A Survival Guide for a Walt Disney World Trip for the Extended Family

My husband, six year old son and I have been travelling to Walt Disney World on vacation together for years. We are happy Disney Vacation Club members and we have our trips down to a science. As a family, we have our little traditions...our favorite rides, resorts and restaurants. We know when we like to get up in the morning, when we've had enough of the parks and need a rest, which attractions we need to visit repeatedly each trip and which we can skip until next time. Are we super structured? No. We just mesh together like perfect cogs in a wheel. But on this next trip, we're stepping out of our comfort zone. We're expanding our party of three to a party of nine. Yes, we're taking a vacation with our extended family!

After the loss of my mom nearly six years ago, my dad was lucky enough to find another wonderful woman with whom he could spend the rest of his life. My older brother suggested we take the two of them on a family vacation to Disney World as a wedding gift. My husband and I agreed and the planning began. As I type this, we are less than one month away from departure day. Am I dreading the insurgence of other family members into our carefully planned trip? Am I anticipating squabbles and irritation and fights? Do I just know that this is a huge mistake? Nope. Because my family and I have put time and effort into planning a great trip with some excellent parameters.

So today I will share our plans with you. And then when we return, I plan to do a follow up article to describe just how well everything worked (or didn't?). I have high hopes...will they work out? The parties involved are my family of three, my dad and his wife, and my brother and his family of four. The grandkids are 6, 8, and 10. The kids are in our mid to late 30's. We get along well at home...will that transfer to vacation or will we be just one more in a long line of tragic vacation nightmares? Let's hope our Survival Plan works.

Do not share a room. Disney has larger rooms available for huge families. Two bedroom villas can hold up to eight guests and three of the Disney Vacation Clubs even have Grand Villas that could comfortably accommodate our party of nine. We could have separate rooms and bathrooms and just share the living space and kitchen. For seven nights. Together. No way! We knew we would all have our own separate reservations and separate rooms. Privacy is a sweet, sweet thing and we pledged to keep it. In fact, we took it a step further and are actually staying at different resorts. My brother and his family love the Polynesian Resort. Dad and his wife loved the theme of the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. And my family's heart belongs to the Beach Club Villas. The Polynesian and Wilderness Lodge are both Magic Kingdom resorts and close enough for quick travel. The Beach Club is an Epcot resort, but my family will have a rental car for easy trans[prtation over to their neck of the Disney woods. And each of the resorts suits each family perfectly. So privacy? Maintained.

Make Advanced Reservations. We will all be using the Disney Dining Plan and this will mean daily Table Service meals. As early as I could, I made reservations for dinner every night and several breakfasts. Does this mean we'll be together all day, every day and every night? Definitely not. My husband and I have a date night at Yachtsman Steakhouse. My dad and his wife have a reservation for just the two of them at Artist Point. There is a night set aside for my brother and sister in law to take their family to ESPN. And plenty of nights we do have family reservations for nine. We have the coveted Le Cellier Steakhouse reservation for the whole family. And we'll all be dining under the sea together at Coral Reef. We discussed preferences ahead of time and we also talked about alternatives. No one is forced into eating together, but the option is there. It was a time consuming and delicate balance, but in the end it will be worth it.

Determine Expectations. We have all talked and come to the conclusion that what we have next month is four separate vacations. And we all respect that. Each family unit has their own trip, and together we have a family vacation. Will we spend every waking moment together? No. Will we go days where we don't see each other until dinner? Maybe. Will we come and go as we please? Yes. We have events planned that we will do together, but we also have freedom to enjoy our own families in our own time with no hurt feelings. Crystal clear expectations will prevent those potential squabbles.

Communication Plans. We have our communication methods all planned. Yes, we can call our room phones, but in addition we all have cell phones and we have all initiated texting. Walkie talkies are great, but the distances can be too short and too many people use them. You may be trying to talk to your family, but instead end up listening to someone else. Cell phone ringers are great in theory, but there are plenty of places at Disney where you can't hear your phone ring and even where you may lose a signal. Trying to get in touch with someone while they're in line for Soarin'...? Plan on trying again. And again. And again. Texting is great. As long as you have a signal, you can check for messages. And if there is no signal, you'll get that message when you emerge back into the light of day. Texting. It will be our saving grace for communication.

Plan a Few Together Events. We have a few definite events planned. And they are items we are all looking forward to. The kids have a Pirate Cruise scheduled one morning while my husband and I join my brother and sister in law for breakfast at Kona Café. We have another day where all the male family members will be hanging out at Disney Quest, while my sister in law, stepmom and I take my niece to get Princess-ified at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, followed by a lovely Victorian tea at the Grand Floridian. These are events we are all anticipating and will truly enjoy together.

Relax, Have Fun, and Remember that We'll Be Back. This is a biggie for my small family. We're the "been there, done that, going back" branch and if we miss anything we normally love because we decide to take two more trips around Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with my niece and nephew or because we take a whole afternoon to sit around the pool enjoying a few of my brother's delicious blended concoctions mixed up in our kitchenette...well, that's okay. Because we'll be back again, but not with our extended family. And sharing this time with them is worth more than missing anything to us..

Plans are all set and we're starting to pack. The kids are getting excited, and so are the adults. My son is eyeballing his old toys and talking about selling them on eBay to earn some easy extra spending money. My Disneyshopping.com shopping cart is full of Disney T-shirts for my husband and son. New swimming suits are purchased and packed away and in less than a month we'll be on our way. So here is hoping that our first Magical Gathering will be just that: magical. And I'll be back with "A Walt Disney World Trip for the Extended Family: A Survival Guide...Does it Really Work?" just as soon as we return. Here's hoping the answer to that question is a definitive "Yes!"