What should I do?

[Lucky]

This happens to me every single March, and it does get really aggravating. DH & I do a family reunion w/his family at a time share in Orlando. There's now over 20 of us.

A group that large would drive me completely bonkers. People would just stand around talking about what to do next. There'd always be someone who needs to stop to buy a drink, or use the bathroom, or buy some cute souvenir they see. :hammer:

 

[minnie64]

Big questions - how many Disney people are going? Are you in the minority or are they? Anybody backing you up?

Well, there is only five of us including them. The three of us besides those two have been to Disney before and plan on enjoying it to the fullest. We just hope that they arent dragging behing us complaining the whole time being debbie downers, which is more than likely what will happen but hey what can ya do. I just hope that if they want to be miserable about it that they do it on thier own. Someone said something about them finding out about advanced ADRs on thier own, and that is a great idea haha I have already planned the dinners based on popular places and where the other two members of my group would like to eat along with myself. If they chose to join us, great. If not they can fend for themselves :lol: and omg if I ever had to deal with a family reunion in the parks who were completely not into it I think I'd loose my mind!

 

[devjohnson]

magic kingdom = the ideal dream
epcot = the culture and future type
hollywood studios = thrills
animal kingdom = zoo

 

[heliumalias]

Don't be too harsh on them. If the group's split like that then they might start feeling park ignorant in comparison to the rest of you so let them have some say as to what you do. Get them to read a guidebook so they get a general overview of what there is to see and do and ask them if there is anything specific that they'd like to see/do/eat/etc.
As for the table service thing... those meals can be really expensive and are not within everyone's budget. Maybe try going offsite for some meals to reduce the cost and improve the food quality.

 

[kstella]

I'm usuaully the one who makes the park and dining decisions just because my family knows that I'm the one on the boards and I'm the one who has the park hour information and the restaurant information and they all just go along with what I say. I remain open to suggestion amd requests, though.

 

[drossjr]

Okay Guys I have a trip comming up soon with my close friends, two of which are a couple who know nothing about Disney. I have a feeling they are going to be a total pain in my neck..
" So what park are we going to?"
"Were only going to a park one day right?"
" How much does the zoo cost, and where do I sign up to swim with the dolphins?"
" Why are you asking us where we want to eat? Don't make reservations ahead we'll just walk in"

Ahhh! I'm going crazy, no matter what I say they don't understand how Disney works.. I mean sheesh one park! for one day! in Disney?!

Has anyone else had this problem? How do I handle this without ruining my trip!

do yourself a favor lose them at the airport in Orlando if your flying!!! we went thru this in 07 with two people that didnt like disney and it was tough! :wave:

 

[BrennaRN]

I feel your pain. We are about to leave tomorrow am with my mom's sister and her family. Her child is 7, wild already and has never been. My mom's sister is so OCD it isn't even funny and she hasn't been in 20 years. It'll be interesting to say the least, but hey I look at it this way.....I know where to go and most importantly.............WHERE TO HIDE!!!!

 

[bbrerrabbit]

Another thing are the people who stray from the pack. My brother in law did this the frist time he went with us. If he wasn't related, i would have left him behind!! He still does it, but manages to find us.:shrug:

 

[Senderella]

Best thread ever

I gotta agree with the Dictators. I wish I had been more "firm" in my tour guide ears back in January. Instead, we let the newbies wander after a few days (when they obviously revolted because the stop, smell the roses and enjoy didn't "work" for them) and I have to say.. it was not the best trip we'd had. LOL Forget we were taking it even slower because I had a Disney Induced Injury (my dumb butt tripped on the curb at MK and I nearly face planted into some guys shoes). Love the pre-screening too lol. Definitely a future must. I will say this. I came away from our January trip saying I'd never go anywhere with them again. I don't even know if I'd go to the mall with them again. Disney offenses can really shade a friendship.

 

[magicmaya]

Make them watch disney movies
Make a schedule
Make them read a disney guide book
Make them watch the disney shows that are coming on the travel channel tonight
Do anything to stuff disney in their brain!!!

:wave:

 

[DisneyDad1964]

Disney with friends

Rather than being a dictator, I'd suggest pointing them to sites like this (and others) where they can learn more about the parks and how much there is to do. Maybe even check out a Disney book from the library for them to look over.

Prepare a tentative itinerary of things to do each day. For example, if you're planning to go to Magic Kingdom first thing, and they want to sleep in, just tell them to give you a call when they get there.

Like others have said, don't try to spend every waking moment with them. Part of the fun is discovering things for yourself which (hopefully) they'll decide to do.

For dining, explain why you can't just 'walk in' to many of the restaurants and say "we're making reservations here on this day/time- are you in?"

We've never tried Disney with other families for many of the reasons posted on this thread. Good luck!

 

[sueuk]

On of my work colleagues is going in October with a party of 18 - all ages - and her and her DH are the only ones who have been. They are not on the dining plan. She's tried to sit them down to talk about it and all everyone says is " we'll just follow you". No one is interested in pre -planning, ADRs, special events or choosing what to do. They are treating it like 2 weeks on the Costa del Sol - sunbeds and a spot of sightseeing! She wishes she (or they) weren't going and is so miserable about it. I'm glad it's not me.

