Making Good on a Very Merry Promise! COMPLETE!

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Nicole,

Just read your entire pretrip and can't wait to hear more from your tr. We leave for Disney on Monday (like in five days!!!!)

We had this same thing happen with our trip to MNSSHP. We only used our photopass a couple times and the first pics were NOT on there!!! I was so upset cause they were the ones out front. I sent the email, a few days later got a reply pretty much asking me all the info I had provided online (which seemed like such a waste at the time), but I was able to tell them that we were the same people, wearing the same clothes as in the photopass pic that was on my account. I also described everyone and within a week or less got an email, THEY FOUND MY PICS!!!! I was so excited.

Can't wait to read more.

Hi! And welcome! Another diser who read the whole thing?!? I am honored!
You get to go to the happy place in 5 days!!!

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE?????????

They found my pictures! I hadn't heard back from them so I thought I'd check my photopass account just to see and there they were! I'm so relieved!!! PHOTOPASS ROCKS!!!!!!!!

Sorry I haven't uploaded anymore pictures yet. I ran around all day today...... FREEDOM! I love my kids ~ don't get me wrong ~ but they have been home since Nov. 10th! Which means I had to lug them with me everywhere I wanted or needed to go! So I spent the morning decking my halls and then the rest of the day running errands all by my lonesome! It was wonderful... except for Michael's! THAT was a madhouse!

Stick with me... I'll come through with an update soon. And that's a PROMISE!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That's great that they were able to find your photos!

 

[Leger13]

reply 1

Hey everyone! Just checking in for a minute! Thanks for welcoming me back to reality!

All this talk of snow made me think of the 2 times it snowed here last year. If the weather folks even say the word snow all the people run to the stores and buy eggs, bread and milk and go back home and hunker down like the end of the world is coming! It's really funny for a northerner! Well, it did "snow" twice last winter. People, you could still see the grass and they cancelled school! All of what came down was gone by lunch time. I had a pic of it but I can't find it now.

Speaking of not finding pictures!!!!!!!! I am upset at photopass! We signed on the site today to load our cards and we discovered that there are pictures missing. Most importantly our picture at MVMCP ~ in our Christmas shirts ~ that I was planning to use on our Christmas cards!!! I've sent an e-mail to tech support... they have a form you can fill out describing what you look like, where you were, etc. and they say they will try and find it. I'm so upset... of all the pictures for them to lose they lose the most important one. I have no idea what the odds are that they will track them down. I'll let you all know, of course. To those of you using photopass... take back up pictures if you can!!!

So, I haven't uploaded any pics yet... sorry! I've been doing laundry and rearranging furniture to make room for the Christmas decorations and trees. I should have time tomorrow to start the official TR though! See ya'll then!

wow! I'd be really upset too about the photopass thing. I hope they can find them!

TRIP REPORT STARTS HERE!!!

**If you are just joining us, you may want to read my first post. It details who went on this trip. Furthermore, all of my updates in the pre-trippie are linked in the first post.**


Tuesday, Nov. 20th ~

We pulled the last number off the count-down calendar! Here it is all blank!!! Yippee!!!

Close-up of the last 2 days ~ the ones we had to modify when we added 2 days onto the trip. We were originally going to leave for WDW on Friday the 23rd but I, being the smart person that I am, decided we should leave on Wed. and drive to Tampa to have Thanksgiving with my mom and step-dad. Then we could head to WDW on Friday, arriving much earlier than originally planned and have extra park time!

:

yay! you started your TR! Good for you Nicole. And yay for adding two more days! You are so smart

Here is the middle row of seats in the car. Evan and Owen will call this area home for the trip to Florida! Note the Mickey DVD player! They also have their activity bags in the pockets in front of them.

Here is Abby’s domain for the trip! She likes the way back seat so she can spread out and make a mess. I wish I had taken a picture but alas I did not… she puts up a barrier between herself and her brothers with a blanket ~ a privacy curtain of sorts! It’s funny. Anyway… here is her stuff before she’s gotten to it.

