It's the truth,it's actual! Road trip,CSR, DxDP,MNSSHP! *NEW PTR LINK IS UP!! PG 38*

[annnewjerz]

Great update---I can't wait to have that "We're in Disney!" feeling in a efw weeks. I agree about the Cracker Barrel, we have one right near us in Burlington and it's the pits. I've only been there a handful of times (mostly for breakfast) and you're right---the store is the best part of the whole place.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Ok, so I absolutely LOVED your driving report. We are driving(for the first time) to the World in August and we have by, mapquest, a 21 hour drive. Of course I know with all of our stops it will be more than that of course, so looks like it would be about the same timing as you. My dh and I will take turns driving too, usually when we drive he does end up driving more than me and I end up being able to get some good sleep. The longest road trip we've taken before though was only 6 hours, so he'll definitely need to sleep this time too. He's more like you and will feel like he needs to stay up and "watch" me drive though.

I loved all of your pics from the road too. I'm super excited and I want to go now. But....... I have to wait 10 more months!!!!!

Were your kids exhausted when you got to Disney or were they all right with the amount of sleep they got. I've been wondering how awake or tired they will be when we arrive? Thanks

I absolutely cannot wait to hear what you did on your first day in Disney World!!! Great report!!!!

 

[Trentmom]

Yay, you are moving right along

I am not a big fan of cracker barrel either, but I love that game you two were playing. I Really need to buy one of them. so much fun

Love Kayla's face when she sees Florida sign


That is great you were next to and near your friends....

 

[lurkyloo]

I found yer trippie all by myself! I LOVE the part where Jack woke up 40 years old - highlarious! - and the description of Waffle House.

While you are all waiting for me to post fun stuff, head on over to one of my most favorite Diser's review of the D23 expo in Anaheim! She is an AMAZING writer, and you will be entertained and delighted!

Aw....! I am so excited to be one of your most favorite DISers! This is quite an honor - am I allowed to make a T-shirt to commemorate it?

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

Oh I just LOVE Kayla's reaction to crossing into Florida!! I am anxious to see how you guys liked CSR. I was in the Ranchos section when I stayed there, too!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Ok, I don't have much DIS time right now, but you know I'm here your TR (and, Sohpia's!)

I'm all caught up!

UGH to the speeding ticket! I'm so worried about that for us, too. I know our feet might be a little impatient and control the speed.

I'm sorry you don't like Cracker Barrel; we have those a few places locally and love them! (Well, one of them would be a Crapper Barrel, but the others are great!!)

Your little ones are so cute sleeping!!

 

[swankybeth]

Enjoyed the pics from the road. Love Kayla's reaction, too cute! Looking forward to more.

 

[tinkgurl]

Wow, that's so exciting to finally get there! I can't believe the balloon was actually up!

 

[inkedupmomma]

well aren't you just whipping right thru this!!
after dragging out last years, I am trying to redeem myself!
1- Yay for SUPRISING Kayla with leaving early! Go mommy!
glad you don't think I'm a big meanie lol
2- ITA with BOO on the Waffle House! It has to be a southern thing.....we ate there only once...also on a drive down to WDW...have to agree it was nothing great. And ICK on the Grits!! I just don't get them? Why not eat Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal??
Lovee oatmeal..grits..nota so much
3- Jack looks so cute curled up in his seat! Life is great when they sleep!
thank you
4 - WOO HOO We've arrived!! Now get to the good part!

geting on it!

Wow, that's so exciting to finally get there! I can't believe the balloon was actually up!

guess who the first person I thought of was when I saw the balloon up?? yep, YOU!! I meant to put that as a caption under the pic.. that shot was especially taken for you!

Enjoyed the pics from the road. Love Kayla's reaction, too cute! Looking forward to more.

thank you!! getting on more very soon!

Ok, I don't have much DIS time right now, but you know I'm here your TR (and, Sohpia's!)

I'm all caught up!

UGH to the speeding ticket! I'm so worried about that for us, too. I know our feet might be a little impatient and control the speed.

I'm sorry you don't like Cracker Barrel; we have those a few places locally and love them! (Well, one of them would be a Crapper Barrel, but the others are great!!)

Your little ones are so cute sleeping!!

yay, I am glad you re here! i will try to private trip report you when I catch you on line!!

Oh I just LOVE Kayla's reaction to crossing into Florida!! I am anxious to see how you guys liked CSR. I was in the Ranchos section when I stayed there, too!

Getting on it, promise!!

