Day 1....the drive to ASMU from NH and check in.

[phorsenuf]

Our drive down wasn't bad at all. We came down from NH, it took us about 24 hours. We left Thursday night (4/24) around 8:30pm. Now, this was the trip the 2 little ones knew nothing about. After the science fair I said we were driving to grandmas because she needed to borrow our suitcases. (Thank goodness they travel alot!!). After about an hour, my DS-11 asks how much longer. we said about 22 hours. He gave us a look and we kept on going. After passing thru 2 states, again he asks how much longer and we said 21 hours. We were stopped at a store at the time getting drinks and he says "that's it, I'm getting out of the car!!" Then my other DS-13 asks where are we going. We finally told them we were heading to Disney, but they didn't believe us! I showed them the passes, but they still wouldn't believe it. Finally, my DS-13 looked in the suitcases and saw all the clothes. They were so excited! Even more so when we told them we would still be going in July!!!
The drive was uneventfull, we didn't take 95 because we didn't want to hit traffic on Friday. I drove the night shift but did have to pull over for a bit of a nap around 3AM. I only wanted to nap for like 10 minutes, I ended up sleeping for about an hour and a half! LOL. We stopped at a Shoneys (my boys miss that place) for breakfast and we continued on. We had a late lunch/early dinner at Sonnys BBQ just outside of Jacksonville, FL. After that it pretty much poured the rest of the way.

We got in about 9pm friday night (4/25), check in was quick, my package was waiting for me and we had a nice room. We were in Jazz 2, ground floor.
Now, before I go any further I will confess we were 5 to a room. This was a last minute trip planned so my son could join his school choir that was singing at Epcot. There was myself, DH, DS-16, DS-13 and DS-11.
While I was checking in, my DS-11, managed to close his fingers in the bathroom door (hinge side) They were a mess! Of course this was the "invisible child!" LOL I had dad whisk him away to get bandaged up. Nothing broken, just mushed. We settled into our room which was definatly spacious enough for all of us. We brought along an air mattress and even with that it was fine. We just moved the table and chairs to the other side of the entertainment center and it gave us more room.
We walked around the resort which we were very impressed with! Any pictures doesn't do it any justice! It really is lovely! My hubby was impressed and we even contemplated changing our July ressies to go back there. We are booked at CB at a comparable rate to All Stars, so we will keep CB. On that trip there will be 7 of us, so we have 2 rooms booked.
We brought a cooler with us so we filled it up with ice and bought some 2 liters of soda, milk and OJ at the store at the resort. reasonable prices I thought.
After that, my DS-16 met up with his school friends and went swimming. The rest of us hung out in the room and rested for our big day at MGM tomorrow!!

 

[pumba]

I dont know if we could do it.......makes me think though......hmmmmm thanks so much for putting this hmmmmmm in my head......see me do it again.....hmmmmmmmm......will pass it by the hubby......thanks so much for your start of your trip.....I too love All Stars....we stayed twice at Movies.....great place I think too

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Other than smashed fingers, your trip is starting off really well!

 

[chrispooh1963]

I agree, the drive isn't as bad as I thought it would be. We drove from Mass. Left at 2:30am on 4/17, stopped in Fayetville NC for the night. Left on the 18th and arrived in Orlando about 6:00pm. We did hit traffic on the 18th because it was Good Friday. Our drive home was very uneventful. We left WDW at 3:30am on 4/26th and stopped for the night in Northern Washington. Made it home to Mass on the 27th around 2:00pm.

 

[OhMari]

We were just there for Magic Music Days, it is magical seeing your son or daughter singing or playing at Disney. How come he didn't go down with the Choir?

Where did his choir stay, we stayed off property at a Ramada, Yuk! It wasn't my choice, but we go every 4 years, and I told the band director to start fundraising now so we can stay on property when my daughter will go!

 

[phorsenuf]

Originally posted by OhMari
We were just there for Magic Music Days, it is magical seeing your son or daughter singing or playing at Disney. How come he didn't go down with the Choir?

It was real neat to see them performing up on that stage in Epcot. we took lots of pictures! It's really quite humorous about us going down there. When the school trip came up it was like $1,000. for him to go and we said sorry....we don't have the money. Nothing more was ever said and he never brought it back up. While I was planning my July trip I came across these boards and that's when I learned all about CODES!!!!! I never knew such a creature existed! So...after getting a fabulous deal on my July trip and learning about the magic of annual passes, I started thinking about a trip over April vacation, completely forgetting that that was when the school was performing. So after crunching a bunch of numbers I took my hubby out to dinner and pitched the idea to him. Of course I started with off-property sites since they were cheaper. It just so happened that during my pitch (which wasn't going as well as I had hoped) I remembered about the school choir. I then went on about how great of an opportunity it would be for our son and what a shame for him to have to miss it! LOL...well, that worked and sure enough, he agreed to the trip and to the fact that we should stay where the school as staying, which was All Star Music. As it turns out, the cost of the April trip (7 nights/5 people AND the July trip (10 nights/ 7 people) worked out to be LESS than my original July trip!!
So, thanks to this board and some smooth talking and maybe a little bit of guilt....LOL we were able to go!
now....to figure out a winter trip.........