Hi everyone!! I know, I know, I've been back from this trip for almost a month and I'm just finally getting around to writing my trip report. But you have to remember we've had Christmas AND my birthday since that time, plus getting all the photos downloaded so I can put them in my report
So if you're all ready, buckle up and away we go....!!
As most of you know, the first part of this trip began as an 8-day cruise on Royal Caribbean. This portion of my trip report will only cover the Disney part of our trip.
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Day 1, Sunday 11/28/04 </font>
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Part 1 </font>
We were in the third to last group to disembark the ship this morning in Fort Lauderdale. We ended up getting off the ship around 10:00am and took a taxi to Fort Lauderdale Airport to pick up our rental car from Budget. We reserved a full-size 4-door car. I waited in line for about 30 minutes. The car they gave me was a white Buick LeSabre. It was a nice car. As I was pulling it out of the parking space to drive around to the front of the building to pick up Lee & Savannah (waiting with the luggage), I noticed a little LCD message scroll across the dashboard indicating the oil was low. I flagged down someone who worked there and they had me drive the car back to the maintenance area. They said they could either get me another car or I would have to wait about 30 minutes for them to change the oil. I didn't want to wait any more so I opted for another car. They took me inside right to the front of the line and got me another car immediately. This one was a white Ford Taurus, 4-door. We loaded up the luggage and were on our way to Orlando! After driving for about 30 minutes, we decided to stop at a McDonald's and get a quick bite for lunch so Savannah could take a nap during the drive. We ate in the car and were back on the road in about 20 minutes. I drove while Lee & Savannah both napped. Traffic was minimal and with the speed limit being 70mph, I was able to drive 75-80mph the whole way which made the drive quicker than we thought it would be. By the time Lee woke up, we were only 35 miles from Orlando
After a quick stop for gas, bathroom break, and some Starbucks coffee, we were on our way again.
During the drive from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando the hurricane damage was very apparent. Most of the wooden billboards along the highway were completely destroyed. Lots of trees were knocked down or damaged. Some homes still had blue tarps covering their roofs.
Finally we made it - the archway into Walt Disney World with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy welcoming us!! When I saw it coming up ahead, I made sure Savannah was looking out the window. When she saw it she started yelling "Walt Disney World!! We made it!! Mickey, I'm coming! I finally made it!" Lee & I were cracking up
Coming up....Day 1, Part 2 - our first night