I found yer trippie all by myself! I LOVE the part where Jack woke up 40 years old - highlarious! - and the description of Waffle House.

I loved that part too..but then got a sad because he is growing up so fast!


Aw....! I am so excited to be one of your most favorite DISers! This is quite an honor - am I allowed to make a T-shirt to commemorate it?

a Tee would be a fantabulous idea! and you KNOW you were my first ever favorite Diser! lurkyloo has a very special place in my heart!

Yay, you are moving right along

I am not a big fan of cracker barrel either, but I love that game you two were playing. I Really need to buy one of them. so much fun

Love Kayla's face when she sees Florida sign


That is great you were next to and near your friends....

Idk how he beat that game.. but I never do.. I was floored lol

Ok, so I absolutely LOVED your driving report. We are driving(for the first time) to the World in August and we have by, mapquest, a 21 hour drive. Of course I know with all of our stops it will be more than that of course, so looks like it would be about the same timing as you. My dh and I will take turns driving too, usually when we drive he does end up driving more than me and I end up being able to get some good sleep. The longest road trip we've taken before though was only 6 hours, so he'll definitely need to sleep this time too. He's more like you and will feel like he needs to stay up and "watch" me drive though.
If you drive is 21 hours add at least 4-6 hours extra. A quick stop always ends up with all 4 of us trying to go potty..stretching our legs, etc...
I loved all of your pics from the road too. I'm super excited and I want to go now. But....... I have to wait 10 more months!!!!!
trust me, the 10 months will FLYYY by!
Were your kids exhausted when you got to Disney or were they all right with the amount of sleep they got. I've been wondering how awake or tired they will be when we arrive? Thanks
the kids had way more energy than we did! they napped and pretty much slept normal hours! trust that they will be good to go lol
I absolutely cannot wait to hear what you did on your first day in Disney World!!! Great report!!!!

and welcome!! glad to have you here!

Great update---I can't wait to have that "We're in Disney!" feeling in a efw weeks. I agree about the Cracker Barrel, we have one right near us in Burlington and it's the pits. I've only been there a handful of times (mostly for breakfast) and you're right---the store is the best part of the whole place.

I have been to that cracker barrel by you!! I do so love the store!

 

[inkedupmomma]

As if a 9 day trip to Disney World wasn't enough, Joe and Sophia (who will also be called jophia) had surprises for my kids!! While I was checking in, Joe and John went to the convention center to pick up boxes that she had shipped down.. Imagine my surprise when I saw these HUGENORMOUS things!!

(Sadly, I do not have any pics of the awesomeness that was in these boxes..although I swear Sophia's husband took pics! in the boxes were tumbler cups, ponchos, little games, crayons, stickers, coloring books, mini fans, plates, a pin, clothing, etc.... a Disney overload! It was amazing! Thank you again Sophia!!)

Once we got the boxes, we headed to our room for the first time! I love that feeling! I was so so sooo stoked that we were assigned a refurbed room! I walked in and was instantly happy! I loveddd how clean everything was, and the extra space was magnificent! I know it is not MUCH bigger than a Value but every lil' bit of room helps when you have kids!! (or over pack like me

Oh, did I mention surprise number 2?? not only did Jophia buy my kids stuff, but we had brought a HUGE piece of luggae full of gifts for them as well! For those that read my PTR you already know what was in it! For those of you that are new, check out my PTR..lots of pics of the stuff! Towels, clothing, bathing suits, etc... Needless to say my kids were starting this trip off awesome!

Once we were settled in and unpacked, (which took forever after all that clean up) it was time to hit the showers! while everyone was getting cleaned up, I decided to work on decorating my window!

(Borrowed these pics from end of pics, so you could see the complete end result!)

After we showered it was FINALLY time to get some real Disney stuff going! Tonight we were eating at my FAVORITE spot, Earl of Sandwich and having dessert at T-Rex Cafe! The WHOLE crew would be together tonight!!

We all drove to DTD and parked, and then took pics in Sophia's fav DTD pic spot!

After this it was finalllly time to eat! We hadn't eaten much more than snacks since crapper barrel this morning and we were starved! Last year, this was one of our fav meals, and I literally was jumping out of my skin to try it again! I was reallllly hoping something stupid didn't happen and change the taste of these little pieces of heaven!

Sure enough, these sandwiches were just as good, maybe even better than last year!

