Lcaemom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2007
- Messages
- 709
My parents bought a house in Englewood, FL, last year. They have been asking us to come visit them...while they are there (they live there from Jan-April...and visit sporadically at other times of the year.) We came back from FL, in December...as you know, from WDW so, we really couldn't justify another big vacation so soon. This was supposed to be a bare-bones kind of trip...we would stay with them, we would drive
, we would hang out at the beach and just spend time with them since we haven't seen them since Christmas.
OK...so now the WDW part comes in...I know, to me it's just a given that when you think of FL...you think of WDW! Right?!? My original thought was..."Let's just drive through..." then I thought "Let's stop...and talk some more about DVC" then, I thought "Let's see if we can time things right...and possibly do a waterpark." Now, the gears were really starting to turn...but, staying over or doing a regular park were really out of the question...since we had just been there. And...do NOT laugh...I really didn't think I could go back to WDW if it wasn't Christmas...I really thought it would feel like something was missing!
As you will see...it didn't take long for me to get over that!!!
So, I need to go back to January now. I drop my little one off at school everyday...I see the same people everyday...all of a sudden one cold day in January, this girl, who I had never seen before, comes up to me with this reeeeeally southern accent and says "Are you Leighan?"
I don't have a sordid past, or anything but, immediately I thought..."OMG, what did I do?!?" She tells me that her husband is a guy that I went to high school with...she says "he used to be a basketball player...but, he doesn't look like a basketball player, anymore...he recognized you but, he is too shy to say hello...'can he say, hello'" I thought, OF COURSE HE CAN!!! He was a pretty good friend of mine...20 years ago. I couldn't wait to say Hi...and catch up...and now I had met his wife...who was a doll, I was so excited to chit chat, the next day at school. Which is exactly what happened. I of course, had Disney on the brain, as usual...so, of course that came up! And guess what???? They just moved back here from Orlando...THEY BOTH USED TO WORK AT DISNEY!!! TALK ABOUT A SMALL WORLD!!!
We stood outside on that cold January morning for two hours!!! They used to work at MGM, the GF and the WL. So, fast forward to two weeks ago...they tell me they can get me real park tickets...that hop...for NOTHING!!! It was iffy until the day before we were leaving...but, once it was confirmed...the gears in my brain were off and running again!!! If MK was closing at midnight, and we could hop there...we were not going to get in the car at closing and drive the two hours to my parents house...and of course we had to be at WDW on Saturday morning...so, the plan was now...to drive like lunatics to WDW...check in at whatever time on Friday nt/Sat AM...stay that night, get up for probably, MK or Epcot...stay over Sat nt, swim at the hotel, on Sunday and THEN continue on to my parent's house. Soooo, off I went to Mousesavers.com to check on some codes...then I got on the phone...I was armed with 3 applicable codes...I priced the GF, WL, Poly and POR...they were $1200, $1100, $1100 and $430 respectively...with my codes...they dropped to $900, $750, $750 and $290!!!! I said "I'll take POR for $290!!!" The girl on the phone was just as excited for me, as I was for myself!!! We made an ADR, which we didn't end up keeping...I'll get to that later...when I tell you that I'm no longer a fan of the mealplan or ADRs. I hung up...kept packing...I had to focus on getting the rest of the packing done...but, I had park hours to look up...and details to plan!!! I could NOT believe that we were on our way. I called my parents to let them know that we would now be arriving on Sunday, instead of Saturday. My Dad said he knew that, that would be the case...he joked that once we were at WDW that we would never get any further south...he knows me well!
My DH was in bed, while I made all these plans...when he got up at midnight...the girls screamed "WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!!! When he went to bed, at 5pm that night...he knew there was a possibility that we might get the tickets...but, there were no concrete plans. While we waiting for DH to get ready, the girls were not happy about the ride that lay ahead...couldn't blame them...I was not looking forward to it either. But, it certainly helped morale when I said "tonight...we'll be at Disneyworld!!!" We left the driveway at 1:16am!!!
I probably haven't mentioned that I have become a huge Facebook addict...a la my friend and his wife from WDW. I posted the whole way down the coast..."Leighan is in NY," "Leighan is in Virginia," "Leighan is passing South of the Border." I had lots of friends writing in and lots of conversations going...it made the commute much more tolerable...I was also able to fill in DH on all the plans. We decided that we would meet my friends' friend...who had the tickets, at AK...then we would spend the morning at Epcot and do MK til closing...at midnight. We would have a busy, busy day...but, it would not wasted...and we would have ALLLLL day Sunday to rest and relax by the pool, at POR.
