Disney dangled the visual weinee & Mickeystoontown gobbled it up! 10/26

[kgoodb00]

Joining in!! Love reading your TRs. Can't wait to hear all about the trip!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I was very happy to find this. I have been following the CBR thread since we started to plan our fall trip and I 'm so grateful for all of the information that you post there. I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip.

Welcome! I will be posting some CBR pictures in the next couple of updates and will have more throughout the report.

Hi! I am usually a lurker on your reports but I have decided to finally start commenting! I get to see everyone's DisMeets and it makes me slightly jealous! I want to make Disney loving friends! Haha! Anyway, I love reading your reports and I cannot wait for your next post!

Hey there! Thanks for commenting! I remember my first Dis Meet and feeling a bit uncomfortable. Over the years, I've met a lot of fellow Disney lovers and it's so much fun!

Usually a lurker, but I have read several of your past trip reports. I love your family! You have such an awesome time. Glad to be following along on this one!

Welcome above! Thanks for the compliment of posting!

Great start, bummer about all the traffic.

In our town, there's not much traffic. Well, there's the usual "work hour" traffic but not much more. I hate driving in road construction.

Another Diser coming out of lurkdom to join you on this report.

Welcome! Please please continue to post!

Hey there! Coming out of "hiding" and following along, your report sounds like it's going to be fun!

Welcome and thanks for coming out of hiding! I will be posting more soon!

I'm exhausted reading about that road trip. That would have bothered me with all that traffic. I know when we went through Kississimme on Mark's last business trip to Florida the traffic was awful with all of the construction. Obviously it was still going on for you.

But now you've arrived and I can't wait to hear all about it.

Thank you for the text message, friend.

Tell me about it! Road construction, wrecks, ugh!

You are welcome, my friend!

 

[mickeystoontown]

HI Lisa! Joining in a little late but I've now read all about your road trip including all the interesting sights along the way. I love road trips and I prefer to do the driving as well.

Hello and welcome! I don't mind driving at all until it comes to road construction and delays. UGH!

Love it so far! I love that you can see your reflection in the pictures you took of everyone in the car!

And, I'm with you about husbands driving. Mine is terrible. Sounds a lot like John. Always looking around at something else and not the road! I usually drive most of the way on our trips.

I love all the tacky buildings on 192. We're definitely going to come in that way this year!

You arrive next! Yay!

Thanks! Yep, our hubbies sound a lot alike....looking here....looking there....looking everywhere at the person in front of them.

Hopefully the construction on Hwy. 192 will be winding down by the time you drive through. Or, at least it won't be as bad.

Yeah you are so close. We are not far from Hattiesburg so we take a lot of the same route. I think my kids like going through the tunnel as much as they like pulling up at Disney. We don't get to take the cool scenic route though, we stay on the interstate and the toll road whatever you call it. My DH drives the whole way and he refuses to go another way. He thinks it would slow us down. I did take a picture of the we bare all billboard too.

Normally, we honk when going through the tunnel but traffic was so backed up that I figured if I did somebody would think that I was honking at them.

I can understand your husband's way of thinking since he probably is just ready to get there and going another way may cause a delay. I think that Mapquest says that "our way" is about 15 minutes more than taking the toll road.

I was sucked in when I saw the magic and Mermaid stores, I have been in there and now I am hooked on the thread.

Welcome! We've been in the mermaid store but it's been years ago. I hope that you'll continue to post!

Joining in! Read your last trip report and loved it! Loved the sights on the way to FL too. We are driving from PA later this year and can't wait!

Welcome aboard! Yay for another road trip lover!

Joining in!! Love reading your TRs. Can't wait to hear all about the trip!!!

Hello and welcome! I will be posting another update later today!

 

[Donald - my hero]

Thanks for the welcome! Yup, 5 loooong years since our last visit when we celebrated our 25th. Do the math yet and figure out this makes THIRTY YEARS?

