Before I say "I do", there's this little thing called Disney. . .

[littleaussie]

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my trip report! I've decided to document this trip with the hopes of your input on the whole situation. It will be an interesting ride, to say the least, so pull up a seat and let's get started!

First of all, I have to give you some background about previous trips. I am a divorced 35 yr old from Minnesota. While I was married, my husband was quite compliant with my wishes to visit Disney at every opportunity. We did 3 or 4 trips while married, whenever we visited the USA (he is an Aussie and I lived there for 9 years before the divorce).

Fast forward to 2007, and I was traded in for a younger model, lol. For some odd reason, only known to the Disney gods, I invited the X to take the 15 day Disney Westbound Panama canal cruise in May 2008 with us. I thought we could have some sort of post-divorce family trip but it ended up solidifying our reasons for divorce in the first place! Try sharing an inside stateroom with your X and your 2 girls for 15 days and you will understand. Luckily my parents had a balcony stateroom where I would flee to at any given moment.

2009 heralded and I planned a Disney World trip for Dec. I was dating someone at the time and it was pretty serious so I invited him on our vacation and told him exactly what it was going to entail, i.e. - these were the things I wanted to see and do on my trip. My parents met us there and we proceeded to have another horrible vacation. I am sure at this stage, my parents are wondering if I turn into someone completely different at Disney and cause numerous fights with the BF/Ex/whoever. Our relationship did not survive much past this trip to the World, but that was ok with me.

So now, I needed to plan a vacation for 2010, with the arguement that the 2009 trip was ruined. It didn't happen in 2010 but I am happy to say we are leaving this Saturday for another trip.

So what is the big deal? Well I have someone new in my life. We are talking about getting married soon. But I need to know if we can get along at Disney before I walk down the aisle! I am hoping, you, my captivated readers, will follow me on this journey and offer your opinion at the end.

So with that very long history, here is the starting lineup for Saturday's trip:

Me - Jolene - 35 yr old divorced tech support nerd/dance teacher from NW Minnesota

B - DD8 - Been to the World 4 times and on 2 Disney cruises, an old pro and one I can count on for backup

K - DD5 - Been to the World 2 times and on 2 Disney cruises. Loves the roller coasters and the scary stuff.

My BF - 35 yr old who owns his own business and has never been on a real vacation before. It will be interesting to see how he takes this time off.

Son#1 - 11 yrs old, I think he has been to Disney World once that I know of.

Son#2 - 9 yrs old, goes to the same school as my DD8 and they are good friends.

Daughter#1 - will turn 3 on the 31st while we are gone!

So you may think we are crazy taking 5 kids to Disney. I have not spent much time with Son#2 or his daughter. I see it as a good time to bond with everyone together and no outside influences (you know those in-laws and such).

Here's a pic of my girls and me:

 

[cally533]

 

[littleaussie]

So here we are, 2 days out. This was sort of a last minute decision because of, well, technical difficulties shall we say.

My research on a place to stay led me to Windsor Hills. I signed up for the obligatory email offers from the whrent website and waded through them. There were tons of last minute specials and I decided to book a 3 bedroom townhouse w/ spash pool for a week (Sat to Sat).

Flights didn't have quite as good of a last minute deal. My home airports of GFK and FAR were almost $500 so we bit the bullet and are flying out of MSP on Sat. afternoon. No hotel stay, parking with friends, just the gas and having to put up with 5 kids in the Suburban for 4.5 hours or so.

The weather forecast does not look good We are expecting an Alberta clipper tomorrow with blowing snow. I live on a farm, so it is possible the yard will be blocked on Saturday morning! Backup plans for this are in the works.

Another last minute special on renting a minivan for a week with Alamo! Rates have been dropping for 3 weeks like crazy so I am kept busy re-booking.

To be continued. . .