July 2010 Big Bdays Family Reunion (Update 9/28 Final Thoughts)

[Marshay]

Don't forget that the TIW card also gives you free valet parking at the resort hotels (for something like 3 hours) for your dining pleasure. One year I had horrible blisters so I used the valet to avoid long walks from the parking lots and felt like I recovered my investment in parking alone!

I forgot about that. I'll have to check out the restaurants we're going to at the resorts. Thanks!

 

[kaoden39]

Gotta love that valet parking.

 

[Marshay]

Just a minor update.

We decided we are now going to leave Friday night at 7pm and try to go about 5 hours. This way we won't have to get up at 'O-GOD-EARLY' and hopefully, we can get to a decent hotel on Saturday night and go swimming, relax, etc. Then Sunday should just be a few hours and we'll get to WDW (after going to Wal-Mart) around 1pm.

Then I'm hoping we'll take some naps, unpack and then hit Magic Kingdom park to catch Main Street Electrical Parade and Fireworks. This would be a great surprise for the girls and wonderful first night.

So -- (1) go from home to around Rocky Mount, NC on Friday night, while the girls sleep; (2) Leave around 9 or 10 am and drive until 4 or 5pm which should put us around Jacksonville, FL or so on Saturday; (3) Sunday, drive to Wal-mart, shop and then check in at the Boardwalk.
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Pic from today's Easter Egg Hunt.

 

[Marshay]

Oh, and Double Digits BAYBEE!!!!

 

[mousescrapper]

My current project I'm working on is creating a travel bag of fun things to do while in the SUV for four days total. Also, I'm trying to add some more pages to Rachel's Autograph Scrapbook.

Can't wait to see the travel bag ideas and new pages!

So -- (1) go from home to around Rocky Mount, NC on Friday night, while the girls sleep; (2) Leave around 9 or 10 am and drive until 4 or 5pm which should put us around Jacksonville, FL or so on Saturday; (3) Sunday, drive to Wal-mart, shop and then check in at the Boardwalk.
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sounds like a good driving plan and w/ your breaks outlined in previous post...

Pic from today's Easter Egg Hunt.

very cute love the matching outfits!

Oh, and Double Digits BAYBEE!!!!

YAY don't you love that!

Scrappie J~

 

[kaoden39]

The new driving plan sounds good to me. We have been known to stop on the way down and we are only 412 miles from Disneyland and my kids are a lot older. Although they may not act it at times.

The girls look so darn cute in their Easter Bonnets!!

 

[swwake]

Sounds like a leisurely way to get there. A great plan.

I love the Easter pics!

 

[Trentmom]

Sounds like a great driving plan


Girls look so cute. Rachel is getting so big

 

[cherbear]

cute pictures!! Did they get a lot of eggs?

Happy Easter!!!

 

[Marshay]

Can't wait to see the travel bag ideas and new pages!

very cute love the matching outfits!



YAY don't you love that!

Scrappie J~

Oh, I'm soooo far behind in scrapping. I swear the 2nd kid just put most of my crafting time on hold. My mom said not to worry...I'll be able to do it again in a few years. I can't wait a few years!! Our next trip is like in 96 days!!!

So I'm either gonna have to "chill" when it comes to crafts for this trip or hire a babysitter so I can get some work done.

The new driving plan sounds good to me. We have been known to stop on the way down and we are only 412 miles from Disneyland and my kids are a lot older. Although they may not act it at times.

The girls look so darn cute in their Easter Bonnets!!

Thanks! I'll post today's Easter outfits, too.

yeah, I think taking two nights to go 900 miles makes a lot of sense ... mostly b/c we hate getting up early.

Sounds like a leisurely way to get there. A great plan.

I love the Easter pics!

Thanks! We'll still have to get back home in about 1.5 days since I refuse to leave WDW early. But we'll deal with that when the time comes. I want to be refreshed when we start the trip.

Sounds like a great driving plan

Girls look so cute. Rachel is getting so big

Yeah, Rachel has really grown. She's in size 8's for leggings now. She's always been "double the age"...her best friend Sophie, born 2 weeks later is still wearaing size 3's.

cute pictures!! Did they get a lot of eggs?

