Driving, Dining, and DVC - Our July 2010 TR

[sarahk0204]

Welcome to my trip report!

I have been greatly inspired by reading other trip reports, so I felt the need to start and finish one of my own. Let me introduce our cast, and, while doing so, explain how this trip came to be.

That’s me, Sarah, on the right, on my first trip to WDW. It was 1976, and I was 6 years old. My paternal grandparents retired from the Chicago area to the Space Coast in 1972. Many a vacation to their house included a day trip to the Magic Kingdom (‘cause that’s all there was back then), Sea World, or Circus World (Anyone else remember Circus World?)

This is my DH Sam on his first trip to WDW. It was 1996, and we were on our honeymoon. We flew to Florida, used my grandma’s house as a home base (Grandpa passed away in 1992 at age 89), and spent 1 night at All Star Music. We went to MK the first day, had dinner in DTD (at the Fireworks Factory), and went to Epcot the second day.

These are our children, Gina and Tony, on their first trip in 2008. They were 4 years old (yes, they are twins). We were originally going to FL to visit my grandma in July 2008, stopping at WDW along the way. My grandma passed away in February 2008 at the respectable age of 99. We decided to still go to Florida, and we took my MIL to WDW as a combination retirement/60th birthday present. With a party of 5, staying at the FW cabins was a great option. We LOVED it there, and we vowed to return and never stay anywhere else.

Well, we did return in 2009 with just the 4 of us. We rented a golf cart that year, and we decided FW cabins were the place for us. We’d never stay anywhere else. You can guess where this is going, right?

We already knew we would be returning to WDW in 2010. Our trip in 2008 was partially planned around my work conference in New Orleans. The conference this year was in Atlanta. Since we drive, it was easy to drive just a little farher from IL and go to Orlando! Our 2008 and 2009 trips were booked through AAA. I just hadn’t gotten around to booking 2010 yet. Then we were busy around the holidays. On New Year’s Day, we visited some friends from school who are Disney fanatics AND DVC members. They convinced us to “just check out” DVC. The Doorway to Dreams Store is located about an hour from our house. So, a week later we met with a guide, and a week after that we closed on 160 points at BLT. Having experienced the FW proximity to the Magic Kingdom, we just couldn’t do AKV. Our guide spread some pixie dust, and we were booked for 8 nights in a lake view studio at BLT.

Now that you have met the cast, I’ll try to get to work on the actual Trip Report!

 

[sarahk0204]

Chapter 1 – Getting to FL

Ok, so part of the title of this report is Driving. This is our preferred method of transportation to WDW. It is about 1300 miles each way. Ok, so now all of you who fly are thinking we’re nuts.

Wait, there’s more. Not only do we drive to WDW from IL, we don’t drive straight through. It takes us 2-3 days to get from our house to the Mouse. Now all of the people who do drive, but drive straight through think we are nuts.

Really, though, this works for us. When the kids were toddlers and even preschoolers, DS especially was prone to meltdowns at any change in routine. Every so often, there’s a news article about a family being kicked off a flight due to a child’s meltdown. I had visions of being that family! The kids are older now, so we could attempt air travel. However, flying for a family of 4 can still be pretty pricey. We also enjoy road tripping. I should just acknowledge that we’re nuts, and leave it at that.

As for not driving straight through, that is a function of how DH and I like to road trip. We have never been drive-straight-through kind of people, even back when we were in our 20’s, and had more stamina and no children. We like to take breaks at rest stops and stop in the early evening for the night. It certainly isn’t the cheapest route either when you figure in 1-2 nights at motels, but it makes us happy.

Anyway, we left IL on Sunday, July 18. The plan was to take a couple of days to get to our friends’ house near Tampa, stay with them a couple of days, and arrive at WDW on Thursday, July 22. Our friends, who retired to FL from IL, suggested we take a different route. In past years, we’ve taken Interstate 24 to I75 in Chattanooga and then taken that through GA to WDW. Our friends like turning onto I65 in Nashville and going through AL instead. So, we agreed to try this route and avoid Atlanta on the way down. (Since we were staying there for the conference, there was no avoiding it on the way back)

The first night, we stopped in Franklin, TN (just south of Nashville). Our usual MO for finding our motel is this: after dinner, DH drives (if he hasn’t been driving already). I get out the AAA Tour Book, and find a city about 60 miles down the road. I then call and make a reservation for the night. I did this with the Best Western in Franklin. I was pretty excited about the rate - $60 – when we usually pay close to $100. That should have been a warning.

We pulled in and checked in at dusk. The room was located on the back of the building. I actually walked around with the kids while DH drove the car and parked. So, I got to see that the room next door had its window broken. Nice. Then, as DH was unloading the car, DD saw a MONSTER-SIZED COCKROACH on the bed!!!!!! No way were we staying! We packed up the car and immediately demanded our money back. The desk clerk apologized, but didn’t act too surprised. I know that I am a wimpy Northern girl, but that was too much.

