A DREAM is a wish your heart makes...Halloween on the High Seas edition - updated 09/14/2014 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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And here's a brief overview of the trip: Dates:
of entire trip – Wednesday, October 9, 2013 – Saturday, October 19, 2013
Cruise departs on Sunday, October 13, 2013 for 4 nights in the Bahamas arriving back in port on Thursday, October 17, 2013
Getting There:
driving from St. Louis area! This should be interesting with the younger cast going
Accommodations:
before cruise – standard studio at AKV–Kidani
After cruise – standard view studio at BLT
During cruise - Category 07A - Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Navigator's Verandah
Cast:
Me, Kelly (33 at trip time) – planner extraordinaire! First time cruiser!
DH, Mike (33 at trip time) – direction expert! First time cruiser!
DS(1), Dylan (will turn 6 the week before we leave) – water slide lover & Best Big Brother! First time cruiser!
DS(2), Lukas (will turn 3 just 2 weeks before we leave) – hopes to be potty trained to go down the slide and in the kid’s clubs with his big brother. First time cruiser! (see a theme there)
Guest appearances by famous PPs!
Cam (Cam22) & her DH Luke – they’ll be visiting the world before we leave for the cruise for F&WF and we hope we can meet up with them at some point before they head back home on the 12th
Melissa (honeybee723), her DH Chad & DD Hope – they’re coming on the cruise with us and we’re all going to MNSSHP the day we get off the ship!
So the beginning is the boring part since we drove and it took quite a while to get there. I will say that we will be driving again as it was cost effective for us and Mike doesn’t mind driving as long as we don’t have big plans the first day. We timed the trip pretty good as gas prices dropped just before leaving and weren’t too bad the farther we got south either. I topped off the tank the day we left for $2.88 a gallon and I think the most we paid on the trip was $3.35 a gallon, so at most it was $67 to fill the tank and we filled it 7.5 times for the round trip. Therefore we spent, at most, $503 ($67 x 7.5) on gas – much cheaper than the $1200 in airfare we would’ve had to pay. We had no other hotel expenses as we drove straight through both on the way down and back.
The day we left Mike took the day off and I took a half day. After I left for work, he took the boys to school and then came home to have breakfast and then a nap since he’d be the one driving in the middle of the night. Once I got off work I stopped at Jack-in-the-Box for lunch for Mike & I and brought it home. Mike was getting ready when I arrived so I ate and then finished the packing while he ate. Boy did we have a lot of stuff! As we were packing the car I knew we’d have to put at least part of the 3rd row up. So I decided to put the whole thing up and threw in the sit-n-stand stroller so we wouldn’t have to rent one at Legoland or MK for MNSSHP. The back was then full and the boys had the snacks and their bags to keep them busy for the ride.
ready to be taken to the car
car is loaded & ready to go!
After the car was packed we picked Lukas up from daycare, then picked Dylan up from school and we were on our way at 3:20pm with me starting the drive. I gave the boys a snack of apple slices and peanut butter hoping that would last them a while before stopping for dinner. Within an hour we were in IL and stopped at a rest stop for 2 little boys and their Mommy have a bio break. The rest area was very nice! Then it was back on the road and soon we were in Kentucky. We stopped in Paducah, KY for dinner at a chik-fil-a hoping the boys would play while Mike & I ate and then they could eat in the car when we were done. Lukas did not want to play so he ate with us, but Dylan did play and then ate in the car. We got back in the car with Mike now taking over the driving and drove a little while longer until we needed gas (still in KY). The boys spent time watching movies and playing or watching shows on their Kindles and really were very good on the way down overall. Dylan was the best traveler! He never complained or asked when we would get there. He was a champ!
good bye St louis!
entering Kentucky
we made it!
Made it to TN!
As it got later the boys started drifting off to sleep but I could tell they, especially Lukas, was very uncomfortable and would wake themselves up every once in a while. I admit to giving them each a children’s Benadryl when they started getting antsy and overtired and soon they were snoozing away. We arrived in the Atlanta area a little after midnight and needed to stop again for gas. I believe we tried before we hit the city but the exit we took had nothing open so I suggested we drive a little farther to see if something was open. At this point I was just dozing off & on. Mike had taken some energy drink and was doing good. Once we found an open gas station we pulled in, had bio breaks, Mike got some lukewarm coffee and we continued on. The boys both woke up about 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep so we popped in a movie and eventually they fell asleep again. Once we were awake again we were in FL! Yay! We stopped in Ocala (1 hour, 15 minutes from WDW) at 8am for breakfast at McDonald’s (tried to find one with a playplace but no such luck there) and some gas and then made our way to Disney!
