Trip of New Phases, Friends & 40! Updated 8/31 - As If Goodbye Wasn't Enough! The End

[pipermae]

Just jumping on!

 

[Flossbolna]

Great start!! But what a long long drive!! I think all in all if your drive is longer than our flight...

What a nuicance about the Sonic. When we were on holiday in New England last fall we used the GPS a lot to find restaurants. I used it to locate my first ever Cracker Barrell. Had read about this chain so often here on the DIS that I really had to eat there for!

 

[tinkerbells mum]

I'm joining in too sounds like you had a wonderful trip can't wait to hear more xx

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

I'm glad you're on your way...(I love that you looked for bed bugs...I would have so done that...)

I'm hoping you make your ADR...

 

[TyRy]

Yay!! Your trip has started! Never have eaten at Sonic - kept waiting for one to come to our area but closest one is 18 miles away and not on the way to anywhere (unless I head south on the interstate which I never do except to drive to work and it's still 5 miles away from work so I never think of driving further south when all I want to do is drive home!)

Hope you make your ADR!!

The chicken strip basket is really yummy and DH LOVES the different drinks you can get. We do now have one in the area, but it's still 20 miles or so from us.

Just jumping on!

Hi pipermar - Thanks for jumping in.

Great start!! But what a long long drive!! I think all in all if your drive is longer than our flight...

How long is your flight? Our drive was probably longer...I know for sure it had to be longer on the way back

What a nuicance about the Sonic. When we were on holiday in New England last fall we used the GPS a lot to find restaurants. I used it to locate my first ever Cracker Barrell. Had read about this chain so often here on the DIS that I really had to eat there for!

I LOVE Cracker Barrell and thanks to a miscommunication between DH and I, we never stopped at one on this trip.

I'm joining in too sounds like you had a wonderful trip can't wait to hear more xx

to the craziness tinkerbells mum. It was overall a very nice trip...busy but nice.

I'm glad you're on your way...(I love that you looked for bed bugs...I would have so done that...)

I'm hoping you make your ADR...

DH had no clue what I was doing...he thought we'd just Lysol everything down so I wouldn't get any nasty germs (glad that worked! ).

 

[TyRy]

Hi all - thought you might like to see the detour that has had me going crazy the past couple of weeks, but even more so last week. My little sister got married last Friday and I was her Matron of Honor. It should have been easy as she basically did everything I did...including using the same church and reception place. Somehow it just wasn't as easy as mine!

So once we got back from Disney, things really ramped up from this. Here's just a few pics of the day:

Rehearsal at the church - blurry picture. It's the church we grew up in and my dad still attends

Rehearsal Dinner - the whole TyRy clan: Parents, sisters and niece & nephew

My niece and nephew - they live in Las Vegas and we always try to get a picture of the three of us. It's a nice thing to have from all the years.

At the bar after dinner for "just one" before going home, it's DH and my sis:

Part of the grooms party...he had seven on his side and my DSis had 8

TyRy family photo after wedding at the church

Limo Bus on way to reception

The ONLY picture of DH and I so far...hoping the photographer she hired got a few. We completely forgot to take a picture with each other we were so busy taking pictures of other people!

Picture of me and my DDad...hopefully he'll be going down to WDW next October.

A shot of the head table and cake

Since we are Disser's here's a picture of dinner and dessert

DFIL did come to the wedding with my DSIL and her hubby. DMIL had so been looking forward to this wedding. But my sister added a nice touch and made a donation to the ACS in DMIL's name instead of little gifts for the guests. She then had cards on the table that stated that information. I think DFIL was really touched. Here he's chatting with a friend....

My DMom and DSis on the dance floor

Back in her room after the wedding for "just one more"

And finally the day after

We laughed as she walked around with her veil the day after, and thought if people thought she was getting married that day, that someone did a horrible job on her makeup and hair.

Thanks for indulging me...now I can get back to the business of our Disney adventure!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Loved your photos of the wedding...(feel free to write up as much of that kind of stuff as you want-I love seeing people celebrating happy events...it's like reality tv-but much kinder and more joyous...

that photo is fabulous of you and dh-you both look great...

