gw_lit
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2003
- Messages
- 924
First, a little background on how our trip came about
my parents live in Houston, my brother and his family live in Florida, and my family and I live in Little Rock. Unfortunately, due to jobs and travel distance, we dont all get together too often
maybe every other year at either Thanksgiving or Christmas.
So, back about a year ago, my parents came up with this grand scheme to do an extended family vacation. Their thought was that we would rent a chalet in the Smokies and spend a week there at the end of July singing Kumbaya and spending quality family time together and who knows what else. My Dad is getting ready to retire, so my parents wanted to help us all pay for the trip since his regular source of income from his job would be stopping soon, and theyd be on a fixed retirement income shortly. Plus, they knew it would ease the financial burden on all of us with kids. My parents volunteered to pay for the rental, plus some money for everyone to do activities. We thought it was a very generous offer.
They picked the Smokies because we had vacationed there as a family many moons ago and thought it was fairly centrally located to all of us. It would be about a 9 hour drive for us from Little Rock; about 10 hours from my brother and family in Florida; and about 16 hours from my parents in Houston. They were willing to drive farther since they have more free time on their hands and wouldnt mind taking the time to drive there.
So, we start discussing this among our families. We were game, we like the Smokies and our boys have never been there and thought it was a cool idea. (Actually, our oldest was in utero there, but Im guessing he doesnt remember any of the trip.) My brother and his family kept hemming and hawing about going to the Smokies. First, they were worried there wouldnt be anything for the kids to do there. Second, they couldnt possibly make the drive there it was just too long for their 9 and 4 year olds to be in the car. Hello? (Translation their Mom couldnt stand being in the car with them for that long.) A little about my DSIL she is an anal-retentive, overbearing control freak that is always right no matter what. She constantly rags on her kids. Needless to say, we dont get along very well and I get along with EVERYBODY! It really bothers me that I dont like being around my DSIL, after all, I love my brother dearly but his wife enough said.
So my brothers family suggests we either go to Tampa (3 hour drive for them, 16 hours for us, 18 hours for my parents) or Houston (brothers family would fly, we would drive 9 hours and my parents would be at their home great vacation for them, huh?) So, we counter with going to the Redneck Riviera (Destin, Gulf Shores, etc.) and renting a place on the beach. Nope, too long a 10 hour drive for bros family.
Bros family counters with everyone staying at their house in Florida (no drive for them, obviously; 18 hours for us, 20 hours for my parents). The thought of staying a week at their house was not appealing to me (or my parents) at all. So, my lovely DW suggests, hey, if were going to drive to Florida, why dont we go see the mouse? We had just gone to WDW after Memorial Day in 2008, but we were more than willing to go again. Bro and family again hesitated, DSIL is not a Disney fan. They have lived 90 minutes away from WDW for almost 10 years, and their oldest (9) was there once, and their 4 year old has never been to WDW.
Finally, after much talking and negotiating, we decided we would rent a house where all 10 of us could stay. And wed move the trip from the end of July to the end of May/early June. My parents would pay for the rental, and give each family $500 to help with tickets. At first, we were looking at flying, but the best airfare we could come up with out of Little Rock was $1,400 for the 4 of us. We could drive a little over 2 hours to Memphis and fly for right about $1,000. For those prices, we decided that wed drive. We were staying offsite at a rental so would need a rental and we really dont mind driving so drive, we did. In the immortal words of Clark W. Griswold, getting there is half of the fun!
Coming next Rainfall of Biblical proportions.
So, back about a year ago, my parents came up with this grand scheme to do an extended family vacation. Their thought was that we would rent a chalet in the Smokies and spend a week there at the end of July singing Kumbaya and spending quality family time together and who knows what else. My Dad is getting ready to retire, so my parents wanted to help us all pay for the trip since his regular source of income from his job would be stopping soon, and theyd be on a fixed retirement income shortly. Plus, they knew it would ease the financial burden on all of us with kids. My parents volunteered to pay for the rental, plus some money for everyone to do activities. We thought it was a very generous offer.
They picked the Smokies because we had vacationed there as a family many moons ago and thought it was fairly centrally located to all of us. It would be about a 9 hour drive for us from Little Rock; about 10 hours from my brother and family in Florida; and about 16 hours from my parents in Houston. They were willing to drive farther since they have more free time on their hands and wouldnt mind taking the time to drive there.
So, we start discussing this among our families. We were game, we like the Smokies and our boys have never been there and thought it was a cool idea. (Actually, our oldest was in utero there, but Im guessing he doesnt remember any of the trip.) My brother and his family kept hemming and hawing about going to the Smokies. First, they were worried there wouldnt be anything for the kids to do there. Second, they couldnt possibly make the drive there it was just too long for their 9 and 4 year olds to be in the car. Hello? (Translation their Mom couldnt stand being in the car with them for that long.) A little about my DSIL she is an anal-retentive, overbearing control freak that is always right no matter what. She constantly rags on her kids. Needless to say, we dont get along very well and I get along with EVERYBODY! It really bothers me that I dont like being around my DSIL, after all, I love my brother dearly but his wife enough said.
So my brothers family suggests we either go to Tampa (3 hour drive for them, 16 hours for us, 18 hours for my parents) or Houston (brothers family would fly, we would drive 9 hours and my parents would be at their home great vacation for them, huh?) So, we counter with going to the Redneck Riviera (Destin, Gulf Shores, etc.) and renting a place on the beach. Nope, too long a 10 hour drive for bros family.
Bros family counters with everyone staying at their house in Florida (no drive for them, obviously; 18 hours for us, 20 hours for my parents). The thought of staying a week at their house was not appealing to me (or my parents) at all. So, my lovely DW suggests, hey, if were going to drive to Florida, why dont we go see the mouse? We had just gone to WDW after Memorial Day in 2008, but we were more than willing to go again. Bro and family again hesitated, DSIL is not a Disney fan. They have lived 90 minutes away from WDW for almost 10 years, and their oldest (9) was there once, and their 4 year old has never been to WDW.
Finally, after much talking and negotiating, we decided we would rent a house where all 10 of us could stay. And wed move the trip from the end of July to the end of May/early June. My parents would pay for the rental, and give each family $500 to help with tickets. At first, we were looking at flying, but the best airfare we could come up with out of Little Rock was $1,400 for the 4 of us. We could drive a little over 2 hours to Memphis and fly for right about $1,000. For those prices, we decided that wed drive. We were staying offsite at a rental so would need a rental and we really dont mind driving so drive, we did. In the immortal words of Clark W. Griswold, getting there is half of the fun!
Coming next Rainfall of Biblical proportions.
