Our Month-Long Trip to Orlando (7/9 - 8/6) :: Day 1, Part 2 (Updated 4/17 - Pg. 1)

[babieemelly]

Well, I decided to share my trip report on the Disboards. I previously shared this trip with members of another board and everyone thouhgt it was pretty interesting, so I hope you guys like it! I know that not a lot of Disney fans come here, and not a lot of Universal fans look at the Disney Trip Reports forum, but I spent a time of time in both parks, so I'm going to post the report in both threads. Hope that's OK!

So, where to begin. My first trip to Orlando was with my family back in 1992. I was only 5-years old, and my brother was 3 and a half. My mother had only been to Disneyland once before this, and my father had never been to any Disney park. We spent all of our time at Disney World, and had a great vacation! We spent the years following this trip going to other places along the east coast, though, and never thought much about going back.

Then in 2001, my 8th grade class went to Orlando for our senior trip. It was my first time being away from my family, and things didn't go so well. With a bunch of pre-teens together across the country from their home, things went pretty much as you would expect. We fought, we cried, half the kids got sick, and it was just a mess! However, after only spending a day each at Epcot, MGM, Islands of Adventure, Sea World, and a half a day at the Magic Kingdom, I was completely bitten by the bug. I couldn't wait to go back!

For the four years following my senior trip to Orlando, I begged my parents to take my brother and I back to the area. I had an amazing time down there, and really wanted to show my family around. However, my mom didn't want to leave my dog. Yes, we couldn't leave my 7-year old Shih-Tzu home, or with family members who live DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM US. So depsite the fact that I begged and pleaded almost every day, the trip just never happened.

Then one day my family was driving to Jersey to go to Six Flags Great Adventure. We've had season passes for as long as I could remember, and we go all the time. My aunt, uncle, and little cousin were going, too, and I had gone in the car with them. When we arrived at the amusement park and parked the cars, my mom and dad told me that they had talked about Orlando on the drive. They said that they wanted to drive down to Orlando, rent a house, and spend a month in the area. What?! WHAT?! It was an unbelievable dream come true!!!

The next year I spent a LOT of time planning out our trip. First we had to find a house, and a we were lucky enough to find a GREAT condo located in the Emerald Island resort. It had three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a full kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a washer and a dryer, and a patio and full deck. Best of all, we were able to get a deal of 4-weeks for only $2,000! Is that a bargain or what?!

We then started thinking about what we would do down in Orlando. We knew we wanted to go to Disney. My love of all things Disney is pretty ridiculous, and has been since I was younger. We decided to get the 10-day passes with the park hopper option. Then we decided to get Annual Passes to Universal Studios. None of us had spent much time there before (my mom had only spent a day at the Universal Studios in Hollywood, and I had spent a day at Islands of Adventure in 2001). My dad works for NBC and since NBC just bought Universal we were able to get a great deal on passes. We decided to get the 2-Park Power passes, which stated that all weekends in the summer were black-out dates, which was no big deal since we had a full four weeks to use our passes. Little did we know that the black-out dates had GREATLY changed on the Power Passes, but more on that later

We knew that we had a lot of time, so we figured we would spend some time checking out the smaller attractions in the Central Florida area. We logged onto to Ticketmania.com and ordered tickets to the Titanic Exhibition and the Kennedy Space Center. We also had plans to visit the Ripley's Odditorium and WonderWorks, but we would buy tickets once we got down to Orlando.

In the months leading up to our trip, I spent many a day coming up with itineraries and touring plans. What is it like creating a travel itinerary for a month-long trip? A pain in the butt! However, I'm a HUGE fan of planning vacations, so I really did love it Did we actually wind up following my plans? Sometimes. Usually not. But you'll hear more about that as the report progresses!

The months before the trip FLEW by, and before we knew it we were ready to go! What was it like driving down to Orlando from New York City in a Dodge Intrepid with tons of suitcases, a tied-on luggage rack, and a dog in tow? What was it like spending an entire month in Orlando, checking out the Disney and Universal attractions and experiencing all that Kissimmee and Central Florida had to offer? Stay tuned to find out!

