How many of you have friends or relatives who know you’re a WDW/UOR fanatic? How many of them have asked for your help planning a trip for them, only for them to repeatedly disregard absolutely every bit of advice you offer them?
Its exhausting
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OMG!! I FEEL YA!
My niece will be here next week. It’s her first ‘grown-up’ trip with her boyfriend only. I’ve given her all my knowledge and TP info and I know it’s all in one ear & out the other…even though she asked for my help!!
Pain is a good teacher! She’ll learn the hard way that Uncle Larry wasn’t exaggerating about needing a plan!! 
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I can so relate.
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I’ve run play by play for two different families. I kind of know with whom I can let my Disney freak flag fly and who gets some general info and a wish of Godspeed.
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But when they listen and it goes so well and they can’t thank you enough???
Priceless.
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This is why you are supposed to be the in person tour guide, not off-site teacher…
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I don’t help. 
. I always say, “oh my gosh, you know I have an amazing travel agent and it’s free for you! Here let me give you their number.”
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I have been asked, “what should we do? We’re going next week”
I respond, push it back a year and buy a copy of the Unofficial Guide.
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This is her first vacation without any parents or family as she 22 and my in-laws are “big” on group travel.
Uncle Larry would love to go, but our kids need to fly on their own to become responsible adults… 
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I don’t help either For booking I’ll steer them towards my friend that is a travel agent on the side and for planning I’ll steer them towards the different websites I follow. I’m not here to re-invent what is already freely available.
Unless it is a trip I am going on - I have no interest in planning. (And if I am doing the booking for someone, I’ll utilize Expedia so I can earn a bit of commission of sorts 
… even though for myself I tend to book direct 
)
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I have a co-worker that begins by asking a question, just to have co-worker 2 jump in and answer. However, C2 hasn’t been in over 20 years, and my answers are disregarded.
This is how I handle everything now. Most people don’t hear about my Disney love.
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I just tell them ping me when you’re there and I’ll talk you thru it. I just helped a coworker and friend of 23 years on his first adult trip with his kids get a LL for Remy and SDD using the drops. He was really grateful. I gave him tips like both of you try, set your alarm for a couple of minutes before and find a place to go for it, etc. and they were successful. But I don’t offer a ton of advice up front unless they ask.
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One of my friends was going with her family, and was asking me all sorts of questions about dining, FP+ (before the pandemic) and asking stuff at the right time, so I was definitely helping her get everything exactly where she wants it. Let the freak flag fly!
Then another friend told me, on Christmas Eve, that he was going down in two days, and they had nothing set up, no ADRs, no FP+ passes, nothing. Good luck, and may the force be with you; you’ll need it.
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OOOOF remember that post last year (I think?) where the person’s friend was heading down over Christmas and didn’t have any park reservations or anything? I’m not sure I’ve ever been so stressed.
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Eh, you can only help people as much as they want to be helped.
Booking LL’s remotely for somebody could be a way to compartmentalize though.
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This is at least the third time this has happened. They ask me months in advance of their target date (smart). I compare their available vacation days with the Crowd Calendar to help them narrow down the best days and the bestparks on those days. I explain it to them, write essential details down, even offer them the most recent relevant UOG book. Skip ahead. Weeks out from their planned trip, nothing has been done (stupid). No booking of a hotel, no purchasing of tickets, no dining reservations. They ask me to help them again, but still dismiss all my data backed recommendations as “thats just your opinion”.
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Yeah, but then we give up all the things we want to do
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Now when I heard a co-worker was going next month - like me he’s an every five years visitor - he welcomed my advice. Get a TouringPlans membership. Rope Drop park with nighttime party.
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Just a word of caution on this: there are no nighttime parties next month. If you’re thinking of the After Hours events, those don’t impact park attendance in quite the same way as MNSSHP or MVMCP because the park does not close early for those. Still not a bad idea, necessarily, but you/they won’t see the low crowds during the day that are often seen on the Halloween and Christmas party days.
But yay for a person who asks for help and then does the thing you tell them to!
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