So, we were all packed and ready to go and it’s about 11 pm. Now… how in the world do we manage to sleep? I got the kids to bed around 9 and Abby went to sleep but the boys were still awake! This is unheard of in our house. Not ever – even on Christmas Eve – have my boys had trouble falling asleep. They were chatting up a storm, getting up for water, getting up to go potty, climbing into bed with each other. Tom and I went to bed anyway, hoping they would give up soon. I must have fallen asleep pretty quickly (gotta love these meds I’m taking for my ankle) because those two monkeys woke me up at 12:45! I marched in there and told them they better go to sleep or we wouldn’t be able to get up to go in the morning and Gramma and Mickey would be so sad. I didn’t hear anything after that until the alarm went off at 5 am.:

I love the pictures of the inside of the car. I'm sure those disney dvd players really come in handy! That's funny that your DD likes to put up a barrier between her and her brothers

Wow! your boys didn't get much sleep. But that reminds me of that commercial where the kids are lying awake in bed saying "I'm too excited to sleep" good thing you had your meds to help you sleep otherwise im sure you would've been wide awake with them.

 

[Leger13]

[Wednesday, Nov. 21st ~

So the alarm went off at 5 and I jumped up, hit the snooze and started getting ready to go. Tom got up when the alarm went off again. At 5:30 he asked when I was going to wake up the kids. I answered in a few minutes. He snapped at me, “We are running out of time!” I started laughing! I said, “You sound like Eyeore!” Then in my Eyeore voice, “Why should we even bother? It’s getting late. Might as well stay home.” He started laughing too – thank goodness because that could’ve gone either way! I figured he was right though and I should wake the kids. They got up pretty quickly. We rushed around a bit more and were all in the car at 6:00 am as planned!

Here’s a shot of the back of my wagon all suffed.

Here’s a shot of the kids looking sleepy but ready to go!

:

I love how you quoted Eeyore. The attitude going either way sounds like my husband. Sometimes you just don't know how these men of ours will react. Good thing he reacted in a positive way. But who couldn't when you're about to head off to Disney World!?

Your boys look so much more tired than your DD....gee, I wonder why

I can't believe they stayed awake though

And we were off! Pulled out the driveway at 6:08 (after Tom went back in the house twice to check stuff – he cannot help it. )

We were making great time and before we knew it we were approaching South Carolina and this place:

Pedro’s.

Not long after that I realized I hadn’t given Owen any Dramamine. Uh-oh. He does okay for the first several hours but then he starts feeling really icky. We’d better stop and get some, but where? Ah… I pull out my coveted red folder and retrieve “The List”. Yeah, you know the one… the one that my husband made fun of me for printing… the one that tells me what is to be found at every exit all the way to Orlando! I proudly proclaim that at the exit after the next one there is a TA truckstop… sure to have Dramamine. And this is when it happened…….. my dear, loving husband said, “That sure is a handy list you got there!” LO AND BEHOLD…. Redemption! Thank you, thank you very much!!!

So we pulled in there, filled up the tank (even though we didn’t really need to but since we’re stopping, why not), went inside for a bathroom break, found some Dramamine (yikes! 2 pills for like 3 bucks! It’s cheaper when you plan ahead… oh well.) and we were southward bound once again!:

sounds like you made some pretty good time so far. Good thing you made that list that your DH thought was so silly at first.

South Carolina takes forever to get through but it’s a pretty drive mostly. We were glad to see this though!:

Hi DisneyDad, DisneyMom, DisneyKids and Leger too!!! :

hi love and family!! I feel so special, you remembered me!

Tom drove until around 3, I think. Then we stopped at a rest area and he asked me to take over for awhile. I got the pleasure of driving through construction. Ick. It wasn’t too bad and it didn’t slow us down too much. Until we got into Florida. (BTW... Florida doesn't welcome you with a sign... what's up with that?) There were right lane closures as we needed to get off and start to head west. We weeded through that, then there was an accident on US 10 that slowed us down for a bit. Then we had to go south on a 4 lane highway through Gainesville and eventually get onto 75 to go south to Tampa. I hate this part of the drive! It just feels like you are going slow motion after having been on the interstate all day. We were timing ourselves because we’ve wondered if it would be just as quick to stay on 10 all the way to 75 even though it takes you farther west than you need to go and then you swing back eastward toward Tampa. Anyway… like ya’ll care! So we finally get to 75 and it is a parking lot! Welcome to the Day before Thanksgiving Traffic, I guess! We never did see much reason for the slow down but it went on for several miles and took forever to get through!

