Let's turn around. Magic Kingdom is open till 1AM! 3/23 Some Final Thoughts

[amandaw]

Hi! I came on over to join in on your fun!

First....congrats to you & DW for the new baby on the way!

Sounds like y'all were off to a good start for the trip. Well, besides that crazy fog! Your DS is sooo adorable! Can't wait to hear all about y'alls trip.

 

[glennbo123]

Once I drove in fog so thick that I missed my exit on Interstate 80, despite only going about 30mph. Couldn't see a blasted thing and shouldn't have been on the road, but hey, I was young and invincible.

We've done the drive to FL from PA, straight-through with a baby also. You think it's bad during the drive and then you get there and realize that the baby is raring to go when all you want to do is crash for about 12 hours. (Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. )

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm not a huge fan of driving to WDW (we used to drive from MA to FL and t's just WAY too far) but I love seeing all the side things. Farms and little towns are fascinating to me. I definitely love stopping at beaches too !

Love the pic of your ds on the beach !!

I kind of go back and forth... I love being able to get somewhere in a couple of hours, but I really do enjoy the drive and seeing the sights. If I can get there in less than a day, I tend to lean towards just driving.

This sounds like my evening the night before Thanksgiving (but there were a very different set of circumstances for that schedule)

Ok, here's the first shameless plug of this trip report. If anyone is interested in reading about a high school band's trip to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, check out this guy's TR.

I understand that one. Our boy’s first plane trip was at the age of 2-months , but thank the maker, he slept the whole time. Good thing too… this was before the advent of Air Marshals, and I suspect there’d have been blood shed had we been the parents of “that kid”.

And I believe that was also before 9/11. I'd be more likely to want to fly before all the new rules went into effect.

I have yet to drive to Fla without getting rained on at least once. I do believe that fog of that caliber would count as precipitation in my book.

Hadn't thought about it from that angle... good point.

Fog worse then Black Friday traffic?
What the fog!

I know, right?

We actually took the long way to get onto the interstate. There's an outlet mall off an exit about 5 miles south of where we normally get on I-65. They were opening at 12 and we were leaving at about that time. I-65 was a parking lot the year before, so we just avoided the area.

They’ve got those in mass quantities along I-95 through GA as well. It must be something about Georgia. We may need to ask Fed about that one.

I know... it's all you see

Me too. Then you could have thrown in a side discussion on the process.

I could have, but I wouldn't know much about what I was discussing. Just enough to get myself into trouble.

Better then the “Barney” that mine was into at that age.

Where's the gun to the head smiley?

Awwww… who an I kidding… DVD players in vehicles wasn’t happening back then. Long trips were torturous until the advent of the affordable “Game-Boy”.

Loved my Game Boy. I still have my original one from when they first came out... and it still works. They don't make electronics like that anymore.

That… sir… is one great father-son picture.

Thanks... I kind of like it too.

Andy, your DS is a handsome young man!

Thanks... he obviously takes after his dad.

That is some crazy fog!

We flew when Juliana was almost 2. It wasn't bad though. We packed her carry-on with all kinds of games and activities and a portable DVD player. It is only a 2 1/2 hour flight from here so it wasn't too bad.

Well, that would keep me distracted for 2 1/2 hours, but I still don't know what we'd do about Landon.

Don't worry- the "that kid" spot on the plane is usually reserved for Everett. I'm sure you would have been safe!

Ok, next time we'll drive to DC and fly out of there then.

Widespread fog does not sound like fun! I don't like driving across town, let alone across states, so that just sounds like a nightmare to me! Glad you made it to St Pete in one piece!

Yeah, I really wasn't enjoying it at the time. I even considered stopping and just staying in a hotel in Kentucky for the rest of the night. It kept teasing me by getting lighter and then coming back more dense than before.

Love the update, Andy. We used to drive to Florida from Chicago all the time (we first started flying in 2000, so made about six or seven trips driving ). Atlanta is the absolute worse spot to drive through...I used to try to time it so I would be asleep when we went through Atlanta.

