ohboyx3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2006
I decided to write a trip report about our recent stay 12/30-1/6. I also wanted to do a report, because in searching prior to my own trip I never did find many reports on a New Years Eve trip. So I’m writing this in hopes that it may help someone who is on the fence deciding upon weather or not it’s worth it to go this time of year! I am very excited to share our experiences in what ended up being one of our best trips ever! Here we go!
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It was myself, my husband, and our three boys ages 16,14, and 11. We surprised them on Christmas day by hiding their magic bands on the tree and after everything was opened telling them they had one more gift, but it was hidden somewhere in the living room and they needed to find it. They were very excited, although not quite the reaction I would have hoped for. I think mainly because they were still half asleep! After Christmas we had three days in which to pack and get the house ready for the trip. Everyone pitched in and we had the car loaded up and ready to go the evening of the 28th. We actually left the house by 9 on the 29th and were planning on staying somewhere cheap offsite in Orlando. I really wanted to add a room only reservation on to the beginning of our stay, just for the ease of it… but in the end couldn’t rationalize paying the almost 300.00 for just one night when we would be getting in too late to use any of the amenities (pool, hot tub, etc) After a longer than he wanted stop at the office for a work related matter, we were finally on the road at 10:30 am.
That's my awful attempt an an on the road selfie
At this point I figure it would be good to explain why we decided to go this time of year in the first place. We have always been “off season” travelers.. or at least tried to miss the huge “10” crowds. We had traveled twice the end of January, Once in mid May before most schools had let out, and once in October for our fall break that we are lucky enough to get here in Tennessee. Our last trip had been almost 3 years prior and we were due for a trip, we wanted to go in late January or February missing the influx of the Christmas crowds, however all three of the boys wrestle and literally the only time that would have off was that week in between Christmas and New Years. Even going then would have them missing some critical practices, but at least there were no matches scheduled during that time. We knew we didn’t want to go again in May or Summer (too hot) and in October we have started making a yearly trip to the beach, so unless we wanted to keep waiting for that “right” time, we were going to have to go during a <gasp> #10 crowd week. Something I said I would Never EVER do. We were dying to go back though, and knowing and preparing for the worst crowd wise we went ahead and booked it. We would be driving back the day they were due back in school, so they ended up missing one day. Not too big of a deal. I planned it this way on purpose hoping that somehow, maybe, possibly, crowds would die down just a tad after New Years and we could have a couple of less crowded days. Read on to see how that turns out!
Back to the actual report: The drive down was pretty uneventful, though traffic was pretty thick I am guessing with people on their way down to watch bowl games. We took one stop at McDonald’s (gag) and to fill up and were back on our way. Driving from Chattanooga we passed I don’t know how many signs advertising pecans!! To which my boys decided to make all kinds of “nut” references. Yes… We are THAT family. I pick my battles. One of them said, “Man people in Georgia are really proud of their nuts!” Which of course gave everyone the giggles. They also entertained themselves with arguing over which princess was the “hottest.” Of course DS16 said it was a toss up between Jasmine and Ariel. Of course the two must scantily clad princesses. SMH! Moving on, We finally crossed over the Florida line at about 4:30.
We still didn’t know where we were staying for the night. Weather we wanted to just stay in Ocala and drive the last little bit the next day, or go ahead on into Orlando and take our chances with finding some cheap place to stay. We got to Ocala and decided to go ahead and press on. We got our first taste of holiday traffic when we got into Orlando. Wow… Complete craziness. Could not wait until we could park our car at the resort and let Disney do the rest of the driving! It took us forever, but we finally ended up at a Howard Johnson on Bronson Memorial Hwy. It was a far cry from a Disney resort! However it sure made us appreciate Disney after staying there! It wasn’t horrible….. but the beds were terribly uncomfortable. We were all exhausted and just there to sleep though, so it didn’t matter much. There was a pretty good bbq place right next door, so not wanting to get back in the car, we walked over and grabbed a bite. It wasn’t too expensive and the portions were huge. We enjoyed our meal, unpacked what we needed for the night (I was smart and packed just an overnight bag, so we could leave everything else in the car) and crashed.
