Me, a Tween, and a Teen. POP, Roadtrip Portapotties, and Fay! w/pics! 8/11-8/23

[jadedbeauty14304]

OK, so I am home from vacation, and it was one of the best trips I have taken, so I think a nice picture trip report is in order to help keep my Post-Disney Blues at bay while what seems like every other person I know is either at WDW or going within the next month. It is depressing.

Ok, first the cast...
Tracy: this is me!! The lone adult WDW fanatic who just loves to get away. This pic is from the Florida Welcome Center on I-95. It was AWESOME to cross that state line!!!

Tawney: This is my daughter who is almost 11 (they grow up waaaayyyy too fast!!!) She loves WDW and has a fascination with Donald Duck.

Tiffany: Tiff is my niece who I have helped to raise since she was born. She is now 15, and a total teenager in every way. I was worried she would have a bad attitude, but she really surprised me. She was happy and pleasant, so I think she is more into Disney than she will admit.

OK, some backstory for you all. This trip was originally booked as a bounceback for a Tawney/Mommy only vacation in April when I was at the World in December 2007. Two weeks after I got home from Disney, I had an accident at work and fractured my right ankle, which needed surgery. I knew I was going to be off my feet for at least 6 months, so I had to reschedule the trip. My father (who Tiff lives with) found out we had to reschedule and asked me to bring Tiff along because he just outright refuses to fly or drive long distances ... ok moving on So the new trip would be Tawney, Tiff, and myself and I just knew we were going to have a great time!

UP NEXT: "I Feel Like Doing Something CRAZY!"

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

So the planning process ensued in February, where at 180 days out, ADR's were made, TGM was purchased, and I started making my itineraries. (I had a broken ankle, I didn't have anything better to do) Fast Forward to May, I am healed!!! Back to work, and airfare is purchased. All supplies and clothes needed for the August trip are ready and I get so excited!!!

Fast forward to early August, the trip is just a week away! I had scheduled the trip to run my entire week of afternoon shift at work, (I work shift work, yuck, 7 afternoon shifts in a row is a long week) so that means I have four days off before I leave for Florida. I figured that would make it very low stress to get packed and everything ready before flying down. Boy, was I wrong! It made the time go so slow that I couldn't take it. I felt like I was wasting time I could be spending at Disney! The original dates for my trip were August 14th to the 21st. On August 8th, I got an idea.... a brilliant idea!!! I feel like doing something CRAZY!!! I would DRIVE to Disney!!!! That way I could leave a few days early and come back a few days late!!! Bonding time with the kids, taking a roadtrip, and more time away. All things I love.

So, on the evening of August 11th, it was a Monday, we packed up the car and hit the road at 10pm. I would drive through the night, and when I got tired we would stop for a room.

We made it to Pennsylvania and the kids were in great spirits, some of the conversations on the way before we hit the state line were, "dreams about DisneyWorld" , "What attractions to do first at DisneyWorld" and "I am so excited we are on our way to DisneyWorld!!!"

Pennsylvania was a long dark state to drive through, and the topics of conversation changed to "Nightmares and Other Scary Dreams" and "Scary Movie Villains". Just before the children fell asleep, my taste in music was questioned , which in turn made the volume go louder in the car! By the time we got to West Virginia, the kids had been asleep for an hour or two, and I popped in a George Carlin comedy CD to keep me alert. I ended up waking the children with my nonstop laughter. The kids woke up in great spirits though, thats for sure!!

The mountains of West Virginia are very large, very dark, and when you add fog and 18 wheelers, crazy scary to drive through, and I ended up having about enough of it at 4:55 am, so I stopped at a Shoney's on US 19 in Summersville, WV. Had to wait 5 minutes before it opened, but hey, I needed a meal and a place to wait for the sun to rise! LOL We were the first customers of the day, and there was a nice fresh breakfast buffet waiting for us to devour it!!! I had pancakes, Tawney had sausage gravy and biscuits, and Tiff just ate a yogurt and a huge pile of bacon. Strange kid. Before you know it, we are back on the road, the sun is up, and I can actually see where I am driving (which is always a plus). Up next was a brief drive through Virginia, and I had drank a lot of coffee with breakfast, so I was so looking forward to the Virginia Welcome center and their facilities...lol What I ended up getting was not so nice, but the only other option was a bush, and well, that wasn't happening, so I ended up traumatizing myself.

Yes, those are Portapotties.
The welcome center was closed down
I am kind of freaky about bathrooms, so the huge smiles on the kids' faces are them laughing at me because of the situation. Hey, if I am drunk, I will go pee anywhere. But after a total of 8-9 hours on the road, I was really traumatized by the situation....lol


After Virginia came North Carolina, my former home, and we zipped down I-77 making great time, and the sun was out, it was a beautiful day!

