Hi,

I am planning a big, once-in-a-lifetime trip with me, my husband, our two girls (3 & 7), my mother in law and both my parents. The grandparents have not been to DL since my husband and I were little, so they are in store for lots of fun all the way around. We are going on January 1st-4th, I will buy 4 day park hoppers.

I need some advice about the best way to handle our travels around the parks - last time I went I used Ridemax, which I am planning to use again, at least to plan out each morning. I figure by afternoon and evenings, we can be a little more relaxed. We will probably go back to the hotel for naps on some days too, so we can stay out later. We are all in good health and the grandparents are all able to keep up a good pace overall, which is really great. And we all get along really well, which is the only reason I am even considering this :p

What did you do to make your trip run more smoothly? Do you think having a game plan ahead of time (Ridemax, probably split the park up into sections- maybe?) will make it easier? I don't want to be a drill seargent and boss everyone around all day, but I don't want to miss out on things either. None of us has ever gone during Christmas either - so exciting!!!

TIA for any advice!
Chandra

We are going as a group of 8. My parents, my dh, and kids, and my dev del brothers. I made reservations for dinner every single night and set aside a "nap" time everyday. Then I used ridemax to plan the rides. I also took a look at all the parades and shows that we wanted to see and plugged them in so we would get a chance to do everything we want. I know it sounds overplanned but we will be there at the busiest time of year. We went before without a plan and it was a nightmare, we all fought the whole time. I figure we can pass out the plans and attempt to stick to them and if we don't that is okay too as long as we are having fun.

You should also be prepared to split the group up from time to time. Your 7YO will probably want to go on some rides that the 3YO will not or can not.

When we did a 3 generation trip, our biggest conflict ended up being breakfast. Although I had told my daughter-in-law that we would have a continental breakfast in our hotel room, for whatever reason, she did not let me know that she would not eat that early. So, we had to stop our touring for breakfast about 10 am and of course, some of the group ate and some did not. That put us on different meal schedules for the rest of the day and meant that, due to a late lunch, 2 of the kids didn't get up for their rest time soon enough to go swimming. Very disappointing since we choose to stay at the DLH so that they could enjoy the pool.

So make sure everyone in on the same page with regards to meals and encourage them to be honest with you and not just say yes if your plan really won't work for them.

Enjoy your trip -- Suzanne

Remember an often overlooked benefit of having a young one. For rides she won't or can't ride you can get a stroller swap pass. This is essencially a fast pass for two. Part of the group rides while the others wait with the kiddo. Then two can ride when they return. You dont always have to do this right after the first group rides. I just got Ridemax and from what I can tell so far there is no way for the program to account for that.....