The 2400mi Drive - A March 2012 trip to remember, and some parts to forget!

The 2400mi Drive - A March 2012 trip to remember, and some parts to forget! **7/1**

:wave:Jambo!:wave:​

I am Liz, and I will be guiding you through my most recent trip with my best friend Pat. When I returned from WDW in October, the free dining offer really made me want to book another trip. Yes, I know going during peak season and getting the free dining plan does not really save any money. But, if we had paid for it, we would have spent more than we saved.. There are hardly any pictures of myself or Pat in this TR because we both hate having our picture taken. I am better behind the lens, anyways!

A quick re-cap for those of you who did not read my PTR:

The whole vacation was supposed to take place March 22 2012 – April 1, 2012. Unfortunately, a friend and former teacher of Pat passed away earlier in the week that we were going to leave. The services were to be held Thursday night and Friday morning. We pushed our departure date forward one day. It was not a problem at all to do this because it meant we would be at WDW quicker than previously planned!

Here is the link to my PTR:​

It's a Long Way Down the Holiday Road​

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Here are the links to the chapters in this TR:​

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Chapter 1: Goodbye, Connecticut! Hello, Florida!​

1-1: Great Timing​

1-2: The Longest Road, Ever​

1-3: No Stopping?​

1-4: The Faultima Made it to WDW!​

1-5: Our First Night on Property, and we Choose to Leave?​

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Chapter 2: The Kingdom of Magic​

2-1: Up Early on Vacation, and it was Worthwhile!​

2-2: Walk-On City​

2-3: The Hub Models​

2-4: "Do you know what 'Ohana means?"​

2-5: 'Ohana Review​

2-6: Resort Hip-Hoppin'​

2-7: I Don't Feel Like we are in WDW Anymore.. / Part 2​

2-8: Main Street Electrical Parade​

2-9: It's a Tough Battle..​

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Chapter 3: Pat's Birthday​

3-1: “50 minutes? No way. The line is inside!”​

3-2: The Bank is on Fire​

3-3: Shaded Queue Lines are Really Nice​

3-4: Sneaky, Sneaky​

3-5: Crescent Lake Shuffle / Part 2​

3-6: Kouzzina Review​

3-7: A Night at the BoardWalk​

3-8: Illuminations, Round 1​

3-9: The Night to Remember​

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Chapter 4: EPCOT Day 1​

4-1: Late for Rope Drop​

4-2: Living with the Land​

4-3: "In the big, blue world.."​

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Such great pictures again! I can't believe how many you took in the Land!

Love the fisheye!

 

[cindyella]

love the pictures!!

 

[diddy_mouse]

The Boardwalk area is so pretty! It's definitely a great place to wander around and take pictures. I also liked seeing more pictures of Coronado Springs.

Always nice to see some Living With the Land love! I always enjoy this ride, especially in the morning (for some odd reason :lol We always visit right after getting Soarin Fastpasses.

P.S. Fantastic fish-eye shots!

 

[emcclay]

Sorry for the lack of updates, everyone! School started up for me this week and it has been keeping me very busy. I'll try to get another post up this weekend.

I LOVE your trip report! It makes me want to be there now. The Land pavilion is one of my favorites at Epcot, I just booked the Behind The Seeds tour a couple of days ago for September! Can't wait to read more. Your pictures are awesome BTW

Thank you! The Land pavilion is great. Hoping to get on the Behind the Seeds tour on my next trip.

Ah Boardwalk looks so magical at night. Seriously I can't wait to be there myself. 89 days myself....

And Living with the Land. I love this ride. We rode it a couple of years ago not having a clue what it was, and we have made it a point to do so every time we return. I am sure people think its old, and boring. But I love it. Not to mention its a great mid day break time

'Mustard lady' sounds like a trip....always good for a future story to tell friends...I love running into those kind of people..

It is so magical. You don't even feel like you are at WDW. So lucky you will be staying there! I definitely want to stay at BC for my next trip.