When we passed into South Carolina, I was starting to get tired, so we skipped the Welcome Center because I was in the far left lane and there was traffic. By this point I am just hoping to get as far as I can. The children are no longer taking naps, and have become less enthusiastic about being in the car. I knew fast food would cheer them up, so once I hit I-26 and started heading towards the coast, we stopped at Burger King for a couple of chicken fries and a nice Iced Coffee for me. As the afternoon rolled on, Tawney really was sick of driving, and insisted I pull over to the next possible motel. Knowing I-95 was only a few more miles, I waited and held her off by allowing her to choose the music, which she did. She chose Skindred, one of my high energy all time favorites. And then ... we did it...


My goal was to get to I-95 in southern South Carolina and at about 4pm on August 12th, we made it!!!!!!

UP NEXT: Day two of driving, a brush with death!!!!!!!

 

[DVC'96]

This sounds like it's going to be a good one! I can't wait to hear more.

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

Well, we ended up at the Comfort Inn, in St. George, South Carolina right off I-95 for the evening. We checked in, and walked to the Waffle House next door for dinner. The kids were so happy to be out of that car, and the conversation soon turned back to Disney, and what souvineer (I probably spelled this wrong, but I don't care, I am sure you know what I mean! ) they both really wanted. So we walk in, and seat ourselves at the only table that was not covered in dirty dishes. I thought to myself, "wow, they must have just had a bus of people come and go", because the entire place was deserted. It was like an alien spaceship beamed up all of the people, just leaving the dirty plates and half eaten waffles behind! LOL I began to rethink this dinner destination when a sweet 20-something girl comes out and takes our order. None of us could speak much after that, we were too distracted by our waitress talking in an extremely loud voice about her very personal problems with her husband to the cook. LOL, it involved a bank account, a dog, and another woman, it was really like listening to a soap opera on the radio, because none of us looked at anything but each other...lol It was almost the last straw when she sat at the table behind me and lit up a cigarette. The entire place is empty, and you had to light a smoke right next to my kids while they are eating? Worst.Waitress.EVER. I was getting more and more excited about Disney and all my ADR's I booked. We ate our food and got out of there!!! LOL A previous job of mine was managing Waffle House restaurants for a franchisee in North Carolina, so I was excited to show the girls what a cool little restaurant it could be. I think we just picked a bad one on an off day. So back to the motel and I passed out cold at about 6pm.


Well, it is now Wednesday!!! We all wake up just before the alarm at 5:30 and start the three-female-shower-bathroom-sink-parade that would be seen every morning for the next eight days! We hit the continental breakfast in the lobby at 6am, and the worker actually made us fresh waffles that tasted ten times better than the crap we had the night before...lol We were on the road by 7am and it was raining a bit, but nothing could stop our excitement, WE WERE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!

I probably shouldn't take pictures while I drive but we were all clean and happy and kooky that morning...lol

Yeah, I was probably driving 70 mph or so..lol


ANYWAYS, the rain persists through South Carolina and we all cheer when we get to Georgia. We didn't do a welcome center stop here because we were just too excited to get to Florida. We decided we would do them on the adventure home instead. Then as we get past Savannah, Georgia the rain gets a little heavier and then the major roadwork starts. Evil roadwork that has the shoulder closed, so that cars have to stop at the top of the on ramp and yield into traffic. You know what I mean? So now it is pouring and I am getting nervous so I get in the right lane because I figure I can drive slower there. Well a big truck also had that thought, so I settled in behind him and cruised along at a very safe speed. Suddenly a big white van shows up behind me and settles in there. A few vehicles pass by us, and all seems well. Between the torrential downpour and the water the truck was kicking up onto my windshield, I was having a really hard time seeing. I decided to get off the next exit and wait a while, but before I could a car comes flying up an on-ramp right at my little car that is sandwiched between this truck and this van! Of course a pick-up truck was passing me at the moment so I felt completely trapped and uttered several expletives that I cannot mention here without the probability of getting banned for life!!! LOL Well the pick-up must have seen what was happening and he hit the gas just as this car was about to hit me, and I was able to swerve to the left lane at the very last possible moment before what would surely have been instant death!!! I shook for like an hour after that. LOL And of course apologized to the girls for my colorful language, I really do try to not swear around them..lol

The rain let us just as we crossed into Florida!! I had never been so happy to stop at a welcome center in my life!!!!! LOL

We hop back into the car, and the sky is clear, the sun is out, and we make it all the way to the World without any other near fatal heart attacks.


