We did and yet we didn’t do what we would have done on our own. It was so annoying going back to the villa so early every night but we eventually realised my mum didn’t want Lucy and Dan to feel abandoned. Despite the fact they didn’t even want to be in the villa with us!
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I actually read a lot of trip reports before I organized a one day trip at DLR with 9people and a trip with my sister and her BF. It really helps to know the downfalls and all the issues happen with almost all families!
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Loving the report and all the photos. Sooooo much has changed, so we get a history lesson too. 
I can’t imagine how much Busch Gardens has changed…but then I was there in 1983…
Your experience is exactly why I’ll never do a big group trip…anywhere.
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Funny you say that…I was catching up on reading both of your trip reports (2012 and 2016) and I keep thinking, so this is what I’m in for! Going to WDW for the first time in 23 years, and going with my husband’s family. There are 10 of us total, 7 adults, 3 kids, and Grammy and Grampy are adamant about spending as much time together as possible. My new thought process is just to go with it, and tell myself that the next trip will just be us (me, DH, DD, and DS) and I will get to plan THE WHOLE DARN THING!! 
Looking forward to more…
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Ohhh…now you are being rude to @missoverexcited too. Tut tut. 
because I haven’t got a wooden spoon emoji:wink:.
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Definitely not rude…
I’m enjoying hearing about how the touring was different…I do believe you’re being intentionally difficult…
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Loving the report!
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Seaworld Day 11
I have been putting off writing about this day at Seaworld and afterwards, in a lot of ways it was the worst day we had. And now, annoyingly, I have discovered I haven’t got a map/show times to help me remember! So it may be a bit vague…
As usual we missed rope drop, I think we arrived about 9.15. We immediately split up from Lucy, Dan and the kids as our first focus was the thrill rides! We hit Manta first - the wait was really long, 40 or 50 minutes, but we saw a sign for a single rider line so we searched it out. Not many people were using it but I think that was more to do with how well hidden it was than not wanting to split up - even as we started down the path we weren’t sure we were in the right place. It was well worth searching for though, we waited about 5 minutes and were soon back with Steve and Sean who had chickened out, and Joe who wasn’t tall enough. It was a really strange ride, you are tipped forward so you’re horizontal and doing loops feels a lot different in that position - it took my breath away!
Next we went to Journey to Atlantis - though I thought we should do Kraken next, it was another that Joe wasn’t tall enough for and he was really upset about it, so a family ride seemed fairer. Luckily it was a walk-on. Its not fantastic but the big drop is as good as Splash Mountain. We remembered getting totally soaked on this ride, I don’t know if we were just lucky but we didn’t get very wet at all this time. Then me, mum, dad and John went to do Kraken while Steve took Joe on Journey to Atlantis again - Sean had a nice sit down. Kraken is great, I felt sorry for Joe that he couldn’t do it - unlike Manta which I was actually quite glad he couldn’t ride once I knew what it was like! And again we were lucky with the wait, it was another walk-on. When we met up with Sean, he told us Joe and Steve had been on once and had decided to go again as they thought we’d be a while, the third time though they hit a queue so we had a 10 or 15 minute wait for them.
While we waited, we tried to make a plan for the shows but it was really difficult, it seemed like every time a show finished another one was starting on the other side of the park so you had to wait for the next one. And there were signs outside the shows saying you needed to get there 45 minutes before it started. Eventually we decided to go to Turtle Trek, before the dolphin show Blue Horizons. When we got there though, the wait was too long to fit it in. We went to the underwater dolphin viewing area instead.
I could have stayed there all day, I love dolphins, but the boys were getting bored so we went to Blue Horizons. We got there about 30 minutes before it started and got fairly good seats - well out of the splash zone! I was at the other end of our group from Steve but I could see he had his arms crossed and looked a bit grumpy. Once the show started though, I forgot about him, I loved it - on our previous visit the dolphins had refused to perform so I was glad we didn’t miss out again. The human performers were great too.
Afterwards we went for lunch at the Seafire Inn. When we got there though, Steve (who by now had a face like thunder) refused to go in. He sat on the floor and wouldn’t budge. I sent the others in, then tried reasoning with him. He said he hated Seaworld, he hated watching performing dolphins, it was cruel… I told him that if he felt that way he should have stayed at home that day, but he was here and he might as well eat his lunch. But he was having none of it, he was really angry and just sat there with his music blaring in his ears. I couldn’t get another word out of him, and had to go in and get lunch. I could hardly eat though, I was really upset. When I gave up on my food, I went out to see him again, but I still couldn’t get him to come in to eat, or even just get a drink - and it was a scorching day. I was angry with him by then, and went back in to plan the rest of our day. The plan was to go and see One Ocean, the Shamu show, and then Clyde and Seamore take Pirate Island - which my mum had been going on about for weeks! But then Joe threw a spanner in the works - he didn’t want to see One Ocean, he wanted to go and feed the dolphins!