Couldn't resist mentioning that i did some of my very FIRST driving ever on I-75 on a family trip from Ontario, Canada. Always stayed in FW so can you guess what my dad did? Doubt it highly! Put the danged motor home on cruise and pulled me onto the driver seat UNDER HIS LEGS! I thought i would die (to say nothing of my mom's reaction once she knew what he had done) Yeah, so picture a very white-knuckled 17 yr old driving a MOTOR HOME on an interstate when what i was learning to drive on were gravol country roads

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks for the welcome! Yup, 5 loooong years since our last visit when we celebrated our 25th. Do the math yet and figure out this makes THIRTY YEARS?

Couldn't resist mentioning that i did some of my very FIRST driving ever on I-75 on a family trip from Ontario, Canada. Always stayed in FW so can you guess what my dad did? Doubt it highly! Put the danged motor home on cruise and pulled me onto the driver seat UNDER HIS LEGS! I thought i would die (to say nothing of my mom's reaction once she knew what he had done) Yeah, so picture a very white-knuckled 17 yr old driving a MOTOR HOME on an interstate when what i was learning to drive on were gravol country roads

We are celebrating our 30th anniversary in August!

Oh my word! That sounds scary and slightly fun/adventurous at the same time! My daddy taught me how to drive in a cow pasture. At the time, I thought that I'd never drive on a road as bumpy and crappy (sorry...had to ) at the time. Little did I know that Louisiana roads aren't much different than driving in a cow pasture.

 

[tazdev3225]

Joining in as I remember. I start to read TR's then forget what I'm reading.

I am not the driver in my family I fall asleep. I do take the pictures and some can be odd like the giant dead bug on my windshield wiper.

That last road looked so familiar. I drove it for 5 days last year when I stayed with my aunt and the construction was bad then.

Looking forward to more.

 

[DisFanAmI]

I'm here!

I'm counting on your TR to get me motivated to write mine...

 

[teedee]

Another lurker reporting in! I've always read your reports but rarely post, but as I have a bad case of post Disney depression I was thrilled to see you have a trip report going to help me deal with it!

Terri

 

[pwdebbie]

Wow, that road you take for the last 22 miles -- beautiful. I-4 is a nightmare. I want to know what they were smoking when they planned that road. We have a gianter paint can in our area. The folks who travel I-81 look for it on their way to Disney. Just google "Shippensburg paint can" and you'll see plenty of pics. Enjoying your trip so far!

 

[natebenma]

Nice last day at the office. I am sure it was a good feeling to get everything wrapped up in peace.

I love the pictures of Hunter, John and your selfie with the sunglasses in the car.

Let's roll!

What a bummer that you ran into so many slow spots. Frustrating!

Great picture of the battleship, Hunter and all of the other oddities along the way.

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

Hey Lisa,
So I'm a little late to the party but I am sooo happy I found your trip report today! Your trip reports definitely keep my Disney blues at bay, and I'm so glad you take the time to write them as they are very entertaining!

First off, it was such a pleasure to meet y'all at Epcot! I could have stayed and talked to you, John and Hunter for hours. You're just how I envisioned y'all through reading your trip reports - super nice, friendly and fun-loving. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday; if you're ever passing through NC let me know!

Enjoyed reading about your drive down to FL. It's nice to see different scenery and Hunter did a great job at taking pictures of the unusual sights!

Yay - you've almost made it to the Walt Disney World pearly gates of heaven on earth (at least that's what they are to me) Can't wait to read more!
Hope your day is a good one!
Beth

 

[mickeystoontown]

Joining in as I remember. I start to read TR's then forget what I'm reading.

I am not the driver in my family I fall asleep. I do take the pictures and some can be odd like the giant dead bug on my windshield wiper.

That last road looked so familiar. I drove it for 5 days last year when I stayed with my aunt and the construction was bad then.

Looking forward to more.

Welcome! I have a lot of those giant dead bug on the windshield pictures too!

Oh goodness! I wonder when they'll finish up the construction on Hwy. 192? Hopefully before we go back next May.

I'm here!

I'm counting on your TR to get me motivated to write mine...

