Originally Posted By ballesbl I see a lot of people doing family reunions at DL and wonder if they are more of a headache than what it's worth. Any thoughts?
Originally Posted By ballesbl I see a lot of people doing family reunions at DL and wonder if they are more of a headache than what it's worth. Any thoughts?
Originally Posted By 73baloo They are so much fun. All depends on family and how many "A" persoanlities you have.
Originally Posted By ballesbl The headache I envision is everyone wanting to go in five different directions. I'm assuming there is a planned agenda. Maybe if I had more than one type A, I could divide up the time they're in charge.
Originally Posted By EmmaJayne I'd think it would be perfect.. You could have a group breakfast and dinner planned but individual families etc could break off into smaller groups during the day.. Plus the excitement of DL with plenty to do would take away from potentially awkward silences etc.. You know with the second cousins nobody's seen in ten years.. It sort of gives everyone something mutual to focus on: talk about..
Originally Posted By Mickeysbestfan We had each family plan an event. One wanted to do fireworks, a couple had favorite dinner spots, someone chose Mickey's Barn. I chose the Mark Twain. For the dinners, since some had a tighter budget, we had a price cap. Our one big splurge was Goofy's Breakfast. The rest of the trip was more or less each family doing what they wanted. I say more or less because some of the older kids hung out together and they skipped some of the stuff like the princess and tinkerbell meet and greets.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb I'd love to go to DL or WDW with extended family. But if I were interested in reconnecting with relatives I barely see, a theme park wouldn't be the place. YMMV
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: Well, heck! Ev'ry dang time I goes ta the Dizzy Theme parks with my two looney sisters it's like a dang Fam'ly reunion--whether I like it er not! An' I almost NEVER likes it! All the complainin', arguin', embarrassin' moments caused by one sister who flirts her way through the crowds whilst the other one EATS her way around the park! Take my word fer it, Walt Dizzy theme parks could be a whole lot more fun WITHOUT yer dang fam'ly!!!!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros They weren't technically 'family', but my family met up with some old family friends that we hadn't seen in years at WDW and had a great time. The kids (myself included) were all about 8-15 (we did this a couple times), and had a great time. Although my parents and older brother swear we'd met them before these trips, they were the first time I remember meeting them. The kids got to go hang out together and do our own thing, while the grown-ups got to do their own thing. We were at that age where our parents wouldn't have let my brother and me go off alone, but with a couple more kids our age, it was fine. We felt like we were getting to go do cool things, and our parents all enjoyed having some time away from the kids. It was a win-win for everybody. Though I could see how it might not work out quite so nicely with a bigger group (we were 8 total) and/or different aged kids.
Originally Posted By ballesbl Great ideas. Maybe I'll try it once. I know for one thing, I won't be able to get everyone to wear matching t-shirts. haha
Originally Posted By EmmaJayne I guess it also depends on how big the event is, if it's really a 'reunion' of those you haven't seen in years or just a get together for the extended family.. Like if my Mums side of the family did it, it would work perfect.. We are scattered across three states but all keep in touch throughout the year and so Disneyland together would work great.. But say my Dads family, and oneday I hope we can have a big reunion but that's grandparents I haven't seen in nearly ten years, an aunt and cousins I've never met, other cousins I haven't seen since I was in diapers.. Well Disneyland wouldn't be great, I'd rather somewhere we could all talk and get to know eachother without the distractions or temptation for everyone to just break off into smaller groups for the whole day.. I have to say though, I've always found those family shirts fascinating.. You would not see that down here!
Originally Posted By karlg It depends on your family and if all the people in family are Disney Park fans. Generally theme parks, even Disneyland which is less than most, tend to split people up by age and interest. If your goal is for people to get together, discuss old times, and catch up on what the other family members are doing, then theme parks for family reunions are a bad idea. As someone said, it is like herding cats. Usually some family members will be into the parks and rides and think that they have to get their "money's worth" out of this expensive trip. Others will not want to or be physically able to do much in the theme park. In generally you will be lucky just to get everyone to agree to get together for meals. My recommendation would be to have the "reunion" for a few days at some place than Disneyland but in the general area. Then those in the family that want to go to Disneyland can go before or after the reunion. This will of course vary with your family.
Originally Posted By BrerFoxx My family would totally be all about matching shirts. However, if it weremy husband's family going. . . we'd all end up in jail or the hospital by days end. There's a lot to take into consideration when getting lots of people together.
Originally Posted By WDWdreamin My parents aka "the grandparents" and all the kids and grandkids, and one set of aunt/uncle/cousins all wore matching t-shirts twice in Hawaii. It would be much easier in a park with the shirts. But so few people in my family like Disney parks enough. And they surely wouldn't follow all my instructions!
Originally Posted By ballesbl I like the idea of doing Goofy's Kitchen or dinner as a group and everyone doing their own thing during the day. Our 11 and 14 year olds are not into the same things as our 3 year old, so they could hang with cousins.
