Does anyone else let other's habits plan your trip?

[Dicecatt262]

I was just thinking it can't be just me, I see many people traveling with their extended families, and there are so many different personalities and obstacles, I am wondering how you get over that?

For example, my parents. I would not want to go with them to Disney. Yes, having them there to enjoy their grandchildren would be great fun. But...waiting for my dad to get out of the bathroom in the morning and join the rest of us...my mom hunting for smoking spots and needing to smoke after every ride while we just stand around and wait...my brother not wanting to get up before noon...that is stuff I couldn't handle on a disney trip. My DH mentioned going with my inlaws...I could just see it. My FIL complaining about rude people and being sarcastic with the servers at restaurants, and my MIL being late for everything...or how about my BIL, who might bring his flame of the week. All of them would fight against my carefully laid plans designated to allow all of us to avoid lengthy lines, and then complain about standing for an hour for a ride (which I refuse to do anyway, they'd be complaining alone).

I like to enjoy my vacation with early mornings, long afternoons at the pool or napping, early dinners (5 is too early to eat dinner, I can just hear my mom) and fireworks on the beach...my family enjoys it that way too, and that is that...

I guess what I am asking is how you get over that and plan a gathering with extended family? The joy the kids would experience would be great, but the headache I would get would not...what is inspiring this is my Mom mentioned wanting to go with us soon.

[AmberB]

You would think I would have learned my lesson from other non-WDW vacations with the in-laws, but I just can't turn down a Disney trip. We made the journey to the Happiest Place on Earth with my DH, DS, FIL, MIL, SIL, BIL, neice and two nephews. I think I'll be able to pass up future Disney trips if they are included.

"Y'all walk too slow."

"Will someone please take care of my kid's problem."

"Slow down, I can't walk that fast."

"It's hot (we're from an area where the temp and humidity are practically the same)."

"No, its not a family vacation if y'all go do something by yourself. We must be together at all times."

I'm just glad there wasn't room in the car for us and we got to fly.:mickey:

Now, I get to go back in May (and they wondered why we didn't invite them)!!!!!!

[Deesdisney]

I know how you feel. I was trying to get my husbands family together at WDW. Needless to say that has stopped. My MIL just had hip surgury, FIL is diebetic and eats on time everyday. SIL doesnt like to walk much. The only one would be my niece who is a Disney fanatic that we would have fun with. So I have told them if and when they would like to go Florida when we go to let us know. But I will not put off my plans the way I have always done it. I will make time to be with them. Plus if they do not want to go to the park all day they could always do what ever they want with bus system. Disney is my vacation and I will not let anyone change what I want to do. Might seem mean but I spend time each year with everyone doing what they want to do. So it is my time to do what I want. Which my kids are always with me.
Good luck with your decision.

[SBETigg]

WDW has been a magical place for the DH and me since our honeymoon, a fantastic escape after a wedding that was nearly ruined by the petty fueding of both of our parents. WDW is still our special place and there will be no grand gatherings or family reunions there, as well as no real world interruptions or reminders of home (as much as can be helped). Now we go with our two children and enjoy every minute.

We accept the fact that one day our kids will probably leave us behind and go without us, too. Or maybe not. Maybe they'll want to do the family thing and we'll consider accepting their future partners, -in-laws, and children into our circle then. But for now, no. Go with the people you enjoy being with and leave the rest at home. Why stress?

[kgoulash]

growing up my family has gone with 20 plus, i don't know how my parents dealt but i have the fondest memories
now that i'm older we have gone with smaller groups. the way we handle it is everybody is not required to be together at all times! take a break from each other, do whats important for each person/group and above all have a good sense of humor!
:mickey:

[mdricks]

My trip 3 years back was exactly what you are talking about. It worked out ok in the end but never again.

I was the bad guy, but thats just how it had to be. Before we left I told the MIL and FIL, "I'm here for the kids. I will do what they want to do. You may join us if you want, otherwise you are on your own." Luciliy the BIL/SIL were on my side and was just as happy to wander off on their own with their kids.

It worked out ok. MIL was ticked the first time she started the "but i wannas" and me and the kids walked one way and BIL and his kids walked the other. I think after that no one questioned my resolve on the issue. If they wanted to spend time at Disney with the grandkids then they are following the grandkids not the other way around. As soon as they got acclemated, they just said we will see you later we want to do.... and i think they had a great time in the parks on their own as well.

We did do a number of things together as a family (sets for 10 in philharmagic please) and for the most part ate all meals together, but we also quickly agreed to go our seperate ways when the kids got that roller coaster look in their eyes.