UP NEXT: A night at the DTD Best Western: Lake Buena Vista resort

 

[disneykip]

Sounds like a fun and educational (waitress) trip so far aside from the maniac on the ramp.

Waiting patiently for more. We want you to overcome your post trip blues!!

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

Well, we arrive at DTD Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort at about 1pm August 13th, valet the car to Jorge, who increased his tip by telling me how beautiful my eyes are (smart man) lol The room was not ready yet, so we handed our luggage over to the bellhop and headed to DTD! Found a parking place by Marketplace no problem, which must have been because it was still early in the day, because as we were leaving at about 7pm or so, people were circling the lot looking for places to park. We browsed through some shops and walked down to DisneyQuest. It was very gray today, but no raindrops were falling, so that was a very good thing! LOL

Disney Quest was AWESOME!!!!! First we went to the Virtual Jungle Cruise, and well we didn't get far! LOL but none of us had ever held an oar before, let alone try to row anything, so we did it again and got a little further. Then we went to Pirates of the Carribean and I was the Captain, and the girls were the gunners and we kicked some evil pirate butt! LOL. At that point the girls wanted to go do their own thing, so I did Virtual Space Mountain and rode it a couple of times. It was fun, and then I found the 80's arcade and played Galaga, and Cubis, and Centipede, and even Space Invaders! It was great! The girls met me at the time they were actually supposed to, and we did a few other things together and then decided it was time to go eat dinner at Earl of Sandwich!!

I got the Original, Roast Beef with cheese and Horseradish, and the kids both got Pizza sandwiches. I cannot rave enough about this place. The service was fast, even though there was a line, the sandwiches are just melt in your mouth delicious, and it was very reasonably priced! I highly recommend going here to ANYONE!!! We each got a smoothie to drink and they were also delicious.

Before heading back to the resort, Tawney's dream of building her own lightsabre came true. So we headed back to the resort for some swimming in the pool, (which was 8 feet deep in one end, and had no lifeguard) and then some downtime to rest for Thursday. The plans included an adventure to Universal Studios in the morning. We also would be checking into POP, and it smelled like a Jellyrolls night!!!

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

So, upon waking up our first morning actually "in Disney" we decide it is a good day to go to Universal, considering we were switching resorts. So we got up and ready, packed up, and went down to the lobby to check out. They had one person working the desk, and there was apparently a group of people who did not speak much English whose credit card had been denied, and the woman working the counter had a hard time explaining it to them. I actually stood in line behind a man who looked like he was also checking out, but he did not have my patience apparently. He ended up leaving the line after 15 minutes of watching the spectacle at the desk, which made me second in line! Right after he left, a second worker appeared from the backroom and got me checked out in 30 seconds flat. We took our luggage and got the car, and we were on our way to a new experience!
This trip was full of new experiences for me. I had never driven to WDW before, and I had never combined WDW and Universal, because I never had a car with me. So we decide to go check it out, the girls were most interested in the Studios section of the park, and not the Island of Adventure so much.

It was overcast, but no rain and we arrived just past opening. The walk from the parking garage to the parks seemed really long to me for some reason. I don't know if I am spoiled by the Disney bus transportation or what, but it just seemed to take forever to get there. I went to Universal once in the early 90's and I was surprised to see that not a whole lot had changed. We went on Jimmy Neutron, saw the Shrek movie (my favorite attraction for sure), ET, Twister, and we chickened out of the Mummy ride after standing in line for a while. We had stopped to grab Tawney a big Turkey leg when the skies opened up and it just started to pour. We had wanted to do the new Simpsons ride, and Men In Black but the rain did not let up and we were soaked to the bone. It was about noon, so we decided to head back and check in to POP and maybe grab some lunch there.

I was really surprised that my room was ready! I was in 4219, which is the Play Doh building in the 60's. My room faced the 50's, and it was a really good preferred room area. I did not have the pool noise at night, and it was on the 2nd floor, so there weren't people constantly walking by. This is a picture from standing outside my room, and turning right a little bit at night:

After eating lunch and buying our mugs, the rain let up a little, so the girls decided they wanted to just relax the rest of the day at the pool. I settled in the room and unpacked while calling Robin (DisneyDreams21) who was also vacationing at the World with her family and we decided it was a good night for Jellyrolls!!!! I hopped in a cab about 9pm, and took the very short ride to the Boardwalk resort, only costing $8.00. Robin was walking over from the Beach Club so I just enjoyed the atmosphere. I almost got run down by a group on a surreybike. They were really crazy. LOL Looked like a lot of fun though. I definitely want to try that some day.

