GrandCalifornian
Can't Wait To Go Back
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2012
- Messages
- 3,809
Hello everybody! After right at a year away from WDW, we have our eleventh family trip to the world planned and we'll be back in 125 days!
We have had the wildest year on record and we are so much looking forward to this trip.
In our time away from Disney in the last year we made a couple of fun trips, one to Oahu where we visited Aulani, and one to southern Utah. We even did trip reports for those which you can check out while patiently waiting for our new one.
Yeah, we knew it might be a bit before we got to go back to WDW, but now it is booked and we are looking forward to returning to our beloved Wilderness Lodge.
We've been keeping busy with work as well during the last year, which I'm sure we'll mention, but first let's get started with introductions for anyone who might be new here, and to bring everyone up to speed with who we are.
For this trip we’re going to be unsupervised! Only the four of us are going.
I'm Paul, a Disney Dad and now 43 year old elevator mechanic, car guy, engineer, and taker of way too many pictures.
My favorite park is Epcot, my favorite Disney character is Mater, and my favorite place anywhere is Wilderness Lodge. (Although I do have a new found and unexpected fondness for Hawaii...)
It’s true after years of trying to convince him to go to Hawaii now HE wants to plan a trip to go back. I’m Melissa, mom to our two kiddos, four dogs, seven chickens and a rabbit.
(We added to the crazy this year), at least the chickens are earning their keep now. This lady is looking forward to some good Disney time and I can’t wait to sit on a bench in the Magic Kingdom and watch the world go by.
Yes, we have quite the cast of characters at home, but they keep life interesting. For work, we both now work for the elevator business that Melissa's grandparents started in 1984. We maintain and repair elevators all over Southern California, but that means we have a little bit harder time taking long vacations away from the business.
Because of that, this trip will be only 5 nights, but we are going to make the most of it.
This is Allison, the “She” in all of our report titles.
The world used to revolve around her but it hasn’t in a while even though she wishes it did. We cannot believe she’s officially a teenager now and in MIDDLE SCHOOL! Friends, time just keeps marching on and she just keeps growing up.
Since Allie is busy with doing well in Middle School, she was less enthusiastic about taking a week off away from class, so we decided to go to WDW in June after school is out for the year. Like everyone else, we will be there after school is out. This isn't a totally new time of year for us to visit though, since our first WDW trip together was in June for our honeymoon. We'll get to celebrate our 16th anniversary there during this trip.
It’s exciting to be there over our anniversary! It’s going to be hot, and crowded but I guarantee we’ll be the only ones in our room so at least there’s that. We’re pretty good at going with the flow anyway.
This guy is Marshall! He’s seven now and in first grade.
He is full of energy and curiosity about the world. He loves documentaries and a good podcast. We are homeschooling him and he’s really enjoying our current unit on Ancient Egypt. He’s looking forward to checking out the Lego store and riding all of the transportation vehicles Disney has to offer.
Marshall is growing up so fast, and is a neat little buddy. He loves anything that goes, and especially making things that go with Legos.
And that’s it guys, it’s just us.
For the first time in a LONG time.
Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Jim, my parents who have joined us in the past were just at WDW for their 50th anniversary in December.
They will be followng along from home this time.
Jon and Brandy, our good friends who have joined us for the most recent trips, are actually in WDW right now on an 8 day trip.
They prefer the cooler weather and lower crowd levels, and we may agree after this trip, but we are going to give it a shot.
We are jealous that they are there for the Festival of the Arts. They’ve been sending pictures though. Allie and I are really looking forward to introducing the boys to the Flower and Garden Festival though. The flowers and the topiaries are so pretty and we really enjoyed it during our May girls trip a couple of years ago.
It will be a new festival for us!
I'm sure we'll still find plenty of food and art though too.
I’m sure we’ll find plenty of fun things to see and do, and bring home.
But before all that, we've got some planning to share and now a fresh new trip report to do it in. We hope you enjoy planning along with us for a few months, leading up to another epic trip report once we get back.
We have had the wildest year on record and we are so much looking forward to this trip.
In our time away from Disney in the last year we made a couple of fun trips, one to Oahu where we visited Aulani, and one to southern Utah. We even did trip reports for those which you can check out while patiently waiting for our new one.
Yeah, we knew it might be a bit before we got to go back to WDW, but now it is booked and we are looking forward to returning to our beloved Wilderness Lodge.

