OMG. Traveling with good friends who have no idea what WDW is like.

[BK2014]

DW and I (mid-30s) just traveled to Disney with her parents (60s and 70s). DW and I have been to Disney each of the last 2 years, her parents not for many years. I did all of the planning. We basically scheduled rope drop every day with FPs to make sure they would be able to see/ride the big attractions. We did not schedule an lunch ADRs, but generally a table service ADR around 5-6pm for dinner. After accomplishing our morning park visit, we go back to the resort and split up so that they were free to go do whatever they wanted to do, and so were we. We would then meet up for dinner again. Every morning the in-laws would talk about what they were going to go out and see during their afternoon "free time". Every day, they were so exhausted from the morning that they relaxed/napped in the room. They were happy that we had made sure that they got to experience the main attractions, but had underestimated just how much pre-planning is involved, as well as how much walking was involved. The breaks in the afternoon helped us all maintain our sanity by not being together all the time. This also gave us all the option of returning to the parks after dinner, or getting a good night sleep.

In the middle of the trip, we did switch it up and scheduled a late lunch at Disney Springs and an evening park visit, so there was at least one day for sleeping in.

 

[fla4fun]

Well, I would sit down with the people you are traveling with and ask what their expectations are. The best way to ruin WDW forever for a first timer is to vacation the exact opposite of what makes them happy. You need to be willing to adapt to their schedule more than expecting them to adapt to yours. They don’t know what they might be missing, but they will know if they are tired, or frustrated or just want some down time.

You will be staying on after they leave, so schedule your must do’s for that time period. You are fortunate that you will have two vacations, in a manner of speaking, so customize your part just the way you like it.

For the shared part, as much as you want to show them everything, you can’t. It’s impossible to see everything at WDW in one trip. So focus on what makes them happy. If sleeping in until 9:00 am is how they like to vacation, that’s OK. Time your FP for 11:00 or 12:00. I am not an early riser on vacation and in fact, don’t usually schedule my first FP until 1:00pm. Sometimes it’s easier to get later FP for the really popular rides than to get early ones. It also sounds like they will need a resort day, or maybe a couple half resort days where you hit a park with night EMH for dinner and late night activity. If you don’t want to share the pool time, you can always hit rope drop at a park of your choice those days and meet up with them at the resort to head out for the evening. If you haven’t traveled together before, a little separation can be good.

Most of my trips are solo, but I usually have one or two people who want to come along just on the weekend days. When I schedule those weekend days it’s all about them, where they want to eat, what they want to ride, and the time of day that works best for them personally. They have a great time and I do my thing on the days I am not sharing with them and have a great time too.

 

[jhoannam]

I would make FP and some dining reservations, if they make RD great if not great too. Just let them do their own thing. Meet up with the for FPs and meals. No need to be with the 24/7.

 

[crys.mae]

When I travel to WDW with a big group, I ask everyone to think of three non-negotiable MUST-DOs for the trip. We compile all the items on everyone's list and they become our top priorities.

It took me YEARS to come to terms with the fact that I have friends/family who do not want to rope drop. Big shocker.

 

[k_hase]

We took my best friend's family last year and had to adjust. I gave them a list of ideas for each park and had them pick their top few, same for restaurants (I gave them a limited list of choices). It was great!!! They had fun, we got to see things through fresh eyes, and enjoy each other's company.

 

[KittyKitty]

Well, I would sit down with the people you are traveling with and ask what their expectations are.

Thanks. You gave lots of pointers to think about.

I gave them a list of ideas for each park and had them pick their top few, same for restaurants (I gave them a limited list of choices).

Great idea. They have almost no knowledge of DisneyWorld, so this is a wonderful approach.

 

[Mousemom234]

I'd basically try to see things through their eyes for their week. We were all there for the first time once.
If they want to sleep in, let them - but mention some of the breakfast opportunities available.
Mid-day sit downs ? Perfect for meeting up with them and recharging from your early start.
Schedule their 'must-do's' for mid to late afternoon. Make FPs as late in the day as practical.
The parks will be closing earlier in October, so you won't often have the evenings to work with.

Offer suggested itineraries, but keep the list short. You don't want them to get overwhelmed with choices and fail to make any plans.
You can't 'do' The World in a day anymore, not even in one trip - not and do it well. Point out the highlights, let them find their own favorites.
As others mentioned - find out what they want to do/see/eat. Work with that, and plan out a rough guide.
Be fully prepared to make changes on the fly - something may catch their imagination, and plans get put on hold.

