The Twelve Days of Swinter: From Castaway 'Key' to a Partridge in a Palm Tree!

[Woth2982]

All Subscribed in now! Cannot wait to hear about the trip! I had to cancel my trip AGAIN! Doctor had to bump my knee surgery to February (I swear I am just gonna cut my leg off). I will need to live vicariously through you (or finish my TR from a year ago)! TR is off to a great start!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I am pretty sure that we will be going there as long as it is not sold out when I am allowed to book. Ellie is dying to do a dolphin swim but I think I am going to stick to the encounter this trip. I'll be doing lots of research over Christmas break!

I don't think you'll have a problem getting it. I didn't.

I wanted to do the swim too, but I was reading that it is in 30 feet of water and I thought it would freak DD out once she got there. She said she wanted to do it, but I know how she is and I knew she would bail on me at the last minute. And considering what that swim costs, I would have been VERY upset if she had done that. Plus that would have made one of us have to sit out with her too, so I would have paid for 2 that we didn't use. So I played it safe and I'm glad I did. That was her first time IN the water with an animal like that and he was pretty intimidating just because of his size. She loved doing it, but I could tell there was a pinch of fear in her too. I'm hoping next time we can do the swim now that she has seen how much fun the encounter was. Oh, and we went snorkeling the next day at CC and she was fine in the shallow water, but when we got way out to where it was about 30 feet deep, she freaked out. So I am sure I made the right call on the dolphin encounter.

I tell you alllllll of that just to give you something to think about for your kids. You know them and know how they will react to things though so just take my counsel for what it's worth.... not much!

I'm here! Can't wait to read all about your tropical/Swinter adventures!

Welcome! So glad to have you join in!

All Subscribed in now! Cannot wait to hear about the trip! I had to cancel my trip AGAIN! Doctor had to bump my knee surgery to February (I swear I am just gonna cut my leg off). I will need to live vicariously through you (or finish my TR from a year ago)! TR is off to a great start!

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear that. I know that is so disappointing. Well, I hope I can bring a little cheer to your winter through this TR.

 

[3sweetpeas]

I too came over from MeMom's TR. I really like your writing style. You're good at this! Can't wait to hear about the cruise. I'm very curious

 

[uncw89]

I'm here! Can't wait to hear about your cruise/trip! That's cool you got to experience the 3 seasons!

What a cute dress!

Jill and I very much want to experience Castaway Cay (Keeeeeeeeee), but we don't want to have to take a cruise to do it. We will probably take the cruise plunge eventually, though, for the shortest trip available. That's three nights - is that right?

I am looking very forward to your pictures. Chillin' in the water in a lounge chair - that looks heavenly!

I was going to ask why you don't want to take a cruise, but Rinky was talking about your claustrophobia...... just get a verandah....yeah, that's it! I think you all would like a cruise though, they are lots fun!

 

[kmrein]

Yay! I loved your old report and I can't wait to read about this trip.

 

[MeMom]

. Someone who loves all things Disney as much as you do really needs to go. You know I'm claustrophobic too and was worried about that. And I won't lie, I had my moments, but it really helped me to know that all I had to do was go up to one of the open decks if I needed some fresh air. I think you could do it with a veranda room. I really do!

I was going to ask why you don't want to take a cruise, but Rinky was talking about your claustrophobia...... just get a verandah....yeah, that's it! I think you all would like a cruise though, they are lots fun!

I think the day will come when we give in and do a short cruise. I know we would enjoy having a brand new Disney experience, and Jill and I have tlked about how much we would love to see Castaway Cay. I will have to save enough money to have a veranda, for sure.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I too came over from MeMom's TR. I really like your writing style. You're good at this! Can't wait to hear about the cruise. I'm very curious

Aw, thank you. That's very sweet of you to say. I hope you still feel that way at the end of the TR.

I've got tons and tons of cruise pics, so hopefully that will satisfy your curiosity.

I'm here! Can't wait to hear about your cruise/trip! That's cool you got to experience the 3 seasons!

I was going to ask why you don't want to take a cruise, but Rinky was talking about your claustrophobia...... just get a verandah....yeah, that's it! I think you all would like a cruise though, they are lots fun!

So glad you are joining in!

I think Memom should give it a try too. If she can ride Star Tours and ToT, then the cruise should be a piece of cake.

Yay! I loved your old report and I can't wait to read about this trip.

Thank you! I'm so glad you came back for round 2.