We finally got to my mom’s much later than we were hoping. I think it was around 6:30. Day one was a looooong one! :

Ugh! it always seems like traffic starts getting worse the closer you get. Why is that!? Ah well, at least you made it w/o a hitch.

Thursday, Nov. 22nd ~ Thanksgiving!

We spent the holiday relaxing and stuffing ourselves, how else?
Here’s Evan relaxing:

Here is Abby and Owen relaxing with some coloring:

Here is Tom and the kids relaxing and fishing:

This guy was hoping for a hand-out:

Owen caught his first fish ever!!! He was so proud! Evan also caught a turtle but I didn’t take a picture because I felt sorry for the turtle!

That wraps up the first 2 days of our trip. Tomorrow morning we head to Disney World!!!

Thank goodness for getting to relax. You needed it after that long drive the day before. Going two days early sounds like it was a really good idea after all. Hooray for Owen's first fish!

Good job on writing about the first two days. I love all the pictures. Can't wait to read more!

 

[Disneydad99]

TRIP REPORT STARTS HERE!!!

**If you are just joining us, you may want to read my first post. It details who went on this trip. Furthermore, all of my updates in the pre-trippie are linked in the first post.**


Tuesday, Nov. 20th ~

We pulled the last number off the count-down calendar! Here it is all blank!!! Yippee!!!

Close-up of the last 2 days ~ the ones we had to modify when we added 2 days onto the trip. We were originally going to leave for WDW on Friday the 23rd but I, being the smart person that I am, decided we should leave on Wed. and drive to Tampa to have Thanksgiving with my mom and step-dad. Then we could head to WDW on Friday, arriving much earlier than originally planned and have extra park time!

Here is the middle row of seats in the car. Evan and Owen will call this area home for the trip to Florida! Note the Mickey DVD player! They also have their activity bags in the pockets in front of them.

Love the Mickey Monitors!!!!

Here is Abby’s domain for the trip! She likes the way back seat so she can spread out and make a mess. I wish I had taken a picture but alas I did not… she puts up a barrier between herself and her brothers with a blanket ~ a privacy curtain of sorts! It’s funny. Anyway… here is her stuff before she’s gotten to it.

Now that is Funny!!!

So, we were all packed and ready to go and it’s about 11 pm. Now… how in the world do we manage to sleep? I got the kids to bed around 9 and Abby went to sleep but the boys were still awake! This is unheard of in our house. Not ever – even on Christmas Eve – have my boys had trouble falling asleep. They were chatting up a storm, getting up for water, getting up to go potty, climbing into bed with each other. Tom and I went to bed anyway, hoping they would give up soon. I must have fallen asleep pretty quickly (gotta love these meds I’m taking for my ankle) because those two monkeys woke me up at 12:45! I marched in there and told them they better go to sleep or we wouldn’t be able to get up to go in the morning and Gramma and Mickey would be so sad. I didn’t hear anything after that until the alarm went off at 5 am.

Wednesday, Nov. 21st ~

So the alarm went off at 5 and I jumped up, hit the snooze and started getting ready to go. Tom got up when the alarm went off again. At 5:30 he asked when I was going to wake up the kids. I answered in a few minutes. He snapped at me, “We are running out of time!” I started laughing! I said, “You sound like Eyeore!” Then in my Eyeore voice, “Why should we even bother? It’s getting late. Might as well stay home.” He started laughing too – thank goodness because that could’ve gone either way! I figured he was right though and I should wake the kids. They got up pretty quickly. We rushed around a bit more and were all in the car at 6:00 am as planned!