You know, everybody talks about how bad Atlanta is... I don't even know how many times I've driven through there, but I can only remember 1 time that I've actually had to sit in traffic.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I like driving through Atlanta better than Chicago.

I love the pictures on the beach with your son...so sweet.

Thanks!

I'm joining in! Aside from the fog, the drive didn't sound too bad, which is a good start to any trip.

Welcome! It wasn't bad at all. And anytime you end up in nice warm weather is a great start to a trip.

Hi! I came on over to join in on your fun!

Hi! Glad to see you here!

First....congrats to you & DW for the new baby on the way!

Thanks!

Sounds like y'all were off to a good start for the trip. Well, besides that crazy fog! Your DS is sooo adorable! Can't wait to hear all about y'alls trip.

Well, we survived and made it there despite the fog. Otherwise it was a nice drive.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

We had talked about flying, but decided to drive. I don’t mind flying, I actually enjoy it. What I don’t like is the hassle of getting to the airport and onto the plane. Since traveling with a toddler means taking half of your worldly possessions with you everywhere you go, we decided that it would just be easier to drive while he hopefully slept. That and we didn’t want DS to be “that kid” on a plane.

I enjoy flying as well--even the security stuff doesn't bother me that much. But I can definitely relate to not wanting to be "those parents" of "that kid". Not that it's ever happened before.

I was driving through downtown Louisville barely able to see anything in front of me. I was starting to regret the plan to drive through the night, because if that fog didn’t break soon, it was going to be a long, miserable drive.

Either that, or it was going to be a very short miserable drive.

But did you stop? Never!

It sure was better than the drive though Louisville!

Funny how two different TR's can make Louisville sound so different.

One of the best things about a road trip is the fact that you get to see interesting things.

Great pictures of you and your son! I'm sure everyone was relieved to have made it.

 

[afwdwfan]

Once I drove in fog so thick that I missed my exit on Interstate 80, despite only going about 30mph. Couldn't see a blasted thing and shouldn't have been on the road, but hey, I was young and invincible.

I felt that way once... then I turned 30.

We've done the drive to FL from PA, straight-through with a baby also. You think it's bad during the drive and then you get there and realize that the baby is raring to go when all you want to do is crash for about 12 hours. (Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. )

I considered that possibility. Actually it wasn't bad. I wanted to get back on a regular sleep schedule, so by the time I was ready to go to bed, he was too.

I enjoy flying as well--even the security stuff doesn't bother me that much. But I can definitely relate to not wanting to be "those parents" of "that kid". Not that it's ever happened before.

I'm sure you never have "that kid." You just have Scotty.

Either that, or it was going to be a very short miserable drive.

But did you stop? Never!

Touche. And of course not!

Funny how two different TR's can make Louisville sound so different.

I don't think you'd be writing nice things about Louisville if you had to drive there on I-65 a few months after you did. Had a friend who said he sat on the busiest parking lot in southern Indiana this morning for an hour and 6 minutes... only 11 minutes longer than yesterday.

Great pictures of you and your son! I'm sure everyone was relieved to have made it.

Thanks! And yes, it was great to be at the beginning of a great vacation.

 

[petals]

Good to see you. Maybe we can see if we crossed paths at any point.

Defo I think by our pre trip plans we were due to be in Hollywood studios the same day maybe you're in the crowd in one of my 3000 pics

I started my trip report btw (see link in sig!)

You're DS is a little cutie. That fog sounds crazy though.

I don't actually think we had a that kid on the plane going over. There was a baby crying on the way back but I just felt sorry for the baby being on a through the night flight and obviously not being comfortable enough to sleep.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

I felt that way once... then I turned 30.

Pup!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

I felt that way once... then I turned 30.

Pup!

 

[afwdwfan]

Defo I think by our pre trip plans we were due to be in Hollywood studios the same day maybe you're in the crowd in one of my 3000 pics

Yeah... That day wasn't our finest. We weren't in HS for long, but if you saw us, I'm sure you'd know it.

I started my trip report btw (see link in sig!)

I will definitely make my way over.

You're DS is a little cutie. That fog sounds crazy though.