Coming Up Next - The Night Before

 

[ATAfamily]

You can't just leave us hanging like this

I'm hanging on the edge of my seat waiting....I want more, MOre, MORE!!


Deanne

 

[babieemelly]

Before I go any further I figured it would be a good idea to tell you a little bit about ourselves!

1. Melissa - I'm Melissa, I'm 19, and I'm a Freshman in college. At the time of our trip last summer I was 18, and I had just graduated from high school. My dream job would be to become a Travel Agent, but it's REALLY hard to make a living that way, so I've decied to become a kindergarten teacher... not a bad alternative To make up for it, though, I always take on the responsibility of planning our family vacations, and well as the vacations for our family members and friends! So THAT'S why a teenager planned a month-long vacation to Orlando, and I actually think I did a pretty good job

2. Debbie - Debbie is my mom. She is in her early 40s, and loves to travel. However, she was very apprehnsive about this trip. She wasn't sure if driving so far, and staying so long, with my dog was going to be a good idea. We all knew it would be fine, though. My mom also isn't much of a fan of anything-Disney, so my goal for this trip was to convert her to an Orlando-loving vacationer!

3. Ray - Ray is my dad, and he is also in his early 40s. He loves to travel, and had been trying to talk my mom into taking along vacation for a while. He's ver laid-back and really didn't care what we did. He's also a huge fan of thrill rides, and theme parks in general. He is an NBC employee, and that fact came is handy A LOT at Universal Studios - discounts galore!

4. Michael is my brother, and he was 16 at the time of the trip (he's now 17). He could care less about Disney, and at the begining of the trip he could care less about Universal. Universal definitely grewon him, but Disney... eh. He could actually care less if we even went on vacation or not, so he was a tough one to deal with. But with my careful planning I deinitely got to him!

OK, on with the show!

The Day Before: Friday, July 8, 2006

The Day Before - Friday, July 8, 2005
After waking up at around 9:00 every morning for the last two weeks, I actually got up pretty late this morning, at around 11:30. Mom and dad had brought Oreo to the groomer to get a haircut before we left and they still weren't back. They were back at around 1:00, and I watched some of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" on ABC in my room before taking a shower and getting dressed. I then sat in the living room and transferred some stuff from the TiVo onto a DVD for mom, including an Eagles concert that was on ABC, a Barry Manilow concert that was on the HDTV channel, and Pink Floyd's reunion performance from the Live 8 concert. All three concerts had a lot of good music so it wasn't too bad transferring it. In the middle of doing it, at around 4:30, dad took down our suitcases and started packing the car... it was so surreal to finally be getting ready to leave. After four years of planning trips that never happened, we were finally on our way! We left all of our overnight bags and everything we were going to put in the roof rack in the house to pack away tomorrow. I didn't think it would, but all three of our suitcases, plus Mike's huge 3-ft tall duffel bag fit in the trunk!

At around 5:00 we ordered pizza, chicken rolls and calzone, and ate at 5:30. As I was hanging out and waiting for the food to come when my throat started to hurt really bad, and I got SO nervous. It felt like a mix between when my throat hurts from my allergies being bad and when I had strep throat After 4 years the vacation is finally here, and now I'm going to get sick? I took some Tylenol and sprayed my throat with an allergy spray, and just hoped it would get better. Since my throat was hurting I only had a half of a piece of pizza. I think it was more from nerves than from pain.

At 6:00 my Aunt Stacy (my mom's sister) and little cousin Alison (she's 4) came over. We really just hung out, watching some of "Be Cool" with Uma Thurman and John Travolta (a really bad movie!) and the Yankee game. Me and Alison both had waffles since we were hungry (and there were only 4 left and my mom wanted to get rid of the open box before we left). Alison kept saying that she wanted to come with us, and she would tell my Aunt Stacy, "It's only 30 days, and if you miss me just try to think of me, Mommy!" It was so funny! Then Aunt Stacy would say she was going to go pack her bags and Alison would scream "No!" Afterwards I logged on to some Disney message boards to check some final posts and say goodbye. After being on the boards so much to plan this trip it was nice for the vacation to finally come and to be saying goodbye to everyone!