We started seeing signs for Disney exits and we were never so happy to soon be out of the car! The GPS had us take a back way to AKL so we didn’t enter those magical gates but first glimpse of the roof of Jambo house and it didn’t really matter. We were home! After 18.5 hours, we were finally home!
almost there!
getting closer!
just a little bit more!
finally!
Up next…checking in and enjoying all that AKV has to offer!
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Great start, Kelly! The drive sounds tedious, to say the least, but the boys did great overall. Bravo to Mike for all that driving! Seems like the timing, with leaving after the boys got out of school, worked out really well.
First, I'm impressed that you took pictures of your journey in the car. I was either too lazy or too forgetful when it came to that. Second, I'm also impressed that Dylan used his seatbelt pillow because Hope was having no parts of hers. I had to put it under her head AFTER she was asleep.
Great start Kelly - the boys sounded like they were troopers and did really well on the car ride. I am sure seeing those Disney signs put smiles on everyone's faces after that long drive but the savings looked great so really worth it.
YAY!! I found your TR, can't wait to hear all about your adventures! The Boys did great. We have only flown when it was just adults going, so now we will be driving to WDW.
It's a long drive, but I agree it's definitely cheaper than buying airfare for 4 people. Leaving in the afternoon is a great idea because by the time kids get antsy they may fall asleep.
The boys did a great job with the drive! I admire the ability to drive thru the night. I had to quit around 1 am on our drive home from summer vacation, even though we were only 2 hours from home.
Yeah, you're at AKL!
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Great start! I'm glad that everyone did well with the long ride down. I prefer doing it the way you did, leaving in the afternoon/evening and driving straight through the night. Especially with the kids, it goes much faster for them when they sleep most of the ride anyway Can't wait to hear more!
Great start! I do NOT think I could drive that long. Kudos to Mike for driving through the night!
He said he could do it so we tried and succeeded!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Great start, Kelly! The drive sounds tedious, to say the least, but the boys did great overall. Bravo to Mike for all that driving! Seems like the timing, with leaving after the boys got out of school, worked out really well.
It did work out pretty well. I would say we'll do that again or maybe even a little later next time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by honeybee723
First, I'm impressed that you took pictures of your journey in the car. I was either too lazy or too forgetful when it came to that. Second, I'm also impressed that Dylan used his seatbelt pillow because Hope was having no parts of hers. I had to put it under her head AFTER she was asleep.
Most of those were taken by Mike after I told him "Get the camera. Take a picture!"
He used his, but poor Lukas - nothing worked for him and his little neck definitely had to hurt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Great start Kelly - the boys sounded like they were troopers and did really well on the car ride. I am sure seeing those Disney signs put smiles on everyone's faces after that long drive but the savings looked great so really worth it.
The money saved definitely made up for the long drive!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackid2
YAY!! I found your TR, can't wait to hear all about your adventures! The Boys did great. We have only flown when it was just adults going, so now we will be driving to WDW.
I hope your drive goes well when the time comes!
Quote:
Originally Posted by num1DVCfan
It's a long drive, but I agree it's definitely cheaper than buying airfare for 4 people. Leaving in the afternoon is a great idea because by the time kids get antsy they may fall asleep.
I'm glad we left late in the day even though it was a very long day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great Start!!! Bravo to Mike for driving through the night!! Glad you made it safe and sounds!
Thanks Kathy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by patclairesmom
Great start. I'm glad the boys did well in the car.
Me too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
The boys did a great job with the drive! I admire the ability to drive thru the night. I had to quit around 1 am on our drive home from summer vacation, even though we were only 2 hours from home.
Yeah, you're at AKL!
THere's no way I could do it so I'm glad Mike can. He used to drive straight home from Austin, TX to here in St. Louis by himself.
Yay!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DilBrooksmom
Great start! I envy your ability to keep positive on the long car ride down! I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try it again!
We will brave it again - twice next year!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great start! I'm glad that everyone did well with the long ride down. I prefer doing it the way you did, leaving in the afternoon/evening and driving straight through the night. Especially with the kids, it goes much faster for them when they sleep most of the ride anyway Can't wait to hear more!
Definitely the way to go - wish it was easy to do that on the way home too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great start! That is a long drive....
It is, but wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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Second, I'm also impressed that Dylan used his seatbelt pillow because Hope was having no parts of hers. I had to put it under her head AFTER she was asleep. 
DIlBrooksmom
Can't wait to hear more!
PassPorter Guide Author
THere's no way I could do it so I'm glad Mike can. He used to drive straight home from Austin, TX to here in St. Louis by himself.
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