I love that you were in your Dis photo mode and took the food pictures.....btw looks yummy...

carry on...

 

[tinkerbells mum]

aww lovely wedding photos xx

 

[Leitadala]

You and your husband look so gorgeous at the wedding! I can't wait to read your trip report, I'm finishing unpacking and putting away laundry now that my trip is done and I'm starting to fall into the post-Disney lull... the kind that makes me really want a DVC for some guaranteed Disney future vacations (so your TR should be just what I need for more convincing, I figure, lol)!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Beautiful wedding pictures!!! Looks like it was a great time!! Weddings are so busy, but always hold such wonderful memories.

The hotel you stayed at looks like the one that we did for my cousin's wedding last November in Illinois. I want to say the hotel was in Schaumburg...couldn't be the same one, could it???

 

[TyRy]

Loved your photos of the wedding...(feel free to write up as much of that kind of stuff as you want-I love seeing people celebrating happy events...it's like reality tv-but much kinder and more joyous...

that photo is fabulous of you and dh-you both look great...

I love that you were in your Dis photo mode and took the food pictures.....btw looks yummy...

carry on...

I may distract you later in the tripppie if we get the "professional" pictures back. Still hoping for one or two of me and DH!

The food was really good, and HUGE portions.

aww lovely wedding photos xx

Thank you! It was a very nice day overall.

You and your husband look so gorgeous at the wedding! I can't wait to read your trip report, I'm finishing unpacking and putting away laundry now that my trip is done and I'm starting to fall into the post-Disney lull... the kind that makes me really want a DVC for some guaranteed Disney future vacations (so your TR should be just what I need for more convincing, I figure, lol)!

That's exactly how I used to feel, then DH gave in and let us buy DVC. While we may not be getting all the deals that are out there right now, it's always nice not to have a large hotel bill at the end of a week!

Beautiful wedding pictures!!! Looks like it was a great time!! Weddings are so busy, but always hold such wonderful memories.

The hotel you stayed at looks like the one that we did for my cousin's wedding last November in Illinois. I want to say the hotel was in Schaumburg...couldn't be the same one, could it???

Thanks Brook. It was a crazy time since I somehow ended up as the planner for her whole wedding. The hotel is actually in Schiller Park, just across the street from O'Hare. DH and I chose it for ours because our family and friends were spread all over Chicagoland. It was a great central location.

More trippie coming soon.....

 

[TyRy]

Alarm went off about 5:45 (see I did let DH sleep in!) and it was time to get going again. We got downstairs and DH spotted breakfast.

I’m glad he could eat – was way too early for me.

They even had make your own waffles, but I wasn’t really hungry and I really wanted to get back on the road. We then managed to forget something in the room, and had, of course, left the keys in the room (dummies!) So while I got a new key and ran back up, DH took a couple more pictures around the lobby.

Pool looked small but decent and overall the Super 8 was an ok place to stay.

The boat’s trunk was large enough for all our stuff and then some.

And I had to get all my toys ready for the trip as well

Since we had decided to take Nebo’s way (75) down instead of through Alabama, we were headed through the mountains. I had read about how a lot of people hated driving through them, but I did anyway.

The mountain part was so short and so not bad I thought maybe we had taken a wrong turn. Maybe it’s because I’m used to driving in Chicago, but I was expecting a whole lot worse. Not too far into the drive I started getting really tired, and DH was tired as well. Uh-oh, that does not bode well for getting to my Chef Mickey’s reservation. DH had an energy drink with him though. And anyone who read my first trippie may remember that I am allergic to caffeine and had my first energy drink on that trip. Well, I was thirsty and said I’d just take a teeny sip. WOW – this one actually tasted good. Which meant I drank way more that a sip, and also meant I was instantly wide awake for the next SEVEN hours.

I had said I was NOT driving through Atlanta as it was supposed to be bad. And this coming from the person that drives into downtown Chicago each day. Somehow I think the need to get to my ADR (and yes, probably the energy drink!) kept me going and we went straight through downtown Atlanta.

