The Big Family Trip to Celebrate Poppa's 70th Birthday

[Jake & Crew]

Greetings! I feel like a blast from the past....it has been 10 years since our first family trip and since my first ( and only completed Trip Report). In case you were not on Disboards back in the day here and if you are interested in back story here is that first TR I will be posting it in my signature soon.

I am determined to not only start but to finish this Trip Report! Recently my now fifteen year old daughter read that first TR and I realized what a treasure it is for the family. Since this will be one, if not the most, meaningful family trips I want to make sure I have written down the stories for my family to have. I also have extreme Irish Catholic guilt that I did not complete any TRs since the first one so this one will be completed no matter how long it takes. Finally, I really enjoyed the experience of sharing my TR last time and was able to meet some great DisFriends along the way so I am excited to share this experience with you.

So as not to get overwhelmed and to make sure I stay current and keep the story straight I am starting with a Pre-Trip Report and starting it on this special day....today is my dad’s 70th birthday and that is what the three generations of 19 crazy, stubborn, fun loving ( some) family members will be celebrating this summer on our Big Family Trip of a Lifetime!

I am saving this post for future chapter links so I invite you to start this journey with me in my next post.

 

[Jake & Crew]

Chapter 1: The How (as in How Did the Idea for this Trip Happen)

Welcome I am so happy you are coming along for this crazy ride!

I guess the best place to start is the how and who and then we can circle back to the where, when and most fun...the what!

As told in my first trip report in 2006 my husband and I took our then 3 year old and 5 year old daughters on what we told ourselves would be the trip of a lifetime. We had had some very difficult times as I had been diagnosed with cancer in the fall and had life saving (and life changing) surgery that took months of recovery and the future was still far from certain. ( But when is it ever certain?)

Jim and I planned a trip to Disney followed by a Disney cruise. While it had many ups and a few downs, overall it was wonderful! If you would like to read about it I will be copying it into my signature once I figure out how ( having trouble even with the FAQ instructions so will try fresh tomorrow). Or you can find it under my name….the title is Living Large….the (First) Family Trip of a Lifetime.

Hearing about our trip on our return my parents...well let’s just say it .....my mother....decided we all ( her four kids, their better halves, and the then 4.5 grandkids ~ yes my brave SIL went on that trip 7 months pregnant while she had two toddlers) should go to Disney in 2007 to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday. We went. To escape the family, I mean to explore the possibility of future trips Jim and I went on the DVC tour during that trip. When we came home we bought shares in SSR and promised ourselves this meant no matter how bad times were we would take our two daughters on a family trip to Disney every other year. And we did. In 2008 we took Jim’s parents as they had never been and we had soon to expire bonus points from when we bought. In 2010 and 2012 just the four of us had two terriffic trips together. While we had wonderful trips I often thought it would be fun to bring my parents one time like we brought Jim’s.

In 2014 we invited my parents and they were happy to accept the offer. This was their first DVC trip. We planned on doing a split stay at BWV/BLT. We always did a split stay and always tried to make one of those a new resort for us. Since we did not ask my parents until March and were going in August we had a little trouble securing a 2BR for a consecutive stay but I was able to book it with a quick 2 night reservation in the middle at BCV. So while it was the first DVC trip for my parents they stayed at three resorts... BWV/BCV/BLT. By the time we checked into BLT my mom’s wheels were turning. Well ,they were turning before that but that is when they went into overdrive. She had been making comments about coming sometime with the whole family and we had nice “wouldn’t it be nice” conversations along the way. On our second day at BLT we had been to the MK, then a late breakfast at Chef Mickey’s and Mom was beaming as she was hugging the characters, getting her picture taken with Minnie. As we had been to Disney a few times growing up, and she and Dad had been a few more times with my siblings when I was in and post-college, she and Dad had been without kids and we had that 60th birthday celebration as a whole family a few years back this was not her first character interaction....and she was intense and giddy. My radar was up. After the late breakfast the schedule was break time...kids pool, adults chill .... and as we were leaving Chef Mickey’s Mom said to Dad “why don’t we take that ride on the monorail now.”

It was like in a movie.... all the scenes from the past week came flashing back to me....the conversations my mom had about siblings, grandkids, past trips, future trips. The questions she had about DVC and TIW. The rare compliments she gave me of what a great trip I planned and the usual compliments buried in a sentence that had you saying to yourself, aw she is complimenting me as she says “We thought you were crazy when you bought into the DVC but now we wish we had been as smart.”

I grasped out for my husband as he headed out of the restaurant and stood there with my mouth in a full drop as obliviously bid my monorail bound parents adieu.

