ksinniger
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2013
- Messages
- 291
Hello DIS-Board members! I get so much pleasure reading your trip reports, so I've decided to add my voice to the mix. As you can see from my signature, my Disney love is barely two decades old. But it is fierce!
Who am I? My name is Kathy, and I’m a divorced government attorney who works in DC, lives in Lorton VA, and up until recently spent quite a lot of time shuffling 3 girls to and from various activities and appointments. This year, my youngest daughter (of 3) is graduating high school. Yes, yes, cue empty nest syndrome violins. But it's hard to hear them just yet, as we've been travelling a lot as she auditions for various Musical Theatre Performance college programs. Here she is being a cover model for some of her dance studio’s events this year, as well as performing at a benefit concert.
After three successive, bitterly cold weekends in New York City (including one major snowstorm), another weekend in Virginia Beach, and one night in Richmond, VA, it’s finally time to head to the Sunshine State! And when auditioning at Florida Southern College, which is conveniently located in Lakeland, a mere hour away from Walt Disney World, well, we would be remiss if we DIDN’T spend some time inside the bubble.
Here we both are, settling in on Amtrak for one of MANY NYC trips last month.
Planning this one was relatively easy, though I tried to make it complicated. We originally thought we’d take the auto train from VA to FL (we live 10 minutes from the Lorton end of the auto train), but the cost is insane, even if you’re willing to just have a regular seat for the entire ride (which I am not – my 52-year-old bones need to be able to stretch out to sleep). So we pivoted and found decent airfare plus a really good rental car rate through Costco for about half of what the auto train would have cost. If we had taken the auto train, we would have arrived in FL on Friday, February 20th. The audition is on the 21st, and we would have trained back on the 22nd. By flying, we gained all of Friday and all of Sunday. What to do with that time, asked no DIS member ever.
So, we’re flying to Orlando TOMORROW. We should arrive around 3 pm (barring issues) and will pick up our rental car and drive to the Villas at the Grand Floridian. We’ll probably stop to grab some drinks and snacks on the way, to keep in our car or our room. We’ve got an early dinner reservation (5:20 pm) at The Grand Floridian Café (buffets work better for my picky vegetarian kiddo), after which we’ll see how we’re feeling. We may do a little resort tour on the monorail for dessert/shopping, or we may just chill at the Grand Floridian and watch the fireworks and Electric Pageant. Or we may head straight to bed, as the next day is
ONE DAY IN THE M.K. (you’ve got to say those letters as "em" "kay" to make the alliteration work).
We plan on being here from early entry through at least the fireworks. Possibly later if we don’t catch the early Starlight Parade. At some point during the afternoon, we’ll move our car & stuff over to Saratoga Springs, where we’ll stay for the last 2 nights of our trip. We may even fit in a nap if we’re having luck with getting on rides (but I’m not super optimistic about that, as we all know it’s winter vacation for a lot of the northeast, plus yesterday was Mardi Gras). The goal is to have her in bed before midnight, so she can get a good night’s sleep before
AUDITION DAY! Let me know if you’re interested in hearing about this – as a parent of a performer, who is not one herself, this world was completely new to me. But I’ve learned so much I feel like I can provide some useful advice to anyone in need of it.
It’ll be along day in Lakeland – sign in starts at 8:45 am, and the auditions and school info sessions should go through the mid-afternoon. After that, we’ll meet up with a good friend for dinner, then drive back to the bubble and crash.
Our last day will be split between retail therapy at Disney Springs and getting some much-needed vitamin C at the pool. Then it’s back to MCO for a very late flight home. Currently taking bets on which of us manages to get out the door on time Monday morning.
So that’s the plan. I’ve got our lightening lanes all purchased, Magic Band+ charging, and Mickey ears all picked out. Just need to finish up this long, boring work day and then get home and do some packing. I’ll be back to bring you the highlights (and hopefully only a few lowlights) next week!
Who am I? My name is Kathy, and I’m a divorced government attorney who works in DC, lives in Lorton VA, and up until recently spent quite a lot of time shuffling 3 girls to and from various activities and appointments. This year, my youngest daughter (of 3) is graduating high school. Yes, yes, cue empty nest syndrome violins. But it's hard to hear them just yet, as we've been travelling a lot as she auditions for various Musical Theatre Performance college programs. Here she is being a cover model for some of her dance studio’s events this year, as well as performing at a benefit concert.
After three successive, bitterly cold weekends in New York City (including one major snowstorm), another weekend in Virginia Beach, and one night in Richmond, VA, it’s finally time to head to the Sunshine State! And when auditioning at Florida Southern College, which is conveniently located in Lakeland, a mere hour away from Walt Disney World, well, we would be remiss if we DIDN’T spend some time inside the bubble.
Here we both are, settling in on Amtrak for one of MANY NYC trips last month.
Planning this one was relatively easy, though I tried to make it complicated. We originally thought we’d take the auto train from VA to FL (we live 10 minutes from the Lorton end of the auto train), but the cost is insane, even if you’re willing to just have a regular seat for the entire ride (which I am not – my 52-year-old bones need to be able to stretch out to sleep). So we pivoted and found decent airfare plus a really good rental car rate through Costco for about half of what the auto train would have cost. If we had taken the auto train, we would have arrived in FL on Friday, February 20th. The audition is on the 21st, and we would have trained back on the 22nd. By flying, we gained all of Friday and all of Sunday. What to do with that time, asked no DIS member ever.
So, we’re flying to Orlando TOMORROW. We should arrive around 3 pm (barring issues) and will pick up our rental car and drive to the Villas at the Grand Floridian. We’ll probably stop to grab some drinks and snacks on the way, to keep in our car or our room. We’ve got an early dinner reservation (5:20 pm) at The Grand Floridian Café (buffets work better for my picky vegetarian kiddo), after which we’ll see how we’re feeling. We may do a little resort tour on the monorail for dessert/shopping, or we may just chill at the Grand Floridian and watch the fireworks and Electric Pageant. Or we may head straight to bed, as the next day is
ONE DAY IN THE M.K. (you’ve got to say those letters as "em" "kay" to make the alliteration work).
We plan on being here from early entry through at least the fireworks. Possibly later if we don’t catch the early Starlight Parade. At some point during the afternoon, we’ll move our car & stuff over to Saratoga Springs, where we’ll stay for the last 2 nights of our trip. We may even fit in a nap if we’re having luck with getting on rides (but I’m not super optimistic about that, as we all know it’s winter vacation for a lot of the northeast, plus yesterday was Mardi Gras). The goal is to have her in bed before midnight, so she can get a good night’s sleep before
AUDITION DAY! Let me know if you’re interested in hearing about this – as a parent of a performer, who is not one herself, this world was completely new to me. But I’ve learned so much I feel like I can provide some useful advice to anyone in need of it.
It’ll be along day in Lakeland – sign in starts at 8:45 am, and the auditions and school info sessions should go through the mid-afternoon. After that, we’ll meet up with a good friend for dinner, then drive back to the bubble and crash.
Our last day will be split between retail therapy at Disney Springs and getting some much-needed vitamin C at the pool. Then it’s back to MCO for a very late flight home. Currently taking bets on which of us manages to get out the door on time Monday morning.
So that’s the plan. I’ve got our lightening lanes all purchased, Magic Band+ charging, and Mickey ears all picked out. Just need to finish up this long, boring work day and then get home and do some packing. I’ll be back to bring you the highlights (and hopefully only a few lowlights) next week!
