Our Disney World Trip Report About This Page:

The Cast
Sleeping Beauty--Me age 28, until Thursday
Grumpy - DH, Jimmy, age 45
EEyore- DS, Bobby, age 7
Buzz Lightyear- DS, Tommy, age 3

Dates 9/16-9/23....dates have been altered due to tragedies in NYC

Day One: Plane ressies have been cancelled and full refunds given, so at 8 am, two hours later than planned (because Sleeping Beauty would not get out of bed) we set off in our car. Quick stop for gas and coffee then on our way. 30 mins later we are on the NJ Turnpike and DH decides he needs to use the bathroom, so we make our first rest stop- and I was so sure he's last longer than the kids [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]
Back in the car, we are on our way AGAIN! Drive straight through to the southern most point in Virginia, near the North Carolina border. Fill up the tank, have the lunch we had packed in the cooler and off we go. My turn to drive. I am a very new driver (passed road test in July) so I got nervous when I saw the spped limit signs in NC, 70 mph. Dh was fast asleep so I cruised at about 80, no problem once you get used to it.
South of the Border, we stop, ice cream, restroom and on the way again within a half hour. One more stop in Northern Georgia for McDonald's then on again...we stop just south of Savannah at a Holiday Inn, and turn in for the night. 13 hours on the road, kids were well behaved this was like a dream come true!
Day 2- up at 5 am, stop at Waffle House for Breakfast and off we go again. 3 Hours later we pull into the Walt Disney Resort. Port Orleans Riverside-aka the Resort Formerly Known as Dixie Landings. At check in, I was so exausted mentally from the happenings at home that I forgot about my room request, which the travel agent did not forward to them and we ended up in Acadian House room 8233. I was going to ask to be moved when i saw how far it was, but DH fell in love with the room, and he liked the number 8233, so we stayed. Unload the car quickly, change, and off the the pool. Ole Man Island is graet, the pool was awesome, we all enjoyed the water slide tremendously; checked out the playground, which Tommy loved, and headed back to room to change for lunch at 3:00. Food court was very nice, neat clean and great theming. Got a pic of the kids with the indian statue, and a close-up od the hidden mickey on his shoe. We bought the refillable mugs we had heard so much about (well worth the price).
After lunch we decided to take the launch to Downtown Disney. CMs at the bike rental near the dock let us feed the ducks, that was cool, and we boarded the next boat at 4:30.
Nice ride..scenic..
At Downtown Disney, we shopped a bit, picked up autograph books and pens for the kids and headed back.
7:30 pm decided to check out French Quarter, nice walk, Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory was not nearly as nice as the Colonel's Cotton Mill, and their pool was a dissapointment after ours, so after dinner we headed back.
Put in for a 5:30 am wake up call, and put the kids to sleep. Watched CNN for a bit to reconnect with home and went to sleep

Sorry so long, more to come later [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Ursunique2001]

Your report is not to long at all! Enjoying it thus far. I think that it's great that you got your license. The first time driving long distance can be weird, but you did great and I know your husband appreciated it.

Looking forward to more.

[PhilaDisney]

3 hours from Savanah? I'll have to get my driving directions from you next time. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
I too, was surprised by the 70 mph speed limit signs, but I just smiled at my husband since we were doing about 75 mph anyway. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Great report so far.

Day Three: 5:30 am phone rings, I hit Speaker so everyone can enjoy our wake-up call from Mickey, but soon find out I am the only one up.
I head for the shower, which I also soon found out takes 15 minutes to heat up if you are the first one up in the morning.
7 am we head out.
Meet a CM, a groundskeeper at the bus depot and chat for a few minutes about the WTC tragedy, seems even down here lives were touched.
More folks join us at the bus stop, and soon the Anamal Kingdom bus arrives.
We arrive before the gates open for our 7:30 ps at Donald's Prehistoric Breakfastosaurus. A CM escorts ue, along with 5 other families through the park, he was very amusing and helpful in giving up tips on shows and rides.
Breakfast was great. Tommy loved the characters and laughed every time they came near. It was a slow day (week actually) so they played alot with the guests and each other. I thought Tommy and Bobby would just lose it when Pluto tried to take a dinosaur bone from the wall; we all laughed so hard at that.
Next stop was Dinosaur, the ride. Tommy was too small so we opted for child swap. DH went on with Bobby while Tommy and I went to the gift shop to wait. Bobby was scared when he got off, so I skipped my chamce to go on-for now.
It was still early, and not much was open yet, so we went to see "It's Tough to Be A Bug"- great show, but as we learned, Tommy is not too fond of 3-d shows. That was the first and last time he put the glasses on.
We roamed the park, hitting all the shows and rides. We were pleasantly surprised when Tommy made the height cut-off for Kali River Rapids, which we all LOVED!
Tarzan Rocks was an awesome show, a must see if you haven't already.
We headed back to DinoLand USA, where Bobby gave in and rode Dinosaur with me, both with our eyes covered for most of the ride [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Then hopped a bus back to the resort, for a quick dinner at the food court, and a night of fun at the pool.
9:30 pm, place a wake up call and off to bed

