Joshua's First Trip COMPLETE * Conclusion added 1-16-06 *
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lauren-roxy · 12-20-2005, 10:31 AM

Great update Christie!!! I'm sorry that your trip is almost over, I have really enjoyed reading your trip report!! Can't wait to read the next installment!!

TroianRae · 12-20-2005, 10:42 AM

I'm sorry that you didn't get a nap. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] That's kinda due to you and I meeting up in Classic Concoctions that afternoon. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] But I'm glad we had the chance to just talk - just you and I - and Benji!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

PrincessSharon · 12-28-2005, 11:58 AM

Great update! You sure got a lot done during EMH! I hear you on the Pop bus situation! Can't wait to read more!

**Colexis Mom** · 12-30-2005, 06:59 PM

Just catching up again Christie [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] More great updates!! I'm sorry it's all coming to an end [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

christiejay · 01-11-2006, 04:24 PM

Hey everybody!!!

Guess what? I saved up my Christmas and birthday money, and finally got a new computer. Jay hooked everything up last night and it has made so much difference. Now when I get online, I won't have to worry about all the problems I used to have with my computer freezing up.

So now, I just need to get to my trip report, which is still on my old computer. As soon as I get that transferred to somewhere I can access it, I'll post the rest of my report. Just wanted to let you know what was going on.

christiejay · 01-13-2006, 05:39 PM

Cast:

Me, Christie, 34, stay-at-home mom and the trip organizer.
My husband, Jay, 35, production line worker at Nissan, the funding source of the trip!
Our son, Joshua, 3
Jay's sister, Melanie, 34, casino money counter and sometime cashier

Experience:
Very experienced (me)
Pretty experienced (Jay)
Might-as-well-be newbie, only 1 trip in 1991 (Melanie)
First trip (Joshua)

Dates: July 1-9, 2005

Lodging:
EconoLodge North, Lake City, Florida (1 night)
Pop Century Resort (7 nights)

Transportation: Titan crewcab truck, 12 hours from Clinton, Mississippi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 9 - Saturday, July 9, 2005

Now the saddest part of the trip is here - loading up the truck to go home! We didn't have a wake-up call today; I thought it would be too sad. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zcry.gif[/img] So we got our things together as quickly as we could, and Jay went to move the truck to a closer parking lot. He brought back the dolly and used it to take our suitcases out to the truck. I tried to find a place for all the papers we had accumulated, and the souvenirs we had bought. Somehow everything got put back in the truck, although it seems like some items were just kind of thrown in, to be sorted out once we arrived home.

Since I still had not picked out anything to take back to my parents or grandparents, I asked Jay to let me go inside the gift shop real quick before we left. I couldn't make up my mind for some reason, and eventually just decided on a few little things. For my grandparents, I got a postcard of the pretty castle. I had already got them a magnet. When Jay saw their magnet, he asked why I didn't get us one, too. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] So this morning I also picked up one for our refrigerator. For my parents I got the same postcard of the castle, a small box of peppermints and a license plate. I paid for these items and went to the door to see that the rain had moved in and was coming down pretty hard. Jay pulled the truck close and I ran as fast as I could, although I still got pretty wet, especially my pants legs.

Hurricane Dennis was getting closer and closer and you could sure tell. In all the rain, I missed the turn off Disney property onto 192 toward Highway 27, and we had to turn around and go back. Although it wasn't quite that easy, and we somehow ended up making a huge circle before finally making it onto the road we were supposed to be on. We made it back to Ocala, but did not stop for gas here as planned, since it was still raining pretty hard. We didn't really need gas at this point anyway, so we just kept driving.

It had taken us longer than expected to leave this morning, so by the time we got to Lake City we were ready to stop for lunch. We decided on Cracker Barrel, where I got my usual Old Timer's Breakfast. Jay got the chicken fried steak, and Joshua had a grilled cheese sandwich. We all drank tea. When we arrived, we had managed to get ahead of the rain a little bit, and when we left we could see the storm clouds starting to catch back up to us. We got back into the truck and headed over to Tallahassee where we stopped for gas. I had noticed a sign for tourist information, so I thought we could stop there and map out a new route home. For some reason, Jay couldn't find the Florida map we had picked up on our drive down, although it turned out that he just wasn't looking hard enough. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] At the time, I couldn't remember which highway number we needed to turn north on, and I didn't want to bypass it. Well, we looked for the tourist info building but couldn't find it. So I got out and dug through our bags and found our Florida map, right where I knew I had put it. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] Map in hand, we got back on the interstate.

