Coach's Mardi Gras Trip Report '11, all that, and a bag of BLT! They closed it???

[Coach81]

It's been a while since I put up a trip report, and we are just back today from our latest trip from Disney.. so I thought "what the heck".. let's do it!!!

First the cast..

Me...

My lovely wife...

My oldest son Chase...

My youngest son Zach...

We have been to Disney quite a few times... but it had been about 10 months since our last vacation - a summer trip to Disney w/ family-...

We'll get the report started tomorrow with...

"The pre-trip scavenger hunt"... & Alisa's usual first stop...

much.. much.. much more to come!!!

 

[Coach81]

Update 2- Pre-trip Scavenger & the usual Stop

We are DVC members.. and have been since '07.. I have to tell you.. some of the best money we ever spent.. we love our DVC and we are now talking seriously about adding on to our existing points sometime in the near future.

The reason we got into DVC... in fact the reason I go to Disney is for my family... we just love being there.. riding the rides, watching the shows... riding the busses.. etc..etc.. the entire experience is fantastic..

I like to try and make as many memories for my boys that I possibly can..

Christmas before last, we actually surprised the boys with a "scavenger hunt" that ended with letting them know we were going to Disney for the first time for Christmas!!! It was fun, and they really liked it.. so for this trip I decided to do it again.. but this time, with each clue giving them a few extra spending dollars for the trip...

They really loved it they had to go all around the house with each envelope filled with a few dollars and a "clue" to where the next envelope would be.... but it did cost me.. you see I took a day off from work to "set it up".. and well.. I dropped the ball and did not prepare as well for the trip as I should... but we'll get into that a bit more later..

They really liked the hunt... and appreciated the extra spending money!!!

So I went pick the boys up from school.. they do the scavenger hunt.. and before you know it.. Mommy is home and we are ready to go...

Oh and another thing.. my brother let me borrow his radar detector in case I was too anxious to get there... it is a "Valentine One".. and I really liked it...
here it is top left on the windshield along with our trusty "Lola".. GPS

So we load up..

and head out....

it was a rainy day when we left.. at times it was hard to see.. and adding to the problems was one of my wife's windshield wipers started to fall apart!!! But before too long after a few hours we finally arrived at a place that is part of our driving tradition..

We LOVE CRACKER BARREL!!!! The food was great.. and we were all set to hit our halfway point.. a little hotel in Chipley Florida...

Upcoming- Chipley is there.. but what happened to the Holiday Inn Express????

 

[Brave teacher]

Hey Randy! FOund you this morning. Looking forward to hearing all about it. Love the Cracker Barrel stop. You know we have the same tradition.

 

[stich626]

Really love your reports! I love Cracker Barrel too. Lucky enought o have one 10 minutes away.

 

[Coach81]

Hey Randy! FOund you this morning. Looking forward to hearing all about it. Love the Cracker Barrel stop. You know we have the same tradition.

Hey Megan! Thanks for comin' along! I can't wait to show you everything!

Really love your reports! I love Cracker Barrel too. Lucky enought o have one 10 minutes away.

Thank goodness we don't have one that close... I would probably be about 20 lbs heavier!!!

Thanks for taging along...More to come....

 

[xApril]

Welcome back!

I'm excited to read!

 

[Coach81]

So we usually drive about half way.. which always puts us in Chipley, FL. There is a nice hotel there- a Holiday Inn Express which is very clean, comfortable, and as a bonus serves a complimentary hot breakfast every morning.. we really like it.

So as we are pulling up to the hotel in Chipley.. we notice... THERE IS NO HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS ANYMORE

So I walk in.. and the lady behind the counter explains that even though it is no longer a HIE, it is still very clean, and will still have the breakfast.. etc.. so we decide to splurge (as she gave us a real good rate), and get two rooms so everyone can have their own bed

So we check in.. and settle for the night.. it is a good hotel and we are well -rested for the next day's drive:

So we get up early... and hit the road.. the drive is pretty nice.. no real incidents.. just a few cool things along the way..

We stop for a quick break.. at a familiar place...

and we finally settle in for the night at our other off-site hotel..

We had some fun at the hotel.. it is a very nice hotel with big suites.. and very cheap for what you get..

I was very excited...


So we were all set.. we were in Orlando.. and now we were headed to our first night.. it was a big one.. with us doing something we never did before..