“ Do you know where they are going?” I managed to get out as my jaw was on the floor and my head was spinning.

“For a ride on the monorail,” he matter-of-factly replied in a tone that said “ see I have been paying attention, aren’t you proud of me.”

“They are not riding the monorail! They are taking the monorail to go look at a DVC membership at the Grand Floridian.”

Now he was the one with dropped jaw and I left him standing there as I went to catch up with my daughters.

A while later when we were back in the room my parents returned and said they would be a little while longer as they had an appointment at the DVC center at SSR. They had been ( surprise, surprise) at the GF and while there they happened across the villas and went to the open house. They didn’t want to hold us up so they would meet up with us in the MK. They would call when they arrived at the gate. As we parted ways I was in full panic mode. I told the kids we were taking the monorail to the MK via the GF. As we walked through BLT and the Contemporary I was peppering my husband with thoughts that randomly came up. What were they doing? My siblings will kill me if we come home and I let Mom and Dad get caught up in something that all of them were so unsure of and on it went. How could they buy a 30 year contract when they were almost 70? My siblings were going to kill me. Every now and then Jim (my DH who is an only child) replied by pointing out that my parents were adults who made their own decisions and it was not my concern/responsibility nor was it my that of my siblings. This is when I told him their intent would be to go on a big trip with all of us.

Now he was the one with the spinning head as I am sure he was flashing back seven years to when a big trip was 14 not 19 of us and it seemed like we were a party of 40.

We jumped off the monorail at the GF and toured the villa. By the middle of the tour I could not stay contained and I told the guide that we were there because my parents had just been through and we wanted to see what they had seen. He was very nice and told us he discussed getting a small contract and a few other details.

Very impressed with the GF Villas, but still very concerned where my parents were now in the process, we continued to the MK with the girls to get back to our plans for the day. My parents, with a skip in their steps, and a huge grin on Mom’s face caught up to us and she excitedly informed the kids of the gold she struck with the special FPs from her tour. Happily for me she informed me that they had not bought but wanted to but wanted to discuss with us first. That night we went over the concerns we had to which they came back with their intent was to do one big trip with ALL now 19 of us in two years ~ for Dad’s 70th birthday. Mom’s reasoning was they had already celebrated one of her big birthdays. Also her next big birthday would not be until 2017 and by then the oldest grandchild would be going into senior year of high school and it would be harder and harder to get all the schedules lined up. After that they wanted the shares to rotate so the families (read grandkids) could experience Disney for years even after they were gone. I agreed to go with them the next day for the purchase as long as they had heard my concerns and promised to tell my siblings this was their doing not mine.

And that is how this trip has come to be the 2016 Big Family Trip to Celebrate Poppa’s 70th Birthday.

Now that the how is done, time for the who. With 19 characters we will need the who to be part two...stay tuned.

Author’s note: In the 10 years since I created my first TR the technology has changed but I have not ...at least not in the technological skills category. I will do my best to put in photos etcetera but will be a little light on this until my skills get sharpened. Also since this trip is not just my immediate family but my extended family I am not sure how many photos will be included, that is up to those I write about. Most likely more photos will be in the TR than the Pre-TR so I hope the writing paints the picture well enough!

 

[Jake & Crew]

Chapter 2 ~ The Who (Part 1)


Time to introduce the Who’s in Who-ville!


Guess it best to start with me! My name is Kate and as of today I am 47. I am the Disney fanatic of my family. My first trip to WDW was in 1974 with my grandmother, great aunt, their friend and their friend’s granddaughter who was also 5 at the time. This trip will be my 11th and many relatives/friends do not understand why I would keep going if we have already been. Which is why I love the Disboards....no need to explain multi-Disney trips....in fact I go much less than many others here. I love the planning as much as the trip itself and go into a non-Disney funk when we return from a trip and our next one is two years off. So much of a funk I usually then stay off Disboards until it is time to plan the next one. That will not happen this time as I will be writing the TR when we return. Also the way so much keeps a whole year off the boards is not that feasible as it once was....lots of new things to learn these days.


OK, I know by now you are saying, “Well that is nice Kate but all stuff in your signature....really who are you and what makes you tick?”