That is great...he succumbed to the Eyeore!!!

Here’s a shot of the back of my wagon all suffed.

Here’s a shot of the kids looking sleepy but ready to go!

And we were off! Pulled out the driveway at 6:08 (after Tom went back in the house twice to check stuff – he cannot help it. )

We were making great time and before we knew it we were approaching South Carolina and this place:

Pedro’s.

My Friends stop at South of the Border every year on there way to Fl...They camp there overnight...They love the restaurants...but all they have is the Salad bar!!!

Not long after that I realized I hadn’t given Owen any Dramamine. Uh-oh. He does okay for the first several hours but then he starts feeling really icky. We’d better stop and get some, but where? Ah… I pull out my coveted red folder and retrieve “The List”. Yeah, you know the one… the one that my husband made fun of me for printing… the one that tells me what is to be found at every exit all the way to Orlando! I proudly proclaim that at the exit after the next one there is a TA truckstop… sure to have Dramamine. And this is when it happened…….. my dear, loving husband said, “That sure is a handy list you got there!” LO AND BEHOLD…. Redemption! Thank you, thank you very much!!!

you got Praised!!!

So we pulled in there, filled up the tank (even though we didn’t really need to but since we’re stopping, why not), went inside for a bathroom break, found some Dramamine (yikes! 2 pills for like 3 bucks! It’s cheaper when you plan ahead… oh well.) and we were southward bound once again!

South Carolina takes forever to get through but it’s a pretty drive mostly. We were glad to see this though!:

Hi DisneyDad, DisneyMom, DisneyKids and Leger too!!!

Wow I feel special...I got mentioned in Nicole's Report!!!1

Tom drove until around 3, I think. Then we stopped at a rest area and he asked me to take over for awhile. I got the pleasure of driving through construction. Ick. It wasn’t too bad and it didn’t slow us down too much. Until we got into Florida. (BTW... Florida doesn't welcome you with a sign... what's up with that?) There were right lane closures as we needed to get off and start to head west. We weeded through that, then there was an accident on US 10 that slowed us down for a bit. Then we had to go south on a 4 lane highway through Gainesville and eventually get onto 75 to go south to Tampa. I hate this part of the drive! It just feels like you are going slow motion after having been on the interstate all day. We were timing ourselves because we’ve wondered if it would be just as quick to stay on 10 all the way to 75 even though it takes you farther west than you need to go and then you swing back eastward toward Tampa. Anyway… like ya’ll care! So we finally get to 75 and it is a parking lot! Welcome to the Day before Thanksgiving Traffic, I guess! We never did see much reason for the slow down but it went on for several miles and took forever to get through!

We finally got to my mom’s much later than we were hoping. I think it was around 6:30. Day one was a looooong one!

Thursday, Nov. 22nd ~ Thanksgiving!

We spent the holiday relaxing and stuffing ourselves, how else?
Here’s Evan relaxing:

Here is Abby and Owen relaxing with some coloring:

Here is Tom and the kids relaxing and fishing:

This guy was hoping for a hand-out:

Owen caught his first fish ever!!! He was so proud! Evan also caught a turtle but I didn’t take a picture because I felt sorry for the turtle!

That wraps up the first 2 days of our trip. Tomorrow morning we head to Disney World!!!

Love the Fishing pics....Great 1st Update....looking fwd to more!!!

 

[Disneymommom]

TRIP REPORT STARTS HERE!!!

**If you are just joining us, you may want to read my first post. It details who went on this trip. Furthermore, all of my updates in the pre-trippie are linked in the first post.**


Tuesday, Nov. 20th ~

We pulled the last number off the count-down calendar! Here it is all blank!!! Yippee!!!

Close-up of the last 2 days ~ the ones we had to modify when we added 2 days onto the trip. We were originally going to leave for WDW on Friday the 23rd but I, being the smart person that I am, decided we should leave on Wed. and drive to Tampa to have Thanksgiving with my mom and step-dad. Then we could head to WDW on Friday, arriving much earlier than originally planned and have extra park time!