Thanks!

I don't actually think we had a that kid on the plane going over. There was a baby crying on the way back but I just felt sorry for the baby being on a through the night flight and obviously not being comfortable enough to sleep.

Yeah... I would hate to travel that long on a plane with DS... He did ok driving for that long of a time, but it's like traveling with a time bomb. You know it's going to go off eventually.

Pup!

Pup!

And now you're just using my Trip Report to pad your post count...

 

[My sister's princess]

Joining in, this is going to be a fun one, I can tell!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

And now you're just using my Trip Report to pad your post count...

Naaaaa…
The DisBoards did that favor for me. I figured the “Pup!” was selfexplanitory…
There’d have been no need to say it twice…



on the same page…



without additional provocation…

 

[petals]

Yeah... That day wasn't our finest. We weren't in HS for long, but if you saw us, I'm sure you'd know it.

Yeah... I would hate to travel that long on a plane with DS... He did ok driving for that long of a time, but it's like traveling with a time bomb. You know it's going to go off eventually.

Hollywood studios was prob our best day timing wise no idea how we managed it lol!

I think all kiddies are like that.. I've a recent vid of my nephew he's one and just started crawling so he's dancing in middle of floor as such and then next song starts and he starts to bawl no idea why?!

 

[afwdwfan]

Joining in, this is going to be a fun one, I can tell!

Hi, welcome! It was fun to live it, I can say that for certain!

Naaaaa…
The DisBoards did that favor for me. I figured the “Pup!” was selfexplanitory…
There’d have been no need to say it twice…



on the same page…



without additional provocation…

Well, I had to either accuse you of padding your post count or being outsmarted by your computer.

Hollywood studios was prob our best day timing wise no idea how we managed it lol!

The lines really didn't seem too bad that morning. Smooth sailing until we had to head out.

 

[afwdwfan]

Life's a Beach

On Saturday morning, we woke up at around 8:30 am… well, I woke up at 8:30 which is unusually late for me. I went to sit on the balcony and enjoy this view while I waited on DW and DS to wake up.

Allow me to vent a bit now. We have stayed at this hotel at St. Pete Beach before and enjoyed it… that’s why we came back.

Last time we were there, we had a partial beach front room. I had booked the same for this trip, but about a week before we left, I checked the hotel rates and they were significantly lower than what I had booked. I tried to see if they would change our rate, and they said they couldn’t give us the new lower rate for the same room type, but we could upgrade to direct beach front at the lower rate. This was only going to be about $5/ night more than we were already booked at, so I went for it. The hotel is somewhat round in shape, so I guess technically the windows in our room had a direct view, but to see the Gulf from our balcony, I either had to hang out and look around a wall, or I could sit at the very far corner right against the rail and get a somewhat unobstructed view. It was ok, but I was extremely disappointed. We ended up with really no better view than our partial beach front room we’d had the time before. It is a nice enough place to stay, but I think next time we go back to St. Pete, we’ll probably try something else. There were just a few minor things like the room placement that didn’t sit well with me this time. I could probably write about 2 updates just on things that irritated me while we stayed there that weekend.

We’ll try to put this train back on the tracks now… we headed down to the beach to grab a cabana at around 10:00 am. We sat out there and just relaxed.

DS played in the sand

We splashed around in the water

We even got to see some dolphins playing just a short distance off shore right in front of us until somebody on a water trike got a little too close and ran them off. We kept trying to get pictures, but by the time the camera would actually take one, this all we’d get.

All in all, it was a relaxing, enjoyable day. We grabbed some lunch at the hotel’s beach bar and headed back to our cabana. DS didn’t want to eat much for lunch, but when we got back to our spot for the day, he showed us he was more interested in eating shells than chicken nuggets.

We decided at that point, that it was nap time.

DS and DW both laid down for naps for the rest of the afternoon. I set my computer up inside our room facing the balcony window, so that I could see score updates for the Indiana/Purdue football game and headed out to my corner of the balcony with that “direct” view. I sat there for a couple of hours and enjoyed a few cold beverages and a Boilermaker win.