Happy Easter!!!

Rachel had fun. The 1st egg hunt limited the kids to only 11 eggs ... Whah??? I understand why they did it but the competitive side of me says, no way -- that's the fun of an egg hunt -- to see how many eggs you get.

Then we missed the 2nd egg hunt but they had all kinds of games, food, face painting, etc, so that was fun. Next time I'm skipping the EH that only let you get 11 eggs.

Today we went to a new church and Rachel and Elie got a lot of eggs.

Elizabeth was adorable. She didn't want to crawl on the grass but would point at an egg until you picked it up for her.

 

[Marshay]

Breaking News!!

Jerry and I decided to take the Autotrain back from WDW to home. The AT is run by Amtrak and you leave like 4pm and arrive around 9am the next day and you get to take your car/SUV with you. We'll take it from Sanford, FL to Lorton, VA. We're still driving down to WDW.

It'll still be cheaper than getting plane tickets and renting a vehicle but should offer us a lot more room than our SUV to walk around the rail cars, go to the lounge, the dining car, etc.

We're just getting coach seats (supposed to be like 1st class on a plane) and not a room. If we really love it, maybe we'll get a room another time.

We haven't purchased tickets yet, but plan to in the next few days. The tix are 100% refundable until you get them printed. So this will give us another month or so to change our minds.

But this will be a really neat adventure to add on the way home ... we'll get home sooner and hopefully be more comfortable and less tired.

OK, off to find out more info on the AT!

 

[cherbear]

That's very cool! Sounds like fun and I can't wait to see pictures!

 

[Marshay]

That's very cool! Sounds like fun and I can't wait to see pictures!

Yeah, it will definitely enhance this TR with something new.

Right now I'm making some State Travel Trivia cards up for Rachel on the ride down. And also making "tickets" that she gets to hand in as we pass 12 large cities on the way down. She can't understand what 500 miles is or 2 hours, so these tickets and the state cards hopefully will help her realize we have further to go/almost there.

 

[Trentmom]

Oh cool. That sounds like it will be a fun adventure on the way home

 

[kaoden39]

Oh that sounds so exciting.

 

[swwake]

The autotrain sounds like a neat adventure! And a relaxing ride home too. I love the idea of the cards for Rachel to hand in. You are so darned creative!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Breaking News!!

Jerry and I decided to take the Autotrain back from WDW to home. The AT is run by Amtrak and you leave like 4pm and arrive around 9am the next day and you get to take your car/SUV with you. We'll take it from Sanford, FL to Lorton, VA. We're still driving down to WDW.

It'll still be cheaper than getting plane tickets and renting a vehicle but should offer us a lot more room than our SUV to walk around the rail cars, go to the lounge, the dining car, etc.

We're just getting coach seats (supposed to be like 1st class on a plane) and not a room. If we really love it, maybe we'll get a room another time.

We haven't purchased tickets yet, but plan to in the next few days. The tix are 100% refundable until you get them printed. So this will give us another month or so to change our minds.

But this will be a really neat adventure to add on the way home ... we'll get home sooner and hopefully be more comfortable and less tired.

OK, off to find out more info on the AT!

DH and I have been wanting to take the train somewhere, and my dad mentioned taking the auto train to disney one time (maybe christmas next year) I can't wait to hear what ya'll think about it and your experience!!!

 

[mousescrapper]

Wow Marsha,

that sounds really cool! didn't even know they had something like that.

J~

 

[cherbear]

Wow Marsha,

that sounds really cool! didn't even know they had something like that.

J~

neither did I. I doubt any pass through here

 

[Marshay]

OK, I just booked our tickets for the Autotrain for our return trip from FL to VA.

Also Union Station (in Wash, DC) is having a Train Day on May 8th -- lots of fun for families ... get to walk though train cars, see model trains, etc. This is a perfect introduction to trains so Rachel (and us) gets to see a "similar" train beforehand. I figure it will get us really excited.

You know, I'm actually not feeling sad about our return trip now. This will be something really fun to do.

And next time if we book 11 mos in advance, we'll save $$$ too. Amtrak tickets start low and increase in price closer to the trip...