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CAST: Jaime (Me) - turning 37 on this trip, 12th trip to WDW
Stephani - DD16, 10th trip to WDW
Meggie - DD14, 9th trip to WDW
Rhonda - sister, 55, 30th trip to WDW
Mia - sister, 63, 9th trip to WDW
Jay - nephew-in-law, 35, hasn't been since in 10 years
Lauren - great-niece, 3, 1st trip to WDW
THE PLAN: 7 people in a 3-bedroom condo just off Disney property for 4 days of driving and 6 days in Orlando.
THE BUDGET: The condo was a gift from my boss - $0.
My daughters and I have Aps from May - $0.
My sisters will pay for 1 of my girls' food - $0.
Food for Meg & me - $500.
Fun stuff and souvenirs - $500.
Day 1 - Friday, January 21st, 2005 - Get Us Out of Chicago FAST!
We have a tradition in our family - it dates back to when I was a little girl - when you're going to Disney, you get up VEEEERYYYYYY EEEAAAARLYYYY! (And you SAY it like that, too!) Jay & Lauren are spending the night at his MIL's (my 3rdsister, Judi, who's not going on the trip), Rhonda & Mia (in Rhonda's Ford Windstar) will meet Steph, Meg, and I (in my Toyota Matrix) are supposed to converge on Judi's house at 4:30am, Friday, January 21st. The plan is to get up at 3:30, but I'm awake at 3:00. At 3:10, I head to the bathroom. As I pass the
girls' room, I hear Meggie say something unintelligible. Steph says, "What?" as I pop my head in the door. We realize Meg's still asleep. Steph looks at the clock and wonders out loud, "WHY am I awake at 3 in the morning?!?" Umm, you're going to DISNEY!!!
By 5am, we're on the road - Rhonda, Mia, Steph, and Meg in the van, Jay, Lauren, and I in the car. Now the plan is this: I55 South to I294 to I80 West to I57 South to I24 East (that gets us through IL). I24 takes us though KY and into TN. After Nashville, you get on 75 South through GA into FL, jump on the FL Turnpike, get off on Rt. 4, and well, you all know the way from there!
EXCEPT, Rhonda, who's been there more times than any of us, gets on 80 EAST, instead of 80 WEST. We just left 30 minutes ago, it's still dark, and the VETERAN takes a wrong turn! Not a huge problem, they will just take 80 East to 65 South and travel through IN, we'll meet up this afternoon around Nashville, but this leaves Jay and I without any adult supervision (I don't CARE that we're in our 30s, that doesn't make us ADULTS!!!)
We beat them to Nashville, btw, despite 2 stops for gas, 1 stop for food, and 2 stops for my bladder. (They stopped once for gas, once for food, and once for a potty break.) Lauren, for a 3-year-old, was exceptional in the car. She only had 2 episodes - one in a TN rest stop, where ON THE POTTY she realizes the BEAST lives in Disney, so we should go home RIGHT NOW! And the other was right before we stopped for the night (in Perry, GA). She was getting very restless (so were the
rest of us!) and wanted to stop. I told her 4 more miles, to which she replied, "I don't WANT 4 more miles!!!" Neither do we, honey.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn with a Green Derby Restaurant attached, free breakfast there in the morning.
HIGH: Checking the Weather Channel in the hotel to find that Chicago was getting dumped with 8" of snow Friday night
LOW: Too many hours in the car with a 3-year-old.
Day 2 - Saturday, January 22nd, 2005 - Get Us to Florida Already!
After breakfast in GA, it's back to the cars… rest of the drive is pretty uneventful. We're on the FL Turnpike about ˝ an hour from the condo when my phone rings. It's Anne from IA, who we're meeting at 8:15 tonight for a Birthday Illuminations Cruise. She asks where we are and tells me they're in Germany having a blast. See ya later!
We find the condo, Cypress Pointe Grandvillas with no trouble, check in, and head to our condo. HOLY COW!!! It took about 15 minutes before we all stopped running from room to room gaping! I had read mostly good, but a couple bad, reviews about this place, and I have to side with the good! The main complaint I saw was unkempt hallways. The halls were fine; I saw no signs of garbage anywhere. MY only complaint would be that there are no hooks in the bathroom (I go NOWHERE without my robe!), and no shelves in the showers to put your shampoo bottle on. Not that those 2 little inconveniences would stop me from staying
there again!
By 5pm, we're out of the condo, reluctantly, and all piled into the van to go to the Boardwalk. My daughters' favorite place to eat in Disney is the hot dog stand on the Boardwalk that serves chili-cheese hot dogs and C-C fries. We parked, took the mandatory picture of my girls on the couch just inside the doors before you get IN the lobby, and headed out the back door to the actual boardwalk itself. Uh oh. I spot it first… or rather; I spot the LACK of it first. The hot dog stand is gone.
If any of you have had a 16-year-old daughter with a tendency to pout and a really picky appetite, you know what's coming up here. To keep the peace, I approached the first cast member I saw to ask where the hot dog stand went. Down for refurbishment, but there's a hot dog vendor nearby. Great! Or not, he has no chili or cheese. But he tells us that EPSN makes c-c dogs! Great! Or not, now she's mad because he was cute, and I didn't talk to him long enough! (Bet you didn't see THAT part coming!) So, we all go to ESPN for dinner. Meg & I split the c-c dog, Steph decides it's not the same so she'll wait until the next trip and orders a Cesar salad (ARGGGHHH!!!!!). She was right, it wasn't that good. Best part of EPSN? - the TVs in the bathroom! Cool!
We hopped the boat to the Yacht & Beach Club for our Birthday Illuminations Cruise. We get there about an hour early. Mia & Jay plop down on a bench, the rest of us head inside to explore the hotel (and hit the bathroom one last time). About 8:10, I headed over to the marina to pay for the cruise, and when I get back, Anne and her family are there! I found Anne while looking for a cruise and invited them to join us. She and I had never met, but it was like being around old friends! I had glow necklaces I bought off the Internet for everyone, they put life jackets on the 3 little kids, and we boarded.
The pontoon boat was decorated with balloons and a "Happy Birthday" banner. There was cake and soda and chips. Our captain, Tracy, was very good and friendly. She was not able to stump either Anne or me with the trivia, and in turn, we taught her all about the Disney sites on the net! The cake was delicious and Illuminations was incredible from that spot under the bridge! I would do this again in a heartbeat!
Dropped most of the crew back at the condo, and Rhonda and I head to Winn-Dixie for breakfast provision. We get coffee and don't realize until we get back that we forgot filters! Luckily, the condo gives you a pack of coffee, so we just used that the first day and went back for filters the next day.
HIGH: Birthday Illuminations Cruise, meeting Anne, the condo, BEING HERE!!!
LOW: finding the hot dog stand was gone
Part 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7
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