Disneyland is still closed so it's a road trip to WDW! (May-June 2021 PTR)

[VandVsmama]

IT'S TIME FOR A PTR! Just one week ago, DH & I returned from our awesome 25th wedding anniversary trip (and yes, there's a trip report in progress for that!). A couple of months ago, we decided to add another WDW to the mix this year, only this time, the kids are coming, too!

Who's going?

• me (47) - I'd be happy going to Disneyland or WDW every year for the rest of my life! I love it all. Well, I don't love Journey Into Imagination with Figment, but I love the rest of it!
• DH (48) - loves POTC (the DL one, hates the WDW version), Country Bear Jamboree, the People Mover, Star Wars Galaxy's Edge
• ODD (14) - loves Fast Choo Choo (BTMRR), Splash Mtn, HM, POTC
• YDD (12, but turning 13 on the trip) - loves everything Marvel & Star Wars (like her mom & dad!)

Originally, ODD was going to be on a big choir trip to England right after this school year ends. But thanks to COVID-19, that whole thing got cancelled. And while ODD was going to be on her epically fun choir trip, DH & I were going to take YDD to Universal Studios Hollywood and Disneyland. But that isn't happening either since Disneyland still remains closed with no re-opening date in sight.

To say that the kids have been really down in the dumps about all of this is putting it mildly. On top of all that, they haven't seen hardly any of their friends in person in months. They're super tired of online schooling (in person schooling for our kids school resumes in about 10 days! YEAH!). It's been a hard year on everybody everywhere.

I proposed to DH that we go to WDW, but he was a flat out "NO!" and did NOT want 'another Disney trip.' He wanted a road trip...like at least a week in the car spending hours and hours driving to random places and then we get out and "look at stuff," then get back in the car and drive some more.

Right about now, you all are probably thinking the same thing that I was when I first heard him pitch this idea...



HECK TO THE NO! Dear husband of mine, why do you want to subject us all to this torture? "Because if we're all stuck in a small confined space together, then the kids will be forced to talk to us."


I then went into full on negotiation mode and said to DH, "Ok, but if we're going to do a road trip, then the kids & I better get some sort of reward out of it. So what if we did a 1-way road trip to Florida, spent a few days at WDW, and then flew home?"

DH then said something which left me speechless (and that doesn't happen that often since I can always come up with something to say, haha!). He said, "Ok, done."

This was me...


What? It's that simple? Are you sure, DH? He said, "Yep! I'm willing to go to WDW again if it means we can do a road trip to get there AND if you plan the whole thing."

Well, son of a Batman! We're going to WDW again! Hey kids! We're going to WDW in the summer and we're going to sweat our you know what's off!



Coming up next...how we're getting there, where we're going to stop along the way, and all of that other fun trip planning stuff!

 

[DLo]

Reading your current TR so looking forward to reading this also .

 

[VandVsmama]

Let's talk road trip!

Departure day will be Saturday, 5/29. Our kids' last day of school is Wednesday of that week, so why aren't we leaving on Thursday or Friday? Car rental prices. We're doing a 1-way car rental with Alamo (thanks to Costco Travel!). If we were to pick up the car rental on Thursday or Friday, it was going to be almost $200 more expensive...and that's after searching a few different car rental companies. Alamo had the best deal.

Our local Alamo car rental location opens at 7:00 am, so that's when we're picking up the car that Saturday! Because...it's going to be a 12 hour drive on day 1.



If we have time and it's still light out, I might be able to convince my family to do a pit stop at Fort Lancaster, which was a US Army fort used between the 1850s and 1870s. It mainly served as a mail stop and a far western outpost for travelers headed west to Arizona and California. It's pretty easy to get to from I-10!



I also envision a likely stop along the way in either Las Cruces, NM or El Paso, TX for Mexican food. DH knows of a good place in Las Cruces thanks to some business trips there for work.

I predict that Day 1 will be full of a lot of "Are we there yet?" and "How much farther?" I have my eye on a Best Western in Junction for us to spend the night at the end of our very long first travel day.

Sunday, 5/30 - Day 2:
Before we hit the road again the morning of Day 2, we will probably have breakfast at Isaak's Restaurant in the epicenter of all the action in exciting Junction, TX. I mean, with a cool retro neon sign out front like this, how can you pass that up? This article from 2017 talks about the place.


Before leaving Junction, we'll stop by a weird roadside attraction in downtown Junction...the deer horn tree! Picture courtesy of Roadside America.


