

[PrettyMinnie]

Glad to hear everything worked out for you but I hope your friends get to go as well! It would be a fun trip for everyone!

[Buttercup]

They may want to go, but are having money issues and are just too embarassed to tell you.
Actually I thought of that when I hadn't heard from them in so long... but apparently he got this huge Christmas bonus from work, and that's what got them asking about going to WDW again. That's what they wanted to spend it on!

Well, it's January 2nd... and do you think they've booked anything? NOPE. :unsure: Oh well. I'm going on vacation in just over a month so I'm still doing the happy dance!:dance:

[GusNJacque]

Glad you didn't change your plans. It could have really messed up your calendar and then you would have been unhappy.

Good for you. Have fun!

[dtootsie42]

So glad to hear that you did not change any of your plans. Enjoy!

[roses]

Okay - so I read through other responses and here's what I think...

I 100% agree with the others. Although, like you - I would be thinking along the same lines as everyone else. While you will have a good times with your friends and their family, you may wish you stayed where you originally wanted to go. They may have their own personal reasons for not wanting to book - and may not wanted to share it with anyone. However - it is only a month away, and it is unfair of them to ask such things of you. I'm sure they just don't understand how hard it is to get such good reservations with such little time left (seems to be they are newbies!).

The advice I'm going to give you may not be necessarily what you want to do, but I would sit your friends down and explain that you gave them a chance multiple times to book - and for whatever reasons they couldn't at the time. And that is okay with you and you would love to still take the vacation with them - you just may not be at dinner together or in the same hotel. But that does not mean you won't see each other or enjoy the vacation together. It will be the best of both worlds really - you will get private time to enjoy the Disney Experience as a family and also get time to enjoy it with your friends as a group as well.

Good luck - I wish you the best!


*** Go ahead and think about your vacation and get excited for it. Don't let them being all wishy washy about booking disrupt your excitment for the coming enjoyment!!! ITS DISNEY - I mean really :) No other vacation better than that! If they don't come - their loss - their loss for missing out on a great friends vacation, their loss for not listening to you, their loss for not getting to experience Disney again.

Enjoy your vacation!

[jonahbear2006]

honestly, this would really upset me to the point that I would no longer want them to come with me. I would tell them they are on their own, you gave them their options a long time ago. If you let them change your trip now you will set precedence for them to do this to you again in the future. I wont do anything of the sort for my familys vacation. If you are attending with me, then you have to be on the ball. I dont like impromptu trips. As a matter of fact, it might cause anxiety attacks for me. We even had one trip planned where a friend bought an airplane ticket and he started lying to us and sneaking around with one of my girlfriends and creating drama for me, in which we uninvited him. He was rather upset but personally, I do not want anyone messing with my disney trips. They are way too expensive, and require way too much planning to take any undue stress with me.

[kemps@wdw]

Obviously, they did NOT totally "get the Disney thing". But they're rookies and they'll learn as they go more, just like we all did! Not booking everything together doesn't mean you won't get to do some things with them, it just means they'll be scrambling and you wont. A procrastinator's lesson learned. :D