Who we are:
DH - 25 (had his b-day while on our trip), hard-working hubby and daddy and all around great guy. Hasn't been to Disney in 10 years.
DS - 2, a little ball of energy, loves Mickey Mouse (was Mickey for Halloween). This is his first trip.
DMil - 48, wonderful grandma coming along to help out with DS. Last trip was in '99.
me - 24, stay at home mommy and main trip planner (I bought so many guide books that DH thought I was nuts
). Never been to Disney.
A little background...
Our trip took place from 4/26 - 5/6/2002. We chose to drive down from CT and also to stay off-site. During our vacation, we visited all four Disney theme parks as well as Downtown Disney and some of the Disney on-site hotels for meals. This trip was a real dream come true for me since I had never been to Disney and we all had a great time.
Day 1, Friday, April 26th and Day 2, Saturday April 27th
THE LONG RIDE DOWN
I woke up this morning and removed the last link to our paper chain. It was the one that said "today is the day!". I still had some last minute things to do. DH's brother was going to be house-sitting for us so I baked some muffins to leave for him and also some for us to take along as a snack. All day I just could not believe that by Saturday night I would be in Florida. DS was all pumped up to"go see Mickey Mouse's house" and was running around saying "Let's go!" Since DH had worked 3rd shift on Thursday night and he planned on driving most of the way, he got some sleep and we headed out to get our rental car around 3:00 p.m. We ended up renting a Ford Explorer for the drive down because our own car would have been too cramped and we fell in love with the Explorer. There was tons of room which I think made all the difference in the world in the drives. After having dinner, we were on the road to Florida at around 9:00 p.m. DH drove straight through the night and I stayed up to keep him company. DS and DMil dozed in and out of sleep in the back. DS did wake up around 4:00 a.m. and he was SOAKED through his diaper. Once we got him dry and comfy, he fell back to sleep and slept until 9:00 a.m.
By then we were pretty hungry so we found a McDonalds to grab some breakfast. There was a little playscape outside and absolutely no other kids around so DS played here for about 45 minustes. He had a blast going down the slide and running around for a while after being in the car. We ate breakfast and then headed for that Florida border. We reached Orlando about 5:00 -- much earlier than we expected. We had no plans as to where we should stay for the night so we decided to check out the International Drive area. We drove past Universal Studios to show it to DMil who has never been. After seeing some of the IOA rollercoasters, she didn't look like she was interested in going!! DH and I had gone to USF last year when we were in Orlando for a long weekend. We ended up finding a room at the Ramada Conference Center right on I-drive for the night. The price was 54.00 with the tax. We picked this place mostly because it had a Mickey-shaped pool and a covered pool. This place was nothing special. It was clean enough but the shower was extremely slippery, the walls were paper thin, etc. I probably wouldn't stay there again but it was just fine for one night. At check-in, we got a coupon for 20% off at the restaurant right next door called Wild Jack's Steak & Ribs. We decided to go there for dinner. This place was very nice! It was 6:30 p.m. but we were able to get a table right away which was a big plus since we were all starving. There was a lot of things for DS to look at. It was decorated like a hunting lodge. We all loved our dinners. DH & DMil opted for the bbq and I had a steak. DS polished off his hotdog. The service was good also. Overall, it was a very good dinner. Afterwards, we drove around and showed DMil I-drive. I had never seen it at night and it was really pretty. The Wonderworks building was especially impressive all lit up. On our drive, DS fell fast asleep and didn't wake up even when I changed him into pjs. We all fell into bed around 10:00 for some much needed rest.
DH - 25 (had his b-day while on our trip), hard-working hubby and daddy and all around great guy. Hasn't been to Disney in 10 years.
DS - 2, a little ball of energy, loves Mickey Mouse (was Mickey for Halloween). This is his first trip.
DMil - 48, wonderful grandma coming along to help out with DS. Last trip was in '99.
me - 24, stay at home mommy and main trip planner (I bought so many guide books that DH thought I was nuts
). Never been to Disney.A little background...
Our trip took place from 4/26 - 5/6/2002. We chose to drive down from CT and also to stay off-site. During our vacation, we visited all four Disney theme parks as well as Downtown Disney and some of the Disney on-site hotels for meals. This trip was a real dream come true for me since I had never been to Disney and we all had a great time.
Day 1, Friday, April 26th and Day 2, Saturday April 27th
THE LONG RIDE DOWN
I woke up this morning and removed the last link to our paper chain. It was the one that said "today is the day!". I still had some last minute things to do. DH's brother was going to be house-sitting for us so I baked some muffins to leave for him and also some for us to take along as a snack. All day I just could not believe that by Saturday night I would be in Florida. DS was all pumped up to"go see Mickey Mouse's house" and was running around saying "Let's go!" Since DH had worked 3rd shift on Thursday night and he planned on driving most of the way, he got some sleep and we headed out to get our rental car around 3:00 p.m. We ended up renting a Ford Explorer for the drive down because our own car would have been too cramped and we fell in love with the Explorer. There was tons of room which I think made all the difference in the world in the drives. After having dinner, we were on the road to Florida at around 9:00 p.m. DH drove straight through the night and I stayed up to keep him company. DS and DMil dozed in and out of sleep in the back. DS did wake up around 4:00 a.m. and he was SOAKED through his diaper. Once we got him dry and comfy, he fell back to sleep and slept until 9:00 a.m.
By then we were pretty hungry so we found a McDonalds to grab some breakfast. There was a little playscape outside and absolutely no other kids around so DS played here for about 45 minustes. He had a blast going down the slide and running around for a while after being in the car. We ate breakfast and then headed for that Florida border. We reached Orlando about 5:00 -- much earlier than we expected. We had no plans as to where we should stay for the night so we decided to check out the International Drive area. We drove past Universal Studios to show it to DMil who has never been. After seeing some of the IOA rollercoasters, she didn't look like she was interested in going!! DH and I had gone to USF last year when we were in Orlando for a long weekend. We ended up finding a room at the Ramada Conference Center right on I-drive for the night. The price was 54.00 with the tax. We picked this place mostly because it had a Mickey-shaped pool and a covered pool. This place was nothing special. It was clean enough but the shower was extremely slippery, the walls were paper thin, etc. I probably wouldn't stay there again but it was just fine for one night. At check-in, we got a coupon for 20% off at the restaurant right next door called Wild Jack's Steak & Ribs. We decided to go there for dinner. This place was very nice! It was 6:30 p.m. but we were able to get a table right away which was a big plus since we were all starving. There was a lot of things for DS to look at. It was decorated like a hunting lodge. We all loved our dinners. DH & DMil opted for the bbq and I had a steak. DS polished off his hotdog. The service was good also. Overall, it was a very good dinner. Afterwards, we drove around and showed DMil I-drive. I had never seen it at night and it was really pretty. The Wonderworks building was especially impressive all lit up. On our drive, DS fell fast asleep and didn't wake up even when I changed him into pjs. We all fell into bed around 10:00 for some much needed rest.
Bumping up for friends and family 
