MAYbe we should go back to Disney World-A May 2012 PTR;6/7 Link to TR-Post#592; p. 40

[MeMom]

He SO belongs in my Old Key West den!

 

[BMC423]

Caught up on the last couple of trips. Man those wait time on your daughter's birthday trip were CRAZY! That was a very nice cake, I also liked her shirt. Your anniversary trip seemed like so much fun, I love all the extra pixie dust.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

[COLOR]



Glad you're here!

I think you will love the Poly! Too bad it's not DVC, right? I don't think I'd ever be able to keep a secret for that long. I hope you have better luck!

He already knows we are staying at the Poly (I knew I couldn't keep that part!), and if I manage to keep the club level thing a secret, it'll be a miracle! He did tell me the other day that he didn't want to know any of the meals/surprises I have planned for the 2013 trip since it's his 40th and D's 5th, so maybe that'll help me!

 

[MHTeacher]

Caught up on the last couple of trips. Man those wait time on your daughter's birthday trip were CRAZY! That was a very nice cake, I also liked her shirt. Your anniversary trip seemed like so much fun, I love all the extra pixie dust.

Oh, yes, the lines were unbelievably crazy---One of those things you have to see to believe!

Cake was delicious-and we got lots of compliments on her shirt. We had it custom made at a place here in town where we live. I thought it turned out great!

He already knows we are staying at the Poly (I knew I couldn't keep that part!), and if I manage to keep the club level thing a secret, it'll be a miracle! He did tell me the other day that he didn't want to know any of the meals/surprises I have planned for the 2013 trip since it's his 40th and D's 5th, so maybe that'll help me!

Well, at least there will be some surprises for the trip! That always makes it more exciting!

 

[creativeamanda]

You listed all of the reasons why I love the Beach Club. It'll be different staying at CSR this time, but the Beach Club will still be there.

We never made it to Beaches and Cream, and we so wanted to try to run through a Kitchen Sink.

I love the picture of the girls 9 years later!

 

[MHTeacher]

You listed all of the reasons why I love the Beach Club. It'll be different staying at CSR this time, but the Beach Club will still be there.

We never made it to Beaches and Cream, and we so wanted to try to run through a Kitchen Sink.

I love the picture of the girls 9 years later!

Beach Club is great, maybe you get over there on another visit!

I think everyone, especially anyone staying at the BC, should try a Kitchen Sink!

 

[MHTeacher]

DAY ONE BEFORE THE “REAL” DAY ONE!!

Now that I’ve spent two months recapping our previous trips, looks as if I need to get busy with some REAL pre-trip details.

Our trip will start on Saturday, May 26—which is actually a day before our real time at Disney begins. The kids and I will have finished up with school the Tuesday before, so we will have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to do laundry, pack, and buy last minute items.

Saturday morning I hope to leave around 6 a.m. We usually go to Montgomery on I- 65 South, and then head down to Dothan before going east to hit I-10. However, Elizabeth will be at the beach with some of her friends for graduation. So, we will need to detour from our normal route. From Montgomery, we will need to take Gulf Shores Parkway, and drive through there to pick up Elizabeth. She will have graduated the previous Sunday, and is going to the beach with some of her girlfriends that Monday morning.

Hopefully she will have done laundry in her condo so that she has some clean clothes for Disney. She knows this, so hopefully she will get it done and have clean clothes repacked.

From there we will travel east on I-10, until we get to I-75. Hopefully within 11-12 hours of leaving home, we will be in Orlando. Any way you look at it, it is a good 11-½ hour drive from our house to Orlando. When our kids were younger, we used to split the trip into two parts. But now that they’re older, we find it easier to get it done in one day.

Once in Orlando, we will check into our hotel for the night. Since we won’t be arriving until around dinner we plan to stay off site. We are using Marriott reward points to stay at the Courtyard at Lake Buena Vista.

We’ve stayed here before and liked it fine. We have a suite reserved, which has an area with TV, chairs, and a sofa sleeper. Then there is the bedroom with two doubles. This works great for the five of us. This hotel is really close to Downtown Disney, and there are lots of dinner options around. I’m thinking we may venture over to DTD and try Earl of Sandwich,

Or the group may just want to hit up an old stand by like Buffalo Wild Wings.

After dinner we will probably just hang around the hotel and relax. Reid may want to swim some, but we will basically try to get in the bed by 10 or 10:30 because the next morning we are waking up bright and early to drive over to the Polynesian to check in and get our park tickets!

NEXT: THE “REAL” DAY 1

 

[racefanof88]

DAY ONE BEFORE THE “REAL” DAY ONE!!

Now that I’ve spent two months recapping our previous trips, looks as if I need to get busy with some REAL pre-trip details.

Our trip will start on Saturday, May 26—which is actually a day before our real time at Disney begins. The kids and I will have finished up with school the Tuesday before, so we will have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to do laundry, pack, and buy last minute items.

Saturday morning I hope to leave around 6 a.m. We usually go to Montgomery on I- 65 South, and then head down to Dothan before going east to hit I-10. However, Elizabeth will be at the beach with some of her friends for graduation. So, we will need to detour from our normal route. From Montgomery, we will need to take Gulf Shores Parkway, and drive through there to pick up Elizabeth. She will have graduated the previous Sunday, and is going to the beach with some of her girlfriends that Monday morning.

Hopefully she will have done laundry in her condo so that she has some clean clothes for Disney. She knows this, so hopefully she will get it done and have clean clothes repacked.

From there we will travel east on I-10, until we get to I-75. Hopefully within 11-12 hours of leaving home, we will be in Orlando. Any way you look at it, it is a good 11-½ hour drive from our house to Orlando. When our kids were younger, we used to split the trip into two parts. But now that they’re older, we find it easier to get it done in one day.

