Driving and Breweries and the DIS megameet ... oh my! *new Aug 3rd ... just back - a quick review*

[Princess Leia]

Thanks for coming over from the HKDL TR!!!!

I love the idea of the SMORG or something like that to promote good behavior - sometimes that works really well with the kids. I think for the ride home that could help a lot as on the way down we have Disney World as motivation for good behavior but the way back might be tougher! Thanks for the idea!

It's always good to have something up your sleeve. You know I probably should patent my SMORG reward system 'for all your transportation needs'. It was good in that each leg of the journey each child could earn up to 5 points so even if they were a bit off you could give points for best singing, joke, whatever you fancy. Another thing we used to do was take turns to describe what would be in their water park, theme park etc. It certainly passed many an hour and got them thinking creatively and helped with the travel sickness. Looking forward to following your adventures.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Joining in to hear all about the fun you have planned! We adore Savannah. What a nice long vacation you're taking! DH and I have discussed driving down to WDW on occasion but we always end up flying. Even though our boys are older than your kids, the idea of driving that far with them is not a pleasant one. And unlike @Rozz I believe we'd definitely end up using the ejector button........but yay for you for doing it

We were definitely mixed on what to do but after the challenges with flying to California last October just the thought of doing that again was not appealing and when we priced out the flights plus rental car vs driving it just seemed to make some sense to drive - and if we were going to drive we figured make it more of a bigger/longer trip - and this is the first time in a few years we have done a vacation of more than 1 week

Hopefully we don't need the ejector button ... though I am sure at some point we will wish we have a button for putting up a divider screen like limos have to give us in the front some quiet!

I'm already exhausted.

Me too - though at the other end I am excited for it ... I definitely think I will need a vacation after this trip though!

Hi Phil!

I saw this pop up in the boards and I was like, I didn't know Phil had a PTR?!

Then I realized you started it today, and I am confident again in my sanity. So thanks for that

It sure does sound like a good excuse. Then again. Anything is a good excuse to go to Disney. But that does sound like it'll be a great time! We really want to try to make it to a DIS event some time, but so far it's just never worked out.

You sure do know how to sell a road trip

Amber will definitely need to find a different selling point if she ever plans on convincing me to do a road trip to Disney

But for beer lovers, I'm sure it'll be a great way to break up the drive (no drinking and driving!)

Hi Marie!

Yeah, this was a bit of a last minute decision to do a PTR - but figured it would help me organize my days a bit and also if I need to re-work anything as they are yet to announce everything related to the DIS Megameet

We've never done a big one like this but have done the Hershey meet a couple of times and enjoyed it - so this sounds fund and, like you say, good excuse to go!

hey, everyone is motivated by different things ... I can try to point out things we see that might motivate others

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Joining in! Sounds like a super awesome trip and I can't wait to read about it!

Thanks! I hope it is awesome ... I definitely think there is potential for it!

Hiiiii Phil! Glad you've started a PTR!

This certainly is a long trip you have planned! The idea of driving to Florida always makes me feel a little sick , but it sounds like you have some nice stops planned to break it up!

Hi Alexis!

yeah, only way we could do it was with the breaks ... I think just the cost of flying with at least 4 seats and then the rental car and then getting all the car seats through security again pushed me to at least trying driving ... but this trip might push me back to flying

It's always good to have something up your sleeve. You know I probably should patent my SMORG reward system 'for all your transportation needs'. It was good in that each leg of the journey each child could earn up to 5 points so even if they were a bit off you could give points for best singing, joke, whatever you fancy. Another thing we used to do was take turns to describe what would be in their water park, theme park etc. It certainly passed many an hour and got them thinking creatively and helped with the travel sickness. Looking forward to following your adventures.

Great additional thoughts! My kids can be creative at time (even if what my son comes up with don't always make any sense) so that is a good idea for a game as well

 

[amberg93]

Okay, I'm going to go finish up your HKDL TR but I'm stopping by to say that I'm here for this

I just blanched at the idea of being on the road from the 14th to the 19th. Then again, I get super motion sick in cars, so if I were to ever drive I'd want to do it in as much of a straight shot as possible. But you seem to have found a way that's going to work for you and make it fun.

I'm curious to see all the planning that will go on. Someday Marie and I will make it to a DIS event (maybe next year if the timing works out??) but until then, I'll be living vicariously through your experiences.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Okay, I'm going to go finish up your HKDL TR but I'm stopping by to say that I'm here for this

I just blanched at the idea of being on the road from the 14th to the 19th. Then again, I get super motion sick in cars, so if I were to ever drive I'd want to do it in as much of a straight shot as possible. But you seem to have found a way that's going to work for you and make it fun.

