Monday, July 29, 2013

Our Disney Vacation Part 1

 About 18 months ago a group of us who adopted from Russia talked about going on vacation together. The dream of getting as many families together on vacation was born. Where do you go when you have a bunch of children...Disney World of course. I decision on  a meet and greet at Walt Disney World was decided and then a Disney cruise. Gerard and I talked about it and thought that it was a doable vacation for us. So we saved, and saved and saved some more.

Last August we really started the push to save that included Anna. Every week we each added money in to an envelope. For us watching that money grow was exciting and a good teaching moment for Anna. We will continue to save like this with Anna for other big expenses. I highly recommend doing this with your children.

Me-Me and Greg decided to join us on this trip with Hans for his first trip to Disney. So the five of us traveled done last Friday (Gerard joined us after work). Packing for this trip was fun and taxing all at the same time. Anna actually packed an entire suitcase full of horses.


When it was all said and done I was able to get all our things into one suitcase and three carry on bags. For the first two days we enjoyed the beautiful pool at the Wilderness Lodge. There we met up with a bunch of fellow Russian families. Me-Me, Greg, Hans, Anna and I decided to eat at 1900 Park Fare for dinner. This was Hans' first time seeing the characters. This was the perfect start to a wonderful vacation.







 
Friday night about 190 of us converged on Mickey's Backyard BBQ. This was our first time at this dinner event. Man was it crazy and a ton of fun. Arriving early for us was the key. We were all able to sit together. The kids danced all night long. Mickey and his friends came in and out. The show was fantastic. Adrienne and I were finally able to meet up. It seems strange that this is the first time that she has met Gerard and Anna.
 





 
 
What I did not realize is at Fort Wilderness you are able to see and ride Cinderella's horses. Next time we will make a point to ride them. There just did not seem to be enough time.
 
 
 
 


We needed to get up early on Sunday to head out to the cruise. We were lucky to be able to charter a private bus so a large group was able to drive to the cruise together. Boarding the ship was an awesome feeling. Somehow it did not feel real until I was on board. We were able to get on board very early. We were able to eat lunch early and spend some time in the pool before dinner.
 
 
September 2010
 

 
July 2013
 
 
Hans and Greg

 
 
 
This is were I will end this really long post...

2 comments:

www.adventureswithaidan.org said...

Sounds like you all had a great time. Can't wait to hear more about it!

Kelly Gutierrez said...

I’m sure the extra horses came in handy eventually. Haha!

Did you guys book as a group? Because if you’re planning to go as a big group, chances are that there are promos you could avail of for discounts or more access to different areas of Disney World. That being said, I hope you guys had fun in your trip to Disney! Anna looks like she certainly did. :)