John had :The Original 1762® - Freshly Roasted Beef, Cheddar Cheese & Creamy Horseradish Sauce (description taken from EoS website, pics taken by me lol)

I had : All American - Roasted Turkey, Buttermilk Ranch, Cranberries, Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Lettuce & Tomato

and

Tomato Soup - with Fresh Croutons

and the kids split a kids Ham and cheese

*Continued in next post

 

[Trentmom]

WOW...your kids rake in the goodies

Jophia is awesome


Your window looks great.....love it



Looking at those Earl of Sandwiches making me so hungry now.

 

[inkedupmomma]

I only took pics of our food, but everyone seemed to agree that the food was awesome! john and I couldn't stop saying how awesome it was actually! Paying for this place out of pocket was a reminder of how much I LOVE the dining plan..the DxDP at that! I swore I saved the receipt, but now I can not find it...after buying 3 drinks, 3 sandwiches, a soup, and 2 bags of chips, the total was in the high $30.00's! It was well worth every penny though!!

Clearly Kayla agrees with me!

After dinner, it was time for our T-Rex dessert ADR! But not before we took some pics!

Best shot out of the three I took.. in one pic or another one of the kids wasn't looking lol

Legoooooo dinoooo

Legoooo Bot

After looking around very quickly, we wandered over to T-Rex!

It was AWESOME in here! Loud, but awesome!

Everyone is Happpy!

Kelly and her beautiful family!

Kelly and I shared:

The chocolate extinction

Kelly's husband had key lime pie

John and Joe had the ice age indulgance

Sophia had meteor bites

and the kids had worms in dirt kinda thing called the chocolate tarpit

the desserts were ok.. they look mind blowing though, don't they? Te food that walked by looked pretty decent, but the prices were ridiculous! I don't think we will go back there. But I am glad we got to see the inside!

Once we were done, the kids went outside to their little dig area to dig up some dino bones lol

Jack started throwing sand or whatever the heck is in there and it was time to GO! I am pretty sure everyone, especially John and I were tired! The drive was finally catching up to us!

When we got back to the hotel there was ANOTHER surprise, we will call this surprise number 3! Joe and Sophia sent John and I a beautiful mickey kitchen utensil holder that had kitchen stuff in it! Including the disney cook book! Apparently in April when they were here for Jack's birthday party, they didn't feel we had enough utensils LOL! It was an amazing surprise! No one ever surprises me, so it was extra awesome! unfortunately, I took a pic with my phone, so I will have to upload that later..and it isn't great quality.. you can see some of it in my window shot though!

The day was perfect! Great friends, great food, my perfect little family! My heart was happy as heck!

It was definitely time for sleep now! Jack thought otherwise!

Eventually I won, and both kids were PASSSED out!

I was hoping everyone would sleep well tonight! We had a 6 am wake up call the following morning and it was our first day in the parks

*Up next- where do we eat breakfast, and who do we meet? What park did we pick for our first day?

 

[inkedupmomma]

WOW...your kids rake in the goodies

Jophia is awesome


Your window looks great.....love it



Looking at those Earl of Sandwiches making me so hungry now.

My kids are RIDICULOUSLY fortunate! and jophia can not seem to help themselves when it comes to my kids!! I could imagine how her own nephew makes out!!

Thanks, I loveddd decorating the window!

ad OMg I am starving after these posts.. like drooling starving LOL

 

[Echo queen]

Great update loved the signs. We will staying at CS in December for the first time.

 

[Trentmom]

Yay more....


We are eating at T Rex on our trip. It looks so cool in there.

I had no idea there was a dig place outside...Trent will get a kick out of that

That smoking dessert look so neat...


Another surprise

Aren't kids so cute when they are all tuckered out and asleep


Can't wait to read what is next

 

[Elevationist]

Just found your TR, and I'm really enjoying it! I'm in!

Also, sorry you didn't enjoy Cracker Barrel! Or even Waffle House for that matter. Maybe it's just part of being from the south, but I love both of them!

Your food pics make me sooooo hungry!

 

[swankybeth]

Love the refurbished rooms at CSR, very nice! The kids definitely made out with all of that loot! Lots of surprises all around! We are definitely trying Earl of Sandwich again. Last time we made the grave error of getting cold wraps and they were not good. Now I know hot is definitely the way to go! T Rex looked really cool, sorry the desserts weren't that great. I loved the effect of the smoke (dry ice??) on your dessert. Can't wait to read about your first park day!

 

[coolbeans]

loved the updates!! i love earl of sandwich too, that was one of the best meals we had.. some hawaiian chicken thing.. i still think about it!

