The summers seem to pass too quickly these days and here we are at the end of another summer. Where did you plan a getaway with your family this summer?
With only 18 summers in a child’s life, it’s very important that you make an effort to plan for something special to capture those childhood memories with your kids and if possible extended family.
Have you ever considered a vacation with your extended family?
I personally recommend planning for a summer vacation getaway with your children and children’s grandparents. Planning it at the end of the summer somehow seems to make summer feel longer. It’s also a special way to end the summer making memories before the business of the school year starts.
For our family, it’s our way of pressing pause and really enjoying moments with our children and with our parents.
Disclosure: Wyndham provided us with a complimentary vacation condo during our stay. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own and my family’s.
Planning a Trip with Extended Family
We planned a multi-generation stay in Orlando with grandparents who are visiting us from India.
This summer trip we were invited as guests at the WyndhamBonnet Creek Resort in Orlando. Here’s a sneak peek of our stay at this gorgeous resort along with some tips we’ve learned after traveling with our whole family for many years.
These tips can help you plan your next adventure with your extended family to your favorite destination.
As you begin to plan for your family vacation getaway it’s always best to get together and find a system that works for everyone. Here are a few online tools that we use as a family with my parents, my husband’s parents, our siblings and their families, and even close friends when we plan vacations with a large group.
We’ve planned quite a few trips with kids that include family members and I’d like to share some tips that work best while planning. It takes a little time and finesse to plan all your fun vacation activities.
Pick a Destination
This is probably the hardest task of them all!
As a family, we keep an ongoing list with our extended family of places we’d like to explore.
We each try to find budget-friendly deals at those locations when possible. We’ve traveled to the beach, mountains, and even a cruise together with multi-generations but pretty much any location can work.
We have a Pinterest Board filled with Places to Travel if you’re looking for inspiration. This summer we wanted to be in Orlando with a variety of options to choose from.
{Click here} for my post about places to Visit in Orlando.
Find a Destination to Accommodate a Large Group
As you are choosing a vacation destination I recommend looking for a location that can hold a large group with multiple rooms. Booking a large space at times can be more budget-friendly too.
We all need space at times during the extended trip, especially when you have little ones who need naps too so having separate sleep areas can help. Be sure that it provides a full kitchen. With a large group on vacation, you can save a lot of money making meals at home together. Many larger places require a week’s stay so keep that in mind while you are searching.
We planned our trip at Wyndham Bonnet Creek in Orlando at the end of summer because of the choice of having 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms with your vacation condo. The condo had a large common area for all of use to spend time together and at the same time also had the ability for us to each get ready in our own areas and for the kids to have some playtime together too.
The full size kitchen and eating area was a helpful feature so that everyone could sit down to eat together at mealtime. There’s something very special about having all of your family eating meals together for a period of time that helps to build connections and memories.
One thing to keep in mind as you schedule is to give your family time to just enjoy the space that you’ve booked for the week. Many facilities have great amenities to keep your family entertained. Our resort, Wyndham Bonnet Creek, had far more amenities than we could ever have anticipated. Plus they have a daily activities calendar too. We enjoyed discovering all of the features together each day.
They had 5 pools, splash park, 2 lazy rivers, private cabanas, hot tubs, kids’ playground, volleyball court, ping-pong tables, pool tables, walking path, fitness center, game rooms, picnic area with grills, kids craft center, and much more! We packed a few family games that we knew everyone loves to play too for back in the room too when we need downtime to refresh.
Honestly the lazy river, near our condo in Tower 5, attracted our family the most and we spent several hours there floating around the pool in our tubes. I loved that there were grandchildren, grandparents, aunts, uncles and parents all doing the same thing with smiles, laughter and relaxation.
We floated and swam around it as we enjoyed the castle features and cannons that splashed us. We packed a snack and drinks in our cooler so that we could stay there a bit longer. A few of the pools even had water slides, one even looked like a pirate ship!
One of the highlights of our trip at Bonnet Creek was each night to be in our room on the balcony when it was time for Disney’s Fireworks. Since the resort is on Disney property you are so close! From our balcony all of us joined together to watch them at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. They were gorgeous reflecting over the water.
Create a Vacation Board on Pinterest
- Research Local Attractions together as a whole family and add pin ideas onto a shared Pinterest Board.
- We usually make our secret board so no one needs to see what we’re planning outside of our family.
- Plus then we can type below in the comment section opinions about things and why they are ideal.
- You could even add the price of the venues on the pin description so you can budget accordingly.
- We make ours a Place Board so we can also highlight where the locations are that we are pinning. Makes it so easy to find when you are at your destination.
One tip is to start with a hotel’s feature page. Many Hotels have already done the search for you on what’s close by. Many hotels and visitors bureaus have also started creating their own Pinterest Boards too.