Here is the middle row of seats in the car. Evan and Owen will call this area home for the trip to Florida! Note the Mickey DVD player! They also have their activity bags in the pockets in front of them.

Here is Abby’s domain for the trip! She likes the way back seat so she can spread out and make a mess. I wish I had taken a picture but alas I did not… she puts up a barrier between herself and her brothers with a blanket ~ a privacy curtain of sorts! It’s funny. Anyway… here is her stuff before she’s gotten to it.

So, we were all packed and ready to go and it’s about 11 pm. Now… how in the world do we manage to sleep? I got the kids to bed around 9 and Abby went to sleep but the boys were still awake! This is unheard of in our house. Not ever – even on Christmas Eve – have my boys had trouble falling asleep. They were chatting up a storm, getting up for water, getting up to go potty, climbing into bed with each other. Tom and I went to bed anyway, hoping they would give up soon. I must have fallen asleep pretty quickly (gotta love these meds I’m taking for my ankle) because those two monkeys woke me up at 12:45! I marched in there and told them they better go to sleep or we wouldn’t be able to get up to go in the morning and Gramma and Mickey would be so sad. I didn’t hear anything after that until the alarm went off at 5 am.

Wednesday, Nov. 21st ~

So the alarm went off at 5 and I jumped up, hit the snooze and started getting ready to go. Tom got up when the alarm went off again. At 5:30 he asked when I was going to wake up the kids. I answered in a few minutes. He snapped at me, “We are running out of time!” I started laughing! I said, “You sound like Eyeore!” Then in my Eyeore voice, “Why should we even bother? It’s getting late. Might as well stay home.” He started laughing too – thank goodness because that could’ve gone either way! I figured he was right though and I should wake the kids. They got up pretty quickly. We rushed around a bit more and were all in the car at 6:00 am as planned!

Here’s a shot of the back of my wagon all suffed.

Here’s a shot of the kids looking sleepy but ready to go!

And we were off! Pulled out the driveway at 6:08 (after Tom went back in the house twice to check stuff – he cannot help it. )

We were making great time and before we knew it we were approaching South Carolina and this place:

Pedro’s.

Not long after that I realized I hadn’t given Owen any Dramamine. Uh-oh. He does okay for the first several hours but then he starts feeling really icky. We’d better stop and get some, but where? Ah… I pull out my coveted red folder and retrieve “The List”. Yeah, you know the one… the one that my husband made fun of me for printing… the one that tells me what is to be found at every exit all the way to Orlando! I proudly proclaim that at the exit after the next one there is a TA truckstop… sure to have Dramamine. And this is when it happened…….. my dear, loving husband said, “That sure is a handy list you got there!” LO AND BEHOLD…. Redemption! Thank you, thank you very much!!!

So we pulled in there, filled up the tank (even though we didn’t really need to but since we’re stopping, why not), went inside for a bathroom break, found some Dramamine (yikes! 2 pills for like 3 bucks! It’s cheaper when you plan ahead… oh well.) and we were southward bound once again!

South Carolina takes forever to get through but it’s a pretty drive mostly. We were glad to see this though!:

Hi DisneyDad, DisneyMom, DisneyKids and Leger too!!!

Tom drove until around 3, I think. Then we stopped at a rest area and he asked me to take over for awhile. I got the pleasure of driving through construction. Ick. It wasn’t too bad and it didn’t slow us down too much. Until we got into Florida. (BTW... Florida doesn't welcome you with a sign... what's up with that?) There were right lane closures as we needed to get off and start to head west. We weeded through that, then there was an accident on US 10 that slowed us down for a bit. Then we had to go south on a 4 lane highway through Gainesville and eventually get onto 75 to go south to Tampa. I hate this part of the drive! It just feels like you are going slow motion after having been on the interstate all day. We were timing ourselves because we’ve wondered if it would be just as quick to stay on 10 all the way to 75 even though it takes you farther west than you need to go and then you swing back eastward toward Tampa. Anyway… like ya’ll care! So we finally get to 75 and it is a parking lot! Welcome to the Day before Thanksgiving Traffic, I guess! We never did see much reason for the slow down but it went on for several miles and took forever to get through!