In the end, we made agreed upon times and places to meet that all could live with. We also took a day that was exclusively "leave us the heck alone" day and spent it just us. And since me and the BIL are the ride junkies we took turns taking all the kids together (4 in all) to ride what they wanted while the adults did more adulty types of things. (stand around agruing about which restuarnt to eat at for example!:mad: )

Sounds boring to me. How's about splash again kids! See you guys in 30 minutes! :D

[tink2006]

It is very hard. Once (and only once) did we have family members join us on our WDW trip. It was my mother, brother, sil, their two DD and our DS, myself and my DH (thank God it was a small group). Before we met at the world I told everybody in my family to remember to be patient....everybody's needs and wants are different. We traveled through the parks together etc. My brother, who needs to eat on a regular schedule due to an illness dictated meal times and breaks. Everything took forever....it seemed that we were going from meal to meal/break without getting much done.

That said, we still talk about this vacation, look at pictures, etc. It was very nice for the children to spend time together, something they do not get to do very often!

We knew that we would be going back to WDW (next time just us!). This allowed us to be a little more patient and experience the magic in a whole new light.

Will we do it again?...I do not think we will have the opportunity. The kids are older, my mother is too old to travel, my brother still has an illness to deal with. In other words, I think our window of opportunity has slammed shut.

It is always hard to accomodate a larger group but sometimes it is worth the effort. It was not our best vacation but from a "family quality time" it was worth the inconvenience.

[BigRedDad]

Our extended family trip is not planned until 2009. I already feel tension in those plans and we have done nothing so far. My in-laws favor their other daughter so much more than my wife. It is so bad right now, I would never go on a vacation with my in-laws. If the trip still goes forward as planned, we are letting everyone know up front that nothing will take away from the memory of our DD. If she wants to do something, she is going to do it when she wants to, not by someone else's schedule.

The only "planned" day will be the first day to MK. They will all get to watch the amazement of walking into Main Street for the first time, taking in all of the magic, walking through the Castle into Fantasyland. After that, everyone is on their own. This may sound cold, but I am not spending thousands of dollars to make the in-laws happy. I spending it to make my DD happy.

The thought of this is just giving me a headache :ill: :ill: :ill: The first part of the plan is when and which resort. I was thinking moderate, but when they said Contemporary, I started my plans to save for it. I know exactly what will happen when we are ready to make reservations: "we're not going to be able to afford a deluxe resort, we can't go on those dates, we can't this, we can't that". Everyone has been told how much to start saving per month now, but I am sure I am the only one. When it comes down to it, my DW will be asked to alter our plans completely to accommodate the rest.

[Mickey91]

To Dicecatt262 I have to say that if your family is actually planning the trip and you are including others then make up a schedule of the things you want to do. Stay where you want to stay. Then let the others know your plans. If they want to go then it should be with the understanding that you don't have to do everything together. Also, let them be in charge of their own happiness. Let them go with you when they want, but tell them it is okay to do things on their own. If they have never to WDW before, it may be nice to plan more things as a group for the first day or so. Remember the things that you were excited to see and do and try to give a little in that area. But as for the whole vacation, if you are like us, you only get this once a year. Don't give up all of it. And I cannot stress enough how important it is to let each person be responsible for there own enjoyment. If you are the planner, it is easy to get caught up in making sure everyone is happy. If you have others wanting to go and it is possible to have a couple of planning parties, this might be the way to go. That way everyone gets a since of planning their own time at Disney and it doesn't all fall on your shoulders.



Our extended family trip is not planned until 2009. I already feel tension in those plans and we have done nothing so far. My in-laws favor their other daughter so much more than my wife. It is so bad right now, I would never go on a vacation with my in-laws. If the trip still goes forward as planned, we are letting everyone know up front that nothing will take away from the memory of our DD. If she wants to do something, she is going to do it when she wants to, not by someone else's schedule.


The only "planned" day will be the first day to MK. They will all get to watch the amazement of walking into Main Street for the first time, taking in all of the magic, walking through the Castle into Fantasyland. After that, everyone is on their own. This may sound cold, but I am not spending thousands of dollars to make the in-laws happy. I spending it to make my DD happy.

The thought of this is just giving me a headache :ill: :ill: :ill: The first part of the plan is when and which resort. I was thinking moderate, but when they said Contemporary, I started my plans to save for it. I know exactly what will happen when we are ready to make reservations: "we're not going to be able to afford a deluxe resort, we can't go on those dates, we can't this, we can't that". Everyone has been told how much to start saving per month now, but I am sure I am the only one. When it comes down to it, my DW will be asked to alter our plans completely to accommodate the rest.