From Junction, TX, we'll continue our journey east and will stop next at Stonehenge II about 45 min from Junction in Ingram, TX.


I had NO IDEA this place even existed until a few days ago, YouTuber Justin Scarred posted a new video which featured the Alamo and...this replica of Stonehenge. Random!

And did you know that there's another replica of Stonehenge in Washington state? DH & I went to that one a long time ago.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Let's talk road trip!

Departure day will be Saturday, 5/29. Our kids' last day of school is Wednesday of that week, so why aren't we leaving on Thursday or Friday? Car rental prices. We're doing a 1-way car rental with Alamo (thanks to Costco Travel!). If we were to pick up the car rental on Thursday or Friday, it was going to be almost $200 more expensive...and that's after searching a few different car rental companies. Alamo had the best deal.

Our local Alamo car rental location opens at 7:00 am, so that's when we're picking up the car that Saturday! Because...it's going to be a 12 hour drive on day 1.

View attachment 554660

If we have time and it's still light out, I might be able to convince my family to do a pit stop at Fort Lancaster, which was a US Army fort used between the 1850s and 1870s. It mainly served as a mail stop and a far western outpost for travelers headed west to Arizona and California. It's pretty easy to get to from I-10!

View attachment 554662

I also envision a likely stop along the way in either Las Cruces, NM or El Paso, TX for Mexican food. DH knows of a good place in Las Cruces thanks to some business trips there for work.

I predict that Day 1 will be full of a lot of "Are we there yet?" and "How much farther?" I have my eye on a Best Western in Junction for us to spend the night at the end of our very long first travel day.

Sunday, 5/30 - Day 2:
Before we hit the road again the morning of Day 2, we will probably have breakfast at Isaak's Restaurant in the epicenter of all the action in exciting Junction, TX. I mean, with a cool retro neon sign out front like this, how can you pass that up? This article from 2017 talks about the place.
View attachment 554666

Before leaving Junction, we'll stop by a weird roadside attraction in downtown Junction...the deer horn tree! Picture courtesy of Roadside America.
View attachment 554670

From Junction, TX, we'll continue our journey east and will stop next at Stonehenge II about 45 min from Junction in Ingram, TX.
View attachment 554671

I had NO IDEA this place even existed until a few days ago, YouTuber Justin Scarred posted a new video which featured the Alamo and...this replica of Stonehenge. Random!

And did you know that there's another replica of Stonehenge in Washington state? DH & I went to that one a long time ago.

I don't plan trips for RIGHT at the end of the school year, since it's never quite a certainty that school ends on the scheduled last day. The snow days get tacked on to the end, although I suspect that isn't a large concern for you in what looks to be the Phoenix area.

You're going to be so glad to be flying back. That drive looks sort of fun...once.

 

[VandVsmama]

I don't plan trips for RIGHT at the end of the school year, since it's never quite a certainty that school ends on the scheduled last day. The snow days get tacked on to the end, although I suspect that isn't a large concern for you in what looks to be the Phoenix area.

You're going to be so glad to be flying back. That drive looks sort of fun...once.

We never have snow days in my neck of the woods. But yeah...I wouldn't want to drive cross-country at the END of a WDW trip!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

We never have snow days in my neck of the woods. But yeah...I wouldn't want to drive cross-country at the END of a WDW trip!

This is my 5th year in my current district. We have followed the original calendar ONCE in four years. Granted, only 2 of those were snow-related. Last year and this year, well, you know....unprecedented times and all that.

I live in Washington State and once drove 3+ hours to fly out of Portland (PDX) and it wasn't bad on the way there, but on the way back I was So. Over. It.

 

[VandVsmama]

This is my 5th year in my current district. We have followed the original calendar ONCE in four years. Granted, only 2 of those were snow-related. Last year and this year, well, you know....unprecedented times and all that.

I live in Washington State and once drove 3+ hours to fly out of Portland (PDX) and it wasn't bad on the way there, but on the way back I was So. Over. It.

One of our extended family members used to live in the Portland, OR area for quite awhile and said that every winter, there was at least ONE major ice storm which would mess everything up for a few days. And their street never ended up getting snowplowed or treated...thus leaving their street to be an ice rink!

 

[VandVsmama]

With our bellies full of breakfast and after a quick stop for fun pics at Stonehenge II in the middle of nowhere of Texas, we'll continue on our journey to the Alamo in San Antonio.



I've been to the Alamo before when I was a kid on a trip with my parents, but neither DH or the kids have been. So we're all looking forward to seeing it.


