Trip Report Bring out the Tour Guide Flags.. I’M TAKING THE NEWBIES! A June TR

Jambo once again everybody!

I never thought I’d be writing 2 Trip Reports in 1 summer! Well, technically the first TR of the summer was back from January because I was having Disney withdrawal and didn’t think I would be lucky enough to go back this summer… But after an invite at Grandma’s house on Memorial Day and a few weeks later I WAS ON MY WAY BACK TO DISNEY WORLD! This time with my relatives who had never been before, hence the name of the TR! The whole time we joked about getting a flag like the lovely *cough cough* tour groups so that in case they fell behind they could still see where I was going

Let’s start with the introductions!
I’m gonna do separate pictures cause I thought that’d be easier for now than a big group picture and trying to pick everyone out haha!
I’m not sure if you all know me by now or not so I’ll start off the Roll Call …

Myself, Rachel (19), Disney enthusiast, volleyballer and Disney College Program hopeful! I also love to laugh and just have a great time with family

The Narrator herself by LeCellierLover, on Flickr



My cousin Kyle (18), obviously new to all things Disney (he didn’t want to hear or see anything about it because he wanted to be surprised) and loves, I mean LOVES all things Star Wars!

Kyle and Cinderella by LeCellierLover, on Flickr
This was taken on the trip during his quest to get a picture with all the Princesses


My other cousins McKayla (15) and Raven (14), they’re sisters and (obviously) Kyle’s sisters as well haha. McKayla is on the right-hand side of the picture with Raven being on the left. This was taken in their room at home hence all the decorations on the walls Both new to all things Disney, but they looked a lot up on YouTube. McKayla loves all things Anime and her favorite character of all time is Peter Pan! Raven is my mini-me and is obsessed with the show Dance Moms, her favorite character is Tinkerbell!

Raven and McKayla by LeCellierLover, on Flickr

And last, but certainly not least, the bread and butter of this trip, my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dan (forever kids at heart that never wanna grow up ). They had been dreaming about this trip forever and wanted everything to be a surprise as well. My aunt is up for anything and my uncle is just like Kyle and LOVES all things Star Wars!

Aunt Kathy & Uncle Dan by LeCellierLover, on Flickr
This picture was obviously taken during the trip as well. Their 1st time seeing Cindy’s Castle!

So how did I get to go on this trip with my relatives some may ask? Well we always go over to my grandma’s on Memorial Day and my aunt Kathy had asked my mom to help her plan some of the trip (like where to buy tickets, what parks should they do on which days, etc.). Well I kept popping in and out of the room they were in and was gushing with excitement for them. Well, I think my wonderful mom told my aunt how much I wish I was going on the trip with them to show them the ropes and experience everything with them. The next thing I know I was called outside by my mom and my aunt came up to me and softly asked “Do you want to come with us to Florida?!” I SCREAMED with excitement, I couldn’t believe it! I had to ask multiple times “Are you guys sure?!”. Then I was able to break the news to Raven and McKayla and they were STOKED! Kyle’s comeback was “REALLY?! We have to squeeze ANOTHER person in the car?!” and my Uncle Dan laughed and said “Hey the way I see it she’s another driver! ” So that was that! I got home and plugged the date into the Disney Countdown app on my phone as we anxiously awaited June 22nd!

 

[farrellbarrel]

Lucky!!! I cannot wait to hear more

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Terrific start Rachel!! Wooohoo Bonus Disney trip!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

How awesome!!! Very exciting stuff...can't wait to read more!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! We will be going at that same time next year, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the crowds were.

 

[jhoff3405]

Yeah for another trip report! Did the Hawks win while you were gone? That would be so fantastic to be in Disney AND watching the Hawks win the cup!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Lucky!!! I cannot wait to hear more

Terrific start Rachel!! Wooohoo Bonus Disney trip!!

How awesome!!! Very exciting stuff...can't wait to read more!

Thank you guys for the nice compliments already! Uploading the last of my pictures now and then I'm gonna start typing like crazy! I just couldn't wait through all of the uploads to start because I have LOTS of pictures haha! Thank you all for reading along!

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! We will be going at that same time next year, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the crowds were.

