A "Drive-By" Trip Report! Not much time to write before we leave again :)

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

So, I'm the worst TR writer in the history of Trip reports. Not only have I waited forever to start writing this, but I don't have much time to do it because we are already going back :cool1:

I'll start with the details:

Who: ~First of all, ME! I'm a 31 year old mother with a bit of a Disney addiction.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df36b3127cceff76dc113c9e00000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
(insert picture to come later) (See, I told ya!)

~DH, a 33 year old barrel of grumpiness!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df00b3127cceff7eba77774400000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
(again with the picture to come later) (Im so proud of myself!)

~DD, a 9 year old beauty who has her moments.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df36b3127cceff77fbc05c8800000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
(really, the pictures will come) (I actually did it)

~DS, a 5 year old, fearless kid who wants nothing more than to ride Everest!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df36b3127cceff77eee41c3e00000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
(I promise the pics will come) (Promise kept!)

~Grama, I can't reveal her age but I can tell you that it took her 50 years to make it to WDW!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df36b3127cceff76e7c87cc200000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
(Lets face it, I will probably forget to add the pictures)(LIAR)

~Grampa, An oldish guy who has never been!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df36b3127cceff767c1d3cc200000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
(Really)(I'm AWESOME)

Adorable bunch huh?!?!?!?!


What: If you are asking that, you really must not know where you are! hehehe. A fabulous trip to WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!

When: November 27th to December 3rd!

Where: Pop Century Resort!

Why: Why not? Actually, this trip was because of a few things. The first is that we recently uprooted the kids and moved them to Florida. They had a rough year and we figured they deserved a trip! Second is that my mom is pretty sick. She has a Kidney issue that is getting worse as the days go. We planned this for them to come with us.

A few other details. We booked a vacation package. 6 nights, 5 days, QSDP (free dining promo) and had tickets to the MVMCP.

More details to come!!!

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

Table of Contents!

~Chapter 1: The 5 W's

~Chapter 2: The planning!

~Chapter 3: Day 1! The drive, DTD, MVMCP and Tears! (part one)

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

Although this trip was being planned for a very long time, the details and payment didn't get dealt with until October. We were waiting for a deposit that seemed to never come. Without that, we couldn't go. The day before the free dining promo ended, the deposit finally came :worship:

We booked our trip during the last week of October! A little too close for comfort.

We booked our trip with less than 30 days before arrival. Insane huh? I called my mom and told her that it was booked, gave her her own reservation number and told her our exact dates. She was THRILLED!

We knew from the begining that being 6 hours away we would be driving. My parents were coming from VA so they were a little iffy. By the time the trip got booked, flights had skyrocketed. Flying wasn't an option.

We only booked 1 table service meal and that was at Whispering Canyon. Wait till you see what I have to say!

We spent the next 30 days planning what we were going to do and when we were going to do it.

Normally arrival night is a hotel/ DTD night but, this was the only night we could fit MVMCP in so we bought those tickets.

I had a plan, it was a great plan :surfweb:. See how it changed thanks to Mr. Grumpy Pants!!!

[saintstickets]

Sign me up coach! I'm in!

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

Sign me up coach! I'm in!

:welcome:

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

Day 1! The drive, DTD, MVMCP and Tears! (part one)




Since my parents were leaving from Virginia, they started the drive on Friday, November 25th. They stopped in South Carolina to see my Aunt for 2 nights and have some family time before continuing the drive on Sunday.

We pulled out of Ft Walton Beach at 5:30am. 30 minutes late of course. We had been fully loaded the night before with the exception of pillows, blankets and morning type stuff. I had woken everyone up at 4am and tried to get them going. Didn't work out so well. Even though we were going to Disney AND seeing my parents, NOONE could actually wake up. The dog was already at the boarder.
(If anyone reading this is in the Destin, Crestview, Ft Walton Beach, Niceville, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt AFB or Navarre area, DANNYS DOGHOUSE IS AMAZING! I highly recommend using him to board your pets. Great rates, open home boarder, "pet staff" and he even helps tp break bad habits while they are there)
So, We finally get on the road. Smooth sailing the entire way. No traffic, No construction, just the perfect drive. The kids were great. Of course, they didn't nap. Neither of my kids are car sleepers. We drove to VA over the summer over night, 13 hours and DD stayed awake the entire time. DS crashed for about 2 hours :scared1:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df36b3127cceff77dad21c1200000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
Almost doesn't look excited!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df36b3127cceff76cb8dfda100000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
She REALLY hates having her picture taken!


It wasn't too long before we saw this:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df00b3127cceff7e48c6778c00000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

and this:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df00b3127cceff7f9c4bd61700000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

And then THIS:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df00b3127cceff7f76d0d6f900000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

We had arrived! We did the online check in so our room was ready when we arrived. We found our room and began unloading the van. By this point, the kids were finally starting to show their excitement.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df39b3127cceff7164d5534e00000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df36b3127cceff77c5895cde00000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

I called my Mom to see where they were at and they had hit some major traffic and other issues in Georgia so they were nowhere close. We decided to take the kids to DTD for a while and go pin shopping! AJ is a bus addict. He is in LOVE with Disney busses. His love started when he was 2 years old and it turns out, he still loves them!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df39b3127cceff71324fd2cf00000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df39b3127cceff7157fc13e600000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

When we arrived at DTD we HAD to take the iconic picture with the "snowy statues":
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2df39b3127cceff70ab26330e00000030O00AZtGjVu1Zsm YPbz4S/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

We headed over to the pin shop and spent an amount of money that I can't even admit to! :scared1:

We got the kids their gift cards and filled them with the money they had earned for the trip. Each kid was told that they would earn "Disney money" for doing extra chores or doing things without being asked. DD earned a TON of money from unloading the dishwasher and doing little chores like that. Of course, DS had easy chores. Putting all of the shoes in their cubbies, putting the juice boxes in the fridge and things like that. I was pretty surprised at how much money they earned.

As we were walking out, my mom called and said that they were about 15 minutes away. We booked it to the busses and were on our way back to Pop. When we pulled up, there was Mom and Dad standing in front waiting for our bus! Of course, water works started.

You might wonder why this was so emotional so I will tell you! DH is Military and we had been stationed at the same base his entire career. 15 years at one base?? Insane huh? Well, We got orders to Florida and left everyone behind. This is the first time in my 31 years of life that I have been away from my family for so long.

DD was crying when she saw my Mom and my Mom was crying when she saw all of us. I had some tears too but I tried to hide them....WDW is a happy place, not a place for tears! :hug: DS gave his hugs to my Mom and then headed for Papa and gave him some EPIC hugs.

We helped my parents get checked in and showed them their room. We had MVMCP tickets for that night so we had to rush a little since it was already after 4pm when they arrived.



Up next: MVMCP!

[mrsksomeday]

Loving the trip report already!! Your picture from DHS is classic!!

I am so happy your parents got to go too. You are so blessed to be able to share Disney with them. I would give anything to have been able to share Disney with my Mom.

I can't wait to read what you thought about Pop, MVMCP, and Whispering Canyon Cafe :goodvibes.

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

Loving the trip report already!! Your picture from DHS is classic!!

I am so happy your parents got to go too. You are so blessed to be able to share Disney with them. I would give anything to have been able to share Disney with my Mom.

I can't wait to read what you thought about Pop, MVMCP, and Whispering Canyon Cafe :goodvibes.

:welcome: Tracy!

I had my speeder bike going so fast I almost fell off! lol.