Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
"Are you done with that?!" A photo heavy, gluttonous, Jan 2012 Trip Report! NEW PG32
- Thread starter Twoboysnmygirl
- Start date
3DisneyKids
More Drink, Less Run...Since 2008
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2005
Here. You promised pics. 
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
Here. You promised pics.
yes, yes, there will be MANY! I haven't even gotten through a quarter of the editing yet, but promise there will be an update in the morning and you'll regret wanting lots of pics! I even took a shot of the Subway sign on the drive down...I got this!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
It was a dark and stormy night...
Ok, it wasn't stormy. Fine, it wasn't dark at first, but we did leave at 2:15pm with the intention of driving through the night from Missouri. It mapped about 17 hours and since Rey is a truck driver, we thought we could pull this off.
Rey stayed up the night before and slept part of the day on Friday (Jan. 27th) so that he could drive in the middle of the night. I did all the last minute packing and had some petsitting to do as well before leaving town. Everything actually went pretty smooth.
The girls were pretty excited! Savannah donned her mickey ears!
We packed up the car and WOW, it was packed!
We were in there like sardines with the top full and seriously very little wiggle room. I kept wondering where all my souvenir's would go on the way back! 
At 2:15pm we were on our way! I brought my trusty journal and books to read, but was too excited at first. We had Subway for dinner, my FIRST Subway in a long time and the beginning of my gluttonous trip! I got a veggie foot long. I think they put crack in their mayo. Seriously, that stuff is good! I didn't take a picture, can you believe it? Ok, I did take a picture of the Subway SIGN, but I thought it would be silly to post it here.
That's probably the last restraint I will show in this TR!
The sun was pretty going down out in the middle of wherever-we-were...
but that was the last I saw of ANYTHING for hours upon hours. I really did figure that the drive would be long but that we would be so excited on the way down that it wouldn't be so bad. Wrongo!
It really was pitch black and the night went on FOREVER. With nothing to look at and chatting exhausted, some of us tried to sleep. Uh. no. Sleeping wasn't really an option. I dozed for maybe 10 minutes at a time but around Chattanooga, a JERKING woke me up.
The Durango was having trouble shifting for some reason after going through the mountain areas in Chattanooga. I held it together as well as anyone who had been dreaming of this trip for years and didn't have extra money for repairs!
Actually, what I did was take over driving. We discussed going home, but we were more than halfway there with a trip paid off and free food for a week, we decided to press on and take it to a mechanic once we made it to Orlando...if we made it! Besides, there was nowhere to take it in the middle of the night on a Saturday.
We found that somehow I had a gentler foot than Rey and could drive it without the jerkiness. Let's backtrack here a bit. I have an astigmatism and have issues seeing at night. AND, although my dh is a truck driver, it's well known that I get tired when driving. I once offered to drive on a road trip so Rey could sleep. We woke up in a rest area less than an HOUR from where I had started driving b/c I got too tired after just an hour driving!
There I go with the rambling! So, I drove. When Rey tried to sleep, he made Dylan stay up with me to keep me awake, but that didn't stop me from swerving or my eyes going wonky b/c it was so dark. We pulled over multiple times that night and luckily it's like childbirth and I can't remember much of the pain now.
Dylan was very helpful, he even planned with me and took the picture that I missed last trip...of the Florida sign! Please note the blurriness (I was probably swerving, LOL) and the absolute dark abyss of a night that it was...
Ooooh, too much talky between pics that time, huh? Maybe I SHOULD post the Subway pic!
I think I nearly cried for joy when the sun started coming up! Everyone woke when this happened and I continued to drive b/c when Rey would try to drive, it would act up. What can I say, my car loves me. We stopped for caffeine and spirits were high when we finally saw this beauty! Dylan actually took this shot, it turns out he's learning quite a bit just from listening to me (who knew?!?) so every time I needed a shot taken on the trip, I gave him the camera. The one time I let Rey take a picture, it was blurry!
We came in a different entrance than before, so I was a bit turned around, but we followed the signs
and at 10am (17 hours later) we arrived at our home for the week!
We parked in the check-in lot and the first thing I thought was "I'm finally back!!!"
The second thing I thought... "Uh, what are all these crowds of people?"
Stay tuned for more on that! I'll probably do another update here pretty quick as I know the travel/arrival day can be pretty boring to read about!
and PLEASE, someone remind me to never drive again. Seriously, if I start talking about driving in any future PTR's, just knock me upside the head. 17 hours straight (or 21...on the way home...more on THAT later!) is just too much. It's exhausting. Who wants to be tired when they arrive AND when they get home? Taking two days is also not an option b/c it eats up too much vacation time. So, plane or nothin'. Remind me. I will forget!