Thank you for reading! Umm I can't say the crowds were super nice to us, but then again they kind of were so I will make sure to discuss crowds along the way! Hahah

Yeah for another trip report! Did the Hawks win while you were gone? That would be so fantastic to be in Disney AND watching the Hawks win the cup!

YES THEY DID! But sadly we didn't plan accordingly and we were in the car while they won so we were watching the NBC Sports app on my phone and freaking out! Haha! You should've seen me.. we went to DTD that night and I let my relatives shop while I sat off in a corner by an outlet so I could charge my phone and use Disney's AWESOME Wifi to watch the game! Thanks for reading!

 

[Allie_Marie]

Yay! Can't wait for another one of your TR!!!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

YAY for another TR!!! I need to stop reading everyone else's TR's and actually finish mine from last September!!! I still have one to write from May PLUS will have another one after the cruise! Oye!!! But anywho, can't wait to read all about it!!

 

[disneypearl]

Can't wait to read about your trip! How exciting to get a surprise like that.

 

[jkl2000]

Cool, looking forward to this one. Hey, I *DID* see the Blackhawks win what I think was the second to last game - just caught the end, and because I'd just read your other trip report I watched the rest of the game. Go Blackhawks!

 

[Todd L]

Jambo once again everybody!

I never thought I’d be writing 2 Trip Reports in 1 summer! Well, technically the first TR of the summer was back from January because I was having Disney withdrawal and didn’t think I would be lucky enough to go back this summer… But after an invite at Grandma’s house on Memorial Day and a few weeks later I WAS ON MY WAY BACK TO DISNEY WORLD! This time with my relatives who had never been before, hence the name of the TR! The whole time we joked about getting a flag like the lovely *cough cough* tour groups so that in case they fell behind they could still see where I was going

Let’s start with the introductions!
I’m gonna do separate pictures cause I thought that’d be easier for now than a big group picture and trying to pick everyone out haha!
I’m not sure if you all know me by now or not so I’ll start off the Roll Call …

Myself, Rachel (19), Disney enthusiast, volleyballer and Disney College Program hopeful! I also love to laugh and just have a great time with family

The Narrator herself by LeCellierLover, on Flickr



My cousin Kyle (18), obviously new to all things Disney (he didn’t want to hear or see anything about it because he wanted to be surprised) and loves, I mean LOVES all things Star Wars!

Kyle and Cinderella by LeCellierLover, on Flickr
This was taken on the trip during his quest to get a picture with all the Princesses


My other cousins McKayla (15) and Raven (14), they’re sisters and (obviously) Kyle’s sisters as well haha. McKayla is on the right-hand side of the picture with Raven being on the left. This was taken in their room at home hence all the decorations on the walls Both new to all things Disney, but they looked a lot up on YouTube. McKayla loves all things Anime and her favorite character of all time is Peter Pan! Raven is my mini-me and is obsessed with the show Dance Moms, her favorite character is Tinkerbell!

Raven and McKayla by LeCellierLover, on Flickr

And last, but certainly not least, the bread and butter of this trip, my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dan (forever kids at heart that never wanna grow up ). They had been dreaming about this trip forever and wanted everything to be a surprise as well. My aunt is up for anything and my uncle is just like Kyle and LOVES all things Star Wars!

Aunt Kathy & Uncle Dan by LeCellierLover, on Flickr
This picture was obviously taken during the trip as well. Their 1st time seeing Cindy’s Castle!

So how did I get to go on this trip with my relatives some may ask? Well we always go over to my grandma’s on Memorial Day and my aunt Kathy had asked my mom to help her plan some of the trip (like where to buy tickets, what parks should they do on which days, etc.). Well I kept popping in and out of the room they were in and was gushing with excitement for them. Well, I think my wonderful mom told my aunt how much I wish I was going on the trip with them to show them the ropes and experience everything with them. The next thing I know I was called outside by my mom and my aunt came up to me and softly asked “Do you want to come with us to Florida?!” I SCREAMED with excitement, I couldn’t believe it! I had to ask multiple times “Are you guys sure?!”. Then I was able to break the news to Raven and McKayla and they were STOKED! Kyle’s comeback was “REALLY?! We have to squeeze ANOTHER person in the car?!” and my Uncle Dan laughed and said “Hey the way I see it she’s another driver! ” So that was that! I got home and plugged the date into the Disney Countdown app on my phone as we anxiously awaited June 22nd!

