Whose Bright Idea Was it to Drive to Disney Anyway? Oh wait - that was me.

[JenSop]

Hi. I read your TR, Great Story! I live in Allentown, Pa, not too far from Hellertown!I will be taking my DS5 to WDW for his 6th Birthday in Feb. Only 25 days to go, YIPPEE! would you please explain to me a bit about the green Mickey head thingie? I heard they can be bought at Home Depot? Again, great story! Maybe I'll post mine when I return.

Yes! You're practically right around the corner - haha!

I'm so jealous that you'll be there in 25 days!!!

As far as the lime green micky heads... I learned on the boards here a couple years ago that wearing a lime green micky head on your person showed that you were a diser (to other disers.)

The first time I did it, I went to Home Depot and got the paper ones, used tape to laminate it.... etc, etc.

BUT, once I got down to WDW, I noticed that a lot of the gift shops sold these foam micky head keychains. And some of them were lime green. (Actually, I think it was seeing Sooze down there on that trip that alerted us to this helpful tip!)

I would totally just wait and get some down there in one of the gift shops. If you dig through the foam mickey heads, you can find some lime green ones.



TO sbell111: thanks for the heads up on the date! I'm guessing the giveaway was the "200" spelled out in the bushes. I can't remember what that was for - can you help me out?

 

[DaisyMom618]

Thanks for the tip! This board is so great! Helps take the edge off the "I CAN'T WAIT!" feeling! I'll look for the Mickey heads when we arrive. It will just be me and my DS5 and I haven't been since 2000! I am however, going to try to make Disney an annual trip for us! It's hard for me because my DS5 has never been so he is not nearly as excited as me! I think he thinks that we are just going to some amusement park. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he actually sees it for the 1st time!!! He has NO clue! If you have any more "tips" for us please don't hesitate to share! We are staying at the AS Sports Resort! Thanks!

 

[mousetravel]

Great trip report! I had to say that I agree with you on 3 main points:

1. The drive! My DD & I made the trip last year with only me driving the whole way. Even though I am in SC, the 9 hour drive was really tiring, more on the way home, than on the way there!

2. The heat! We went to Disney on June 2006, and I thought I could die from that heat! Now, we've been going at Spring Break, and it is more crowded, but I can deal with the crowds in the cooler temperatures, rather than the heat!

3. The "no touching the animals" rule. I love giraffes, and it would be so hard not to touch and pet them because they are just too darn cute!!!

 

[bethk78]

Enjoyed your TR. LOVED the safari pics! That costs extra, right? How long was it?

 

[OurDogCisco]

Finally... finished! Great trip report... TFS

 

[JenSop]

Enjoyed your TR. LOVED the safari pics! That costs extra, right? How long was it?

Thanks! I'm so glad you liked the pics!

Yup, it did cost extra. But honestly, it was worth every penny. I think the whole safari thing was maybe an hour to two hours? Now I can't remember - something like that. It was pretty long. Then dinner was pretty long too. I highly recommend it to anyone staying at AKV/AKL.

 

[Illuminations_Rocks]

Sounds like you two had a fabulous vacation (except for the melting heat!).

I am now very hungry for the lighthouse sandwich... doesn't help that it's lunch time!

I totally want to do that safari if DH and I ever stay at AKL. Sounds like such a great experience!

Thanks for sharing your trip

 

[chanken3]

Jensop - really enjoyed your TR. We live in Maine and have done the drive 10 times. It is a LONG trip - we usually stop one night on the way down although we have done the "straight-thru" a few times. Those are brutal!!
We are headed down in April and this time we are taking the auto train from VA to FL. It will be our first time for the train - looking forward to it. Anyone have any experience with it?

 

[dvczerfs]

great trip report jensop!!!! fellow lehigh valleyian!!! were in nazareth. looks like you guys had a great trip. if you ever want a better way of driving down w/out all that traffic and about a 16 1/2 trip just yell. ive been driving since 1973, well, me driving since 85 at least once a year. we honeymooned there and thats how i got dw hooked on the place. i love the older pics, i only have a few, when my parents were still alive, there basement got flooded and destroyed alot of them but i still have some. now dd17 jumps behind the wheel when i get tired and dw just relaxes. (as she should) we leave okw at 3:30 am and drive straight thru and get home around 7-7:30pm. we leave to go down around 9 am, that way rt22 rush hour is over and we stay overnight in s. carolina. congrats on dvc, we are going on alittle over 10 years and it was the best money dw and i ever spent. we laugh now but $58 per point for 400 points was alot a decade ago.antway, had fun reading your report and glad to see you guys had a great time!!!!

 

[JenSop]

great trip report jensop!!!! fellow lehigh valleyian!!! were in nazareth. looks like you guys had a great trip. if you ever want a better way of driving down w/out all that traffic and about a 16 1/2 trip just yell. ive been driving since 1973, well, me driving since 85 at least once a year. we honeymooned there and thats how i got dw hooked on the place. i love the older pics, i only have a few, when my parents were still alive, there basement got flooded and destroyed alot of them but i still have some. now dd17 jumps behind the wheel when i get tired and dw just relaxes. (as she should) we leave okw at 3:30 am and drive straight thru and get home around 7-7:30pm. we leave to go down around 9 am, that way rt22 rush hour is over and we stay overnight in s. carolina. congrats on dvc, we are going on alittle over 10 years and it was the best money dw and i ever spent. we laugh now but $58 per point for 400 points was alot a decade ago.antway, had fun reading your report and glad to see you guys had a great time!!!!

Thanks! How jealous I am of your $58 per point! (And your 400 points!) Seriously, DVC is awesome. If you ever see our Honda Fits driving around the area, you can tell it's us, as we both have DVC stickers on the cars!

