Vacationing with familes (yours and signifigant other's)

[thejens]

We are going to do our third trip to WDW and once again it is with my mom who is wonderful to vacation with. My sister and niece are also joining us again. One year my other sister and nephews joined us. We all get along and travel well together for the most part. Being the itinerary commando type I just told them they could keep up or go on their own and meet up later. They all kept up and I do try to be flexible. I have no desire to try to do Disney with other friends or relatives, however. I think it would take away from the experience if we were trying to compromise or merge styles. Beach vacations are better for quality family time unless your family shares the same approach. That being said, my mother's health is compromised and I plan to be more laid back this trip. I might even enjoy that!

[Disney Doll]

We have almost always done Disney with extended family. I love vacationing with my family and I love seeing the kids experience Disney, but I can only handle MIL in small doses. A week of togetherness was way too much and I just felt stressed out. MIL requested adjoining rooms which I was not happy about and really expected us to all be together 24/7. That is not a good plan. Since I have learned to plan our vacation the way I want it and let people tag along if they wish. We do what we want to do and if someone wants to do something else they can feel free to meet up with us later. It makes for a much better plan. This year we are taking our first trip with just the immediate family. It was kind of hard to tell people we were going, but to also tell people we preferred to go just us.

[KAT1811]

This year we are taking our first trip with just the immediate family. It was kind of hard to tell people we were going, but to also tell people we preferred to go just us.

Us too! This will be the first trip ever just us! We are so excited but I do feel a bit guilty. No one knows as of yet, other then DH and myself of course. DH works at least 85 hours a week during our busy season so by November we are all in need of some serious family togetherness. We are hoping that everyone understands. We are not planning on telling anyone until the trip is upon us (the kids will not find out until we arrive at the airport).

[diz_girl]

When I was growing up, it was just me, my sister and my parents. We always had a nice time.

Our one and only extended family trip was in '97 with the four of us again, plus my DH and future BIL. My mom is a bit of a control freak and is a commando in the parks, so we needed to rein her in a bit. She wanted to leave the resort at 7am to go to the parks, but we'd only get back to our rooms close to midnight and I like my sleep. We had some nice meals, and we sometimes needed our alone time, but it worked out well in the end.

My last two trips were just with DH and me. I dragged him around the parks our first trip, poor guy, and I promised him a more relaxed trip the next time. Our last trip was more relaxed, as being pregnant and DH giving me a bad cold slowed me down a bit.

Our upcoming trip will be bigger than our first extended family trip. There will be ten of us, seven adults (me, DH, SIL, Mom, Dad, Sis and BIL) and three children (DS, Nephew and Niece), staying in four rooms. SIL is my DH's sister and BIL is my sister's husband. My family loves my SIL, and she's a laid-back person, so I don't foresee any problems. I've never been on a vacation with a group of ten, or with young children (5 yrs, 3 yrs and 17 mo), so it should prove interesting. Because we will have two toddlers in tow, we are thankfully forced to slow down and take frequent breaks, which should make our trip more enjoyable. I've taken over the planning, but I'm involving everyone in the decision making (parks, meals, etc.) so everyone should be happy with the outcome. I'll be crossing my fingers.

[irish1967]

We have vacationed at WDW with extended family from both sides (not at the same time )

It works well - we recognized early on that sticking together as a group wouldn't work - too many different ages and interest levels.

We meet for breakfast in the morning and talk about what everyone's plans are. If it makes sense, the common plans are done first (e.g., go to EPCOT and hit Soarin' then one group might split off to hit TT and MS and the other group will go off to wonder through World Showcase)

The older children are given the opportunity to pick which group they want to go with - if my niece wants to do the mountains instead of the "baby rides" with her younger sister, she comes along with the group with the older cousins. The children know, however, that once they commit to the group, they are with that group until mid-afternoon when the families tend to head back to the resort for a swim (swimsuits are placed in the appropriate room so my niece would be able to swim even if we arrived back to the resort ahead of her parents.)

We always have a group dinner at a TS restaurant and then tend to hit a park for a little while before early-to-bed.

The only time it really didn't work is when I allowed myself to be promoted from trip organizer (researching accomodations and planning meals with DDad) to Julie McCoy (making individual ADRs for couples, spa visits for others and golf tee-times for yet others.)

Now that I establish boundries (i.e., I will be making the following ADRs for the entire group. If you do not want to be involved in any particular meal, let me know and I won't include you in the count. WDW recommends that ADRs be made 180 days in advance for TS restaurants. Those ADRs can be made at the following number 407 - WDW - DINE) it works out really well.

[Grumpy's Daughter]

My parents always took my sister and I when we were growing up, so it was only natural for me to make my DH take me on our honeymoon. And that's the last time that we went to DW alone! We've gone 4 more times, always with my parents and usually my sister in tow. We always go on vacation together- whether it's Virginia, Illinois, or the Happiest Place on Earth. Sounds like we might be a rare find!

[mouseketeer mom]

We only vacationed once with extended family. It was not at WDW, it was at the Beach. Needless to say, our styles couldn't have been more different. My DH and I think of vacations as getting away, My inlaws think of it of bringing their home along with them. For example, we like to go out to eat. They packed groceries (same meals they would prepare at home) and wanted us to all sit down to a family dinner in the beach house each night. They wanted us all together 24/7, it didn't flow. My DH had a migraine the whole trip and I thought I wanted to jump off the pier and swim away into the sunset! It was really tense the whole trip, and we would never do it again.

[MicMouse]

Every time I've gone, its been with my in-laws, which is fine. They are big WDW fans too!

It works out well for us because traveling with the in-laws equals free babysitting at night.

[sleepingbooty]

We've done one trip with us and my parents, one with us, my parents, and my 20-something brothers, one with our neighbors and their kids, and one with just my husband and I. They were all great trips, but each had it's ups and downs. The most negative thing was having to wait for my brothers all the time, who never wanted to get up on time, and seemed to need a smoke break after every single attraction. Plus, you have to deal with everyone's moods. I was really worried that the trip with our neighbors was going to be a disaster, but it wasn't. What saved us, was staying at different resorts. We definitely had plenty of just family time because of that, although we did all of our table service meals together. This year it'll be just our little family, and I'm really looking forward to it!

[debandbub]

This will be the first time that we (SO and I) go with other people (Bro, SIL and 2 nieces 8 & 11). We are actually overlapping vacations, and I planned it that way figuring that each family would like a few days of alone time. Sounds like that might have been a good idea! My only concern (and I've expressed it in other posts) is that I am a planner (OK, control freak ), and my brother who hasn't been there in 15 years doesn't think that we need to plan as much as I do. I really like Irish1967's idea... meet up for breakfast, make plans and then split up as appropriate. I think I'll try that!

[Mickey'sGirl]

Before we had children we would go with my parents -- and since having children, we might spend a day or so with my husband's parents -- but when push comes to shove -- we would rather just be us. My boys and I can't handle big "productions" if you know what I mean -- so it is better for us to do things at our own pace. Come and go according to our needs that day. We think of vacation time as our family time (we both work etc) and on a very selfish level -- we have no intention of sharing our holidays. Kudos to those who do!