A non-Fort Thanksgiving report

[lklasing 16]

Hey guys!   I know a bunch of you old-timers, but not so many of the new Fiends, as life has been crazy lately and my time to fool around on the internet is sooooooo limited these days, but I'm hoping y'all will let me post a report for our most recent trip, even though we weren't staying at the Fort this time.  So, if you'll have me, thanks!   :dance:   If not, well, you may be stuck with me anyway, but I hope you'll have me!

 

Anyway, once again, our clan headed back to the World, this time for a Thanksgiving trip!  We have done a Thanksgiving trip before with Ray’s family and had a great time.  This is Danielle’s last year at home for us and she’s a very busy girl, so I wanted to plan a trip to get to all go together before she gets away from us for college.

 

Of course, the girls are now at an age where most any trip or activity is more fun with a friend along, so I let them both invite someone to join us.   Danielle brought Amy, an awesome theater/choir friend.  Amy is a year younger than Danielle but they have been great friends for the past year.  They recently competed in a theater competition together and performed “Loathing” from Wicked, getting the highest marks possible and advancing to the state level.   (Danielle and Jodi actually also performed a comedic acting duet together at the same competition and also made the highest marks and advanced to state, so it was an awesome competition for our family!)

 

Anyway, here are Danielle and Amy:

 

 

For Jodi’s friend, she thought a lot about who to invite. We had had such a great time with her friend Claire and her mom Kate over spring break so she wanted to choose well again.  Finally, it hit her – her cousin Lynn from North Carolina!   If you read my Thanksgiving trip report from back in 2008 on Voldemort, you’ll recognize her.  Lynn and her family met us down at the Fort that trip and we all piled into two cabins and had a great time.  So, Jodi called up Lynn whose parents not only let her come, but also decided that they would come too!   We had hoped that Lynn’s brothers would come as well, but at the last minute important things like going to the Iron Bowl and other must do stuff got in their way.  But, at least we got Lynn, Ray’s brother Kevin and his wife Hope.

 

So, here are pics of the rest of the gang so you’ll know who everyone is as we go along:

 

Jodi and Lynn:

 

 

Kevin and Hope:

 

 

Ray and me:

 

 

I’ve never been a strict stickler about school attendance, especially when it interferes with the beginning of an awesome trip, so we hit the road Monday afternoon of Thanksgiving week, letting the girls blow off one day of school.  We made it to our target for the night, that being the Holiday Inn Express in Lake City, Florida.  Happily, I had planned ahead this time and had made a reservation so we weren’t relegated to the very sketchy Day’s Inn where Jodi, Claire, Kate and I had stayed over spring break.  The trip down was uneventful and we sacked out for the night, but not until after a stop at the Steak and Shake somewhere along the way, complete with several dollars lost to the grabber machine:

 

 

But wait!  They got one!

 

 

I promise that that's the first and last picture you'll get in this report of a stuffed animal.

 

Up next – more travel, then we arrive!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I'm in!!! and first!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I'm in too!

[Ok Grumpy AKA Cindy~~ 9]

I'm in too!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Woo hoo!!!  Bring on the Rhino Faces!!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I'm in. I loved your last report from the Boardwalk.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I'm in! Loved your last report and looking forward to this one!

[LONE-STAR 370]

I can't believe how big your girls have gotten. I remember your reports from the other place and they were so young. I guess kids grow fast.

[Sunset Lady 6]

Glad to see you back! I really enjoy your trip reports.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

First page bragging rights.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm in!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Awesome!

 

Bring it on!

 

I'm looking forward to hearing all about your trip.  You were smart to squeeze it in before you oldest heads off to college.  Things get really complicated after that.

 

So, you had family members at the Iron Bowl?

 

I remember a Grandpa in your family who wore Bama gear.  Are y'all Bama fans?

 

TCD

[lklasing 16]

Yay!  Readers!  I'm always so glad to have people reading and commenting!  Thanks!