Alison was getting impatient just sitting around and started acting really bratty so I went out on the porch with her and played catch. They left at 8:00, and my mom and Aunt Stacy both cried It was pretty funny... I guess after seeing each other so often, knowing we wouldn't see each other for a month made them both a little emotional. My Aunt Stacy, Uncle Alan, and cousin Alison are over our house at least four times a week. I was going to miss them, but I just wanted to get going and get out of the city already! Alison saw my mom and Aunt Stacy crying and SHE started crying saying, "Aunt Debbie, I want to go with you!" We assured her that we'd get her lot's of presents and Aunt Stacy told her she'd take her to see Mickey soon

I went back online for a little bit and Disneyfied my AOL profile I put the lyrics to "Remember the Magic" by Brian McKnight and said that I was going to be in Orlando for the month, just in case my friends forgot where I was My cousin Ryan (who, with my cousin Cari, Aunt and Uncle, grandparents, and my dad's Aunt and Uncle, cousin and second cousin, was going to Hawaii for three days and then going on a week-long cruise around the Hawaiian islands in 2 weeks) came online and we had a pretty interesting conversation. At the time, Hurricane Dennis was threatening Florida. So our conversation went a little bit like this... Ryan - "I hope you have fun in the hurricane", Me - "I hope your boat doesn't sink". it was great My dad then shut off and the computers and unplugged the main power switch.

I went upstairs to take a shower at around 9:00, and before I went in I heard my Aunt Debbie (my dad's sister), Uncle Ted, Grandma and Grandpa from across the street (yes, we're all on the same block) come over to say goodbye. I heard my Aunt Debbie say, "Call us a lot" and my Uncle Ted say "Don't melt on the sidewalk!" I was going to go down and say bye but they only stayed for 5 minutes so I didn't bother. After I took a shower I hung out in my room, watching TV and playing Donkey Kong on my Game Boy (that I hadn't played in years!). I watched the end of the Yankee game and then turned on the news hoping for some information on Hurricane Dennis. They said the storm had weakened over Cuba and was heading Northwest towards the Florida Keys and then would head towards Alabama and Louisiana. I had my fingers crossed that it would just stay as far away from Orlando as possible. My mom, of course, was freaking out, but we all kept assuring her that it wouldn't be bad since the storm wasn't supposed to directly hit Orlando.

I went downstairs to get a water bottle (I always wind up waking up thirsty in the middle of the night and hate going downstairs so I just sleep with water by my bed) and Oreo was chillaxing in the living room, with her legs and paws completely stretched out. It was so cute!

At around 11:00 I braided my hair so it would be crimped in the morning, and I watched the 3rd disk of my Boy Meets World Season 1 series (I love that show too much ) I then watched some of my Florida DVD's - 8 DVD's that I burned with Florida, Disney and Universal-related things I taped off of TV. I watched the Family Matters and Step by Step episodes from when they went to Disney, and then I shut it off. I watched the end of Conan at 12:35 (with Anthony Anderson and musical guest Aqualung) and then just laid in bed. My alarm was set for 4:15 in the morning, and I just couldn't fall asleep! It was like that commercial where the kids are too excited to fall asleep on the night before their Disney vacation After watching some late-night infomercials and Blind Date, I finally fell asleep at 3:00 in the morning, with visions of fairy tale castles and Spiderman dancing in my head!

Coming Up Next - And we're off!

 

[wicket2005]

Lovely, it is so exciting that feeling knowing you are away on holiday. I hope your throat didn't hurt any more. We were across in Orlando from 16th July to 30th July last year too.

 

[Minniespal]

Can't wait for more

 

[babieemelly]

Day 1 - Saturday, July 9, 2005

The day had finally arrived! After getting only 45 minutes of sleep, I was up at 3:45, before my alarm even went off (I had it set for 4:15). I woke up with the part of "Prince Ali" from Aladdin where they say, "He's got 75 golden camels, he's generous... so generous!" stuck in my head. I know those parts don't even go together, but I just kept singing it over and over, and it was driving me crazy It was all in the spirit of the trip, though, so it wasn't too bad I turned on the TV and watched 2 episodes of Street Smarts on the WB from 4:00 to 5:00 (I love that show, it makes me feel better about my own level of intelligence ) I heard my mom get up at 4:25 and go in the bathroom to take a shower.