I think the day will come when we give in and do a short cruise. I know we would enjoy having a brand new Disney experience, and Jill and I have tlked about how much we would love to see Castaway Cay. I will have to save enough money to have a veranda, for sure.

I know you will break down eventually. You know you cannot resist the persuasive calling of the Mouse! And you guys could get connecting rooms which would make them seem bigger. CC is absolutely worth it. Blue Lagoon isn't too shabby either!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

On the first day of Swinter my vacation gave to me... a long, boring drive with nothing at all to see!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Doesn't that title just have you salivating at the thought of reading this?

Oh well, I'll do the best I can with what I have!

I guess this story really begins the night before when DD marked the last day off the countdown calendar. That always brings shouts of joy in our house!

(She had just gotten out of the tub, thus the crazy hair.)

Believe it or not, we all actually slept pretty good that night. We usually have the "I'm too excited to sleep!" syndrome, but not so much this time around. There was something that was raining on our parade, quite literally, and had us in a bit of a funk.

I had been watching the weather channel intently for the last several days because there was a storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. It was just off the coast of Honduras at the time and the forecasters really were not sure where it was headed.

Most of the computer models were predicting that it would hit central to southern Florida on Sunday or Monday, which was the exact time that we would be ending our cruise and arriving at Disney World. The forecast also called for rough seas in the Gulf and the Caribbean. Neither part of that news was what I wanted to hear.

I kept watching the weather updates on the news and online and day-by-day the forecast just kept getting worse. Eventually the tropical storm became Hurricane Rina and was a Category 3. Not exactly sailing weather.

I remember lying in bed that night before we left with Titanic like visions of the ship capsizing and people scrambling in the choppy water to find a dingy. Such lovely thoughts just before your first cruise, huh? After a few minutes of that, I decided to count sheep because at least if I could get to sleep, I wouldn't be dwelling on our demise. I think I tallied about 10 sheep before I was down for the count.

We all woke up especially early the next morning. Who can sleep late when you have vacation knocking at the door! DD was beside herself with excitement. She was not thrilled about having to go to school that day though, but I wanted her to be there that morning for her lessons since she was missing several days of school for the trip. DH told her on the way to school that morning to make sure she wasn't daydreaming about Disney during class and to pay attention. Her response... "Yeah right, like that's gonna happen!"

While DD was in school, we loaded the car, took care of our fur babies, and grabbed some lunch. When we arrived at school to check her out, she was grinning from ear to ear. It was priceless!

Here's a short video of us picking her up. Do you think she was just a little bit excited? (Click on the picture.)



We had a happy meal waiting for her in the car, which she thought was awesome! She doesn't get fast food too often, so this was her first sign that vacation had truly begun!

We meandered our way through the back country roads until we reached I-95. We honestly had been on the highway for about 10 minutes when DD asked, "How much longer until we get there?"

SERIOUSLY?!

This is going to be a looonnnggg ride!

By 2:00 we had finally made it into South Carolina and we were greeted with this sight.

As a North Carolinian, I can say that we are very proud of the fact that this place is SOUTH of the border! Yes, it's gaudy and tacky, hideous even, but it's a famous landmark for sure. If you've never stopped in here though, let me save you some time... unless you're in the market for fake dog vomit or rubber chickens, then you'll probably want to just keep on truckin'.

Three more hours passed and we said goodbye to the Palmetto State. (You can count the bug splatters on the windshield as a TR bonus. )

These palm trees were a welcomed sight and caused a few 'woot woot's to come bellowing from the backseat!

It wasn't too much longer before we were hearing a rumbling in our tummies, so we stopped in Savannah, GA at our favorite highway diner.

We can always count on getting a good, inexpensive meal here no matter where we are traveling.

DD wanted her picture taken in this rocking chair to commemorate our visit to Georgia.

So after the purchase of a bag of Maple Nut Goodies for the road, we were moving along again. Things timed out perfectly for us to see a beautiful sunset over the marshes of the low country.

I might have been doing a little daydreaming around that time about seeing the sunrise over the ocean in the coming days.

It was about this time that my phone rang. I was expecting it to be my mom calling with an update on the hurricane, but it wasn't her. It was a very special mouse calling for DD! I had totally forgotten that I had set this up. I don't know if you can tell from the video since it was dark, but DD's mouth is gaped wide open the whole time... something like this . She could not figure out how Mickey called us!

(Click on the picture.)


Then finally, we saw the blurry sign we had been waiting for! Welcome to the sunshine state! Boy, I sure was hoping it would live up to its name.

Continued in next post

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Before we knew it, we were in Jacksonville, which is where we were spending the night. It was actually a pretty cool looking city.