My 18 year old Daughter is considering the Disney intern program too . Hope she winds up with some people as nice as you seem to be if shes lucky enough to get it!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Yay! Can't wait for another one of your TR!!!

Aww thanks for reading them! I'm so glad you enjoy them!

YAY for another TR!!! I need to stop reading everyone else's TR's and actually finish mine from last September!!! I still have one to write from May PLUS will have another one after the cruise! Oye!!! But anywho, can't wait to read all about it!!

Haha thanks D! I'm so excited to be writing another one! You do have a lot of catching up to do girl haha! But from all your Facebook and Instagram posts I can tell you've been having a very busy/awesome summer! I can't wait to read all of your guys' TRs about the cruise, so jealous!

Can't wait to read about your trip! How exciting to get a surprise like that.

Yeah I was very surprised and happy! Thanks for reading so far (even though I'm sorry it's not much.. I'll explain why haha!)

Cool, looking forward to this one. Hey, I *DID* see the Blackhawks win what I think was the second to last game - just caught the end, and because I'd just read your other trip report I watched the rest of the game. Go Blackhawks!

YAY! I'm so proud Ah that makes me so happy that I got people to become Hawks fans! It was a little odd not being home while they won, but we were still celebrating in our own little way nonetheless! hahah

My 18 year old Daughter is considering the Disney intern program too . Hope she winds up with some people as nice as you seem to be if shes lucky enough to get it!

She should totally try to get into the program! Aw thank you, that was so sweet of you to say I have heard nothing but the best about their DCP and intern programs and I've heard that people make friends for life during them! Ugh can I start my training now?! Haha

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Ugh I am SO SORRY everyone that I only wrote one post so far and have left you all hanging already! I was having the hardest time sorting through my pictures on Flickr that I just decided to delete all of them and re add them once I sorted through them on my iPhoto. Well after deleting them all off of Flickr I thought I had lost all of my first 2 days of travel pictures. I seriously wanted to throw my laptop down and go cry! So I made a nice big bowl of ice cream for myself instead Well while up in my room feeling all sad/mad I looked at my iPad sitting on my nightstand and FREAKED OUT when I remembered that I had not only saved all of the first 2 days worth of pictures to Flickr to free up space on my phone, BUT I ALSO had saved them to my iPad! So that is what I am doing now is loading them all off of my iPad so I PROMISE I will have more posts up tonight! Stupid technology.. Between all of my pictures and my aunt's camera we have a TON of pictures so I don't think you guys will be disappointed (if I haven't scared you guys away already with my little posting..) Again, so sorry! But stay seated because our ride vehicle will begin moving again momentarily!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

So without further ado let’s get this party (uhh I mean TR..) started!

I guess before I go any further I should give some more background such as dates, which hotel, etc.

We left EARLY Saturday morning, June 22nd and got back on Sunday, June 30th. After doing the math my aunt and uncle decided that driving would be better (and they won $400 in gas gift cards! SCORE!).

And I am sad to say that you guys will not be seeing any Disney resort hotel pictures because we did not stay on property.. Heartbreaking I know! BUT my aunt and uncle were able to borrow timeshare from another relative and got 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room and a full kitchen all in one "room" for only $150 for the entire week! Soo nothing else really compared price wise.. Haha! It was a little different just because I haven’t stayed off property in SOO long, but I didn’t care! I was just happy to be going to Disney World with some of my favorite people


So my parents drove me over to my relatives on that Friday night so that we could just get up and go the next morning. After all the goodbyes and “Have a wonderful time!”‘s, Raven and I had the fabulous idea of asking for car paint so we could put some vacation decorations on the car! Uncle Dan didn’t want us to look “too touristy”, but we were still able to put 2 Mickey heads in the top corners of the back van window! So we went out and decorated the car!