Family is what makes me tick. And sometimes ticks me off....I do have quite the Irish temper. I have been married for almost 18 years and we have two beautiful, smart, kind and sassy teenage daughters. We have had quite a few obstacles which have tried us on many levels.....both my husband and I are cancer survivors and he was unemployed three times starting in 2001 when his industry took many hits (401Ks). We had the worst Irish luck during these times and made some bad financial choices so today while we are healthy and have grown in so many ways we are still not where we should be financially at this point in our lives. I have worked many part time jobs to put together a schedule that allows me to taxi the girls around, run the house, and meet some of our financial goals. We live in Rhode Island but almost all of our family is in Massachusetts. As we are three streets over the border we are not that far from MA. My main job is as a merchandiser for a large company. This job is full time from September to Christmas and three days a week the rest of the year. I was balancing it with a a home based administrator position but that position was just eliminated so my plan to find full time hours with my current employer has moved up from a summer project to a now project. I also do lots of volunteer work for schools and the church. I am one of those busy, sometimes too busy, moms who does better keeping everything in motion than taking a break because it might all fall down. Our Disney trips are the one place I shut everything else out and just concentrate on us and fun. It is why we made the promise to ourselves when we bought DVC that we would take this trip every two years. Also by saving every week for it between trips (automatically withdraw a small amount and put it in a savings account each week) and using our points we are able to make the trip without crumbling the whole house of financial cards. I also am the oldest of four kids....all of whom will be on this trip!


Jim (48) my DH of 17 plus years. Jim is the opposite of me in many ways. He is calm, cool, and collected. And clueless when it comes to planning details....whether they are the day to day kind or the big trip kind. Which is why he probably married me. and why he is happy to have me do all the planning for our trips, which makes me happy. Opposites attract. Jim’s first trip was with me when we were dating. I just realized that trip was in 1996 so that makes it 20 years ago! Imagine my surprise as I was dating this young man that he and his family had never been to Disney! I grew up in the typical, American Disney home. We did not go as often as my kids have but we went several times and created wonderful memories together. Jim grew up as only child. His father did not like to fly and his mom was from Italy and saw no need to go to an American amusement park in Florida. I think his parents, in a nice way, brainwashed him that it was not a place he would like and so when I suggested we go he was not at all interested. Well I convinced him, he went and he loved it. Now it is one of his favorite places. Jim works for a large 401k company but he works from home. He is tied down to his desk and is on his phone all day with clients so he is very, very happy when we go away. He loves my family and it is his family as much as mine at this point. That said the only child is still in there and too much together time is not his idea of a vacation....we will see how this goes.


As I introduce the rest of the cast I will be using pen names for them as I hope to put pictures on this TR and I am from the cautionary days of not putting too much information on the internet. Feel this is especially true as there are kids involved. I am using the character names each person has on MDE.


DD #1 ~ Tinkerbell(15) is all about Disney! She is even more of a fan than I am and is a little obsessed with all things Disney ( and very obsessed with Dancing With the Stars). She is an excellent student who can be too serious and does have to keep her anxieties in check. She is a dancer, a tennis player and a very crafty, creative kid. She is designing shirts for all the grandkids and her grandfather for this trip. She will be helping me create the magic for sure! Tink is also the oldest grandkid and will be 16 when we go.


DD# 2 ~Ariel (13) loves Disney ....when we are there. She is not a patient person and has no interest in planning trips as they are too far away. She loves her Disney trips but like her Dad is happy to have it all planned for her. She is a kind hearted, compassionate girl who is great with people and animals. She is no where near as shy or anxious as her sister and she likes to push the envelope in life...especially with her parents. She has an exciting few months coming up as she is graduating the school she has been at since 3rd grade and is thrilled to just have been admitted to her firat choice high school. Which is not the one her sister goes to. Ariel is all about her own path. She dances, plays volleyball and tennis and loves to swim....even in the freezing cold Atlantic she swims for hours, or until she is shivering. Ariel is the second oldest grandkid and will 14 when we go this summer.


Mom/Grandma (69). I am not going to spend too much time introducing Grandma as she will undoubtedly have lots of time in the TR so you will feel as if you know her personally by the end. She loves all of us very much but is not the kind of mom to tell you this. You know it by all the things she does for you, though often they are the things she thinks you need/want and may not the same things you think you need/want. She can talk, and talk, and talk. So it will be great she has so many of us to talk to on this trip, we will be taking turns for sure. She and Dad are not having quite the retirement she planned so this trip means the world to her as it is a dream of hers to have us all on it. Also my parents have been losing lots of friends these past few years so that has made this trip an even more pressing one for her.

Dad/Poppa (70). Dad is the official reason we are taking this trip together. We are celebrating his 70th birthday but also we are celebrating him. He has had some health issues in recent years starting with a car accident in which the car was totaled and he was lucky to be alive. He also has had some tough personal losses such as the passing of his best friend. All of these things have taken a toll on him. We are hoping this trip brings back some of the sparkle and spunk that he has been famous for over the years. As my sister had written on his Disney Castle Birthday “ Making our dreams come true for years” sums up my dad so we are all excited to have the turn to make his dream come true by being together in one his favorite places on earth.