I'm curious to see all the planning that will go on. Someday Marie and I will make it to a DIS event (maybe next year if the timing works out??) but until then, I'll be living vicariously through your experiences.

yeah, welcome Amber!!!

This, um, this might not be the trip for you if you get super motion sick in cars ... I've at least found a way that works for us on paper - we shall see if it really does work out well

They've already been talking about keeping some time next June open for the 20th anniversary of the DISBoards ... no idea if I can justify going down again, but we shall see - wasn't planning on this trip

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 3 - Getting Half Way There: NY to PA to NC​

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Some great tips and ideas already so super pumped to keep working on this Pre-TR!

The plan is to leave home the evening of Thursday, July 14th after I get home from work. We will target leaving at 6pm but 7pm is more likely. We'll grab some food on the way, likely Panera Bread, and the kids will fall asleep during the trip. First destination is Judi's Family which is located roughly due east of the middle of no-where, Pennsylvania (seriously, they only got the first traffic light in the entire county about 3 years ago).

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This will give the kids some time to spend with their Grandparents but the main reason we are making this stop is to drop our dogs off there as they will spend their time at the doggy retreat while we are gone

(Cole on the left and Edgar on the right)​

We will spend that night and all day Friday there and Friday night and look to head out pretty early on Saturday morning, trying to get to our next stop, Durham, NC, by early afternoon. As you can see from the map we have a few ways to go - this is the traffic right now on a Thursday afternoon - I am hoping it won't be too bad on a Saturday morning and we can go the shorted/most direct way

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Hoping to get to Durham by about 2pm so we can check into the hotel and then have time to walk to Fullsteam Brewery which is one of the tops in Durham and looks to be a fun place to hang out - and they indicate they are happy to have kids come by before 9pm (though suggest kids come before 6pm, when they start to get crowded). They are most know for their cream ale, IPA, and steam beers. They also seek to use as much local ingredients as possible following a plan of "From Plow to Pint".

We will then meet up with some friends from college and their kids (actually the husband was my best man in my wedding) who we haven't seen in years, so that should be cool. We are having dinner together at The Pit for some authentic Carolina barbeque

Side note - after all the talk of pimento cheese on the DIS unplugged and the F&WF preview I noticed on their menu they have "Fried Pimento Cheese - Served with a spicy pepper jelly" which I might have to try.

We are staying at the Durham Marriott City Center (we are trying to stick with Hiltons or Marriotts as that is where I have points) and this seemed pretty central - it is a 10 minute walk to the brewery and dinner.

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The next morning we will look to go to Mass somewhere and go for brunch and then the main activity is to hit up the Museum of Life & Science. The kids should love this place, as per the description: "Welcome to 84-acres of curiously fun things to discover and do. With a two-story interactive science center, one of the largest butterfly houses on the East Coast, over 60 species of live animals"

One of the things we are all most excited is they have all these tree houses called Hideaway Woods - and then they also have a train in the woods and a dinosaur trail:

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After that hopefully time to hit up another brewery, this one called Ponysaurus Brewing which has some great outdoor area. Not sure what we will do for dinner - they have a program there where you can buy food from them and grill it there or we might hit up Bull City Burger and Brewery as it would be on the way back to the hotel. I don't want to be out too late as I want to get an early start the next morning to get to Savannah

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Coming up next - the 2nd half!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 4 - Getting The Rest of the Way There: NC to GA to FL​

Hopefully we will be able to get up and going and out the door as this will be a Monday and I suspect some traffic - so really 7am is the latest I want to leave (might even just let the kids wear their pajamas into the car as a way to get out). We are headed down to Savannah, GA today and will have one full day here and then head out the following morning

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The reason I want to get out so early is I really wanted to do a historic carriage tour and the latest one I can find in the day is 1pm (they have them in the evening but then they are Ghost tours). There are different companies so if anyone has a recommendation that would be great - currently we are signed up with Historic Savannah Carriage Tours - it is located near our hotel (the Hampton Inn Savannah - Historic) and they offer girl scout badges which I think Olivia would really like to get (she just moved from Daisies to Brownies)

Other than that, I think we will just rest and maybe use the pool at the hotel. For dinner, I am planning on Vic's by the River as that was suggested to me as a good place that is family friendly (but also open to other suggestions). If there is time I might try to hit up the Moon River Brewing Company, but that might be pushing my luck

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The next day we are actually heading to Florida!!! Again, shooting to be up a bit on the early side as the destination is down to Deerfield Beach, so pretty far down Florida

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On the way down I am hoping to time lunch so that we can stop in Tequesta Florida as there is this fun sounding place Hog Snappers Shack and Sushi which is right next to Tequesta Brewering Company - so, you know, hit up another brewery.