Hang around to find out what....

 

[Coach81]

So the plan was.. Saturday (day we arrived at BVS) we would go to Downtown Disney, hand out there a while.. eat at one of our favorite places.. then go do a show that Alisa and I have always wanted to do, but never did...

Alisa asked me this past Christmas for a special present... to go see "La Nouba" at WDW for this trip. I thought it was a great idea.. and so we went ahead a booked it for Christmas...

So as the afternoon turned into evening.. here we went:

Alisa drove and I snapped some shots...

The boys were thrilled as we saw..

First.. one of our fav places to eat...

Then we moved on to:

What an amazing show!!!!! It's one of those things that you really can't describe.. you have to see it for yourself...

Zach was not too excited about it at first.. but as soon as the show started both he and the rest of us were blown away...

If ever you get a chance to watch this show I highly recommend it!!!

Next Update- Check in at Bay Lake Towers....

 

[Goofy442]

Can't wait to hear more !

 

[Brave teacher]

Love EoS! We did La Nouba for our honeymoon. We told yall about that long ago. It is wonderful. We plan to bring the boys in another year or two.

 

[Coach81]

Update coming.. been busy with personal training.. and trying to complete our latest vacation DVD...

Hope you guys are well...

 

[Coach81]

COLOR="Red"]A few trips ago, we brought my mom and my stepdad along with us. We stayed at our home resort, SSR. We LOVE our home resort.. the springs section.. the main pool, the fitness center.. it is awesome.. but while we were visiting all the different parts of the resort, we visited the "DVC Showcase" room.. it had a mock-room of Kidani, and of the brand new Bay Lake Towers...

I loved the BLT room.. my mom was blown away.. Alisa was not as impressed. She said she did not care for the "contemporary artwork".. etc..


Well I told my mom.. "what is so awesome about DVC is that ONE DAY we will stay at BLT AND have a view of the Magic Kingdom Castle!!!

So here we are.. a few trips later.. and thanks to this board, and my wife's homework... we reserved.. - You might want to make a note of this - North Tower.. even number..

After check in.. I reported to Alisa.. we got #7312 She paused.. then a big came over her face.. "That's a good one" she exclaimed..

Well.. I'll let the pictures take it from here....[/COLOR]

Everyone's Favorite Sign:

Drive to check in:

Now the room itself:[/COLOR]

The room.. and the view both were stunning

Low and behold.. we got a castle view!!!!

I know it is hard to see in the pic, but if you look to the left of Space Mountain, you can see the top of the Castle!!!!

Words cannot describe how happy we were..
Alisa admitted later on that the room was MUCH better than she thought it would be..

So we got everything moved in.. and settled in.. so much more to do

Next Update- Quick trip to Animal Kingdom

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Any time I see someone from Louisiana I have to jump on board. Looking forward to reading your report.

 

[Coach81]

Any time I see someone from Louisiana I have to jump on board. Looking forward to reading your report.

Hello fellow Cajun!!! Welcome aboard!!!

 

[disneygirl1972]

Can't wait to read more.... We were there over Mardi Gras too, but then again who wasn't (from Louisiana )

 

[Jazzabelle508]

I'm in and my family also loves cracker barrel! Can't wait to hear more about your trip

 

[ChattaAlley]

Lovin the pictures and theupdates. Keep them coming.....and I love CB aslso. It is like a must on road trips. I am so jealous of your resort.

 

[Coach81]

I'm in and my family also loves cracker barrel! Can't wait to hear more about your trip

Lovin the pictures and theupdates. Keep them coming.....and I love CB aslso. It is like a must on road trips. I am so jealous of your resort.

Hey Guys!!! Thanks for hangin'!!!

 

[Coach81]

So after we settled in to our gorgeous room with the great view.. we decided to head out to Animal Kingdom.

We really like AK, we have to hit the big one of course..

It was a great time, at the end of the day, Zach was determined for us to eat at Rainforest Cafe.. well I was eating good until:

OH MY Was that thing "The VOLCANO" GOOD I must have eaten at least HALF OF IT by myself..


That's all for now.. it was a quickie..

Next UP.. my usual 4 am photo trek around Bay Lake Towers!!!

 

[Brave teacher]

Great little update Randy. Good job "figuring out" Bryan's favorite ride and sending him the pic. I miss it, but we'll be there soon enough.