Hillbillies head South! March 2-11, 2012 COMPLETED 6/26

[sandym718]

Hi all!! The days are not that many now, so it's time to get this PTR going!!

What: Family/Friends trip to WDW

When: March 2-10/11, 2012

Who: Fourteen total at our highest!!


So, first, the cast. We have 5 mini "groups" within our large group. The guys are total hillbillies and will be using CB's on our drive down (more on that later), so we've all been given handles. I'll include our handles here and then use them from now on!

There's us - me (Ariel), DH-Lotso (both in our 30's), DS-Woody (9) and DD-Tink (will be 8 the day before we leave!)

Next - my sister (Beast - don't ASK!) and her boyfriend (Prince Charming) (in their 20's)

These 2 groups went to Disney last March together as well. Here we are:

For my family of 4, this is our 4th family trip (2007, 2009, 2011). I also went 2 times as a child and once to Disneyland, DH had never been.

My sister went twice as a child also (only 1 of our trips overlapped, we're 10 years apart) and then again last year. Last year her boyfriend was a newbie!!!

The other groups traveling:

DSIL (Cruella, again, don't ask!), DBIL (Grumpy) and DNephew (Nemo) (5). DSIL went a few times as a child, last February was the first trip for DBIL and DNephew.

Our friends - K (Sleeping Beauty), H (Eeyore) and their children, N (Pooh Bear-9) and K (Buzz-6)

Also joining us at the beginning of the trip will be my MIL. She's already in Florida for the winter (Ft. Myers) and will be driving up to meet us on March 3rd, likely staying until March 6th. She only has a room for 2 nights, but may just stay with BIL/SIL the 3rd night and leave in the morning. She doesn't have a handle since she's not part of the "caravan", so we'll just call her MIL!

So that's the group....Where are we staying?? What are the plans?? Most importantly - where are we eating???? Stay tuned!!

 

[Lidian]

FIRST! I'm totally in!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

YAY, I'm second!!!

You have CB's?? That is AWESOME!!! Our family had a CB radio when we took road trips as a kid. We thought is was sooooo cool! Can't wait to learn more about you, Sandy (aka Ariel)!

 

[Corrine 1973]

Well third is not a bad place to be, at least I am still on page one.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[DMGeurts]

Fine... I'll take 4th...

D~

 

[mblc14]

I'm in 5th and ready to hear all your plans!

 

[sandym718]

More coming tomorrow!

 

[newtexan]

waiting for more to read...

 

[sandym718]

Sorry to keep everyone waiting!! Busy day yesterday. Hopefully I can do a couple updates today!!

Before I get more into our trip plans, I'll tell you a little more about us:

We live on DH's family farm in Northeast Ohio, about half hour outside of Cleveland. Grumpy, Cruella and Nemo live next door and MIL lives across the street, down the road a bit. DH has another brother who is single and temporarily living with MIL (actually has the house to himself now since she's in FL). We have begged him to come along for part of the trip (he's a teacher so the whole thing would be impossible), but no dice. He'll be monitoring the "compound" (Cruella says we're like the Kennedy's but without the money) and taking care of Nemo's puppy!

Eeyore, Sleeping Beauty, Pooh Bear and Buzz live about 15 minutes away. Lotso, Grumpy and Cruella have known Eeyore and Sleeping Beauty for many, many years - they all grew up around here and went to school together, etc. I've been part of the "pack" for almost 15 years, married for 12 1/2. Actually March 8th will be the 15 year "anniversary" of when Lotso and I met (blind date!!) and we can celebrate in Disney!!!

Soooo...the boys are part-time farmers with full-time regular jobs. They grow corn and soybeans, mostly, alfalfa too. This was a working Dairy Farm until 2000, when FIL partially retired to just grain farming. The boys always helped out and when he passed away in 2005, they took that over.

They've long had a love of CB's, which is so weird to me. Haven't used them in MANY years (good female influence). They insist on using them for the drive down, even though we tried to persuade to just use hands-free calling instead!! Sleeping Beauty, Beast and I all have it right in our cars, but Grumpy/Cruella do not and they don't want to do that anyway!! Beast and Prince Charming do not have a CB (lucky them), they're NOT hillbillies, LOL, so we'll be updating them via cell.

I guess that's about it....now onto the trip!!

 

[sandym718]

How the trip began:
This started last March/April. Grumpy and family went for the first time last February and fell in love (of course). We went for the 3rd time in late March and Beast/Prince Charming joined us. When we got back, Grumpy and Eeyore had started conspiring about a group trip and so this trip was born.

