Why I’d Rather Go to Disney World with My Best Friends Than My Actual Family

Ever think about having to visit Disney World with your family and feel a little…umm…worried, frightened, or downright terrified (not unlike Minnie in the photo below)?

Let’s not beat around the bush here — traveling to Disney World with family can be the most incredible experience in the entire world. But it can also be ridiculously stressful, full of fights, and absolutely one of the most complicated things to plan. So today we’re going to take a look at just why traveling with family can be so…tough, why traveling with friends can sometimes be way less stressful, and some tips to handle all the complications along the way.

Disclaimer: Before we begin, we just wanted to note again that family is complex. Traveling with your family might be the most amazing and relaxed thing in the world, in which case, that’s amazing! Family can be the best thing ever (for some). For others, it might be absolutely impossible to travel with family due to strained relationships. And for some, it’s possible, but difficult. Every group is different! But if you do have a challenging group, we hope this post resonates with you (and maybe even helps!).

Family Is…Complicated

We’ve probably all got some family drama — we’ll call it extra special “family fun” in our lives. Maybe it’s because Uncle Joe doesn’t get along with Aunt Clara. It’s a long story that involves Thanksgiving pies, stolen recipes, and competing football fandoms and we can’t get into it right now, but suffice it to say they can’t sit next to each other at the dinner table but they both want to be on this Disney World trip (of course). 🙄

Basically, family can come with a LOT more strings, complications, and history than friendships can. And sometimes, those fights or situations go YEARS back, to a time before you were even born. They may be so deeply ingrained in the family culture that they cut to the core of people’s very existence and their identity in the family.

Friends, on the other hand, might have years of history together but if they’ve remained friends, that means they’ve likely worked through those issues and come out on the other side with a better sense of tolerance or understanding.

You Can Just Hear the Debates As Your Family Walks Down the Walkway

Family might not always address those issues (at all or as quickly) because they are FORCED to be together. With family comes a great sense of obligation. They may feel like they have to celebrate holidays, birthdays, etc. together. So, problems might get swept under the rug to keep the peace for the time being. Friends can simply stop hanging out with each other and might be able to entirely avoid each other in the future.

But you might not be able to do the same thing with Aunt Jane and cousin Freddy who you’ll inevitably see at Christmas dinner this year. Oh yeah, and they just won’t stop bringing up that ONE TIME you embarrassed Freddy for something. IT WAS ONE TIME, FREDDY, GET OVER IT.

Again, you might be able to sweep those matters under the rug for family events that happen once or twice a year, where you can escape to a back corner of the room and mostly avoid eye contact with everyone. But you won’t be able to avoid them when spending nearly 24 hours together in Disney World — in the sun, while hungry and facing huge crowds. Let’s just say, Disney can expose any lingering family problems in a BIG way.

So…what can you do about it? Well, before planning the trip, take a few moments to get your bearings on the latest family drama. Who can’t stand who right now? Are there old debates you should know about? Try to see if there are any arrangements you can make to help alleviate tensions, like making sure rooms are booked at different hotels or at least in non-connecting rooms at the same hotel (maybe see if you can be in different buildings or floors). It might sound small, but even just creating those little gaps can give family members a bit of space and time to cool down so fights don’t get too bad.

You may also want to see if you can arrange for people who do like each other to sit closer at restaurants or just break off into smaller groups together to do activities on their own which will bring them joy and also avoid arguments from popping up.

If there are topics that are totally OFF LIMITS for the trip (like that one Super Bowl loss), lay out the rules ahead of time and make sure everyone knows the deal. You could even make it a little fun. For example, if someone brings up a banned family topic, they have to buy a round of ice cream for the group. One look at that cost and they might be willing to keep their mouths shut for the whole trip. 😂

Family Might Want to Stick Together…ALL.THE.TIME

“Sienna, you can’t let your brother go alone on that ride!” “Tara, why don’t you go with your little sister to meet the princesses so she doesn’t have to do it alone?” (*Imagine your parent’s eyebrows raising in a very pointed manner here.)

If you’ve traveled with family, you’ve probably heard things like that over and over again. And you might be willing to hop into action right away or have begrudgingly accepted what was basically a family mandate that came in the form of a “suggestion.”

While friends might feel more casually that they can split up when necessary to accomplish what people want and then get back together later, family might feel differently.

Family might want everyone to stick together ALL the time or at least have some/certain people stick together in certain ways (keep all the cousins together, etc.). This can sometimes be one of the toughest things to handle. If this is your one BIG Disney trip for the year and you’re hoping to accomplish a bunch of things (eat certain snacks, go on certain rides), that can be made a lot more complicated if your family has other plans.

So how can you handle this? Well, our best advice is to address this BEFORE your trip arrives. First, sit down with the members of the family who are going and ask them to pick 1-2 must-dos in each park you’ll be visiting. Maybe that’s a snack, a ride, a show, etc. Make it clear to them that they should speak up about their wants and needs NOW, not 2 hours into your day at Hollywood Studios.