And I've been wanting to get over to my parents to go through the photo albums to find some more old Disney pictures. I love the nostalgia of it.

Honestly, DH brought up the possibility of driving again for this summer's trip. My reaction was not so positive.

Unless the flights are prohibitively expensive, I want to fly this time. I'm willing to skip extra stuff (i.e. no water park or extra tours) if it means we can fly down. I'm not as strong as you guys!

 

[dvczerfs]

Thanks! How jealous I am of your $58 per point! (And your 400 points!) Seriously, DVC is awesome. If you ever see our Honda Fits driving around the area, you can tell it's us, as we both have DVC stickers on the cars!

And I've been wanting to get over to my parents to go through the photo albums to find some more old Disney pictures. I love the nostalgia of it.

Honestly, DH brought up the possibility of driving again for this summer's trip. My reaction was not so positive.

Unless the flights are prohibitively expensive, I want to fly this time. I'm willing to skip extra stuff (i.e. no water park or extra tours) if it means we can fly down. I'm not as strong as you guys!

i see a fit going thru bangor just about everyday w/ a dvc sticker on it. im an outside salesmen for a local hvac supply house and i spend alot of time in the slatebelt.

 

[dvczerfs]

Thanks! How jealous I am of your $58 per point! (And your 400 points!) Seriously, DVC is awesome. If you ever see our Honda Fits driving around the area, you can tell it's us, as we both have DVC stickers on the cars!

And I've been wanting to get over to my parents to go through the photo albums to find some more old Disney pictures. I love the nostalgia of it.

Honestly, DH brought up the possibility of driving again for this summer's trip. My reaction was not so positive.

Unless the flights are prohibitively expensive, I want to fly this time. I'm willing to skip extra stuff (i.e. no water park or extra tours) if it means we can fly down. I'm not as strong as you guys!

youll look back in 10 years and laugh at what you paid also. it wont come down.

 

[ILoveMK2008]

Hi Jen! Have really enjoyed reading your TR. I noticed that in a lot of your pictures, you're wearing skirts. I'm definitely a skirt/dress girl, especially in the summer, but was worried to wear them on Disney due to possible difficulty on rides, etc... (I'm not really sure why I'm worried besides that ). Did you find that there was anything that you couldn't do because you were wearing a skirt? Were they comfortable in the parks? Thanks for your advice, we'll be heading to the world in just two and a half months

 

[JenSop]

i see a fit going thru bangor just about everyday w/ a dvc sticker on it. im an outside salesmen for a local hvac supply house and i spend alot of time in the slatebelt.

Actually, that very well might be Brian, as he teaches in Bangor! He has the orange fit with a white sticker on the side back window. (mine's light blue with the sticker on the rear window.) Small world!

 

[JenSop]

Hi Jen! Have really enjoyed reading your TR. I noticed that in a lot of your pictures, you're wearing skirts. I'm definitely a skirt/dress girl, especially in the summer, but was worried to wear them on Disney due to possible difficulty on rides, etc... (I'm not really sure why I'm worried besides that ). Did you find that there was anything that you couldn't do because you were wearing a skirt? Were they comfortable in the parks? Thanks for your advice, we'll be heading to the world in just two and a half months

I found absolutely no difficulty in riding anything while wearing a skirt. I feel like the rides at Disney aren't as wild as a regular theme parks, so you don't have to worry about a fuller skirt flying up over your head or anything. Sometimes if I'm concerned, I just wear a pair of biking shorts under my skirt or dress.

 

[dvczerfs]

Actually, that very well might be Brian, as he teaches in Bangor! He has the orange fit with a white sticker on the side back window. (mine's light blue with the sticker on the rear window.) Small world!

thats him!!! small world, wow! i drive a charcoal color minivan, ill wave next time i see him. (probley wonder who the heck is that. any up coming trips? we aregoing the first two weeks of december this year than june and october of 2011. my dd17 dances at expression of dance and they are going to be dancing there (hopefully) in june 2011. if not, its her graduation present anyway. shes realizing that after the june trip it will be off to school and probley wont be going with us for a four years or so. poor kids all grown up and was only to wdw 23 times.

 

[JenSop]

thats him!!! small world, wow! i drive a charcoal color minivan, ill wave next time i see him. (probley wonder who the heck is that. any up coming trips? we aregoing the first two weeks of december this year than june and october of 2011. my dd17 dances at expression of dance and they are going to be dancing there (hopefully) in june 2011. if not, its her graduation present anyway. shes realizing that after the june trip it will be off to school and probley wont be going with us for a four years or so. poor kids all grown up and was only to wdw 23 times.

Haha! I just gave him the heads up so he doesn't get too weirded out if someone waves to him!

Our next trip is the end of July. Can't wait! I'm also doing a girls only trip with friends in October - my first time down for food and wine!

 

[JenSop]

Jensop - really enjoyed your TR. We live in Maine and have done the drive 10 times. It is a LONG trip - we usually stop one night on the way down although we have done the "straight-thru" a few times. Those are brutal!!
We are headed down in April and this time we are taking the auto train from VA to FL. It will be our first time for the train - looking forward to it. Anyone have any experience with it?

You'll have to let us know how the Auto Train is. I've heard mixed reviews to be honest. (The biggest downside I heard was that it's quite pricey.)

 

[kmpprg]

Hi Jen, just found your trip report today and loved it. Your voice is absolutely amazing! Wow!!!! I live near Pittsburgh now, but am from Lancaster area. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[JenSop]

Hi Jen, just found your trip report today and loved it. Your voice is absolutely amazing! Wow!!!! I live near Pittsburgh now, but am from Lancaster area. Thanks for sharing your story.

Thanks for the compliment! And thanks for reading my trip report!