I have some of the same issues. What you need to remeber is what you just said. This is for your DD. Anything that takes away from that is best left behind. Let everyone know up front that these are the plans. If you want to go and stay near us then this is where we are staying. Better start saving. If you don't stay near us, then it is your burden to catch up to us, here is the schedule.
I know that is easier said than done. If my DH was reading this he would be laughing at me. I have never had the guts to be that bold with my family. But, it may have to be said for you to enjoy it. Good luck!!:mickey:

[crazeedizneefinatic]

I think the best thing to do if you already know in advance you would be totally stressed about going with certain family members or friends, don't plan a trip with them. Be gacious but honest. We go alot with my Mom. We all get along very very well. We have never had a problem. Not to say sometimes we disagree over something but if that is the case we do what we want than meet up (rarely happens though). It is very easygoing. I cannot imagine vacationing with people who would be pushy and incosiderate of others. Going with a group, you can assume there will be give and take but if someone is set in stone on how a vacation is supposed to be than avoid those plans like the plague!

[mdricks]

I was thinking moderate, but when they said Contemporary, I started my plans to save for it. I know exactly what will happen when we are ready to make reservations: "we're not going to be able to afford a deluxe resort, we can't go on those dates, we can't this, we can't that". Everyone has been told how much to start saving per month now, but I am sure I am the only one. When it comes down to it, my DW will be asked to alter our plans completely to accommodate the rest.


Sounds like you got an answer right here. When they whine about the price, agreeably book them at a moderate or value. And keep your contemporary ressie for yourself. "Sorry mom only people who stay here can use this pool"
:thedolls:

[Pipalotta]

I have never traveled to disney with extended family but I have with 3 other girls 2 times. It was horrible and I dont recomend it.

The players in this story:

Me
SnowWhite
Cinderella
Tinkerbell


We drove down in a rented van and Tinkerbell was the only one who could drive it because of the contract, so the rest of us had to take turns sitting up front. Well at the time I was a smoker and would have liked to sit up front but I think I sat up there the least amount of time. The other 2 girls fought over sitting up front.

Then Snowwhite wouldnt share a bed with anyone but Tinkerbell even though we were all close friends. This caused problems when Cinderella whom I shared with wanted to sleep in the bed farthest from the door and I wanted the bed closest to the wall. Snowwhite cried and wouldnt come out of the bathroom. Then Snowwhite is afraid of the dark so had to have the tv on at night while Cinderella couldnt have any light or noise or she couldnt fall asleep.

Me and Tinkerbell would take showers at night, we had to have 3 wake up calls in the morning. First Cinderella would get up and shower and have to do full hair and make up as well as iron her clothes. She would leave the ironing board out causing Tinkerbell to scream at her every afternoon. Then Snowwhite would get up and do full hair and make up and change her outfit about 20 times. Then we would get up.

Cinderella was a penny pincher but yet didnt really watch what she spent leaving her broke pretty much. She would never throw in extra money and always calculated her meals wrong. Once she was forced to pay for gas twice since Snowwhite covered one of her meals, this caused her to call her mother anc cry and complain. She once wasnt invited to dinner with us and then dead bolted us out of the room. Much fun came from that.

Tinkerbell and Snow white didnt ride rides so they sat around and complained about how long the lines were so we missed half of them since we didnt want to hear them complain about sitting around doing nothin.

:ack: Never again.

[Disneydynomite]

Great topic! There are 11 of us going. My family of 4, my brothers family of 4, a single brother and our parents. Since I am the only one who has been to DisneyWorld twice and our daughter did the college program, we haven't had any planning issues, they are leaving it up to us.

I have told everyone that if they did not like my plans that no one's feelings would be hurt if they went their separate ways.

Since we all work together (5 days a week) we get a long pretty good. I guess we are lucky. Not to say we don't argue, but at the end of the day, we still like each other.

We know we have to take it slow as we have three people who are challenged when it comes to walking. Two will have wheelchairs.

We will all share a 7 bedroom home so we can go to our separate rooms if need be. LOL.