Once in Orlando, we will check into our hotel for the night. Since we won’t be arriving until around dinner we plan to stay off site. We are using Marriott reward points to stay at the Courtyard at Lake Buena Vista.

We’ve stayed here before and liked it fine. We have a suite reserved, which has an area with TV, chairs, and a sofa sleeper. Then there is the bedroom with two doubles. This works great for the five of us. This hotel is really close to Downtown Disney, and there are lots of dinner options around. I’m thinking we may venture over to DTD and try Earl of Sandwich,

Or the group may just want to hit up an old stand by like Buffalo Wild Wings.

After dinner we will probably just hang around the hotel and relax. Reid may want to swim some, but we will basically try to get in the bed by 10 or 10:30 because the next morning we are waking up bright and early to drive over to the Polynesian to check in and get our park tickets!

NEXT: THE “REAL” DAY 1

Our trips seem to always be alike. When Dallas was a baby we would stop in Lake City for the night. We are staying off site our first night too since we weren't sure if Dale would get Friday off. We are staying at a La Quinta near Sea world. I actually hate the drive down, I get so nervous with all the crazies on the road .

I know Elizabeth is getting excited about graduation. She has A LOT to do in the next several weeks. Did you say she was going to Alabama? And do I remember correctly that she wanted to go into nursing?

 

[Nermel9]

I don't know why, but I'm always so jealous of people that live 10-11 hours away from Disney! It seems like such an easy drive to me! I live in CT, and we used to drive all the time when I was a kid and it's a 20 hour drive! There is just no way to do that straight through!

It's nice that you're not doing much on your "fake" day one, just hanging out, having dinner, maybe swimming, so you're all rested and ready to go for the Poly and the parks the next day!

 

[PixieMama]

It's a good 10-hour drive for us. If flying just wasn't so darn expensive...

My vote (like it counts, LOL!) is to go to to EofS for dinner! I ate there twice on my trip last summer... yes, it's that good!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Ours is about a 9-10 hour drive. I can't decide if I like driving the whole way (or DH driving the whole way...I don't drive on the WDW trips) or driving halfway!

Ooh...I'd be hard pressed to pick between Buffalo Wild Wings and EoS. I love EoS, but DS thinks BWW has the "bestest chicken in the whole wide world"

I can't wait to see lots of pics from the Poly!!

 

[MeMom]

It's nice to know about that Marriott. We've stayed off-site a couple of times on night one, too. Last time, we did go over to DTD to go head and get into Disney mode, and we ate at Earl of Sandwich. Like you, we were up early the next day to get checked in and make it official.

I'n betting Reid will want to swim. That's the one thing we did at our off-site resort. We swam, and the girls fell asleep quickly and slept well.

 

[natebenma]

Sounds like a great start to your trip. It will be nice to have a place to spread out and relax after your drive and you have a couple of excellent choices for dinner.

Up here in Boston, they are opening an Earl of Sandwich branch. If you are faint of stomach, stop reading here and go to the next post.

The location is a building that was formerly a public men's restroom in the center of Boston Common.

I haven't read much about the progress lately, and I am pretty adventurous, but I may wait until visits to Orlando to enjoy a Thanksgiving Special sub.

 

[amazingact21]

An 11.5 hour drive.... I find that the first 5 hours or so go really quickly, but (for us) after that I become antsy and want to just get out of the car and walk around.


And, I'm going to sound absolutely nuts, but when I saw your dinner choices, I prefered BWW. I really like that place, though, and I wasn't a crazy fan of EoS. (However, I think I'm about the only one the DISboards that feels that way.)


I know you've mentioned your daughter's plans before, but I'm still slightly amazed at how busy she's going to be! Graduation, then breaking away for a stay at a condo, then straight to Disney....

 

[Queenofallthings]

I love travel day! It's so exciting after so many months of planning, changing ADR's, switching resorts etc etc etc It's one of my favorite parts of the trip! Your day sounds like a wonderful way to start your vacation

 

[MissLiz]

Seriously, I applaud all you people who can drive for that long. I just can't do it. When we drive to visit family, it's about 12 hours and we have to stop half way just because I can't take it anymore.

Our 6 hour-ish drive to WDW is enough for me. I'm good until we hit Florida and then it seems like it takes forever. I guess my mindset is "Yay! We are in Florida! We must be almost there!" Unfortunately, that's not the case.

I'm just hoping that we will miss the Memorial Day traffic by leaving right when school ends on Thursday. Atlanta traffic is enough to make me go on a normal day.

 

[Elleshoodat]

Buffalo Wild Wings is one of our standbys, too! I'm with amazingact21 in that I much prefer it to Earl of Sandwich, and for me and DH BWW is a trip staple. In fact, we have a couple here now, and every time I go to one I think "It's just like I'm at Disney World!"

 

[wakica]

We love Earl of Sandwich so I think your arrival day plans are perfect!! No sit down ressie so that you can play it by ear and show up when your ready.
Just nice and leisurly stuff to do with no set times but a chance to get a taste of Disney and STRETCH THOSE CRAMPED LEGS!!!! before an early to bed and a BANG of a start the next day

 

[leamom2princesses]

Hi Lady! I was behind several updates. I enjoyed reading about your trips. I didn't remember how hot is was during that trip but those pics of all of us tell the story.

If it weren't that we're going for my bday, I would consider changing our dates a little. Seems many of our DIS friends are going the week before us.

We're staying offsite our first night too. Probably staying at the Hampton by DTD. They have Mickey waffles! Love Earl of Sandwich too! Yummo!

 

[MHTeacher]

Yesterday I paid off our trip because today is.....

45 DAYS!!! ​