Do you wish you had done anything different?

[smartinez1]

Hi, on our last trip to WDW, My husband, myself and my dad went with my brother, his wife, and my 2 year old nephew. I am sure plenty of you have heard the story from other posts, but here is a quick run down on what happened. We went in September of 06', and although you can never have a bad time in Disney, I don't think it was as great a trip as it could have been. The weather was beautiful, my nephew is an absolute joy, one of the happiest kids I know, and my brother and his wife are great, but it's hard when people want to spend time together and do thier own thing. Now, this is no one's fault, so I am not placing blame on my brother or anything, I just wanted to make that clear. First our flight was delayed 3 hours, then they lost our luggage. I wore flip flops down, and after checking into our hotel and renting our car, we went to DTD. well, it was extremely hot, and my feet started to sweat in my flip flops and I ended up getting huge blisters on the bottoms of both my feet which was really the worst part of the trip, because I could hardly walk! Since this was a family trip, we did want to stay together as much as possible, so we kinda stuck to my nephew's schedule. We would get up early, and be at the parks by 8:00-8:30, then run around and do as much as possible, then stop for lunch at noon, then run back to the hotel so the baby could take his nap. At that point, we would go to the pool and cool off, which was nice, then when my nephew would wake up, we would go back to the parks say around 2:30-3:00, run around and do as much as we could until our dinner reservations at 5:30-6:00 then after dinner we would rush back to the hotel so the baby could get his bath and be put down for bed. This normally wouldn't have been so bad, but, we stayed off site, about 10 minutes from the main gate, and then with parking, getting to the parks, we just lost a lot of time there. I know plenty of people who let their kids sleep in their strollers in the park, which would have been better than running back and forth all day. Besides that it was fun, BUT, if I could change anything, first I would have stayed in the park at maybe the All Star resorts, and I would have taken the time to relax and enjoy things more. We were there for 5 days, and it just felt rushed. Like I said, I am not blaming this on anyone, my husband and I did go off by ourselves, but we missed all the fireworks, and saw none of the parades, and didn't even get to ride that many rides. It was still very enjoyable, and it was a great family time for us all, and it was wonderful bonding time with my nephew, I wouldn't have not gone for the world, but I would have gone by my own schedule. I love to go in all the shops on mainstreet, I like to just sit down sometimes and take in the music, the atmosphere the small things that make it magical. I have been to WDW 8 or 9 times before, so it wasn't that big of a problem for me, but it was my husbands first time, and now he is not sure he wants to go back. He very laid back, and likes to take his time. I am trying to convince him that it will be different, and we will take our time next time. Is there anything you would have changed about one of your trips? Anything you will do different next time?
PS Sorry this was sooooo long!!

[Belle_0717]

My DH and I had some similar situations on our honeymoon. It was Hurricane Wilma that plaqued us. Delayed flight had us in JFK-NYC airport for 9 hours. I ate something that didn't agree with me the night before and was in the bathroom every hour or so. Our luggage never made it on the flight and Disney located it and had it delivered for us. It was a crazy trip and things got a little easier as the 12 days flew by.

It did not detour us from visiting again. We have been 3 times since then and look forward to the next trip in May. We will be joining my DS, her DH and my nephew in October for his first trip - and celebrating his 1st birthday, DS's b-day and my DH & my 2nd anniversary.

Tell your DH not to let the small stuff get to you. Sometimes things happen for reasons - especially at Disney. Take time for just the two of you and you will have the best trip ever.

[indytraveler]

Kinda the same thing happened "several" years ago when DK's were in strollers and my niece and nephew wanted to ride thrill rides. Our group of 11 family members wanted to do everything together the whole time. This was before we know what we know now about ADR. Anyways, by the end of the trip we weren't exactly getting along that great so we ended up splitting up and doing things that each wanted to do. With a time to meet to eat and take rests. This worked out well and saved the vacation. Brother and SIL were happy to ride thrill rides with their kids and we were content on hanging out in Fantasyland and Adventureland. Grand parents were busy shuttling between our 2 families having fun wherever they wanted.

