The Because We Can! Trip Report

[wdwlovin'family]

Welcome to the "Because we Can!" trip report. This report is from our trip in June 2008. When we went last year, I didn't know the DIS exisisted (shock and horror!). In preperation for our Dec. 2009, I came across the boards and am now a DIS addict, like the rest of you, I'm sure.

Anyway, it just didn't feel right starting a pre-trippie without posting a post trip report for last year. So, sit back and bear with me. Some of the photos will be rednecked from my own photo album, because I can't find them on webshots anymore.

I guess I should introduce ourselves.

Me: Suzanne -- I am a 32 yr. old mother of two rambunctious boys and a school bus driver for special needs kids. I absolutely love my job! It has allowed me to be off when my kids are (summers, holidays) and I also have never had to put my kids in daycare because the company I work for allowed me to bring my kids on the bus with me. Little background on me: I grew up in Orlando, FL, and moved up to WI 12 years ago when my husband and I got married. Was that a good decision? I don't know. Let's just say that every January we look to see how we can move back down to FL, but it just hasn't worked out yet. Before I moved to WI, I worked at the Disney/MGM Studios(it's hard to call it Hollywood Studios now) as a hostess. I loved working there, it was a terrific job. Growing up in FL gave me the opportunity go to Disney often. We celebrated many big occasions there, so wdw is filled with a lot of nostalgia for me. Even though we visited many many times, I had never stayed on property until this June 2008 trip. That trip changed the whole Disney dynamic for me and my family and I don't think there is any turning back now.

My dh: Robert is almost 45 and works for an insurance company up here. He wasn't all for the trip in 2008. In fact, I had to plan a lot of it w/o him becasue he just didn't get what the big deal was and hated the thought of spending so much money on *Disney*. Fast forward to this year and planning our December trip -- he has gone out and bought both the unnoficial guide book and Passporters guide book and routinely says to me, "hey do you want to pull our our maps and have a planning session?" He is a Disney lover now for sure. Robert has a diability called TAR syndrome. He was born with very short arms and has some problems with his legs as well. He does basically everything anyone else does, with some modifications. He is a tremendous inspiration and my best friend.

DS Sam (9) and Jacob (5) -- Our boys are fun-loving, rambunctious but sweet kids. This trip was Jacob's first trip to Disney (unless you count us going when he was 7 months old for an afternoon) and Sam's 3rd visit. Of course, like my dh and I, it will be their first time staying on property.

Tagalongs for our trip: My sister Julie and her dh, Dan. They are FL resident AP holders that go to Disney quite often, and always go with us, which is good, because we love them! Our trips wouldn't be the same without them.


Now that you know who we are, lets get started on the trip!

 

[wdwlovin'family]

We begin our trip in the rain. You may recall that last year, Lake Delton in the WI Dells became a lake no more because a dam burst due to major flooding. Well, we don't live in the Dells, but all of WI was dealing with some major flooding. We started out our drive from Appleton to Milwaukee and it was raining slightly, but by the time we were 20 min into it, it was as if the heavens opened up and pur down right on top of us. Our four lane major highway turned into a one lane road with people taking turns to go through the middle on the highest part of the road. Frankly, the highway should have been closed and was for part of the drive, but we still drove in parts with water up to our bumper. We had never been so scared driving in our life! There was one point that both Robert and I started praying out loud for God to please get us through it.

Due to the water and having to take a detour (50 miles out of our way to go 7 miles up the road) our typically 1.5 hour drive lasted 4 hours. Thankfully, we had decided before hand to stay at a Park Sleep Fly hotel so we were staying over night in Milwaukee and had an early flight out the next morning. We had anticipated getting into Milwaukee, having the boys swim in the pool and have a nice evening. By the time we got there though, we were just happy to collapse in bed and go to sleep.