We finally got to my mom’s much later than we were hoping. I think it was around 6:30. Day one was a looooong one!

Thursday, Nov. 22nd ~ Thanksgiving!

We spent the holiday relaxing and stuffing ourselves, how else?
Here’s Evan relaxing:

Here is Abby and Owen relaxing with some coloring:

Here is Tom and the kids relaxing and fishing:

This guy was hoping for a hand-out:

Owen caught his first fish ever!!! He was so proud! Evan also caught a turtle but I didn’t take a picture because I felt sorry for the turtle!

That wraps up the first 2 days of our trip. Tomorrow morning we head to Disney World!!!

Great first two days Love. I really enjoyed it. The kids are adorable, I love how they are relaxing at Gramma's. Looks like they all had fun fishing too.

Don't you just hate when traffic is so bad and you finally get through it all and there is nothing at the othr end to show you why it was so backed up in the first place?????

Lots of great pics. Can't wait for the next update Love!!!!

 

[Disneymommom]

I really thought you didn't know where we were!!! Go back and look at my reason for editing! Now I gotta change that too!!!

Much like you... I am behind the camera! I think there may a pic of me when we get to Saturday at MGM. There is a lovely sopping wet picture of me later in the week! I'll share if you all sign waivers ahead of time that you will not make fun of me!

I, Disneymommom, do promise that I will not make fun of Love in her sopping wet picture.

Signed: Disneymommom Date: 12/4/07

There, how's that? Now post away!!!!

 

[Disneymommom]

Yeah, You started!!!

I have a suggestion for you, if you wanna, know pressure...maybe go to your title and put it has started, or whatever wording you wanna choose, so everyone knows and can join in


ANywho how...Great start.

Where did you get Mickey Mouse DVD players?? They are so cute.

I love that Abby puts up a privacy curtain in the car


Great pic of the kids fishing on the docks


Do you have any pics from Thanksgiving dinner? Just curious and nosey


I love Pedros.....It is such a dive, but so funny, you have to stop at least once in your lifetime.

WTG to you and your handy list......knew it would come in handy

Besides Pedro's South of the Border, which you know I love, there's a great place to stop, can't recall right now where it is but think it's in NC, it's called J.R.'s, it's huge, a great place to stop and relax for a while and do some shopping!!!!

 

[Disneymommom]

Yeah, well I don't know how to do that! How do you edit the title?




Target! It's one player with two screens! Love it!



Yes... she's a laugh a minute.




Nope... no pics! I'm sorry! But it was yummy!!!




I changed it!




I do feel special!!!
It's just about your turn to go Monica!!!





BOTH!!!



Freaky coinky-dinks, Nichole, who is also married to Tom. It'd be really funny if he spelled it Thom!

Boys are like dogs... you should always get two so they can play with each other instead of chewing on your furniture!

I will let you know right now very secret information that will not appear until my next installment - shhhhh, don't tell anyone - we LOVED the condo!!! It was FABULOUS!!!!



Oh no you didn't...





Sharky, have you met Sharky?

I meant to reply to this part on your trip report but forgot. Anywho, is there a web site that gives you the things at every exit like your list had? I loved your list, it was great and would be a tremendous asset on a trip like that. I'm really curious!

 

[Trentmom]

Hi! And welcome! Another diser who read the whole thing?!? I am honored!
You get to go to the happy place in 5 days!!!

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE?????????

They found my pictures! I hadn't heard back from them so I thought I'd check my photopass account just to see and there they were! I'm so relieved!!! PHOTOPASS ROCKS!!!!!!!!

Sorry I haven't uploaded anymore pictures yet. I ran around all day today...... FREEDOM! I love my kids ~ don't get me wrong ~ but they have been home since Nov. 10th! Which means I had to lug them with me everywhere I wanted or needed to go! So I spent the morning decking my halls and then the rest of the day running errands all by my lonesome! It was wonderful... except for Michael's! THAT was a madhouse!