After making a “We’re too excited to sleep!” video on Instagram we all figured we should probably try and get some shuteye. Surprisingly, I was able to fall asleep on their couch rather quickly at about 11:30pm while Raven was sleeping on the kitchen floor watching Jessie on Disney Channel (she’s a strange girl that finds any other place BUT her older mattress comfortable.. )

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

WAKE UP IT’S TIME FOR SCHOOL, TIME FOR SCHOOL *I mean VACATION*!

We all woke up bright and early at 4:00am Saturday morning. We were like walking zombies though! I tried to do my happy heel click jump, but I only got about .2 inches off the ground.. We were in need of some serious pixie dust!

Alright since at this point everyone else was still getting their stuff together and putting the DVD player in the car I think this is the perfect time to introduce another key “family member” that came on this trip with us! Everyone give a warm welcome to Tinkerbell! I’m not sure if you guys have ever heard of Flat Stanley, but the idea is to take anything from a paper cutout of a character to a troll doll (yes I did that once for my best friend..) and bring it around with you and take pictures of it at different places along your trip and document them as if they experienced everything with you! I know it may sound silly to some, but I told my mom to pick out something that I could bring with so that it would be like she was there with us because I really wished she could’ve come on this trip too! So here’s a picture of Tink all ready to go at 4 in the morning!



We left the house and got on 57 heading South at about 5:15am Illinois time. The van was packed with snacks so no stopping for breakfast.. it was Doritos for this girl! I know so healthy for a student-athlete right?!



Here Tink is riding comfortably on top of my Eeyore pillow pet!



Sorry this is a little blurry.. but thankfully we had a VHS/DVD player hooked up in the car so that made the time seem to fly by! First up we watched the Toy Story Trilogy. Boy do I miss those old Disney Home Video commercials at the beginning of a VHS haha!



Now if anyone on here is from Illinois you all know you’re getting somewhat close to the Illinois/Kentucky line when you see this big, white cross in Effingham!



Before we knew it we were crossing the Ohio River into Paducah and were greeted with this lovely sign! If the text to my parents is still correct on my phone, this was at about 10:45am IL time. There’s also a picture of our lovely, trusty steed Gertrude the GPS hangin’ on the front window


We stopped to get gas shortly thereafter because it was only $3.29 a gallon vs. 4-something in IL..
While we were taking a bathroom break Kyle and I spotted this..

I had never seen one of these so called “beer caves” before so I had to send a picture to my parents of their college daughter in one of these. It was all for a good laugh people don’t worry I’m a good girl haha!


We hit some traffic for about 5 minutes but then flew thru the rest of Kentucky and saw this cool sign at about 12:30pm.



Hellooo Nashville, I haven’t seen you in quite some time!



Soon enough we started our ascent into the pretty mountains!












At some point there were some anxious people in the car because my uncle was going a little to fast thru the hills for some people's likings, but after taking a quick nap I woke up just in time for lunch in Chattanooga at about 3:40pm!
My aunt grew up in Tennessee so she really wanted to go back to this one fast food restaurant that sold “Steak in a Sack”. Sounded interesting to me!



We were so photogenic after being in the car for 10 hours!



This was our whole order! Kyle, Dan, and Kathy all got the Steak in a Sack. McKayla got a gyro, Raven got a burger, and I got a breaded chicken sandwich. Some got fries on the side while others got onion rings. I wasn't brave enough to try the so-called "Steak in a Sack". Unfortunately, my aunt said it didn't taste the same as it did back when she was a kid so she said "Thanks for letting me stop, but we'll never need to go back there again!" I enjoyed my chicken sandwich though that's for sure! Haha

 

[Raven66]

Enjoying your trip report. I once insisted on stopping at a White Castle because I remember eating at them when I was a kid. So my husband and daughter were up for it. And you know what? They just did not taste the way I remembered them. And my family said I wasn't allowed to pick restaurants anymore Krystal little burgers are way better!

Can't wait to read more. Sounds like it was a great family trip!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Enjoying your trip report. I once insisted on stopping at a White Castle because I remember eating at them when I was a kid. So my husband and daughter were up for it. And you know what? They just did not taste the way I remembered them. And my family said I wasn't allowed to pick restaurants anymore Krystal little burgers are way better!

Can't wait to read more. Sounds like it was a great family trip!

