We took our first big family Walt Disney World vacation when our kids were 2 and 3 years old. My family of 4 was joined by my sister-in-law, her husband, and their 8 year old, my mom, and my mother- and father-in-law. Planning a trip for 2 families with young children and 3 grandparents was a fun and exciting challenge. Ten of us!
First of all, where should you stay? For some people money is no object but that wasn’t the case for our families. We ended up booking two family suites in the Cars section of Art of Animation. This worked out wonderfully because the grandparents were able to have their own master bedroom and bathroom in each suite. The families with children took over the bathroom, murphy bed, and sofa sleeper in the main area of the hotel room. It was the perfect combination of privacy and togetherness! Our two suites were across the hall from each other. We had separate reservations but the guest service cast members were easily able to connect our reservations to ensure we all stayed close. The kids were really into the Disney-Pixar Cars movies at the time and the grandparents were really into whatever made the kids happy, so everyone loved our spacious, adorably themed accommodations!
Having our reservations linked also made it easy for one person to make dining reservations and Fastpass+ selections for the entire group. We selected designated theme park days where we would all be together and days where we would split up and do our own thing. On the days we split up, we made sure to share a meal together; whether it was breakfast before we all went off on the day’s adventures or dinner to share the magical memories we’d made. Alternating park days and pool days ensured that the children and the grandparents both had plenty of relaxation time. Okay – let’s be honest, us parents were ready to kick our feet up, too! A bonus to having grandparents on the trip was their generous offer to watch the kids one night so the 4 parents could sneak off to a date night at Disney Springs for dinner and drinks.
Since Disney World offers their resort guests continuous transportation between parks, resorts, and Disney Springs, splitting up and regrouping later was no problem. A final piece of advice is to set expectations for the trip well ahead of time. A Walt Disney World Vacation can be a vacation for anyone, regardless of their age or abilities. The idea of a “vacation” means different things to different people. If your relatives are a “Rope Drop to Kiss Goodnight” type of family, that most certainly will not mesh with your “sleep-in late and go to bed early” preferences or vice versa. Talk in advance about how you like to vacation so feelings aren’t getting hurt if some people decide to bail on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in the middle of the day and opt for the resort pool.
What are your thoughts? Have you vacationed with a multi-family or multi-generational group? What challenges and benefits did you discover?
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Candice was raised in east Tennessee. While in college, her best friend dragged her to a Walt Disney World College Program recruiting session at the University of Tennessee and the rest is Disney history. In the Fall of 1999, Candice became a quick service food hostess for Sunset Ranch Market and Fantasmic at Disney-MGM Studios – or what is now known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios. While soaking up her time as a cast member, she met Ryan, a neighbor and a fellow college programmer who worked as a custodial host at Epcot. Four years later, Candice moved to the Midwest and married that boy from across the hall. They now live in Greenwood, Indiana with their two little boys. The Disney-loving foursome took their first family trip to The Happiest Place on Earth in 2013 and Candice is eagerly planning their return. Candice also works full-time at a community mental health center and enjoys taking photographs and blogging at Mommy in the Midwest.
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