Our hotel was easy to find. We were staying at the Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites. I chose this place because we could stay here free on Hilton points that my DH had accumulated through his work travels. It was a really nice place.

Lovin' those palm trees!

The lobby was very inviting, with some nice fireplaces.

I booked a suite because it was the same number of points as a regular room. It was very roomy. I'm somewhat claustrophobic, so I am very fond of roomy!

The beds and pillows were heavenly soft!

And look Memom, we even had a ceiling fan! I know you can appreciate that as much as I do.

We had a nice view of the pool and hot tub from our window.

It was too late to get in the pool, although DD tried her best to convince us that we should, but we did go down and soak our legs in the hot tub. It felt so good after being cramped up in the car for so long.

I'm pretty sure she was hoping that she would 'accidently' fall into the pool.

DH spotted this pool table on the way back to the room, so they played a game or two.

We were all really tired, and I knew we had an early start waiting for us in the morning, so we headed up to bed. We watched the weather channel for a few minutes, but not much had changed since we left home that morning. I must say that I had a really sick feeling in the pit of my stomach just thinking about getting on that ship with a hurricane looming, but what could I do.

I got in bed, said my prayers, and added in a few extra ones for good vacation weather. We had waited so long for this trip, and I could hardly stand the thought of it being ruined. I mean come on, it's October 26th for goodness sakes. This should NOT be happening! But alas, no amount of wishing and hoping on my part was going to change the course of the weather.....................................

but it's amazing what that little prayer was able to accomplish!

Up next... On the second day of Swinter my vacation gave to me, a really DREAMy boat and a shoebox that's built to sleep three!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

I think that was a fabulous update!
DD was a very good girl to pay such close attention in school on the first day of a vacation!
I'm not sure I could have held it together like she did!

We are huge fans of Cracker Barrel here in Kansas! Just ate there last weekend.

What a nice hotel you stayed at, your suite looked awesome and you had such a great view of that pool area! I don't blame DD for wanting to get in! I am amazed at how much she has grown in these pics!
So pretty and I have to mention that the bathtub hair picture of her is adorable!

I fretted for you all over the weather. So happy that prayers were answered.
Thanks for the update.
You kept me from working for a little while today!

Oh and is there anyway you can get to Disney over the 4th of July? We are getting quite a group down there....

 

[JoBird]

Hi Rinky! Joining in for the fun. Great start so far- loving all of the pictures and explanations. Looks like it was a wonderful vacation.

We have always had wonderful experiences with Hilton Garden Inns. They just seem to always be so clean and nice.

I can't wait to read about your cruise--- I can't bring myself to go on one again ( I did Carnival 15 yrs ago...) so I have to live vicariously thru others.

Oh and since I'm a Carolina Girl, born and bred--- I will say that "South of the Border" makes me a little . It's not exactly what SC should be known for.

Can't wait for more!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Pretty darn good update for a "boring drive"!!

Your DD is so cute! I love her short hair cut. I enjoyed the videos, so I could hear your southern voices!

I was thinking about you when you were heading down there - worrying and praying right along with you about the weather! BTW - You're welcome. Anytime!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I think that was a fabulous update!
DD was a very good girl to pay such close attention in school on the first day of a vacation!
I'm not sure I could have held it together like she did!

We are huge fans of Cracker Barrel here in Kansas! Just ate there last weekend.

What a nice hotel you stayed at, your suite looked awesome and you had such a great view of that pool area! I don't blame DD for wanting to get in! I am amazed at how much she has grown in these pics!
So pretty and I have to mention that the bathtub hair picture of her is adorable!

I fretted for you all over the weather. So happy that prayers were answered.
Thanks for the update.
You kept me from working for a little while today!

Oh and is there anyway you can get to Disney over the 4th of July? We are getting quite a group down there....

I didn't know they had Cracker Barrels everywhere. I figured it was a regional thing. I know why you love them, you can shop and eat all at the same time!

DD has really grown since my last TR. It doesn't seem like it, but that last trip was 2 years ago, so there is a big difference in her.

That hurricane really knocked the wind out of my sails. I wish it had been different because I couldn't get as excited as I normally would, but I'm just thankful that everything worked out ok.

Alright now, don't get yourself in trouble at work b/c you're reading this TR.

I'd love to be a part of the big DIS family vacation, but July 4th is not an option for us. I don't know how you ladies stand the heat at that time of year. You all are tougher than I am. If you guys every get together in the fall or winter though, I want to know about it!