[BedknobsandBroomsticks]

I feel for all of you with MIL and FIL issues. I too have "difficult" in-laws. I was brought up in a close knit family where were taught to think of others first and ourselves second. If everyone did this there would be so much less stress for people. Even with my cranky in-laws, I would still go to Disney with them. They said "no" everytime we asked. They don't care to see their 3 grandkids enjoy their favorite place in the world. My mom and brother are headed down with us in Oct. They went with us three years ago and the kids still talk about it all the time. We will spend time apart yes. Especially my brother, the kids whining will get to him sometimes and he'll go off to ride on his own. Do we care, nope! Glad to have him along even part of the time. He'll hold a hand in a pinch and loves to ride the rides with the kids. My mom is 72 so this year we're renting a wheelchair for her. We'll have to go a little slower, maybe, but my children will remember my mom in a way that they won't remember their other grandparents. I feel lucky to be able to share this with them. I wish my dad and grandad could be here, they loved disney so much. We are lucky too like the last post. Mom and bro leave the planning up to me, although of course I consult them, to see if the have any ideas or input. Sometimes mom complains a bit about prices (she grew up poor, so we ignore it or change the subject or say "Isn't is the truth". She just wants to have something to say. We have fun! and when we are annoying each other, we'll each go our own way. Hope more of you can work it out but I know it's tough.

[r4kids]

We are going in Sept. with BIL & SIL and their 2 kids (3&1). They have never been and we are Disney "pros". I use that losely. Anyway, we told my Mom she couldn't come this time. We wanted to enjoy a family vacation with just our family but since BIL & SIL have never been and are nervous about going completely by themselves we decided to go together. We are satying at seperate resorts and our 4 kids are older so we are not attached at the hip. I am excited to help plan and share all the things newbies may miss by being uniformed. We'll see how it goes.:mickey:

[vamaggie]

I refuse to travel anywhere (especially WDW) with anyone from the "herd mentality". Unless you are <14, you should be able to handle being in WDW alone (or not with the whole group). We have never been to WDW with any other family members but this trip my folks are coming to meet us for 1.5 days. They have never been and will be in FL so decided to come for a short time. Still don't expect them to be glued to us--Dad may forgo MK and spend more time at AK. Fine with us, see you at dinner. I believe the more you force togetherness, the less it is good. Lay out the "ground rules" ahead of time and if they don't like them tell them--Don't come!!!

[LizLovesDiz]

I have often wondered how people can go with the flow like that with different personalities!My DH and DD are the only 2 people that don't bug the ---- out of me !

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

BTDT, NEVER again!! :secret:

[wdw_bound]

We've got a trip with the in-laws booked in December. They can be a challenge at times, but I'm looking at this as a memory making opportunity for my kids. DD is tickled about taking her grandparents to the World (DS is only two, so he's just excited about seeing his girl Minnie).

We have already stated very clearly that we would love to have you join us, but don't feel it is a requirement every day. I'll make ADRs for us all together simply because I think they would be so overwhelmed that they'd stick to chicken fingers at the food court if I didn't. If they choose not to eat with us, that's ok, but at least the option is available.

I do am EMH with my kids. I've already told the inlaws that if they want to sleep in, that's fine, they can meet up with us later. I've also scouted out some activities that I believe will appeal to them (ie CP at Epcot) but probably aren't a good fit for us. Bottom line, this trip is going to be about give and take on both sides. I would no more expect to have everyone follow my lead than I would want to follow someone else's. I may not have the best relationship in the world with my in-laws, but they are my kids grandparents, and I remember how much mine meant to me, so if I have to give a little for my kids to have memories that will last a lifetime, that seems like a fair bargain.

[kakn7294]

Like Sean Riley Taylor's Mom, Been there, done that - NEVER AGAIN!

[cjb121879]

We're going in June. There will be 10, possibly eleven of us including my mom, sister, aunt, two first cousins, my cousin's oldest two children (5 & 8, we haven't decided whether to bring the 1 year-old) and two third cousins. We're leaving most of the men at home. I am a bit nervous (especially after reading all of the above posts:secret: ) but, I think it will be fine in the end.
We vacation together for a week every summer anyway, this is just the first time in a while we have done it at WDW (we went in a large group back in '91). We're usually together on weekends too (it's not unusual for us to pile into a couple of cars on an all-day shopping expedition), so I think we can stretch it a bit farther at WDW. That said, we did have different ideas about certain things. For instance, my aunt and her kids and grandkids wanted to visit SeaWorld. It's not my cup of tea, so I found tickets for them and in the meantime, made plans with my sister to visit AK that day. I'm not so concerned about tempers flaring as I am about the rigors of dragging a group of ten across the parks.

