"Woooooo" .. "Where's Adam?" - A Spring 2012 Trip Report *UPDATED 7/2*

[PolyPrincess19]

Ladies and gentleman.... Boys and girls... Welcome to my wonderful trip report!! It's the first trip report I've posted here so I hope you enjoy it!!

From April 26th - May 7th, my sister, my mother and I went on a grand adventure to Walt Disney World. We laughed.. we cried.. we argued.. we ate lots of food, rode lots of rides and even met a character or two. It was the longest trip we have been on but felt like it went by in the blink of an eye. Always seems that way, right? I hope you enjoy my story tonight; "Wooooooooo!!" .. "Where's Adam?" - A Spring 2012 Trip Report!

Overview:
This trip carries the same cast of characters I always travel with:
Ashley (sister - 26) Terryn (Mom - 21 again..) and me (Darolyn - 29)

Me, Marie and Ashley - November 2011

Mama Dukes! - November 2011

Here's a little bit of background on this trip:
We decided to drive to save more money so we could attend the Tower of Terror 10 Miler in September. While driving wasn't that bad, I'd definitely rather fly. Unfortunately flights were all $300+ per person with terrible times and I think we ended up driving for about $500 total! We left Thursday evening April 26 from Portland, Maine and left the world on Sunday May 6th. Our timeshare is located off property and since its within 30 miles of WDW, we cannot exchange it for DVC! Such a bummer. And since we didn't book our resort until January, our home resort was booked. Sooooo we ended up at Orange Lake Resort on 192. It was on the AK side of 192 and we could see the top of Expedition Everest and fireworks from Epcot outside our room. More on how we liked the property at the end of the report!

We were staying at the timeshare Friday 4/27-Friday 5/4. We weren't leaving to head home until Sunday so we needed a room for the last 2 nights. There was no question that we would stay on property. We had originally decided to stay in a regular room at the Wilderness Lodge. After a bit of researching though, I figured out we could rent DVC points at get a studio room at the Wilderness Lodge villas for $140 less. WOOT WOOT!!! So we changed over and rented the points. I'll review how well we liked this process vs dealing with Disney direct at the end.

So now that the recap is out of the way.... ONWARD!!!!

 

[PolyPrincess19]

Reserved for chapter links!!

Part 1 - Thursday 4/26 and part of Friday 4/27.. Are we there yet?!

Part 2 - Second half of Friday 4/27

Saturday 4/28
Part 3 - A breakfast with Pooh and friends!
Part 4 - Happy birthday Mama and meeting the chipmunks!

 

[PolyPrincess19]

Reserved for chapter links!!

 

[PolyPrincess19]

Thursday April 26 / Friday April 27 - Here we go!!!

Since we were driving this time around, we were leaving after work. We would drive straight through on the way down (or as close to straight through as possible) Since I had everything packed and ready to go, I worked as late as possible which would be 5pm. When I got home, Ashley had already started packing her Jeep with our things. she got Vince ready to go stay at my Mom's house for the week and my step-dad would be doggie-sitting him.

He wants to go too!!

We got to Mom's house around 6:30 and packed everything in her car. It was a tight fit and I personally thought too much junk was packed (TONS of snacks for the road which we didn't really need) but it wasn't me who packed the junk. I had limited myself to 1 suitcase and 1 small bag. Driving or flying, I pack the same. Apparently my co-travelers did not.... But I digress....

We hit the road at 7pm on the dot. Per the GPS, barring zero stops and no traffic, we would be getting to the resort the next evening around 7:10pm. Almost 24 hours exactly.

Unfortunately before this trip, my car had been in and out of the shop 4 times. I was worried I would have to shell out most of my vacation money to fix it, but things fell into place and I was able to go!! (obviously I went, since you're reading this TR!!) However, I had to spend my money I had saved up to buy a new camera lens to fix my car. (I had bought a new Nikon D3100 shortly after Christmas with money I had received for Christmas and my birthday from my mom, Ashley and other family members.) So, we come to the first exciting part of the trip (for me anyways) My Mom asked to see my camera as she had not really seen it yet. I had put the camera bag in the backseat behind her seat. I told her I didn't want to get it out right now. She insisted. I said no. She asked again. So finally I said "ok" and Ashley handed me the bag from the back. I opened up the bag and there were some things in there I had not put in. I figured my Mom had stuck her manual for her camera in there so she would have it (she got a new camera a week before the trip) At closer look, I notcied there was also an additional lens in the case and I knew my Mom's camera was not a DSLR. I looked at the manual and it was the manual for the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens I had wanted!!!!! Mom and Ashley had gotten the lens for me as a surprise! How awesome are they?!