We've been keeping busy with work as well during the last year, which I'm sure we'll mention, but first let's get started with introductions for anyone who might be new here, and to bring everyone up to speed with who we are.
For this trip we’re going to be unsupervised! Only the four of us are going.
I'm Paul, a Disney Dad and now 43 year old elevator mechanic, car guy, engineer, and taker of way too many pictures.

My favorite park is Epcot, my favorite Disney character is Mater, and my favorite place anywhere is Wilderness Lodge. (Although I do have a new found and unexpected fondness for Hawaii...)
It’s true after years of trying to convince him to go to Hawaii now HE wants to plan a trip to go back. I’m Melissa, mom to our two kiddos, four dogs, seven chickens and a rabbit.

(We added to the crazy this year), at least the chickens are earning their keep now. This lady is looking forward to some good Disney time and I can’t wait to sit on a bench in the Magic Kingdom and watch the world go by.
Yes, we have quite the cast of characters at home, but they keep life interesting. For work, we both now work for the elevator business that Melissa's grandparents started in 1984. We maintain and repair elevators all over Southern California, but that means we have a little bit harder time taking long vacations away from the business.

Because of that, this trip will be only 5 nights, but we are going to make the most of it.
This is Allison, the “She” in all of our report titles.

The world used to revolve around her but it hasn’t in a while even though she wishes it did. We cannot believe she’s officially a teenager now and in MIDDLE SCHOOL! Friends, time just keeps marching on and she just keeps growing up.
Since Allie is busy with doing well in Middle School, she was less enthusiastic about taking a week off away from class, so we decided to go to WDW in June after school is out for the year. Like everyone else, we will be there after school is out. This isn't a totally new time of year for us to visit though, since our first WDW trip together was in June for our honeymoon. We'll get to celebrate our 16th anniversary there during this trip.
It’s exciting to be there over our anniversary! It’s going to be hot, and crowded but I guarantee we’ll be the only ones in our room so at least there’s that. We’re pretty good at going with the flow anyway.
This guy is Marshall! He’s seven now and in first grade.

He is full of energy and curiosity about the world. He loves documentaries and a good podcast. We are homeschooling him and he’s really enjoying our current unit on Ancient Egypt. He’s looking forward to checking out the Lego store and riding all of the transportation vehicles Disney has to offer.
Marshall is growing up so fast, and is a neat little buddy. He loves anything that goes, and especially making things that go with Legos.
And that’s it guys, it’s just us.
For the first time in a LONG time.
Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Jim, my parents who have joined us in the past were just at WDW for their 50th anniversary in December.

They will be followng along from home this time.
Jon and Brandy, our good friends who have joined us for the most recent trips, are actually in WDW right now on an 8 day trip.

They prefer the cooler weather and lower crowd levels, and we may agree after this trip, but we are going to give it a shot.
We are jealous that they are there for the Festival of the Arts. They’ve been sending pictures though. Allie and I are really looking forward to introducing the boys to the Flower and Garden Festival though. The flowers and the topiaries are so pretty and we really enjoyed it during our May girls trip a couple of years ago.


It will be a new festival for us!

I'm sure we'll still find plenty of food and art though too.
I’m sure we’ll find plenty of fun things to see and do, and bring home.
But before all that, we've got some planning to share and now a fresh new trip report to do it in. We hope you enjoy planning along with us for a few months, leading up to another epic trip report once we get back.
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