Sun, Shopping, Sand, Surf, Sweat & Shamu: A Splashin Summertime Sabbatical at SVR!

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Have a good night! Glad you got all in order.

I too like to sleep in on the week-ends. On Sunday, DH is helping with the special races for injured soldiers. He wants me to set the alarm for 4 am. Ok, that will be a good trial run for our 4:30am start on our travel day.

Give that fur ball a hug for me, and maybe we can meet up next week.

Oh, and guess what DD got as a thank you for her work at camp? Wawa gift card. Thanks to you, we know where she can use it on vacation.

Thanks Lynne . In case I don't get the chance to say so before you depart, safe travels to you and your family!! I hope you have an incredible trip, and I can't wait to hear about your MNSSHP experience!!! (still super jealous about that, I might add )

Once we get there and have a better idea of your schedule, I will PM you if we have a few different choices for opportunities for Dismeet. That would be beyond awesome!

Have a fantastic trip Gina!!!! Safe travels for you and your family!

We are just heading out now, it's 5:15 am to the Rochester airport!

Woohoo!!!!!!!

Have an fantastic vacation, my friend! Have a safe journey, and check in here from time to time if you can!



Cleaning, laundry, lunch, then we're off to the 'Cuse!

 

[tristyp]

Have a fantastic trip Gina!!!! Safe travels for you and your family!

We are just heading out now, it's 5:15 am to the Rochester airport!

Woohoo!!!!!!!

I hope you guys have a wonderful time!!

 

[tristyp]

I hope you and your family and extended family(sweetie) have an absolutely wonderful time. Two weeks in the sun and fun....boy that sounds nice.

Safe travels and I will look forward to hearing all about your adventures on your return.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I hope you and your family and extended family(sweetie) have an absolutely wonderful time. Two weeks in the sun and fun....boy that sounds nice.

Safe travels and I will look forward to hearing all about your adventures on your return.

Thanks tristyp!

We left home today just before the noon hour, stopped for lunch in Odessa, and FINALLY made it to our park and fly hotel just before 5. First, there was a motorcycle accident just before Kingston. The border was backed up so the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority was holding traffic back at the Rockport bridge, which delayed us another 20 minutes to half hour. We had a 1/2 hour wait at the border, then multiple construction/paving delays between Watertown and Syracuse. Definitely a longer trip than we expected, but we had time at our disposal so it was no big deal in the end (had we had a plane to catch this afternoon or evening...I probably would have panicked!).

We spent a few hours tonight enjoying the Carousel Mall. Had a late dinner there at TGI Fridays (it was awful, BTW.....a real disappointment) after deciding against Dinosaur Barbecue as the weather was poor (its been raining, raining, raining and we knew we ran the risk on the super-busy Saturday nights of not being able to get a table indoors....had the rain held off, we could have eaten in their outdoor "Boneyard").

Now, we're all back at the hotel, the kids are showered, and we're tucking in early in preparation for our 4:15 wake up call .

Barring any delays, we expect to be on the ground by 10 am tomorrow .

Hope you all are enjoying a marvelous weekend!

 

[pigletto]

Thanks tristyp!

We left home today just before the noon hour, stopped for lunch in Odessa, and FINALLY made it to our park and fly hotel just before 5. First, there was a motorcycle accident just before Kingston. The border was backed up so the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority was holding traffic back at the Rockport bridge, which delayed us another 20 minutes to half hour. We had a 1/2 hour wait at the border, then multiple construction/paving delays between Watertown and Syracuse. Definitely a longer trip than we expected, but we had time at our disposal so it was no big deal in the end (had we had a plane to catch this afternoon or evening...I probably would have panicked!).

We spent a few hours tonight enjoying the Carousel Mall. Had a late dinner there at TGI Fridays (it was awful, BTW.....a real disappointment) after deciding against Dinosaur Barbecue as the weather was poor (its been raining, raining, raining and we knew we ran the risk on the super-busy Saturday nights of not being able to get a table indoors....had the rain held off, we could have eaten in their outdoor "Boneyard").

Now, we're all back at the hotel, the kids are showered, and we're tucking in early in preparation for our 4:15 wake up call .

Barring any delays, we expect to be on the ground by 10 am tomorrow .

Hope you all are enjoying a marvelous weekend!

