Trip Report Rain, rain go away! The Miller family wants to play! (COMPLETE)

This trip was planned after one of the most stressful years of our married life. A multitude of bumps in road of life had left us worn out and in need of some Disney magic. The worst of which was a cancer scare in the late Spring that, by the grace of God, turned out to be a false alarm. I received the all-clear and low and behold Disney released free dining shortly thereafter. Divine intervention, perhaps?! :-)
We booked at Caribbean Beach Resort for Thursday, September 24-Thursday October 1 with free dining, 3 day park tickets and MNSSHP tickets for Sunday. We wanted to take this trip much slower than our previous ones to allow for more time to enjoy the resort, pools and Downtown. We decided to drive this time to save some money and after much consideration, opted to drive straight through from Ohio overnight. Was it a wise decision? Stay tuned to find out!
Here is the cast of characters:
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Me, SweetEvangeline, lover of all things Pinocchio, my sweet DH, MouseFreak, lover of all things Disney-related, and our beautiful 13 year old special needs daughter, Grace, lover of…well, that changes frequently, but her most favorite part of any trip is the pool time! Here we go....
 
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SweetEvangeline

SweetEvangeline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, Sept. 24
DH only worked one day that week so he could rest and prepare for the long drive. As it turned out, it was a good thing he did because he ended up catching a nasty cold and the R&R served him well. I worked until 2:00 on Wednesday so that we could finish packing and hit the road before rush hour. It worked beautifully and by 4:00 PM, we were settled in and our Toyota was headed South. We weren’t sure how Grace would handle the overnight travel, but aside from some minor issues staying asleep, all went well. The nighttime travel meant light traffic and smooth sailing. We only ran into one minor traffic snag along the way which didn’t delay us much. By about 6:00 AM, DH needed a break from driving and I took over the wheel for the remainder of the trip.
We had estimated that we would arrive at about 9:00 AM, and at 8:59 AM, we made the turn into the resort parking lot, tired, but the Disney adrenaline kicked in and we were ready to go!

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Check in was smooth and seamless and we were assigned a room in Barbados on the first floor as we requested. We originally requested either Aruba or Jamaica but since the bridge to Old Port Royale was closed for construction, and we wanted to be as close to the main building as possible, Barbados was our next best option. Our room was ready, but we were hungry so we headed to Old Port Royale for this little beauty:
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With full bellies and resort mugs filled with sweet tea, we headed to our room to unpack and head to what Grace had waited months for…the swimming pool!! She couldn’t get changed quickly enough and before we knew it, her dreams came true!

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SweetEvangeline

SweetEvangeline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We had watched the weather closely the week before we left and prepared ourselves for several days of rain. Ponchos and extra clothes were packed and rain or no rain, we were going to hit the ground running! After a few hours of swimming, we headed back to the room to clean up and head to Downtown for dinner and dessert. We dined with Earl and did a little shopping at World of Disney, and ended the evening with this amazing treat:
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By this point, we were all exhausted from the long night of travel, so we headed back to the room and were all sound asleep by 8:00. Friday was Magic Kingdom day and we wanted to be rested for a day of fun!
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Great start! Can't wait to read more! You guys are braver than I am. My husband wants to drive when we go in June, and I think it is too far from Dayton! I'm not sure we could do the overnight thing because I don't sleep well in the car, and therefore, wouldn't be any help when Brian got tired! We'll see. Southwest flights are supposed to be out at the end of this month for our departure day, so we will see what prices are!
 
SweetEvangeline

SweetEvangeline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
TheMouseFan said:
Great start! Can't wait to read more! You guys are braver than I am. My husband wants to drive when we go in June, and I think it is too far from Dayton! I'm not sure we could do the overnight thing because I don't sleep well in the car, and therefore, wouldn't be any help when Brian got tired! We'll see. Southwest flights are supposed to be out at the end of this month for our departure day, so we will see what prices are!
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I had to take a Melatonin about 1AM to help me get some sleep. Grace had a Melatonin at 9 PM and another one at 1 or 2 AM! :-) Melatonin is my friend!
 
mousefreak

mousefreak

Well-Known Member
TheMouseFan said:
Great start! Can't wait to read more! You guys are braver than I am. My husband wants to drive when we go in June, and I think it is too far from Dayton! I'm not sure we could do the overnight thing because I don't sleep well in the car, and therefore, wouldn't be any help when Brian got tired! We'll see. Southwest flights are supposed to be out at the end of this month for our departure day, so we will see what prices are!
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I was originally planning on driving down I75, but read about quite a bit of road construction along the route. We've driven that route two other times before with no problem. We chose to go down 77 to 95 to 4. Only road construction we ran into was south of Columbia SC. We prefer to fly, but wanted to save some money by driving. BTW, we spent $150 on gas...round trip!
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
mousefreak said:
I was originally planning on driving down I75, but read about quite a bit of road construction along the route. We've driven that route two other times before with no problem. We chose to go down 77 to 95 to 4. Only road construction we ran into was south of Columbia SC. We prefer to fly, but wanted to save some money by driving. BTW, we spent $150 on gas...round trip!
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Thanks! I was going to ask what route you took. I think my sanity is worth whatever it costs to fly!! I think the three kids could possibly kill each other before we ever got to Florida!
 
JourneysEnd

JourneysEnd

Well-Known Member
TheMouseFan said:
Great start! Can't wait to read more! You guys are braver than I am. My husband wants to drive when we go in June, and I think it is too far from Dayton! I'm not sure we could do the overnight thing because I don't sleep well in the car, and therefore, wouldn't be any help when Brian got tired! We'll see. Southwest flights are supposed to be out at the end of this month for our departure day, so we will see what prices are!
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Talked with Southwest yesterday. Flights through June 3rd 2016 should be on the website by the 29th. They couldn't tell me when the rest of June would be up.
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
figmentfan423 said:
I never hear so much as a peep out of my kids in the car. I just tell them I have vouchers and will drop them off at the nearest airport heading to grandma's if they don't behave. :D
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I have a feeling they really would behave knowing what our final destination was, but I'm not sure I want to chance it!!
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
TheMouseFan said:
I have a feeling they really would behave knowing what our final destination was, but I'm not sure I want to chance it!!
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A potable DVD player and Disney movies works wonders. Our gas and a night in a hotel down and home is about the cost of one and a half airline tickets. That was when gas was $4 a gallon.
 
SweetEvangeline

SweetEvangeline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
slipperalwaysfits said:
The driving all night is a challenge, but I can't believe how accurate your estimate was! Sounds like you had a perfect first day!

Btw---Good about June 3, I have to book my flight to my June 30 wedding soon! :) <3 Glad to know it's coming soon!
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That is an exciting thing to look forward to! Congratulations!
 

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