My throat still hurt pretty bad, and I was a nervous wreck. All I could think about was how I should have just gone to the doctor the day before to have it checked. A sore throat wasn't going to stop me from going on this vacation, so I could have just gotten medicine and felt better about everything. My ears were also really itchy and hurting a bit so I just prayed it was only my allergies. I went down to the kitchen and took some Benadryl and Tylenol and wished for the best. I got a flashlight and looked in my throat and saw a tiny little white spot and REALLY started freaking out, thinking it was the beginning of strep. There was no point worrying about it, though. I figured if, God forbid, I was getting sick, I could always go over to a clinic or hospital in Orlando and just get medicine, since a soar throat isn't the most serious thing in the world.

I heard my dad get up at 5:00, and I watched an infomercial for the Magic Bullet, a really little blender and food processor which I had already seen a million times when I stayed up all night during past summers. I got up and dressed at 5:15, putting on my Blink 182 shirt and black shorts. I wanted to just be comfortable on the long drive. I finished packing up my overnight and toiletry bags with the things I had used that morning, and my mom woke Michael up at 5:45.

At 6:00 we started packing up the car with our overnight and toiletry bags, as well as the bags with Oreo's stuff and our snacks for the car. Most of it fit in the trunk with the suitcases that we had packed the day before. We had a few left over bags, though, so we put them in the roof bag, and attached it to the hood of the car. We secured the four straps as tightly as possible (each one had a metal piece that was attached near the window, and then had a long strap that you doubled over and pulled tightly), and were glad to see that there was a clip on each strap so the two pieces would be held together and wouldn't flap against each other in the wind, making an annoying noise. It was so humid out, and mixed with my throat, I just wasn't in a good mood, and was surprised at the fact that I wasn't as excited as I thought I would be I figured it was due to my lack of sleep, the heat, and being nervous about my throat. We finished getting our stuff together, took some last minute bathroom breaks, and were on the road by 6:30 (well, 6:28 to be exact )

My mom, dad and Mike attaching the roof bag to our car

Oreo waiting to leave

My mom putting on Oreo's harness seat belt (yes, the dog has a seat belt)

Mike and Oreo right before we left

Dad making sure the straps on the roofbag were tight

It was so nice driving off the block knowing that we were finally on our way! When we were a few blocks from our house my Uncle Marc (my mom's brother) called and asked if we were pumped, and my mom said, "Melissa is!" I was excited, but I just really wasn't as psyched as I thought I would be. I didn't say anything, though, because I knew I'd never hear the end of not being excited about the vacation I had begged my parents to take us on for so long.

We were really glad that there was no traffic on the Staten Island Expressway, but we didn't really expect there to be since it was so early in the morning (those of you not from NY don't understand... there's ALWAYS traffic on the Staten Island Expressway!) We drove right through and reached the NJ Turnpike at 7:05 - about a half hour to get to Jersey, definitely not bad. My Uncle Marc called back right as we were reaching the Goethal's Bridge and he asked my dad if he was psyched that we were saving $.75 by not taking the Outer Bridge

We we were driving Mike asked me if I had my Frommer's guide book, so I can point out all the "Fun Facts", like in EuroTrip I love that movie! And yes, I did have my Frommer's guide book We talked about EuroTrip the whole time we were on this vacation, comparing things we did to things that happened in the movie. We passed the time joking around and quoting stupid lines from different movies.