The only thing I'd insist on is that scheduled meet-ups happen on time, especially for meals. (Mention the no-show penalty a few times, to get the point across ) Before and after can run on 'vacation time'.

Be accessible - don't be in their faces.

 

[LovesTimone]

When we travel with others... I put it out there that this is everyone vacation... if you want to sleep in do it... If you want to head back to resort swim, nap, linger over lunch - go for it... Lets have dinner together at whatever time, and talk about our day.... and if you want to hit rope drop then go for it... We have some friends that when we travel with them, we see them at dinner each night, or on a excursion that we planned together... sorta hey we want to go chill out for a bit at the resort, them no I think we are going to do whatever... Okay see you at dinner... This way everyone gets to do their own thing, and spend time together...no pressure...

 

[NickC]

I am not a fan of traveling with other families. If I were in your situation, I would RD every day. Let them sleep in, sit by the pool and then meet up around lunchtime. You can spend the afternoons and evenings together. I would also book their FP+ and ADR because they might not realize the need.

 

[Shughart]

My husband I have sworn off group vacations outside of a quick trip to the Dells with his family. We vacation very differently from our families. They seem to always need to be doing something and like to jam pack their schedule and find shows and 3000 things to do on vacation. We like to slow down. Take a breath. A stressful job and two active kids keep us busy, so vacation means downtime. We plan on heading into the parks in the afternoon and closing them. Mornings will be spent with my husband sleeping in, the kids and I lounging and having breakfast and enjoying knowing everyone back home has to go to work/school while we watch cartoons. I am thinking though that maybe one day I will take the kids into MK early on my own for some fun. We'll take the car and either come back for a few hours, or my husband will UBER over.

You're in a very unique position that after they go, you will have a whole week to do things exactly the way you want. So that first week, I would try to lean more towards their mantra. I think everyone should have one crazy busy packed Disney day though, so I would at least plan one of those for them. Maybe mid trip so they're fairly relaxed, and so if it's too much and they're tired, they have a few more days of relaxed touring before the trip is over.

 

[karpy111]

I totally understand what you are dealing with. People that haven't been to disney in a while just dont understand . We just got back from a vacation with my mom. She couldn't believe the planning I did. But once she got there she understood why I did. She couldn't believe the difference from the way it was back in the 90s.

We are get up and go people, EMH and Rd people. I dont think my friends would want to go on a trip with me.

I do like the advice from everyone to have them just meet up here and there.

Have a great time.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

We took a friend in 2017 that had never been before. He didn’t even understand what Disney world was, let alone how many parks it has. All he told me was, I’ll do whatever you guys do. Great in theory but I knew our normal pace would be overload for a newbie. I planned fast passes and ADR’s but knew we wouldn’t see everything. First day whooped him so he slept in day 2 and met later. We did our thing and he joined when he was ready. By the end of the trip he was in love, bought DVC a few months later and has been back 3 times since.

I think others have given great advice. Make ADR’s and fast passes but be willing to be flexible if they want to sleep in or call it an early night.

 

[kniquy]

My friend said." I am so looking forward to just relaxing, getting up around 9, having a sit down lunch, lay around the pool. "
I said "there is lots to see there, so we might have to get up early(thinking FoP) to arrive at the parks"
She said." Are you talking about leaving in the morning at 6:30?" Me."At least one day"

Thank goodness you will have another week after to do what you want.

I would try to balance a few days of RD, just so she can see the difference. Maybe plan one day where you can get up have a relaxing breakfast then hit the parks at 4 or 5p after pool time or time at DS.

RD doesn't mean getting up at 6:30. Well I guess it depends on how long it takes for people in your party to get ready. We have done RD and typically if we are up by 7ish, leaving our room by 8 to catch the bus (if staying farther away from MK like AK) then we are usually in the park close to the castle by 8:55. Having quick breakfast items in the room too will help with getting people going in the morning.

Also feel free to have time apart from them. Epcot is a good place for this. We did this with my inlaws. We had a 5pm ADR so we just told them - tour the countries how you like and meet up with us in Germany by 4:30. I think having free time to roam is crucial when traveling with others. Not everyone will want to go from ride to ride, they might want to stop for snack or check out the shops. This can also mean evening activities too. You can let them know Fireworks are at 9pm and you are planning on staying but they can feel free to leave earlier if they need to.

Plan FP starting at 11ish. So if they want to sleep in they can, but you can always head to the parks when you are ready.

Be clear that this is not a hand holding vacation and that you will plan FP and ADR but there will be free time for each family to do what they want.

Also set them up with their own MDE app for their own planning. Help them get their initial ARD and FP but also show them how they can go in and search for more FP or how to change them.