After we've explored the Alamo, I think that everybody will probably be hungry for lunch. We'll play it by ear in terms of where to eat, but since it's Texas, lunch will probably involve some sort of BBQ joint. DH & our kids are big fans of grilled meat.

According to Google Maps, it's a good 7 hour drive from San Antonio to Baton Rouge, which is where I think we'll end up spending night #2.


However, there are some interesting places to possibly stop along the way, like...

the world's largest pecan in Seguin, TX...


Then near Katy, TX (in the Houston area), we have the 8th wonder of the world...



I found some other cool places to stop, but they won't be open on the Sunday that we'll be passing through. In western Louisiana, there's some cool small town museums that we could check out, but none are open on Sundays.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

It sounds like you really are getting the details all mapped out. Oops. That came out all punny.

I totally couldn't do a 9 or 12 hour drive in a day AND make stops, especially more than one day in a row. I like to linger too long when exploring.

 

[VandVsmama]

Day 3 - Monday 5/31:
We have a few different options to choose from for lodging in the Baton Rouge - New Orleans area. There are several hotel/motels around Baton Rouge. Or we could spend a night in one of the cottages at Oak Alley Plantation:


If we stay at Oak Alley Plantation, we'd need to arrive before 9 pm for check in. It looks like it's a solid 8 hour drive from the Alamo to Oak Alley Plantation, so this option might not work if we do stop to see Stonehenge II. So I'll have to figure out driving time, stopping for food, etc. to see if that option will work. I know that the 4 of us would really love staying here, though.

Or we could spend a night at The Stockade in Baton Rouge, which isn't as far of a drive as Oak Alley Plantation is. It's 45 min closer to San Antonio, so this is definitely in the running.


Assuming we stay overnight in Baton Rouge, then Day 3 brings us to Monday 5/31 (Memorial Day!). We could tour Oak Alley Plantation, pictured above. Or drive the hour from Baton Rouge to Destrehan Plantation...


You can purchase plantation tour tickets ahead of time for specific time slots at Destrehan Plantation, whereas at Oak Alley Plantation, it's first come, first served. Destrehan Plantation has an exhibit on the 1811 Slave Revolt and some slave cabins you can see. YDD is studying US History this year and they just got done with the Civil War period recently. I think it would be great for my kids to see one of the actual places they've learned about in class. When I was a kid, my parents took us on a plantation tour. It was fascinating.

After a plantation tour, DH wants to get some beignets from Cafe Du Mond in New Orleans, especially since we always get beignets near the French Market in New Orleans Square at Disneyland. Looks like it's about a half hour drive. Of course, we'll probably have to find somewhere to park in downtown New Orleans.



Their menu is simple. Coffee, other drinks, and beignets. That's it!



After that, we'll drive 15 min to Chalmette Battlefield in Jean Lafitte National Park. YDD is REALLY excited about going here. Her history teacher did part of a lecture/lesson all about the Battle of New Orleans in early 1815 (two weeks AFTER the treaty between England and the US was signed to end the War of 1812), which helped Andrew Jackson's popularity soar later in his political career.

Quick fun fact: the loading area at Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride is called Lafitte's Landing. And it IS named after that famous pirate Jean Lafitte. He fought in the War of 1812 and got a presidential pardon from President James Madison for his valiant efforts in the Battle of New Orleans against the British. Did you know that after the War of 1812, Jean Lafitte returned to his pirate ways and even served as governor of Galveston, TX for awhile?



Then we hit the road again!

 

[VandVsmama]

P.S. - I can't take credit for learning the Jean Lafitte information all on my own. It's thanks to the Connecting with Walt podcast, hosted by @Teleclashter & Michael Bowling (can't remember his user name!) here on the DIS!

 

[VandVsmama]

Some good news to report!

We had a failed attempt to go to Maui in July 2020 with my sister. Part of that trip was going to involved DH, the kids, & I doing a day trip from Maui to Honolulu in order to visit the Pearl Harbor memorial and related museums. In preparation for that trip, I purchased round trip tickets on Southwest Airlines for us from Maui to Honolulu.

Well, that trip got postponed to March 2021. And then we cancelled that trip entirely because of Maui & Hawaii's very restrictive requirements right now on incoming visitors. It just didn't make sense at the time to spend almost $500 on COVID testing a couple of days before the trip and run the risk of still needing to quarantine inside the entire time in case we didn't get the test results back in time (this has actually happened to people!).