The first part of the trip was uneventful...

Just driving and singing songs in the car. We stopped in Connecticut at Sonic around 10pm. We don't have a Sonic up here and we LOVE it! Closest one to us is just outside of Boston so we always stop there whenever we go to Boston.

Now, here comes where we got one part of the title to this TR.... Ashley hates spiders and before we got to Sonic there was a spider in the backseat with her. She tried to kill it but she doesn't think she did and it fell somewhere in the car. So she decided he wanted to come on the trip with us and gave him the name Bob. Then she decided Bob wasnt a good name so she changed it to Adam. A couple days later she would decide that Adam had morphed into a crab and was no longer a spider. (We would spend the rest of the trip looking for a crab plush but the only one we found was a Sebastian one and we didn't really like it) So we had a little stow-a-way named Adam the spider, later turned crab for the trip and randomly throughout the trip we kept asking "Where's Adam?" (We're a weird family, I know!)

Continuing on, after we left Sonic, I got in the backseat so I could sleep and drive the next part of the trip. I figured a couple hours of sleep and I would be good to go.

We took the Garden State Parkway as to not have to deal with the Geo Washington Bridge in NYC. If you hit any sort of traffic there, it could easily delay you for quite a while. Once we got into NJ, Mom was getting tired so we pulled over so she could sleep a bit (I was still sleeping in the back) After a quick half hour power nap, she was ready to go again. A little while later we reached the Jersey Pike and we made a stop to use the bathroom and I took over driving. I finished off the Jersey pike and over the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

We made a stop at a rest area in Maryland and Mom took over driving. I fell asleep in the front seat and when I woke up, it was around 6:30am and we were just going through Washington DC. I saw a sign for the Verizon Center and still being bitter from the Bruins loss to the Capitals on Wednesday night, I suggested we look for some Capitals fans to throw stuff at. We didn't see any though. I lost interest once we got out of the city and I fell back asleep after that.

I don't think I slept for very long because when I woke up, we were stopping for gas and food in Petersburgh, VA. We were halfway there!!! Per my post on Twitter it was 7:46am! While we were stopped at McDonald's to get some breakfast, Ashley and I decided we were going to get concert tickets for a show up here in September (Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. YAY country music!!!) So we ordered tickets for that and I enjoyed a delicious Egg McMuffin. Not a bad way to start off the morning.

Back on the road, we didn't stop again until we stopped in Lumberton, NC around noon for lunch. I wanted to take my mom and sister somewhere my ex bf took me when I went to visit him in NC back in 2010. Smithfield's!!!!

While reading the menu, clearly I was blind because I thought they got rid of the BBQ sandwich. So I ordered a BBQ platter with baked beans, hush puppies and cole slaw. Mom got the same thing. Oh, and sweet tea! I loooooove sweet tea!!

Ashley got the BBQ chicken platter. Only after we were done eating did I see the BBQ sandwich right there on the menu. DUH!! Anywho, Smithfield's was super good as always.

Back on the road and we were all just ready to be in Florida. We passed by the million and one South of the Border signs lol

We got into Georgia around 3:30 and stopped for gas at good old El Cheapo. Cheap, yes, but when we were pumping the gas it sounded like it was going to explode! lol...

FINALLY we were into Florida around 4:30pm. Woooo hooooo!

I took a nap between Jacksonville and just outside of Orlando. I woke up and was on the lookout for Disney billboards. We passed a couple Universal billboards and there it was... The first Disney billboard of the trip!!