Ideas for Things to do in Orlando
We did spend quite a few days at Bonnet Creek Resort however since we were there for a whole week we also had days to go on adventures together in the mornings or afternoons. We spent time at Downtown Disney Area near the Resort. Then we drove up to International Drive to explore the new Sea Life and the Orlando Eye.
We also drove over to the Florida Mall to go to the new Crayola Experience. No trip to Orlando is complete without a beach trip so we drove up to the Central Florida Zoo on our way to Daytona Beach. It was so much fun exploring these locations together as a whole family.
Plus we had our good friends who are local join the fun a few times too! The more the merrier!
Of course, with the resort on Disney property, we could have easily spent time visiting the Disney amusement parks.
We’re saving that for our next time visit this fall when it’s a bit cooler. Here’s our Planning for Disney Pinterest Board we can’t wait!
Perhaps a quick trip to SeaWorld too, we loved it last holiday season.
Create a Google Calendar-
One way that we’ve found to be effective is to use a Google Calendar to schedule out our days. Once you add multiple people to an experience it’s helpful to be sure everyone in on the same page and has felt that their interests are being expressed.
You could even add in a link from your Pinterest board pin to be sure everyone knows what’s planned.
Communicate on a Google Document or Facebook Group–
Find one method that works for your family to discuss the trip. We’ve done both ways and either way using a Google document or a Facebook group with files works well. It’s a way that no matter where you log in, you can view it and add to it when needed. It also keeps an Audit track of who added what notes.
Share Responsibilities with Everyone–
We took turns being the person who does various roles such as cooking dinner. It’s a vacation and trust me it takes a little bit of work with so many people in one spot to be sure one person doesn’t feel that they need to take care of the whole family. The kids really get into helping when they know what’s expected of them too.
We hung the task list up on the fridge so everyone could remember what they committed to. Having so many family members in one space it’s important to keep things organized.
Create a Vacation Meal Plan Together-
We all have our own little things that we enjoy eating so take time before the trip to plan out what needs to be added to the grocery list. My suggestion is to only send one person or two to the store to grab all the items on the list.
It can be overwhelming if everyone joins the shopping adventure.
Take a peek at the area you are visiting and find a few select restaurants that you want to save as special experiences together. With larger groups see if they take reservations so that your family isn’t having to wait for long periods of time for a table. Bring something for ALL the kids to do so that they are entertained. Bigger tables tend to take a little bit longer for service, especially when all the grown-ups are having fun talking.
Discover Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort
Our vacation at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort had a variety of options to keep our family entertained and make lifelong memories together. The property was well maintained with active and friendly staff. The landscaping surrounding the entire property made you feel like you were in a tropical paradise. Our condo itself was beautifully furnished with everything you need for your family to live there for a week but still make it feel like a special experience in an upscale family friendly space.
The Vij Family Review
Our family had an amazing vacation at the resort that we will never forget. I’ve already asked my parents to look at their calendars to see when we can book a trip with them and the kids to return. The kids’ favorite was the lazy river feature. The view from our room in Tower 5 on the 10th floor made our experience extra special each morning and night.
Grandparents Review
Our favorite was the fireworks each night with our grandchildren and the evening walks around the beautiful lake.
Being able to spend time together as a family was priceless.
Aunt and Uncle’s Review
It was such a fun trip for our extended family to stay together and enjoy quality family time at Wyndham Resort. Kids enjoyed the lazy river with cousins and activities offered by the resort. Watching fireworks from the balcony was one of the memories that will stay with us forever. We can’t wait to plan our family reunion again there.
We hope you find these tips helpful as you plan your next vacation getaway with extended family. With the convenience of online tools, you’ll be set for success and able to spend quality time with your whole family making memories that last a lifetime.
Have a tip for vacationing with extended family? Please tell us below in the comment section.
Thank you Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort
Thank you to our new friends at Club Wyndham for inviting us to be their guests for the week. Club Wyndham is a leader in providing world-class vacation ownership experiences, with more than 75 resorts found in America’s most popular destinations.
Be sure to follow them on Facebook,Twitter,Instagram,Pinterest and visit their siteto check out how you can book your next trip
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Great article, Kim! Planning a summer holiday, especially with kids, is such an interesting task. You can make your trip educational as well fun for the children. You can take them to escape room games, amusement parks or themed playgrounds, where they can learn and hone multiple skills, including social, communication and cognitive abilities.
Thank you for pointing out that planning an end of the summer trip can be a great way to make some great summer memories and end the summer. My husband and I are wanting to take our family on a trip and need some help planning it. I’ll have to look into finding the best travel agency in my area to help us out.