We haven't done that kind of vacation since but if we do it will be more of going at your own pace and meeting for lunch or dinners. Hopefully you'll get your husband to go again.

[goofysbabe]

Everytime we've been it's been with family - I would like for just my family to go. Seems we are always trying to "meet up with someone" or "wait for someone to do....." or "the majority of the group rules" We like to stay at the parks late. Did go one time with a girlfriend and her kids and we did the go back to the room in the middle of the day and swim and rest then back to parks for late night action. I really enjoyed that. I would also like to try different restaurants - last time we were on the dining plan and hit a few, but I'd like to try more - I mean it's the only place in the world where you can eat it in several different countries and not have to travel very far to get there. I would also like to take adavantage of more of the recreational things. I never been to a water park or played minituare golf. Seems the only thing we get done is going to the parks. I would love to have the time to just move at a slower pace and take in more. Have mentioned to my dh about a trip for us adults only - he wasn't to thrilled with that. Thought it would be nice to be able to just go and not have to worry about bathroom breaks/scheduled meal times/renting strollers for tired children. Don't get me wrong I LOVE my children dearly - but would really like to experience WDW just with grown-ups! I also would of done my kids pics with characters differently - I would of had the characters sign on a page and left the next one blank to stick the pic of the two of them together - thought that would make a cool scrapbook for them someday - maybe next time.

[smartinez1]

That's also something we haven't done, the Water parks. We did do River Country one year when I was like 3, but hadn't been back since. When I stayed at the All Star Music and Sports 2 years in a row, we kept driving by Blizzard Beach and it looked sooo neat, that I really wanted to go, the one time we didn't have the money or the time, and the other time it was to cold out. I would definately want to do that at least one time when we go in the future. I seriously just want to plan an extra long trip just so I can take my time, ride and see as much as I can, and just enjoy everything. I remember we ran and did BTMR, and had to pass over SM because it was lunch time, yet the whole time we were at BTMR, it was like I didn't get to look at the fun stuff in the waiting area. Again, my fault, not anyone elses.

[Jared]

I wish I had stayed healthy last January instead of spending the last day of the trip in bed with a high fever, but I don't think I can control my health.

Seriously, we always skip The American Adventure despite our best intentions. Next trip we will see this show.

Also, we always plan on going to a water park and rarely do.

[mrsgaribaldi]

Since we are lucky enough to be able to go a few times a year and we have no kids yet we take it easy now at the parks. We used to get up early and run around and then we would crash. Now we know if we miss something we will see it another time. DH doesn't feel like he needs another vacation when we get home from vacation

[Marilyn Michetti]

Tell me about it ! This last Dec. we went with another couple, and it was "one of those trips". This lady went from being a happy, even tempered, O.R. supervisor, who mentioned "we should go to WDW together", to a demon possessed witch. Nothing pleased her, nothing was right, and her husband never said a word. We saw less of each park than I can ever remember, and were happiest when we "lost" them. I NEVER saw this side of her when I was volunteering in her O.R., and have since changed departments.

We weren't going to go back this year, but DH said "we need to get the bad taste out of our systems". (I didn't want to go to Branson anywayL).

NEVER AGAIN ! We go by ourselves, do what we want, and do it at our pace!

This is the first time I've mentioned this on the boards - that's how nasty this trip was.

[DVC2004]

It's hard to go with another family. I know we had similar issues two years ago. My sister, her hubby, and two small kids came with us and our boys. We used my DVC points and shared a 2 BR villa, but each family paid thier own tickets, dining expenses, and plane fare.
Before we left my sister insisted we plan everything together, meaning eat together, go to the parks together, etc. I had a feeling it was not going to work out as well as she thought and I was right. Almost immediately my sis began to complain about where we were staying (Saratoga Springs)- that she heard POFQ was great and should have stayed there. Boy did I have to bite my tongue so as not to remind her she was staying on property free. Geez! I would love if someone let me share a place and stay on property for free.
At the parks, her kids were scared at first and cried alot. They didn't want to go see the character, did not want to go on rides. So we had to split because my kids wanted to do things. Then the meals- even though we planned out for months where we were dining and I told her about the cost, what she could expect to pay, and she chose many of the restaurants- my sis complained all week how expensive the food was and we even ended up cancelling several meals. At the end off the trip she then said she felt left out of the planning! She planned the whole thing except for where we were staying, and she was the one who insisted she shadow us all week even after I suggested not to. OK? I was at a total loss.