We passed a few more and after what seemed like an eternity we saw this:

We reached 192 and planned to make a stop at Publix before checking in so we could stock up the place with snacks, water and breakfast stuff. Well, Mom missed the turn off for Publix so she took the next right, which led us right onto 429 which was a toll road. We had to scramble to find exact change because it seems like that's all Florida toll roads accept. So we paid a dollar and got off the next exit. This brought us to Western Way. Oh, there's the back entrance to WDW!

Back onto the toll road and back off the next exit. We made it to Publix this time with no issues and stocked up on stuff. We were all just really happy to be out of the car!!! lol Breakfast stuff, water and some Cheerwine for me.. Love me some Cheerwine!

 

[luckylady]

I love Smithfields. The fried chicken is to die for. DD,DS and DH all agree wiwth you on the BBQ sandwich, they always get it. Next time try the bruinswick stew. Yum. Man I don't think I could ride for 24 hours, I hate the nine is takes us from NC, oh you went through my county before Lumberton. Can't wait to hear more on the trip.

 

[saintstickets]

Sign me up coach! I'm in. Looking forward to your TR!

 

[PolyPrincess19]

I love Smithfields. The fried chicken is to die for. DD,DS and DH all agree wiwth you on the BBQ sandwich, they always get it. Next time try the bruinswick stew. Yum. Man I don't think I could ride for 24 hours, I hate the nine is takes us from NC, oh you went through my county before Lumberton. Can't wait to hear more on the trip.

Thanks for reading!! I'm super bummed I missed the BBQ sandwich on the menu. Afterwards I was like 'duh! there it is!' lol

Sign me up coach! I'm in. Looking forward to your TR!

Thanks for reading!! Hopefully I'll get another installment up today. I already have quite a bit of it written.

 

[PolyPrincess19]

We pulled into the parking lot to check into Orange Lake at 8:05pm. So driving took us 25 hours which really isn't bad, considering we stopped twice to eat, once to take a small nap and a few other times to gas up and use the restrooms. We hit zero traffic and overall the drive was a good time. We had many laughs and sang a ton of songs. I just love my Mom and sister!

Our unit was a 2 bedroom on the 4th floor, right next to the main entrance. I was happy with this because Orange Lake Resort is HUGE. Less driving to get out of the place and less driving at the end of the night to get back to the unit!

We unloaded all our stuff and were beyond ready for some dinner. Mom didn't feel like going out again so Ashley and I just decided to pick her up something. We went to Bahama Breeze which was right near the resort. We LOVE this place! And we found out right before the trip they opened one down in Mass so we're going to plan a road trip to eat there this summer!

A refreshing beverage after a long drive!

So let me tell ya something about this meal... ZOMG!! Was it awesome! Top 3 best meals of the trip for me. BB always has good food but this was amazing. The potatoes had cheese and spinach and the chicken was deep fried and so yummy! The salsa and black beans were a nice added touch to mix into the mashed potatoes. We even ended up getting dessert, these little mini 'shooters'. Mine was a vanilla cake with kind of a dulce de lech sauce on it. Ashley got a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse or pudding. Very good.

Exhausted, we dragged ourselves back to the resort and got ready for bed. We ahd to be up early the next day for a date with some pals from the Hundred Acre Wood!!

 

[PolyPrincess19]

Saturday April 28 - Magic Kingdom / MGM

Ashley's alarm went off at 6:45am. I wanted to sleep in a little bit longer since I had showered the night before but I was too excited so I got up. We left the room at 7:15 and we had decided prior to the trip we were going to drive down 192 and use the entrance up Sherbeth Rd by Animal Kingdom. Except that morning we were going to take the toll road and get off the back entrance we saw the day before because we had someplace to be for breakfast and we didn't want to chance it with all the stoplights on 192.

I tried to take a pic of the oh-so-fabulous sign as we drove under it but the sun wasn't cooperating and was shining directly at us. But we all know what the sign looks like so it's ok!

Hello Coronado Springs!!

My happy place!!!

We parked in Aladdin section and made our way to the monorail station. It was close so we just walked over.

As we stepped onto the monorail, I got goosebumps. Getting on the monorail always does it for me. From hearing the famous "Please stand clear of the doors..." to seeing the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Contemporary on the shores above the lake to seeing Space Mountain and Cinderall Castle rising up in the distance... this is always the first moment I stop and think to myself 'I'm really here!!'

