Friends from Hell... A Disney's Hilton Head Island Trip Report 7/5 updated

[Laurabearz]

I will do my best to make this more of a lovely Hilton Head trip report and less of an OMG my FRIENDS TOTALLY SUCK report, but since my friends EXCELLED at SUCKING it will be hard to contain myself Thank Goodness I have a sense of Humor and even more Thanks to Bug Bug whom I called often to vent!

Ok on with the story....

Cast of Characters...

The Good

Myself, The Meanest Mother in the World (no you can't have pizza, french fries and a shake for breakfast) and trip planner. Known across the land for her Blue Toes, whatever that means

DH, Tom, Sports lover and coaster nut who loves nothing more than to explore his own personal buoyancy in the various bodies of water available on Hilton Head.. He loves how well he floats in salt water, and the crashing of the waves is ...

Madeline 10, knows everything pre-tween. When I think of her, I think of the first line of that book (what book I have no idea, but it’s a famous book lol) It was the Best of Times and it was the Worst of Times. She can be a pure joy and turn right around and bite your head off. Caused a room full of moms to gasp, when she was trying to be amusing, but more on that later!

Abigail 8, fashionista extraordinaire, collects cute spots on her nose, loves to annoy her older sister then claiming innocence, makes friends easily, easy going, likes sugar. But really can be a major pain in the buttocks

Charlie, 6, AKA Happy Gilmore. A pure ball of happy go lucky goo, with ears.


Here is a picture of us at MNSSHP this past October.

My BIL David, top left, was not with us this trip, but is a pure joy to travel with

Ok now onto...

THE BAD…. <insert scary music here>

The Chubs.

Mrs Chubs and Mr Chubby De Marco.
This of course are their nicknames, And is my way of protecting the innocent (if by innocent you mean the extremely rude ha)

Nick 8, Handsome caring fellow who will be scarred for life because of his parents and younger sister.

Sarah 6, my mom taught me if you have nothing nice to say about someone don’t say anything at all….


So that concludes the introductions

Stay tuned for a Photo and Video Filled trip report which includes Bits of
6 Flags Over Georgia
and
Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort​

 

[dallastxcpa]

Laurabearz,

I love the start...... I am hanging on my chair waiting for the next juicy installment. And as far as the meanest mommie title goes my kids might argue with you on that one.

 

[dstevens]

With an intro like that you are going to stop? Come on we NEED to read more asap. Plus i'm bored at work and surfing the boards. Oh, i'm also subscribing now.

 

[Laurabearz]

The Itinerary

Summer Road Trips Rock. Each year as the kids get older, the drive get smoother. Of course each year I, as the primary driver, gets older too, so at some point the two will intersect and implode. Until them, we sure do enjoy our summer road trips.

Since we are Six Flags Annual Pass Holders here in Illinois (we love Hurricane Harbor!), I thought it would be sweet to add a few days at Six Flags Over Georgia on the way down to Hilton Head. Our Great America AP is good at the other Six Flag Parks, so our admission was FREE!!

Being married to Mister Cheap-oh free admission was a very important detail in my convincing him to add 3 days onto our vacation, which meant a lot of creative spins on my part.

I would book the cheapest Embassy Suites in the area, The Galleria which is just to the North of the park, about 20 minute drive. $109 a night got us a two room suite with a fridge and a microwave. Free Cooked to Order Breakfast, Nightly Managers Special all for our family of 5. Such a deal! Heck Breakfast runs us $40, and both DH and I can pound a few cocktails at the end of the evening, so the room is practically free right?

How could DH say no?

But I wanted to sweeten the pot, so I tossed into the proposal That 2 of the 4 nights we will eat food we bring with us. One night my Swedish Meatballs and another night Spaghetti.

Free admission, free breakfast, free booze, two free dinners.

How could he say no??

But I wanted to sweeten the pot even more…. So I held a garage sale with all proceeds going towards the purchase of Six Flags Flash Pass, because the only thing my husband hates more than letting go of a quarter, is spending time in lines. And Getting rid of things comes in second only to sex. (as it should be, claims him) so a garage sale is a double happy whammy for my dh, which oddly is also his favorite… um… er… well never mind about that!!

Free admission, free breakfast, free booze, two free dinners, Free Flash Passes and a double happy whammy!!!

How could he say no??

Well of course you know how this ends…

He couldn’t say no!!!

I booked everything with my super deals and the count down begins!!!

But then….

Then the pre trip voodoo streak hit us and one by one bad things began to happen, Things that could stop the trip in it’s tracks…

Next installment… How can you have a Car Trip if you don’t have a Car?

​

 

[dallastxcpa]

Oh.... Another cliff hanger....

 

[DisneyNotes]

I can't wait for the next installment!

 

[KristiP]

I almost died laughing when I read your trip report name. When I meet you in line. I saw your friend, and I think she was telling you to hurry up. I can't wait to hear the rest of your trip report.

