One if By Land - TR by Coop/ChukkerB - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Sounds like you had an uneventful drive down which is always a good thing and it's always so great to hear when you check into Disney that your room is ready!!! Glad you got a few rides in at the MK before having to head back to AKL for Boma! I've never had the zebra domes but I've heard so many rave reviews about them!
Oh - you NEED to try a Zebra Dome!
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Originally Posted by lauriep
A great start! I'm always amazed that you can drive for such long stretches, but it's wonderful to get to WDW before noon on arrival day! You even got to do a few rides at MK and just get into the spirit by walking down Main Street. Boma looks wonderful and I love Chuck's method of zebra domes between each course as a palate cleanser!
Thanks Laurie. He can get away with Zebra Dome palate cleansers while on vacation!
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Originally Posted by taylan1
Great start! Love the pictures of your furbabies! It seems lately no matter what interstate you are on there is construction, construction and more construction. You are correct in that the traffic in Atlanta is always a pain, no matter what time you go through. Glad you made it in early and your room was ready!
The Boma pictures made me hungry. I want a little bit of everything with a side of Zebra Domes please! I can't wait to read more! Keep it coming!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
You two have road trips down pat! So neat that you arrived early enough to get some time in at MK before dinner. I love Chuck's Zebra Domes with every plate/course. Like you, I only ever manage two.
We do. While I do like getting there in a couple of hours, I do cherish our road trips.
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Originally Posted by lfredsbo
yeah! You started! Love the pics of the fur babies! Looks like you two are off to a good start!
Thanks Lisa!
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Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Yum I love getting my boma fix from your reports! Looks great!!
Awww, Maci! You know I'm good for a food pic or two
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Originally Posted by ChukkerB
A great start indeed. Next trip we might leave at Midnight! The Town and Country was so nice to cruise in. We followed the "Along I-75" book by Dave Hunter. That book is so FREAKIN' FANTASTIC!!! You cannot go wrong following that book. It's funny when he shows a cop car on the page and you look up, AND THERE'S ONE THERE! His recommendation of The Drury Inn in Valdosta is "SPOT ON" Clean rooms, friendly staff, Clean bathroom, lot's of places to eat nearby, and did I mention CLEAN?!? We seemed to zoom thru the pages of the book, and satellite radio kept us entertained. Maybe the biggest thing is how nice the roads were (South of Dayton) and The HOV lane thru Atlanta was pretty sweet.
I promise not to steal any of Coop's thunder this TR. Thanks for following her/us, It really means a lot to us.
It's your thunder too babe. I'm sure people want to hear from you rather from me prattling on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by manticorjenn
I am so glad you've started your TR!!! I can't wait to read all about your adventures. Love the pics of your furbabies and Duffy.
I especially can't wait for the Sea portion of your report as I have booked our 20th anniversary cruise on the Dream. I even booked the same cabin you had. It looks like a perfect place to relax and watch the sunset.
That was a car Duffy. We took another with us and came home with 4 more!
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Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
Great start!
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by jandsdennis
signing in early on this one! Yay. Looking good. Not sure I like the fact of the 1 had fun!
Welcome! You caught that. Well, stay tuned!
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Originally Posted by Shari2137
Great start. Love the pictures of your fur babies. We have always stayed at Kidani, when staying at AKL and actually like the walk between the two locations.
Thanks. It was a good little walk. But when we were coming back from dinner, the woman walking behind us was doing a "walk and talk" on her cell phone and ignoring her kid who was trying to gain her attention.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great start to your trip! I love the photos of Duffy in the car on the way down!
Thanks Cheryl! We had a car Duffy and a slightly larger Duffy. But came home with those two PLUS Santa Duffy, Captain Duffy, Yoda Duffy and an even LARGER Duffy! The backseat was full on the trip home! All buckled up, mind you.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start Tracy!
Thanks Marnie!
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Originally Posted by MikeL
Great start and so happy you had a great time and drive down, But 17 hours first day does make for a long long haul. No wonder Duffy was bouncing arround the car. That little wild child needs to be in a child seat with his seatbelts on some of those states have very expensive summonses for not having your child secured. And Being an ED NURSE you should know what sort of things can happen
We adopted FOUR MORE! (Some even have clothes!) And yes, they were all buckled up on the drive home!