Hi Rinky! Joining in for the fun. Great start so far- loving all of the pictures and explanations. Looks like it was a wonderful vacation.

We have always had wonderful experiences with Hilton Garden Inns. They just seem to always be so clean and nice.

I can't wait to read about your cruise--- I can't bring myself to go on one again ( I did Carnival 15 yrs ago...) so I have to live vicariously thru others.

Oh and since I'm a Carolina Girl, born and bred--- I will say that "South of the Border" makes me a little . It's not exactly what SC should be known for.

Can't wait for more!

Well hello there! I'm so glad you're joining us ladies over here. My TR won't be as much fun as your PTR, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.

We like the Hilton Garden Inns too. You're right, they are very clean and nice.

I hate that Carnival ruined you on cruises. What exactly was wrong? Was it Carnival specifically or just the whole experience of cruising? I've heard that Carnival is the party cruise line, so maybe that was the problem. I can assure you though that Disney is grade A and first class all the way. Seriously, it was so nice that I felt like a hillbilly most of the time. I wouldn't write off cruising until you give DCL a try.

Now come on Jo, you know you are proud of those South of the Border roots of yours! Hey, if it's any consolation, we have ordinances in NC that prohibit you from putting 'interior living room furniture' on your front porch! So see, we all have skeletons in our southern closets.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Pretty darn good update for a "boring drive"!!

Your DD is so cute! I love her short hair cut. I enjoyed the videos, so I could hear your southern voices!

I was thinking about you when you were heading down there - worrying and praying right along with you about the weather! BTW - You're welcome. Anytime!

I had no idea that my vacation was salvaged because of you Sheree! You rock!

Seriously though, I really do appreciate it. It really was rather miraculous what happened with the weather on this trip. So all jokes aside, thank you very much for the prayers. It made all the difference!

I love DD's hair too. It is soooooo easy and I like easy! There is no drama with brushing her hair in the morning anymore!

Southern voices.... I have no idea what you are talking about.

-------------------------------------

And thank you to everyone else who was praying us through! I'm so thankful for all of my DIS friends! You guys are the best!

While I'm at it..... Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

I wasn't at work I was at home not getting any work done.... just Dising!

I know for for certain that we will be back in the fall and at Christmas! Always at Christmas....unless some unforeseeable circumstance should arise.

 

[momof2TNboys]

Joining in! I am following you over from Memom's report. We are going on a cruise in March and look forward to hearing about your experience. Your daughter is adorable!!

 

[sjs314]

Great start to your trip. I have to say you have a cute accent. Love the room you had at the Hilton. Excited for the next installment.

Happy Thanksgiving Rinky!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I wasn't at work I was at home not getting any work done.... just Dising!

I know for for certain that we will be back in the fall and at Christmas! Always at Christmas....unless some unforeseeable circumstance should arise.

Oh ok. Well that's alright then! I'm guilty of Dising instead of doing housework on a regular basis.

I love Disney at Christmas. That's my favorite time to go. As soon as DD's school calendar comes out for next year, I'll be making plans for a 2012 trip!

Joining in! I am following you over from Memom's report. We are going on a cruise in March and look forward to hearing about your experience. Your daughter is adorable!!

Thank you, and welcome! It seems like everyone is coming from Memom's place. We're glad to have you joining in. Cruise details will be coming up in the next update! I think March would be a great time to go. 'Jenseib' went in March of this year I believe. If you haven't read her report, it's a good one with lots of info and fantastic pictures! There may be someone else here who has cruised in March too but I don't know for sure.

Great start to your trip. I have to say you have a cute accent. Love the room you had at the Hilton. Excited for the next installment.

Happy Thanksgiving Rinky!

Thanks! I hope you have a great holiday!

Well, I am going to take everyone's word for it that I have an accent, but I still claim that I don't hear one at all.

That Hilton was really nice. I would stay there again if we drive, but DH says we're flying next time. We'll see.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

It was ME!! I cruised on the Dream 3 day last March. Feel free to check out my TR in my signature! I'm happy to answer any questions too.

 

[stace208]

Loved the pictures of your drive down! Add in some from your home state and that's my drive!! Since we leave around 3 AM it's usually the sunrise I am seeing though, not the sunset!

Thanks for your tips on the dolphin swim vs. encounter. I value your opinion greatly so keep them coming!

Oh, and I am scheming a Christmas 2012 trip as well. We're out earlier than normal so we could have a trip and some down time too. Just gotta convince "da man" LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving Rinky! I'm thankful that I found my way to your TR!