So how did this June trip come to be??
Well I have already left plenty of hints and clues and basically told you all flat out that it is due to my daughters tumbling competition.
DD takes tumbling and is on the competitive tumbling team. We found out last October that Nationals will be held in Daytona Beach Florida.

Which immediately got me thinking of you know where! Yep thats right good ole WDW. Well then enter Mr. Rain on my Parade, DH! "I think that we should wait and see if she actually qualifies for nationals before we decide to go back to Forida"

Hello, doesn't he remember anything from last year,
I need more planing time!!! The bad part of all of this scenario is that DD could place first at every competition from now until state championships, fall on her butt and there goes her chance for nationals. It's not a cumulative thing to be able to go, state championship is you one shot to go. Now seriously all you WDW addicted peeps, do you really want to plan a trip in like 6 weeks?? No half the fun is in the planning!!
So I work on DH to get him to come around to my way of thinking...you know away from the dark side! Other families on team get to talking about plans too. Should we wait, should we just go for it, should we make plans and cancel if child doesn't make it ????
We are over at our wonderful friends house for dinner one night and talk turned to Nationals and what were they planning to do. Well me and my dear friend Jana both are on the same page of lets just go for it!! They pretty much already know they will qualify for nationals with at least one of their kids, because their 11 year old boy rarely has enough competition to fill the 10 national level slots. Then talk turns to wouldn't it be fun to go to WDW together??
WHY YES IT WOULD!!!
Over the next few weeks DH comes around more and more and we decide to go for it. A trip to WDW before Nationals! WOOOHOOOOO!
Talk to our friends more and more to make sure we would be compatible for travelling together. Before we knew them they had also been to WDW when their youngest daughter was still a baby. She stayed home with grandparents and they took their boys to WDW for a week. Loved it staying on site at one of the Allstars. They had used the Ultimate Guide to plan their trip and also were firm believers in Park openings/afternoon breaks/back to parks. They also had the same type of eating style as us, one table service, one counter service and grab and go type breakfasts

I also clued her into Tour Guide Mike after raving so much on how we loved it last year, so she promptly signed up for TGM as well. We poured over calendars, ironing out dates. They wanted to spend some time at the beach as well. Cued us into the Clearwater area and all it had to offer, DH defiently wanted to do part of this as a beach vacation and honestly so did I. We have never been to the beach!
So it was soon time to set it all in stone.
Our trip would be from 6/14-6/26.
Now it was where would we be staying. Jana's brother has a timeshare near Disney, he offered to let them use that. We decided to stay at Port of Orleans Riverside. It looked so beautiful and relaxing. Not that we didn't like POP, but I thought the peaceful inducing look of this resort would be great for DH. jana wanted to stay onsite, but comeon, a free timeshare condo...there is no way you can pass that up! So they will be staying at Orange Lake Country Club and Resort. I checked this palce out online, basically it butts up to Animal Kingdom, and omg this place is sooo nice! I am actually a bit jealous! It is gorgeous and has all kinds of activities!
http://www.orangelake.com/tour_our_resort/home.html
So we got everyone booked where we were going to be staying.
How will we get there?? Well they knew they would definetly drive. With 6 people in their clan, it was much more economical for them to drive. For us it was more of a toss up since there is only 3 of us. But with the additional beach time, the possibility of also needing to go to Daytona we didn't want airfare plus the cost of car rental so we decided to drive as well.

And if DH can avoid those buses sometimes, we know he's all about that!!
So who all is going on this trip anyway?? Well let me remind you!

ME! Tiffany, you can call me Tif! Proud mommy to Mackenzie! Sometimes proud wife of DH Tim (haha) ER nurse, Addicted to WDW who breaksdown at Fantasmmic and releases her frustrations by dunking DH and tossing her DD in the pool fully clothed

DH Tim! You know the type, not loving WDW as much as me, but he is a great and loving Daddy and spoils our daughter sensless. Hardworker, give you the shirt off his back type of guy. Kids flock to him for some reason, I think because he is the biggest kid of all!

DD Mackenzie (7) Spunky is a good term for her, moods can change like the wind. The one I wish was a princess but honestly she is more

Wants to be a racecar driver when she grows up if that gives you any clues about this girls personality!
And now to our Friends who will be accompanying us!

Jana~ She is like the ultimate Mom, can whip up yummy brownies, Disney cakes and Mickey shirts..all out of water, duct tape and safety pins ala Magyver...know the perfect games or crafts to keep kids entertained, seemingly endless patience, and a nurse too!

Paul~ DH to Jana, pretends to be less than enthusiastic about me and Jana's WDW planning but he's getting excited I can tell. Plan to get him and Tim matching "Grumpy" shirts with Grumpy and Grumpier on the back. We'll see who gets which one!!

Michael (16) and can I say newly turned 16~~umm I think he has already been in 2 or 3 minor accidents

and he may do part of the driving on our trip! I don't really know him well, he lives with his Mom in Missouri, but every time I have met him he has always been a nice kid. And if I was 16 again I would feel comfortable saying he is super cute.

Andrew (11 in a few days) Smart as heck, ADD but does well on his meds but it is noticeable in the evening times, getting the Hidden Mickey book for his b-day, doesn't want to ride Pirates or Coasters!!(now the coasters I can understand, at least I will have someone to wait with me!)

Bryce (8) a great kid, wonderful big brother to his younger sister, and according to Mackenzie, he screams like a girl. I don't want to know what level of harassment she was doing to him to find that out! Pretty unsure of the coasters too, but I think he may be more daring than we think.

Kaylee (almost 5) definetly the princess type, wants to ride everything possible, so excited to meet Cinderella and the other princesses. A real fashion diva!
Ok so there you have it! Our cast of characters! More to come so be on the look out!