My_Pal_Pluto
Proud DisDad
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2010
- Messages
- 209
CONTENTS
A "Whew" and a "Wow" - Touchdown in the land of magic
Hello all my Dis'friends and welcome to the Live, as it happens, sometimes raw (not really), sometimes funny (you know, in that "oops, I just tooted a lil' bit" way) Disney World trippie!!
We departed our humble eyetie of Lebanon, PA around 4pm. I remember VIVIDLY my ex-wife asking the kids thoughtfully, "Has EVERYONE used the bathroom?" ... "YES!!" was the resounding cry. (anybody wanna guess where this is going?)
We drove ALLLLLL the way to the other end of Lebanon (ummm 10 minutes
) before I found myself pulling into Sheetz mini-mart so that ... not 1 ... not even 2 ... nope, ALL THREE of them could go to the potty 
OK ... so after the relief was discovered, we were back on the road and headed out of Leb-town.
Daddy had done that "daddy thing" and gotten fun snacks for the road ... the favorite by a unanimous decision were the "sweet n' salty caramel Bugles" ... I'm not a fan of the regular ones but friends, lemme tell you ... that is some MIGHTY fine snackin'!
About 15 minutes outside of town (on the turnpike) I plugged in a surprise. I had somehow, up til' now, kept my kiddos from seeing, "The Princess and the Frog
and so ... I sneakily (is that a word?) stuck in the new DVD and squeals of delight ensued (the kids thought it was cool too 
)
I have to admit it was an awesome drive, listening to the great music from the movie ... feeling "Disney" course through my blood stream ... and hearing one of my favorite snacks spoken over and over and over again ... Beignet ... Beignet ... Beignet!!
OK - a little aside here ... as I listened to the music and the overall tone of the movie I got to thinkin (yes, this can be a VERYYY dangerous endeavor) ... with the POFQ due for rehab at the end of this year ... I BET that they have plans in place to enhance the theming using this great new Disney movie as the backdrop?? I'm just sayin'
Coming out of Harrisburg I caught a glimpse of some WEIRD funnely clouds spidering out of the sky ... and sure enough, the radio was busy issuing warning-after-warning of the presence of potential tornadoes ... see, here's how "off" the sky looked (though it's cool in it's own powerful way too):
We stopped en route around Thurmont, MD to grab a bite to eat at a fun Burger King themed like a 50's Malt Shop ... it was typical burgerdom with the food ... but the atmosphere was a nice touch for our trip.
Continuing onward ... we found ourselves pulling in to the Hyatt Place at Dulles Airport around 7:45pm. All in all - not counting our stops - about 2 1/2 hours of drive time. We all enjoyed it!
This hotel (where I'm typing this from now) is absolutely beautiful!! The room (I'll try to upload a pic tomorrow) has a dividing screen about halfway in with a big corner sectional couch (pull-out queen) as soon as you walk in the door ... two queen beds beyond the screen ... a 42 inch LCD at the mid-point facing the beds/couch with the ability to swivel so someone on the "living room" side can watch it more exclusively. The side of the tv stand (which is a great multi-boxed shelf set-up) has a console for plug-n-play of any device you can imagine .... truly, this hotel "gets it".
Even MORE impressive was the greeting we got when we walked in the door ... it was as though we were family coming back home. My kids ended up with apples and juice in hand (complimentary) and we were assured the shuttle would be ready at 5am AND (get this), since the breakfast only starts service at 6:30 the front desk asked what we like and assured us "goodie bags" would be awaiting us at breakfast to take along on the shuttle.
I made my way back down to the front desk area (which is very "smartly" arranged with a wrap-around feature so it seconds as a bakery counter and bar) where I was able to grab a glass of their house Cabernet.
As I finish my last sip of this first day (and of the soft wine), I'm thankful for the laughter that has already ensued ... thankful to get words that my parents have arrived safely (they drove and ended up getting to WDW a day earlier than expected ... so they're checked in for tonight at POR ... yeah, I'm jealous) ... and thankful to hear the rhythmic breathing of my children as they sleep with all the anticipation of what this next week will bring!!
I have a 6:55am flight to catch ... good night friends!!
A "Whew" and a "Wow" - Touchdown in the land of magic
Hello all my Dis'friends and welcome to the Live, as it happens, sometimes raw (not really), sometimes funny (you know, in that "oops, I just tooted a lil' bit" way) Disney World trippie!!