We stayed at Kidani in October as well and we absolutely loved it.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy4monkeez
Yay! Sounds like you had a good trip down and how awesome that your room was ready when you got there! Can't wait to read more!
Thanks! It was great that our room was ready! I didn't think it would be because we got there so early.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Sounded like a nice, easy drive down and you made it early and got to go to MK for a bit.
It was a good drive - except for the part when I was driving too sleep deprived. Very dangerous and I don't recommend it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MinneyCaT
great start. You guys did great for a long trip with little sleep!
When I swerved and woke Chuck up - I knew I had to pull over. Looking back - it was too dangerous. We were lucky.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Dave Hunter's book does sound neat, Chuck!
It's really cool, Cam. It has little stories about nearby attractions and info on history of the area. It also has recommendations on food and lodging along the way. We've tried a couple and it's been spot on!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackid2
Can't wait to read all about your adventures! The food a Boma looks yummy, now you are going to have to forgive me for asking this but what are Zebra Domes?
My DH wanted to try Boma so we have reservations for our trip in Jan.
Oh my! A Zebra Dome is a little bit of heaven in a bite sized dessert. It's a small bite of sponge cake topped with a espresso/kahlua mousse drenched in a white chocolate ganache with chocolate stripes. WARNING - VERY ADDICTIVE!
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Originally Posted by KMB733
Great start to your trip! Boma looks delicious
Thanks.
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Originally Posted by lindawdw
Loved your input Chuck - we thank you both for entertaining us with your travel stories Sounds like Dave Hunter wrote a great book for car travelers!
He really did. Thanks for coming along for the adventure!
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Originally Posted by POOKIE81
Checking in! Great start
Welcome! Thanks for joining us!
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Originally Posted by llgmommy2
I am so happy you started this TR!!! I love your TR! You made very good timing. I LOVE the Drury Inn Hotels too. I had my wedding reception at a Drury! We even stay there every NYE with all the family. Cannot wait to hear/read more!
Awwww, Thanks! Glad you like our TR's!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I've never been a road-trip fan, but you make it sound like fun, Chuck!
He is a great travel partner Laurie! Not only do we go by the "Along I75 book" and call out restaurants etc. We also still play slug bug (sort of). We don't slug but we call out the bug and the color. "Yellow one!" Sometimes it ends up just being every car that color - kind of like at the end of "UP" Unfortunately, ice cream isn't involved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by taylan1
Love this! Totally love our T&C too! It is such a pleasure to drive, especially to Disney! The drive down is totally part of the fun!
I was reluctant to get a, ehhem . . . minivan. But I must say, it's really a great car!
Saturday Oct 25
I was up around 7:30 before any alarms. We had our tea/coffee out on our balcony visiting with the zebra and giraffe. I was looking through our FP+ and they were all in the afternoon. Chuck and I decided that we wanted to change things up and checked out DME to change our times. We realized that we could get FP for Everest within the hour and then we could get the Safari and FOTLK before lunch as well. So we switched them and nixed doing Kali River Rapids. We got ready really quick and headed out. On our way down the hall to the elevator, we noticed that someone had stayed in and had room service as there was a tray in the hall. (remember this) We got to the bus stop and had a bus right away and was in AK in just a few minutes. Now, I'm not a coaster fan but since I've done it (once) before, Chuck insists that I go on EE with him. We went through the FP line and it wasn't long before we were being loaded onto our train by none other than Heather (ilovedisney247)! I said "Heather McDonald?" and she looked at me quizzically then I introduced myself and Chuck and gave our PP names. It took a minute to sink in but then we were getting hugs and warm PP greetings! Then we got on EE and I screamed and cursed at Chuck through the entire thing! We didn't really have time to visit or anything with Heather - but I'm still counting it as a meet. It was great to finally meet you Heather! Next time, maybe we will have some time to actually visit.