Also around this time, MIL announced that she was staying in Florida for 3 months this winter (as opposed to only 2 last year). Tink was a little upset - her birthday is March 1st and MIL leaves Ohio after Christmas, so she knew she wouldn't be back for her birthday. They are very close (though MIL and I are not, BTW), Tink is the first girl to be born into this family in 70 years. FIL had an older sister, and they had 3 boys apiece. Tink was born and it was like Hallelujah, a girl!!! MIL told all the nurses at the hospital, who couldn't care less. So originally MIL was talking about flying home for Tink's bday, which, really, there was no need. But then the trip planning started and we figured she'd just come up and meet us for awhile and we'd celebrate Tink's bday. Because of work/school concerns, we couldn't be there on her actual birthday, but we leave early the day after!

So from April-December, the trip was our 3 families, plus MIL for a few days. We kept pestering Beast and Prince Charming to go as well, but Beast really wanted to do the beach this summer and has a hard time getting off of work. Prince Charming was 100% on board, he just had a magical first trip last year! At Thanksgiving, they started talking about it a little more and really wanted to join us. At our house on Christmas night, they made up their minds and decided to join us!! Beast got permission from work that week and they booked - they had a pin code, lucky them!!

I should also let you know that this trip planning has been serious business. We have had many "meetings" to discuss. Basically, these are all just an excuse to get together and eat and drink ourselves silly while the kids play. But we do get some "work" accomplished occassionally There are 2 final meetings scheduled - this Saturday at Grumpy/Cruella's where we'll also be celebrating Valentine's Day and Grumpy and Prince Charming's birthdays. And then on 2/25, which is actually Tink's family birthday party so we'll have extra guests, and we'll be celebrating Eeyore's bday as well. There are actually 2 meetings that day. The guys all have one in the morning with the traveling vehicles. Eeyore and Grumpy work at the same place, a supply company, and have booked a warehouse for the morning. All oil will be changed, tires rotated, fluid levels checked, interior and exteriors cleaned. Glad they're doing it, but they have been warned to expect very messy interiors upon return!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

WOW! What a caravan you will have going down! Sounds like the circus is coming to town! This is an exciting story unfolding...

 

[sandym718]

One last quick update before I have to run errands!!

WHERE:
Well, the where has changed a few times...for the rest of the group. Lotso and I let everyone know early on that we'd be at the Poly for sure!! It's our home away from home and we can't imagine staying anywhere else. Though this recent pool slide/possible pool closure made us wonder for a few minutes, but no, we're sticking with it!! Here's a few pics from last year:

and let's hope it doesn't look like this:

We even have a very specific request: Tokelau building, first floor, east side. We have always stayed over here (west side last time) and it's just perfect for us. Centrally located, quiet, nice grassy area off the patio. Just wonderful!

Eeyore's family started out at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Savannah view. And Grumpy's family started out at POR ( I think, there may have been somewhere before that, but it was that way for a long time). They loved BLT last time, but wanted to go a little cheaper. MIL was originally booked also at POR, for 3 nights in the middle of our trip. We all booked with Free Dining, hoping for better room discounts.

Well, those never really came. We stayed put, but in November/December, the resort switching started. Eeyore's family decided they wanted to be on the monorail, looked for BLT 1 BR, but no dice, so they moved to the Poly. Then Grumpy and Cruella had a long discussion about wanting to go back at Christmas time for the lights and maybe they should just do it this year.....they ended up dropping FD, getting annual passes and switching to the Poly as well!!!

MIL... what to do. She didn't want to spend more money. But we knew she'd have issues being over at POR all alone. She gets lost easily and we didn't want to always be rescuing her. We also had great concerns with her coming up on Tuesday. Originally, her SIL (whom she's sharing the house with in Ft. Myers) was coming up as well, but she decided not to. So she'll be making the drive herself and we are quite sure, will get lost in the Orlando area. Cruella and I really didn't want our Tuesday park time with one of the guys having to go find her. So, we talked MIL into switching to the Poly, but for only 2 nights at the Beginning of our trip!! So we'll all arrive on Saturday, 3/3. We hope to stay offsite in Orlando the night before (more on that later) and OUR family will not do any parks on the 3rd until dinner time. So if she needs rescued, Lotso can go rescue her. Also, she won't need to do any driving or bus rides while on property. We'll have the monorail and she can ride with one of us elsewhere. She does have mobility issues and we will be getting a scooter as well. She may stay an additional night in Grumpy/Cruella's room, again, more on that later. The other positive to her coming earlier is that our itinerary is more concrete at the beginning and we'll be going where she wants to go. Later in the week, it's more flexible, more about hitting the faves, etc. None of us wanted to feel guilted into taking her somewhere instead of where we wanted to go. We're all paying a lot of $$$$$!!!

