The Trip Report That Almost Wasn't

[firecracker725]

First, allow me to take care of some house (mouse?) keeping.

I started a trip report just after I returned; however, I am suddenly unable to post any replies to that report. So.....I've just linked it HERE


If you read that, you might be wondering, "Why on Earth is this girl back to finish her trip report after such a long absence?" Well, I'm happy you asked. You see, I'm a procrastinator. That is all.

Seriously, I would love to have completed my report, but I have a really cute, curly blonde two-year-old who just demanded all of my summer. I'm a , so I also did a whole lot of nothin' for many, many weeks.

But now...oh now....It's fall, and school has been in session for over seven weeks. I'm beat. I'm tired. I'm in need of some magic. I've been reading trip report after trip report, and while it's been nice to live vicariously through others, I also want to relive the memories of my own trip to The World.

So come along for the ride! It may take a while, you know, between the curly blonde and the eighteen third graders, but I WILL get it done.

Next: 'Twas the Night Before Disney

 

[firecracker725]

It was Monday, and I had only been out of school since Friday. My house was not in order. The laundry wasn't done. I was beginning to think that there was no way on Earth we were going to be ready to go on a 7 day vacation. DH had a conference to attend throughout the weekend, so it was up to me. God forgive me, I did something I don't normally do during the summer: I took DD to daycare. Yes. I. Did. And, I don't regret it. She had fun with her friends, and I was able to finish laundry and packing.

DH had to work most of Monday, so I turned up the music and got down to business. I'm the world's best procrastinator, but I work best under a deadline. By the time bedtime rolled around, I had most everything in order and ready to go into the car.

DD must have known something was up, but she didn't get the whole "we're going to see Mickey" thing. So, I decided to show her the planning packet.

She learned a new word: castle. She said, "sassle".

After DD's bedtime, I was a ironing fool. I made these for us to wear to MK.

They didn't turn out as great as I'd hoped. I do wish I'd used better quality transfers, but they did get us through our MK day.

After the shirts were made and bags were packed, it was time for me and DH to turn in. Would we sleep?

Next: On the Road: Perhaps We Do Need that GPS

 

[firecracker725]

We woke up around 6 a.m. to get everything packed and ready to go. We managed to get most of the car loaded up before waking DD. I do wish I'd had the forethought to take a picture of the car all loaded up. It was truly a sight. We were staying in a value on a budget, so we brought our own coffee maker, fridge, cooler, and electric kettle.

We managed to feed DD in the car with a cereal bar to save time. Part of me hated to do that, but the other part of me decided it was just training her tummy for the ridiculous amount of junk she would be consuming in the coming days.

If you read my PTR, you'd know that I grappled with the decision to add a data plan to my phone or just pay the wifi fee and bring my laptop. I decided on the former, but I still wanted to bring the laptop in case we went off property and came across an internet connection; however, DH convinced me to untether myself for a few days and enjoy the freedom that being laptop-free can bring. Along with the data plan, I added a free trial of AT&T Navigator to my phone. It came in quite handy, as I had no clue how to get to Orlando. We didn't bother to print out directions since we had this fabulous little tool. These would both prove to be decisions we would regret.

So, we beat our goal leaving time by 30 minutes. I was kind of impressed, since we usually are on the opposite side of that. Our trip would take us approximately 8 hours, not including pit stops. We headed out through parts of rural Georgia we didn't know existed. Our route had us going to I75 via highways 441 and 129 to Macon. Apparently this also included areas with little to no cell service. There were some touchy parts here, but we managed to get on I75 with no problem. I also noticed that the Navigator was taking up huge amounts of battery. This was a problem because I didn't have a car charger with me. I hoped that our long ride on I75 would eliminate our need to use the system.

Normally I wouldn't mention a pit stop for lunch here, but I do feel the need to say that the McDonald's in Valdosta, Georgia was the most frigid place I've ever been to in my entire life. It was so cold inside that we decided to eat in the hot sun outside. For late May in Georgia, that says it all.