The town we needed to turn north in was Marianna, Florida. We found our exit and headed north, hoping to get ahead of some of the rain. It had been raining on us almost nonstop, although not as heavy as it had been when we left Pop Century. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] Our detour took us up through Alabama and we made a pit stop at their state welcome center. You could tell a lot of the people there had evacuated from the coast, and there were signs up directing people to the nearest Red Cross shelters. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Back on the road, we had been following our tradition of listening to Disney World park music on our return trip. The Animal Kingdom CD was playing at the time, and I noticed Joshua had been making the "HMM" sounds along with the music. It was pretty funny, but even funnier when Jay started looking in the rearview mirror, and asking if that was Joshua. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] It was probably one of those you-had-to-be-there moments. But everything seems a lot funnier after a jam-packed week in the parks to wear you out. Especially with me being out so late for extra magic hours last night, I was really out of it! I tried to nap a little during this part of the drive, but with no pillow it was extremely hard to do.

We made it to Montgomery, where we had to get on Highway 80 to head back to Mississippi. Finding our way on these unfamiliar roads was pretty easy. It was just aggravating to have to go through all the towns along the way. There were no bypasses along the way, so although it seemed like a more direct route home, it took longer because we had to slow down constantly. But we did manage to get ahead of the rain going through Alabama, which was nice. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

It was a good thing we had a big, kind of late lunch, because we never did stop for supper. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] We had a lot of snacks packed in the truck, so we just ate those whenever we got hungry. We made another rest stop at the Mississippi state welcome center, then stopped for gas in Newton. Finally, we made it home about 10:30, much later than the 8:00 return time we had planned. Of course, we still couldn't get in bed since the truck had to be unloaded first. Somehow we managed to get everything in the house before we fell asleep. As planned, Melanie spent the night with us, before heading back to her house the next morning.

Next up: Concluding Thoughts of Our Trip

lauren-roxy · 01-13-2006, 07:16 PM

I am so sorry that your trip report is ending Christie, I really enjoyed reading it!! It sounds like you guys had a really terrific time!!Can't wait to read your final thoughts!! By the way, I always get the Old Timer's at Cracker Barrel whenever we go for breakfast!!

PrincessSharon · 01-14-2006, 10:34 AM

I'm glad you made it home safely, but I know how sad going home is. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I look forward to your final thoughts!

**Colexis Mom** · 01-14-2006, 06:04 PM

Glad you made it home okay [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Looking forward to your final thoughts!

christiejay · 01-16-2006, 04:40 PM

Conclusion

Well, I didn't know quite what to expect from this trip. We were taking a 3-year-old for his first visit, and I didn't know how he would react to the whole experience, and I didn't know if he would nap. As it turned out, he handled both of those situations very well. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] But we were also taking Jay's sister. Before the trip, she assured me that she had been walking a lot, and would have herself on a daytime schedule, instead of the night schedule she's normally on for her work schedule. She also told me that she wanted to see and do everything. Well, she didn't handle things as well as Joshua did. She was always hot and tired, I think she just didn't realize what "see and do everything" entailed. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Staying at Pop Century was nice, although we were disappointed in the bus service. The rooms were just the right size for us and tastefully decorated, and I loved seeing all the large icons around the resort. I'm still hoping for another camping trip at Fort Wilderness, or maybe we'll try one of the moderate resorts next time. Or, if we can manage to tear ourselves away from Disney property, we'll stay at one of our vacation club resorts and just drive ourselves in every day. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] I'm hoping for Disney property, though!

What did we like about this trip? Our most memorable day was toward the end of the trip, Day 7, because that was when I finally felt like we were able to start doing things more efficiently. The other days it was kind of trial and error on us getting into shows, but by the 7th we had picked up times guides for both the Studios and Animal Kingdom, and we were able to plan much better for the showtimes. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

Our most memorable place was the Magic Kingdom, because Joshua consistently enjoyed the rides, parades and characters there throughout our trip. If he was happy, then pretty much we were all happy. Having said that, though, our most memorable attraction was not at the Magic Kingdom! It was Playhouse Disney Live on Stage at the Studios. That was our overall most memorable because Joshua enjoyed it the most, and it was fun to sit back and see him having such a great time.

Our most memorable activity was touring the Wilderness Lodge, because each of us found something we liked there. Our most memorable meal was at Hollywood & Vine because all the food was great and there was such a variety to choose from. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/facelick.gif[/img] Our most magic moment of all was the Share a Dream Come True Parade at Magic Kingdom. It was the first parade we saw on our trip, on our first day there, and we all enjoyed it and acted like kids while watching it.