Ok, it wasn't stormy. Fine, it wasn't dark at first, but we did leave at 2:15pm with the intention of driving through the night from Missouri. It mapped about 17 hours and since Rey is a truck driver, we thought we could pull this off.
Rey stayed up the night before and slept part of the day on Friday (Jan. 27th) so that he could drive in the middle of the night. I did all the last minute packing and had some petsitting to do as well before leaving town. Everything actually went pretty smooth.
The girls were pretty excited! Savannah donned her mickey ears!
We packed up the car and WOW, it was packed!
We were in there like sardines with the top full and seriously very little wiggle room. I kept wondering where all my souvenir's would go on the way back!
At 2:15pm we were on our way! I brought my trusty journal and books to read, but was too excited at first. We had Subway for dinner, my FIRST Subway in a long time and the beginning of my gluttonous trip! I got a veggie foot long. I think they put crack in their mayo. Seriously, that stuff is good! I didn't take a picture, can you believe it? Ok, I did take a picture of the Subway SIGN, but I thought it would be silly to post it here.
That's probably the last restraint I will show in this TR!
The sun was pretty going down out in the middle of wherever-we-were...
but that was the last I saw of ANYTHING for hours upon hours. I really did figure that the drive would be long but that we would be so excited on the way down that it wouldn't be so bad. Wrongo!
It really was pitch black and the night went on FOREVER. With nothing to look at and chatting exhausted, some of us tried to sleep. Uh. no. Sleeping wasn't really an option. I dozed for maybe 10 minutes at a time but around Chattanooga, a JERKING woke me up.
The Durango was having trouble shifting for some reason after going through the mountain areas in Chattanooga. I held it together as well as anyone who had been dreaming of this trip for years and didn't have extra money for repairs!
Actually, what I did was take over driving. We discussed going home, but we were more than halfway there with a trip paid off and free food for a week, we decided to press on and take it to a mechanic once we made it to Orlando...if we made it! Besides, there was nowhere to take it in the middle of the night on a Saturday.
We found that somehow I had a gentler foot than Rey and could drive it without the jerkiness. Let's backtrack here a bit. I have an astigmatism and have issues seeing at night. AND, although my dh is a truck driver, it's well known that I get tired when driving. I once offered to drive on a road trip so Rey could sleep. We woke up in a rest area less than an HOUR from where I had started driving b/c I got too tired after just an hour driving!
There I go with the rambling! So, I drove. When Rey tried to sleep, he made Dylan stay up with me to keep me awake, but that didn't stop me from swerving or my eyes going wonky b/c it was so dark. We pulled over multiple times that night and luckily it's like childbirth and I can't remember much of the pain now.
Dylan was very helpful, he even planned with me and took the picture that I missed last trip...of the Florida sign! Please note the blurriness (I was probably swerving, LOL) and the absolute dark abyss of a night that it was...
Ooooh, too much talky between pics that time, huh? Maybe I SHOULD post the Subway pic!
I think I nearly cried for joy when the sun started coming up! Everyone woke when this happened and I continued to drive b/c when Rey would try to drive, it would act up. What can I say, my car loves me. We stopped for caffeine and spirits were high when we finally saw this beauty! Dylan actually took this shot, it turns out he's learning quite a bit just from listening to me (who knew?!?) so every time I needed a shot taken on the trip, I gave him the camera. The one time I let Rey take a picture, it was blurry!
We came in a different entrance than before, so I was a bit turned around, but we followed the signs
and at 10am (17 hours later) we arrived at our home for the week!
We parked in the check-in lot and the first thing I thought was "I'm finally back!!!"
The second thing I thought... "Uh, what are all these crowds of people?"
Stay tuned for more on that! I'll probably do another update here pretty quick as I know the travel/arrival day can be pretty boring to read about!
and PLEASE, someone remind me to never drive again. Seriously, if I start talking about driving in any future PTR's, just knock me upside the head. 17 hours straight (or 21...on the way home...more on THAT later!) is just too much. It's exhausting. Who wants to be tired when they arrive AND when they get home? Taking two days is also not an option b/c it eats up too much vacation time. So, plane or nothin'. Remind me. I will forget!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
I had finally arrived! It was pretty surreal after all this time planning, but like usual, what you plan for doesn't always end up working! In my case, it was the crowds. Pop was more packed than I had ever seen it. Granted, I had last been there in September of 2008, but I was pretty shocked b/c I had read numerous accounts of how slow the end of January is and that it's a tradeoff for the weather and refurbs. 