Hahah that's too funny that you weren't allowed to pick the restaurants anymore! Yeah I don't know what it is.. I think maybe food was just made with more TLC and not so much grease back in the day? Haha
Thank you for reading along! It was definitely a blast!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

I forgot to add this to the other post.. This had been on my phone calendar just waiting to be viewed


O yeah and here is a picture of the coveted “Steak in a Sack” that we all heard about for hours until we left the restaurant



I sure love chicken sandwiches though!



Back on the road again and Pascal was VERY excited that he got to watch himself on the little DVD screen It’s funny because when I first saw previews for Tangled I had no intentions of wanting to see it. Well after renting it on DVD and watching it countless times years after its come out, I’M OBSESSED! Rapunzel is hands down my favorite Disney Princess and I absolutely love the movie! Ok fangirl rant over..



By 4:30pm we were passing into Georgia!



This is random.. but we also saw a lot of people on the side of the road throughout our journey. Everyone seemed to be breaking down. Which reminds me that about a half hour into our journey, my uncle had thought about renting a van in Nashville. At first we all thought it was because he didn’t think that their older van could make it through the mountains with 6 people + 6 million pounds of luggage on top and in back. But we later found out it was because he thought we were all too cramped. We all told him we were completely fine because it was actually quite comfortable AND getting a bigger van would’ve meant burning some serious cash and losing our DVD player which we did not want to do haha! So every time we drove by people pooped out on the side of the road we crossed our fingers that that wouldn’t be us and luckily it wasn’t! We did say a pray for one young man because he was running away from his little red car and we saw that his car was on fire! And the fire was right by his gas tank! We almost pulled over but since we saw that he was out, running a good distance away and already on the phone with someone. We decided to speed as fast as we could out of there just incase the car did explode. Luckily no traffic had accumulated yet, but more importantly I hope that guy was alright!

By 6:15pm we were passing through Atlanta with luckily hardly any traffic!






I remember when I was 12 and Atlanta hosted our volleyball Junior Olympics. We got to play at one of the Olympic centers that was built for the 96 games, it was so much fun!



I can’t believe how many lanes there are going through ATL!



So our original plan was to stop in Macon, Georgia for the night. Well Macon had come and gone (I even saw the La Quinta we always used to stop at when my family drove! :’) ) and we were still driving. We were trying to find a hotel that would fall under my uncle’s list of hotels that he gets discounts at. Well there was one in Macon, but no one saw it until after the exit so we drove for about 10 more minutes. Then all of a sudden the skies started turning black and we knew we needed to get off the road and FAST! Well it seemed we were hitting a part of the state that had no exits! Finally we found an exit to get off at. We got out at the first hotel, stretched, and then realized that the sign said “No vacancy”.. back into the car it was to go to the other hotel across the street! I’m sorry that I can’t remember the name of the “motel”, but it was a great place to rest our heads for the night!




Cause I loove mirror piczzzz!



This was “The Girl’s Room”! It was for me, McKayla and Raven. Auntie, Uncle, and Kyle got the connecting room right next door. The rooms were a little muggy and stale at first since the AC wasn’t on so we just cranked it on and left the door open for awhile since now the skies were opening up big time and there was a nice breeze from the rain!



We were going to have pizza for dinner, but surprisingly nothing was open. So my uncle scored 6 whoppers and 6 fries (some onion rings) for $20!
My dinner for the night



So we settled in and the best part of the night happened.. I GOT TO WATCH MY HAWKS PLAY ON NBC! It was funny because a guest at the check-in counter said they only got CBS down there and he knew they were on NBC so we wouldn’t be able to see it.. Well sir I’m sorry to say, but you were wrong! I mean c’mon what hotel doesn’t have NBC?!
I legit went and jumped on Kyle’s bed when Kaner scored the first time because I was so happy! Then.. he scored again! Ahh this vacation was off to a great start!



So after filling our bellies and sending goodnight texts to my parents we were off to bed.. with dreams of the Hawks win replaying in my head

 

[Marc Gil]

Great TR so far! I can't imagine how long that drive must've been! LOL I mean we drive from South Florida to Orlando (which is 3 hours) and I think it's absolute h***. (Pardon my French) You have tolerance and loads of patience! It looked like you had tons of fun though. I can't wait to see more