Welcome! Let me know when/if you start!

Another lurker reporting in! I've always read your reports but rarely post, but as I have a bad case of post Disney depression I was thrilled to see you have a trip report going to help me deal with it!

Terri

Welcome and thanks for de-lurking! I was in a Disney funk earlier this week but it's a little better.

Wow, that road you take for the last 22 miles -- beautiful. I-4 is a nightmare. I want to know what they were smoking when they planned that road. We have a gianter paint can in our area. The folks who travel I-81 look for it on their way to Disney. Just google "Shippensburg paint can" and you'll see plenty of pics. Enjoying your trip so far!

There are a lot of things to see on that last 22 mile stretch so that helps. I need to go to google now. I want to see that paint can.

Nice last day at the office. I am sure it was a good feeling to get everything wrapped up in peace.

I love the pictures of Hunter, John and your selfie with the sunglasses in the car.

Let's roll!

What a bummer that you ran into so many slow spots. Frustrating!

Great picture of the battleship, Hunter and all of the other oddities along the way.

I need to send you a message about some of your non-Disney travels. My boss is wanting to go somewhere "tropical" and "laid back" and I immediately thought of you.

Back to my report, Hunter did a pretty good job of taking pictures for me as we traveled. I didn't post a couple of them that he took of the DVD screen though. Nobody wants to see pictures of the guys from Jacka$$.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey Lisa,
So I'm a little late to the party but I am sooo happy I found your trip report today! Your trip reports definitely keep my Disney blues at bay, and I'm so glad you take the time to write them as they are very entertaining!

First off, it was such a pleasure to meet y'all at Epcot! I could have stayed and talked to you, John and Hunter for hours. You're just how I envisioned y'all through reading your trip reports - super nice, friendly and fun-loving. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday; if you're ever passing through NC let me know!

Enjoyed reading about your drive down to FL. It's nice to see different scenery and Hunter did a great job at taking pictures of the unusual sights!

Yay - you've almost made it to the Walt Disney World pearly gates of heaven on earth (at least that's what they are to me) Can't wait to read more!
Hope your day is a good one!
Beth

Hey Beth! We were just talking about y'all the other day and how nice it was to meet your family. Just like you, you were just like I thought you would be. It's that love of Disney that makes us all so nice, I guess.

We think so much alike! Just wait until you read the next installment and you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oooh oooh, that smell! Can you smell that smell? The smell that surrounds you!

There’s one big thing that I totally forgot to mention in the last post. IT WAS HUNTER’S BIRTHDAY! How the heck did I forget to mention that it was my baby boy’s 17th birthday? (Today is not his birthday....the trip report travel day was his birthday) What kind of Mama am I forgettin’ to write that it was my son’s birthday? Oh yeah! I remember what kind of parent I am, the kind that takes her kid to Disney every single year of his life so I’m giving myself a pass.

About a month before our trip, Mama and I were at the mall and she told me to help her think of something for Hunter for his birthday that would pack easy. She wanted something that I could put it in our overnight bag and give it to him on his actual birthday. While in J.C. Penney, I spotted a tank top that had Darth Vader on it and he was floating in a pool float. The words “Chillin’ Like A Villain” were written underneath. It was perfect. Easy to pack and definitely something that he would like.

For weeks, my Mama reminded me that she had the shirt and that I would need to pack it. She told me at least a half dozen times and told John too. There was no way that we would forget it. About a week before we left, she brought it over and I tucked it away in the zippered section of our overnight bag along with a card from his Mamaw and a card from his dad and I (with a $50 bill inside). The morning of his birthday, we woke him up and gave him his birthday gifts. I took two blurry pictures on my phone of him in all of his “I am still half asleep but I’ll cheese it up for my Mamaw” glory:





Anyway, after the birthday gift presentation, we hit the road and now we are back to where I left off on this trip report...................

We were still on Hwy. 192 but we were getting closer:



and closer:



one more exit:



gotta go around the loop:




The first official signs on World Drive:





And there it is, my friends, what I often refer to as The Pearly Gates of Walt Disney World!