It helped that it was around 11:30am and there was no traffic on the road.
DH had his Sonic, so this was his next thing that he really wanted:

I really wanted to try a Chick-Fil-A, so we found one of those first. I have to say I thought they had those mini-chicken sandwiches. Nope, only at lunch. So I ended up with a regular sized one and it was not that great. So now I’ve been there and done that. We then pulled into a Krystal’s for DH and I found my mini-chicken sandwiches there. Tossed out the Chick-Fil-A and ate the Krystal’s instead which was actually yummy.

We filled up at a scary gas station in Georgia right before hitting Florida as people had said

That was something we kept running into, scary gas stations! And I finally got to see all the lovely billboards that advertise adult places all the way into Florida…holy moly I’d never seen so many before! We finally switched drivers about two hours outside Disney as I wanted to be able to video us pulling in. I was still praying we would hit no traffic so I could make that ADR and get a surprise I had planned for DH!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Ooo...I think those make your own waffle machines are so fun...(was it the kind that had the batter in the cup...and you pour it in and it bakes...and then you flip it out......I'm a bit naughty with stuff like that...I'd have made one just for the fun of it...

Runaway Trucks.......now those are signs we don't see around here...

look at you going right through Atlanta...does a sip of caffeine really do that to you......

I need many, many sips to get me going...

 

[heaven2dc]

You are definitely brave to drive over the mountains - they always scare me But it didn't seem so bad after all. Can't wait to see what the surprise for your DH is

 

[brookelizabeth]

Thanks Brook. It was a crazy time since I somehow ended up as the planner for her whole wedding. The hotel is actually in Schiller Park, just across the street from O'Hare. DH and I chose it for ours because our family and friends were spread all over Chicagoland. It was a great central location.

More trippie coming soon.....

Okay-I just realized Schaumburg is not where we were---we were near O'Hare as well, since of the central location, just like you said. I wish I could remember the town name, the hotel looks identical!! It was a Radission I believe, so perhaps it's just the chain look though. It was a nice hotel with a great breakfast the next morning for everyone that booked with the wedding block! Their wedding and reception was in DesPlaines, at a beautiful wedding hall there, I know the hotel wasn't too far away, as they provided a shuttle.

Okay, enough about me wondering if we stayed at the same hotel. LOL!

Glad the energy drink kept you awake to keep trucking through all the driving! But you are allergic?? I hope it doesn't have any negative repercussions.... Love the driving pics, almost makes me want to drive sometime....I think if Joe could drive, we would do it once just to do it and see the various states on the way down!

 

[Leitadala]

Wow, that is some trunk your boat had! The kind I would need for all the luggage I bring lol! Your road trip recap has me thinking about December when DH and I will most likely be driving... what do you and DH do to pass the time? We had a good book on tape last time, but it gets SOOO boring after staring out the window for too many hours!

 

[TyRy]

Ooo...I think those make your own waffle machines are so fun...(was it the kind that had the batter in the cup...and you pour it in and it bakes...and then you flip it out......I'm a bit naughty with stuff like that...I'd have made one just for the fun of it...

I LOVE those machines and waffles of course. DH couldn't believe I wasn't making one. I just was too tired and wanted to get on the road!

Runaway Trucks.......now those are signs we don't see around here...

look at you going right through Atlanta...does a sip of caffeine really do that to you......

I need many, many sips to get me going...

I think Tennesse is the only place I've ever seen those signs, although Chicago probably should have them during rush hour. I don't know why I was freaking about driving downtown Atlanta, since I drive downtown Chicago every day, maybe since I had no idea where I was going?

And yep - just a few sips does that, but I finished the WHOLE can before I knew it or DH could stop me Since I hadn't had caffeine in two years, it really worked well on me.

You are definitely brave to drive over the mountains - they always scare me But it didn't seem so bad after all. Can't wait to see what the surprise for your DH is

I admit I thought they were going to be a lot worse and then they were just done. Maybe in the dark and/or bad weather they might be bad, but it was much easier than driving in rush hour traffic every day.