We departed our humble eyetie of Lebanon, PA around 4pm. I remember VIVIDLY my ex-wife asking the kids thoughtfully, "Has EVERYONE used the bathroom?" ... "YES!!" was the resounding cry. (anybody wanna guess where this is going?)
We drove ALLLLLL the way to the other end of Lebanon (ummm 10 minutes
) before I found myself pulling into Sheetz mini-mart so that ... not 1 ... not even 2 ... nope, ALL THREE of them could go to the potty OK ... so after the relief was discovered, we were back on the road and headed out of Leb-town.
Daddy had done that "daddy thing" and gotten fun snacks for the road ... the favorite by a unanimous decision were the "sweet n' salty caramel Bugles" ... I'm not a fan of the regular ones but friends, lemme tell you ... that is some MIGHTY fine snackin'!
About 15 minutes outside of town (on the turnpike) I plugged in a surprise. I had somehow, up til' now, kept my kiddos from seeing, "The Princess and the Frog
and so ... I sneakily (is that a word?) stuck in the new DVD and squeals of delight ensued (the kids thought it was cool too )I have to admit it was an awesome drive, listening to the great music from the movie ... feeling "Disney" course through my blood stream ... and hearing one of my favorite snacks spoken over and over and over again ... Beignet ... Beignet ... Beignet!!
OK - a little aside here ... as I listened to the music and the overall tone of the movie I got to thinkin (yes, this can be a VERYYY dangerous endeavor) ... with the POFQ due for rehab at the end of this year ... I BET that they have plans in place to enhance the theming using this great new Disney movie as the backdrop?? I'm just sayin'
Coming out of Harrisburg I caught a glimpse of some WEIRD funnely clouds spidering out of the sky ... and sure enough, the radio was busy issuing warning-after-warning of the presence of potential tornadoes ... see, here's how "off" the sky looked (though it's cool in it's own powerful way too):
We stopped en route around Thurmont, MD to grab a bite to eat at a fun Burger King themed like a 50's Malt Shop ... it was typical burgerdom with the food ... but the atmosphere was a nice touch for our trip.
Continuing onward ... we found ourselves pulling in to the Hyatt Place at Dulles Airport around 7:45pm. All in all - not counting our stops - about 2 1/2 hours of drive time. We all enjoyed it!
This hotel (where I'm typing this from now) is absolutely beautiful!! The room (I'll try to upload a pic tomorrow) has a dividing screen about halfway in with a big corner sectional couch (pull-out queen) as soon as you walk in the door ... two queen beds beyond the screen ... a 42 inch LCD at the mid-point facing the beds/couch with the ability to swivel so someone on the "living room" side can watch it more exclusively. The side of the tv stand (which is a great multi-boxed shelf set-up) has a console for plug-n-play of any device you can imagine .... truly, this hotel "gets it".
Even MORE impressive was the greeting we got when we walked in the door ... it was as though we were family coming back home. My kids ended up with apples and juice in hand (complimentary) and we were assured the shuttle would be ready at 5am AND (get this), since the breakfast only starts service at 6:30 the front desk asked what we like and assured us "goodie bags" would be awaiting us at breakfast to take along on the shuttle.
I made my way back down to the front desk area (which is very "smartly" arranged with a wrap-around feature so it seconds as a bakery counter and bar) where I was able to grab a glass of their house Cabernet.
As I finish my last sip of this first day (and of the soft wine), I'm thankful for the laughter that has already ensued ... thankful to get words that my parents have arrived safely (they drove and ended up getting to WDW a day earlier than expected ... so they're checked in for tonight at POR ... yeah, I'm jealous) ... and thankful to hear the rhythmic breathing of my children as they sleep with all the anticipation of what this next week will bring!!
I have a 6:55am flight to catch ... good night friends!!
... there are NO STINKIN SIGNS to direct you to the Magical Express area until you're almost on top of it. Since the airport is laid out with an identical "A" and "B" side for ground transport it is easy to choose the wrong one ... to walk all the way to the end where you swear the Express area was ... then to have to ask a Mears desk attendant where it went ... only to find out you have to go to the complete opposite end of the main terminal (Yes, stop laughing, I led the pack as they trusted all my Disney knowledge ... there, I admit it).