I'm a little apprehensive about this trip, but mostly just excited. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

[JENNEB]

I'm going with my extended family in June. As the WDW vet alot of the planning has been left up to me, which is great, since I love planning. There are 7 of us going - my parents, my 2brothers and my SIL and Brother 2's GF. I made a rough schedule - including our ADR's for the day and what I thought we should do. But the first line of the letter I sent with it included the line - This is what I have planned - if you don't want to do it, then you don't have to or if you have a better idea let me know. I guess the good thing is, we have all been before, just not together, and we have all traveled together. Right now I am hoping for the best.

[packofjedis]

How about when ALL of my family and DH's live 2 hours from Disney and decide to pop down for a day, or two, or three since we'll already be there? It's hard since the rest of the year we're so far away. But it would still be nice to have a WDW vacation alone without people joining us.

Overall, though, so far it hasn't been too bad. I think too much thinking about it beforehand makes it seem bad, but the reality isn't awful.

[xipetotec]

Well I've done 3 trips now with much extended family. The first trip was a bunch of us, and while we were there my mother purchased a DVC membership. Now she saves her points as much as she can to take a whopping load of us down.

That being said, it's my family ( wife and 3 kids ), my parents and brother, my aunt and her 2 kids ( and sometimes husband ) and my cousin and her 2 kids and husband.

Yep big gang.

If there's anything I've learned from the first trip is *don't try to do everything together*. This is extremely important. Because as you say, not everyone has the same interests. Not everyone has the same schedules. Some people think a vacation should mean getting up late, not rushing. Others want to SEE everything.

The best thing to do is plan ahead what things you know you wnat to do together. We basically had a couple of park days together. And dinners. And the one big special thing was breakfast at CRT ( yes I managed to get ALL of us in ). Other than that, we'd split up a lot of the time in different groups every day depending what people wanted to do. :number1:

[Cinderelley]

Our vacation (15 of us) went very well thanks to all the wonderful people here at icot. I did the planning (checked with everyone else to see if they were okay with it). I picked the park according to which days were least busiest. Then I picked a nice table service restaurant in that area for us to meet at. We went to the parks together and split up once we got there or split up after breakfast when we did Crystal Palace and Akershush. A couple of times, my kids and I went earlier than everyone else. We would occasionally run into each other during the day at the park, but everyone did their own thing. I even have a picture of the acrobats in China, and when I got home, I realized my mom was in the background. I hadn't even seen her there.

My mom had recently had her gallbladder out, so frequently, she would head back for a nap. Everyone knew what time and where the dinner reservations were for, so we all met up then and spent time catching up. We all watched Fantasmic together, but we didn't watch the other fireworks shows all together. I think one time I was with my mom and her boyfriend and another time I was with my sister and her two daughters. That plan worked out quite well. Everyone still talks about our trip even though it was two years ago.

[alicia524luvstw]

I went once w/ my mil &fil. I was excited as it was their 1st trip. Well, they couldn't believe the cost of the meals & how there was no place left to sit @ cs restaurants. My fil is such a picky eater he would order dessert instead of a meal while the rest of us had our food. My mil has to sit for about a 1/2 hour after eating or she would be ill. Well, I added a few more nights to our trip and they left before us. Funny thing though, my in-laws are hooked on WDW! They've been back each year now in Nov.

[TINKERBELL_82]

Okay, here's what we do to avoid conflicts like that when family comes from out of state to go to WDW:

1. We (Ryan and I) are staying at the _____ resort. You may make a reservation there if you would like, or if this hotel is not satisfactory to you, please feel free to stay wherever you would like.

2. We are going to MK on Sat, Epcot on Sunday, etc. By all means, join us if you so desire, however please feel free to visit any park you choose. (This is usually negotiable).

3. We are going to be at the park when it opens. If you would like to sleep in, that is more than fine. Give us a call when you are on your way and we'll meet you somewhere.

These are just examples, but I'm sure you get the point. We may not spend every waking moment of every single day with the family, but the time we do spend together is normally good because everyone is getting what they want. Quality vs. Quantity.

[tinksmom02]

I'm in the pre-planning stages of our 9/2009 trip with my family. DD loved having Grandma and Grandpa with us in Jan (and actually cried when we told her they weren't coming on our upcoming trip!) G&G were told they didn't have to do everything we did, they were more than welcome to rest at the resort, etc. But they didn't want to miss a moment of DD's excitement, and ended up doing everything with us. It worked out quite nicely, I must say, although I am looking to a nice, 3-person trip in Sept.

