Taking Grandparents to Orlando – Planning a Multi-Generation Holiday

Taking the grandparents to Orlando?

It could be one of the best family holidays you ever have.

Watching grandparents experience Disney World with their grandchildren can create some wonderful memories. And having a few extra adults around isn't exactly a disadvantage when somebody needs to stay with the children while Mum and Dad tackle a rollercoaster!

But travelling with 3 generations is different from organising a holiday for your immediate family.

Different ages mean different interests, different energy levels and, sometimes, very different ideas about what constitutes a relaxing holiday.

The secret is to plan an Orlando holiday that works for everyone – rather than expecting everyone to do everything together.

Start by asking what everybody actually wants to do

This sounds obvious, but it's surprising how often one person becomes the unofficial holiday organiser and creates an itinerary for everybody else.

Before booking attraction tickets, have a family conversation.

Perhaps the grandchildren desperately want to visit Magic Kingdom.

Dad wants Universal Orlando.

Grandad would love Kennedy Space Center.

Grandma wants a day shopping.

And somebody else has absolutely no intention of leaving the villa before 10am.

That's useful information.

You don't need an itinerary where everyone wants exactly the same things. You simply need to know everyone's priorities before you start planning.

Don't assume grandparents want a slower holiday

Age doesn't necessarily determine enthusiasm.

Grandma may be first in the queue for a rollercoaster while her 35-year-old son refuses to go anywhere near it.

Some grandparents will happily spend 12 hours walking around a theme park. Others may prefer a few hours followed by an afternoon beside the pool.

Don't make assumptions.

Ask.

The important thing is to plan around the people travelling with you rather than their ages.

But be realistic about the amount of walking

Orlando's theme parks are enormous.

A full day can involve many miles of walking, often in hot and humid conditions.

Even active people can be surprised by how tiring several consecutive theme park days become.

Try to avoid scheduling major parks back-to-back throughout the holiday.

A theme park day followed by a quieter day at the villa, shopping, eating out or exploring somewhere at a gentler pace can work much better.

And remember that nobody wins a prize for being the last family to leave the park.

Choose the villa carefully

This becomes particularly important when several generations are travelling together.

Don't simply count how many people the villa sleeps.

Look at how the bedrooms are arranged.

Grandparents may appreciate a downstairs bedroom rather than climbing stairs several times a day.

If 2 couples are travelling, having more than one master or en-suite bedroom can give everyone additional privacy.

Think about bathrooms too. Getting 8 or 10 people ready in the morning is considerably easier when there are plenty available.

Look carefully at the villa photographs, floorplan where available and property description before booking.

A villa with the right layout can make a big difference to a multi-generation holiday.

Give everyone some personal space

You love your family.

That's why you've invited them to Florida.

But that doesn't necessarily mean you need to spend every waking minute together for 2 weeks.

One of the major advantages of an Orlando villa holiday for a larger family group is space.

Grandparents can sit beside the pool while the children play in the games room.

Someone can watch television while somebody else reads.

The early risers can make breakfast without everybody having to get up.

And if someone wants an afternoon nap, they can disappear into their bedroom without the rest of the family having to tiptoe around a hotel room.

Sometimes the secret to a successful family holiday is simply having enough room to get away from your family occasionally!

You don't all have to go to the same place

This is worth deciding before you travel.

There's no rule saying everyone has to leave the villa together every morning and return together every evening.

Perhaps the parents and teenagers want to spend a day at Universal Orlando while the grandparents take younger children somewhere else.

Maybe half the family wants to go shopping while everyone else stays beside the pool.

Or perhaps the grandparents would like a completely free day.

Splitting up occasionally can mean everybody gets more from the holiday.

Just make sure you've thought about transport if different groups intend to go in different directions.

Think carefully about transport

A large family can quickly become a large amount of luggage.

Make sure your hire car has enough room not only for the number of passengers but also for everyone's suitcases on the journey between the airport and villa.

For larger groups, 2 vehicles can sometimes provide much more flexibility than one very large vehicle.

It also means everyone isn't tied to the same plans each day.

If Grandad has had enough of the theme park at 4pm but the grandchildren want to stay until the fireworks, having a second car suddenly becomes very useful.

Remember that each driver will need to meet the car hire company's requirements, and any additional drivers should be arranged correctly.

Consider mobility before you travel

If anyone in the family has difficulty walking significant distances, investigate your options before arriving.

Wheelchairs and mobility devices can be hired, and the major theme parks provide accessibility information explaining how different attractions operate.

Don't wait until somebody is struggling halfway around a park before thinking about it.

Planning ahead can make the experience much easier and allow everyone to concentrate on enjoying the day.

It's also worth checking the villa carefully if mobility is an important consideration. Ask about downstairs bedrooms, bathroom arrangements, steps and other features that could affect your particular party.

