Sooze
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2006
Its always hard on leaving day not to just hop in the car first thing in the morning and GO! But we werent due to check into the Boardwalk until Sunday morning, so even waiting until 4pm to leave had us in Orlando by 7am!! We tried to nap, to double and triple check everything, to charge and recharge batteries in electronics, and everything else we could do to pass the time. But FINALLY, it was time to head out! YAY!
I took VERY few pictures on the ride down, because it was so completely UNEVENTFUL. Thank goodness! We hit a 30-minute backup in Louisville, KY due to an accident. Matt almost had a meltdown as this was just 2 hours into our drive and we were sitting completely still on I-65. And to add to the annoyance, there was a car behind us with its bass up SO LOUD, it was vibrating our entire car for 30 minutes, and we couldnt move away from it. We kept turning around and looking at the guy and plugging our ears, but he didnt care!
Other than that.. we had wide open roads and PERFECT weather. Heres a picture as we finally entered KY. You can see there is NO traffic anywhere to the left, due to the accident we had just passed.
The ride was flawless and soon, we were waking up the kids and saying, Were in FLORIDA!
Dont they look thrilled:
Ha ha! This was RIGHT after they woke up, after having to sleep in a car. I dont know about you, but it doesnt matter WHERE Im going sleeping in a car is no fun! And to make matters worse, Shae was recovering from a cold. And she woke up with a rash on her cheeks. We thought it was from the seatbelt rubbing on her face while she slept but we were wrong. More on that later!
Love the sunrise over the Florida horizon! It means we are getting CLOSE!
It is our tradition when we drive to hit up Cracker Barrel near DisneyWorld. Its always very early in the morning, so we are seated immediately and served almost as quickly! This time, we were seated next to the most appropriate piece of framed tchotchke:
One of our favorite activities at Cracker Barrel is listening to Matt explain who all of the people are in the photos that are around the restaurant. For example, he might point to a photo of an elderly gentleman and say, This is Grandpa Cracker. He invented the miniature syrup bottles you find on your table today. The kids just crack up at every made-up story he tells! Here he is explaining one of the Cracker Barrel ancestors:
And here we are, glad that the 15 hours of driving was BEHIND us!
After filling up on eggs, pancakes, and hash browns, we were SO ready to head on into Disney World. We were crossing all of our phalanges that our room would be ready. We have checked in this early at times, and have been pleasantly surprised to have our room ready. We have also checked in this early, only to have to wait until 4 for our room. We were SO hoping for the first scenario. Matt was going to pick up the rest of the family at the airport. Mahna and Pahta were arriving at 10:40. Avabelle, Ben, and Cindy (from now on referred to as ABC) were arriving at 11:20. How cool would it be to be checked in, unloaded and ready to welcome our family home?!? Wed have to wait and see what the Boardwalk had in store
So, Ive written many TRs now, and you all have seen us pass under the Walt Disney World sign. So this time I decided to record our arrival on video. Hope you enjoy (please pay attention to Tysons Im too-cool-to smile antics. He is SO going into 5th grade!)
Side note: I ONLY used my iPhone4 to take pictures and video on the trip. The quality is NOT the best, especially since I JUST got the phone a few weeks ago and didnt quite know what I was doing. But the convenience was AWESOME! Just having the phone in my pocket, ready to whip out and record moments was fantastic.
Finally! We made it HOME!
This sign summed it all up at that moment:
Our front entrance:
While we were driving, at 3 in the morning, from my PHONE I had already done the online check in. Man, technology is incredible! So we went to the online check in line. They found us quickly and soon we were on our way . No . not to our room. It wasnt ready. BOOOOOOO I mean it WAS only 8am. What was I expecting?!?! Maybe a little magic. But it wasnt meant to be.
We had some time to kill before Matt had to go pick up the family that was flying in right at that moment! What should we do?
Oh, theres PLENTY to do! Come on! We started by just absorbing every molecule of the Boardwalk. I just cant capture in words how much we love this place. The smells, sounds, sights the VIBE. We just love it!
Love this:
The kids played at the playground for a while, while Matt and I rested on the lounge chairs. I had managed to doze for about 45 minutes in the car so as soon as I let myself sit I just wanted to CRASH and sleep!! We CANT have that happen! Not today! So what else can we do?
How long will we have to wait for this room? Will the whole family be together soon!?! Stay tuned .