So, bottom line is next time I will either let her use my points and not accompany her or we will go together and meet up occassionally for lunch or a show. I won't do it like we did last time.

[MsMin]

Our last trip was the toughest ever. We knew my parents would require attention but my neice complicated things. I planned everything but she wanted to go the opposite direction or crazy path but didn't want to go alone and we agreed not to split the kids b/c my 2 girls get upset when one goes off w/o her.
We have our routine and know that we will get to each park of the park systematically. We always ride pirates first and after BTMRR but after that she wanted to go to Space Mt. and it was like that the rest of the trip-- she was always asking to run across the park instead of doing the rides in the area.
She wanted to sleep late but wanted my dd to stay w/ her splitting my girls and then my dd would ask that we not ride anything w/o her b/c she didn't want to miss anything. My niece would stay up 1/2 the night on the phone w/ her b/f and couldn't wake up in the a.m. and we are not early risers but we like to take advantage of the day.
We met my parents occassionally but my niece would complain about meeting them and they paid for her trip and we felt that meeting them a couple times was the least we could do. They didn't want to do the parks w/ us b/c they knew they would slow us down but I wanted to help my mom get my dad on some rides. We met my parents @ Bill Pecos for lunch and she threw a fit b/c she wanted to eat @ Cosmic Rays-- is there really that much difference?
It's really difficult to go with a bunch esp. when they have different patterns.
Ironically I have been many times w/ my sister w/ my niece and never had a problem b/c my sister and I do the parks the same way.
We came back tired and we decided that her behavior cost her future trips w/ our family.
I had set the rules in the beginning which she agreed but forgot as soon as we arrived.

[DisneyWhirled]

As much fun as it sounds to travel with another family, I would not do it again, at least not without a lot of parameters....

The other family wanted to be with us all the time, and that was very overwhelming because their children were a bit younger than ours and not behaved very well. It was definitely a stresser.

Granted, we had some good times, but we quickly scheduled an "our family only" trip so that we could "enjoy" our vacation.

[DNS]

People have different priorities and I think it makes the vacation much more enjoyable if you can find a way to compromise. Your brother's priority was no doubt with his two year old (as it should have been). While you loved spending time with all of them, I can see how the schedule you described would leave you feeling less than satisfied. We know so many people who go and their idea of a fun vacation often varies greatly from ours. We will soon be planning a family vacation with my in-laws at WDW and I've been concerned about how that will work out because to be honest, I think most of them will want to relax more and we like to stay very active. Since we have been there so many times and they have not, I think they will expect for us to take the lead. While I don't want to exhaust them early on, I don't want us to get bored just "relaxing" either, but it finally occurred to me a couple of weeks ago, that the best way is to NOT spend all of our time together. There is no way to make everyone happy always doing the same thing, so I'm thinking in a different direction now which includes about 50/50 time that we spend all together. That's the best way I can think of to give us all the vacation we want and still be together a lot of the time. That's yet another wonderful thing about WDW. There is so much to do there and for every age and activity level that I feel like I can work this out to make everyone happy and hopefully not have a lot of regrets. I think staying on property is a key because people can come and go as they please.