 

I was going to do a multi quote thing and respond to all the different comments, but I appear to be technologically challenged tonight and can't figure out how to do it, so I'll just respond to a few without quoting:

 

Dave, yes, there will definitely be rhino faces.  Three of them to be exact.  Definitely not four, despite four teenagers.

 

Michael, you're right that my girls got big.  I still can't believe it.  Danielle going to college next year and Jodi being so much taller than I am (and I'm not short!) that I have to stand on my tip toes to give her a kiss on her head.

 

TCD, we do have Bama fans in the family, especially including Buddy and Paw Paw from prior trip reports.  However, sadly, Ray and his brother Kevin, and the entire clan in Kevin's family are all Auburn fans.  Kevin's oldest son went to the game while every else watched/cheered/sat in stunned silence/watched the Osborne lights/or some combination of all of these, depending on who you are in the family.  More about that later.

 

Thanks to all for comments!

[lklasing 16]

The next morning, we hopped up, feeling much refreshed and glad to only have about 1 ½ hours more of driving.  The weather was decidedly dreary, though.   Here is my view when I took a turn at riding in the “way back” of the car:

 

 

A random fast food establishment somewhere:

 

 

The rain finally stopped about halfway down and we arrived!  Somehow we went a totally different way than we had ever gone before and went through a totally residential neighborhood for about 10 miles and then wound up unexpectedly at Saratoga Springs Resort, without ever going through the main gates like usual.  Oh well, we were there!

 

We got checked in and everything went smoothly.  I was worried about whether the rooms would be close enough together, whether the magic bands would work, and anything else I could think of to worry about but everything went smoothly.  One of the two rooms was ready, so we dumped everything in mine and Ray’s room and caught a bus to HS.  We boarded the bus right at 12:30, which I thought wasn’t too bad for a partial travel day.

 

Five people and their stuff all in one room (temporarily):

 

 

 

Our view – I like it!

 

 

Happy to be here but a little bleary from the drive still:

 

 

 

Heading to the bus – the girls got a lot bigger since the last picture I took of them like this:

 

 

 

We arrived at the HS to the huge Christmas tree, all happily wearing our shorts and enjoying the warm whether. 

 

 

 

Fanny pack girls:

 

 

More soon!  Thanks for reading!

[lklasing 16]

We were lucky to get into our old standby Sci Fi Drive In without ADRs.  After grabbing paper FPs for Star Tours, the girls hit TSMM while Ray and I enjoyed the new patio at the Brown Derby.  It was practically perfect conditions – mild temps, overcast sky, and just joy in being back at the World!

 

 

 

Preparation for autographs:

 

 

 

 

Randomness at HS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's gotta be close to the limit for pics for one entry.  Y'all have a good night tonight - everyone ready for Christmas??

[DaveInTN 3,247]

You made it to the World!  

 

Wow, your girls HAVE gotten tall.  I know the feeling.  It's surreal to look up to your own child.  

[lklasing 16]

Let's get Tuesday wrapped up!

 

We met back up with the girls and rode RNRC, Star Tours and TOT.  After all that, Ray and I were ready to head back to SSR, move the girls’ bags into their room and get ourselves unpacked, while the girls stayed and played a bit more.

 

 

 

I think Danielle and Amy scared the handlers a little bit:

 

 

 

 

We waited anxiously for the arrival of Kevin, Hope and Lynn, who finally made it around 6:30.  Back in the day when the girls were little, Danielle’s favorite thing to do was to “wrestle” with Uncle Kevin.  He was always gentle of course, but showed her no mercy once they got into one of these battles.  She eventually grew out of it, but Kevin brought back old memories when they arrived.

 

 

 

At one point there were 8 of us in a car built for 5 (just going from our room to the front desk), and this is what the way back looked like:

 

 

 I helped Kevin get a ticket for Lynn and get it hooked to her magic band, and then it was time to split from the girls again.

