All the way down to Florida Nate kept worrying about having to go to school the next morning. I don’t think he had the vacation concept down yet. Saturday morning, at Ann Beth’s house, he was really concerned so Vicki sat him down and explained it to him. “Nate, you have a whole week off from school. Tonight we will be at Alex and Chris’ house. Tomorrow we are going to Disney World. The next day we are going to Disney World. The day after that....” As he listened he got more and more excited. His eyes sparkled. He started giggling. He began jumping up and down. It was a precious moment. He didn’t quit worrying about school until we got to the Cotter’s house.
Since we had park hopper passes I think the most efficient way to tell about our trip is to present you with our itinerary and then focus on different amusement parks later. So, here’s how the trip panned out for us starting with Friday, October 10.
FRIDAY: We got the kids out of school early and were on the road by 3:30. We drove to the Yergler’s in Marietta, Georgia, and spent the night. A pleasant surprise for us was that Ginny was home from college on Fall Break.
SATURDAY: Ann Beth fed us breakfast and sent us on our way. We drove to Jim and Dianna’s house in Ocoee, Florida. Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob were there. We ate pizza and enjoyed visiting until it was time for bed.
SUNDAY: Dianna fed us breakfast before we left to check in at our resort. After checking in we went to the Magic Kingdom and met the Cotters there. After watching the SpectroMagic parade and the Wishes fireworks show the Cotters left. As resort guests we stayed for the Extra Magic Hours. This was the only day we took advantage of this (we were too tired for it after this).
MONDAY: We started the day at Epcot. We had planned to hop over to the Magic Kingdom later but rain moved in and caused us to leave Epcot earlier than planned. The afternoon was sort of a wash. We had reservations for the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at the Fort Wilderness Campground. After supper we took the bus to Hollywood Studios for the Fantasmic show.
TUESDAY: This was our whirlwind day as we were sort of a slave to the schedule of show times. We spent most of the day at Hollywood Studios. Our table service meal was at the Sci-Fi Drive In. It was the only table service where the Cotters joined us. After supper we went to Epcot where we saw the Illuminations fireworks show.
WEDNESDAY: This was the only day we went to Animal Kingdom. Our big meal here was at the Tusker House restaurant. Animal Kingdom closes early (due to the animals) so we went back to the resort and let the kids swim. They were playing Toy Story as a pool side movie.
THURSDAY: By now we were trying to go back and catch attractions we had missed earlier in the week. We started at the Magic Kingdom and ended at Epcot. We scheduled our one character meal this day, dining with five Disney princesses at the Akershus rastaurant.
FRIDAY: This was the one day the Cotters didn’t meet us at a park. We went back to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. We also had to check out of our resort so we spent the night with the Cotters.
SATURDAY: We started the day meeting Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Of course, no trip would be complete without van trouble. Our check engine light came on so Jim and I took the van to a Toyota dealership while Vicki and Dianna took the kids to Epcot. As justice would have it one of the rides they were on broke down while they were on it. By the way, Toyota estimated $865 to fix the van. We drove home with the problem unfixed (I’ve gotten cheaper estimates here). Jim and I had a good time visiting as we walked around Downtown Disney and waited for our families to leave Epcot. Then we parted company and headed home. We spent the night in Tifton, Georgia.
SUNDAY: We got home around 4:15.
By Thursday Nate was starting to get a little homesick and Ben and Jenna were starting to miss our cat, Lilly. By Friday we were all pretty tired. It was a really big trip for all of us. We got a good laugh as we were passing through Valdosta, Georgia, and Nate asked with weariness in his voice, “Are we on Disney property still?”
Joe