At 7:45 we stopped at the Richard Stockton rest area on the Jersey Turnpike. Mike waited outside with the dog while my mom, dad and I went in to go to the bathroom and get breakfast. We got Michael a bagel with cream cheese and a chocolate milk from Starbucks, and my mom, dad, and I all got a bacon, egg and cheese croissant sandwich from Burger King. I also got an orange juice, and my mom and dad got coffee. We don't like to eat Burger King because of all the crap in it, but we had no other choice. And, because of all the crap in it, it was SO good! We ate at a table outside, and when we were done we wanted to walk Oreo before getting back on the road. We walked across the parking lot to some grass opposite the rest area but it was all wet so we decided to just wait until we got to the next rest stop. We took one last bathroom break, and my dad bought sunglasses from one of the outdoor vendors for $10, before we were back on the road at 8:15.

Dad walking Oreo at the rest stop

Me and Mike before breakfast... yes, I'm short. Very short. I'm only 5'!

Michael waking Oreo as I saved a table for us

My mom eating breakfast, she doesn't look very happy

The Richard Stockton Rest Area

My mom and Mike coming back from checking the grass for Oreo (I should probably mention now that Oreo is the most spoiled dog EVER)

Walking back to the car

 

[babieemelly]

A few days before we left I had made 2 CDs to listen to in the car - one with all vacation music (Vacation by the Go-Gos, Escape by Rupert Holmes, Kokomo by the Beach Boys, etc) and a CD with all rock music that my brother and I like (The Killers, My Chemical Romance, The White Stripes, Coheed and Cambria, The Used, Fall Out Boy, etc) and we tried to play them on the car CD player, but they wouldn't play. I had a really funny comedy skit about going to Disney in the summer that I wanted everyone to hear so I was pretty bummed. Our CD player is in the trunk of the car so we couldn't even get back there to fix the CDs and see what was going on. Oh well.

We entered Delaware at 9:08, and crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge right away. We were making really good time considering it took us only 2 and a half hours to get to Delaware, including a stop for breakfast. The scenery in Delaware was pretty nice.

Crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge

Some scenery in Delaware

My mom loves the Lotto so we thought it was funny to see a bus advertising the Delaware Lotto

Some more scenery in Delaware

A farm in Delaware

We reached Maryland at 9:26... we were only in Delaware for 18 minutes! It really felt as if we were making great time. As soon as we entered Maryland there was tons of traffic leading up to a toll, due to the fact that the lanes were really narrow and hardly anyone had EZ Pass, so there was no way to drive around the traffic to get to the empty EZ Pass lanes We finally got through the mess in about 15 minutes, and were shocked to see that the traffic was backed up, literally, for miles on the other side, heading into Delaware. We were ready for another stop so we turned off into what we thought was the road to get to the next rest area. It wasn't, though, and we wound up in some REALLY small town. We were still able to see the rest area from where we were, but we were stuck at a red light and my dad didn't realize that you could make a left on red in Marlyand (I think you can everywhere but in NYC!). So we turned into the parking lot of a small, abandoned store to make a U-Turn. Just as we did, though, the light we were originally at turned green and the light we were now at turned red We couldn't turn left now because the rest stop was straight ahead. This light turned out being the longest light we were EVER stopped at. It was ridiculous just sitting there with absolutely NO other cars around, for a full fve minutes! But, you know, that's our luck

The sign for the Maryland Welcome Center, right after we entered Maryland

The store whose parking lot we made a u-turn in

Waiting for the light to change... and waiting... and waiting...

Oreo waiting for the light to change

We finally made it to the rest stop and it was a pretty nice one. My mom and I went in first, while my dad and Mike walked Oreo around the area. They had a nice restaurant that was pretty crowded with locals having breakfast, and a big store that sold souvenirs from Maryland, Delaware, NY, and Washington DC, as well as a convience store that sold food and drinks. We didn't get anything, though, and just went into the bathroom, which had really nice, big and clean private stalls that were completely closed. It was like having your own private bathroom! (Ok, not really, but it was nicer than a lot of the rest stops we had been in before.) When we were done, we got Oreo strapped back into her car seat while Mike and my dad went into the bathroom, and we were back on the road at 9:50.

My mom in the bathroom of the rest stop

Walking Oreo around the area

Mike, my dad and Oreo in front of the rest stop

Pulling out of the parking lot

 

[babieemelly]

As we were driving we past a huge truck, and all of a sudden we smelled the most HIDEOUS smell! It smelled like burning, rotten cabbage! It was SO gross, and when we looked into the cars around us it was hysterical to see the faces other people were making in reaction to the smell I listened to my MP3 player and took pictures of the scenery, although there really wasn't too much to look at along I95 besides trees and the signs for upcoming exits.

