Traveling with a large group of different ages

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coreyp's picture
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Joined: 08/06/2012
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Traveling with a large group of different ages

In September my family is spending a week in WDW. The trip will consist of my parents (early 60's), sister and brother in law and their kids (early 30's, 10 & 13), my brother, sister in law and their son (early 30's and 7), and myself with my wife and our daughter (late 20's and 18 months old).

We know that we wont know what our 18 month will be able to handle, and what her pace will be like each day until we actually get there, but in general, how do you manage having such a wide range of ages with different interests, ride limitations, nap needs, pace of walking, and whatnot?

Also, we have talked and we all know full well that meals and a few other "must do" all group attractions, we may not be together for many things, which is fine. Spending the whole day together each day is not a must!

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Follow along on our adventure as we make the move for a great life, and move to Orlando!

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1987(sort of)-Fariway Villas (I was not born yet, but could hear all the sounds of WDW)
1991-Fairway Villas (My first official trip to WDW)
2000-Fort Wilderness Campsites (last family trip before siblings got married and had kids)
2004-Caribbean Beach
2008-Pop Century
2012-Contemporary Resort (Honeymoon)
2015- Caribbean Beach (daughter's first trip)
2017- Cabins at Fort Wilderness

Allie's picture
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Joined: 06/26/2012
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You've already said it, but I would go in with the expectation that you don't need to stay together the whole time. That way everyone gets what they want out of the trip but you can still meet up for family dinners, etc. Let me know how it goes, especially with the 18 month old! We're going down in December with MIL, FIL, BIL, myself, DH, and our daughter (Penelope like yours if I remember correctly!) who will be 27 months at the time so I'd love to hear some first hand tips when you get back! awesome

coreyp's picture
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I will! Our Penny (just Penny, not short for anything) is going to be a lot of fun to watch there. She recognizes Mickey all over, and get's super excited when she sees him on tv, or a video on our phones, or yesterday at the Disney store she ran straight to Mickey dolls and carried one around the store the whole time we were there. She loves Baymax, but too bad he isn't at the parks anywhere! Boo! But I already know my wife is going to be a crying mess the whole time we're there watching Penny.

We dont really have Penny on a set schedule which I think will work out well for us in Disney. If we have early, late, or whenever we wake up start times to the day, she can just roll with it and be good to go. When she doesn't nap, it doesn't effect her too much that day or the next either. We got lucky with this kid, I'm excited for WDW with her. That walk down Mainstreet day 1!!! AHHHH! I cant wait to see her face!!! Great now I'm going to cry haha

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Follow along on our adventure as we make the move for a great life, and move to Orlando!

https://adventuresinears.wordpress.com/

1987(sort of)-Fariway Villas (I was not born yet, but could hear all the sounds of WDW)
1991-Fairway Villas (My first official trip to WDW)
2000-Fort Wilderness Campsites (last family trip before siblings got married and had kids)
2004-Caribbean Beach
2008-Pop Century
2012-Contemporary Resort (Honeymoon)
2015- Caribbean Beach (daughter's first trip)
2017- Cabins at Fort Wilderness

Allie's picture
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Joined: 06/26/2012
Posts: 5477

So cute! I start tearing up whenever I think about our Penny's first trip too! She's a HUGE princess fan and also loves Mickey, Minnie, and the Pooh characters so I hope she just loves it. Doesn't Baymax do meet and greets in the Animation building at Hollywood Studios? Or is he not there anymore?

NikkiMouse's picture
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Joined: 02/19/2015
Posts: 526

My DH, myself and my daughter (9) went last year with his sister, husband and 3 kids (5,3 and 1).

My daughter is older and able to handle a little more running around, so my SIL and family usually met us in the morning and we did a few things together and then went our separate ways for the afternoon and evening. We had breakfast together a few times because that was usually the calmest meal of the day for all of us. We also attended the Halloween party together and that was a lot of fun!

Overall, it was a great trip because everyone knew that we could not possibly be together all the time. We spent a decent amount together as a group outside the parks (in the pool, in DTD), but once in the parks we would do our own things since my daughter was able to go more of the thrill rides and did not want to do things like meet Sofia the First. It also meant that they did not have to feel like they had to run their smaller kids crazy trying to keep up. Nothing is worse than an overtired toddler faced with Magic Kingdom stimuli. Separating gave them and their kids the chance to move at their own pace.

So, overall tips would be to make definite plans you want to do together (like you already have), plan some downtime together at the resorts, meet for meals, meet for some of the shows, and most of all, have fun! mickey mickey

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coreyp wrote:
I will! Our Penny (just Penny, not short for anything) is going to be a lot of fun to watch there. She recognizes Mickey all over, and get's super excited when she sees him on tv, or a video on our phones, or yesterday at the Disney store she ran straight to Mickey dolls and carried one around the store the whole time we were there. She loves Baymax, but too bad he isn't at the parks anywhere! Boo! But I already know my wife is going to be a crying mess the whole time we're there watching Penny.

We dont really have Penny on a set schedule which I think will work out well for us in Disney. If we have early, late, or whenever we wake up start times to the day, she can just roll with it and be good to go. When she doesn't nap, it doesn't effect her too much that day or the next either. We got lucky with this kid, I'm excited for WDW with her. That walk down Mainstreet day 1!!! AHHHH! I cant wait to see her face!!! Great now I'm going to cry haha

I fully expect lots of pictures of Penny and her parents! This is going to be precious. Anyone taking a video?

Zz.

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coreyp's picture
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Actually ZapperZ, the wife came up with the idea of strapping a Go Pro to Penny so we could film, "Disney World Through the Eyes of a Toddler". Its her attempt at getting us YouTube famous like the little girl who's mom makes her all those custom costumes.

Plus I'll be doing some filming of my own

__________________

Follow along on our adventure as we make the move for a great life, and move to Orlando!

https://adventuresinears.wordpress.com/

1987(sort of)-Fariway Villas (I was not born yet, but could hear all the sounds of WDW)
1991-Fairway Villas (My first official trip to WDW)
2000-Fort Wilderness Campsites (last family trip before siblings got married and had kids)
2004-Caribbean Beach
2008-Pop Century
2012-Contemporary Resort (Honeymoon)
2015- Caribbean Beach (daughter's first trip)
2017- Cabins at Fort Wilderness