 

 

 

 

While the girls headed toward the MK, we tried in vain to make it to our ADR at House of Blues.  We were already going to be late but were then totally sidelined by the construction at DTD. We couldn’t get anywhere close to being able to park there.  I cannot tell you enough what a fail this attempt was.  It was so bad that we finally totally bailed on the ADR, decided to just eat the cancellation charge, and found an AWESOME Mexican place just down the road – El Patron.  It was really great, but neither Ray nor I were very excited about being outside the Disney bubble.  Having said that, it was really great food and more than that, we were able to both get there and find a parking place!

 

 

When we got back, Ray pretty much sacked out while I waited on the girls to return to their room.  While I had planned to finally go to sleep upon their return, they of course needed all manner of things like pillows, phone chargers, more shampoo, etc., so I got the fun of tooling around our part of SSR in my jammies delivering these vital items.  I finally passed out around 1:00 and slept hard, dreaming about more fun tomorrow.

 

Up next – first full day – fun at the MK!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I'm not disappointed that we are missing out on the Disney Springs construction AND the magic band test period.  Both sounds very aggravating to me.  

 

Glad you found a good dinner spot though.  Looking forward to Day 2. 

[LONE-STAR 370]

We skipped downtown Disney altogether on last months trip. I think that is a first time for us to skip it.

[LONE-STAR 370]

We never like leaving the Disney bubble. But I have family in Florida so we have to a couple of times while we're there. The main place I don't want to go while at Disney is Walmart. It's a great store just dont want to spend my vacation there.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Now that's a full day!

Great pix and patiently waiting for the first full day.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

WOW that's a busy 1st day, great pictures of people who look like they are having a BLAST. Looks like you had a great trip

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

We never like leaving the Disney bubble. But I have family in Florida so we have to a couple of times while we're there. The main place I don't want to go while at Disney is Walmart. It's a great store just dont want to spend my vacation there.

 

I have family in Florida and we also have to leave the Disney bubble.  And I so agree about not wanting to go to Walmart.  So we do family and Walmart all in one day.  

[caveat lector 181]

So that's the trick to getting my older kids into the Disney trip.....inviting friends. Good tip, but that is going to cost me an even greater fortune......yikes. I guess have to do what I have to do.

Great and funny pics!

[lklasing 16]

Hey guys!  Yesterday was busy, but I'm about to post the next installment.  But first:

 

I'm not disappointed that we are missing out on the Disney Springs construction AND the magic band test period.  Both sounds very aggravating to me.  

 

Glad you found a good dinner spot though.  Looking forward to Day 2. 

 

We absolutely loved the magic bands.  We absolutely hated the construction at DTD.  Two extremes on one trip.  :)

 

We skipped downtown Disney altogether on last months trip. I think that is a first time for us to skip it.

 

Yup - it was the first trip for me to not go shopping there.  I did end up going one night to see a friend at Raglan Road, but we always go shopping and the construction kept us away this time.

 

We never like leaving the Disney bubble. But I have family in Florida so we have to a couple of times while we're there. The main place I don't want to go while at Disney is Walmart. It's a great store just dont want to spend my vacation there.

 

Eek about Walmart while at Disney!   :bugeyes: That might just be too much for me.

 

Now that's a full day!
Great pix and patiently waiting for the first full day.

 

Thanks!  Glad you're here!

 

WOW that's a busy 1st day, great pictures of people who look like they are having a BLAST. Looks like you had a great trip

 

Thanks to you too!  We really were had a great trip!

 

I have family in Florida and we also have to leave the Disney bubble.  And I so agree about not wanting to go to Walmart.  So we do family and Walmart all in one day.  

 

Now, that's scary  - a trip outside the bubble, family and Walmart.  You're smart though for knocking it all out at once.  Like ripping off a bandaid...

 

So that's the trick to getting my older kids into the Disney trip.....inviting friends. Good tip, but that is going to cost me an even greater fortune......yikes. I guess have to do what I have to do.

Great and funny pics!

 

Yup, that's pretty much what our lives have become for most trips.  The girls would come without friends, but we all honestly have more fun most trips with them.  But yes, it can be expensive!

 

Next installment coming up now!