Judi has family in this area and other family will be in town as well so we are going to stay 3 nights here. We are staying at the Ocean Villas of Deerfield which, while not fancy, seems good enough, is close to the beach and has availability at a reasonable rate and they are actually listed as 1 bedroom apartments so should have a decent amount of room

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We will spend time with family and also celebrate Emma's 2nd birthday while there - but I will cover details here in the next update

TTFN!

 

[MikeTaylor]

If you're in Asheville, make sure to stop and eat breakfast at Tupelo Honey Cafe (we had breakfast there before going to the Biltmore-what a great decision).

 

[OKW Lover]

For dinner, I am planning on Vic's by the River as that was suggested to me as a good place that is family friendly (but also open to other suggestions). If there is time I might try to hit up the Moon River Brewing Company, but that might be pushing my luck

Already gave you my suggestion for dinner, but just wanted to add that Moon River is also a nice place to have a beer and some nibbles.

 

[amberg93]

This, um, this might not be the trip for you if you get super motion sick in cars ... I've at least found a way that works for us on paper - we shall see if it really does work out well

They've already been talking about keeping some time next June open for the 20th anniversary of the DISBoards ... no idea if I can justify going down again, but we shall see - wasn't planning on this trip

Well if no one in your group gets motion sick and the kids are all find passing time in the car it should work

I did get excited when Pete mentioned that because right now our plans are actually to be in Orlando during the first week of June, so hopefully that's when it would be and not the second week because it'd be sad.

as per the description: "Welcome to 84-acres of curiously fun things to discover and do. With a two-story interactive science center, one of the largest butterfly houses on the East Coast, over 60 species of live animals"

One of the things we are all most excited is they have all these tree houses called Hideaway Woods

That sounds really awesome. I'm sure that the kids (and adults!) will have a blast.

(might even just let the kids wear their pajamas into the car as a way to get out)

When we road tripped down to Texas when I was young (and a little less prone to motion sickness) I remember my mom letting us do that one morning cause we had to leave really early.

close to the beach and has availability at a reasonable rate and they are actually listed as 1 bedroom apartments so should have a decent amount of room

That's awesome! Sounds like a good place to pass a couple of days.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If you're in Asheville, make sure to stop and eat breakfast at Tupelo Honey Cafe (we had breakfast there before going to the Biltmore-what a great decision).

Thanks for the suggestion - we love breakfast and brunch and the menu looks good! We haven't totally settled on where to stay that night. We were thinking of staying a bit north of Asheville just to make the drive the next day a bit shorter and if we do then heading backwards doesn't really work, but if we stay in town I think this goes on the list!

Already gave you my suggestion for dinner, but just wanted to add that Moon River is also a nice place to have a beer and some nibbles.

Yes - definitely keeping the Olde Pink House on the list as well! It looks really nice but worried it might be too fancy with the kids

I will definitely keep that fact about Moon River in mind ... maybe somewhere for a quick lunch if we can really get out and on our way early or a quick post-tour snack!

Well if no one in your group gets motion sick and the kids are all find passing time in the car it should work

I did get excited when Pete mentioned that because right now our plans are actually to be in Orlando during the first week of June, so hopefully that's when it would be and not the second week because it'd be sad.

That sounds really awesome. I'm sure that the kids (and adults!) will have a blast.

When we road tripped down to Texas when I was young (and a little less prone to motion sickness) I remember my mom letting us do that one morning cause we had to leave really early.

That's awesome! Sounds like a good place to pass a couple of days.

I hope it works out for you next year - for some reason I recall him saying the first week, hope that's right!

The more I read about that museum the more excited I get!

I hope so ... trying to plan something for Emma's party - thinking just meeting up at a park or something with Ice Cream - keep it simple

 

[OKW Lover]

I will definitely keep that fact about Moon River in mind ... maybe somewhere for a quick lunch if we can really get out and on our way early or a quick post-tour snack!

Moon River has a pretty full menu. I was just assuming you were looking for an adult beverage place. You can get a lot of good stuff there.

 

[ajsary]

I've read your previous trip reports, but this is my first time posting. We spent the day in Savannah last week and did the Old Town Trolley tour. It was fantastic. We learned a great deal about Savannah's history plus you can get off and on at any of their 15 stops throughout the entire day. It was nice for keeping my 3 year old from getting bored. It was such a hot day it was also nice to be in a trolley with big open windows. Your trip sounds amazing and will be something your family always remembers.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Anything is worth doing for the Girl Scout Badges. As a recent graduate of Girl Scouts-DO IT FOR THE BADGE.