 

[inkedupmomma]

Great update loved the signs. We will staying at CS in December for the first time.

Yay, so glad you enjoyed it!

Yay more....


We are eating at T Rex on our trip. It looks so cool in there.
loud but veryyy cool!
I had no idea there was a dig place outside...Trent will get a kick out of that
neither did we..kids found it lol
That smoking dessert look so neat...
neat.. not super tatsy

Another surprise
<3
Aren't kids so cute when they are all tuckered out and asleep

the cutest lol
Can't wait to read what is next

later today!

Just found your TR, and I'm really enjoying it! I'm in!
yayaya, welcome!
Also, sorry you didn't enjoy Cracker Barrel! Or even Waffle House for that matter. Maybe it's just part of being from the south, but I love both of them!

Your food pics make me sooooo hungry!

I'm still starcving form post ing those pics yesterday lol

Love the refurbished rooms at CSR, very nice! The kids definitely made out with all of that loot! Lots of surprises all around! We are definitely trying Earl of Sandwich again. Last time we made the grave error of getting cold wraps and they were not good. Now I know hot is definitely the way to go! T Rex looked really cool, sorry the desserts weren't that great. I loved the effect of the smoke (dry ice??) on your dessert. Can't wait to read about your first park day!

definitely try Earl again! It is phenomenal! I think it was dry ice..although I though places weren't allowed to use that stuff anymore

loved the updates!! i love earl of sandwich too, that was one of the best meals we had.. some hawaiian chicken thing.. i still think about it!

I thought about it all year and it was just as good as I remembered! def one of our favorites!

 

[inkedupmomma]

6 a.m.- A lovely wake up call from Mr.Stitch scares the poo out of ridiculously tired us! No joke, the room was dark as all get out, and I was the most tired I think I have ever felt lol and then the phone rings so loud! FYI- the phone was right by me lol.

Quickly I realize, wait, tired?? We is in WDW babbbby! I can't recall exactly, but I think I punched John or something to wake him up! I was hoping Jack would sleep as long as possible. No one likes a tired cranky Jack! I hopped outta bed and quick got in the shower! While showering I heard John putzing around. We soon realized, the resort DOES NOT offer coffee filters... SOOO, note to self and all of you, if you want your own coffee, don't forget your filters!! What the resort does offer, is coffee in a filter already. So what does my oh so clever, think on the spot John do?? He cuts the filter and dumps out the disney coffee, and puts our coffee in he makes my heart smile!

I get out of the shower, and he has my coffee all nice and ready for me, but I realize times a wastin!! get your **** in the shower..no time for coffee! i quick get dressed, chug my delicious coffee (same stuff I drink at home..but for some reason, tasted like heaven this day LOL ) and then wake the kids up. Kayla was already partially awake and excited, so she was easy to get up. Jack however. Well, he was passssed out and didn't want to hear about waking up! Funny since he fights sleep so much!

Soon enough we were all ready and geared up to go! BUT, not before I went to registration and checked out of CSR so I could check back in! Luckily check in and check out went amazingly fast and easy peasy! I even had a new guy.. literally, it was his first 3 mins on the clock and I was his first customer! He was great! Everything was set! Today started our full package, which included the Deluxe Dining Plan! We had 72 meal credits and 48 snacks to use

With all that taken care of, it was time to hit the road! Road hittin time was 7:32 am.. just 2 mins after the time we needed to leave by!

Seeing this, ALWAYS makes my heart skip a few thousand beats and then smile! FINALLY, I had my happy moment. It sunk in, that I was in WDW!! I was stoked! I was beginning to get worried that my depression was taking over!! hahahaha, you lose depression!

Today we were meeting up w/ Jophia and Alice for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare! We went here last year with our good friends from back home, and were excited to share this experience with some more good friends this year! Of course I took pics of everything leading up to breakfast.... never want to miss a moment!

We waited in what seemed a long line, and a couple CM's were rude in my opinion..but whatevs! We parked the stroller and then came back in and took a group photo. I don't have that pic handy, but it is cute and sitting on my new book case

We were seated right near the buffet, which is always a good thing! Easier to get things for the kids!

Some pics of the interior of 1900:

As soon as we were seated, I realized, duh!! I forgot to buy Autograph books for the kids So I quick excused myself and ran over to the gift shop on the first floor of the Grand Floridian (forget name??). Whew, they were open and had books! I very much disliked the silver color of the autograph books this year! But time was of the essence, no time to think about it!

I got back just in time to see all the characters coming out!

*Continued in next post...