Hopefully you’re still with me as we get this first travel day over with!
Up next: We FINALLY get our first glimpse of Caribbean Beach Resort or home for the next seven nights…. oh and those theme park crowds everyone has been talking about…
It was myself, my husband, and our three boys ages 16,14, and 11. We surprised them on Christmas day by hiding their magic bands on the tree and after everything was opened telling them they had one more gift, but it was hidden somewhere in the living room and they needed to find it. They were very excited, although not quite the reaction I would have hoped for. I think mainly because they were still half asleep! After Christmas we had three days in which to pack and get the house ready for the trip. Everyone pitched in and we had the car loaded up and ready to go the evening of the 28th. We actually left the house by 9 on the 29th and were planning on staying somewhere cheap offsite in Orlando. I really wanted to add a room only reservation on to the beginning of our stay, just for the ease of it… but in the end couldn’t rationalize paying the almost 300.00 for just one night when we would be getting in too late to use any of the amenities (pool, hot tub, etc) After a longer than he wanted stop at the office for a work related matter, we were finally on the road at 10:30 am.
That's my awful attempt an an on the road selfie
At this point I figure it would be good to explain why we decided to go this time of year in the first place. We have always been “off season” travelers.. or at least tried to miss the huge “10” crowds. We had traveled twice the end of January, Once in mid May before most schools had let out, and once in October for our fall break that we are lucky enough to get here in Tennessee. Our last trip had been almost 3 years prior and we were due for a trip, we wanted to go in late January or February missing the influx of the Christmas crowds, however all three of the boys wrestle and literally the only time that would have off was that week in between Christmas and New Years. Even going then would have them missing some critical practices, but at least there were no matches scheduled during that time. We knew we didn’t want to go again in May or Summer (too hot) and in October we have started making a yearly trip to the beach, so unless we wanted to keep waiting for that “right” time, we were going to have to go during a <gasp> #10 crowd week. Something I said I would Never EVER do. We were dying to go back though, and knowing and preparing for the worst crowd wise we went ahead and booked it. We would be driving back the day they were due back in school, so they ended up missing one day. Not too big of a deal. I planned it this way on purpose hoping that somehow, maybe, possibly, crowds would die down just a tad after New Years and we could have a couple of less crowded days. Read on to see how that turns out!
Back to the actual report: The drive down was pretty uneventful, though traffic was pretty thick I am guessing with people on their way down to watch bowl games. We took one stop at McDonald’s (gag) and to fill up and were back on our way. Driving from Chattanooga we passed I don’t know how many signs advertising pecans!! To which my boys decided to make all kinds of “nut” references. Yes… We are THAT family. I pick my battles. One of them said, “Man people in Georgia are really proud of their nuts!” Which of course gave everyone the giggles. They also entertained themselves with arguing over which princess was the “hottest.” Of course DS16 said it was a toss up between Jasmine and Ariel. Of course the two must scantily clad princesses. SMH! Moving on, We finally crossed over the Florida line at about 4:30.
We still didn’t know where we were staying for the night. Weather we wanted to just stay in Ocala and drive the last little bit the next day, or go ahead on into Orlando and take our chances with finding some cheap place to stay. We got to Ocala and decided to go ahead and press on. We got our first taste of holiday traffic when we got into Orlando. Wow… Complete craziness. Could not wait until we could park our car at the resort and let Disney do the rest of the driving! It took us forever, but we finally ended up at a Howard Johnson on Bronson Memorial Hwy. It was a far cry from a Disney resort! However it sure made us appreciate Disney after staying there! It wasn’t horrible….. but the beds were terribly uncomfortable. We were all exhausted and just there to sleep though, so it didn’t matter much. There was a pretty good bbq place right next door, so not wanting to get back in the car, we walked over and grabbed a bite. It wasn’t too expensive and the portions were huge. We enjoyed our meal, unpacked what we needed for the night (I was smart and packed just an overnight bag, so we could leave everything else in the car) and crashed.
Hopefully you’re still with me as we get this first travel day over with!
Up next: We FINALLY get our first glimpse of Caribbean Beach Resort or home for the next seven nights…. oh and those theme park crowds everyone has been talking about…