Siblings and their families up in the next post:

 

[Jake & Crew]

Chapter 2 - The Who ( part 2)


DB Donald (42). My brother is a driven, ambitious man who dives into whatever he is doing with incredible enthusiasm. While is very focused in business (he runs a small media company he started out of college) he is not always focused on conversation with the family....you need to repeat often. He will be the first one out the door each day. Donald went to college in Chicago and instead of returning to the east coast he stayed in Chicago. Now he and his family live outside Chicago but we do see them several times a year. They did purchase a beach home near my parents a couple of years ago so now when they come out they stay longer than they used to. Donald will turn 43 on the trip, so even though it is Dad’s Birthday Trip we will be sure to celebrate my brother’s as well.


DSIL Daisy (47 by the trip). Did you notice my SIL is my age? When my brother married an “older” woman the same age as me it gave me a lifetime pass from him commenting on my age. Like my husband Disney was not a trip destination of my SIL’s family as she was growing up. Her mom is from Germany and her family trips were to Europe or Texas where her grandparents lived. My SIL’s parents are very generous and they take their kids and grandkids on incredible trips. This year is an African safari. My nieces have been to Germany, Switzerland, the Virgin Islands, to name a few places. They also ski several times a year in Colorado. Disney is not on their mom’s family’s radar though so they are very excited about this trip with their dad’s family.


Donald and Daisy are very happy to have me do all the planning for them therefore so far they have been very easy “clients”. They have three DDs Cinderella (12), Belle (11 this summer) and Rapunzel ( 9 this summer). My girls are excited to spend some teen time with Ella and Belle on their own as they explore MK together. I am super excited to watch them enjoy this trip....may not be an African Safari but I know they will have blast. Belle and Ella went on the last big family trip but they were only 2 and 3 so this is all new for them.



DSis Merida (37). While I have not seen Brave their were not many “girl” characters left on MDE so this sister became Merida. I will see the movie and see if I have to change the name. Merida is the most like me and the least like me if you know what I mean. We get along great, or we don’t get along at all, and we can swing back and forth without warning. She lives 5 miles from me so we do have lots of familiarity in our regular lives in both places and people.


DBil Buzz ( Lightyear) (39) Temporarily forgetting his age but it will come to me. Buzz had been working in a job that had him traveling 90% of the time and he just started one where he travels 10%. He is a hard worker during the week and his idea of R & R is not necessarily spending all of his weekend with his wife’s family. He also is a guy who needs down time, not go go go...though maybe now that his new job is less travel this might change. He is not a planner but I know my sister will be good at finding a few activities they can do without all of us and that should give him a nice break.


Merida and Buzz have a son ( the only grandson my parents have!) Lightning McQueen (will be 8 this summer) and they have a daughter Anna (will be 6 this summer). LM and Anna are VERY excited about this trip. They also have been doing a great job keeping it a surprise from their younger cousins.


DSis Mrs. Incredible (aka Helen Parr) (35). My sister is without a doubt Daddy’s Girl and for that reason she has signed up for the trip. As her kids are the youngest though she is very apprehensive. She is convinced this may be too much for her family and while she has rallied nicely, I think she still has lots of fears about how hard it will be. She is a teacher and summer is usually her down time..as much as you can have down time with little ones but this summer is definitely one that is exciting and apprehensive for her. Helen and her family live only 20 minutes from us. So while we see them a good deal it is not an every week thing as our kids are on opposite schedules. She and I do talk frequently though.


DBil Mr. Incredible (aka Bob Parr) (35). As anxious as my sister is my DBIL is calm as a cucumber. He is not at all afraid of what this trip will be like with his kids....though he has done the Big Family Trip before and at that time said never again so his fears might be more in-law related. He did sign up though.....so that is good! Bob is a bartender so he has very good people skills and will be a definite asset to keeping the peace. He also is very dedicated to working out so I know his escape will be the gym.


My sister and brother-in-law have two daughters, neither know about the trip as they think it is too far away for the older one to handle. At this point it has become a subset plot on how long we can keep the surprise from Elsa (5) and Aurora ( who will be 3 this summer). Since we have kept it this long the goal is to see if we can keep it until travel day.


And there you have it all the Who’s in Who-ville! From 70-3, three generations of fun! Next two questions answered will be the where and when.