The first time I went on LwtL, I had no clue what it was. It is so interesting, and now that I am a culinary junkie, it is awesome to see all these different growing techniques.

I am loving your trip report and pictures. I wish I knew how to take such amazing photos and everytime I see great photos in people's trip reports I want to learn. I have a super nice Nikon camera that was a gift and I know it would do amazing things- but the operator does not have amazing skills. We drove down last March from NY so I can relate to the drive. We always stop at South of the Border- not even sure why. I always get so excited when we hit a new state- love how you took photos entering the states. Great report and very thorough!

Thanks! Photography can be overwhelming at first. Just don't try to think to much about it. There are many tutorials online. Not sure if I am allowed to post links, but Google can be a great tool to use in this case

I don't see myself driving down again, unless I am moving down there. I own a convertible and FL definitely has the perfect weather for it. Up here in the Northeast, it is much too rainy.

 

[emcclay]

Great report and beautiful pics! I am going crazy looking at all of your food pics while waiting on my hubby to get home so we can have dinner...he better hurry!!! Can't wait for next update!

Thank you!! The next update will be soon, I hope! Trying my best to balance school and work and keeping up-to-date on all things WDW :ROFLOL:

Great Report, Great Pics! Love the Lapu Lapu!

Thank you very much! I can't wait to be back at the Poly having a Lapu Lapu..

Such great pictures again! I can't believe how many you took in the Land!

Love the fisheye!

Thanks, Tammy! My fisheye will be getting plenty of use on the Dream :sohappy:

love the pictures!!

Thanks!

The Boardwalk area is so pretty! It's definitely a great place to wander around and take pictures. I also liked seeing more pictures of Coronado Springs.

Always nice to see some Living With the Land love! I always enjoy this ride, especially in the morning (for some odd reason :lol We always visit right after getting Soarin Fastpasses.

P.S. Fantastic fish-eye shots!

I am in looooove with the Boardwalk resort area. It's so great that you can see Illuminations pretty much every night.

That's exactly what Pat and I did- FP for Soarin', then LwtL!

Thank you! I love the fisheye.

 

[emcclay]

Hello all my darling readers- told you I wouldn’t forget about you and my TR! I have been super caught up in culinary school and my new job. Lately, WDW has been on my mind.. So, I have returned for another installment of my TR! Woot! Here we go..​

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When I last left you, Pat and I had rode LWTL and picked up some Soarin’ FP’s (which they were enforcing the times on).​

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Next stop- The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Now, the last time Pat had been to WDW it was The Living Seas. So, this was new to him. He seemed to enjoy it. That queue is lovely. Too bad there is never enough time to enjoy all the details.. I am always feeling rushed by the people behind me. Oh well. If you are familiar with the song from The Seas with Nemo and Friends, sing it!​

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“In the big blue word- I’m gonna go explore!”​

“Not too far now!”​

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I think I took some pretty decent shots during this ride. Nemo has and always will be a favorite movie of mine, so this ride tugs on my heartstrings.​

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We hauled butt across EPCOT to Mission: Space.​

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On our high school trip back in 2003 there was no “orange” or “green” side. I definitely remember feeling a little “out of this world” when I rode it back then. It was super hot out, which led to a very easy mutual decision to take the “green” side.​

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The queue is so massive!​

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What a beautiful day it was at EPCOT. That poor, poor Odyssey building. Why does EPCOT have 1.5 useless pavilions? ( I’m saying 1.5 because they use WoL during the two festivals). At least throw more home exhibits into WoL and turn Odyssey back into a restaurant (TS!) or SOMETHING. People love that stuff. If any of you are familiar with The Big E, I imagine you would be with me on this one. That home building is always PACKED with people. Well, I hope there are some good plans being thought up for these two pavilions.​

Next up, some F&G and WS!​

 

[lostpro9het]

What an awesome pic!

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The queue is so massive!​

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