Our ADR was for 8:15 at Crystal Palace. CP the first morning (or last morning) has become a staple for our WDW trips. We got off the monorail around 8 and headed to the gates.

I just love this sign.. It gives me goosebumps.


FYI, my cameras name is Penelope. I continued snapping away with her.

We strolled up Main Street and when the castle first came into view, my eyes teared up a little, not gonna lie!! Prior to the trip Ashley decided to count how many times I cried. (She thought I would cry either 17 times or 54 times.... lol such a dork!)

There she is.... Pardon the crookedness.. Still figuring out how to use this thing and I was so excited to be there I was just pointing and clicking!

I love being able to get into the park before the crowds. It's so peaceful taking in the ambiance of Main Street without being runover by strollers and scooters.

We had the obligatory photo in front of the castle.

I think I'm going to print out the picture of us in front of the castle for every year and just compare how much I have changed in the 24 trips I have taken.

We meandered over towards Crystal Palace. Mom checked us in and I kept playing around with my camera taking some pics. I didn't use the new lens very much though because I wanted to be able to familiarize myself with it first. I was still learning with the kit lens so I was not about to throw a new lens into the mix!! I think I did alright for my first go round.

Just can't get tired of this thing.... lol

A few minutes later we were called in. We were actually seated before 8:20am, which was good. CP is probably my favorite breakfast place in WDW. I LOVe breakfast foods... Eggs, panacakes, french toast, waffles, home fries, bacon, sausange.. You name it, I love it! So when we go to regular sit down restaurants, it's always so hard for me to just pick a "bluberry pancake breakfast" or a "two egg breakfast" CP lets me have a little of everything!! Plus the restaurant itself is beautiful with it's white Victorian style decor.

Our table was decorated with confetti since we were celebrating Mom's birthday!

Our first friend stopped by for a picture (Be warned, Mom was in charge of the character photos and this was her first time using Peneople. The pics get better as the trip goes on and she gets used to it, but in the beginning, they aren't the greatest!)

After Tigger we had a few minutes so we got up and helped ourselved to the buffet.

 

[PolyPrincess19]

Here's my plate

Mom's plate

And Ashley's plate

Piglet came by next but on accident I deleted the picture. Boooooo!

Eeyore was next. He is my favorite Disney character. I just love his dark, sarcastic demeanor.

After Eeyore left the table our waitress brought out a cupcake for Mom's birthday! She even got a card signed by Pooh and all his pals. Awww.

I went back up for seconds. Can't believe I missed the chocolate croissant the first time! Love these!!

Finally the man of the hour, Winnie the Pooh came to say hi. How can you not adore this big ball of love?!

This next picture explains the other half of this TR title. Ashley and I picked up this little "gesture" from some friends of ours who play hockey where they put their hands above their head and say "Woooooooo!!" Unfortunately, it rubbed off on us so now we do it quite often. (Example: Yesterday Ashley decided she's going to get a new grill for the back deck. My response? "Wooooooo!!") So we decided we needed a "wooooooo!!" picture.

So this is where "Wooooooo! .. Where's Adam?" comes from. And I'm sure you could care less. Now, back to the show!

It was a little past 9 and we were itching to get into the park. We settled the bill and I took some pics on the way out.

The park was perfect, still pretty empty. We decided to head to Tomorrowland first. So off we went.

We hit up my favorite ride in MK first... Space Mountain!! It was a walk on so that's always a plus!!

We also grabbed some FP for a bit later. Here's the new sign on top of the FP machine. I don't remember those being there before so I'm guessing they put them up to stress the whole one hour window thing now.

After Space we headed over to Buzz. But not before we spotted some cute little munks with hardly a line! The munks are always a favorite of ours because they always interact so well with us!

 

[brandihead2012]

Totally on board. Thank you for sharing, I had a girls trip with just my mom and I am so happy i have those memories with her....


Thanks for making me tear up at work!

 

[wdwtwins]

Hi! I'll definitely be reading! It's looking like a lot of fun so far!