And there is the beauty of having that extra day to get there at your leisure! We are going to book park and fly at the Days hotel in Buffalo for the Thursday night, because we leave at 6am on Friday morning. Not only does that give us an extra evening to get there on time, it's always fun to be at the airport hotel and know that vacation time is on it's way!! Today is your day!!
You worked hard and planned, now relax and have fun! Wishing you safe and smooth travels and a wonderful check in at SVR my friend!

 

[greenclan67]

Enjoy Gina!! At least 2 weeks of summer weather. Just like our 10 days in Virginia. Maybe bring some back with you. I can't afford to be running my furnace in August and go on vacays. A late summer is better then NO summer.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

And there is the beauty of having that extra day to get there at your leisure! We are going to book park and fly at the Days hotel in Buffalo for the Thursday night, because we leave at 6am on Friday morning. Not only does that give us an extra evening to get there on time, it's always fun to be at the airport hotel and know that vacation time is on it's way!! Today is your day!!
You worked hard and planned, now relax and have fun! Wishing you safe and smooth travels and a wonderful check in at SVR my friend!

Enjoy Gina!! At least 2 weeks of summer weather. Just like our 10 days in Virginia. Maybe bring some back with you. I can't afford to be running my furnace in August and go on vacays. A late summer is better then NO summer.

Thanks ladies .

We're at the airport, getting ready to watch the sun rise. The plane is already here, so we're just waiting until boarding opens. We were the sole shuttle riders at 5:30 am, which was nice at such an early hour. Walked right up to baggage check (no line) and was through security in less than 15 minutes start to finish.

Tim Hortons hadn't opened for the day when we had to leave so no good coffee for us today. The kids were delighted to find a new Dunkin Donuts here at the Syracuse Airport so they've gone in search of some frappy-cappuccino-something-or-other to tide them over until we reach Orlando.

Gravol time in about 30 minutes .

 

[Princess Leia]

Hope everything goes smoothly and no delays. How long is the flight? Just think soon you'll be in sunny Orlando.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

So you might have landed now? So looking forward to your trip report.

Woohoo Gina it is actually here

 

[Lynne G]

Sorry to hear of the delays in road travel. Has been raining here too.

Glad to hear you are on your way by air. Hope Alamo has no issues. We will have to let you know how our experience goes.

Enjoy the sun for us. Mr. Sun has yet to escape the clouds here.


Yes, PM us later in the week and I would be happy to say a friendly hello I person.

 

[Ang1e]

Have a safe trip Gina

Hopefully I'll catch up with you two weeks today

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hope everything goes smoothly and no delays. How long is the flight? Just think soon you'll be in sunny Orlando.

The flight is 2.5 hours.....not long at all. Just enough time for a little snooze and a couple of episodes of Love It or List It .

So you might have landed now? So looking forward to your trip report.

Woohoo Gina it is actually here

Yep, we landed at 9:40 this morning.....24 minutes ahead of our 10:04 scheduled arrival!

Sorry to hear of the delays in road travel. Has been raining here too.

Glad to hear you are on your way by air. Hope Alamo has no issues. We will have to let you know how our experience goes.

Enjoy the sun for us. Mr. Sun has yet to escape the clouds here.

Yes, PM us later in the week and I would be happy to say a friendly hello I person.

The Alamo line was RIDICULOUS. Crazy silly long. We would have been at least an hour in the line to get the van if we didn't seize the opportunity for "Carlos", one of the Alamo reps who was trying desperately to alleviate the ever-increasing line-up of weary travellers, to assist us with a kiosk check-in. It was simple and fast and we were on our way in 10 minutes or less. Definitely recommend the kiosk!

Have a safe trip Gina

Hopefully I'll catch up with you two weeks today

Woohoo!!! Your time is coming so quick, it will be here before you know it!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We are here an all checked in .

Weather is GRAND.....hot, sunny, gorgeous! Not even any rain today, just a few clouds and a couple of claps of thunder then the sun came out to stay.

We were able to check in early (12:30!!) via Diamond Lane, and were assigned a beautiful top-floor villa in Fountains I with a vaulted ceiling and skylight. Love, love, love the decor of the Fountains villas (even more than the Spas....and we thought THEY were nice!....but this is just more our taste).