I had to send the rest of the family to get seats, while I took Joe to Steve and tried to negotiate. I didn’t think I’d be able to persuade him to take Joe to feed the dolphins, but he wanted him to have a good day and reluctantly agreed. We arranged to meet up afterwards at the stingrays. I then rushed to meet up with Sean, John and my mum and dad. There were hoards of people making their way across the bridge and I wasn’t confident I would find them, but they were waiting for me near the entrance. The show was good but I was too upset to really pay attention, I spent a lot of time cursing Steve in my mind 
When it was over, my mum and dad went to see Clyde and Seamore while me, Sean and John went to meet Steve and Joe. We waited quite a while for them, but it was shaded and we liked the stingrays.
And when they got back, Steve seemed to be in a much better mood. Joe had enjoyed himself, but he didn’t like touching the fish! And when a bird had swooped down and stolen his first one, he had given up altogether and made Steve throw nearly all the others 
So it had been a grumpy morning - but who was going to make it a grumpy night??
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Seaworld Day 11 continued
My photos suggest that we went to see the sealions and seals next while we waited to meet up with my mum and dad. Joe didn’t like it here, he said it stank of fish
Next we headed over to Shark Encounter, which is where we were meeting my parents. We knew we were really early so we wasted some time in the gift shops, then just sat on a bench waiting. Just as we saw them coming, it started to rain - we didn’t mind though, we needed cooling down and we were going inside anyway. Shark Encounter was ok, it was really crowded. We liked seeing the sharks outside more.
When we came out, we went to see the alligators, then tried Turtle Trek again. By this time, the wait was 40 minutes. We were all fed up anyway and decided to skip it.
We couldn’t leave without riding Manta again. We hit the single ride line again, only to find we didn’t need it - there were only about 10 people in front of us and we got straight to the front of the queue! The coaster pulled in, the people were hanging there…it became obvious that they weren’t going to get upright any time soon! I was with John on one side of the coaster and my mum and dad were on the other side, we couldn’t see them but decided to give it 10 minutes before we gave up - and about 9 minutes later, the riders were straightened up, as everyone cheered! The ride was as good again the second time around, but definitely not for the faint-hearted - the Gs on the first loop were unbelievable!
By now it was around 4pm and the heavens were opening, so we gave up and drove home. On the way, my dad announced that he and mum didn’t want to go out for dinner but they would drop off anyone who wanted to go out - we would have to make our own way home. Well the only place even vaguely within walking distance was Applebees where we’d been twice already, and we didn’t fancy the hour long walk back in the dark with no pavements, so we didn’t bother. We all went to Publix to buy food instead - we were there every couple of days, we spent almost as much time in the supermarket as we did in the parks 
John had told me that he really wanted to go to a mall to do some proper shopping, so that night I mentioned it to my dad, suggesting we could do it on Thursday afternoon on our way back from Islands of Adventure where we would be spending the morning. He said no, we could do it on Friday. We were supposed to be going to Typhoon Lagoon on Friday, our last full day, but apparently, despite having known that was the plan for months and not said anything, my parents thought one water park day was enough 
He did offer to drop me off there and pick me up on the way back from the mall, but as much as I love TL, I couldn’t go alone - Steve wanted to go shopping too, Joe would probably go with him, and Sean hadn’t even got in the water at Blizzard Beach so wasn’t exactly my first choice of companion. I was really disappointed though 
The evening passed peacefully enough, everyone started to go to bed, and when me and Steve went up, John was left alone downstairs. I should explain that there were 6 bedrooms upstairs, and one downstairs which he had picked, mainly to be away from Bella, Faye and Alex who don’t sleep through the night and tend to cry a lot, and also because he is a night owl and could have the run of the house without disturbing anyone. It was about 10pm when we went to bed and we dropped off almost immediately. About 15 minutes later, we were woken by raised voices. One was definitely Lucy, and I thought she was having a row with Dan. I crept to the door and listened (yes I was trying to eavesdrop on my sister and brother in law arguing, sue me ), realising that the voices were downstairs and it was actually John she was arguing with. I didn’t like to open the door so I couldn’t hear all that was said, but it sounded to me like Lucy had locked John out of the villa while he was outside smoking. Then I heard my mum shouting “What’s going on?” and someone going downstairs, I could hear my dad’s voice though not what he was saying. There were shouts, slammed doors, then quiet.
What on earth had happened with my family? And what did it mean for the remaining 3 days of our holiday?!?!?
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I had to go back to the beginning to remind me who was who. Age! We need a character map.
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But you’d still need to go back and refer to it!
Me and DH - Clare and Steve
Kids - Sean and Joe
Brother - John
Sis/BIL - Lucy and Dan
Kids - Bella, Faye and Alex
Parents - Mary and Chris, though I don’t think I ever refer to them by name.
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You’re vicious
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I got sidetracked by one of your comments on another thread…
Was going to commiserate with @missoverexcited on what must have been a long and frustrating day…
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Divide and rule.
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Yes it was, thank you for commiserating!
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I am hanging on the edge of my seat: what happened next? Who had a meltdown?
My favorite meltdowns are adult meltdowns; it makes me feel less bad about having them (I am working really hard on reducing the number though).
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I had the same problem! I was like: who is Steve? OMG, it is the husband losing it at SeaWorld (I thought it was the oldest son). I kinda of laugh at that.
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