Then, try to work that into a schedule that’s feasible. If it’s looking like some parts of the group will have to break off from one another to accomplish all of their must-dos, talk to your family about that possibility. Is that something they’re open to? Can they agree to split up for an hour and then reconvene? If they aren’t open to the idea of splitting up, then explain to them what must-dos won’t get accomplished. See if that changes their minds or if the plans will need to be adjusted.

Setting up the parameters of the trip and the must-dos can help everyone be on the same page. If you print off or email that list to the group and make sure EVERYONE sees it and agrees to it ahead of time, then things could run smoother in the park.

Of course, last-minute changes might need to be made if a ride unexpectedly closes or something else pops up, so go in with that flexibility in mind. But having each person know that they’ll at least get to do 1-2 must-do things can help ease tensions.

Planning Can Be Difficult

When it comes to trips with friends, people might be more open to one person taking the lead and planning a big portion of the trip (the Genie+ selections, the dining reservations, etc.). That might not always be the case, but it can be.

And it can be that way with families too…sometimes. But sometimes, particularly if there are multiple sides of your family coming together all at once, there might be — as they say — too many cooks in the kitchen.

Families might want things to be decided more as a group than having one person take the reigns of the planning operation. Or it might feel awkward (like you’re stepping on other people’s toes) if one person plans the whole trip. If you don’t care about prioritizing certain rides or restaurants and are in a more go-with-the-flow mood, then not having a main plan might work.

But if everyone wants to have a say in the planning, no one wants to allow another person to take charge, and everyone wants to do different things, it can get messy.

Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Our advice here is similar to the advice we shared above. Have everyone pick out their 1-2 must-dos per perk/day. Then talk to the family about having someone take central planning responsibility. No one wants to step up? Is it something you’re willing to take on? See if the group is open to someone at least creating a preliminary plan that could help the group get organized.

Or, consider splitting planning responsibilities. Maybe that’ll help everyone feel involved but still accomplish the planning needed. Someone can take restaurants while another takes rides — just be sure they communicate so that restaurant reservations are properly tied to Park Pass reservations and work with ride plans.

If it gets too complex, see if bringing in a Disney friend to help you plan can help. Sometimes having someone from outside the family make a few suggestions can be taken better since they have no “skin in the game.”

Imagine Taking 5 Friend Groups to Disney At Once

This is one of the BIG reasons why going to Disney can be so complex. Think about your own group of friends. You might have friends from different groups — work, school, childhood, parenting, etc.

You likely wouldn’t plan a Disney trip with all of them together at once, but instead with just one particular group. That can make things simpler because everyone in that one group knows each other and hangs out regularly.

Now, imagine what would happen if you did take ALL of those friends from different groups — who might not normally spend any time together — to Disney World all at once. That can be really difficult. Personalities may clash, needs may differ, and you might be stuck in the middle trying to make everyone happy.

That’s what family can be like sometimes if people in the group who normally don’t see each other often all decide to go on the trip at the same time. And if you’re caught in the center of it, trying to keep the peace at all times, it can make things incredibly stressful.

Our advice here is similar to the ones above — have everyone select their must-do items, etc. But in addition to that, it might be a good idea to have a pre-Disney family event. If possible, get everyone together (in person or virtually) to chat about the upcoming trip, go over the plans, and/or just spend a little more time together.

That might help your sister-in-law connect with your cousin in a way they didn’t expect. Then, when they see each other on the trip, they’ve already got a connection that ties them together and makes the trip more fun. It can also help you figure out if there are any hidden dramas you didn’t know about that you can try to prepare for.

The idea is just to have everyone get familiar with each other before they become TOO familiar with each other after walking for 8 hours in the Florida sun.

Plus, if you have a final planning meeting (perhaps) before you actually take off for your trip, that can also help everyone get on the same page and potentially address some things that otherwise would have popped up at inopportune times in the parks.

Now, will these tips totally help you avoid family meltdowns? Not necessarily. That’s just…life. But if you can have a good plan in place that at least hits some essentials — what rides you want to go on, what rides to use Genie+ on, what restaurants you’ll be eating at (and when), and other key things, you could avoid some of the biggest battles.

That might not be necessary for a friends group at all, particularly if you are with a go-with-the-flow group that’s just there for some fun. That’s why some of you might outright prefer to travel with friends than family (and we totally get that).

But we hope this post gives you some tips to maybe make your next family trip feel a little less stressful — or maybe it’ll just remind you that you REALLY need to book a Disney trip with your friends to avoid all the drama. Either way, a Disney trip comes out of it, so that’s a good thing, right? 😉

Tell us your opinions on traveling with family versus friends! And stay tuned for more tips.