Disney handles people well though and I got in line for regular check-in while everyone else checked out Everything Pop!
I had not done online check-in b/c I was worried I wouldn't get any of my requests, and it paid off! I got everything I requested! 50's lake view! But, the CM told me that the resort had been full the previous night and our room wasn't ready yet. FULL??!?
I gave them my cell so they could notify us, but I was told we were in building 3, so we decided to go check it out! First us girls did a change of clothes in the bathroom and we got our mugs and all filled up! We enjoyed our walk over to the 50s area, in 2008 I had stayed in the 80s and never even been to this side of the resort! Love the theming! Ready for too many pics?!?
60s on the way to the 50s
This is actually the building we were in, the elevators were right behind Tramp...
Bowling pin pool, which is so large, you can't really get a full shot of it except from up on the 4th floor!
The family was being resistant to pictures, which is nothing new! When you have a mom for a photographer, I suspect it gets old quick. We sat on a bench and enjoyed the lake. Turns out our room was right behind us, 4 floors up, but we didn't know it yet!
I was SO relaxed and happy! The weather was gorgeous!
I took some shots of the new resort, Art of Animation, they are really coming along on it! Part of it looks nearly done!
We decided that some of us were getting a little hungry (I think it was around 11-11:30?) and so we headed to the food court. Rey refused the whole time to call it a food court, he called it the "commissary".
Can anyone guess what I got? I'll give you a hint...none of us used a CS credit, we used snack credits. If YOU were a raw vegan and ate mostly salad every day but decided to let loose on vacation and eat whatever you wanted (minus meat), what would YOU get? This isn't a very hard question...
What does everyone think of the picture size? I'm thinking they are a wee bit small, should I make them bigger? Photobucket uploads them smallish, but I can increase the size a bit? I resized a few of them (pool shot, everyone on the bench, and girls walking with AoA in front of them) tell me which size is better!
Disney handles people well though and I got in line for regular check-in while everyone else checked out Everything Pop!
I had not done online check-in b/c I was worried I wouldn't get any of my requests, and it paid off! I got everything I requested! 50's lake view! But, the CM told me that the resort had been full the previous night and our room wasn't ready yet. FULL??!?
I gave them my cell so they could notify us, but I was told we were in building 3, so we decided to go check it out! First us girls did a change of clothes in the bathroom and we got our mugs and all filled up! We enjoyed our walk over to the 50s area, in 2008 I had stayed in the 80s and never even been to this side of the resort! Love the theming! Ready for too many pics?!?
60s on the way to the 50s
This is actually the building we were in, the elevators were right behind Tramp...
Bowling pin pool, which is so large, you can't really get a full shot of it except from up on the 4th floor!
The family was being resistant to pictures, which is nothing new! When you have a mom for a photographer, I suspect it gets old quick. We sat on a bench and enjoyed the lake. Turns out our room was right behind us, 4 floors up, but we didn't know it yet!
I was SO relaxed and happy! The weather was gorgeous!
I took some shots of the new resort, Art of Animation, they are really coming along on it! Part of it looks nearly done!
We decided that some of us were getting a little hungry (I think it was around 11-11:30?) and so we headed to the food court. Rey refused the whole time to call it a food court, he called it the "commissary".
Can anyone guess what I got? I'll give you a hint...none of us used a CS credit, we used snack credits. If YOU were a raw vegan and ate mostly salad every day but decided to let loose on vacation and eat whatever you wanted (minus meat), what would YOU get? This isn't a very hard question...
What does everyone think of the picture size? I'm thinking they are a wee bit small, should I make them bigger? Photobucket uploads them smallish, but I can increase the size a bit? I resized a few of them (pool shot, everyone on the bench, and girls walking with AoA in front of them) tell me which size is better!
Stringbean&Wingnut
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2010
I'm glad that you were able to finish your drive to Orlando after you took over driving, but how stressful!!! Definitely not the way you planned your trip!
Hopefully the crowds weren't too bad for you! The Art of Animation does look like it's coming along nicely!
Personally for me, the smaller pictures work better, since I mostly use a netbook (one of those smaller computers), but the ones you resized are fine too!
Hopefully the crowds weren't too bad for you! The Art of Animation does look like it's coming along nicely!
Personally for me, the smaller pictures work better, since I mostly use a netbook (one of those smaller computers), but the ones you resized are fine too!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
I'm glad that you were able to finish your drive to Orlando after you took over driving, but how stressful!!! Definitely not the way you planned your trip!
Hopefully the crowds weren't too bad for you! The Art of Animation does look like it's coming along nicely!
