This year I doubled our length of vacation to take in Harry Potter. I always intended to get to Universal, but was sort of waiting until I ran out of stuff to do at WDW. With HP I accelerated the expansion of our horizons beyond Disney. We did a one-day trip to the Kennedy Space Center a few years ago, but that was because a friend categorically refused to “waste” money on Disney, which we all know is “a kid’s park”! :lol:
We started south early on the 20th of August. Drove to Lorton Virginia and checked in to our hotel. The Hotel recommended a lovely Italian restaurant, the Pane E Vino. We had a great meal and settled in for the night. In the morning, We had a rather dull breakfast in the hotel. Then we went to buy some earbuds for Morgan, he’d broken his. We ended up getting a couple of really cheap dollar-store headsets. Then we were off to the Auto Train. We were ridiculously early, first in line. I went and checked in and then we waited an hour and a half until they started accepting vehicles [thank heaven for my iPhone and Morgan’s PSP]. I gave them the car and then we waited another three hours to boarding and a further hour and a half to departure… But we were heading to our happy place, so all was well!
Morgan entertaining himself on the train:
22 Aug
Today was quite the day...
The train ride south was as rough as I remember. I didn’t sleep terribly well. We arrived on time and my car was off-loaded about halfway through all the vehicles, getting there first in line doesn’t mean you’re first off at the other end. Off we went to WDW!
We checked in at All Star Sports, there was supposed to be a package from our new Travel Agent [Heidi, TwoTigersMom here] but they couldn’t find it. We went to the room, unpacked and I texted Heidi to let her know they were tracking down the package. Then we shared a Quesadilla platter for lunch and headed for Super Target and bought Morgan six pairs of cargo shorts.
Once we got back, we dropped the clothes in the room and drove to AK. I bought Morgan his AP and my TiW card and headed in. Straight to EE for FPs and rode right away. Then Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl and headed for KS. We got caught by the parade [we never plan to watch parades, but if they’re there we’ll watch]. Right after the parade, safari was walk-on. :sohappy:
We headed toward EE for our FPs but everybody seemed to be heading out... :lookaroun Then the skies opened up.
Initially, we just ducked under a big umbrella, but after about ten minutes it gave no indicationit was going to let up, so we decided to run for it. We got totally drenched!!! We returned to the room to wring out and shower/change and head for Boma. It was just a light drizzle by the time we were on our way to AKL. The rain had soaked our shoes, but didn't dampen our appetites! :slurp:
Came back to find Heidi's package. A whole bunch of bags of chips and a series of plasticised cards itemising our itinerary and some cute tips for the World. Heidi had booked our room through her Travel Agency and this was a client bonus service.
Now we were ready for bed... It's been a very hectic couple of days.
We started south early on the 20th of August. Drove to Lorton Virginia and checked in to our hotel. The Hotel recommended a lovely Italian restaurant, the Pane E Vino. We had a great meal and settled in for the night. In the morning, We had a rather dull breakfast in the hotel. Then we went to buy some earbuds for Morgan, he’d broken his. We ended up getting a couple of really cheap dollar-store headsets. Then we were off to the Auto Train. We were ridiculously early, first in line. I went and checked in and then we waited an hour and a half until they started accepting vehicles [thank heaven for my iPhone and Morgan’s PSP]. I gave them the car and then we waited another three hours to boarding and a further hour and a half to departure… But we were heading to our happy place, so all was well!
Morgan entertaining himself on the train:
22 Aug
Today was quite the day...
The train ride south was as rough as I remember. I didn’t sleep terribly well. We arrived on time and my car was off-loaded about halfway through all the vehicles, getting there first in line doesn’t mean you’re first off at the other end. Off we went to WDW!
We checked in at All Star Sports, there was supposed to be a package from our new Travel Agent [Heidi, TwoTigersMom here] but they couldn’t find it. We went to the room, unpacked and I texted Heidi to let her know they were tracking down the package. Then we shared a Quesadilla platter for lunch and headed for Super Target and bought Morgan six pairs of cargo shorts.
Once we got back, we dropped the clothes in the room and drove to AK. I bought Morgan his AP and my TiW card and headed in. Straight to EE for FPs and rode right away. Then Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl and headed for KS. We got caught by the parade [we never plan to watch parades, but if they’re there we’ll watch]. Right after the parade, safari was walk-on. :sohappy:
We headed toward EE for our FPs but everybody seemed to be heading out... :lookaroun Then the skies opened up.
Initially, we just ducked under a big umbrella, but after about ten minutes it gave no indicationit was going to let up, so we decided to run for it. We got totally drenched!!! We returned to the room to wring out and shower/change and head for Boma. It was just a light drizzle by the time we were on our way to AKL. The rain had soaked our shoes, but didn't dampen our appetites! :slurp:Came back to find Heidi's package. A whole bunch of bags of chips and a series of plasticised cards itemising our itinerary and some cute tips for the World. Heidi had booked our room through her Travel Agency and this was a client bonus service.
Now we were ready for bed... It's been a very hectic couple of days.