Some scenery in Maryland

Oreo looking crazy!

Oreo lounging

Some more scenery in Maryland

Oreo enjoying the ride


We drove through Baltimore and it looked exactly like Jersey, you really wouldn't know the difference of whether you were actually in Baltimore or just going to Giants Stadium. That's one thing I learned from this trip. As different as the different regions of this country are, a lot of it all looks the same! It was cool being in Baltimore, though, because Mike Mussina, my FAVORITE Yankee , is from Baltimore and used to be on the Orioles. Yes, I'm very easily amused After 20 minutes in Baltimore we passed through a tunnel and left the city behind.

Driving through Baltimore

The tunnel at the end of Baltimore

One of my Aunt Stacy's (my mom's sister) best friends, also named Stacy, moved to Maryland a few years ago. My mom grew up with Stacy being around the house, and whenever my Aunt Stacy would baby-sit, a lot of times Stacy would come over, too. We didn't know what part of Maryland she was in, but we thought it would have been nice to go visit! After another hour in Maryland it seemed as if Maryland would never end We were still making good time, but after only 2 hours in Jersey, and 18 minutes in Delaware, the three hours in Maryland was the longest we had been driving through a state yet. I got sick of listening to my MP3 player, so I decided to watch Finding Nemo on our portable DVD player. I had started watching it a few weeks ago but stopped when I got too tired, so I fast-forwarded it to the part I was up to. The lack of sleep from the night before, and the swaying and bumping of the car, was catching up with me, though, so after only 10 minutes I shut it off and closed my eyes for a little while, but I didn't fall asleep.

Finding Nemo on the DVD player


Coming Up Next - Virgina is for... what?!

 

[babieemelly]

At 11:05 we reached Washington, DC. My 7th grade class had gone on a 3-day trip to Washington, DC but I didn't go, and the only other time we were in the area was when we drove through on our way to Williamsburg, VA in 1994. I was really young, though, and don't remember anything, so it was cool getting to see a few things. Needless to say it wasn't much, but we did see a few Capitol buildings and signs for Pennsylvania Avenue. I listened to my MP3 player (and listened to My Chemical Romance, the White Stripes and The Killers) and took in the sites.

Some scenery in Washington, DC

Oreo had an itch, haha

Some more scenery and signs in DC

I love this picture

We went over a drawbridge at the end of DC, and there was some traffic due to a new part of the bridge being built. It was so weird seeing people hanging off the side of a half-built bridge, hammering and sawing away. The traffic wasn't too bad and we were over the bridge within 10 minutes.

The construction on the drawbridge

A Capitol building from the bridge

 

[babieemelly]

We entered Virginia at 10:45 and stopped for gas at a Mobil station at 11:45.

The Virginia welcome sign

A sign for the rest area we stopped at

Getting gas

My sandals

My mom and Oreo back in the car

The gas station

We then went across the street to a KFC, which was located on Devil's Beach Road. I just thought the name of the street was interesting, I know when I think of trying to pull in customers to a tourist-heavy rest stop I think of a road named after the Devil Mike and my dad ran in to go to the bathroom, while my mom walked Oreo and I waited by the car. There were three guys standing around the KFC, just staring at me and smiling They looked like they just stepped right out of Deliverance (yes, the movie) and I was more than glad when my dad and Mike came back out really quickly. My mom and I then went in to use the bathroom, and wow... that KFC was gross! The door to the bathroom was being held open by a garbage can, so I think it was being cleaned, but there was no one around so we closed it and went in anyway. The floor was sticky and it smelled gross, so we were in and out really fast, and back on the road by 12:00.