The next morning, we got up, boarded our shuttle to the airport and sat back to let the fun begin! Well, not really. We actually made our first mistake for this trip months ago. We had been given some frequent flyer miles but it was only enough for 2 tickets after we combined some flyer miles from our account into it. After booking the frequent flyer tickets, we told Delta that we would like to by two more tickets like that. No-can-do replied Delta because one leg of one flight was a Midwest Express flight. After looking into it all, we decided that Robert and Sam would fly Delta and Jacob and I would just buy a ticket on AirTran and go seperately. After all was said and done we probably only saved about $150 if we all just flew together on airtran. (because we paid to transfer some miles over to delta)

So, we arrive, check in and go have breakfast. After that we seperated and went on our merry way. Jay and I were arriving about 45 min before the other 2, so it was decided that I would get the rental car and pick them up at baggage claim.

Will we all meet up at the airport? Will we regret flying seperately? Tune into Chapter 2: The tale of two baggage claims!

 

[wdwlovin'family]

We left off with our family seperating into two pairs, one flying Delta and one flying Airtran. Our original plan was for me to get the rental car and then pick up Robert and Sam at baggage claim. Well, that would have worked well if we had of planned for one thing: cell phone battery failure and delayed flights. (I guess that's more like two things, but I digress) I picked up our rental vehicle -- more of a Jeep than a car -- and started circling around baggage claim and could not find them. After wasting way too much gas driving in circles, I ended parking and going to baggage claim to wait for them. Finally, two hours behind schedule, we were reunited and on our way.

OK, for all of you who now think we are on our way to the house of mouse, I am sorry to tell you that you are wrong. Remember, I grew up in FL. All of my family still lives in FL and I cannot visit FL without visiting them. Because 1) that would be just wrong and 2) I love my family. So, rather than turning off the turnpike towards Disney, we would have to wave towards Disney and turn in the opposite direction and head toward Apopka, FL. We were spending the first 4 days of our trip with my sister at her home. Our not-a-car would have preferred to go to the great land of mickey, but I was really excited to see my sister. It had been almost a year since we had seen one another.

Chapter 3: Renunited and it Feels So Good

 

[ehstrojette]

On board... I would love to have a sister in Florida. Mine is in PA

 

[wdwlovin'family]

Yay! I have a reader! Having family in FL does have it's perks! But, I would much rather have her close by all the time. Thank goodness Alltell has My Circle.

 

[wdwlovin'family]

Chapter 3 is going to have a few days wrapped up into because well, there are quite a few reunions in it and I also want to get to the Disney part of the trip faster.

I left you all with our family leaving the airport all together and heading towards my sister's home. The kids were so excited to see Aunt Julie and Uncle Dan as well as their two huge pyrenese dogs, Baron and Katie. We relaxed by the pool for the evening, eating pizza and planning our fun trip to come. The next day, we went visited my grandma and spent a day with the family. My dad and his wife (my mom passed away 4 years ago) were there as well and they took the boys home with them for an evening with the grandparents. Since it was just the 4 of us, we went out to Universal CityWalk for the evening. Can you say jam packed busy? There, I knew you could. It made me really think twice about going there again in the near future, but then we're not really into the whole nightclub scene. We ended up taking the water taxi and touring Universal's resorts. Now, those are some really nice places, let me tell you. (after reading about the golden ticket Universal has, comparing rates and seeing the beautiful resorts, I might reconsider my position on returning to Universal in a few years.)

The next day was Father's Day and we met Dad and Mary at church and then went out to Outback for lunch. Beyond that, not much was done on this day, at least that I can remember. I could make up a story to make it more interesting, but I really want to get to the Disney part.

Monday soon was upon us. On this day, we took the boys to Daytona Beach. Sam had only seen the ocean once before -- he was 3.5 and I was pregnant with Jay. We all had a great time but had to pack up after two hours because one of FL's lovely afternoon thunderstorms rolled in. You know, growing up, my parents rarely took us to Daytona Beach. They always preferred the less crowded Canaveral National Seashore. But, I guess it's the newfound tourist in me, because I really enjoyed Daytona.

On Tuesday, we drove out to St. Cloud to visit with my best friend and her family. The kids spent the afternoon playing on one of those big air pump inflated waterpark things. They were also introduced to the Wii and that's when we realized that it might make a good Christmas present. We had dinner with dad and Mary in the evening and we couldn't get the evening over fast enough. Why? Not because we don't like their company but because tomorrow, WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!

Chapter 4: AKL here we come!