GoofyMom's Even Greater American Road Trip - 2008 - Updated 11/14 - Page 13 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Great photos and it really sounds like you had a fun relaxing vacation at there house. Love the photo of Abby playing with the laser pointer! Too funny.
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We were up nice and early again. We finished loading everything up in our van. It was such a bittersweet time because we were leaving and had some goodbyes to say. Last night we’d said goodbye to the neighbours – Kristina and Jason had brought over 2 very sleepy children who wanted to say goodbye to us before we left. Well, this morning I blubbered some goodbyes to Adam and Ashley, then headed to the van. But…. I didn’t have to say goodbye to Bill, Jan or Abby because – they were coming with us!!! They packed up Bill’s truck while we packed up our van and we were off… to McDonalds! Bill & Jan had a couple last minute errands to do, so we agreed to meet at McDonalds to grab breakfast before heading out of town to…. Walt Disney World!
We were on the road by 8:45. We followed Bill. He had loaned me a portable DVD player, so I watched Cars. We stopped every couple hours at rest stops and at 2:00 (after the time zone change, still just 1:00 to our bodies) we stopped at a Burger King for lunch and filled up with gas. $3.799/gal and we needed 11.6 gallons. I borrowed a different movie at that stop – Bee Movie. Um. I didn’t finish it.
At 5:15 we were passing under those happiest gates in the world! We checked into POP Century and found out that my TA had done a marvellous job and got us connecting rooms even though Bill had booked their room himself. They put us in the 70’s decade.
Abby helping us find a hidden Mickey!
We’d been in contact with Angie (poohsgirl) who was also staying at POP. She came over while we were getting settled in and it was so good to see her again!!
After briefly getting hugs and introducing her to Dan, he and I had to head off to Classic Hall to take care of some business before we could get into the parks.
We had ordered our park passes through a Canadian airline’s loyalty program (Aeroplan). I had thought they were a little weird when we got them, because they were vouchers sent via email that we had to print ourselves. Any other time I’ve ordered passes through a (different and much better!) loyalty program, they’ve sent me an actual physical ticket. But anyway, we were assured by the Aeroplan’s Customer Service that all we had to do was go to the front desk and they would add our passes to our room keys. Well. No. I don’t remember for sure but it was at least 45 minutes, 3 CM’s and a pile of phone calls later, and we were told that we had to go to a Guest Services window at one of the 4 parks. Nice. By that point I was really ticked with Aeroplan. Never been a fan of Air Canada. Still not a fan of Air Canada.
Fortunately, our travel companions are pretty laid back and easy going and they weren’t upset about our delay. We all squeezed into Bill’s truck and were off to MK for the night. Dan & I headed to GS to straighten out our ticket situation, and finally…. We had them! One thing about Aeroplan that I had to begrudgingly say thank you for, was that the tickets were valued at about $600, so I guess all in all, we were only out about an hour, but we saved $600.
Getting a hug from Mr Potato Head on the way to the truck
We had hoped to meet up with Sue (rescuesk) & Steve (her DH) to watch Spectro and Wishes with them, but the crowds were kind of wild and it just wasn’t meant to happen. We headed to Tomorrowland and found a place to sit and catch up with Angie some more and enjoyed a little snack from The Lunching Pad. Abby played and we had a blast watching her have fun.
Playing with Abby in Tomorrowland
We headed towards the bridge to the castle so we could catch the fireworks. After Wishes, the crowd cleared out some, and we finally got to meet up with Sue and Steve in the Hub. It was sooo good to see them again too! We introduced Dan around again, so finally he’s part of “the gang”.
Dan got a pretty shot of the castle
We very slowly headed to the exits, said our see ya tomorrow’s to Sue and Steve and we were on our way back to POP.
Angie and I had to share some space in the truck!
We got to the food court around 11:00 -- just as the various stations were closing so there wasn’t a whole lot of choice, but we managed to find some food for a very late dinner. After we ate, we headed to our rooms for a quick sleep because tomorrow we had a breakfast ADR at Boma!
The weather today was... sunny, mid 80s The best thing today was... seeing Angie, Sue & Steve again! The worst thing today was... the park pass rigamarole The funniest thing today was... Abby playing with me in MK Today we tried... eating a turkey leg and the result was... Icky! The most magical moment today was... finding out we had connecting rooms
Glad to hear the savings on the tickets were worth the extra hassle. YAY! Finally at WDW woo hooo!!!! Sounds like it was a nice, uneventful drive too. Also happy to see Abby's Mickey sword ( I play with that too.....)!
__________________
Tanya
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It looks like you guys had a great time at MK. Sorry about the problems with your tickets but you did save a lot of money. Can't wait to read more.
Liz
Jeepers! I really need to pay closer attention to my photos! I found a few from Thursday night that I missed, and there's one I wanted to post. So here it is:
A tired family going back to their room after a fun time at Magic Kingdom
Yep, that photo just about sums it up. I think we've all been there at the end of the loooonnngg day!!!!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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I didn’t finish it.
I don’t remember for sure but it was at least 45 minutes, 3 CM’s and a pile of phone calls later, and we were told that we had to go to a Guest Services window at one of the 4 parks. Nice. By that point I was really ticked with Aeroplan. Never been a fan of Air Canada. Still not a fan of Air Canada.
Parlor Panther in 'stalking mode'
Linear Mode