Once inside Jellyrolls, Robin and I see an open table front row on the right, and quickly snatch it. The pianomen were awesome that night! There were a couple groups of people who were rowdy, and the place got more and more busy as the night went on. They fed off the energy in the room and really put on a great show. We had an awesome waitress who liquored us up pretty good, and walked away with a 30 dollar tip. LOL It was a great night!

I cabbed it home to POP to find my girls sleeping soundly. I knew the next day would be a good one because it was EPCOT day! I love Epcot with all of my heart. I slept well, it was a great day of vacation!

 

[buena vista]

Great report Tracy! . Mickey says "hi" lol

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

Great report Tracy! . Mickey says "hi" lol

Tell Mickey I am not a stalker really, and that my obsession with him has been life-long and give him a big wet sloppy kiss for me!!! LOL

Oh, and thanks.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Love your report so far! Glad to hear you didn't have any other close encounters on the road. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

Love your report so far! Glad to hear you didn't have any other close encounters on the road. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

Yeah, that close encounter really shook me up! lol It actually made me change some plans for the drive home at the end of the week. I totally did not want to be become a Tracy-pancake on some highway in the south. lol

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

As I had mentioned previously, this trip was full of "firsts" for us. One thing that had always bothered me was that I had never been to a rope drop. Since we had gotten plenty of sleep the night before (well they did at least, I was slightly hung over from the double vanilla vodka and cranberries I was slurping down at JR's until 2am) we got up, ate a quick breakfast at POP and hopped on the bus to Epcot! We had devised a plan to split up once inside the gate, I would run with the crowd to Soarin' for fastpasses while they made their way to Test Track and waited for me. The rope drop was cool with all the characters and the test track car, and I had no problem keeping with the crowd to Soarin, but I had never realized how that walk was completely uphill until I was walking it briskly with these people...lol Of course the girls had the attitude of "what took you so long?" when I got over to TT. I calmly well.. ok not so calmly I told them they needed to thank me for not making them walk with me! LOL Geesh, kids these days. So we went on TT, and then again in the single rider line. And made our way to Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth ( I really really like the updates!!!), and then over to Soarin' with our fastpasses.
At about 11:30, we headed over to Germany for our noon reservation at the Biergarten. It was a very hot day, with clouds but no rain. That made me happy because Epcot is my hands down favorite park. The girls were getting hot and cranky, and I was tired and dehydrated, so it was just perfect to have the first seating at this amazingly wonderful buffet! We got there a little early and sat by the fountain to wait:

Their hot German potato salad is just a tad bit better than my moms. And my mom's was the best. The biggest highlight of the buffet though in my opinion was the pretzel bread dinner rolls, and the dessert selections. The mixed berry compote with vanilla cream sauce... oh.. I should have taken pictures, but I was too busy eating! LOL After lunch it was too hot to breathe, so we headed over to POP for some good pool time and a short nap for me. We stopped at Club Cool on the way out, because neither of the kids had ever tried the soda's before. Tawney will try anything, so I got my camera ready and said "ooohhhh, Italy, you are Italian hun, you should try it." and you would think from the big smile on my face and my camera turned on, she would be at least a little suspicious. And my niece stood and watched this happen:

And after watching Tawney wretch, she says, "oh, what does that taste like?" and grabs a cup and does it! LOL

I swear, put that child's brain in a bird, and it would fly backwards!!!

At about 6pm or so, we headed back to Epcot and went for a journey with Figment, and played in the Imageworks lab before seeing Honey, I Shrunk The Audience, which is one of my favorite shows. My niece had never seen it and she screamed at one certain part, it made me laugh. I just love this picture.. it was a perfect day...

After the movie, we headed over to Canada for our dinner at LeCellier. Love the pretzel bread sticks. I ordered the Cheese soup that I love, and the filet on their mashed potatoes instead of risotto, because I really dislike mushrooms. And a side of their veal demi-glace to drizzle over it. I like my meat to not spurt blood at me when I cut into it, so I order every steak I eat, medium well. I don't want it burnt, don't want it raw neither. I made this ADR at the 6 month mark, because I love this restaurant so much. But when I cut into my filet, my mashed potatoes turned red. It was rare, possibly a light medium -rare, I even thought I heard it moo at me. My heart shattered into a million little pieces! I complained to my server who asked if I wanted it "thrown back on for a while" which of course I said no because that would completely ruin the flavor since I had already cut it. I wanted a new one, but since I could hear Illuminations outside, and they way they were ushering the people out of there, I never got that option. I ate it, but I will never ever make another ADR for that place again. They took off the price of my soup when I got the bill. I should have asked for a manager, but I just ate it and tried not to cry. Tawney had the prime rib, which was delicious, and Tiff ate roasted chicken which was also amazingly juicy and wonderful. I had told myself that I was going to relax and be happy on this trip no matter what, and I remained that way. Just very disappointed in this dining experience.
We got out of LeCellier at about 9:30 just as everyone was trying to leave the park so we hung out in the gardens in Canada and by the lagoon for a while and slowly made our way out after everyone else. We had very little wait for the bus on the way home to POP, and we slept great.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