Finally - Beast and Prince Charming. They'll be at CSR,where they stayed last time. They loved it. They looked into the POLY, but even with their PIN, it's so pricey. They need to save for a wedding and a house yet! Last trip they didn't have a car, though, they flew down for a wedding in Daytona and rented a car just for that one night. We picked them up sometimes and they used the bus other times. This time they'll be driving more and often meeting us at the POLY.
One CSR pool pic from last trip!

So that's the WHERE - 12 of us at the POLY, 2 at CSR!!

Coming up next, maybe later today: General trip plans!!

 

[sandym718]

WOW! What a caravan you will have going down! Sounds like the circus is coming to town! This is an exciting story unfolding...

Oh yes, Disney will never be the same after we hit!!

 

[newtexan]

Sounds like you all have done some serious planning parties!

 

[sandym718]

Time for another update!!!

Before I start with our individual day plans, let's talk about some general stuff.

First, as you already know, we're driving down. For many reasons. For everyone else the biggest reason is $$$. For our family...Lotso doesn't fly. The last time he flew (and the only time with me) was 1997 when we went to Cancun. He wasn't thrilled about it and then we had a horrible flight down there and that was it. I didn't even know if I'd get him on a plane home!!! Luckily, I did, but never again!! So my kids are expert car travelers - this will be time #4 to Disney, we've been to various beaches on the East coast many times too. All I can say is, thank goodness for portable DVD players!!!!

Second, we will all be on the regular DDP for this trip. Our family and Eeyore's have the free plan. Beast and Prince Charming added it to their PIN code package. Grumpy's family and MIL booked their rooms with Annual Pass discount and have added it. MIL only has it for 2 nights, so on Monday she'll be paying OOP.

What else??? I'm sure there's more I'll think of, but I guess I'll just cover those as we come to it.

Oh, we do have a "meeting" tonight! DH has been salting/plowing snow since 7:30 last night and it's still snowing. So he'll probably be either sleeping or back out plowing/cleaning up by then. Looks like he'll miss this one. we're mostly just celebrating Grumpy's (2/9) and Prince Charming's (2/15) birthdays, but there are a few things on the agenda:

1) Scooter rental for MIL. We have to decide on this and get one reserved.

2) Narrowing down Orlando hotels to a few that we can look to book on the way down (more on this in Day One!)

3) Menu reviews - by request of Pooh Bear. He wants to look through the menus on All Ears!

Coming up next: Departure Day!

 

[newtexan]

The planning of the food should be most fun -
how much snow did you end up with?

 

[Lidian]

Portable DVD players are awesome! We were very sad last year when we took ours and the lighter socket didn't work (we have a car DVD player with dual screens).

So for being expert car travellers, what other items do you pack for the kids? We've always travelled at night while the kids were sleeping, so they only had to entertain themselves for a few hours on the way down (and we're all exhausted when we leave, so they sleep a good portion of the way back, too). However, this year, we're day-driving, so kids will be up. Trying to come up with new suggestions besides just the DVD player and coloring books.

We don't fly either. Finances just really isn't good enough to allow for flying, and we're frugal. Yep, we're cheap. Plus, I'm terrified to fly. However, we don't have as far as a drive as you do!

Can't wait to hear about what you decide in your "meeting" and to hear more of your plans!

 

[sandym718]

The planning of the food should be most fun -
how much snow did you end up with?

It was! I think we got about 6-7 inches. DH plowed 24 hours out of 37 from fri night to this morning. Going back out at 3 am for a little clean up and salting. More snow coming Tuesday!

Portable DVD players are awesome! We were very sad last year when we took ours and the lighter socket didn't work (we have a car DVD player with dual screens).

So for being expert car travellers, what other items do you pack for the kids? We've always travelled at night while the kids were sleeping, so they only had to entertain themselves for a few hours on the way down (and we're all exhausted when we leave, so they sleep a good portion of the way back, too). However, this year, we're day-driving, so kids will be up. Trying to come up with new suggestions besides just the DVD player and coloring books.

We don't fly either. Finances just really isn't good enough to allow for flying, and we're frugal. Yep, we're cheap. Plus, I'm terrified to fly. However, we don't have as far as a drive as you do!