We were way ahead of schedule...we were in Maryland by 9am...through VA by noon...once we were in GA by late-afternoon, I knew that we'd not only make it to WDW by a reasonable time...but, with potentially enough time to walk around POR, get some dinner, and even a swim! We crossed into FL, around 6pm!!! It was sunny, warm...lots of palm trees...I couldn't believe that we made it as fast as we did!!!
Once we got to I4, I turned on the camera to take pictures of the Disney signs...two hours later...I FINALLY saw them! I way underjudged how long the commute down I4 would take us. But, then there they were the signs for WDW!!!
This is something you don't get to do when you fly...capture all of the WDW traffic signs...nice to have!!! But, now that I have them...I'm good to never see them again...hope we'll be flying from now on!!!
We entered WDW...of course it was dark so, there was no chance of taking that coveted picture...but, I was soooo ok with that. We drove through the gates...and it was like going to heaven!!!
The Disney busses had new purple balloons on the windows. I kept repeating "I can't believe we're here!!!" We pulled into POR...gave the man at the gate our names...he opened the gate and said "Welcome home" OMG!!! Do you have goosebumps?!?
I did...I love the sound of that!!! So, we pulled up at the entrance...I got out and smelled the POR smell...I can't describe it but, I love the smell...GF, has it's own, too. I walked in checked us in...I did notice that there was no giant tree or any garland...but, I found that I was ok! Phew!!! We were in building #16...knew exactly where it was because we have stayed in #18, and #15...I was psyched because I loved that location. So, we drove around to our building...unpacked some stuff...and made our way over the bridge, passed the waterwheel and to main building for dinner. We had clam chowder for dinner...outside at the marina. It was a beautiful, balmy night!!! Erin and I decided to run inside to the gift shop, while my DH and other DDs went for a swim. Erin immediately went for the charm bracelet...which she had asked for in December...and I had said no, then. I told her I'd think about it...as with all the charms she had added...that it would cost over $40!!! So, we walked back to the room...she wanted to swim. So, we took a quick dip in the pool...and then headed in to watch some Stacy and go to bed!!!
We woke up on Saturday morning to a beautiful, sunny day!!! We met our friends' friend...got into AK with no problems...it seemed to good to be true!!! The tickets that we were getting from her, I thought were $79 a peice...while in line, I noticed that with the PH option...they were $125 a peice. Did I also mention that I had two tickets left from 2001...that I thought had a day or two left on them...they checked those at AK...and they did!!! So, we were parkhopping for the day for $0!!!
We strolled through AK...over to EE...the line was 40 minutes...fp were good for after 12:40 so, we decided to go with our original plan to go to Epcot and finish the day at MK. Of course, I needed a picture with the Tree of Life. AK is really beautiful...the more time I spend there, the more I love it!!! But, we had to be really careful with how we spent our time...if we planned to get everything in.
So, off we drove to Epcot...I must say...WDW with a car is soooooooo much easier than on the busses! We drove right into Epcot...parked close enough to not have to worry about the tram. I was holding my breath that my PH tickets, wouldn't hop...but, we went right through...we were in!!!!
I kept repeating "I just can't believe this" "I can't believe we're here!!!" I drove the family crazy!!! The Cinderella garden, is what you see when you walk through the gates...with all of my short term planning...I didn't even realize that we were there during the Flower and Garden Festival...it was beautiful!!! It didn't take long to notice that the park was very different than at Christmas but, this made up for that...it was so pretty!!! As you walked around the sides, you saw Snow White and the rest of the princesses. We ran over to the land to get fp for Soarin...come back time was after 12:50...once we got those...I felt like we could take a deep breath and enjoy the day...whatever we did from that point was extra!!! We walked over to Testtrack...the standby line said 40 minutes...we were on in less than 20. We love that ride!!!
On our way over to the Ellen ride...we passed the mist tents...something we never used while there in December. It was really hot in the sun...would never complain about that, though. While we were there in Dec 08, there were nights that it was 40 degrees or colder!
UP NEXT: The Ellen ride, lunch at the Rose and Crown, World Showcase...
, we would hang out at the beach and just spend time with them since we haven't seen them since Christmas. OK...so now the WDW part comes in...I know, to me it's just a given that when you think of FL...you think of WDW! Right?!? My original thought was..."Let's just drive through..." then I thought "Let's stop...and talk some more about DVC" then, I thought "Let's see if we can time things right...and possibly do a waterpark." Now, the gears were really starting to turn...but, staying over or doing a regular park were really out of the question...since we had just been there. And...do NOT laugh...I really didn't think I could go back to WDW if it wasn't Christmas...I really thought it would feel like something was missing!