I had to wake DW and DS up to tell them they missed the sunset and that it was time to grab some food. We headed next door to a place called Crabby Bill’s. Pretty good food. I typically prefer turf over surf, but I had a grouper sandwich and I thought it was great. DW and DS both had chicken fingers.

We got back into the room to settle in for the evening. I was watching football on TV but somebody wanted to watch Mickey. Since there was only 1 TV, I had to turn the game off so we could pop in a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD. I rolled over and tried to sleep while DS was jumping on the bed and running around the room doing things like this.

All of a sudden DW is yelling at me to help her. I might have forgotten to mention that in addition to his chicken fingers, the little man chugged 2 bottles of chocolate milk with his dinner. Unfortunately, the chocolate milk had made a spectacular reappearance all over him and a couple of pillows.

Once I realized what happened, I laughed… it could have been much worse. He missed me by at least a couple of feet.

After we got him cleaned up and housekeeping brought clean bedding, we settled in and got some sleep.

 

[KatMark]

I would NOT have been happy with that "full view" either. I can see why you were irritated.

Sounds like a fun day on the beach.

I love the above picture...so typically a boy thing to do.

Sorry DS got sick from his chocolate milk, but glad housekeeping was good to bring clean bedding and that DS missed you.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I would have been mad at the hotel too! That stink that you paid more for a worse view.

How long were you guys at the beach? I'm thinking of taking Everett on a cruise, but I'm not sure how much "beach time" he could log without getting bored or crazy. I'm also concerned with the "running into the water in an attempt to drown myself" factor.

Too bad you had to clean up chocolate milk puke, but I agree its better to clean it up off the bed, then off of you!

 

[My sister's princess]

Life's a Beach

See I knew this would be a fun report to follow!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Well, I had to either accuse you of padding your post count or being outsmarted by your computer.

Well… you know how it is. Sometimes computers just have a knack for causing problems or adding frustrating complexity to processes that would have been just fine without the electronic upgrade. I’ve even heard tell of otherwise reliable mechanical equipment being brought to a complete standstill due to nothing more then a little bit of a computer glitch.

But I don’t suppose that you’ve had to deal much with that type of nuisance recently.

Life's a Beach

“And then you…”

No, no, no, no… I’m not going there.
The beach is relaxing, calming… a place of Zen like magic.
Ahhhhhh….
What could go wrong?

Allow me to vent a bit now.

Ummmmm…. Spoke too soon did I?

…We ended up with really no better view than our partial beach front room we’d had the time before…

Don’t you just love when a downgrade or a “non-grade” is promoted as an upgrade (and then they went and included a price adjustment to emphasize the point)?

We sat out there and just relaxed.

DS played in the sand…

…We splashed around in the water…

…We even got to see some dolphins playing just a short distance off shore right in front of us

There’s that Zen like experience I was talking about.
Ahhhhh…. that’s better.

DS didn’t want to eat much for lunch, but when we got back to our spot for the day, he showed us he was more interested in eating shells than chicken nuggets.

I do miss the toddler years…

Whooo… did I say that out loud?
Am I going out of my mind?

We headed next door to a place called Crabby Bill’s.

Convenient…

I rolled over and tried to sleep while DS was jumping on the bed and running around the room doing things like this.

Oh wait… Maybe I do miss the toddler years just a bit.

All of a sudden DW is yelling at me to help her. I might have forgotten to mention that in addition to his chicken fingers, the little man chugged 2 bottles of chocolate milk with his dinner. Unfortunately, the chocolate milk had made a spectacular reappearance…

No… no, I was right when I second guessed myself the first time.
I love my son… and he was absolutely adorable when he was an itty-bitty, but…
It’s just easier now. The problems are different and of the type that I’m more geared to deal with.

My DW will disagree profusely, but her job and my job were and are different in relation to raising the young’en.


Sounds like a good trip so far. Eventful… to be sure, but good so far.
Looking forward to the next update Andy.

 

[Lynn57]

So cute! I'm joining in!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Love the pics of the beach and the sunset.

Oh no on DS being sick but like others am glad he missed you