From that, DH & I had $235.00 of unused Southwest Airlines travel funds, which we used to help pay for our return flights home for our anniversary trip which just finished a couple of weeks ago (we had an awesome time at WDW!).

The kids also have $235.00 total between the 2 of them in Southwest travel funds, which will help offset the cost of their plane tickets from Orlando (MCO) to Phoenix (PHX). Yay!

So our airfare just became $235.00 cheaper. I just checked with Southwest and they are still showing those travel funds as being valid & have an expiration date of September 2022. However, they're not transferrable from 1 person to another.

In addition, I always like paying for the $25/person 1-way fee for Early Bird check-in. That's an added $100 total for the 4 of us. I haven't bit the bullet yet on purchasing the plane tickets. But right now between that and the $235.00 off, our total for the 4 one-way tickets will end up being $602.72.

So ~ $150 per person. SWEET!

I was thinking earlier this week and last week whether to use a different airline. This is what was running through my head:

• American Airlines - has a few nonstop flights each day from MCO-->PHX.
• BUT on American, you pay $30/bag for checked luggage. That's $120 extra right there.
• Base ticket price is about the same as on Southwest ($180-$189). But when you add in the luggage fees, it's more expensive.
• Southwest currently has ONE direct flight per day from MCO-->PHX. It leaves around 9:00 am...Which means that Magical Express pick up would be around 6:00 am. YUCK! NO THANKS!
• United Airlines - NO direct flights. Everything changes planes in either Denver or Chicago. Plus, same luggage fees as American. Forget it.
• Jet Blue - cheap fares, but long layovers in Newark. Like 10-11 hours total travel time. Forget it.
• Delta - everything changes planes basically in Atlanta...biggest airport ever! NOT cheap. Nothing direct. Not worth it.
• Frontier Airlines - cheap airline, but not enough flights. Bad reputation of having major delays and problems. Not worth it to get stuck and basically being screwed.

Which leads me back to Southwest Airlines. A couple of the flight options I'm eye'ing involve a STOP, but not a plane change. This would be ideal. We wouldn't have to get on Magical Express to the airport at 6:00 am. We could sleep in on check out day, maybe have a late breakfast at Topolino's Terrace or Chef Mickey's, and then go to the airport after that.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Day 3 - Monday 5/31:
We have a few different options to choose from for lodging in the Baton Rouge - New Orleans area. There are several hotel/motels around Baton Rouge. Or we could spend a night in one of the cottages at Oak Alley Plantation:
View attachment 555602

If we stay at Oak Alley Plantation, we'd need to arrive before 9 pm for check in. It looks like it's a solid 8 hour drive from the Alamo to Oak Alley Plantation, so this option might not work if we do stop to see Stonehenge II. So I'll have to figure out driving time, stopping for food, etc. to see if that option will work. I know that the 4 of us would really love staying here, though.

Or we could spend a night at The Stockade in Baton Rouge, which isn't as far of a drive as Oak Alley Plantation is. It's 45 min closer to San Antonio, so this is definitely in the running.
View attachment 555603

Assuming we stay overnight in Baton Rouge, then Day 3 brings us to Monday 5/31 (Memorial Day!). We could tour Oak Alley Plantation, pictured above. Or drive the hour from Baton Rouge to Destrehan Plantation...
View attachment 555606

You can purchase plantation tour tickets ahead of time for specific time slots at Destrehan Plantation, whereas at Oak Alley Plantation, it's first come, first served. Destrehan Plantation has an exhibit on the 1811 Slave Revolt and some slave cabins you can see. YDD is studying US History this year and they just got done with the Civil War period recently. I think it would be great for my kids to see one of the actual places they've learned about in class. When I was a kid, my parents took us on a plantation tour. It was fascinating.

After a plantation tour, DH wants to get some beignets from Cafe Du Mond in New Orleans, especially since we always get beignets near the French Market in New Orleans Square at Disneyland. Looks like it's about a half hour drive. Of course, we'll probably have to find somewhere to park in downtown New Orleans.

View attachment 555607

Their menu is simple. Coffee, other drinks, and beignets. That's it!

View attachment 555608

After that, we'll drive 15 min to Chalmette Battlefield in Jean Lafitte National Park. YDD is REALLY excited about going here. Her history teacher did part of a lecture/lesson all about the Battle of New Orleans in early 1815 (two weeks AFTER the treaty between England and the US was signed to end the War of 1812), which helped Andrew Jackson's popularity soar later in his political career.