The 09 trip is scaring me, though. My baby bro and his girlfriend are 1. notoriously, ridiculously late for EVERYTHING, 2. notoriously, ridiculously bad at saving money, and 3. would rather sleep than eat. That's why I told them about it 2 1/2 years ahead of time--they should have plenty of time to save up.

BUT if they (or my other bro and SIL) can't come up with the dough by the time I book, then too bad, so sad. They stay home LOL

[thejens]

THere is a lot of good advice here. I definitely think that if you don't usually get along well with family, WDW is NOT the place to try to make it magical. A relaxed beach resort would probably be much less stressful. Or a Disney Cruise. Last year my family travelled with sister's family and my mother. They essentially followed my itinerary and I tried to be flexible (as much as this type A planner could be). Now this upcoming trip will include my Mom again, but my other sister who has a totally different style. I like to open the park; she likes to sleep in; I am decisive; she likes to discuss; I plan ahead; she still doesn't have her plane tickets etc. We have already agreed to do our own thing as needed and I gave her my itinerary with the "no obligation, but this is MY plan" disclaimer. I'll let ya'll know how it goes!!!

[DisneyDudet]

Boy, this all makes me glad that the time we went for 2 weeks for my high school graduation w/ my grandparents along. They said "Morgan, its your trip, we'll do whatever you want to do." And they did w/o complaint. Grandma was sensitive to the heat b/c of medicine, so we just made sure we looked in shops a lot and so on. My g'rents didn't do many of the high speed rides or anything, but they like to people watch or look around, which they did a lot of. It also helps when, out of the 5 of us, 3 of us like ToT and 2 of us like RnRC. So, mom,dad,and I went and got FPs for ToT, and used grandma and popa's tickets for RnRC FP for dad and me! We did that a lot.

There were times they had to go let the dog out (we were at Fort Wilderness and he was in the camper) or there were errands that needed to be run (replacing a window or tire.. yeah.. big issues that trip). They had no problem going back w/o us (we had to tell them exactly were to go tho) and take a nap or other things on their own. We always met back up w/ them and had a great time!

They did the same thing on my cruise in Jan. "Morgan, just do whatever you want to do and we'll do it. If we don't want to, then we'll tell you and we'll go do something else." I wasn't offended they didn't want to go to a lecture on the Disney Castles with me.

I hope you find a way around all the people and their personalities. I agree with the meeting places and times for certain events. You don't have to spend all your time together, but you should spend some time. Allow them to pick a park and let them have half a day to do what they want to do w/ everyone. Let each couple do that maybe, and make it clear to everyone that this is the time for no complaints. When its their turn for their day, they would appreciate others not complaining about it.

If people think its too much money to eat, they can pack their lunch. Get a cab and go to Wal Mart and pick up some bread, peanut butter, and jelly and some chips and have at it.

Everyone is going to have something they want to do. Everyone needs to respect that. You may want to do something for your own family, but they are there too, so they should be allowed to do something as well. I guess I learned that from my Grandparents. Our trips turn out to be pretty selfless. Often times we argue more about whose turn it is to pick than complaining about someone's choice!

[Dakota Rose]

On our last trip, I catered to my parents and DH's "go with the flow" mindset and didn't plan much of anything. BIGGEST MISTAKE! I left WDW feeling jipped and frustrated.

I already have our February trip outlined and have kept in mind the likes, dislikes and habits of my family. For example, my mom insists on having an afternoon break at the hotel. Done. My dad likes shows and sitting activities. So I've factored in a few hang-out times along with shows. DH doesn't want to feel "locked in" to a schedule, but that just means I won't give him a copy of the itinerary. hehehehehehe

[BritCody]

Including myself I have 5 in my immediate travel party, my 2 teens and my 2 parents. Last year we went on a trip with a total of 21 from our family. We had 4 sitdown meeting prior to the vacation and had numerous e-mails back and forth. Right from the beginning I told everyone that I was on vacation and I am doing what myself and my immediate family wanted to do and if anybody wanted to follow or join in that was okay, but one bit of complaining and I was leaving them. We agreed on some plans together and in others we differed. I think out of 9 nights stay we had dinner together 6 times and lunch together once. In all of our days at the parks I think we rode 2 rides together as a group of 21. It was a very nice trip, but what made it nice was the independence at times from the other members of the family. This way we didn't cause each other to go crazy.

As for special plans I always have to figure in my picky eaters when making dinning ADR's. There are times when I would love to try a certain place, but I end up chosing a place my kids would prefer.