"Do You Mind?" - Disney Adventures with Teens August Trip Report

[Grandma Bonnie]

Bonnie (aka Grandma Bonnie)
Age (not sayin’)​

I don't mind telling my age. It's only a chronological fact and usually I don't feel it nor act it, Do I????? I celebrated my 67th at the Brown Derby in WDW last week.

 

[swwake]

Sounds like fun, im in!

Nice to meet you! Thanks for joining in!

I'm here, GREAT start!

Yay! Diane is here. I probably stole some formatting from your TR too.

I don't mind telling my age. It's only a chronological fact and usually I don't feel it nor act it, Do I????? I celebrated my 67th at the Brown Derby in WDW last week.

Ok I changed it.

 

[vdarrell]

I ready for more

 

[Charleston Princess]

I'm ready! Let's go!

 

[jessily]

Wow, were you a lurker? So glad you have come out of hiding!

Guilty as charged

Love the pic from the balcony at California Grill

 

[swwake]

I ready for more

Another new friend! I am feeling quite popular today. Thanks for joining.

I'm ready! Let's go!

Yay! Part I, Chapter 1 coming soon. Every day will have so many chapters, I'm afraid, I decided to do each day as a "Part" with several chapters in the day. I never realized how much a person (or people) can pack into one day. I just want to share it ALL with y'all!

Guilty as charged

Love the pic from the balcony at California Grill

Thanks! How did you figure that out? hmmmmmm I love how she's holding the castle in the palm of her hand. Did you catch that?

 

[swwake]

Part I, Chapter 1
Friday, August 8
And We’re Off…​

When we booked our vacation in January, we determined that it would be less expensive over-all if we drove to Memphis, then flew to Orlando from there. We found non-stop flights for $175 - $225. We would save the nightly boarding fees for both of our golden retrievers (Magic and Harry ) by leaving them with my Dad at the kennel he owns in Jackson, TN. At that time (Jan-Feb 2008), gas prices weren’t so high, so when we the price differential for driving the 700 miles to Memphis, plus the airfare, plus the savings on boarding and , it was less expensive than flying straight from Austin.

Aside from that, we could only find nonstop flights from Austin on Southwest, which at the time were at a high price (roughly $400 each).

Finally, included in this decision was the fact that my Mom and sister both lived in Memphis, so we could travel with Mom, rather than meeting her at the Orlando airport, and my sister could provide airport transportation, thus saving money on transportation and parking.

Or so we thought .

But, as with all things, Murphy’s Law (what can go wrong WILL go wrong) entered into the equation. Not that anything went “wrong”, but circumstances definitely changed. During the Spring, my sister’s family decided to move to Austin. In late June, she secured a great job in Austin, and in early August, the family moved here. There goes our airport transportation.

So anyway, if you read my PTR, you remember that I did spend about 72 hours agonizing over trying to get our flights switched to Austin and leaving the dogs here in town, thereby eliminating the need to leave a day early and return a day later and for the 11-plus hour drive. Ultimately, I determined that it wasn’t worth the change fees to make that change. I just decided to KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid), or so I thought (again).

Alright, so here we go. It’s Friday morning, August 8th (and Mom’s birthday, by the way ). We planned to leave at 6am. This was our first indication that every time we need to leave at a certain time to be at a certain place, we need to tell the girls a good 30 minutes earlier. Mom, Chris and I were ready to leave at 6:00am. The girls, however, took a little longer to rise and shine, and we got out at about 6:30am.

Dogs loaded up, luggage packed, toys and water for doggie pit stops, snacks and water for the road, my whole external drive with over 26,000 songs, ready to hook up to the Denali’s stereo , home alarm armed.

And we’re off…

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm joining in.

 

[heath-and-javens-mom]

great update!

 

[carrieannie]

You have a great looking family Susan!! I love the picture of your Daughter on the balcony "holding" the castle!

This is gunna be a good one!! I would`ve paid the change fees not to drive 11 hours to the airport!!

and you did it with 2 dogs and 2 teenages GIRLS!!!!!??? UFF-DA!
Seriously? 26,000 songs?

 

[swwake]

I'm joining in.

I am warning you, it's going to be a little bit of a bumpy ride. Included along the way will be a jungle cruise, a two-week safari, a trek to Mount Everest, a visit to an abandoned hotel, a VIP limousine ride, we're going to Mars and back, we'll go under the sea, out into our imaginations, and to 11 different countries! Among other things! Fasten your seatbelt and hold on tight!!!

great update!