To the right of us we saw:





Up ahead and to our left:



Traffic was a little heavy and a bus was coming up on my right and I needed to get in the right hand lane. The bus passed and I started to get over. HONK! Lord have mercy, I didn’t see the car that was, apparently, hidden from my view because of the bus. Almost to our resort and I almost got us dang run over. After mouthing “I didn’t see you. I promise!” to the driver of the car, I eased into the lane behind it and made the right turn onto whatever that road is called. The one that goes in front of Caribbean Beach and Downtown Disney. I can’t remember the name.

After a few minutes, I turned onto Cayman Way and there it was, like a beacon in the night:



I know that my heart was beating a little faster than normal and I’m sure that mine wasn’t the only one. Every single one of us let out a sigh of relief and an “ahhhhh”. It was definitely an “ahhhh” moment. We were home!

I stopped at the guard station and the guard took our name, welcomed us home and directed me to the Custom House. The parking lot was semi-full but I was able to find a parking spot in the shade. John was going to stay in the car and make a few calls to let family members know that we made it.

Hunter wasn’t missing out on a thing and went with me to the Custom House to get checked in. A castmember greeted us and opened the door and there it was. What was? What am I talking about? That smell. Oooh, oooh, that smell! Can you smell that smell? The smell that surrounds you the minute you walked into your Disney resort? I have no idea what the smell is but it smells good! At Caribbean Beach, it’s smells a little like lavender with something tropically mixed in. For what it’s worth, Walmart’s brand of clothes detergent “lavender something or other” (obviously not the proper name) has a similar smell. Yes, I’m that person who looks for anything that reminds them of Disney.

**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

I had done online check-in prior to arrival and there were two windows open with both of them being busy. Hunter asked for the camera and took pictures while we waited:



See the time on the clock?



Due to road construction and traffic conditions, we arrived about 2 hours later than we had anticipated. Darn traffic gettin’ in the way of our Disney time. But, we were there finally!











I had been in line for just a few minutes when I was approached by a castmember who directed me to one of the “regular” check-in windows. Hunter came over about that time and we were greeted by a very friendly castmember. She told me that they were having some computer problems which was causing a little delay in getting people checked in. She said that they had been up and down but we were in luck because they were back up again. She took my name, asked for my driver’s license and the computers went down. Fortunately, because I had done online check-in, my packet was ready and she could go ahead and explain everything to me. She was so sweet and she was trying to distract us from the fact that we were waiting. I didn’t have the heart to interrupt her and tell her that I knew how everything worked.

Just a minute or so later, the computers were back up and she was able to get our room number. I had made two requests: 1) to be placed in the village of Jamaica; and, 2) an upstairs room. I was quite pleased when she informed me that both of my requests had been granted.

We had two reservations and I had previously asked that a notation be made on the reservation that they were “continuing” in the hope that we wouldn’t have to change rooms after the second night. The castmember looked at the reservations and the notation was there but there was also a notation that they weren’t able to grant that request. We would have to move rooms and would be just one room down from where we were for the first two nights. That was not what I wanted to hear but, given the fact that the room only portion of the trip was on Disney’s nickel and the package portion was on our’s, I didn’t feel like I had the right to complain. Oh and the room only reservation was for a water view room and the package was standard. As I said, I couldn’t really complain. If we had to move rooms, we had to move rooms. We were just excited to be back at Caribbean Beach and at Disney.

I was also excited because one of my Dis friends, Steph, was at the CBR and had reported seeing work being done on one of the buildings in Jamaica. No one had reported if any of the refurbed rooms were complete though and I couldn’t remember which building Steph had seen the work being done in. Would we get a newly refurbed room? I was about to ask the castmember about the refurb when the computers went down again and I could tell that she was flustered. I figured why add to the chaos by tossing questions at her. Besides, I needed to visit the concierge desk about our Hoop Dee Doo Revue tickets and I’d ask them.