We drove down the road to another group of hotels. Here we found a Holiday Inn Express that was twice the price, but was just lovely. It was very clean, the people were exceedingly helpful and friendly, and the breakfast the next morning was just yummy. That reminds me. I need to go give them a good review on Trip Advisor.

Ok, we’re not to Florida yet, but we’re getting there!

 

[sarahk0204]

The second day we drove through Alabama, which was very pretty. We had lunch at Chick-Fil-A, which has become somewhat of a tradition. We don’t have these up north, so it’s a treat. Eventually we hooked up with I10, and we spent our second night in a Fairfield by Marriot in Tallahassee. It was clean but nothing spectacular.

After hitting the breakfast buffet at Shoney’s, we drove the rest of the way to our friends’ house north of Tampa. We stayed with them for two nights, and we had a great time.

Swimming in the pool. My DH and I lust after this pool, and we would love to have one when we retire to FL someday!

While we were visiting, we watched Song of the South, which is our friend’s favorite Disney movie. He has a copy that was probably released in Europe. None of us had ever seen it before, and Splash Mountain sure made more sense when we were able to go on it later in the week.

 

[MEK]

Loving your TR so far. You are really off to a good start. I really love all the old pictures. They add so much background.

Oh My...to the first hotel...sounds terrible. So glad you were able to find a nicer place to stay.

I am a flyer, so I admire your ability to drive from Illinois even if it takes you two nights to get there.

Looking forward to reading more.

Oh....and I forgot to mention - congrats on your DVC purchase at BLT.

 

[sarahk0204]

Yay, I have a reader! Thank you for the kind wishes, and congrats on your BLT visit!

 

[sarahk0204]

Chapter 3 – Got to Disney!

After breakfast, we said goodbye to our friends and headed for Walt Disney World. Our plans were to stop en route for groceries and possibly lunch. We like to take US27 south to US192 east to World Drive. The past couple of years we’ve stopped at a Publix on 27 that is close to WDW, but far enough away that it is a little less crowded. DH drove, and I was in contact with friends we were meeting up with. They’d flown in the previous day and used ME, so we were picking up supplies for them as well. We had a light lunch at McDonalds and hit Publix and CVS. We were traveling in our Toyota Prius, and it was packed to the gills! DH and I have decided that we will have to use our bigger car next time.

Soon we were on World Drive and saw…

And …

And...

And...

And...

Yay! We pulled up to the Contemporary and extricated ourselves from the luggage and grocery filled vehicle. I grabbed what I needed, and the kids and I headed inside to check in. DH dealt with Bell Services and unloading everything.

Check in was smooth. A CM was directing traffic, so to speak, inside the resort, and we were ushered to the online check-in, as no one else was waiting. I hadn’t used online check in, mainly because I had the dining plan to pay for with multiple gift cards and the Disney Visa. DH even appeared in time to sign in. Then he went to park the car at BLT. I sent the kids over to watch cartoons and stood in line at Concierge to get our Backyard BBQ tickets. While I was waiting, I couldn’t help but overhear someone else who was trying to change their dining reservation. At one point they wanted a menu, and the CM pulled up something on the computer and printed it. Guess what site she used? All Ears! I thought that was pretty funny.

DH returned from parking the car, and we headed up the escalator and across the walkway to BLT. We were finally home!

We stayed in 7409, a lake view studio. Yes, these pictures are from later in the trip.

We got our luggage and groceries from Bell Services and got settled in. Now, I’d seen the model and heard all of the complaints about the sink issue at BLT. It honestly didn’t bother us. We thought the set up was very European, and we LOVED the amount of storage we had.

We had ADR’s that night for Restaurant Marrakesh with our friends. DH and the husband went to college together. The wife and I get along well, and their 2 DD get along with our DC. At a college football game in 2008, we hatched plans to go to WDW together in 2009. Due to some timing issues on their end, our vacations only overlapped by a day or so last year. We still had a great time, and were able to plan more time together this year. Also on this trip were the wife’s Dsis, her DFiance, and her DD. The DD actually came with our friends last year, so the kids all knew each other.
Since we were all now DVC members and staying at BLT, we met up and headed to the monorail in the CR.

 

[KNJWDW]

Loving your trip report and I can totally relate to your driving down! We live in WI and drive down as well. Our kids are good travelers and we love road trips. We have talked about taking the AL route some time, maybe next year. And Chick Fila is a must-do at least once when we head south. Thanks for sharing your report!

Amy

 

[TagsMissy]

Can't wait to read more!

 

[sbprincess]

Hi! Loving your start!

1. OMG at the cockroach! I'm not from the north but I would be wimpy about that too. I'm so glad you got your money back.

2. The CM printing the menu from allears - that's hiliarious! Allears is great but you'd think Disney would have something official. Goes to show, they definitely know we're out here!

3. I am so jealous of the your BLT ownership! We stayed at the Contemporary in May and loved it. Like you said, the proximity to MK and monorail are hard to beat.

Can't wait to read more!