A sprinkle of Pixie Dust and some Disney Christmas Magic! A December TR

[Monny2AE]

WELCOME TO MY TRIP REPORT!


For those that don’t know me allow me to introduce myself. I’m Kim, wife, mother of two and obviously a huge Disney fan.

MY FAMILY…

DH- Not as huge of a fan as I am but he has learned to love Disney ever since his first visit in 2001- our honeymoon. He becomes a big kid as soon as we pass under the arch at the entrance to Disney World.

DS- He is 7 and a HUGE Disney fan! He loves Pirates of the Caribbean, although he’s never actually seen the movies yet. He also loves Toy Story, Cars 2 and his all time fave is Duffy Bear. There’s a story about Duffy that I’ll get to later.

DD- She is 4 and is my little princess. She’s more of a Mulan than a Cinderella though- she’s got some spunk and is always daring.

TRIP DETAILS…

Our official Disney vacation dates were Dec. 10-17, 2011. This was our very first time seeing Disney and all of the Christmas magic that I’ve longed to see for many years now. It was also a budget trip so we were booked at All Star Movies with the free QSDDP. We also decided to save money on airfare and drive- there’s a story there too that I will get to shortly.

HERE WE GO!!!!!

 

[Monny2AE]

LET THE ROADTRIP BEGIN!
Thursday, Dec. 8th through Friday, Dec. 9th

My kids knew we were going to Disney but what they didn’t know was the actual day we were going to be leaving. DH and I told the kids that we were leaving on Saturday Dec. 10th Instead we surprised them and left Thursday after work. I loaded up the van while DS was in school and while DD was distracted watching a movie for rest time. In the afternoon, I had them both get showers and put on PJ’s since we were going to “look at Christmas lights” and might get back home late. They didn’t question a thing! They didn’t even notice that the two rear seats of our 12 passenger van were removed and in it’s place was all our stuff packed for Disney World. The surprise went well- they didn’t get it for quite a while! Here’s a little video of it:



Once the kids knew where we were really headed we hit the road at 5:30pm! Our plan was to drive until about 10 or 11pm, hopefully make it as far south as the border between Virginia and North Carolina before stopping for the night and continue the drive on Friday. That didn’t happen. We didn’t even make it to Richmond, VA before we hit this:

From about 8:30 until almost 2am we SAT. I won’t even say we crawled because for most of it we literally just sat still keeping the van running for heat. It took us almost 6 hours to go 9 miles. It was more awful than you can imagine. We were in the left lane and couldn’t get over to the right and even if we could we only ever saw one exit the entire time. When it did finally clear it was about 2am and DH said why not just keep driving. At this point it was kind of silly to stop at a hotel while we only 3 hours from home. The kids were sleeping so we drove. We made it through Virginia and part of North Carolina when DH started struggling to stay awake. In fact he started feeling ill from the lack of sleep- he worked a full day before we left so he was exhausted. We stopped for a break and rested for an hour or so. The kids woke up and I got myself and the kids some breakfast, DH took some Dramamine, I bought one of those 5 hour energy drinks for the first time ever and took over driving. I drove through the rest of North Carolina, South Carolina and made it into Georgia before I couldn’t stay awake any longer. DH took over in Georgia and we finally saw this beauty looming in the distance at around 7:30 pm. It was like seeing water in the desert!

It took us a full 26 hours to get from Maryland to Florida! That’s 10 hours longer than it should have!

No matter! We were finally in Disney! We pulled into the All Start Complex and were immediately worried about where we were staying. There was a police car at All Star Sports dealing with a group of teenagers when we drove by. Nothing says welcome to Disney like an unruly group of teens and a cop car! We needed this trip to be a budget trip and I reminded DH that Pop Warner week was almost over and hopefully it won’t be too loud or crazy. We checked in at All Star Movies and headed right for the food court to get some dinner- we were starving. After we ate we went to find our room. The kids loved all the Toy Story stuff along the way!

This was our first time staying at a value resort and while it was a nice resort, I found myself comparing it to CBR- rooms were smaller, beds were smaller with only two pillows on each bed, no fridge. I knew it would be this way so I reminded myself not to complain. We needed a place to sleep each night and this was just that.

All seemed fine until DD went to go use the bathroom. The toilet was broken. It wasn’t fastened to the floor and you could move it around the bathroom! Uh that’s not right???? They apologized at the check in desk and told us that they were all booked with no other rooms at ASMo. They could put us in Sports for the week

OR





get ready for a pixie dust moment!!!!!!







UPGRADE us at no charge to a moderate!


I learned that we are resort snobs and that you can’t downgrade resorts once you’ve stayed at a nicer resort. I know I sound like a snot but it’s true.

Finally at about 8:30pm we checked in at our upgraded resort, Coronado Springs, exhausted but excited! We carried in most of our stuff, got some much needed showers and went right to bed!


Up Next…DAY ONE IN DISNEY!

 

[ChefDisneyLu]

Wow! Nice upgrade!!!!!