[smartinez1]

I completely agree with the above post. It is so hard to please everyone all of the time, so the best thing for us would have been if we had stayed on site. With transportation inside the parks so easy, accomodating and accesible, it would have been so much easier for us if we stayed at a Disney hotel, that way, when my brother wanted to go back for the baby, we could have stayed behind. The best thing to do if you are traveling with another family, is to stay inside, that way if one family wants to go somewhere or do something the other family doesn't, it is just so easy for them to hop on another bus and either go to a different park, or go back to the room for a swim or a nap. I think if we would have done it that way, it would have worked out a lot better!!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

We have a Disney "Golden Rule" in our house. We will NEVER go with family again. I know that sounds really harsh but, we just can't do it. It is not fair to them since we do the trip commando style and it is not fair to us because we have a plan for each part of our trips. I adore my family, trust me, it just ruins the vacation for us all if we go together.

We would do a day or two with a member of the family if they wanted, entire trips..Not gonna happen. BTDT.

[CarolinaWDWFan]

I feel your pain. We go every year, sometimes twice a year. I find that the fewer people outside of the four of us(Me, DW, DS, DD) the better off we are. When my DS was 9 months old, we went down during a convention that was being attended by my in-laws, 10 other people basically. All but one of them had never been to WDW before. Well, instead of listening to the advice of those that knew when to go the parks, which way to go in the parks, where to eat, etc., they decided they knew best. Majority ruled and it was painful. It felt like we followed the herd and fell into the same old trappings that intercotees pride themselves in not doing, such as not following the crowd to the right and staying left, avoiding poor TS, etc.

I said then "never again" and so far it has been "never again"!

[prttynpnk]

This is seriously enlightening!
We've been sort of toying with the idea of going with the brothers family and seeing the park thru the wonderous eyes of a child, but I'm kind of afraid that the biggest child will be my sister-in-law?!
Maybe need to rethink this idea!

[moe513]

It is very easy to over do at wdw. We went once at Christmas and we over did it.Next time you plan your trip to wdw leave lots of time to move to get places and lots of down time.

[darthmacho]

Things that could have gone differently on each trip:

1998:
1. Probably the best trip with the least regrets, but I wish we didn't eat so many huge and expensive sit down meals. By the end of the week we were eating meals and we weren't even hungry.
2. Maybe we didn't need to get that drunk at the Adventurer's Club.
3. I wish we had gotten the bride and groom hats. It was our honeymoon, and we should have enjoyed the perks.

1999:
1. I wish we had not gone to Epcot on the first day, because we didn't appreciate it as much.
2. I wish I had planned something special for my wife's birthday.

2003:
1. The trip with the most problems, I wish I didn't fight with my sister at the Happiest Place on Earth.
2. I wish we had planned the end of the week meals better.
3. I wish we had realized it would be so crowded at Mk on the Saturday before Labor Day and adjusted our schedule.
4. I wish it wasn't so darn hot down there in August!

[LoriMistress]

When we went in 2003 we enjoyed our trip but there were things that we wished that we could have enjoyed more.

I

• null Bring more $$$. We were on a tight budget and all we brought with us for spending/food was $700. We really couldn't afford suvineers. We stretched our dollar, which was nice and we were able to eat at several nice restraunts, but this time around we'll bring more $$$.
• null Eat at more restraunts. We ate at some, (ate only at three Character Breakfasts, and a few dinner restraunts.) But this time around, I want to eat at more restraunts since this time around we'll be at the parks for 10 days.
• null Stay at a "nicer" resort for our honeymoon. We were on a budget so we couldn't afford to stay at even a moderate. So we stayed at ASMu, which was nice. But the resort isn't very romantic. Though, this time we're saving on $$$ and staying at Pop Century.
• null Eating at Cinderella's Castle. Never had a chance to eat there or meet the princesses.
• null Take our time. This time around I want to be able to be a bit more relax and not rush so much. I wasn't a Disney-Nazi or anything, but I wish we could gave taken some time to relax and enjoy some of the attractions.
• null See the Beauty and the Beast show and The Little Mermaid show at MGM...didn't have time to see them.
• null Visit PI longer...we were there for about an hour and this time around we would like to say there longer.
  

I'm sure my list may continue to grow but that's all I can think of for now.

[pogo]

We have no regrets except we don't stay there long enough. But on the other hand...... it gives us an excuse to go back again.