I will be documenting our journey here for all of you to enjoy as well.
Let's begin by introducing the cast for this trip.
First up, you have my husband David. David will be 48 on this trip. The last time he was at Disney was about 20 years ago. His last trip there was with his young toddlers. David isn't a Disney Nut ...yet... but I have a feeling that I'll have him converted over by the first nightfall that we spend in The World.
Joining David will be his Son, Aaron. Aaron is 16 and has no recollection of being at Disney before. Rumor has it that he was there as a young toddler. Aaron is very reluctant to come with our family on this trip because he is afraid to miss school for five days. Because we have such a tight schedule year round, we have decided to pull the six children out of school for the last week prior to the schools recessing for Christmas Break. Our children are very good students and we felt this was the best time to pull them out when looking at various testing, exams week and the stipulations for visitations the children have with their other parents.
Rounding out this McBunch is David's wife, Rebecca. (That's Me!) I will be 37 on this trip. I am a Disney nut! I have been there three times so far and am so excited to be going again. The last time I was in Disney was in 2007 with my four young children (ages 9, 6, 5 and 3) . They too decided that they loved Disney just as much as their Momma did so we often hear how excited they would be if we were to return. On this trip, we will be returning with the full crew, my five wonderful children. Joining us on this adventure will be Jacob (16), Austin (14), Katelyn (13), Emilee (11) and Jonathon (8). The four older children have all been to Disney before. The youngest, Jonathon, has never been and is extremely excited to experience the Disney Magic for himself.
Details have been in the works for this trip for quite some time. Being able to accommodate and arrange the schedules of 8 people in order to fit together perfectly for a family trip can be tricky. We began by tossing the idea around of having Christmas in Disney for 2014 at the end of 2013. It has always been one of my dreams to go during that time of the year so we could see the beautiful decorations. Finally, David and I decided that we were going to do it! I could hardly contain my excitement!
January 2014: I had spent quite some time researching the various new things that have changed since my last visit to the World. This also rose my anticipation level a few notches. I can't wait to see the looks on the faces of each child and of my husband as they experience the sights, sounds and magic of Disney World. It's going to be amazing!
We also put in the request to be able to take Aaron out of the state for vacation to his Mother. She ignored our request for two weeks.
February 2014: Still more research. My last visits were fantastic and I just hope to be able to recreate just as an amazing visit this time. I was afraid that I may not like the resort I choose and couldn't nail down any one in particular. Because our party size is 8, we knew we would be looking at expensive accommodations by staying onsite. Then I introduced my husband to the Fort Wilderness Camping idea and no matter how many numbers I crunched, I couldn't think of staying anywhere else but the Fort.
We also received notification from the ex-w that Aaron would not be able to go on our trip with us. (It has been 8 years since my husband has been able to take a family vacation with his son. This was not what we wanted to hear). The ex-w changed her mind a few different times and the latest as of the end of February is that Aaron can go, HOWEVER, she refuses to sign anything stating that we have permission to take him on vacation with us out of the state. She says we are just going to have to "take her at her word". Because this seems to have failed us in the past, we promptly submitted papers to the courts informing them of the situation (text messages were copied and sent as well). We are still awaiting word on that submission. Perhaps we will check on that when we are in court for the custody hearing that is coming up. :)
March 2014: We've been waiting for March to arrive. Vacation submissions had to be turned in for my husband before March 1st. After that, we would find out if his dates are approved. Unfortunately, we didn't receive all of the days he wanted but we did receive enough days to go.
WE ARE GOING TO
WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!!
Our dates are final! We are departing from Michigan on Friday December 12th in the afternoon or early evening. This depends on whether the ex-w will allow us to have Aaron after school at 2:30 or if she will make us wait to have him at 6pm. Time will tell. I am guessing we will leave the evening of the 12th, drive straight through and arrive at Fort Wilderness somewhere around 3pm Saturday afternoon.
Our Campsite is reserved: This evening, March 14, I was able to book our Preferred site at Fort Wilderness for December 13-December 20. We had to cut our trip short due to a few of my husband's vacation days being denied. Even so, it will still be an amazing trip and full of memories that we will hold in our hearts forever. Have I mentioned that I'm pretty darn excited about this trip?
Let's Recap: David (DH), Rebecca (Me) and our crew of six children will be taking on the World! We will have Jacob (17), Aaron (16), Austin (14), Katelyn (13), Emilee (11) and Jonathon (8)
We will be staying at Fort Wilderness Campground from Saturday December 13 until Saturday December 20, 2014.
Next up -- More Planning!!