The first leg of your trip sounds awesome so far. I wish I could go on a dinosaur trail!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Moon River has a pretty full menu. I was just assuming you were looking for an adult beverage place. You can get a lot of good stuff there.

Well, I was thinking another Brewery to add to the list and a place to maybe grab some lunch if we get there in time before the tough ... otherwise maybe late night I'll take a walk over by myself

I've read your previous trip reports, but this is my first time posting. We spent the day in Savannah last week and did the Old Town Trolley tour. It was fantastic. We learned a great deal about Savannah's history plus you can get off and on at any of their 15 stops throughout the entire day. It was nice for keeping my 3 year old from getting bored. It was such a hot day it was also nice to be in a trolley with big open windows. Your trip sounds amazing and will be something your family always remembers.

wow, thanks for reading and for posting! I might want to look into that trolley tour instead - looks like fun. I thought the carriage ride would be something different but this might be another option

Anything is worth doing for the Girl Scout Badges. As a recent graduate of Girl Scouts-DO IT FOR THE BADGE.

The first leg of your trip sounds awesome so far. I wish I could go on a dinosaur trail!

haha - I thought it would be something to motivate Olivia for participating and just something unique for her. We are definitely a scouting family (I got my Eagle award and my sister got her gold award, and Judi was in the girl scouts too)

I know! That whole museum seems really cool!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 5 - Life's a Beach: Deerfield Beach, FL​

Our goal is to get to our place at Deerfield Beach by early afternoon of Tuesday, July 19th. Judi has some family in the area (in Boca) and some other extended family will be visiting at the same time - so we thought this was a good opportunity to spend some time with them. The place we are staying is called the Ocean Villas of Deefield and it isn't super fancy but should have enough room (we are in a 1 bedroom apartment) and was reasonably priced and while not on the beach, it is very close:

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We will be here until the 22nds, so we will have the rest of Tuesday and then all day Wednesday and Thursday. We don't have too many concrete plans other than spending time with family and time at the beach. I'd like to make it to Funky Buddha Brewing at some point. Hear good things and they have some neat sounding beers currently on tap include Blueberry Cobbler Ale, Barrel Aged Chocwork Orange, and Cornholio IPA.

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The only other plans we have is that Thursday, July 21st is Emma's 2nd Birthday! We are hoping to do a small party with family at the clubhouse in the community Judi's Aunt lives at and I have some relatives in the area as well that should be stopping by. Nothing big - probably just cake and ice cream and some sort of dance party since Emma loves to dance!

Then the morning of the 22nd we will head out and up to the Orlando area and to Bonnet Creek!

up next - our Friday evening plans at Disney World!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 6 - Getting to The World and plans for Friday, July 22nd​

Once Friday, July 22nd comes, we will head out after breakfast or so. Not a huge rush but want to allow time to get to The Disney World area by around noon - we are staying at Whyndham Bonnet Creek, and I am pretty excited about it. It's offsite but the location is great and they have an extensive pool area which I think we should utilize quite a bit as we plan to take mid-afternoon breaks often given the July Florida heat/sun​

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Once there, the plan is to actually first head to Disney Springs - we haven't been here in years (avoided it while under heave constructions) so I am excited and interested to check it out

We have a 2pm ADR at Morimoto's Asia as we were thinking to first check out Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar for drinks and apps, but reviews I am reading are saying the drinks are good but food isn't great. So I am thinking of moving the lunch ADR to more like 1pm and then just get a coctail at Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar and move on to lunch. At lunch I know I want to try the duck and I am sure we will get some sushi but if anyone has other recommendations please let me know!

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Not sure how much else we will check out at Disney Springs as far as stores/shopping, guess it depends how we are doing on time and stuff. We will then head and check into the resort. Depending on timing we may try to use the pools quick but might be tight.

I want to then head into the Disney area and first stop at the Boardwalk to check in for the DIS Megameet and get our credentials, check out the silent auction items, and drop off any items Give Kids the World is requesting. That is open from 2pm to 5pm that day, so ideally will get there around 4:30 or so.

From there the plan is to head to the Polynesian, with a first stop at Trader Sam's Grog Grotto where I will try to contain myself and purchase less souvenir mugs than I did when we stopped at the Disneyland Location. I know I will get a Zombie Head since that was my favorite drink and the mug here is a little different than the California version. Beyond that, not sure what else. The plan was to then go to Kona for dinner and then watch the fireworks from the beach but since our original plans the fireworks got set at an earlier time than I was expecting (9pm now for that day) so I think we will cancel the Kona ADR and just get apps at Trader Sam's (likely try the headhunter sushi roll, not sure what else) and if still hungry we will just go to Captain Cooks as I haven't tried the pork nachos yet).