Quick fun fact: the loading area at Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride is called Lafitte's Landing. And it IS named after that famous pirate Jean Lafitte. He fought in the War of 1812 and got a presidential pardon from President James Madison for his valiant efforts in the Battle of New Orleans against the British. Did you know that after the War of 1812, Jean Lafitte returned to his pirate ways and even served as governor of Galveston, TX for awhile?

View attachment 555609

Then we hit the road again!

There is parking between the flood wall and the river, and Cafe du Monde is on the other side of the wall, and there are gates so you can easily get between the parking and the cafe.

If I recall correctly, you take Decatur to St. Peter, and you enter off St. Peter right by Jackson Square. It's not free, and make sure you have no visible valuables.

You'll definitely want to make sure the places you intend to visit are open, especially considering the battlefield is military-related and Memorial Day.

You're planning to do a lot on this road trip!

 

[VandVsmama]

There is parking between the flood wall and the river, and Cafe du Monde is on the other side of the wall, and there are gates so you can easily get between the parking and the cafe.

If I recall correctly, you take Decatur to St. Peter, and you enter off St. Peter right by Jackson Square. It's not free, and make sure you have no visible valuables.

You'll definitely want to make sure the places you intend to visit are open, especially considering the battlefield is military-related and Memorial Day.

You're planning to do a lot on this road trip!

Thanks for all of the tips! The battlefield is definitely open on Memorial Day. And I’m always arguing with DH about hiding valuables from view in the car. I kind of figured that we’d need to secure that stuff before parking the car in New Orleans. I’ll make sure that everybody’s electronics (iPads and such) before we leave our lodging in Baton Rouge.

 

[VandVsmama]

Now that I think about it more and I get some sense into me, I think that we'll probably bunk for the night at a regular chain motel in Baton Rouge. That'll allow us to arrive after 8 pm if we need to and we won't feel rushed on the road. Plus, DH will probably want to eat lunch or dinner at a sit down/TS restaurant.

However, in the spirit of insanity, if the planets align, maybe we can make it from Jean Lafitte National Park to the Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park in Florida before sun down. According to the state park's website, this park is the site of Florida's tallest Native American ceremonial mound, which was built some time between 1100 and 1800 years ago. You can't walk on top of it or hike over it, but there's a short walking trail around it. The kids' history classes in middle school have covered a lot of Native American history in the US, so this would be a pretty cool thing to go see.

Admission is cheap. It's not the sort of thing that I envision us spending half a day in. Probably an hour tops to walk around and read some of the outdoor exhibit information there at the park about this. And take the proverbial family photo, too!

First, though, we'll have to stop in briefly near Gulf Port, Mississippi to take pics in front of the world's largest rocking chair, not too far off of I-10.



Here it is in all its glory:


Then back on the road to the Love Mounds State Park.

 

[VandVsmama]

I was listening to this podcast today...

And they said that Epcot Flower & Garden show is going on early March through early July! Wow. Ok, well, that means that the festival will still be on when we are there. Interesting! I wasn't expecting that.

Anyways, back to the road trip portion of our adventure!

From Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park, it's a 2 hour drive to Gainesville, FL, where we will spend the night at the Home2 Suites.


And that's it for Memorial Day! I think that's probably enough for that day.

Tuesday 6/1:
We'll probably be up and at 'em early again this day because we will be going to...



The Kennedy Space Center!

We've always wanted to go here. This is definitely a bucket list thing. And yeah, I know that right now, the bus ride add-on tour to the launch pad isn't operating right now. That's ok. Just seeing the other exhibits will be amazing. Our kids are VERY excited about this. A couple of years ago, we went to the California Science Center in Los Angeles and saw the space shuttle exhibit there...that was amazing. You can walk right under the actual space shuttle! Really cool.

Looks like it's a 2.5 hour drive from Gainesville. At first glance, that might seem like "BLEH!" but keep in mind, that 2.5 hr will be nothing compared to the mileage we will have just put behind us. So it'll be fine.

After exploring all there is to see at Kennedy Space Center, we'll head back on the road. But this time, it'll be a short drive to...



Originally, we were going to stay at ASMovies. But after our January anniversary trip just 3 weeks ago, DH enjoyed staying at Pop Century enough that he wants to stay there again. He really enjoyed using the Skyliner to HS and Epcot.

Our rental car is a 1-way rental. So after we arrive at Pop Century and deposit our bags in our room, I will turn the car in at the Alamo desk at WDW's Car Care Center. I'll take the Car Care Center shuttle bus back to Pop Century. DH & the kids will stay back at Pop Century.