What new things did we experience this trip? Share a Dream Come True Parade, Wishes, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, Mickey's PhilharMagic and Stitch's Great Escape at Magic Kingdom, Soarin' and Mission: SPACE at Epcot, Stars and Motor Cars Parade, the Fantasmic Dinner Package, Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, and Lights! Motors! Action at the Studios, and Primeval Whirl, TriceraTop Spin, and Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade at Animal Kingdom. We still have an option left on our old park hopper tickets, since Jay and Melanie didn't go to Pleasure Island like we thought they would, so maybe we can use them for a water park on our next visit, when Joshua will be old enough to enjoy it.

What did we still miss? Because of the way we split up on certain days during Joshua's nap time, there were some things that all of us didn't get to do together. In other words, I missed a few things while Jay and Melanie were in the parks together, and Jay missed a few things while I was with Melanie. Melanie missed a few things when she left early one evening, and Joshua missed a few things because of the height restrictions and because of the scare factor. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] But there were amazingly few things that none of us go to do: Main Street Vehicles, Mad Tea Party, Enchanted Tiki Room, Riverboat and Timekeeper at Magic Kingdom, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Italy and Germany at Epcot, Indiana Jones and Beauty & the Beast at the Studios, and Pocahontas and Flights of Wonder at Animal Kingdom. We didn't make it to a water park or mini golf on this trip, two things that we usually do while at Disney. We'll try to squeeze those in on our next visit. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

Daily Highlights:

Day 0 - Awaiting Melanie's arrival, washing clothes, getting last-minute information from the internet, and packing everything. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Day 1 - Leaving home with our tailgate open, traffic in Mobile and Pensacola, and being pleasantly surprised with our hotel room in Lake City. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Day 2 - Checking out the outlet stores, checking in at Pop Century, letting Joshua see Toy Story stuff at All-Star Movies and showing Melanie the Epcot and Magic Kingdom resorts. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]
Day 3 - Morning at Magic Kingdom, lunch at Cosmic Ray's, Share a Dream Come True Parade, evening at Epcot, supper at Le Cellier, Illuminations, extra magic hours at the Studios. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Day 4 - Lunch with Jana's family at Trail's End, exploring Wilderness Lodge, washing clothes, visiting the Marketplace, supper at McDonald's. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
Day 5 - Morning at Epcot, lunch at Electric Umbrella, evening at Magic Kingdom, supper at Pecos Bill's, Wishes. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Day 6 - Morning at Animal Kingdom, lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue, evening at the Studios, supper at Hollywood & Vine, Stars and Motor Cars Parade, Fantasmic! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]
Day 7 - Morning at the Studios, lunch at Pizza Planet, afternoon at Animal Kingdom, Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, evening at Magic Kingdom, supper at Columbia Harbour House, SpectroMagic, Wishes. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img]
Day 8 - Morning at Animal Kingdom, lunch at Tusker House, meeting Jana and Benji, evening at Epcot, supper at Liberty Inn, extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
Day 9 - Driving home through rain from Hurricane Dennis, having to detour home, getting home very late. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

What would we do differently next time? Well, hopefully it will be just us next time. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] But if any family members go with us, they're going to have to keep up with us, or go their own way if necessary. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] Also, next time we go Joshua won't need a nap anymore, so we won't be losing 4 hours every day going back to the hotel. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/applause.gif[/img] Instead, we'll have a little down time in the parks or at a nearby resort where we can sit down, cool off and maybe have a little snack, then keep moving to something else. Of course, he still won't be able to stay out until the parks close every night, but we should still be able to do more. Maybe we can also fit in a visit to a water park, and a round or two of mini golf.

It's been fun sharing this with you, I hope you enjoyed reading it and didn't get too bogged down in all the details. I wish I could have added pictures, but with the shape of my computer it just wasn't feasible. Hopefully next time I can add some pictures, since I have a new computer now.

Next up: Look for my Branson Holiday trip report on the Globetrotting forum.

lauren-roxy · 01-16-2006, 05:46 PM

I really enjoyed reading your trip report Christie!!! It was so much fun and it seems like you guys had a really fun time!!!!!! It is very hard to go with other family members sometimes, not that they aren't fun, but it just puts you out of sync. Thanks so much for sharing your trip and I am really looking forward to your next one and reading all about it!!!!