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And then we will head to the beach to watch the fireworks. I am not entirely sure of how this works now that they are closing the beaches in the evenings but I read one post that they do still have a viewing area for the fireworks but any more information would be greatly appreciated!

Then back to the resort, hopefully not too, too late (which is one good thing of the fireworks being moved earlier) as we have our first park day coming up!

TTFN

 

[MarieLightning]

First destination is Judi's Family which is located roughly due east of the middle of no-where, Pennsylvania (seriously, they only got the first traffic light in the entire county about 3 years ago).

Welp, sounds pretty far outta the way indeed. When I met Amber she was living in a pretty tiny town in Michigan, but even they had traffic lights

We will spend that night and all day Friday there and Friday night and look to head out pretty early on Saturday morning

In a way, I can understand people who want to drive straight through (*coughmywifecough*) when road tripping, but I think this is also a nice way to do it. Takes up a bit more time, but the distance probably doesn't seem as overwhelming if you're gonna be taking slightly longer breaks by having full days here and half days there.

Hoping to get to Durham by about 2pm so we can check into the hotel and then have time to walk to Fullsteam Brewery which is one of the tops in Durham and looks to be a fun place to hang out - and they indicate they are happy to have kids come by before 9pm

Good thing for the kids to be welcome Probably would have put a damper on the whole thing if you couldn't find kid welcoming breweries

We will then meet up with some friends from college and their kids (actually the husband was my best man in my wedding) who we haven't seen in years, so that should be cool. We are having dinner together at The Pit for some authentic Carolina barbeque

Those kind of reunions are most often great, so that's pretty cool that you're getting time to fit it in! And I'm sure it'll be fun for the kids to have other kids to play with for a bit throughout the drive down

Not to mention, authentic BBQ is always a plus

One of the things we are all most excited is they have all these tree houses called Hideaway Woods - and then they also have a train in the woods and a dinosaur trail:

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Oooh that looks cool!

(might even just let the kids wear their pajamas into the car as a way to get out)

Sounds comfy and efficient. I don't see a downside to this plan

was reasonably priced and while not on the beach, it is very close:

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Reasonably priced is pretty much what we live by And that does look pretty close, so it should be an easy walk. Since you're not staying too too long, I don't think not being right on the beach will be a damper. Especially since you have plans other than beach time.

The only other plans we have is that Thursday, July 21st is Emma's 2nd Birthday! We are hoping to do a small party with family at the clubhouse in the community Judi's Aunt lives at and I have some relatives in the area as well that should be stopping by. Nothing big - probably just cake and ice cream and some sort of dance party since Emma loves to dance!

Good lord, 2 already! That sounds like fun plans though. Hopefully with lots of pictures (and videos!) of dancing Emma

It's offsite

but the location is great and they have an extensive pool area which I think we should utilize quite a bit as we plan to take mid-afternoon breaks often given the July Florida heat/sun

Fiiiiine, I guess offsite can work. Good thing that it has a great pool, like you said I'm sure you'll make great use of it.

And then we will head to the beach to watch the fireworks. I am not entirely sure of how this works now that they are closing the beaches in the evenings but I read one post that they do still have a viewing area for the fireworks

I can understand the safety measures, but I'm sure they would probably try to keep at least some sort of viewing area available for people. That's one of the things they try to sell people on with MK properties that are right on the lake, after all. Maybe it'll just be more frequent that they'll check if people are staying on property or not? I think I've heard they do that sometimes if it's especially crowded, because on-site guests would have the priority, so if it's a smaller area it may get crowded easier. I guess we won't know much more until sometimes gives further details though.

as we have our first park day coming up!

Yay!

 

[Dugette]

Sounds like a fun road trip with lots of good stops planned. I actually miss road trips - I used to do a lot of them and now the biggest ones we do are 4 hours to see my grandma. I think when Izzy gets a bit older (maybe old enough to read in the car?) we'll add them back into our vacation plans. I'm excited to hear all about yours when you get back.

Also, I'll be interested to hear about your Morimoto meal, as we have an ADR there in December.

 

[ElenaJane]

Okay, I am not really a beer drinker, but I love the name Ponysaurus!! I had to check out their website, and I love their motto "The beer beer would drink if beer could drink beer"! Ponysaurus reminds me of my twin niece and nephew birthday parties. They would get one cake so it was always a combined theme. Most recently it was Hello Kitty the Construction Worker.

Your trip sounds great so far, and reasonably broken up. Charlottesville is an awesome city with lots of Breweries, but would be an hour off your journey!