3,280 miles: A cross-country roadtrip to Disneyland, CA! (NEW x2! 5/22)

[enchantedrosex]

Hello! ​

& Thank you for joining me in what is going to be a magical and fun filled adventure!​

This is my second ever trip report, and I'm so excited to share it. This will be a very special report in that it isn't just a report of my first ever trip to Disneyland, but also a report of the 3,280 mile long journey to get there!​

Because WE'RE DRIVING! ALLLLLL the way from Waterford, NYto Tustin, CA!​

So come along for the ride!​

__when;
MAY 23-JUNE 3​

__the cast;​

ME! I'm Michela...a 21 year old Disney enthusiast. My entire life revolves around Disney. Literally. I talk about/think about it/plan future trips/research it...24/7. I aspire to one day have friends who feel the same way because right now everyone in my life pretty much thinks I'm crazy. I don't know where my future is heading, but I know that I want it to involve Disney in one way or another. This was my first ever Disney experience as a "Diser", and I loved it! ​

And this is Mitch, my best friend since the beginning of high school! (Soo, 7ish years??) We've been through so much and I just know that we will be friends for life. He loves Disney too, but just not as much as me. He's starting a new life out in California and pursuing his dream of being a journalist/movie critic/media mogul. ​

__chapter links;​

PRE-TRIPPIN'​

The Backstory
A Sudden Change of Plans
Getting My Disney Fix
Birthday Surprises
The Game Plan ​

DAY ONE​

Day One, Part One: A series of unfortunate events.
Day One, Part Two: Getting on track.
Day One, Part Three: NJ really does smell like sewage.
Day One, Part Four: Getting there.
Day One, Part Five: Josh is all kinds of hot mess.
Day One, Part Six: Gettin' down and dirty in D.C.
Day One, Part Seven: Goofin' around at the Smithsonian.
Day One, Part Eight: Noms and monuments.
Day One, Part Nine: Wrappin' up the day.​

DAY TWO​

Day Two, Part One: We're in Georgia!

DAY THREE
Day Three, Part One: Where I discover whale sharks.
Day Three, Part Two: The Walking Dead-end.
Day Three, Part Three: Where we get pulled over in Smackover.​

DAY FOUR​

Day Four, Part One: Six Flags Flop. (NEW 5/21!!)
Day Four, Part Two: Carlsbad Caverns. (NEW 5/22!!)​

DAY FIVE​

Day Five, Part One: Straight on to Arizona! (NEW 5/22!!)​

 

[enchantedrosex]

{ONCE UPON A TIME, my dear friend Mitchel got accepted into grad school at Fullerton State in California. Before he left, we wanted to go on a vacation because we didn't know when we would see each other again. Originally, we were planning a trip to Disney World, BUT THEN, I was struck with a better idea!​

"Why don't we drive down to California together and go to Disneyland??"​

​

And thus the planning began! Our first step was to plan our route. We pretty much immediately decided to drive along the South. So now where to stop?? We knew this was going to be a pricey trip, so we tried to plan our stops with people that we knew. Conveniently, Mitchel has relatives all over the country, so we were able to plan to stay with 4!​

We made a general plan to leave sometime around mid June and then I'd fly back by myself whenever. Mitch contacted his relatives and they were on-board to receive us. Yay! Now we just had to plan what states to go through! By staying with Mitch's relatives, we'd be stopping in Washington DC, Dacula, GA, Chandler, AZ and finally in Tustin, CA. I knew I wanted to go to New Orleans for sure, and anything else was free game. ​

We decided on stops in New Orleans and in Austin, TX and after that we were pretty much done with our planning...​

Now we just had to find a few hotels!​

 

[enchantedrosex]

Around May 8th or so, I got an urgent call from Mitch. He told me that he wanted to try to get summer housing so that he could enroll in summer classes. This meant that we would be pushing our trip a whole 3 weeks earlier! He told me that he would call me back in a couple of days when he found out for sure.​

Sure enough, he DID get summer housing, and classes started on June 3rd. He had his graduation on May 19th, so after that we were set to leave. That meant that we only had two weeks now instead of five until we left!​

​

At the time, I was still away at school and wouldn't be coming home for another week. That meant that once I got home, I'd only have one week to unpack all my dorm stuff and get ready to leave. ​

Fortunately, Mitch's relatives were all okay with the sudden change of plans, with just left us with one last thing to plan...our hotels!​

However, booking hotels was a breeze. Mitch ended up booking our first wave on his own. He found/researched/booked a Super 8 outside the city of New Orleans for only $50! I mean, it's no palace, but the reviews weren't horrible and they had a free breakfast!​

We still weren't sure about our Texas stop, so we saved that for later.


