My Dad has always told me, “You’ll learn the lesson the easy way or you’ll learn it the hard way, but either way you WILL learn.” I seem to be taking the hard way around learning some lessons. Most of my TR s end with my “memos to self” that usually includes something along the lines of “it matters whom you go with”. Why I can’t seem to get this memo through my thick skull is beyond me.
We left 8/21 for me to do a show in Tulsa/visit family. Our departure was sheer chaos due to the fact that my 11yo had an unexpected allergic reaction to the dentist’s latex gloves during her routine checkup the week before and I spent a lot of time at the doctor/pharmacist/urgent care, and tending to her general suffering. As such, I was VERY far behind on getting show prep done and wound up chucking everything (including entire wardrobes) in the trailer to deal with later. We had an uneventful trip to Tulsa and I was able to get things done that I needed to in time for set up the next day. The show in Tulsa ROCKED and I had a great time. I sold out of quite a bit, so I spent the next few days in a frenzy trying to arrange new designs and get t-shirts shipped to my printer, then on to me at the Contemporary to be there in time for the WDW Scrapper’s Dream Vacation.
My mother and 19yo were joining me on this leg. The 19yo had just finished her WDW College Program and wanted to go back before school starts up to establish her seasonal part time status to maintain her seniority and all that. My mother just was tagging along. Ugh. I opted to drive down over 2 nights/3 days first to make it easier on 5 females in a mini-van and second, to get to the Animal Kingdom Villas fairly early in the day to let us have a chance to enjoy the resort since we were only there 2 nights. I road trip in a certain way. I take one small “hotel bag” so I don’t have to cart it all in for a one-nighter. I get up, fill up, grab breakfast and GO. G and O. I drive until the bladder or gas tank gives out, fill up, grab food if it’s lunchtime and GO. Dinner is usually a sit-down by or in our hotel. I let Dds swim, go to bed by 10 and am up at 7am, on the road by 745. My mother/19yo know this. I tell them beforehand again that this is the way we will travel. The whole first day, “Oh, let’s stop at that winery!” (we don’t drink wine). “Let’s stop at the pearl place!” (no, thanks). “Let’s stop at…” I was called a “fuddy-duddy” and a “party pooper” more times than I could count. Each night, my mother called my Dad and whined about the “drill sergeant” making them have lights out so early. Sorry, a long day in the car and we’re TIRED, 10pm is NOT unreasonable. I was up at 7am. I was ready to go by 720. Funny how we never got out of the hotel before 930.
The last night/morning of the drive was the worst. “Why are we in such a rush if the room won’t be ready until 4?” I kept explaining that I’d rather sit around the AKL pool/lobby than sit around a Holiday Inn Express room, thank you very much. I got to hear griping all the way to AKL that day b/c I’d “dragged [them] out of bed so early” (8am).
We arrived at AKV on Labor Day about noonish and checked in. Our 1BR villa wasn’t ready yet, but we got our DDP room keys and I had the swim bag. We went to the Mara for lunch and left my mom there to putz while Dds and I went swimming. Our room was ready about 230, so I went to get the rest of the luggage from the trailer and bring it around to the resort. I went to the villa first to take pristine photos
, then we gathered the girls and went up. The looks on their faces were in the “priceless” category and cleared away any doubt I’d had about buying DVC. They were giddy and excited, so we spent some time exploring the room. 8yo pulled open a cabinet, saw a rectangle baking dish and said, “Can we bake a CAKE?” 19yo had a friend coming over later, so I sent her to WalMart for a mix, eggs, milk, and oil, along with a few other staples (Cheerios, butter, bread). I popped in a load of laundry and opened the Owner’s Locker to pull out our sheets. I get a terrible rash from Disney sheets, plus I can’t stand not having fitted sheets on my bed, so I put them on over the Disney sheets. 19yo got back and I whipped up a cake and got it baking. I decided I was going to settle in, even if it were just 2 nights and it was downright luxurious. We loved it there so much, we decided to sell our SSR points for more AKV! That evening, we had popcorn and cake and watched movies on the DVD player. Very nice.