I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Thanks for sharing!

Lisa

 

[jc040404]

Oh my! Cops, a broken toilet...What a start after such a drive! Yay for an upgrade! Love the pic of your kiddos in RC. Too cute!

Excited to follow along!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm here Kim!!


Wow what a start your trip was off to. I can't believe how long it took you to get to WDW. You don't have the best of luck with road trips, do you?

But hey, at least you made it there safe and sound and yay for a broken toilet and an upgrade!! Can't wait to hear what you thought of CSR after staying at CBR so many times. Did you get to pick your moderate or was CSR the only one they offered?

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Joining in ! Will be back to read it all later.

 

[RexIsaTurtle]

Wow if that had happened to my boyfriend and I he probably would have just started walking and left the car to be impounded! I can't believe how patient you both were in that traffic.

Subscribing now.

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

Great start can't wait to hear more

 

[Monny2AE]

Wow! Nice upgrade!!!!!

I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Thanks for sharing!

Lisa

It was a complete shock to be upgraded! I remember I turned to DH when the CM went into the back and told him this is a rare event! I was beaming!!!

Oh my! Cops, a broken toilet...What a start after such a drive! Yay for an upgrade! Love the pic of your kiddos in RC. Too cute!

Excited to follow along!

The trip definitely didn't start out too well but thankfully it got better after the road trip!

I'm here Kim!!


Wow what a start your trip was off to. I can't believe how long it took you to get to WDW. You don't have the best of luck with road trips, do you?

But hey, at least you made it there safe and sound and yay for a broken toilet and an upgrade!! Can't wait to hear what you thought of CSR after staying at CBR so many times. Did you get to pick your moderate or was CSR the only one they offered?

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

No, road trips definitely have something against me that's for sure. I turned to DH at one point and told him this one would be the last time we ever drive to Disney. And. I. Meant. It. He talked me into driving instead of flying this time but never again and I am holding to it.
We didn't get to pick- CSR was all they had with rooms for the week. I did ask if CBR was available. The CM said he even checked Beach Club...that would have been a dream upgrade! DH joked that asking for Poly was pushing it. The CM smiled but didn't find it as funny as we did.

Joining in ! Will be back to read it all later.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wow if that had happened to my boyfriend and I he probably would have just started walking and left the car to be impounded! I can't believe how patient you both were in that traffic.

Subscribing now.

I think we were in a state of delirium by the time it was over. Every so often we would say "it has to clear up soon" Hours later we were still waiting. There was nothing to do. People were turning the shoulder into makeshift bathrooms and many pulled over turned their cars off and slept. I was just thankful we had a roomy back to our van and some disposable cups for the kids to use as makeshift toilets. It was getting pretty desperate.

Great start can't wait to hear more

Thanks for subbing!

 

[JoBird]

Hi Kim, checking in!!!


Holy cow what an ordeal!! That is an insane trip down you had!! But so cool, an upgrade! I can't wait to hear what you thought about CSR-- it's a mod I think I'd like to try sometime.

Your kids have gotten so big-- I can't believe it! Too cute.

We may have a trip in the works for next year at the same time, so I can't wait to hear how yours ended up!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Wow .. so sorry about the traffic mess ! I would have been SO upset .. I don't do well in the car as it is. BUT glad it all worked out in the end with the upgrade ! I've heard of it happening .. but I know it's rare.

Loved the pics ! ASMo is our "home" resort (yeah, I know its a crummy value .. but it gives us a place to sleep ) Seeing the pics made me homesick for WDW !

Can't wait to read more !

 

[mickeystoontown]

Joining in on the fun. Well, I am hoping it gets fun from here on out. The driving part, the cop car and the loose toilet surely wasn't a great start.

 

[jenjolt]

I'm definitely going to join in Kim!!!

WOW what an eventful start to your trip...but what a nice upgrade!! YAY for CSR...can't wait to hear what you thought about that resort!!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

Hey Kim! What an eventful start to your vacation. But upgrade to CSR - that's awesome! I love the excitment on your little ones' faces! Can't wait to read more.

 

[seacrestpromo]

Hey Kim! I made it here!!!

Great start on your report - OMG that traffic was AWEFUL!

26 hours of driving - you guys are road warriors!

Sea

 

[crzyred]

I'm here too!

Ok I think I'd break down and just start crying if I was stuck in traffic like that.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm here!!!
Your kids are too funny! "you're surprising us?"

So sorry about your traffic problems. Having been there (but not to THAT extreme), I feel your pain. It's a risk we take every time we make that awfully long road trip! I guess it's good you built in extra time! So glad you made it safe and sound. And an upgrade - well, heck, you deserved it after that driving fiasco!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Happy New Year Kim!

 

[Pluto_fan]

I'm here, Kim! Wow, what an adventure so far. Your video of the kids made me tear up a little! Can't wait for the rest!

 

[BellaSoleil]

Wow! You guys are real troopers! You deserved that upgrade!

Can't wait to read along.