That's a bummer about your filet at Le Cellier. I like my steaks done the same way you do, so I understand. Glad to hear you had a great day at Epcot otherwise-you guys certainly hit all the big attractions.

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

That's a bummer about your filet at Le Cellier. I like my steaks done the same way you do, so I understand. Glad to hear you had a great day at Epcot otherwise-you guys certainly hit all the big attractions.

Yeah, I love a good steak, and that just really disappointed me. Epcot was great though. We did not get to go around the world like I had wanted to, or spend a few hours in Innoventions like Tawney wanted to, but there will always be more trips.

That is the beautiful thing about WDW... You can always go back

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

After a long day at Epcot, and a good nights rest, I am happy to report that we were able to get up and ready the next morning to make rope drop at DHS. I really wanted to try out the new Toy Story Mania ride, and apparently everyone else did too. There was an insane amount of people who headed that way first thing. I decided we would grab a fastpass and get out of the horrendous crowd of people and explore the rest of the park and then come back later.

So we headed over to Star Tours first after reveling in the empty streets!

So we walked right on Star Tours, saw the Muppets 3D movie, went on the Great Movie Ride, the Toy Story Mania with our fastpasses. It was a cool little ride. Would I be heartbroken if I never went on it again? No. lol We stopped in the Honey I Shrunk The Kids Playground for a photoshoot and for Tawney to go through the big rope play thing. I have been getting my picture taken in the big dandelion there every trip I make since 2005.

You can see Tawney right above the guy's head in the rope thing...lol

Then we headed over to Tower of Terror, which scared Tiff so bad that she was screaming "make it stop! No More! No! AHHHHHH!" the ENTIRE ride while hiding her face on my arm and digging her nails into Tawneys arm. I will post the ride pic later. I look like a big mean laughing scary clown, all you see if Tiff's hair, and Tawney clutching her arm screaming "OWWWW" LOL It is actually quite funny. LOL After TOT, Tiff refused to try RRC, we instead we went over to see the Indiana Jones show. After a morning of beautiful weather, it had started to rain, so they cut one scene from the show, but overall it was a good time, the kids laughed. After the show, it was ice cream from the big Dinosaur on Echo Lake, and we hopped the bus back to POP for a rest. It was about noon.

 

[OlyWaguy]

Nice report Tracy.... I hope Toy Story isn't as packed when I get there. I'm looking forward to this ride. Was that on a weekend or a weekday?

 

[Clifton]

Sounds like you guys had a blast. Bet the drive down was the most excitement.

Even though WDW and UO are 2 hours away just need to get up and go....whenever I can Lol

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

Nice report Tracy.... I hope Toy Story isn't as packed when I get there. I'm looking forward to this ride. Was that on a weekend or a weekday?

This was Saturday, August 16th. I think once some time goes by, and it is not so "new" anymore it will calm down around there. It was a really cool unique ride, kind of like the Buzz ride at MK but enhanced. It was fun but not on my personal list of Must-Do's. I really thought most of the rope drop crowd would be going to TOT and RNR, but they didn't. lol

I just highly recommend getting a fastpass for it first thing in the morning, or gettng there at rope drop and going straight in standby line to ride. Unless you don't mind waiting in line.. in that case, just go anytime..lol

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

Sounds like you guys had a blast. Bet the drive down was the most excitement.

Even though WDW and UO are 2 hours away just need to get up and go....whenever I can Lol

The ride down was definitely exciting and fun, and I will probably do it again, although not for a couple of years unless airline prices go through the roof. I was happy to be able to get enough time off of work to make it a nice long trip. If I lived two hours away I would be at WDW every single day off I had!!!! lol

 

[jadedbeauty14304]

OK, I took a picture of my TOT photo I bought ... It is not really clear, but trust me, you don't want to see the deranged clown look on my face anyhow. lol It is bad enough I look like I weigh 400 pounds as it is! OK, we are on the left in the middle row, you can'r miss me, next to me is Tiff, but all you see is her hair because she is hiding, and then Tawney grabbing her arm in pain...lol It is actually quite comical.