Road Trip!! Are there two more exciting words in the human language? I think not! My wife ( Marie ) and I ( AL ) live in central New Jersey and will be departing soon for points south.
First stop will be Charleston,SC. We have a couple nights booked at a B&B on the Battery. The room we're in is allegedly haunted which probably means a few sleepless nights for my wife. We haven't been to Charleston in a number of years and are looking forward to some Southern hospitality and great food.
Next stop is Longboat Key in Florida. The Ringling mansion and museum look like they're worth checking out.
Then it's on to Naples and a few days of R&R gulf front.
From there we will visit the Everglades before moving on to the Keys. A quick one night stop over in Key Largo and then on to Key West. We've never been to the Keys so it should be exciting. We have sightseeing and a sunset cruise on the agenda. I'm sure food and spirits will be plentiful.
Last but not least is a visit to that happiest place on earth. We have been to the World probably 20 times. We visited just about every year, sometimes twice, from the time our daughter was 4 years old until she entered college. She's in Boston now, in grad school, and will be unable to make this trip.
We stayed near the Magic Kingdom our first few visits, the Poly, Contemporary, Floridian but then migrated to the Epcot area. The Beach Club and Boardwalk being our favorites.
This trip we had booked a quick two night stay at the Boardwalk. After re-thinking that decision, we figured we could stay at the Swan for four nights for less money. ( Yes Disney, you have priced us out of your deluxe resorts, $600 a night, no way. )
The only fly in the ointment here was that one of the nights we needed has been booked solid for months now. We took two nights and hoped that someone would cancel so we could get four nights in a row.
Well, after many phone calls and with our departure drawing near and nothing opening up, it was time for a plan B. Another problem, it seems not many rooms are even available. The Value Resorts are out, not going, no way, no how. The Animal Kingdom Lodge is available but we stayed there last spring. Didn't like it, not going back. The Cabins at Fort Wilderness look interesting but are kind of out of the way.
Then we stumbled upon Coronado Springs. Rooms available, relatively cheap by Disney standards, never stayed there before......ding, ding, ding.......we have a winner.
So that's the plan. Two nights Coronado and two nights Swan.
Turns out that dining reservations are also hard to come by unless you want dinner at 4:15. We have a dinner at Artist's Point and , by tradition, our last meal is always France. Usually Bistro de Paris but since they're in rehab, it's Chefs de France this year. We'll probably just pig-out at the Food & Wine Festival the other nights.
Oh yeah, there are a couple of theme parks there too. My wife doesn't enjoy the wilder rides, she's a Small World kind of girl. I like Everest, TOT, anything fast. I spend alot of time in the single rider line.
So since rooms and dinner reservations are at a premium, it sounds like it may be quite crowded. Since we're in no hurry, C'est la vie.
More to follow.......
First stop will be Charleston,SC. We have a couple nights booked at a B&B on the Battery. The room we're in is allegedly haunted which probably means a few sleepless nights for my wife. We haven't been to Charleston in a number of years and are looking forward to some Southern hospitality and great food.
Next stop is Longboat Key in Florida. The Ringling mansion and museum look like they're worth checking out.
Then it's on to Naples and a few days of R&R gulf front.
From there we will visit the Everglades before moving on to the Keys. A quick one night stop over in Key Largo and then on to Key West. We've never been to the Keys so it should be exciting. We have sightseeing and a sunset cruise on the agenda. I'm sure food and spirits will be plentiful.
Last but not least is a visit to that happiest place on earth. We have been to the World probably 20 times. We visited just about every year, sometimes twice, from the time our daughter was 4 years old until she entered college. She's in Boston now, in grad school, and will be unable to make this trip.
We stayed near the Magic Kingdom our first few visits, the Poly, Contemporary, Floridian but then migrated to the Epcot area. The Beach Club and Boardwalk being our favorites.
This trip we had booked a quick two night stay at the Boardwalk. After re-thinking that decision, we figured we could stay at the Swan for four nights for less money. ( Yes Disney, you have priced us out of your deluxe resorts, $600 a night, no way. )
The only fly in the ointment here was that one of the nights we needed has been booked solid for months now. We took two nights and hoped that someone would cancel so we could get four nights in a row.
Well, after many phone calls and with our departure drawing near and nothing opening up, it was time for a plan B. Another problem, it seems not many rooms are even available. The Value Resorts are out, not going, no way, no how. The Animal Kingdom Lodge is available but we stayed there last spring. Didn't like it, not going back. The Cabins at Fort Wilderness look interesting but are kind of out of the way.
Then we stumbled upon Coronado Springs. Rooms available, relatively cheap by Disney standards, never stayed there before......ding, ding, ding.......we have a winner.
So that's the plan. Two nights Coronado and two nights Swan.
Turns out that dining reservations are also hard to come by unless you want dinner at 4:15. We have a dinner at Artist's Point and , by tradition, our last meal is always France. Usually Bistro de Paris but since they're in rehab, it's Chefs de France this year. We'll probably just pig-out at the Food & Wine Festival the other nights.
Oh yeah, there are a couple of theme parks there too. My wife doesn't enjoy the wilder rides, she's a Small World kind of girl. I like Everest, TOT, anything fast. I spend alot of time in the single rider line.
So since rooms and dinner reservations are at a premium, it sounds like it may be quite crowded. Since we're in no hurry, C'est la vie.
More to follow.......