WDW with Mickey, Charley and the Gang! About This Page:

[MarriedLadyTara]

After reading everyone’s reports for the months leading up to our trip, I am very excited to post my own report!

Dates: August 6 – August 17, 2004
Travelers:
Tara, 30 (4th trip)
Jeffrey, 30 (at least 3rd trip – probably closer to 6th or 7th, he claims he can’t remember!)
This was our second trip together, the first being part of our honeymoon in July of 2001.
Resort: We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort, in a preferred room.


Introduction:
I am a teacher, and DH is a pediatrician. I was finishing particularly difficult year at a new school, and in May, we decided that a vacation was in order for the summer. Work tends to be very busy for DH in July, so we decided on August. Some people told us we were crazy to go to Florida in August, but last time we went it was July, and we managed that, so, why not August? We’re relatively young and strong

DH made all the arrangements for us – a standard Dream Maker Package, 7 nights and 8 days at the Caribbean Beach Resort. After carefully considering the cost of staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we decided that CB was much more within our price range.

Then we needed to talk about flying vs. driving. We are drivers. We love road trips. Our last trip to Disney was by car, and last summer we drove cross-country AS our vacation. There were other family circumstances that made it much easier for us to drive this time around, so that was all set. We figured we’d leave on Friday the 6th, drive as far as we could, stay the night, drive closer to Orlando on the 7th, stay somewhere close by, and then drive in early on the 8th, the day our reservations were to begin. A few days before, Jeffrey decided to make a reservation for the night of the 7th (which I thought was a great idea), and he made one at the Holiday Inn Maingate East.

Being a complusive planner, and having recently discovered PassPorter, the PassPorter Boards, and AllEarsNet, I had a blast planning our trip. I made mousekeeper tip envelopes (I'm a scrapbooker, and I had SO much fun with them!), spreadsheets, lists, notes, on and on and on. I have never been so excited for a vacation before this one!

Next up: Friday, August 6th, the drive!

[Linda K]

Hi Tara,

Glad to hear from a fellow "driver". We always drive and love it. We also drove to California a few years ago, tho we had two kids with us.

Looking forward to more of your report.

Linda

[OffKilter_Lynn]

As we're close to Philadelphia, I look foward to hearing your take on the drive to WDW. We ALMOST made the decision to drive next trip, but with two kids we quickly wised up!

[luvnwdwgal]

Great start! Looking forward to more!!

[Diz]

Great start! Can't wait to hear more! We usually drive too. It is a lot of fun. We don't stop the night though...not even when our kids were younger. The main reason: I want to get to WDW as fast as I can. DH is so sweet...he just says, Yes Dear. LOL! From Philly, it took us 17 hours straight through. Not bad.

[DrDolphin]

Although I live relatively close to WDW and drive all the time - I will admit that any trip (ok almost any trip) that requires me to drive more than 4 hours... and I seriously begin to consider flying...

Great start - I can not wait to read more!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Tara Can't wait for more

[MarriedLadyTara]

Friday, August 6th: The Drive

So I somehow managed to get Jeffrey out of bed at just a few minutes after 6am! This just proves how much he loves Disney. I'm the real freak, but once we're on our way, he's into it as much as I am!

We left Philadelphia at 6:55am. Like I mentioned before, we're good drivers, and we only make bathroom stops (many of them) and food stops (sometimes we just do the drive through!). We also like to push ourselves and see how far we can drive at once (within reason of course, we don’t want to fall asleep at the wheel!). I don’t know what we’ll do once we have kids. I hope we’ll still be able to take road trips, because we love them so much. At the moment it’s easy – just the two of us. We take turns driving, and we can usually drive as much as a 10-hour day without a problem. At least that’s what we did last summer when we drove cross-country.

Our original plan was to make it to at least Santee, SC. When we got there it was only late afternoon, so we kept on driving… We actually stopped somewhere in Georgia at a Cracker Barrel for dinner. I love Cracker Barrel! After a dinner of French toast, we were seriously rejuvenated, and kept right on driving! We finally stopped in Jacksonville, FL at about 10pm. We found a very functional LaQuinta Inn and fell instantly asleep.


Next: Our first day, sort of...

[DouglasE]

What a great start neighbor!

[Nick and Ryans Mom]

[ QUOTE ]
We also like to push ourselves and see how far we can drive at once (within reason of course, we don’t want to fall asleep at the wheel!).

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm so glad you said that. A very nice guy I worked with fell asleep at the wheel while driving his wife and 2 children home from Myrtle Beach. Luckily no one was hurt. Saving time and hotel costs is not a good enough reason to risk your life (or the lives of your family members)! My co-worker said he felt great, not really tired and then the next thing he knew his wife was screaming and they were going off the road.

(I'll get off the soapbox now)

We drove to WDW on our last trip with DSs (then 7 & 3). We plan on driving from now on. We had such a great time. DSs like being in the car (playing hours of Gamecube without interruption). With snacks, games, and movies the drive was fun for all of us!

[imagineerwannabe]

I think our next DW vacation is a driving one, since we had so many problems with the airport. It is interesting reading your report since you have about 45 minutes on top of ours.



I enjoy your detail so far. Thanks!

[sarah_belle]

Your pre-trip report sounds a lot like mine! I'm also a teacher who decided to reward a job well done with a trip to Disney I can't wait to read about your experiences with Charley!

[luvnwdwgal]

Looking forward to more!!!

[Wendyismyname]

Excellent start! I dread our driving trip to WDW next year, especially traveling with the little darlings!

More please!

[Colexis Mom]

Wow, you got quite a lot of driving done that day! Great job!

Can't wait for more