Just Arrived!!

[disneynovic]

We finally made it to Orlando!! Yesterday we drove 14.5 hours (with stops for walk breaks and meals) and stayed in Charlotte, NC. Today we drove 9.5 hours to our rental house. The house is gorgeous, and I would highly recommend it. We passed through some bad rain in Georgia, but other than that the Temp was 25C today. It's suppose to be sunny and 70F all week, great for all the parks we have planned. Will post more as the week progresses.

 

[MouseGirl]

Glad to hear that you made it there safely and that the weather is so nice - looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

Have a great time,
MouseGirl

 

[mtmbyck]

And we (north Toronto) got nailed with snow last night so this mornig everything is covered in white. Thought that might help your mood!

Have fun and keep us updated on crowds and weather and Christmas decorations.

 

[purplepeg]

Have a great time. Can you post pics of the house and what company is it?

 

[disneynovic]

The house is listed on VRBO.com #4793 and is very professionally taken care of. I feel as if I'm in a huge hhotel room, with our own private pool. It's a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, full kitchen with brand new dishwasher, and stove and 47" flat screen tv (also a tv in huge master bath). Today was shopping day!! We went to Lake Buena Vista Factory stores, for the Nike, Aeropostal and Borders stores, then over to Premium Outlet for Coach, Bose, Dior, and a few others. I can proudly say that I DID NOT go into the Armani store this time! DH was very happy about that.

Then we went over to DTD. It was very busy today! I was disappointed at the Christmas trees, they looked really fake and poorly decorated and Santa wasn't there, even though he had the area set up for pictures(which was really nicely done). My mom had never been to DTD, and got lost in World of Disney, and couldn't find her way out. We ate Ghiradelli's icecream sundaes for lunch, cause that's what vacations are for. $7.95/sundae times 4, and I just ate a little of each. Their chocolate sauce is to die for We walked around a little more, managed to avoid the Margarita bar, the little guy built with lego, and I found my pancake Mickey cutters to take home.

Stopped at the Walmart supercenter for some groceries, mostly breakfast items and food for 2 dinners. The kids went swimming even though it was only 64 outside today, gotta love those heated pools!

Tomorrow is Universal Studios, so I'm preping everyone that we need to get up early(teenagers ) because we are 30 minutes away. We might eat at nascar, because I found a coupon online to print, and DS15 wants nachoes.

 

[SherryG]

Great to hear that you arrived safely!! Glad you are enjoying the house!! Enjoy the rest of your trip!!!

 

[Dimples1973ca]

I am so jealous. Hope you are enjoying your trip!

 

[mickeywho?]

We're doing the drive down next month! What route did you take? What time did you leave? Any pointers?

 

[disneynovic]

I don't remember the exact highways, our guidance system(nicknamed Lola) told us where to drive. I think it was mostly I75 and I77, through Virginia mountains and the tunnels. We left at 6:45am(15 minutes later than anticipated). Do any reststops before Virginia, because they were all closed this time of year. Don't drive as far as I did (to Charlotte, NC). We were in the car for 15 hours including stops and we were completely spent by the time we got to the hotel.

Today was Universal Studios day. Where the heck was everyone?!? We arrived at 9am and walked on MIB, Simpsons, ET, Terniator...really all the rides, and the shows. Rode MIB and Simpsons twice too. My mom was the "gardening granny" in the Disasters ride, and my youngest son got to help with the animal trainers show! It started to get a little more busy near the later afternoon, but they were only opened till 6pm. We had an early dinner at Nascar, nachoes, great but I'm not a fan liquid cheese sauce, cheese pizza and fries for the kids(they shared an order, there's that much food!). All in all, we had a GREAT DAY!! We had never been to Universal before, and really think it's worth a visit, and this coming from a skeptic, who's only ever been to Disney!!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

I am so jealous. Hope you are enjoying your trip!

Have fun for us!!

 

[snickerboo]

You picked the perfect time weather-wise to go! Snowing, snowing, snowing here and supposed to be cold all week. Wishing you lots of Florida sunshine Which resort is it?

 

[purplepeg]

wow your house sounds great. You probably won't want to go home Great to hear about Universal. I've never been either. I do love liquid cheese though

 

[disneynovic]

You picked the perfect time weather-wise to go! Snowing, snowing, snowing here and supposed to be cold all week. Wishing you lots of Florida sunshine Which resort is it?

It's actually a house, owned and rented privately(see a previous post). There's a management company if there is any problems. For example, the blind fell down in the masterbedroom, and I called, and they came the next day to fix it. I should also mention that it's very cold here by Florida standards, yesterday was 20C, and today should be 16C. BUT it's great for park days!

 

[FayeW]

If you liked Universal, the kids will LOVE Islands of Adventure. Not sure if it is on your schedule but I highly recommend it if you can fit it in. Everybody talks about the "magic" at Disney. For me, I feel the magic when I walk through Port of Entry at IoA, (to me it sounds like you can hear wind roaring, but maybe it's just the noise from the Hulk!), and the most magical place in Orlando, as far as I am concerned is Islands of the Lost Continents. Up by the Flying Unicorn, you can see unicorn footprints in the concrete, and music tinkling in the trees.

Hope you are having a great time! We leave in 2.5 weeks and talking about all this magic is making me excited for our trip!