Build rest days into the itinerary

We recommend rest days for almost every Orlando holiday.

For multi-generation groups, they become even more important.

And a rest day doesn't necessarily mean doing absolutely nothing.

Somebody might go shopping.

The children might spend half the day in the pool.

Grandparents could head out for breakfast.

Another family member might decide to visit somewhere that wasn't important enough to put on the main itinerary.

Then everyone can meet back at the villa for dinner.

A slower day gives people the freedom to recharge in whatever way suits them.

Make the most of your private pool

One of the pleasures of staying in an Orlando villa is that you don't have to go anywhere to enjoy yourself.

Children can spend hours in the pool while the adults sit outside and catch up.

After several busy theme park days, a pool day can feel like a holiday within the holiday.

And unlike visiting a communal hotel pool, you haven't got to pack a bag, find somewhere to sit or decide when everyone wants to leave.

Just remember that children must always be properly supervised around the pool.

Eating together becomes much easier

Taking a large family group to a restaurant every night can become expensive – and organising everyone can be an adventure in itself.

An Orlando villa gives you your own kitchen.

That doesn't mean you need to spend your holiday cooking elaborate meals.

Breakfast before heading to the parks, sandwiches around the pool, a takeaway in the evening or something simple from the supermarket can all provide a welcome break from restaurants.

It also helps when different generations have different eating habits.

Grandad might want breakfast at 7am.

The teenagers may not appear until 10am.

That's much easier when the kitchen doesn't close.

Let the grandparents have time with the grandchildren

This can become one of the most special parts of the holiday.

Perhaps Mum and Dad go out for dinner while the grandparents stay at the villa with the children.

Maybe grandparents take the grandchildren swimming while the parents have a quiet morning.

Or perhaps they experience a theme park together while the parents do something else.

For families who don't live close to each other at home, an Orlando holiday can provide a rare opportunity to spend an extended period together.

Those quieter moments can become every bit as memorable as the major attractions.

Remember that Orlando offers more than theme parks

A multi-generation holiday is a great excuse to explore beyond Disney World and Universal Orlando.

Kennedy Space Center can appeal across generations.

There are beaches within reach for a day trip.

Orlando has excellent shopping.

There are hundreds of restaurants.

You could watch some American sport, play a round of golf or mini golf, visit a nature attraction or simply explore another part of Central Florida.

Not everybody needs to love rollercoasters to enjoy Orlando.

Don't over-plan your evenings

A day that starts early at a theme park and ends with fireworks can be a very long day.

Doing that repeatedly can leave everybody exhausted.

Some evenings, returning to the villa, ordering a takeaway and sitting around the pool may be exactly what everyone wants.

Leave gaps in the itinerary.

You can always add something while you're there if everybody is full of energy.

It's much harder to enjoy a holiday when the itinerary starts feeling like a timetable that must be completed.

Talk about money before you go

It may not be the most exciting part of holiday planning, but with several adults travelling together it's worth discussing who is paying for what.

Will groceries be shared?

Who is paying for parking?

Are restaurant bills being divided between families?

Who is paying for fuel?

Having a simple conversation before travelling can prevent awkwardness later.

You don't need a spreadsheet detailing every dollar – unless your family enjoys spreadsheets – but everyone should have roughly the same expectations.

Take plenty of photographs – including the adults

Parents and grandparents have a habit of taking hundreds of photographs of the children and hardly appearing in any themselves.

Make an effort to get everybody into some photographs.

Hand your phone to somebody else.

Use the theme park photographers.

Take pictures around the villa.

And don't worry if every photograph isn't perfect.

Years later, nobody will care that Grandad wasn't looking at the camera or that somebody's hair was a mess.

They'll care that everyone was there.

A villa can make multi-generation holidays work particularly well

There are plenty of ways to stay in Orlando, but a villa can be especially well suited to several generations travelling together.

You can have multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, your own kitchen, living space, private pool and, depending on the property, games rooms, cinema rooms and resort facilities.

More importantly, everybody can have some independence while still sharing the holiday.

You're together – but you don't have to be together every minute.

The goal isn't to keep everybody happy every minute

That's probably impossible on any family holiday.

The goal is to make sure everyone gets something from the trip.

Let each generation choose some of the activities.

Allow people to opt out occasionally.

Build in slower days.

Choose accommodation that gives everyone enough space.

And accept that plans will sometimes change.

A multi-generation Orlando holiday doesn't need to mean 3 generations following exactly the same itinerary.

In fact, the holidays that work particularly well are often the ones where they don't.

Because long after everyone has forgotten which ride had the longest queue or exactly what they bought at the outlets, they'll remember something much more important:

They all went to Orlando together.