 

[xdan0920]

My family just had an experience like this. It was a family reunion in disney. Only one side though, so it was "just" 12 people. About half of which were not terribly interested in being at disney. No-one planned anything, aside from the one disney hater who made reservations for dinner outside the park for one night. My fiance and I tried to talk to everyone about making adrs and having at least a little bit of a plan, but only my parents wanted to hear it. So, rather then let them drag us down we just let everyone do what they wanted. I made only one big group adr, breakfast at CP. And even then only 5 of us made it.
I am pretty sure the majority of our group ate CS the entire trip.

My fiance and I however had an amazing vacation. We woke up for rope drops, and had multiple adrs so we ate great food the entire trip. We saw everything we wanted to see, and went home happy. My parents tagged along with us quite often and they also had a great time. The remainder of the group could be found somewhere between miserable and blah. I felt bad for them, but what could I do?

 

[Phonedave]

Some people like to figure it out for themselves, even if it means making some mistakes. I stick to the big things in giving advice - like making ADRs as far in advance as possible - but don't try to tell people what attractions or restaurants they'll like or not like. Tastes are different. Some people seem to like Ellen's Energy Adventure. I'll let people know it takes a long time, but I won't tell them they won't like it.

I wait until I am ASKED for my opinion.

I will offer suggestions, but not make demands.

Most of the time there are a handfull of things that I want to do/see (new attractions or refurbs, things like that) but I go often enough that for the most part there is nohing that I will be super upset over if I miss it.

When I went with some first timers we all had a great time. Most of the time the conversation was along the lines of them asking me what I thought of a particular place or attraction, me giving my opinion, then we would decide what to do.

Maybe because I am pretty easy going. As I said, there is not much that is a "must-do" for me, and there is nothing that I will flat out refuse to do.

For example, I would not eat in Tony's Town Square if there by myself, I just don't think the food is all that wonderful. The group I was with wanted to eat there, so we went. I still had a great time. It was food, it was passabe, but the company was what made the meal. We all had a great time.

-dave

 

[mousebymarriage]

With large groups I strongly advise splitting up for part of each day. You'll have time to give them your expertise and advice but they will still be able to selectively ignore it if they want, without driving you crazy and dragging you along to the loser attractions.

I agree 100% ! We go to Disney every year and are always a Grand gathering because my family lives in Florida and meets us there. In January 2008 we were our usual family group but, this time my DD12 best friend and her family joined us, what a freakin' nightmare. I tried for MONTHS and MONTHS to educate these people on Disney but, they were still clueless. I told them to come on this website, I gave them the DVD's, I gave them the books (Birnbaums, Birnbaum's for kids, The unofficial guide and the passporter.) and we discussed the trip many many times. When we got to Disney the complaining began and by mid week I thought my husband and my sisters were going to kill them. My DD was even annoyed with her friend and her friends family. The father even had the nerve to say that this wasn't his idea of a vacation, he wanted to stay on the beach. He also said that if he wanted to spend his vacation waiting on lines for rides (and we waited maybe 20 min max or less for every ride) that he would have just gone to Six Flags! The father even had the nerve to say if he would have known this was how Disney was he would never have come. So, it just goes to prove that no matter how hard to try to prepare someone for Disney some people just don't get it and never will. My advice is to just try to keep the newbies informed but, encourage them to spend some time on their own exploring the park at their own pace., it will give bothe parties a much needed break. Good Luck!!

 

[Gorjus]

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the Disney Control Freaks.

but they were stubborn about their own agenda. These kind of people are not what you need on a WDW visit, !

The Pot calling the Kettle black. Most of these Disney Experts seem to be a little stubborn on their agenda. Really? Do it my way or forget it.

Most of the time there are a handfull of things that I want to do/see (new attractions or refurbs, things like that) but I go often enough that for the most part there is nohing that I will be super upset over if I miss it.

When I went with some first timers we all had a great time. Most of the time the conversation was along the lines of them asking me what I thought of a particular place or attraction, me giving my opinion, then we would decide what to do.

Maybe because I am pretty easy going. As I said, there is not much that is a "must-do" for me, and there is nothing that I will flat out refuse to do.

For example, I would not eat in Tony's Town Square if there by myself, I just don't think the food is all that wonderful. The group I was with wanted to eat there, so we went. I still had a great time. It was food, it was passabe, but the company was what made the meal. We all had a great time.

-dave

Exactly. If we agree to take a newbie with us, we ask them what they would like to see. We adjust the schedule to fit their needs. Sometimes we fly by the seat of our pants. As the day goes a long, we give them choices. IE: we can head over to Main St to see the parade, or we can wait in line to see the princesses. This line is inside and air conditioned. We can wait in it while we wait for our fast passes for this ride to kick in.

I'm getting up early to get to this spot on time. Who's joining me? OK. The rest of you call our cell phones when you get to the park. We'll tell you were we are.

Don't be dictators. If you are a dictator, don't take visitors with you to the parks.

"I'd be happy to give you all the advice I can provide on a great vacation. You can follow it or not. You may have different needs. We'll meet up where we agree to meet up. Otherwise, you enjoy your vacation and we'll enjoy ours."

It took me SEVENTEEN YEARS to teach my sister that the best way to get a relaxing vacation is to get up early, get to the parks early, then go back to the pool to relax till the sun goes down. Then go back to the parks for a bit, get to bed early, and repeat tomorrow.

Unless it is your immediate family, you probably aren't going to be happy unless you split up a lot and then rejoin.

Everyone go at their own pace and then meet up.

 

[Mr Toad]

When I led ours last year, it was with family which made it really easy. I knew what they would like and not like. We played gold at Lake Buena Vista. I made all the ADRs. Went fairly smoothly. They loved staying at Fort Wilderness!