The flight was excellent, very smooth and no one was sick. Sweetie was pretty nervous about flying for the first time, but she had no issues and enjoyed the journey. She has been absolutely wide-eyed all day, and was so excited to see a real live palm tree I thought she'd faint. Its fun seeing Orlando again through a newbie's eyes.

We enjoyed lunch and ice cream at Friendlys (an arrival day tradition), dinner at Cici's, and have done some shopping and exploring the resort in between. We're off to the pool for the evening and will probably be rather early to bed, as our 4:15 am wake-up this morning is starting to catch up with us .

Oh.....and my swimsuits fit awesome! Well, they did before I've eaten all our fave's this afternoon and evening .

So good to be "home"!

 

[The Fab Four]

We are here an all checked in .

Weather is GRAND.....hot, sunny, gorgeous! Not even any rain today, just a few clouds and a couple of claps of thunder then the sun came out to stay.

We were able to check in early (12:30!!) via Diamond Lane, and were assigned a beautiful top-floor villa in Fountains I with a vaulted ceiling and skylight. Love, love, love the decor of the Fountains villas (even more than the Spas....and we thought THEY were nice!....but this is just more our taste).

The flight was excellent, very smooth and no one was sick. Sweetie was pretty nervous about flying for the first time, but she had no issues and enjoyed the journey. She has been absolutely wide-eyed all day, and was so excited to see a real live palm tree I thought she'd faint. Its fun seeing Orlando again through a newbie's eyes.

We enjoyed lunch and ice cream at Friendlys (an arrival day tradition), dinner at Cici's, and have done some shopping and exploring the resort in between. We're off to the pool for the evening and will probably be rather early to bed, as our 4:15 am wake-up this morning is starting to catch up with us .

Oh.....and my swimsuits fit awesome! Well, they did before I've eaten all our fave's this afternoon and evening .

So good to be "home"!

Glad to hear you arrived in sunny Florida and are all checked in and ready to relax, I've been following your posts since early May, I can't believe it is finally here and ours starts in 4 days. We used Diamond Lane also and are hoping we are able to check in early. We are looking forward to hearing some of your daily reports. ENJOY

 

[Inhislove]

So happy to hear of an uneventful flight and date arrival. And yeah for getting the room you want!

We cannot wait to check in at Grande Vista on Thursday. My baby boy's first hair cut is Friday at 2pm at the Magic Kingdom barber shop on Main Street

Enjoy your vacation and please post a link to your TRIP report whenever it begins.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Can't wait to see photos of your apartment, it sounds gorgeous glad you had a good start and managed to get through the Alamo queue. We are express members of Dollar so go straight to the garage which is fab

 

[tristyp]

Can't wait to see photos of your apartment, it sounds gorgeous glad you had a good start and managed to get through the Alamo queue. We are express members of Dollar so go straight to the garage which is fab

We are currently in the process of adding a day or 2 to the beginning of our trip and i am currently booked with Enterprise. Dollar will now be the cheapest for me so i was wondering what they are like to deal with. Is 2nd driver free? Thanks

 

[tristyp]

I am glad all is going well with you so far Gina. I am so jealous. How are you finding the heat? That is what i am most nervous about when we go is how bad the heat will be.

 

[Princess Leia]

Welcome to Cici's! Even when we have Disney dining we still like to fit in a trip to Cici's. Warm weather - I could do with some of that just now. Enjoy!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Can't wait to see photos of your apartment, it sounds gorgeous glad you had a good start and managed to get through the Alamo queue. We are express members of Dollar so go straight to the garage which is fab

I have taken tons of pics, but so far only uploaded one (check out the SVR thread for a photo of our living/dining room). The rest will come as part of my official trip report .

I am glad all is going well with you so far Gina. I am so jealous. How are you finding the heat? That is what i am most nervous about when we go is how bad the heat will be.

We've been handling the heat well so far, but we have lots of pool/waterpark time in our vacations. I tip my hat to those that can do the Disney parks day in, day out in this heat . I know we couldn't manage that. Even tonight, it was 91 degrees when we returned to the villa at 9:45 pm from dinner!!!

Welcome to Cici's! Even when we have Disney dining we still like to fit in a trip to Cici's. Warm weather - I could do with some of that just now. Enjoy!

Cici's was absolutely delish . My poor waistline!