__may12;
I got a call from Mitch this night about the tragedy that happened today in New Orleans. There was a massive open shooting on the Mother's Day parade there. Fortunately, no one was killed, but many were "grazed" by bullets. Sigh. People are so sick...​

​

Needless to say, Mitch said he didn't feel comfortable going there anymore. He called and cancelled our reservation without a hassle and we were left to make a new plan. We settled on going to Arkansas instead, which changed up our route a bit. We talked over the phone and found three other hotels, one in El Dorado, AK, one in Abilene, TX and one in Alamogordo, NM. We decided to book a Super 8 for each of those nights because it just seemed like the best deal with minimal sketchiness. The "bad" reviews included noise complaints and other small things that wouldn't bother us. I just need a clean shower and a bed-bug free bed to sleep in at night, lol. The total ended up coming to about $95 each for 3 nights. Not bad at all! ​

 

[enchantedrosex]

__may14;
I packed up the rest of my stuff in my dorm and said goodbye to all my friends. I was sad to leave, but also excited because 1) I was planning on hitting the Disney store on my way home and 2)I was headed to California in a week. I left around 4:30 and plugged "Disney Store" into my GPS. The Disney Store in the Palisades Mall was only about 20 minutes away, but it took about 30 with traffic. I was literally shaking, I was so excited. I seriously NEEDED this Disney fix. Seriously, just being in the presence of Disney merch is enough to get me through another day. AND I had been wanting to get here for the LONGEST time, but life kept getting in the way. All I knew was that I HAD to get here before I went home since I don't have any Disney Stores around me. Sad life. AND TODAY I WAS FINALLY GOING! Squeeeee​

​

Palisades is HUGE, so it took me a bit to find it, but once I did, I was practically hyperventilating. I swear, the "CMs" in there thought I was insane. I felt a little insane, not gonna lie. I was just so overwhelmed right away!​

​

I mean...can you blame me?? Look at that beautiful display!​

So I'm just standing there, in my overwhelmed awe, when a CM approaches me and asks if I need help finding anything (unenthusiastically, might I add...). Our short convo kinda went like this...​

Me: "No thank you! I'm just gonna look at everything!"
CM: "...Ok, well if you need help just ask."
Me: "Ok, thanks! I'm just gonna warn you that I'm probably going to buy the whole store lolololol!"
CM: *awkward laugh* We close at 9, so you have until then...​

Then he just walks away. SIGH. Not a single CM there returned my happy enthusiasm. I mean, I know you've probably had a long day and I know retail can suck majorly, BUT YOU'RE RUINING MY DISNEY MAGIC LOL. ​

While I was busy in the Princess section, another CM approached me with, "Who are you shopping for today?" I replied with, "Myself!" and got yet another awkward reaction. What?! A 21 year old can't like Princess toys??​

Anyway, I literally spent over an hour in there looking at everything 9,000,000 times. While I was still shopping, I saw the original CM who had greeted me come out of the back room in his normal clothes, sigh loudly and praise the Lord that he was done for the day to everyone else. Ew. Go work at the GAP, not Disney.​

Pretty key at the counter!​

I finally decided on a few necessary goodies, and left with a Jasmine bag filled with Disney products and $70 less. Worth it. The CM who rang me out seemed to appreciate my Disney love a little more. We chatted for a bit before she tried to sell me some kid's bathing suits.​

SO FINALLY...
MY PURCHASES!​

First up was this precious tumbler, featuring my current favorite princess. I LOVELOVELOVE this cup and have been using it everyday! Drinking water has never been more fun!​

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This journal, which was just too pretty to pass up! And now it'll be the perfect companion for my trip!​

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This extremely creepy/terrifying/hideous thing. They were on clearance for $5 so I snagged one up so that I could start trading Vinylmations! I can say that I can't wait to get rid of this one, lolzzz.​

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Then all of the beach towels were on sale for $11 so I HAD to grab 2, because HELLOOOO I'm going to Cali. Where there's beaches. Soo...yeah. Featuring Ariel and the new Princess design (which I'm not crazy about but I won't get into that just yet).​

​

I got this precious cup for my mom to go along with her Mother's Day present! She loves classic Tink!​

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Annnnnd FINALLY, I grabbed 2 of these reusable bags at the register because I have barely any self control. This one features the Princesses and the other one has Jasmine on it, but she's being put to good use so no photo, haha.​

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With my Disney fix temporarily satisfied, I headed back home!​

​

 

[enchantedrosex]

__may15;
Officially one week til departure! AHHHHH​

Today I went over to Mitch's to help him pack up his room. It took us the entire day to go through all of his stuff and pack what he needed. He ended up donating 95% of his clothes and "garage sale-ing" almost everything else. In the end we packed his things into two suitcases and he was ready to go! We went to Walmart and bought a few necessities for our trip, like food and drinks and some emergency supplies.​

__may19;
Since I was away at school during my actual birthday, my family got together today for my "family party". I turned 21 on April 27th, but I'm still a Princess at heart. ​

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And you're never too old for a Princess cake!​

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I received some money and a few other "you're an adult" presents, but I also got a few fun ones!​

My family knows me, what can I say?​

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__may20;
Allllrighty! That's all for the pre-trip stuff! Thanks for bearing with me
My trip is in 2 freaking days!!!!!! AHHHHSKFUSIFJSKF​

Annnd, I haven't even packed yet. Sigh. See you in Cali!​

 

[DVC'96]

Have a safe trip! Looking forward to hearing all about it!