More to come...

First a correction....DH says we were way past Savannah when we stopped for the night, seems I had fallen asleep in the car and lost track. Sorry for the misinformation.

Day 4: MGM Studios
Wake up call at 5:30am again...today, I let the water run before I shower, so I didn't freeze.... everyone is up by 6:30 and we head out to the Cotton Mill for a quick breakfast.
We catch the MGM bus at about 7:15 and arrive right in time for the opening. A CM tells us that if we hurry we can be in on the first seating at Who Wants to be a Millionaire...so we head straight there.
We only had to wait about 15 minutes before they let us in, but that wasn't so bad because there were tvs in the waiting area playing Who wants to be a Millionaire clips.
When they let us in, we get a good row, right behind the 10 "contestants" (well 5 of them, actually).
Fastest finger question, surprisingly I was second, I was shocked! Mike from NJ was in the hot seat. He made it up to 16,000, and used only 1 lifeline; on the 32,000 question he used a lifeline and then answered wrong, poor guy went down to 1,000.
They show scores to see who goes in hot seat next....OHMYGOSH, it was me!!!! I almost passed out. I felt like such a fool up there. I was so nervous. I used up all my lifelines and walked away with 16,000; I was afraid to look like a fool because I did not know the answer to the 32,000 question. What is a terrapin? Well, I'll never forget that again, that's for sure. (it's a turtle)
Anyway, I got a cool hat, a lanyard and 9 pins, not bad!
Next stop Muppetvision 3-D...we sailed in, I was still shocked and embarrassed by my time in the hot seat, so I forgot to ask the CM to show me which mat has the key under it. The show was as awesome as we remembered.
Next we hit "sounds dangerous" Indiana Jones stunt show and the Great Movie Ride. A little bit of time killed in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area, and a stop for popcorn and sodas (Tommy loves popcorn!) After that it was the Backlot Tour-love Catastrophe Canyon, and over to meet Buuz and Woody at Al's Toy Barn...that was the longest line we waited on all week! 20 minutes to see them, but this was non-negotiable, Tommy is a big fan of Buzz and Woody and was in awe when it was his turn!
We visited all the Characters on Mickey Ave and in the Animation Courtyard- I love how Tommy is with them. When we got up to Director Mickey, Tommy kept calling him Minnie, and he laughed every time Tommy said it, we had more time with him than anyone else and I think it may have been because he was enjoying Tommy so much.
After the Beauty and the Beast show, Tommy fell asleep, so DH decided to take Bobby on Tower of Terror, then I would get to go with Bobby if the boss was still asleep. Unfortunately, my lovely neice and nephew who had gone in August had Bobby so frightened that he refused to go on....we don't believe in forcing the kids if they are afraid, but i must admit, we were both disappointed (try again next year).
By now we had done every attraction and show that we could with the kids, so we headed back to PO-R to rest up before Fantasmic!
Quick swim, shower, and dinner, and we were on our way again to MGM.
We arrived at 6:30 and hit all the shops and pin carts, and asked every one in sight, because I REALLY wanted the Mickey American flag pin, which apparently became a hot item that week...none available!
We stopped briefly to buy a towel so DH could he a cushiony seat (he has a bony butt) and went to sit down and wait.
We got great seats, 3rd row center, bought some popcorn and sodas, and light up toys for the boys. We were they envy of everyone around us with the towel to sit on. Some people even bought towels from the toy vendor so conveniently located at the front of the aisle (every aisle had one).
The show was awesome...Disney has once again lived up to expectations and created a magical show. We poor suckers had chosen a 'wet row' and got wet, no soaked, but it felt good after the hot day.
After the show it was back to the resort for bed, we would have an early day again the next day at Magic Kingdom!

Stay tuned, more to come
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