Can't wait to hear about what you decide in your "meeting" and to hear more of your plans!

We have the dual screens too. Great for a boy and a girl who want to watch different things! We day drive now after a few trips of us arriving exhausted with the kids raring to go! Mostly movies and coloring/crafts here. We do Mad Libs, play the license plate game, they play a "find a word in a sign that starts with each letter of the alphabet" game. This trip they'll have iPod Touches for the first time! Lots of snacks of course. They'll probably also do some schoolwork on the ride too. But mostly a lot of movies!

Another update coming tomorrow!!

 

[sandym718]

I've got just enough time for another brief update!!

First of all - results of our "meeting". Well, not too much got discussed. SIL ended up having her family there for BIL's bday, so we didn't talk Disney TOO much. I did find out that MIL's scooter rental is done, thank goodness. I kind of forgot about it and just remembered last week, but she already handled it. She'll be renting one offsite to be delivered to the Poly so she'll have it the whole time we're there.

We did not really talk Orlando hotels - I'll discuss that in a minute. Looked a little at menus - that's always fun!!

OK, onto our daily plans. Starting with...

Day One - Friday, March 2 -- Departure/Driving Day
The 4 school-age kids on this trip all have off of school this day. We planned the trip around that, knowing it would give us some extra time while the kids would still only miss the allotted 5 days of school.

Our plans are to be up bright and early. Actually, DARK and early!!!! We'll be meeting near Eeyore's house (they're the furthest south) at 3:30 am. YIKES!!!! I am not a morning person and I cannot sleep in a car. It's going to be a looooooong day!

DH will try to go to bed early (he'll be driving the whole way, he doesn't ever let me drive on trips!). That will be tough, though, because 3/1 is DD's birthday. She doesn't get home from school until 4:10 and we have to do SOMETHING for her. But still, we'll try to make it an early night for both DH and the kids. I'm a night owl, so it will be tough, but I'll be aiming for sleep around 10 PM, so I can get 4 1/2 hours in or so. I'll be up at 2:30 am, get myself ready, any last minute car loading (cooler, etc.) and wake them all up just before 3. Kids have to eat even though it's the middle of the night, or they'll get carsick, so probably a granola bar or I might pick up Munchkin donuts from Dunkin the day before. Load everyone up and depart our house at 3:15. Meet up with everyone and head South!!

Hopefully the kids will go back to sleep at this point, I'm going to try an audio book for the first time and it should be quiet for the first few hours. We'll stop for a fast food breakfast somewhere, probably around 8/8:30. Should be in W. Va. at this point. Hopefully we can find an exit with a McD's AND something else. Here's the story: I am not a breakfast eater normally. But I LOVE a Sausage McMuffin, no egg. Our closest McD's is 15 minutes away, so I never go get one. The only time I ever have them is when we travel, leave early, and stop for breakfast. It's a tradition!! I must have one each way on the trip!! BUT, both Beast and Sleeping Beauty have McD's/stomach issues. So they will want something else. Hoping we can make it work!!

We'll continue on South. At this point there will be lots of CB chatter amongst the guys I'm sure. Kids will probably be texting each other. May be some car-hopping. Hoping to make it to Wytheville, VA for gas stop - usually the cheapest around. I know we can, not sure about Grumpy's vehicle. Lunch will be wherever.

How far/long will we drive?? Well, we're hoping to make it all the way to Orlando. Leaving that early, we should. However, with so many people involved, the weather could be iffy, etc., we have a backup plan. We have the Country Inn and Suites in Yulee, FL (just across the border) booked for that night for us, Grumpy, Eeyore. Our family stayed there last time and it's nice. We really hope to cancel it though, we can cancel until 4 PM that day. We'll evaluate by 2 or so, see where we're at, how we all feel, etc. Beast and Prince Charming are planning to drive to Daytona and stay with one of her best friends.

We've been unable to find an affordable Orlando hotel (under $100) with a same-day cancellation policy. So the plan is to just book it via iPads/iPhones once we decide to continue on. Hopefully we'll find a great last minute deal!!

Hopefully we'll arrive in Orlando this evening - exhausted I'm sure, but so close to the World!!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Wow, that is definitely going to be a long day, but it will be fun traveling with other people. If you get sick of the kids or sick of DH you can just car swap yourself!

We are blessed to get to fly this time. This will be our kids' first flight. We won't be able to do it every year, we got a steal this time. But it will be fun for this one time!