NO IDEA what we'll do for dinner, but if I was a betting person, my money would be on a visit to Primo Piatto at the Riviera. DH loved the food there. The kids will enjoy it, too.



I think we'll skip going to Disney Springs that evening. The kids might want to swim in the Pop pool before we go to bed. And a couple of hours after dinner, they'll probably be ready for 2nd dinner/snack. The following day (Wednesday 6/2) will be our first park day!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

My trip is currently scheduled for late July, but I was tempted to move it when I saw how long the Flower Fest is running. I love that festival! Then I remembered I already have resorts, park reservations, and flights booked, and it would be a nuisance to move all the things.

 

[VandVsmama]

I'm an avid watcher of Justin Scarred and Adam the Woo on Youtube. And recently, both of them have been on road trips where they stopped at...

BUC-EE'S!

It's been a really really REALLY long time since I've been on the road in Texas. We're talking, like, I was a little kid the last time that happened. I've never experienced Buc-ee's.

So we're going to stop at one. To fill up on gas. To experience some of the world's largest convenience stores. And to take stupid photos next to their mascot outside the entrance to the store.

Like this...


And holy mother of God, just look at all of the locations in the SE part of Texas...



There's these 2 near San Antonio...



And these 2 right off of I-10 in the Houston area...



And we can even stop in one off of I-10 in Alabama after we've left New Orleans and are on our way to Florida...



From what I've read, they have THE cleanest bathrooms. Normally, gas station bathrooms are gross. Here in AZ, there's this chain of gas stations called QT and OMG, QT has super clean bathrooms!!! So if Buc-ee's has a reputation for having even cleaner ones than QT? Man, oh man, I'm sold. We will stop at Buc-ee's.

And since my DH likes to eat keto, we'll get some beef jerky while we're there...



All of y'all in Texas are probably reading this right now and thinking, "Well, duh, of course Buc-ee's is great. How could you not know this?" Thanks to YouTube, I KNOW NOW!

And what's even better?

I'm not going to tell DH or the kids about this. I'm just going to pull the car over at one and watch and laugh as they are amazed and astonished.

This will be an epic trip. It'll be:

• the trip where we took dumb photos in front of the deer horn tree in the middle of nowhere
• the trip where we took dumb photos in front of the Stonehenge replica
• the trip where we took dumb pics of the world's largest pecan
• the trip where we took dumb pics of the world's largest rocking chair
• the trip where we took dumb pics of a gigantic metal frog in Louisiana
• the trip where we went to see Cape Canaveral
• the trip where we went to see the Alamo
• the trip where we went to see a Civil War era plantation
• the trip where we went to see a War of 1812 battlefield
• and....the trip where we went to a convenience store the size of 22 7-11's with a big beaver standing out front.

 

[VandVsmama]

Well, folks, we finally bit the bullet and bought our plane tickets this morning for our return flight home at the end of our summer road trip & WDW extravaganza.

As I mentioned in a previous post (I think I mentioned it, anyway), we had $235 in unused travel funds on Southwest Airlines for the kids (from the cancelled July 2020 Maui trip). I paid the $25 extra per person for Early Bird check in (which is very convenient, we've used that before). With the $235 in travel funds, our cost of the 4 1-way tickets was only $515!

We decided to go ahead and book the one and only Orlando-to-Phoenix direct flight that day. This will save a lot of travel time since we won't have to change planes anywhere. But the downside is that the direct flight leaves MCO at 9:40 am.

This means that Magical Express will pick us up probably in the 6:30 am time frame. Yuck. This also means that we won't be doing a fancy breakfast anywhere on our departure day. And since the Everything Pop food court doesn't open until 7:00 am, we won't be eating Mickey waffles for breakfast on our departure day. Dang it.

BUT...the flight time is only 4.5 hours. And our odds of running into Orlando late afternoon June thunderstorms are pretty much at a zero since we'll be flying out in the a.m. I know that often at that time of year, there's usually not that much forecasted rain in the mornings. But then as the day progresses and the heat builds, the clouds start to form and then you could practically set your watch by thunder & lightning in the 3-5 pm hour.

So we'll just go with the direct flight that leaves at 9:40 am. I think I'll have us do Chef Mickey's for breakfast at the CR on our last MK day!

 

[VandVsmama]

Oh! Guess what else? I just went onto Costco Travel's website to check the 1-way car rental rates and oh boy, am I glad that I booked our 1-way car rental a few weeks ago. It's gone up by $213!