I took VERY few pictures on the ride down, because it was so completely UNEVENTFUL. Thank goodness! We hit a 30-minute backup in Louisville, KY due to an accident. Matt almost had a meltdown as this was just 2 hours into our drive and we were sitting completely still on I-65. And to add to the annoyance, there was a car behind us with its bass up SO LOUD, it was vibrating our entire car for 30 minutes, and we couldnt move away from it. We kept turning around and looking at the guy and plugging our ears, but he didnt care!
Other than that.. we had wide open roads and PERFECT weather. Heres a picture as we finally entered KY. You can see there is NO traffic anywhere to the left, due to the accident we had just passed.
The ride was flawless and soon, we were waking up the kids and saying, Were in FLORIDA!
Dont they look thrilled:
Ha ha! This was RIGHT after they woke up, after having to sleep in a car. I dont know about you, but it doesnt matter WHERE Im going sleeping in a car is no fun! And to make matters worse, Shae was recovering from a cold. And she woke up with a rash on her cheeks. We thought it was from the seatbelt rubbing on her face while she slept but we were wrong. More on that later!
Love the sunrise over the Florida horizon! It means we are getting CLOSE!
It is our tradition when we drive to hit up Cracker Barrel near DisneyWorld. Its always very early in the morning, so we are seated immediately and served almost as quickly! This time, we were seated next to the most appropriate piece of framed tchotchke:
One of our favorite activities at Cracker Barrel is listening to Matt explain who all of the people are in the photos that are around the restaurant. For example, he might point to a photo of an elderly gentleman and say, This is Grandpa Cracker. He invented the miniature syrup bottles you find on your table today. The kids just crack up at every made-up story he tells! Here he is explaining one of the Cracker Barrel ancestors:
And here we are, glad that the 15 hours of driving was BEHIND us!
After filling up on eggs, pancakes, and hash browns, we were SO ready to head on into Disney World. We were crossing all of our phalanges that our room would be ready. We have checked in this early at times, and have been pleasantly surprised to have our room ready. We have also checked in this early, only to have to wait until 4 for our room. We were SO hoping for the first scenario. Matt was going to pick up the rest of the family at the airport. Mahna and Pahta were arriving at 10:40. Avabelle, Ben, and Cindy (from now on referred to as ABC) were arriving at 11:20. How cool would it be to be checked in, unloaded and ready to welcome our family home?!? Wed have to wait and see what the Boardwalk had in store
So, Ive written many TRs now, and you all have seen us pass under the Walt Disney World sign. So this time I decided to record our arrival on video. Hope you enjoy (please pay attention to Tysons Im too-cool-to smile antics. He is SO going into 5th grade!)
Side note: I ONLY used my iPhone4 to take pictures and video on the trip. The quality is NOT the best, especially since I JUST got the phone a few weeks ago and didnt quite know what I was doing. But the convenience was AWESOME! Just having the phone in my pocket, ready to whip out and record moments was fantastic.
Finally! We made it HOME!
This sign summed it all up at that moment:
Our front entrance:
While we were driving, at 3 in the morning, from my PHONE I had already done the online check in. Man, technology is incredible! So we went to the online check in line. They found us quickly and soon we were on our way . No . not to our room. It wasnt ready. BOOOOOOO I mean it WAS only 8am. What was I expecting?!?! Maybe a little magic. But it wasnt meant to be.
We had some time to kill before Matt had to go pick up the family that was flying in right at that moment! What should we do?
Oh, theres PLENTY to do! Come on! We started by just absorbing every molecule of the Boardwalk. I just cant capture in words how much we love this place. The smells, sounds, sights the VIBE. We just love it!
Love this:
The kids played at the playground for a while, while Matt and I rested on the lounge chairs. I had managed to doze for about 45 minutes in the car so as soon as I let myself sit I just wanted to CRASH and sleep!! We CANT have that happen! Not today! So what else can we do?
How long will we have to wait for this room? Will the whole family be together soon!?! Stay tuned .
We do have fun times as parents don't we
About those room pictures.... uh.... I didn't really take any. 
I'm telling you... this trip was SO different for us, having our family with us... I was just totally out of whack. In a good way, of course! But I did neglect taking pictures of the room. This may be a clue about how long we had to wait for it... because by the time we got in it, I was in no mood to take pics...
Can't wait to read more!