 

[enchantedrosex]

Have a safe trip! Looking forward to hearing all about it!

Thank you!

 

[enchantedrosex]

__may21;
So here's a peek at our finalized plan...​

Stop 1: Washington DC
Stop 2: Dacula, GA
Stop 3: El Dorado, AK
Stop 4: Abilene, TX
Stop 5: Alamogordo, NM
Stop 6: Chandler, AZ
Stop 7: Tustin, CA​

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Unfortunately, we had a limited amount of days to do this and had to cut the entire trip down to two weeks. That leaves us with mostly driving, and limited sightseeing, but we'll make it work! I'm just happy that I had the chance to do this in the first place!​

We're going to try and get out by 6am tomorrow so that we can get to DC around noon! ​

​

 

[PlutoRocks]

Following!!

Wave when you get to Chandler, AZ - can I hop in the car with you??

 

[yupikgal]

I LOL'd a couple of times reading your PTR! You are hilarious! By the way, I see absolutely nothing wrong with buying and loving princess items at age 21! I'm 30 years older & I would do it!

Can't wait to read more about your journey, we leave next month! My daughter is your age, but she won't turn 21 until June 19. Her, myself & 17 yr old son are heading down there in two weeks, yippee!! Always a kid at heart!!

 

[Princessjenna7]

Have a safe trip! Can not wait to hear about your adventure!

 

[emma212010]

What an exciting trip!!! I can't wait to hear about it!!

 

[enchantedrosex]

Following!!

Wave when you get to Chandler, AZ - can I hop in the car with you??

Do you live there?? That's awesome! Chandler is one of my favorite places to go!! You could've hopped in the car, if only it wasn't so cram-packed with our lives!

I LOL'd a couple of times reading your PTR! You are hilarious! By the way, I see absolutely nothing wrong with buying and loving princess items at age 21! I'm 30 years older & I would do it!

Can't wait to read more about your journey, we leave next month! My daughter is your age, but she won't turn 21 until June 19. Her, myself & 17 yr old son are heading down there in two weeks, yippee!! Always a kid at heart!!

Why thank you!

And thank you again for justifying my princess love...I totally agree! I WILL be that 50+ person still rockin' the mouse ears and dancing down Main Street.

Aggggh that's so exciting! I already wanna go back.

Have a safe trip! Can not wait to hear about your adventure!

Thanks! I can't wait to share!

What an exciting trip!!! I can't wait to hear about it!!

Thanks! It was pretty exciting!

 

[PlutoRocks]

I hope you had a good time! I just got back as well - I was in the parks June 3rd, 4th, and 5th - it was amazing as always!!

Can't wait to read more about your trip

 

[tayalltheway]

Just found your TR and subscribed. I always love a good road trip!

 

[KSL]

Just found this thread and have to follow along -- my 10-year-old daughter had to plan a road trip to DL for a class she was in this year and that sparked my interest, so I've been thinking about it and will be interested to read how it went for you -- it's a LONG way. I can't believe you're in Waterford - we live in Burnt Hills!! OMG! I grew up just off Crescent Road in Clifton Park! So I'll be reading along!

 

[MarbleBob]

I'm in for your trip report.

 

[enchantedrosex]

I hope you had a good time! I just got back as well - I was in the parks June 3rd, 4th, and 5th - it was amazing as always!!

Can't wait to read more about your trip

Oh, awesome!! And thanks...it'll be starting soon!

Just found your TR and subscribed. I always love a good road trip!

Yay! Thank you! Hope you enjoy it!

Just found this thread and have to follow along -- my 10-year-old daughter had to plan a road trip to DL for a class she was in this year and that sparked my interest, so I've been thinking about it and will be interested to read how it went for you -- it's a LONG way. I can't believe you're in Waterford - we live in Burnt Hills!! OMG! I grew up just off Crescent Road in Clifton Park! So I'll be reading along!

Ummm what?? That sounds like an awesome class!
It was a long way, but it really flew by!
WOW! What a small world! That's crazy! I'm always in Clifton Park!

I'm in for your trip report.

Glad to have you here!

 

[kelmac284]

Loving your report so far. We just did a road trip a few weeks ago and they are so fun. Not as far as you (started in Missouri and headed to east coast and then down to SC). Can't wait to read your report!

 

[enchantedrosex]

Loving your report so far. We just did a road trip a few weeks ago and they are so fun. Not as far as you (started in Missouri and headed to east coast and then down to SC). Can't wait to read your report!

This was my first one! Now I'm hooked!
Thanks! It'll be starting soon