As you will see...it didn't take long for me to get over that!!!So, I need to go back to January now. I drop my little one off at school everyday...I see the same people everyday...all of a sudden one cold day in January, this girl, who I had never seen before, comes up to me with this reeeeeally southern accent and says "Are you Leighan?"
I don't have a sordid past, or anything but, immediately I thought..."OMG, what did I do?!?" She tells me that her husband is a guy that I went to high school with...she says "he used to be a basketball player...but, he doesn't look like a basketball player, anymore...he recognized you but, he is too shy to say hello...'can he say, hello'" I thought, OF COURSE HE CAN!!! He was a pretty good friend of mine...20 years ago. I couldn't wait to say Hi...and catch up...and now I had met his wife...who was a doll, I was so excited to chit chat, the next day at school. Which is exactly what happened. I of course, had Disney on the brain, as usual...so, of course that came up! And guess what???? They just moved back here from Orlando...THEY BOTH USED TO WORK AT DISNEY!!! TALK ABOUT A SMALL WORLD!!! We stood outside on that cold January morning for two hours!!! They used to work at MGM, the GF and the WL. So, fast forward to two weeks ago...they tell me they can get me real park tickets...that hop...for NOTHING!!! It was iffy until the day before we were leaving...but, once it was confirmed...the gears in my brain were off and running again!!! If MK was closing at midnight, and we could hop there...we were not going to get in the car at closing and drive the two hours to my parents house...and of course we had to be at WDW on Saturday morning...so, the plan was now...to drive like lunatics to WDW...check in at whatever time on Friday nt/Sat AM...stay that night, get up for probably, MK or Epcot...stay over Sat nt, swim at the hotel, on Sunday and THEN continue on to my parent's house. Soooo, off I went to Mousesavers.com to check on some codes...then I got on the phone...I was armed with 3 applicable codes...I priced the GF, WL, Poly and POR...they were $1200, $1100, $1100 and $430 respectively...with my codes...they dropped to $900, $750, $750 and $290!!!! I said "I'll take POR for $290!!!" The girl on the phone was just as excited for me, as I was for myself!!! We made an ADR, which we didn't end up keeping...I'll get to that later...when I tell you that I'm no longer a fan of the mealplan or ADRs. I hung up...kept packing...I had to focus on getting the rest of the packing done...but, I had park hours to look up...and details to plan!!! I could NOT believe that we were on our way. I called my parents to let them know that we would now be arriving on Sunday, instead of Saturday. My Dad said he knew that, that would be the case...he joked that once we were at WDW that we would never get any further south...he knows me well! My DH was in bed, while I made all these plans...when he got up at midnight...the girls screamed "WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!!! When he went to bed, at 5pm that night...he knew there was a possibility that we might get the tickets...but, there were no concrete plans. While we waiting for DH to get ready, the girls were not happy about the ride that lay ahead...couldn't blame them...I was not looking forward to it either. But, it certainly helped morale when I said "tonight...we'll be at Disneyworld!!!" We left the driveway at 1:16am!!!
I probably haven't mentioned that I have become a huge Facebook addict...a la my friend and his wife from WDW. I posted the whole way down the coast..."Leighan is in NY," "Leighan is in Virginia," "Leighan is passing South of the Border." I had lots of friends writing in and lots of conversations going...it made the commute much more tolerable...I was also able to fill in DH on all the plans. We decided that we would meet my friends' friend...who had the tickets, at AK...then we would spend the morning at Epcot and do MK til closing...at midnight. We would have a busy, busy day...but, it would not wasted...and we would have ALLLLL day Sunday to rest and relax by the pool, at POR.
We were way ahead of schedule...we were in Maryland by 9am...through VA by noon...once we were in GA by late-afternoon, I knew that we'd not only make it to WDW by a reasonable time...but, with potentially enough time to walk around POR, get some dinner, and even a swim! We crossed into FL, around 6pm!!! It was sunny, warm...lots of palm trees...I couldn't believe that we made it as fast as we did!!!
Once we got to I4, I turned on the camera to take pictures of the Disney signs...two hours later...I FINALLY saw them! I way underjudged how long the commute down I4 would take us. But, then there they were the signs for WDW!!!
This is something you don't get to do when you fly...capture all of the WDW traffic signs...nice to have!!! But, now that I have them...I'm good to never see them again...hope we'll be flying from now on!!!
