Okay, hear us out. Family vacations in Disney World can be amazing, but they can also be…a lot.

Main Street, U.S.A.

First, you’ve gotta make sure everyone has packed everything they need, then keep in mind everyone’s top “must do” items so no one gets upset, and be ready to roll with the punches because who knows what twists the parks might throw at you. Family vacations mean you get to see everyone’s different vacation styles, and sometimes those different styles are…less than compatible. 

Listen, we’ve been to Disney World TONS of times, so we know how to go with the flow and not let things ruin our trips. But sometimes our families have done things that made our eye twitch, and we have to hold in the steam that wants to come out of our ears. Hey, it happens to everyone. If you find yourself in any of the following situations, don’t panic — we’ve been there, and we have ways to solve them!

Rope Drop Betrayal

So there you are the night before your Magic Kingdom day — your whole family agrees you’re going to get up and rope drop the next morning. (“Rope Drop” means getting to the park well before it opens so you can be among the first people in and get on rides with a shorter wait.) You all rush to get ready for bed, knowing that the alarm is getting ready to go off in just a few hours. But then morning comes, and half the family has changed their mind.

LONG lines at the entrance

UGH! Trust us, we love our sleep, but we understand how frustrating it can be when your travel party changes their minds last minute. So how can you solve this issue? We have a few different suggestions:

• Agree to the sleep-in, but compromise that tomorrow/a later day in the trip will be a rope drop day.
• Plan to stay in the parks later that night, because you can often get in just as many rides, if not more, during the last hour of park opening as you can in the first hour.
• Split up! If it works for your group, you can divide and conquer — some of you take on the park early while others decide to join you later.

EPCOT Crowds

If you want to avoid this situation in the first place, we encourage your whole party to think long and hard about what waking up early means and whether it’s worth it for your party if you’ve got some non-early birds in the group.

The. Starbucks. Line.

Early mornings anywhere mean many people want to have their coffee fix in order to wake up. Disney World hotels have coffee makers in the resorts (are they the greatest? No. Is it coffee? Yes.), and you can also find Joffrey’s locations outside some Skyliner stations and some of the parks where you can get your much-needed caffeine. But one of your family members wanted Starbucks, and now you’re spending your rope drop hour in line…for coffee.

Starbucks line

So what do you do? Now you’re wasting your precious ride time waiting in line for coffee you could have stopped to get outside of the parks. Here are our suggestions:

• Split up…again! If the members in your party are old enough, split up so some can go ride rides while the others wait in line.
• Get Starbucks outside Disney property before stepping into the parks. Starbucks lines can be long everywhere, but they may be faster at locations outside the parks. (This one will only work if you have your own car.)
• Choose Joffrey’s instead! We have members of our team who like Joffrey’s coffee even more than Starbucks, and there are more locations around the parks with shorter lines.

Skip this line and grab Joffrey’s instead!

Listen, we know coffee is a necessity in the morning for many people, but keep in mind that these lines can get VERY long and take up a lot of valuable park time, so it’s important to compromise here too, and maybe try a new coffee drink from Joffrey’s or another spot around property.

Your Reservation Goes To Waste

There you were, 60 days ago, waking up at the crack of dawn to snag a dining reservation at your favorite restaurant. And now that you’re here, the day before the reservation, no one wants to do it.

Dining Room at Cinderella’s Royal Table

This is a tough one because once you’re in the parks having fun, it’s hard to take a break to eat, especially for a long, sit-down meal. Kids may especially have trouble with this, but we’ve got some suggestions.

• Take advantage of the new 2-hour cancelation rule. Now, most Disney World table service restaurants will allow you to cancel your reservation up to 2 hours in advance without being charged anything. There are some exceptions to this rule though, so make sure everyone knows the plan for the day over 24 hours in advance, just to be safe.
• Compromise! Let those who don’t want to go to the restaurant choose the very next activity after you eat. This way, they may feel less like their wishes are being skipped over.
• You guessed it…split up! If it’s over 2 hours before your reservation time, many restaurants will allow you to modify the number of guests you’ll have at your reservation. Some restaurants that need 24 hours’ notice may be more difficult to do this with, and we wouldn’t recommend this for these.

Be Our Guest Restaurant

There are countless other situations you may find yourself in on your vacation, but we hope these solutions can help you navigate your tough situations as they arise. As always, stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney news and tips!

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What’s the toughest situation you’ve been in with your family/travel party in Disney? Tell us in the comments!