How a Pin Code COST us money!! October 2011 PTR Updated 3/14

[lawblond7]

We love the Poly - we stayed there 2 years ago Christmas - actualy we got upgraded to there - but that is another story - BUT we love it and would go back. Actually we are leaving for Disney next Friday for my oldest son's Make a Wish trip - yes despite being to Disney twice in the last 2 years (and several times prior) Disney is where he chose to go for his wish. He initially wished to stay at the Polynesian again BUT then once MAW was able to book the Poly he changed his mind and we are staying at give kids the world - just a bit easier when traveling with one other son with a wheelchair and my mom who uses a scooter.

Sounds like a WONDERFUL 40th -- Maybe I need to do that in a few years for my 50th

Sounds like you will celebrate your 40th in Style

 

[sjs314]

How nice of Disney to send you a Pin# as an early B-day present and What could be better than spending your Birthday at the Poly CL

 

[ddstratton]

We love the Poly - we stayed there 2 years ago Christmas - actualy we got upgraded to there - but that is another story - BUT we love it and would go back. Actually we are leaving for Disney next Friday for my oldest son's Make a Wish trip - yes despite being to Disney twice in the last 2 years (and several times prior) Disney is where he chose to go for his wish. He initially wished to stay at the Polynesian again BUT then once MAW was able to book the Poly he changed his mind and we are staying at give kids the world - just a bit easier when traveling with one other son with a wheelchair and my mom who uses a scooter.

Sounds like a WONDERFUL 40th -- Maybe I need to do that in a few years for my 50th

Sounds like you will celebrate your 40th in Style

Have fun on your trip!!!

How nice of Disney to send you a Pin# as an early B-day present and What could be better than spending your Birthday at the Poly CL

It was nice of them, wasn't it?

 

[ddstratton]

We were ready for another (mostly) annual trip! This would be May of 2007. This trip would be me, DH, DD and Mom.

This trip showed us Mom’s first time in a hot tub! She loved it.

We stayed in another beautiful cabin in Tennessee. However, this one was NOT hanging off the edge of a mountain.

On this trip we visited:

The Great Smokey Mountain National Park – Cade’s Cove…

The Comedy Barn…

The Dixie Stampede again…

The Cherokee Bear Zoo…

The Deer Farm & Exotic Petting Zoo…

Forbidden Caverns…

The Great Smokey Mountains Railroad…

Ripley’s Aquariums of the Smokies…

Lunch at Hardrock Café in Gatlinburg…

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum…

And a super-quick stop at Loretta Lynn’s house.

This was the first of several trips taken with Mom. More previous trips to follow, then we'll be getting into the planning for this upcoming trip!

 

[ddstratton]

Our third (mostly) annual trip was in October 2008. This was our first trip to Disney World! We drove down from Upstate NY, and took the AutoTrain home (most of the way). The cast included me, DH, DD and Mom. We had ten nights at the Caribbean Beach Resort, with a lovely PIN code to save us some money!
Some highlights from the trip:

Our traditional brunch stop at IHOP in Hagerstown, MD. We ususally end up stopping here on any trip south.

DD felt the need to build a coffee-creamer tower.

DD loves rest areas, and water fountains…

At one of these rest areas, I found a coupon for a better hotel for the night.

Yes, my mother is hugging a palm tree…

DD wasn’t sure about the characters at first…

She warmed up to them through. Especially after Pluto signed her hat!

We attended one of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parties!

We went to a nearby McDonald’s…

And another Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum…

We took a monster truck ride through an orange grove

And we rode the AutoTrain home. Most of the way. We still had about 6 hours to drive after we got off the train.

Worst part about the whole trip was on the ride home. As we were waiting to board the train, we came across a large, rude group. They blocked off a whole aisle of seats so that their kids could run amok and they wouldn't have to watch them. One of them was coughing loudly and saying, "Gee, my throat really hurts." Yup, that evening I started feeling sick. I spent the night with a fever and sore throat and ended up being sick for several days after. Bummer.

Overall, though, we really enjoyed this trip. We had some great character interaction and really enjoyed the extra attractions we experienced.

Next up – our most recent (mostly) annual trip.

 

[ddstratton]

Now for a recap of our most recent (mostly) annual trip.

We had planned an October 2009 trip, to make our (mostly) annual trip an (actually) annual trip. We had to change these plans, however. DH’s oldest brother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2008. We went to visit him in January and May of 2008. We had rescheduled our planned October 2009 to a November 2009 trip, and made plans to spend some time with him around Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, he passed away before we went down. We then rescheduled our November 2009 trip to May 2010.

The full trip report for this trip can be found here.

We had a blast! We drove from Upstate NY to southern PA, and spend the night in a Holiday Inn Express. This hotel had an indoor pool, of which DD made very good use.

We walked across a parking lot to have supper at Red Lobster.

After supper, we made more good use of the swimming pool.

The next day, we traveled to Lorton, VA, to board the AutoTrain. We really love doing this, but it is rather expensive.