After our ride, we wanted to find something that looked like breakfast. So we headed over to Kusafari. I had a cinnamon roll and Chuck had an egg white, spinach, goat cheese wrap. Naturally, we shared. (Sorry, no pics of these) After breakfast we were supposed to do Kali but that's when we did FOTLK. Now, I LOVE this show and was excited to see it in its new location even though the actual show didn't change any. On our way there, we stopped for a bit of shopping and to check out the drummers. I found a bucket hat at that shop right across from the safari and got it since I didn't wear a hat this am. Then, I found a sun hat at a kiosk outside of FOTLK that I liked but wanted to think about it for a bit before buying it. Remember this! We enjoyed FOTLK and then headed over to the safari, which was our next FP. We did have a bit of time to wait so we sat on a bench and did some people watching. We did our safari and after that we decided to head back to the resort.
"Hello"
He was being a bit camera shy
We got back to Kidani and hit the pool and hot tub. After that, we stopped at the bar and got a drink to bring back to the room.
These next photos are from around the room, resort and off our balcony. First Chuck wanted to "deconstruct" a zebra dome.
These are from our balcony.
Around the resort
We had plenty of time before our evenings plans to watch the football game (U of M vs Mich State - major rivalry) and sneak in a little nap. Not long and we were getting ready for our evening - dinner at Narcoossee's! On our way to the busses, we noticed that the room service tray was still in the hallway. Soon, we were on a bus heading to MK. Then we took the monorail around the loop to GF. We were worried because we were cutting it close time wise but we were fine ultimately. We checked in and saw some in flip flops and shorts, etc. (major peeve for me, but Chuck said he wasn't going to let it bother him this time ) We also saw some turned away - not because of their dress but because of no reservations. Anyway, we got a pager and had a chance to hit the bathrooms before they were calling us. Actually, they came up to us rather than use the pager because they noticed that we didn't go outside or to the bar - she remembered us. As usual, Narcoossee's was AWESOME! Wine, cheese board, calamari (for Chuck), we both got the filet with lobster tail and I got the almond cheesecake for dessert (heaven on a plate) and Chuck had the pistachio gelato! We were stuffed and feeling fine.
We debated about going to DTD or back to the resort. The resort won. But we did browse some of the shops in the GF before we trekked back. This is where my notes stopped for today, I know I probably crunched some numbers and wrote up the notes while watching a bit of tv. And I can probably guess that Chuck was out like a light shortly after we got back.
A nicely paced day-- full, but you didn't push it and had plenty of down-time. It's vacation! I can't wait to see all the changes in the Harambe area at AK. What a nice dinner at Narcoosee. Room service trays left out-- NOT good!
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What a great day! How cool you were able to swap your Fastpasses around like that and I'm so glad you got to meet Heather, even if it was a very brief encounter.
What a wonderfully relaxing day at AK and how great that you got to introduce yourself to Heather! I've never eaten at Narcoossee's but it's on my bucket list of restaurants that I'd like to experience one day!
We actually noticed the same about the room service trays. The people across the hall from us got room service everyday and the tray was always there when we left for the day and when we got back. It was very weird if you ask me. I was sure that someone would have picked it up at some point.
Sounds like you had a very nice time at AK and at dinner
Love the relaxing slow paced day starting with roller coasters and ending with delicious! That's my kind of trip! I'll have to make my timeline overlap with yours one of these years....
Glad you got to see Heather! I was hoping for a sighting at EE on one of our AK days but no luck!
Sounded like a nice relaxing day at AK and around the resort and a wonderful dinner at Narcoossee's!
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! And that we would be taking 2 DAYS to get there/home and not 2 HOURS.
I do the same exact thing to my DH. I don't think they realize how fast they are going sometimes. Haha
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I want a little bit of everything with a side of Zebra Domes please! 
I can't wait to read more! Keep it coming! 
So neat that you arrived early enough to get some time in at MK before dinner. I love Chuck's Zebra Domes with every plate/course. 
Like you, I only ever manage two.
) We also saw some turned away - not because of their dress but because of no reservations. Anyway, we got a pager and had a chance to hit the bathrooms before they were calling us. Actually, they came up to us rather than use the pager because they noticed that we didn't go outside or to the bar - she remembered us. As usual, Narcoossee's was AWESOME! Wine, cheese board, calamari (for Chuck), we both got the filet with lobster tail and I got the almond cheesecake for dessert (heaven on a plate) and Chuck had the pistachio gelato! We were stuffed and feeling fine. 
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