Personally for me, the smaller pictures work better, since I mostly use a netbook (one of those smaller computers), but the ones you resized are fine too!
Well, I had PLANNED for things to not go as planned,
so once I got there, I just let it all wash away! I think I will only resize the ones that look like they need it, some of them are fine that size, it's only group shots or shots far away that seem small!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
Hello! I just started reading this morning and couldn't put your TR down, like a good book! I can't wait to see where the next chapters take me...
Wow! Thank you and Welcome! That is truly a compliment, I worry that I'm just rambling aimlessly and people will get tired of me! I know I get tired of me sometimes even!
jecskc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2010
Enjoying so far !! I imagine it is a huge struggle to decide whether or not to fly or drive. The savings you get from driving is so huge, that I think it takes over your brain and you forget how miserable it is to be in the car for 20+ hours.
Once you decide on a picture size you are happy with, photobucket will let you load all of your photos that size with the bulk uploader. There is a blue "options" link at the bottom of the bulk uploading page that allows you to set all of your photos to a certain size. I use Large and it seems to look fine on both the regular computer and netbook or iPad.
Looking forward to more !!
Once you decide on a picture size you are happy with, photobucket will let you load all of your photos that size with the bulk uploader. There is a blue "options" link at the bottom of the bulk uploading page that allows you to set all of your photos to a certain size. I use Large and it seems to look fine on both the regular computer and netbook or iPad.
Looking forward to more !!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
I had NO IDEA that I could change the size! Thank you so much, this saves me a lot of time and energy!
SeptemberGirl
More drink, less run since 2008
- Joined
- May 20, 2007
So what did you get??? I must know!!!!
okw19
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 31, 2011
Wow, and I thought the drive from NC was irritating. You guys are real troopers!
We stayed at Pop on the 20th. We arrived around 7:30 and check-in was so crowded! Everything was packed and I think it was the tour groups. We only stayed there one night before checking into OKW, and I am glad because we had NOISY neighbors upstairs from us. Hope you guys had a better time there! Love your pictures!
I REALLY enjoyed the two meals we had at Everything Pop! I can't wait to see what you guys get.
We stayed at Pop on the 20th. We arrived around 7:30 and check-in was so crowded! Everything was packed and I think it was the tour groups. We only stayed there one night before checking into OKW, and I am glad because we had NOISY neighbors upstairs from us. Hope you guys had a better time there! Love your pictures!
I REALLY enjoyed the two meals we had at Everything Pop! I can't wait to see what you guys get.
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
Yes, the tour groups were MUCH larger and more frequent than I had expected as well!
They were almost ALL teenage girls and I swear they were following the same park days as us! The good thing is that they were not disruptive or rude like some have said tour groups can be. Once or twice we saw them running, but honestly, nothing horrible, just normal excited-teenage-girl behavior! So what did you get??? I must know!!!!
Oh Liz, you must know how this works...I have to torture you for a bit to keep you coming back for the next update!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
Well, there will be many vegetarian meals to show you, but not many vegan!
I did get a couple vegan meals at our TS dinners, but CS is harder and you have to work for it a little more...and I was not in the mood to watch my eating, I just dealt with the itchy ears, occasional headache and scratchy throat! It was totally worth it to have some dairy! 
Oh and we live in St. James, MO, it's right smack in the middle! I grew up in St. Louis, MO though.
mousescrapper
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2007
Hey Karen I'm here
Reading along and loving the pictures
Looking forward to hearing all the stories even your melt down
Um NEVER drive again lady.... so sorry that plan backfired on you, but you are here and seems like you are lovin it already YAY!!!!
J
Reading along and loving the pictures
Looking forward to hearing all the stories even your melt down
Um NEVER drive again lady....
so sorry that plan backfired on you, but you are here and seems like you are lovin it already YAY!!!!J
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
Hey Karen I'm here
Reading along and loving the pictures
Looking forward to hearing all the stories even your melt down
Um NEVER drive again lady....
J
Yay! I'm glad you're here Julie!
Nope, no driving me me! Luckily my next trip it isn't even an issue, I'm going with my BFF, Hope, and since it's just a girls trip, I can totally pull off airfare! I'm sure as soon as I'm done with this TR, I will be planning like made for February 2013!!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
I am reading along!!! I am a rookie on here but, not a rookie Disney girl I LOVE THAT PLACE!!!I found your post through Karen and have gone back and sort of caught up. I am so happy this trip finally happened for you all.
Welcome! Thank you so much, I have a lot of relief that we finally made the trip, that might sound funny, but after having to postpone and cancel so much, most of my anxiety was about actually MAKING it and once we did, I just let it all go and had such a great time!
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