We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter Resort. The room we were in was about as far away from the Food Court and bus stops as you could get – but really it wasn’t far because the resort is so small. We really enjoyed our stay here. The view was beautiful, and we made some pretty good use of the pool here, as well.

We had a lot of fun in the parks, but it was beastly hot! This was the middle of May, and we didn’t expect it to be quite as hot as it was. The heat made for a few grumpy moments, but we eased those with pool time.

Some random shots from this trip:

[Continued in next post – too many pictures…]

 

[ddstratton]

We enjoyed this trip, but it just didn’t seem quite as magical as our first Disney trip. And I think I have figured out why – we didn’t have nearly as much character interaction this time. Not as many characters were out in the parks, I think because of the heat. Also, we didn’t do as many character meals this time around.

We made a few stops on our way home from Disney World, also.

Next up – we finally get into some of the planning for this trip!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I've been wondering where you were since you hadn't posted in a while. I'm loving your recaps of previous trips. I've been trying to figure out how to add some character meals into our next trip because, like you, I feel like they add some magic to the vacation.

 

[ddstratton]

I've been wondering where you were since you hadn't posted in a while. I'm loving your recaps of previous trips. I've been trying to figure out how to add some character meals into our next trip because, like you, I feel like they add some magic to the vacation.

I'm still around. Life just seems to get in the way sometimes. I am SO behind on all of the threads I've been reading. Actually, I am still reading them. I just get distracted and never seem to post on them. I'm kind of hoping I can get all caught up this weekend...

 

[ddstratton]

Finally – we’ve made it to the planning section of this little PTR! We will be driving on this trip. We had considered flying, but decided not to. We change plans too much. I definitely do not want to deal with change fees and such on airline tickets. Plus, you are just so RESTRICTED as to what you can pack when you fly. Also – if we fly, then we don’t have the chance to do any of the little side trips and stops that we like to do on our vacations.

With all that in mind…..

Travel Day 1 – Wednesday, October 19, 2011

We plan on leaving the house around 6:30 am. We will have packed up the vehicle the night before and should only have to pack in the last-minute stuff. At this point, we haven’t really decided which vehicle to take. We might drive the truck, like last time.

The truck has a full back seat, and a hard tonneau cover to keep our luggage safe and dry.

Or we might take my mini-van, as we did on our first Disney trip. Only problem – I plan on getting a new/used mini-van this summer. We’ll just have to wait and see on that, I guess.

We will most likely stop just south of Williamsport, PA, at the McDonald’s there. This is pretty much a tradition for us.

It will mainly be a potty break, but we might get a little something to eat if we’re really hungry. We don’t want to eat too much, though. This is because we plan on stopping for an early lunch at IHOP in Hagerstown, MD. This is also a fairly traditonal stop for us.

After we’ve had lunch, we’ll keep driving south on I-81. We’ll be stopping near Natural Bridge, VA, at the Virginia Safari Park. We’ve stopped here before, but Mom hasn’t been.

Once we’re done visiting the animals, we’ll head on south for a little while longer. We’ll be spending the night at a Sleep Inn & Suites in Dublin, VA. There’s an indoor pool for the kiddo to expend some energy in. And a hot tub for Mom.

We’ve got a “suite” with two queen-sized beds.

There aren’t a lot of restaurant options right near the hotel, but there are several either back up the highway one exit, or down the other way one exit. I’m sure we won’t starve, either way!

That’s about it for Day 1 of our travels.

 

[GeminiAngel]

You started this pre-tr reallllly early

Late, but I'm here. The Poly for 2 nights at club level, WOW! You're trips are getting better and better. Can't wait for more plans. Great pin code.

 

[ddstratton]

Well, just as we've made it to the planning section of this PTR, I'm gonna have to end it.

Nothing horrible's happened. We're just not going to Disney this year. We are still going to Florida for my 40th birthday, though. We'll be spending the time in the Florida Keys instead! We have a villa at the CocoPlum Resort. It's a spot in the middle of the Florida Keys - Marathon, FL. It has beach access, a pool and hot tub. We also have a three-story villa to ourselves.

I may not be spending my birthday at Disney, but I'm not gonna complain about spending it sitting on a beach! After some family discussion, we decided to hold off on another Disney trip for a year or two. We love Disney, but really want to go when the Fantasyland Expansion is done (or mostly done, anyway). At that time, we're considering doing a land/sea vacation, adding on a Disney Dream cruise! Woo Hoo!!

But for now, I must say goodbye to this Pre-Trip Report. I've had a lot of fun with it, even if we're not taking the Disney trip now.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Well shoot! I hate that you're not going to Disney for your 40th but, like you said, you're still going to Florida so that's good.

I know I'd love to hear about your plans even if they aren't at Disney.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Well somtimes that happen. It did for me this year too. We were supposed to have just returned home from WDW this past Saturday.

Instead we are heading to So. Cal. for 8 nights in April. Disneyland, Seaworld.