Thanks so much. There is so much more to come. Next update coming right up.

You have a great looking family Susan!! I love the picture of your Daughter on the balcony "holding" the castle!

This is gunna be a good one!! I would`ve paid the change fees not to drive 11 hours to the airport!!

and you did it with 2 dogs and 2 teenages GIRLS!!!!!??? UFF-DA!
Seriously? 26,000 songs?

Thanks so much for the compliments. I think DH and Katie are just adorable. Caitlin is a beauty queen in her own right, and Mom is a true former "princess" (just ask her), and she will tell you she hasn't changed a bit in 40 years!

Yes, 26,000 songs. I think we listened to 10 of them.

 

[swwake]

Part I, Chapter 2
Friday, August 8
3 Adults, 2 Teens and 2 Goldens​

So we’re on the road to Memphis now. This should be approximately an 11-hour drive in good conditions at speed limit. But, as you will soon learn, our drive was a bit longer, for very special reasons.

The early hours were easy. Katie and Caitlin snoozed in the car. Katie asked me to remove her photo from the web, but here are shots of what everyone else was doing.

Caitlin snoozing:

Good thing she’s safely wearing her seatbelt, huh?

Mom trying to snooze:

I think the sun was bothering her, and you can tell one or both of the dogs were not giving her a lot of room to stretch out.

Chris driving:

I told him to show his Disney excitement. Do you think he did a good job of expressing his rampant emotions?

Me, sans make-up (who wears make-up for an 11-hour road trip, I ask you?)

By the way, that’s my “MySpace Face”. If you have (or know) kids with MySpace accounts, they somehow always have the same expression and hand signals in their photos. We call it “MySpace Face”.

And finally, Magic and Harry snoozing (once they settled down and figured out we weren’t just going around the corner to the vet’s office):

That’s Magic on the bottom, and Harry sticking as close to his sister as possible. He was a little anxious.

This part of the road trip was pretty un-eventful. Obviously.

Next up: Things to do on an 11-hour drive

 

[carrieannie]

I love The "Myspace Face"

Why didnt Katie want her picture removed from the web? just that picture of her sleeping? or all of her pictures?

The dogs are beautiful!

First here!!! na na na na Scott!!!

 

[swwake]

I love The "Myspace Face"

Why didnt Katie want her picture removed from the web? just that picture of her sleeping? or all of her pictures?

The dogs are beautiful!

Just the one pic. I think maybe her booty was showing too much out from under her shorts. I'm not really sure. As we will learn on this trip, KT can be a bit moo-dy. But she asked, and I respect that.

I have lots of pics of Katie. Not many alone, but lots. You will see her.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

:Ok I changed it.

Thank you very much.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Thanks so much for the compliments. I think DH and Katie are just adorable. Caitlin is a beauty queen in her own right, and Mom is a true former "princess" (just ask her), and she will tell you she hasn't changed a bit in 40 years!

Yes, 26,000 songs. I think we listened to 10 of them.

I agree re: DH, Katie, and Caitlin and I have indeed been a princess three times in my life. But that's another story for another place and time.

I must confirm that I have not changed a bit in 45 years! I have no idea who that gray haired old lady in your pictures is, but she looks a lot like the one who shows up in mirrors whenever I'm around. I don't know who she is. She doesn't even begin to look like me. I know that I am still the petite flaxen-haired contact wearing fashionable size 5 gal that I have always been.

I think I heard at least 260 of those songs. Maybe just parts of them when you were playing "Name That Tune."

 

[Nicole786]

Haha Myspace face, i know what youre talking about lol! But youre missing the weird camera angles and kissing face!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Part I, Chapter 2
Friday, August 8
3 Adults, 2 Teens and 2 Goldens​

Mom trying to snooze:

I think the sun was bothering her, and you can tell one or both of the dogs were not giving her a lot of room to stretch out.

By the way, that’s my “MySpace Face”. If you have (or know) kids with MySpace accounts, they somehow always have the same expression and hand signals in their photos. We call it “MySpace Face”.

There's that old lady, again.
And, Susan, MySpaceFaces don't show their teeth because they like to cover up the fact that they are wearing braces. However, I am pleased to see you show the results of your multi-thousand dollar braces.

 

[adsrtw]

I'm in! I can't wait to read more and I agree 100% about the no make-up during a 11 hour drive. With my luck, I would fall asleep leaning against the window and have foundation smears all over, lol.

 

[Native NYer]

Oh I can't wait to read mroe