The No-Wimps Allowed Trip report Pt. 1

[MOmousefan]

The cast:
Me - 55 yo DAD
DD - 24 yo recent dental school graduate. Getting married in October
DD - 20 yo College Jr. 20
Travel Mode: Toyota Avalon
Resort: Pop Century

We hadn't been to WDW in 10 years, so the girls put the pressure on old dad who "relunctantly" agrees we need a shot of Disney World. We have gone twice before and my wife hates WDW. I know, I know, that is heresy, but we secretly grin as now we can do as we please; Stay out late, elbows on the table, greasy food. My 18 yo son just graduated from high school and started a new job, so no vacation time. Anyhew, three people = more room, less cost, less sharing. We have never stayed on-site, so it's the Pop Century for us and 5 day park hoppers.
We live in central Missouri and the girls and I decide to drive straight through. We leave at 3:00 PM on Saturday and arrive in Orlando at 10:00 AM EST very tired. The girls spelled me for to two hour naps and it really helped. We want to go to the Beltz outlet mall and can see it as we exit the turnpike. As we make a sweeping curve off the turnpike the mall dissappears and I end up at Universal before I get straightened out. Perhaps it is because of sleep depravation.We finally get to the mall and buy several bags of goodies. We can't check in until 3:00, so we hang out at Downtown Disney, which is hot and crowded. I ask around about name badges and all I get are blank stares. This lasts most of the week. Finally on Thursday we find them in the MK and the interaction with castmembers make me wish we found them earlier.
We proceed to check in and while there were 40+ people ahead of us, all desks were open and we are helped by a young lady who was training for the HongKong Disney and was excited to be going home the next day. My observation of POP is in the Resort discussion. Suffice it to say, we loved the resort.
The girls went for a swim while I napped. We went to eat at Joe's Crab Shack in Kissimmee, enjoyed it, and came back to take night shots of the resort. We took 200+ pics a day. We called home and told Mom and Son how much we missed them. They couldn't see our big grins.
Observations: The long tiring drive was worth the extra time in the World. The 70's building is great.
Downers: Road construction

Here are the links to the rest of our trip:
PART 2:
PART 3:
PART 4:
[url="http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=827014']PART LAST:[/url]

 

[pooksma]

Ha! I can just imagine a trip like this with my Dad! can't wait to hear more.

 

[Hopetobee]

Sounds like a good start, waiting to hear the rest.

 

[cyiland]

The cast:
Me - 55 yo DAD
DD - 24 yo recent dental school graduate. Getting married in October
DD - 20 yo College Jr. 20
Travel Mode: Toyota Avalon
Resort: Pop Century

<snip>
We live in central Missouri and the girls and I decide to drive straight through. We leave at 3:00 PM on Saturday and arrive in Orlando at 10:00 AM EST very tired.

I know this is a very late followup, but I just noted your post as I was doing a search, and decided to take a chance that you are still watching the list actively so you can respond.

As an aside, we're also from Central Missouri (Sedalia), with a trip planned for mid-late Feb '06. We'll get out of there just as spring break begins.

I suspect that when I'm 55, our family will look much as yours does now. In fact, the similarities were surprising. I'm 40 yo, wife is slightly younger (I'll stay safe and not give a specific age), with 7.5 yo and 4 yo daughters.
Also have a Toyota Avalon. I can see us mirroring you all in a few years, though I think we're stopping with the 2 girls - no little boys in our future.

Beyond the above paragraph, the similarities between our trips may end, though. Because of work and school, I think we're going to just HAVE to fly. With airfare surely going up due to fuel prices, and the fact that we'll be paying for 5 of us (we're hosting a foreign exchange student this coming spring, and will take her with us), I hate paying the extra $$$. But we'll cope.
We are also traveling with four other family members (sister and bro-in-law), and in Orlando we'll meet up with my other sister and bro-in-law, flying in from Memphis.

We're DVC members, but are staying at the Pop Century for the first night, followed by 3 nights in 2 2-bedroom units at the Beach Club Villas, and finally 3 nights in a Boardwalk Grand Villa (never stayed in a grand villa before, excited to try it out...).

Your comment about making the trip in 19 hours suprised me. I assumed it would take considerably more than that - but had never looked at MapQuest to check. So we may have to reconsider flying. I suspect that airfare will be in the upper-$200's to lower-$300's - if I'm lucky. Though I hate to think of the drive, it seems that we could save a chunk by driving. I can say that I HATE driving on vacation, but budget-wise, it's definitely worth considering a mini-van trip.

Anyway, what route did you take, and would you go the same way again? Other than frequent 6-hr trips to Iowa to visit family, we're not really a "car vacation" family, so I'm .... leery of this... at best. Any "Monday morning quarterback" type comments on your car trip (or any other part of the vacation that you think is applicable) would be appreciated.

 

[auntie k]

explain a little more about the name badges....I don't want to miss out on something!!

Great report - what an awesome trip for Dad and daughters only - that is so cool!