Okay-I just realized Schaumburg is not where we were---we were near O'Hare as well, since of the central location, just like you said. I wish I could remember the town name, the hotel looks identical!! It was a Radission I believe, so perhaps it's just the chain look though. It was a nice hotel with a great breakfast the next morning for everyone that booked with the wedding block! Their wedding and reception was in DesPlaines, at a beautiful wedding hall there, I know the hotel wasn't too far away, as they provided a shuttle.

Okay, enough about me wondering if we stayed at the same hotel. LOL!

No worries , this one we had to visit the restaurant to eat, no free breakfast here. It was a Four Points Sheraton on the corner of Irving Park and Mannheim Roads.

Glad the energy drink kept you awake to keep trucking through all the driving! But you are allergic?? I hope it doesn't have any negative repercussions.... Love the driving pics, almost makes me want to drive sometime....I think if Joe could drive, we would do it once just to do it and see the various states on the way down!

I am allergic and it does two primary things to me...it can give me a really nasty headache and some tummy problems. I downed two tylenol extra strength as I took the first sip, trying to prevent or even lessen the headache. It worked pretty well too. Thankfully it didn't hurt my tummy this time.

We keep saying we'd love the time to explore more in the different states, but somehow I never build it into the trip. If we get the extra day or two, I just build it onto WDW and we still end up just flying through the states.

Wow, that is some trunk your boat had! The kind I would need for all the luggage I bring lol! Your road trip recap has me thinking about December when DH and I will most likely be driving... what do you and DH do to pass the time? We had a good book on tape last time, but it gets SOOO boring after staring out the window for too many hours!

That trunk was truly the best trunk I'd ever seen. I couldn't believe how much room was left and we brough a TON of stuff. Way more that if we had been on that scary plane. DH and I really just listen to the radio. I tend to have music going most of the time either on CD or Sirius and DH listens to a lot of sports radio. DH also takes a ton of pictures when I'm driving.

 

[TyRy]

DH drives the last two hours since I’m usually an insane person as soon we get anywhere close to Disney. Plus he know I’d run us off the road looking at things as soon as we hit those gates!

Our ADR was for 7:40pm and I had a feeling we’d make it. I think I told DH it was at 7pm though, just so he wouldn’t dawdle on the road….and it worked!!!

Hello Disney at 6:00pm…we had over an hour to spare!!! We pull up at our first stop for the week, the Contemporary Resort. DH has always wanted to stay there and since this was a “blow-out” trip, I thought it would be a good time to do so. We were confused when we pulled in as they were working on the area where you normally pull up to check in…this time they made us pull up all the way over by the convention center. – that would have been a haul. We decided to self park and then check in. DH got the whole experience on video...

Click Picture to Play


While I was checking in DH took a few more photos.

Since it was so late in the day, our room was ready. We had room 4213, which meant we were on the 6th floor. It was also a bit odd, as our room number at Super 8 had been 213. Didn’t know if this was a good or bad omen….

We go up to our room, and when you turned left off the elevators, our room was right there in the middle. I didn't know it but DH was busy taking video

Click Picture to Play


He also took a few photos....

I'm glad he was occupied because I called Private Dining as soon as we got into the room. A couple of weeks before I had ordered a monorail themed cake, welcoming him to the CR. Here’s what we got:

The cake was good, but waaayyy to much for just the two of us. But it did give us something to pick at for a couple days. We did end up with a lot and didn’t when we switched hotels we knew it would probably go bad. So DH took the big box and tried to find somewhere to toss it (wouldn’t fit in our room garbage.) He found a can outside where he could lift the lid and put it in. He was worried though that someone would think he was putting in a suspicious package!! I couldn’t stop laughing when he told me the story. I’m just glad I didn’t have to get him out of Disney jail.

Continued in next post....

 

[TyRy]

We relaxed, unpacked and just in general took in that we were staying somewhere we always said we’d wanted to stay since our first trip in 1995. It was then time for our dinner at Chef Mickey’s.