 

[MEK]

OK. I'm in. Haven't read much yet, but am super curious about Hilton Head and need to know what experts your friends are at "sucking".

 

[PrincessNewsie]

You're funny. I will totally follow this TR due to your sense of humor (which I think might be twisted. in a really great way)

 

[travelin' tigger]

Next installment… How can you have a Car Trip if you don’t have a Car?

​

Lovin' it so far - can't wait for more!!!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

leaving us hanging.. i cant take the suspense!!!!

 

[thomasclan85]

OMG!! This is worse than when I get mystery movies from Netflix and then after watching 3 1/2 hours realize I have to wait to find out 'who done it' on the 2nd dvd! Loving your report so far! I can't wait for the next installment!

 

[LVSWL]

LAURA!!!! Hi!!! Can't wait to read this! It was soooo cool meeting you at HHI and sharing our "stories" about "ungrateful friends". Hope you had a quick and uneventful trip home. Did you leave at 4:30?

 

[debf]

I'm in,can't wait to read more.

 

[tinksfan]

Hurry! Hurry! This seems alot like the drama on one of my DH's family vacations which I had to end. Thank you Disney Vacation Club!!

 

[MEK]

Very funny. You need to keep this thing going. No time for any double happy whammys until you post your next installment!

 

[podsnel]

Ok- I'm laughing and laughing and I can't STAND the suspense!!!! Give it up, Laurabearz!

Oh...and you sure your 10 year old is a girl? Because I have a 10 year old DS who fits the same "best of times, worst of times" description..... (and it's from Dickens, I think- not the personality, just the description of it. Or maybe not.....)

Great stuff! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[Laurabearz]

Ok I hope to get the next part up tonight, until then if you would like a preview of the type of person I am dealing with check this out....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2215024

 

[dallastxcpa]

Ok I hope to get the next part up tonight, until then if you would like a preview of the type of person I am dealing with check this out....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2215024

Ohhhhh now! That's just sad on your friends part.

 

[Laurabearz]

There is nothing quite like our normal pre trip voodoo streak. This go around both this dishwasher and microwave were zapped in a storm, our front door knob broke, 2 of my 4 slice toaster slots stopped working, and I lost my camera.

Sick kids are also a huge part of our pre trip voodoo... You really can set your clock to it, 2 weeks before each and every trip we take as a family, one by one my kids get the 3 day high fever sickness kids get.

Now my kids DON’T get sick when “It’s going around” oh no… they always save it for 2 weeks before a trip and one by one we all succumb.

This trip was no different, except that the sickness not only hit the children, it hit our Van. Worse yet, the Van’s issues were the blasted intermittent kind… You know the kind of problems the shop can never get to repeat, but the moment you get the car back it goes dead…

Oh yeah we had two full weeks of that… Replaced the battery, checked the electrical system, checked the belts, etc but no matter what we did, sporadically fail to start. No clicking, no rrrr rrrrr rrrr, nothing. Just nothing.

This of course was LOADS of fun for the last week of school, having to walk the mile there on the mornings the van wouldn’t go, just loads of fun at 7 am woo woo I suppose I should be thankful it was rain and not snow, but still, it gets old really fast. This was also the weeks before an Art Fair I run in Chicago, so the timing made my life super fun. NOT!!

Finally after 2 weeks of mucking around the problem is traced to the ignition switch!! Yay!! They say it will be $250 bucks, great no problem when can we pick it up… they say they will call since they need to order the switch, great… and they do call back, but now it’s more than the ignition they need to replace the whole steer column for a mere $1200.

I tell them to put it back together and thank you but no thank you… we will have to get a second opinion.

We pick it up, it starts like a dream take it home… and that was the last time we were able to start it on our own. Haha

So we call around and find another place to bring it, they have the ignition switch in stock, so we are hopeful. They even recommend a towing company for us that will only charge $50 to tow it to his place. Yay!

Ever hear the saying……. You get what you pay for? We never heard of it apparently

The tow truck driver hooks up the rear wheels of the van and pulls out of the driveway, we all head in feeling happy our van will finally be fixed and breath a sigh of relief.

And then.... And then it happens... our phone rings and it's our neighbor calling and she says the tow truck DROPPED our van. Hard. Hard enough for them to hear it inside their house. And, are you ready for this…

It seems Mr Tow Truck Driver went to their house first and hooked up their van, and then went knocking on their door to confirm the pick up. He even said… I am here to get the red dodge, and their van is a black something else!!

Are you laughing? Coz I laughed. Laughed and Laughed and Laughed. And I will admit I cried a bit too…

How in the heck can I put my family in that van and drive in the rain and fog over twists and turns of the Great Smokey Mountains…

Did I mention the last time we drove down to Hilton Head, about 100 yards in front of us, a red sports car lost control and started spinning out while going downhill in the rain? Thankfully is skid perfectly off to the shoulder and zero other cars were involved, but I can still it clear as day, like a movie....[/COLOR]

And now I am suppose to drive a van that was DROPPED? ​