my2disneyboys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2008
Hello and welcome to Wally World or Bust! A Goody Cross Country Adventure (Pre Trip and Trip Report July 2017)!!!
I hope you will join me in planning and hearing all about our trip of a lifetime!
A little background on us: My name is Nickie, Wayne is my husband and we have two sons; Myles and Owen. We are self proclaimed Disney Freaks!! Myles first trip to Disney was when he was 9 months old... Owen when he was 8 weeks old and we have gone back every year and sometimes we have snuck in two trips a year! The boys have a youtube station DizKids and hubby keeps a blog - he writes about our trips and planning and our family disney movie nights. https://weheartdisney.wordpress.com/ - So yes, we are pretty obsessed with Disney!! We have been to Disney World about 20 times now and once we did the Disney Dream Cruise. This is our first time ever going to Disneyland!
SO WHY DISNEYLAND?? Well.... Wayne and I have had to listen to everyone we know suggest we take the kids someplace besides Disney World.... and for years we have not listened and fought with people trying to get them to understand what Disney World means to us and to our family. It is like a second home.... a place where we know and we are comfortable and a place where we can act like kids and forget all our stress. It is a place where we have watched our children grow... It is truly the most magical place on earth to us!! Wayne and I took a trip cross country on our honeymoon and we dreamed back then of someday repeating the trip with our children. We have been planning to drive cross country with the kids since our honeymoon trip 14 years ago. We just wanted to wait until the boys were at a good age to appreciate it and an age that we could handle all being stuck in a car together for two weeks! Well, the time has come!! In about 100 days, we will hit the road and start our adventure and what better ending to our big adventure than ending it with 4 days in Disneyland!?
THE PLAN: We are going to start our adventure with roast beef sandwiches on Revere Beach - dipping our toes into the Atlantic Ocean.... We will pick up our rental car and pack it up... our adventure will begin very early!
Day one: Leave Boston, MA and drive to Cooperstown, NY. (about 5 hours) We will visit the Baseball Hall of Fame and stay the night in Cooperstown.
Day two: Cooperstown to Niagara Falls (about 4.5 Hours) - We have a fireworks cruise booked (the Hornblower) that will take us pretty close to the falls while enjoying a cocktail and watching the falls turn colors and the fireworks to celebrate Canada Day! We booked a hotel in Niagara Falls on the Canada side that has a view of the falls!
Day three: Niagara Falls to Toronto (about 1.5 Hours) - We will be heading to Toronto early as we have a big day planned! First stop is the Hockey Hall of Fame followed by a Boston Red Sox/Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Game! We are really excited!!! We will spend the night in Toronto - the hotels are pretty expensive here and I am finding that parking is never included and is also pretty expensive!
Day four: Toronto to Michigan (about 5 hours) - A little back story here... The DIS is a wonderful place and through my love of Disney I have met some lifelong friends. We will be meeting up with one of my DIS friends in Michigan! I can't wait to see her and her family again. We first met at the Plaza in 2009. Crazy to think we have kept in touch and even met up at Disney since then! The plan is to have Dinner with Wendy and her family and then spend the night in Michigan. We are staying at a hotel in small town on a lake - they have a 4th of July Boat Parade that we will plan to watch!
Day five: Michigan to Chicago, IL. (about 5 hours) - We will spend the 4th of July in Chicago! Wayne's brother lives here and just bought a new house so we will spend the night with him and his family. We can't wait! We plan to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo - which we can walk to from their house (this will be really nice after so much time in the car!) and I am not sure what our evening plans will be. We will just be happy to be with family!
Day six: Chicago to Cuba, MO. (about 4 hours) - We will probably spend some time with the family and leave after breakfast. Our plan is to get a picture of the "Route 66 Begins" sign in Chicago. We have so many fun and quirky stops planned along Route 66! First stop - Cozy Dog for lunch in Springfield, MO. In Cuba, MO we will be staying at the Wagon Wheel Motel and having dinner at Hicks BBQ and after dinner we found a Drive in which we hope Cars 3 will be playing!
Day seven: Cuba, MO. to Weatherford, OK. (about 7 hours- longest drive on the trip) - We will be stopping along the Route 66 highlights and basically just trying to get out west at this point! We are staying the night in Weatherford, OK. Our plan is stop at Uranus Fudge, The Blue Whale, Lunch at Rock Café in Stroud, OK - The Owner is who Sally from Cars is based from... a stop at POP's Soda - for root beer floats in Arcadia, OK.
Day eight: Weatherford, OK. to Albuquerque, NM. (about 6.5 hours) - We will hit the road early and stop for lunch at Kix on 66, in Tucumcari, NM. We plan to stop at Cadillac Ranch in TX. The hotel in NM is in the Old Town and we hope to have a nice night walking around the Old Town and having a great dinner!
Day nine: Albuquerque, NM. to Grand Canyon, AZ (about 6 hours) - Finally after a lot of driving, we will be at a huge stop! I am so excited to show the kids the Grand Canyon! We booked the Kachina Lodge and will be watching the sunset after dinner at the El Tovar Hotel - a little back story... When I was 19 I actually worked at the El Tovar! I always dreamed that someday I would come back with my family and be a tourist. I am really excited!!! We plan to wake up early and watch the sunrise and get some amazing pictures! Then we will hit the road after a little exploring for Las Vegas!
Day ten: Grand Canyon, AZ. to Las Vegas, NV. (about 4.5 hours) - I wish we could stay longer in the GC but we have to keep moving!! We have a fun filled day planned for Las Vegas. It will be a much different trip than I have ever taken to Las Vegas having kids with us!! We let them plan the day actually, and we will be visiting a lot of the hotels, the M&M World, The Coke Store, Going on a Gondola Ride at the Venetian and having dinner at a buffet! We got an amazing deal using points on our hotel and will be staying at the Palazzo for only $50.00 - for a king suite!!
Day eleven: Las Vegas, NV. to Anaheim, CA!!!!!!! (about 4 hours) FINALLY!!! We made it and it better not be closed!! We will first drive to Santa Monica and soak our toes into the Pacific Ocean and get a picture of "Route 66 Ends Here". We plan to spend some time at the beach and go to Pacific Pier. That night we will head to Howard Johnson's at Disneyland - where we will be spending the next 5 nights before flying home from LAX to Boston. We plan to eat at Tortilla Joes that night in Downtown Disney and hopefully watch the fireworks from our balcony at our hotel!
UP NEXT: Day twelve-Day seventeen! Hope you are still interested in hearing more!! I am going to detail our plan for Disneyland. Here is where I need your help! Being a Disneyworld VET I am so confused and lost with my planning for Disneyland. I will take whatever tips or ideas you have!!
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