I admit I was a wee bit worried about the wait we might encounter as it always seemed there was a super long line for it. This time we checked in, got our picture taken (still gotta scan that in!) and were seated right away. The view looking into the restaurant from out seat:

We ordered drinks and I, of course, started my glow cube quest again. We were then told we could go and grab dinner. Here’s DH’s first plate…not sure where mine went.

Drinks with and without flash

The characters all came around during dinner to pose for pictures (note to self – NEVER wear that shirt again…I think another person was in there with me!! )

I also asked our waitress what time the Water Pageant would come by. She looked at me like I was crazy and asked if I knew what it was. I told her I did and it was one of my favorite things at Disney. She then laughed and said people either love it or hate it. But if they’ve never seen it before and heard great things about it, they are sometimes disappointed. I assured her I loved it and couldn’t wait to see it. and then it was finally dessert time. DH grabbed some for himself

As I had just one thing on my mind; I had seen in pictures that Chef Mickey’s had a big giant tube of rainbow sprinkles to add to the soft serve ice cream. I LOVE LOVE LOVE sprinkles. DH usually makes fun of me since it will be all sprinkles and just a drop if ice cream. So off I go, grabbing my little bit of ice cream and walking over to grab a mountain of sprinkles, when OH NO, YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! The sprinkle tube is a FAKE! There are NO sprinkles to put on my ice cream. I was soooooo sad, I went running back to the table and DH didn’t believe me until he went and saw it for himself

I said this was a HORRIBLE start and the trip was doomed. It was us getting rooms with the number 13 in it. It was anything and everything. Can you tell I was bummed

We finished up dinner and I swore we’d never set foot in Chef Mickey’s again after their bait and switch program with the sprinkles. DH took a couple of pictures on the way back to the room of the new Outer Rim Lounge

We were tired after our drive but still wanted to do something. So we tossed on our suits and headed for the pool. The quiet pool was EMPTY. We were the only two people in it. And then something happened that started to make up for stupid Chef Mickey’s and their evilness. While we were in the pool just hanging out, DH looked up and pointed to something. Right there, in between the CR and BLT was a perfect view of Wishes at the MK. There was no music, but it was just one of those magical moments. Of course, it calmed me down a bit and I pointed out how magical it was. Then I decided that something BAD was going to happen during the trip since this was so special….yep I was tired. DH laughed and tried to convince me to just go with the magic and not look for bad things. He was correct (for once! ) We then saw the EWP from the beach…DH thinks it’s pretty silly, but knows I love it so he puts up with it.

I made one quick stop at the concierge desk to pick up our MNSSHP and felt really bad for the lady working the desk. She was being totally beat up by a lady in front of me demanding that she find her dinner reservations. To her credit, the CM handled it very well. This lady insisted she had all these reservations, yet no one could find them and she did not have any confirmation numbers…was one of those moments that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. As it turns out, this was not my last encounter with this family! It was finally my turn, and the CM was very nice (I tried to be extra nice to make up for the person in front of me) and in no time I had my tickets was off to the room for my first night of Disney sleep. Tomorrow is an open day, with dinner at the Castle and then MNSSHP.

 

[brookelizabeth]

We keep saying we'd love the time to explore more in the different states, but somehow I never build it into the trip. If we get the extra day or two, I just build it onto WDW and we still end up just flying through the states.

I SO understand. I'm sure I would do the same thing! By "seeing the states" I mean the interstate, as we fly through them. Must be in Disney ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



You've officially made me crave staying at CR even more now!! Ahhh, beautiful pictures, and the video... I did find it slightly humorous how much time of the video was spent in the bathroom. Men and their bathrooms, eh?

LOVE THAT CAKE!!! HOW COOOOOOOOL! I've never seen such a thing!!! They really did a great job.

I'm sorry to hear about the faux tube of sprinkles! That is a major bummer! Despite all that, this made me laugh out loud...

We finished up dinner and I swore we’d never set foot in Chef Mickey’s again after their bait and switch program with the sprinkles.

And I'm still giggling. I gotta explain to DH what is so funny! "Bait & switch" (but really, how awful to have those tubes, but not a selection!!!)

Wonderful wishes magic moment...ahhh, perfect way to end the day with EWP too - I'm a fan!