Dad walking to the KFC from our car

Mom walking Oreo

As soon as we got back on I95 the traffic was HORRENDOUS! We somehow got stuck on the local I95, which has more exits along the beginning of Virginia than the express I95. The traffic was just backed up for miles! We were right next to the express I95, though, which had no traffic at all. A few people who had made the same mistake as us just cut through a patch of grass and dirt and made it right onto the express area, but my dad didn't want to do that I just passed the time by listening to my MP3 player and thinking of where this drive would eventually get us!

The traffic on the local I95

My MP3 player, lol

Some more traffic

 

[babieemelly]

When we first got to Virginia we had only been driving for about 5 hours, and we wondered how it could have taken us 8 hours to get to Williamsburg back in 1994. Whenever we talked about long drives Williamsburg was always what first came to mind. We didn't realize, however, just how big Virginia was. At 2:15 we were still just endlessly driving through the state, with nothing to look at but trees and other cars. It was SO frustrating!! What kept us laughing, though, was all the Ramada Inn signs that were spelled wrong. I can't tell you how many Ramada Inn's there were along I95, and all of them were spelled as "Ramaad" or "Armada" Is it really the best idea to misspell your billboard and hotel sign when you're trying to bring in business? I don't think so... and that should have been a sign for what was in store for us at the Ramada in Florence, but more on that later.

Some scenery in VA

Downtown Richmond

Mike trying to sleep, with his water bottle supporting his neck

Some more scenery in Virginia

At 2:30 we stopped at a McDonald's rest stop in Richmond. We walked Oreo and went to the bathroom. We also decided to get some food to tired us over. My dad and Mike each got a burger, and my mom and I got an order of fries to share. Mike and my dad's burgers came with both ketchup and mustard which was funny, because here in the North you only get burgers with ketchup. A few months before we left, though, we were listening to Z100's morning show (the Z Morning Zoo) and Elvis, the head DJ, talked about rest stops on I95 on the way to Florida (he goes down to Disney every year). He said no matter where you go in the South, they put both ketchup AND mustard on burgers in restaurants, and I thought it was funny to find that he was right! We were back on the road at 2:40.

The McDonald's rest stop

Right as we got back on I95 we saw a sign that made us all laugh...

Miami!

As soon as we saw that my dad screamed, "Yea!" really loud and we all cracked up We were on our way... although we still had a LONG way to go! There was absolutely nothing to look at towards the end of Virginia, besides trees, trees, and more trees. As one point we saw a bunch of trucks on their way to cut and collect trees, but that was about it. Finally (FINALLY!) at 3:00 we left Virginia. It took us 4 hours and 45 minutes to drive through Virginia, and it was the plainest state yet. Mike and I kept joking that "Virginia isn't for lovers... Virginia's for people who have a crapload of patience!" Don't get me wrong, I love Virginia. We've been on vacation to different parts of the state many times, but it's just so damn big and takes FOREVER to drive through! Needless to say it was nice to finally get out of Virginia, and even Oreo celebrated by stretching out and somehow getting both of her paws through one part of her harness

One of the trucks going to cut trees

Coming Up Next - The hotel doesn't look how it did in the picture...

 

[Foladar]

Thanks for the report, can't wait to see more!

 

[scammermom]

Yes, nice narrative.

BTW, the Air Force tower you took a picture of is Andrews Air Force Base.

And interesting to know that up North, you only get ketchup on McDs burgers.

 

[wicket2005]

How long did the journey take you in the end? It is interesting to see another journey to Orlando. Being in England, obviously, we can only fly there which takes 9 hours.

I have enjoyed your report so far, looking forward to the next one. Oreo is so cute.

 

[Joan S.]

Hi ,LOVE your Trip Report! We have driven down from RI -MANY times so all your pics are SO familiar! Most times EVERYBODY says we are CRAZY for driving! But I actually enjoy the ride to WDW and all the HIGHWAY scenery and the stops. It is the RIDE HOME that is not so FUN!! Keep up the GREAT report! Joan

 

[peigirl]

Great trip report. I see that the next part is posted on the regular Trip Report Board, incase you are interested.

Paula

 

[babieemelly]

Hey! Sorry that I neglected the trip report I wasposting here. I took forever to post it more than once so it will all just be on the regular trip reports board. There's a TON of Universal info and pictures so check it out!