August 20th, 2015. Today was the day. The day Jason and I had waited almost a year for, and the kids had been waiting 3 1/2 weeks for. We'd finally arrive back at Walt Disney World today! We were up about 7:30. Everyone had showered the night before, so we didn't have to mess around with that. We did what we needed to do to get ready and the girls wanted to go down to see what they had to offer at the free breakfast station, as they had remembered that from last year. They kids got some cinnamon rolls, fruit, and juice. I think Jason and I each had a banana and Jason got coffee, but he and I had other plans for breakfast.
At 8:26am we were back on the road. We made a quick stop for gas and went through the drive through at Chic-Fil-A. Those were our other plans. I know there is controversy surrounding Chic-Fil-A, and I did boycott it for a while, but then our friends Bob and Jeremy gave us the okay to eat there because in Bob's words "Why would you not eat their chicken? It's the best!" So we're back on the wagon with them and breakfast didn't disappoint. Chic-Fil-A isn't so much a novelty to us anymore, because they finally came to Milwaukee last September, so now we can get it anytime we want!
But I digress. We drove for a couple hours, and I have no pictures because there really wasn't anything to see. Mid to Southern Georgia is kind of boring. I finally took this one picture when I knew were were really close to Florida. I could tell by the Spanish moss on the trees.
And then, there it was. Not quite the Happiest Place on Earth, but close. Yes folks, the sign welcoming us to Florida!
At 10:51 we crossed the state line into Florida. The girls were afraid we wouldn't tell them, but of course we did. Here is their reaction.
Now, please not the time here. 10:51am. Maura asked if she could take some pictures so I handed the camera back to her. Here are a few of the pictures she took from the back seat.
I only posted 4. It was now 10:54 and we were pulling into the Florida Welcome Center, because you have to when you're driving down. I think it's the law. But in those 3 minutes from crossing the state line to pulling into the welcome center, I think Maura took no less than 80 pictures. Not a joke. I only showed you 4 of them because many were very similar. That kid, I tell you.
We had to get some pictures at the welcome center!
Right after we walked past this dolphin, there were veterans with a display. I gave the kids each $1 to give to him. We chatted with him for a minute and thanked him for his service. The girls each got a little American flag.
We went in and got our OJ sample. Because it's so yummy!
We checked out all the little displays they have there.
See the kid in this picture who isn't mine? He and his sister kept following my kids around to every thing they went to see and photobombed every picture I tried to take of my girls. They were super annoying. I usually try not to get other people's kids in my trip report pics, but I'm sorry, there was no way around it this time! And I didn't see their parents around. Had that been my kids photobombing people, we would have pulled them aside and told them how rude they were being jumping into other people's pictures. Sheesh! Manners, people!
Why so serious, Lucy? (and that kid again!)
The sister is in this one.
Thankfully we got rid of the photobombers by this picture.
I think Jason took this one.
Now, my kids forget nothing. NOTHING! They remembered that last year at this rest stop they got Sponge Bob ice cream bars and they wanted them again. We went to purchase said ice cream bars but they didn't have Sponge Bob this year. They had Ninja Turtles instead. So, we got Ninja Turtles, but what we really ended up with was Sonic the Hedgehog! They didn't really care who it was. They just wanted the ice cream. This is the before picture.
This is the after. I didn't show this picture to my dad. He might not have liked the blue in his van, but we were VERY careful and made them use their trays, so none spilled.
I think Maura is channeling Gene Simmons there.
This is a picture they drew of our friend Daryck, Lucy's self-proclaimed "Frenemy." I believe he has fallen out of a window in this picture. They insisted we take a picture and post it to his Facebook. He loved it.
At 12:01pm, Jason and I heard this from the back seat: "Lucy, stop, your breath smells like poop. Like string cheese." ???????? Not sure what the heck that means, but Jason and I laughed so hard!
We stopped for gas for the last time at 12:50. We decided to take the turn pike this time, just for something different. In true to us form, it rained when we were about 30 minutes out from Disney. I swear, this happens to us EVERY trip! It was done by the time we got there, though.
Now, we really loved Linda, our GPS lady, but she committed a GPS faux pas of the worst kind coming up. We knew we were getting close. We got off on the exit that she told us to, that said "To Disney World." We knew we were headed in the right direction, but......are you ready for this?.... SHE DIDN'T TAKE US UNDER THE ARCH!!!!!!!
We went some po-dunk around the back way. We were on some service drive. We knew were on Disney property by the signs, but no arch! We were all a little sad, but couldn't let that put a damper on our trip. Thankfully,at 2:40pm we were seeing this.
Since I couldn't get a going-under-the-arch picture, I had to settle for a just-arrived-at-Port Orleans-picture.
We parked, and headed into the lobby! So excited to be here at last!
I hope to be back later for a longer update, but we're headed to the zoo today to see the new baby giraffe!