First Timers

[icee94]

Next July, eight friends and I will be traveling to WDW for a few days. One friend has been their a couple times and another once but they haven't really experienced the magic. So basically eight of the nine it is their first time actually experiencing the parks. Is there anything that you suggest we do in order for them to get the best experience? When we go this would be my seventh trip so I know the parks.

[goofiecrazy]

u all need 2 decide how much ur willing 2 spend and have everyone really look into everything offered in the world. throw out some ideas for the parks,restuarants etc. give them disney sites like this 1 2 look at so all the newbies have a idea whats 2 come. if ur looking2 spend most of ur time in the parks i wouldnt break the bank on a hotel if ur just gonna b sleeping n changing there. plan a budget 4 urself n the others. find out how much every1 can spend on everything. look into the hotels n restaurants. look into 1 of the tours n do it as a group.
have fun..

[faline]

Traveling with a party of 9 can be tough - even though you're all friends, I'll bet there are a lot of differences amongst you. Some may like to sleep late in the morning and stay up into the wee hours; others may like to get up at the crack of dawn and retire to bed at a very reasonable hour. Some may count every penny; others may worry about the bills later. It's very important that you come up with a plan that work for all of you.

First - decide where you will stay. Once you've made that decision, contact Magical Journey to have them help you get the best rates possible on your selected resort. (By the way, I'd suggest you stay within Disney World if at all possible).

Next - work out a preliminary plan for which parks you will visit and when. Will you include a water park? Will you spend any time at Downtown Disney? Make it clear that the 9 of you do not need to travel as a herd all day long. Once you've reached the park of the day,everyone should feel free to split along lines of interest and these splits may vary from day to day. Make sure everyone has input into parks and recreation planning.

Then tackle dining. Will you stick to mostly counter service meals? Will you have any table service reservations? Will you do a character meal? If so, which one(s)? Again, it's important to have everyone in your group weigh in. If six folks want to grab a cup of coffee and a snack bar on the way to the park and 3 want to do the character breakfast at O'Hana's, make the reservation for the 3 and let the others go their own way - you'll catch up later.

As mentioned, I'd suggest letting folks split up and meet back up at predesignated places and times. For example, if everyone wants to do the Nemo show, you could all agree to meet 25 minutes before the show at x time and do the show together. Or, let's all meet at 12:45 at Columbia Harbor House for lunch. When you regroup, the groups can break often again - perhaps in different configurations for the afternoon.

Have fun!

[CosmicRay]

Our family of 6 went with a first time to the parks family of 4. This was our first time to go with another family. One thing I learned was that our friends wanted to do everything and they wanted to do everything with us the whole time. They went to Disney Land with some friends for a day and stayed together and they thought we would do the same for seven days.

After two days of trying to stay with them, we told them we are going to go do our own thing and we will meet up with them at lunch. Later we go a text from our friend, asking if we were upset with them.

It was merely that they were wanting to stand in line for every character autograph and take pictures that we already had. We figured we would just give them time for their family, but they felt like we were ditching them.

So communication is key in traveling with a large group. Know everyone's expectations.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

I agree with the other replies here.

If it's the first time all of you have travelled together, keep in mind it is really, REALLY hard to vacation with a larger group of people. We have ended up 'touring' alot of first timers because we have been there alot. Last group was 21 people - 17 first timers. Never again . . . Ugh . . .

My advice would be to try & find out what each persons vacation expectations are (Rides, characters, food or partying, pool time, etc). This will go a HUGE way to helping figure out the planning. Also, if they are early or late risers, fast movers or dawdlers ( sounds weird, but this can REALLY be hard in a group setting). We had dinner reserved every night and each person had a copy of that schedule so if they wanted to go their own way, we could still meet up if they wanted (but alas, this didn't work out as well as I had thought either).

The more you can keep communications going the easier it will be. The one thing I would say to watch for is the one person that is the most vocal or high maintenance. It's amazing how they seem to be able to 'take over' the whole trip as others will defer to keep the peace. It's a sure recipe for resentment, though.

I wish you a ton of Pixie Dust so that you have a fabulous, trouble free vacation together. :magic:

GoodLuck!:thumbsup: