stacy347
I carried a watermelon?
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2005
- Messages
- 2,614
Welcome back to those who followed my PTR ( Ultimate budget trip PTR ) and Welcome Aboard to those who are just joining! 
The day we thought would never arrive finally came...May 15, 2010, a.k.a. leaving day, a.k.a. the day we had waited 3 long years for!
Cast:
Me (Stacy/Mom) ~ collector of all things Disney and just a teensy bit obsessed with WDW
Nicole ~ 17, super smart, has been collecting items from Beauty and the Beast since she was very little
Chelsea ~ 15, loves the thrill rides and classic Alice in Wonderland items
Paige ~ 12, still loves her princesses and Peter Pan but steers herself toward the more "grown-up" stuff now
Amanda ~ 11, obsessed with Stitch, seriously, seriously obsessed ~ also happens to be autistic but fairly high functioning and tries her best to go with the flow even if she is uncomfortable
Day 1 ~ hitting the road!
Ok, does anyone NOT wake up super excited on the day they leave for Disney? I think not!
However, we were dragging a bit this morning due to my oldest DD having been out till all hours the night before (it was prom night and she's a good girl, so that's OK
).
The plan was to be on the road by 8-8:30 ~ nope, not happening, LOL. We did manage to be done filling up the car and on the freeway by 9:30, which I was satisfied with, considering we were all running on so little sleep.
I told everyone to eat breakfast before we got in the car, but my girls aren't big morning eaters so we ended up nibbling on crackers, sausage and cheese that we had packed in the cooler after we were on the road for a bit. One of my big goals this trip was to spend as little out of pocket as possible once we were on vacation. I haven't tallied everything up yet, but I know we didn't spend anywhere near what we did on past trips ~ yay!!
The first day of the road trip was mainly uneventful for the first several hours. My apologies to any Ohioans reading, but Ohio is just so darn boring to drive through on 75, LOL. It seems to take forever and this is always the state where everyone gets antsy. Luckily we had beautiful weather through Ohio and made it through with only one stop, I believe. At some point in OH, we dug out the sandwiches I had made for lunch ~ chicken salad on those little sandwich rounds (inspired by RachelNinja's TR!) ~ so yummy! About mid-way through OH, we caught up with my sister and her family and it was really nice knowing that they were along for the trip! We've done every WDW trip with them so far, so it's sort of just tradition now and I love that all of our kids are going to have those memories when they are older.
One of my favorite parts of the road trip is hitting that KY/OH border along 75. That is when you start getting into the pretty mountain scenery and I just love the mountains. I was in my glory and again we had clear blue skies through KY and minimal stopping.
Of course the gorgeous scenery carries over into TN, but this is the part of day I started to get nervous because the severe weather started kicking up. For as long as I can remember, I have had an awful fear of thunderstorms. Honestly, it can get to the point where I can't function because I am so shaky and nauseous ~ it's ridiculous and I have no control over it. Luckily I had come prepared with some anti-anxiety pills (I only take a 1/2 dose when driving, because a full dose can make me a bit drowsy). It didn't take it completely away but I swear when those black clouds rolled in and the rain was hitting the windshield so hard that it sounded like hail, I was ready say the heck with it and get off the road completely and I would have been useless without those wonderful little orange pills.
With me being able to calm down a bit, we made it to an exit where there was a McDonald's with WiFi (Sweetwater, TN) so we pulled off. We got all the kids a quick bite to eat (this wasn't actually part of my budget but the girls and I just got something off the $1 menu so not a big dent) and I was able to pull up the radar on the laptop. Of course, my phobia is a bit of a running joke in my family, so they were all teasing me but I felt a lot better when I saw that we were almost through the worst of it.
By this time, we were almost to the GA border. My sister and I had booked rooms at the HoJo in Cartersville, GA for on the way down and back. It was after dark by the time we reached the HoJo and the GPS was a bit confused by its location. I took the road it told me and we were on a dark curve in front of a truck stop when it said, "You have reached your destination". The girls and I all looked at each like, are you kidding me?? I went a bit further around the curve and saw the entrance and for a brief minute, we were all relieved...until we pulled up the drive. Holy cow, right next to the entrance was a full-on bar with people all over outside drinking it up and partying! Now, lots of hotels have a lounge, bar, whatever, especially on the tourist routes ~ no big deal, not usually something to be scared of. This was not that kind of bar! The description on the website for amenities says:
"Property amenities include seasonal outdoor swimming pool, free high speed wireless internet, and the Sports Pub and Grill on site - serving lunch and dinner."
Sounds harmless enough...don't be fooled, LOL!! We had to walk right past all of them to get into the lobby...not fun times, let me tell you. The manager at the desk was friendly enough but the trouble started right off the bat. We got upstairs to our rooms and my sister's key wouldn't work. One of the HoJo people came out and tried it as well, no luck, that room was not opening. They got her a new room pretty quickly...too quickly, we came to discover! My room was clean and comfortable enough for one night and my girls and I were down for the night after a short time.
The next morning, the texts from my poor sister start coming in ~ it was not pretty, and she made that clear to the morning manager when we went down to the lobby for breakfast the next morning.
Up next:
We escape from HoJo and finally make it to FL!!
The day we thought would never arrive finally came...May 15, 2010, a.k.a. leaving day, a.k.a. the day we had waited 3 long years for!
Cast:
Me (Stacy/Mom) ~ collector of all things Disney and just a teensy bit obsessed with WDW
Nicole ~ 17, super smart, has been collecting items from Beauty and the Beast since she was very little
Chelsea ~ 15, loves the thrill rides and classic Alice in Wonderland items
Paige ~ 12, still loves her princesses and Peter Pan but steers herself toward the more "grown-up" stuff now
Amanda ~ 11, obsessed with Stitch, seriously, seriously obsessed ~ also happens to be autistic but fairly high functioning and tries her best to go with the flow even if she is uncomfortable
Day 1 ~ hitting the road!
Ok, does anyone NOT wake up super excited on the day they leave for Disney? I think not!
However, we were dragging a bit this morning due to my oldest DD having been out till all hours the night before (it was prom night and she's a good girl, so that's OK
).The plan was to be on the road by 8-8:30 ~ nope, not happening, LOL. We did manage to be done filling up the car and on the freeway by 9:30, which I was satisfied with, considering we were all running on so little sleep.
I told everyone to eat breakfast before we got in the car, but my girls aren't big morning eaters so we ended up nibbling on crackers, sausage and cheese that we had packed in the cooler after we were on the road for a bit. One of my big goals this trip was to spend as little out of pocket as possible once we were on vacation. I haven't tallied everything up yet, but I know we didn't spend anywhere near what we did on past trips ~ yay!!
The first day of the road trip was mainly uneventful for the first several hours. My apologies to any Ohioans reading, but Ohio is just so darn boring to drive through on 75, LOL. It seems to take forever and this is always the state where everyone gets antsy. Luckily we had beautiful weather through Ohio and made it through with only one stop, I believe. At some point in OH, we dug out the sandwiches I had made for lunch ~ chicken salad on those little sandwich rounds (inspired by RachelNinja's TR!) ~ so yummy! About mid-way through OH, we caught up with my sister and her family and it was really nice knowing that they were along for the trip! We've done every WDW trip with them so far, so it's sort of just tradition now and I love that all of our kids are going to have those memories when they are older.
One of my favorite parts of the road trip is hitting that KY/OH border along 75. That is when you start getting into the pretty mountain scenery and I just love the mountains. I was in my glory and again we had clear blue skies through KY and minimal stopping.
Of course the gorgeous scenery carries over into TN, but this is the part of day I started to get nervous because the severe weather started kicking up. For as long as I can remember, I have had an awful fear of thunderstorms. Honestly, it can get to the point where I can't function because I am so shaky and nauseous ~ it's ridiculous and I have no control over it. Luckily I had come prepared with some anti-anxiety pills (I only take a 1/2 dose when driving, because a full dose can make me a bit drowsy). It didn't take it completely away but I swear when those black clouds rolled in and the rain was hitting the windshield so hard that it sounded like hail, I was ready say the heck with it and get off the road completely and I would have been useless without those wonderful little orange pills.
With me being able to calm down a bit, we made it to an exit where there was a McDonald's with WiFi (Sweetwater, TN) so we pulled off. We got all the kids a quick bite to eat (this wasn't actually part of my budget but the girls and I just got something off the $1 menu so not a big dent) and I was able to pull up the radar on the laptop. Of course, my phobia is a bit of a running joke in my family, so they were all teasing me but I felt a lot better when I saw that we were almost through the worst of it.
By this time, we were almost to the GA border. My sister and I had booked rooms at the HoJo in Cartersville, GA for on the way down and back. It was after dark by the time we reached the HoJo and the GPS was a bit confused by its location. I took the road it told me and we were on a dark curve in front of a truck stop when it said, "You have reached your destination". The girls and I all looked at each like, are you kidding me?? I went a bit further around the curve and saw the entrance and for a brief minute, we were all relieved...until we pulled up the drive. Holy cow, right next to the entrance was a full-on bar with people all over outside drinking it up and partying! Now, lots of hotels have a lounge, bar, whatever, especially on the tourist routes ~ no big deal, not usually something to be scared of. This was not that kind of bar! The description on the website for amenities says:
"Property amenities include seasonal outdoor swimming pool, free high speed wireless internet, and the Sports Pub and Grill on site - serving lunch and dinner."
Sounds harmless enough...don't be fooled, LOL!! We had to walk right past all of them to get into the lobby...not fun times, let me tell you. The manager at the desk was friendly enough but the trouble started right off the bat. We got upstairs to our rooms and my sister's key wouldn't work. One of the HoJo people came out and tried it as well, no luck, that room was not opening. They got her a new room pretty quickly...too quickly, we came to discover! My room was clean and comfortable enough for one night and my girls and I were down for the night after a short time.
The next morning, the texts from my poor sister start coming in ~ it was not pretty, and she made that clear to the morning manager when we went down to the lobby for breakfast the next morning.
Up next:
We escape from HoJo and finally make it to FL!!
I was definitely kicking myself for not asking on the Dis about it! 
I was really surprised at how much fun we had on such a smaller budget than before. My sister and I both agreed that this was the best trip so far!
Welcome aboard and I'll try to remember all the details about the budget and savings. I tried to save every receipt to keep my memory fresh so that should help. 
Thank goodness it all worked out. 
It was really cool seeing Wishes from 'Ohana ~ our meal times had never coincided with it before so this was a first for us! 
We wanted to take the Seralago shuttle to MK and the first one picked up right around 8:00 a.m., so no time to waste! 