Get through that first week and then you can enjoy the remainder of the trip. Hopefully this will be a learning trip for them so that they can plan their own trips in the future.

 

[YawningDodo]

We took my best friend's family last year and had to adjust. I gave them a list of ideas for each park and had them pick their top few, same for restaurants (I gave them a limited list of choices). It was great!!! They had fun, we got to see things through fresh eyes, and enjoy each other's company.

I'm working on something along these lines for my housemate, since I'm hoping she'll be able to join me on my January 2020 trip and it'll be her first time. She's done Disneyland before many times as a kid, but I know from our Disneyland trip together that she's much less commando than I am (and tbh that's a good thing, because slowing down to a pace she could stand meant I didn't overdo it and get sick!). She's also less interested in researching all the options than I am, and let's be fair, WDW is entirely overwhelming when you're new to it. I already offered to narrow down a restaurant list for her and she's into it; my plan is to categorize the restaurants and provide her a few options from each category (character meals, theme restaurants, relaxing meals...etc.). Another approach might be to ask them what kind of meals interest them--do they enjoy silly theme restaurants? Are they interested in meeting characters? Or do they just want a good meal without a lot of hoopla? That'll help you narrow things down for them.

Agreed re: having everyone choose their top priorities. They may not know what those priorities can entail, so I'd talk to them and find out what kinds of things in the parks are most likely to interest them. Do they like thrill rides? Dark rides? Shows? Maybe they'd prefer to just wander the World Showcase with drinks in hand?

And while you're at it, think about what your must-do's are for your time with them, and try to think about it in terms of the things you'd most like to share with them. Since you have a week to yourself afterward, you'll have plenty of time to do the things that you enjoy most, but you can start thinking now about what you'd most like to do with your friends. For me, if my housemate comes along, a must-do is that I'll engineer a way for her first trip to the Magic Kingdom to happen by boat instead of by bus, since that was a big magical moment for me on my own first trip to WDW as a kid. Another is that I would really like her to see Fantasmic! with me since I used to work there and occasionally babble about it even a decade later. If I go by myself, neither the boat nor Fantasmic! is a top priority since I've done both plenty of times, but on a shared trip they'd be important to me.

Try to set reasonable expectations. Let them know that you can schedule FP+ for the afternoons, but that without RD they might not get on many rides for which they don't have FP+. They can either accept that reality or they can change their approach, and that's their decision to make.

 

[tinkerjo]

It absolutely kills me to vacation with others. I love my brothers dearly but they both have different touring plans than I do. I have one brother that is a park commando ( rope drop to close) and my other brother and family gets up late, takes their time, and arrives at 10-11. We start out strong at rope drop and get what we want done by 2-3 and head back to the resort. We may or may not go back after supper. We have taken lots of newbies with us over the years but it is usually kids who are happy doing what we do. I say make them watch videos of everything and try to really explain the parks to them. It sounds like they really have no idea( and most people do not unless they have been there) that way they can be really prepared. To me if it’s sleeping in and pool time your looking for, you can do that anywhere ( don’t get me wrong, we love the pools and use them daily, but the parks are the main drawl)

 

[tzolkin]

I would try to balance a few days of RD, just so she can see the difference. Maybe plan one day where you can get up have a relaxing breakfast then hit the parks at 4 or 5p after pool time or time at DS.

This was also what I was going to suggest. Even if they want to relax on vacation, I would still plan one rope drop (toward the beginning of the trip).

They may have seen commercials or photos of the resort and think it looks nice to relax (which it is), but that may not be what they actually want to do the entire trip. Or they may find the mornings in the parks are valuable and they can relax at the resort in the afternoons.

Planning a rope drop will give them the experience and they can decide for themselves if they like it. If they do, they have the option of rope dropping throughout the trip. If they don’t, then they have the rest of the trip to relax.

Our first trip, my husband was “just going for the kids” and wanted to relax. Well, day 2 he was already discussing plans for our next trip and we wound up doing morning EMH every single day of our 10 day trip (with him so far ahead I could barely keep up). We did take a 4-6 hour break every afternoon, but rope drop became a non-negotiable.

This trip we are traveling with my parents and our kids (who are now teens/adults). I planned two morning EMH rope drops, then three “sleep-in” days, then two more rope drops. The kids enjoy the value of rope drop for riding with minimal lines, but I know there’s no way we can keep that pace all week with teenagers and grandparents. If anyone wants to rope drop every morning, we can. And if people are tired of it by mid-trip they don’t have to attend. We can always meet up later.