Stick with me... I'll come through with an update soon. And that's a PROMISE!

Yeah, they found your pics!!!

WOOHOOTY

Hey, why were your kids off for almost 3 weeks??

Just curious and nosey

Can't wait to read your next day

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

WOW! I didn't even know ya'll had replied! I was so suprised to see that my friends Leger and DisneyDad had been here! Hey there! Glad you liked your shout out!

And well, lookie here! QM has decided to post instead of lurk on my TR!

I, Disneymommom, do promise that I will not make fun of Love in her sopping wet picture.

Signed: Disneymommom Date: 12/4/07

There, how's that? Now post away!!!!

Thank you.... Tat is going to go ahead and make fun though! Just kidding.... she can make fun of me because I know she really loves me!

I meant to reply to this part on your trip report but forgot. Anywho, is there a web site that gives you the things at every exit like your list had? I loved your list, it was great and would be a tremendous asset on a trip like that. I'm really curious!

Why yes there is a website.... it's the one you are on silly! Over on wdwinfo. com you will find the list. It came in handy on several occasions!

Yeah, they found your pics!!!

WOOHOOTY

Hey, why were your kids off for almost 3 weeks??

Just curious and nosey

Can't wait to read your next day

Because they go to a year-round school. They go for 9 weeks and then have 3 weeks off. I just looked at the calendar for next year and they have FOUR weeks off at Thanksgiving and go back for 2 weeks and then have TWO weeks off at Christmas! I get to go home for Christmas!!!

HEY!!!....... update coming up!

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Friday, Nov. 23 ~ IT’S GO TIME!!!!

I think we got up around 7:00 and got showers and packed everything up again. We had some breakfast with the ‘rents and visited awhile. I think we left their place a little before 11:00. Not as early as I was planning but we were enjoying ourselves.

So we made our way to I-4 and headed east! Tom drove, I took a nap and the kids watched a movie. Before long we saw this:

YAY! I was so excited to see it!

Then we saw this:

We’re getting closer!!!! Mickey here we come!!!

But first we had to check in at Lake Buena Vista Spa and Resort Village! (Do you think they could’ve come up with a longer name for it?) Anyway, this place is just off of I-4, on 536 right off of International Drive. It is right around the corner from the Nick hotel and that huge Marriott (just in case that helps you visualize where we were at). The main building has probably been there for a year or more. Then there are two larger buildings that have just opened. The rest of the “village” is under construction. I was worried it would be noisy because of that but it wasn’t.

The building we stayed in just opened the day we arrived and we were the first ones to stay in our condo. That was kind of exciting at first but then I realized if my kids spilled something we couldn’t say it was there when we got there!!! I was, from there on out, constantly worried we would ruin something!

After we got our room keys we drove over to our building, figured out where to park, grabbed a couple things and headed up to the 13th floor to check out our new digs. This is the living room as you walk in the door.

Here is the full kitchen.

This is Abby’s bedroom. Sorry it’s dark. She had a queen bed and her own TV… whenever we were in the condo that is where she was. She would emerge for food and water and nothing else!

This is the boy’s bedroom. It had twin beds and an even bigger TV than Abby’s! Yes, they measured. Picture them holding up their arms to their TV and then going to her room and comparing to hers. They had great fun taunting her about it too.

This is the secondary bathroom.

This is the master bedroom.

And the master bath. OOOhhh laa laaaaa.

A funny story about the bathtub. I didn’t use it but the boys did. I filled it about half way up and they both climbed in. It was so deep that they kept floating! They wanted to use their swim masks in there because it was “kinda like swimming”. It was really funny.

Here are some pretty things they did with the towels. No, not towel animals... but still something!

Moving along… here is a view from the balcony. That is I-4. We could see Sea World from there but this shot doesn’t show it.

Another view from the building but this is from the corridor. You probably can’t make it out but right in the center way out on the horizon is a blurry blob that is actually the Contemporary!

Nah, you can't see it. Trust me, it was there!