The line for the concierge desk was empty and I was called to a window immediately. The castmember told me that she may not be able to print out of Hoop Dee Doo Revue tickets yet because we hadn’t checked in for our package. As she was trying to see if it was possible to print the tickets, I asked about the new rooms. She was pretty tight lipped about them but did tell me that one of the buildings was undergoing work and that they were getting queen beds. After a little small talk, I could tell that was all she was going to say. As she suspected, she couldn’t give me the Hoop Dee Doo tickets yet and said that I could pick them up at any time before the date of show.

From all of what I have written, it would seem that we were in the Custom House for a long time. However, it was probably only about 20 minutes. Not long at all considering the computer issues.

When we got to the car, John told us that he had called everybody and let them know that we had arrived. I asked John if we should pick up our Garden Grocer order or call for Bell Services after we got settled in. We decided to just wait and let them deliver it later.

As I said, our room was in Jamaica which was on the opposite end of the resort. We drove around and saw the construction area set up on one side of the parking lot. In typical Disney fashion, everything was within temporary walls, well contained and hidden as best it could be. Not a big unsightly mess as one might think.

We found our room easily and were extremely pleased with the location. It was a corner room which makes the room seem larger and gives you more natural light. Just an note though, if you are in a corner room, you may not have a mirror above your table. I didn't even notice until we were in the other room that the mirror was not there in the first room. With the extra window around the table, there's no wall for the mirror.

Last trip, I forgot to take pictures of the room. This time, I remembered but I still didn’t take many.







Our view was of the Jamaica quiet pool and the lake. It was quite the pretty view. Even with that view, though, I wouldn’t have paid extra for it. I’d rather spend my money elsewhere but that's just me.





After checking out the room and our view, we started unloading all of our luggage. It took quite a few trips as I am an extreme overpacker. I want two shirts for every day and extra clothes just in case we need them. Once we had it all in, we called for Bell Services who delivered our Garden Grocer in less than fifteen minutes. The gentleman was very nice and was able to answer the questions that we had regarding changing rooms and how to handle the luggage and groceries during the change.

I like to get “settled in” when we arrive in Disney but I couldn’t this time because we would have to change rooms after two nights. But, at least, we could get a little more organized so I set about getting what I could in order. The guys rested while I flitted about putting things here and there. After about half an hour, our stomachs told us that it was time for some Disney food and the closest place to find it was Old Port Royale.

**Up next: Where are the magicians and musicians? Is that a naked man?

 

[Pluto0809]

Is it a bit crazy that I tear up a little just seeing a picture of the Disney welcome sign?

Glad you didn't end up getting into an accident. That would have been really bad start to your trip!

Love CBR! Mom and I stayed there is 2012. We were in Jamaica 42. Looks like you are in 43 or 44 from your pictures.

 

[ddstratton]

Now this is gonna bug me. I KNOW I have a picture of the PA Paint Can. We have traveled past that thing more times than I can count. But of course -- I CAN'T FIND ONE SINGLE PICTURE OF IT IN MY STASH!!! Grrr.

However, along the same stretch of road (I-81, Shippensburg, PA) I do have a picture of a big rig up in the air, acting as a billboard...

 

[DisneyJo]

I'm glad you arrived safely and you're all settled in, even if it is only 2 nights. I agree with you, unless I have a balcony where I can appreciate the more expensive view I'll save my money

Happy Birthday to Hunter

 

[maryj11]

The Jamaica area looks so pretty in the photo's ! I know I have been saying we are going to stay here for at least the past 3 years and always end up changing our minds. Our next trip in 2015 we really really are going to stay there

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Awww, the smells of Disney! There was a suggestion on my cruise FB page that I fully intend to do. Get one or two of the hanging Yankee Candle deodorizers to hang in your stateroom during the cruise. Pick a scent that you have never used before and is "tropical" (like Sand and Sun). After smelling it throughout the cruise, you can then buy it for home from time to time to take you back to your Disney cruise vacation.

This would probably work great for resort rooms, too!

LOVE the Darth Vader shirt!!! If that were NOT a tank top, DH and DS would go crazy over it!