We entered WDW...of course it was dark so, there was no chance of taking that coveted picture...but, I was soooo ok with that. We drove through the gates...and it was like going to heaven!!!
The Disney busses had new purple balloons on the windows. I kept repeating "I can't believe we're here!!!" We pulled into POR...gave the man at the gate our names...he opened the gate and said "Welcome home" OMG!!! Do you have goosebumps?!? I did...I love the sound of that!!! So, we pulled up at the entrance...I got out and smelled the POR smell...I can't describe it but, I love the smell...GF, has it's own, too. I walked in checked us in...I did notice that there was no giant tree or any garland...but, I found that I was ok! Phew!!! We were in building #16...knew exactly where it was because we have stayed in #18, and #15...I was psyched because I loved that location. So, we drove around to our building...unpacked some stuff...and made our way over the bridge, passed the waterwheel and to main building for dinner. We had clam chowder for dinner...outside at the marina. It was a beautiful, balmy night!!! Erin and I decided to run inside to the gift shop, while my DH and other DDs went for a swim. Erin immediately went for the charm bracelet...which she had asked for in December...and I had said no, then. I told her I'd think about it...as with all the charms she had added...that it would cost over $40!!! So, we walked back to the room...she wanted to swim. So, we took a quick dip in the pool...and then headed in to watch some Stacy and go to bed!!!
We woke up on Saturday morning to a beautiful, sunny day!!! We met our friends' friend...got into AK with no problems...it seemed to good to be true!!! The tickets that we were getting from her, I thought were $79 a peice...while in line, I noticed that with the PH option...they were $125 a peice. Did I also mention that I had two tickets left from 2001...that I thought had a day or two left on them...they checked those at AK...and they did!!! So, we were parkhopping for the day for $0!!!
We strolled through AK...over to EE...the line was 40 minutes...fp were good for after 12:40 so, we decided to go with our original plan to go to Epcot and finish the day at MK. Of course, I needed a picture with the Tree of Life. AK is really beautiful...the more time I spend there, the more I love it!!! But, we had to be really careful with how we spent our time...if we planned to get everything in.
So, off we drove to Epcot...I must say...WDW with a car is soooooooo much easier than on the busses! We drove right into Epcot...parked close enough to not have to worry about the tram. I was holding my breath that my PH tickets, wouldn't hop...but, we went right through...we were in!!!!
I kept repeating "I just can't believe this" "I can't believe we're here!!!" I drove the family crazy!!! The Cinderella garden, is what you see when you walk through the gates...with all of my short term planning...I didn't even realize that we were there during the Flower and Garden Festival...it was beautiful!!! It didn't take long to notice that the park was very different than at Christmas but, this made up for that...it was so pretty!!! As you walked around the sides, you saw Snow White and the rest of the princesses. We ran over to the land to get fp for Soarin...come back time was after 12:50...once we got those...I felt like we could take a deep breath and enjoy the day...whatever we did from that point was extra!!! We walked over to Testtrack...the standby line said 40 minutes...we were on in less than 20. We love that ride!!!
On our way over to the Ellen ride...we passed the mist tents...something we never used while there in December. It was really hot in the sun...would never complain about that, though. While we were there in Dec 08, there were nights that it was 40 degrees or colder!
UP NEXT: The Ellen ride, lunch at the Rose and Crown, World Showcase...
I just breezed through your update!! You sound like you had a FANTASTIC time!!
I can't see any of your pictures for some reason....maybe later? I'm off to take the boys to see "Earth" by Disney now...I'll check in later on!! Have a good day!! Btw, I'm addicted to Facebook, too!! Maybe you can be my friend there too? LOL!!
I thought it would be nice to stroll through the countries...but, I thought there was much more shade than there was...it was getting hotter, the more we walked. Erin has started these masks three times...so, I thought it would be nice if she actually got tags from ALL the countries this time. Mexico and Norway went fine...by China we were all starting to drag...but, we kept going! By the time we reached America everyone was complaining...by this time I wanted to finish my...I mean, Erin's mask!
Not horrific or anything...sinus infection or allergies...I've never had either so, I don't what is wrong with me. Just don't feel like doing anything, other than updating this long overdue TR...so, I'll just continue...while I have the time and I have clearance from the family that mom is ill! So, continuing on.........
Loving it!
I finally gave in when were ready to leave...she had picked out $40 worth of charms...so, I told her that if she paid for the bracelet and one charm...that I'd buy her two more...so, in order to decide...she did eeny meeny miny mo...
Lots of Christmas decorations...of course, it was beautiful. It was nice to finally be inside the castle...so mysterious...