We were very impressed with the condo. It was beautiful and huge and it was nice to not feel like we were piled in on top of each other like we normally are when we go on vacation. The boys were relaxing in their room while Tom brought the rest of our stuff up. They were sprawled out on their beds, legs crossed with their arms behind their heads, watching TV. Evan said to me, “Mom, I think this is how rich people live.” It was cute. I think this is the first time one of them said “this is the best vacation EVER!” too. I heard that a lot this week.

It was approaching 2:00 and we hadn’t had lunch yet. We got ourselves ready to go eat and then head into The World! We drove up the street and decided on McDonald’s right outside the entrance into the resorts on Hotel Plaza Blvd. We wanted to eat quick and it makes the kids happy! About halfway through lunch they noticed the sign across the street… that was too cute. Food really disappeared after that and they were ready to go!

We wound our way through the hotels and through downtown Disney until we arrived here:

EPCOT!!! This was to be our first time at Epcot and I was sooooooo excited to be there! But you’ll have to wait for that until next time. Thanks for reading!!!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Your condo looks great! How cool that you were the first ones to stay there. Can't wait to hear about Epcot - especially since it is your first time!

 

[kde175]

I just wanted to let you know that I joined in the fun a little late. I just found your report and we just got back from WDW on Tuesday.

Anyway, I feel you on using your inheritance money for a trip to WDW. My MIL passed away this past March, after a three year battle with ovarian cancer. She left us some money, which we used to buy into DVC. We just got back from our first DVC trip. Taking my 1yo DD on her first trip and knowing that her grandma was the one that made is possible was a wonderful feeling.

Looking forward to reading more!!

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

I just wanted to let you know that I joined in the fun a little late. I just found your report and we just got back from WDW on Tuesday.

Anyway, I feel you on using your inheritance money for a trip to WDW. My MIL passed away this past March, after a three year battle with ovarian cancer. She left us some money, which we used to buy into DVC. We just got back from our first DVC trip. Taking my 1yo DD on her first trip and knowing that her grandma was the one that made is possible was a wonderful feeling.

Looking forward to reading more!!

Hello and welcome! It is never too late to join in! Besides, the TR portion just started so you are almost right on time!

I'm so sorry about your MIL. It must have been very painful to see her fight for so long. I'm sure those 3 years must have been filled with many ups and downs. I am sure she would be thrilled to know that she has made it possible for your daughter to have a lifetime of magical memories.

Just nosey (and my friend Sharky wants to know too ) ~ what is your home resort?

 

[OrangeBlossom15]

Yay an update. Can't wait to hear about Epcot. I am still debating about going on our next trip.

 

[snowbell]

I am on board for this report. I just sat and read the entire report in one sitting. Looks like a nice place you were staying at -- and the price was great.

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Yay an update. Can't wait to hear about Epcot. I am still debating about going on our next trip.

Hi Orangie!

You should go! You can tailor Epcot to any age. There is so much to do. I'd love to go back without the kids just so I could explore the WS more. Maybe once you read about the things that were interesting to my boys you can decide if it is for you or not.

Ugh.... I'm playing catch up today. I'm headed to DisneyDad's next. If I am not back in a couple days please send a search party!!!!!

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

I am on board for this report. I just sat and read the entire report in one sitting. Looks like a nice place you were staying at -- and the price was great.

Oh hi! You snuck up on me! Welcome aboard! Please make yourself at home and pipe in whenever you'd like!

The condo was great! Really lovely. And for those of you who are wondering if we'd do it again... we would... but never at peak times. The drive into the parks each day was quick and easy (well, except that one time... that comes later) but I imagine that if it were a peak time it would've been much more difficult. Plus, there are times when it's busy and they can turn you away if you aren't staying on site. I wouldn't risk that for any amount of savings.

 

[Leger13]

hey love!

Great 2nd update. Moving right along

I'm so glad you got to see the mickey electric tower! I miss it

Your condo looks excellent! I might have to consider staying there some time How cool that ya'll got to be the first ones to stay there!

I can't wait to read the update about Epcot. I forgot that this was your first time there. Hope it was great!