When we turned off of I75 onto the Florida Turnpike, I turned my phone back on. The battery only had 2 bars, so I switched to Google Maps instead of the Navigator. It had us take some exit that didn't have signs, yet it said we were only 4 miles away from ASMus. We followed with blind faith through Tiger Woods' town of Windemere, and just when we were ready to stop and buy a map, we saw Disney signs. We apparently missed the "big entrance", and I was very disappointed; however all of that melted away the instant I saw signs for DD and realized we had arrived.

Poor DD. We didn't do anything to her hair, so she looked a little rough.

Soon enough, we arrived here.

We checked in easily enough, but our room was located nowhere near my MIL. In fact, we were in Rock 3 and she was in Calypso 1. I made an executive decision and asked to have her moved to our building. I hoped she wouldn't be angry about giving up her preferred location. She had just landed at MCO as we were heading to our room.

Once we found our room, we looked for MIL's room. She was around the corner, but that was much better than being two buildings over. She had called DH by this point and was okay with my decision, but she wanted to be sure her fridge was waiting on her.

Some pictures:

While waiting on MIL to arrive via ME, we trekked down to the pools. DD was so cute walking around amazed by everything. I couldn't help but think that she hadn't seen anything yet, but it was absolutely the reaction I wanted her to have. She loved the big fountain on the walkway between the two pools and was amazed by all the flowers and landscaping.

We headed back our room and unpacked as best we could. What can I say? They don't call them "value resorts" for nothing. I organized well, and tried to make it functional. MIL arrived quickly and confirmed that her fridge had indeed been delivered.

Everyone was present and accounted for. Now all we had to do was have fun!

Next: Our First Taste of Disney: Dinner Downtown

 

[johnsonmatt3]

yay first to post, going back to read now

I read now and you are doing good. Is this your first TR?
We came may 28 and stayed on the same floor as you
but we were in calypso
I plan on planning a dis meet for our next vacation in 2 years.

 

[firecracker725]

yay first to post, going back to read now

I read now and you are doing good. Is this your first TR?
We came may 28 and stayed on the same floor as you
but we were in calypso
I plan on planning a dis meet for our next vacation in 2 years.

Yes, this is my first TR. Is it that obvious?

Cool that we were there at the same time! Wasn't it HOT? I've lived in the south all my life, but those days nearly killed me.

 

[firecracker725]

Man! I'm sure rolling along today with this TR. I guess I should be, considering we've been back so long now.

After MIL arrived and got settled in her room, we decided to head to Downtown Disney for dinner. I really wanted to try Earl of Sandwich, but we were hungry and much closer to Wolfgang Puck Express, so that's where we ended up. DH got the margherita, MIL got the chicken caesar salad w/ tortilla soup, I got the meatball pizza, and DD had the mac & cheese. It was all delicious.

After dinner, we grabbed a map and found the boat to the other side.

We visited Lego Land...

And I'm sure we did other things, but I don't have any pictures of us doing them. I can tell you that was crowded. We were all wiped out from our long trip, and it was getting near to DD's bedtime. So, we headed back to the other side. Luckily there was a boat right there waiting on us. Unluckily, it was going to POFQ. Thank goodness I had the good sense to alert the captain and get off before it left. DH wanted to just stay on, but after the captain said it would have cost us an hour, DH was glad I spoke up, even if it did embarrass us all.

Back at the resort, we'd ordered a pack-and-play for DD. Unfortunately, she decided she was much too cool to sleep in it, so she and I slept in one bed while DH slept in the other. None of us cared much, as we were exhausted and had to be up at the crack of dawn for AK the next morning.

Next: Plans Go Out The Window

 

[johnsonmatt3]

Yes, this is my first TR. Is it that obvious?

Cool that we were there at the same time! Wasn't it HOT? I've lived in the south all my life, but those days nearly killed me.

It wasnt obvious, I just ask that to anyone whom I have never seen a TR from. Honestly, I didnt think it was that hot. I know Im weird, but This whole summer was warm for me but a scorcher for others. IDK. Were you in DHS for star wars?