Trip Report "You're mean!" & "I'm scared!!" - The Theme of our 2018 Trip.

Well, we're back. Another Disney trip is in the books.
We just got back from Disney at 2am, and i'm getting this thing rolling now while it's all fresh in my mind.

Without further delay....

Thursday 9/6 - Departure Day
I had worked all day and left work promptly at 5pm. My mom had picked Harper up from Daycare, so all I needed to do was head home. The van was already packed and ready to go. Surprisingly after only 10- 15 minutes, we were buckling ourselves into the van and heading on our way right before 6pm!

The drive was pretty uneventful. I had noticed pretty soon into the trip I was getting a pretty bad headache but I tried to ignore it. About 7:45-8pm, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for dinner. Harper was having a blast walking around looking at all the stuff in the lobby. When they called "Lucabaugh, Party of 4!" Harper piped up and said "Where's the party at??" I had to laugh. I looked at her and said "We ARE the party!"

Service was SLOWWWWW tonight. I ended up just getting breakfast and some pumpkin coffee that they had on the menu. It was a pretty long stop, but Harper was pretty good while we were there. She wanted a few things in the gift shop but we assured her she'd get much cooler stuff in Disney. Thus started the "You're MEAN!!!" comments that continued pretty much hourly after that for the remainder of the trip. Ah, 4 year olds!

We got back on the road and were headed to our hotel in Hillsville, VA. It was only moments after being in the car after dinner that I started to feel pretty bad. My stomach wasn't feeling awesome and I was instantly transformed into a nervous wreck. I have a bit of a phobia of being sick. Being sick on a very very long car ride towards vacation would be even worse. Quickly I had worked myself into a full panic. We had to stop before we even got on the interstate, and then again about 10 minutes later where things were REALLY bad. It was so odd. I don't get car sick, but it was like the minute we got on the road in the dark, I started to feel extremely sick. After the second pit stop, I asked if I could drive the rest of the way. After some tums, ginger ale, and driving, I started to come around a bit.

We ended up stopping at the Hampton somewhat late and got in the room around 1 am, I believe. I was still very iffy stomach wise, and just a mess. I didn't sleep a wink that first night because the coffee had kicked in and coupled with my anxiety, I just couldn't get my brain to turn off. Not helping was that Harper and I had to share a bed. Eventually at some point I drifted off and got a few hours of sleep.

Up next: Will I feel any better tomorrow for the 2nd leg of our trip??

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Car sickness is the worst! Can’t wait to hear more!!

It really was not fun and it was so unlike me! Still not sure what caused it, but I didn't have any other issues after that!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Loved following your trip on Instagram, Harper is adorable! Can't wait to hear all the details!

Thanks for following along!!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Sorry you had such a rough start to the trip. Harper is too cute for words!!
Looking forward to more!!

Thanks for the follow!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Following along. I hate trip anxiety and not be able to sleep before a trip. It has happened to me the last few times too.

Yeah, It was not fun. I've never been like this at the beginning of a trip and I just kept thinking "oh no! what if I am sick?" and it just made everything worse. Must have just had an off night with my stomach.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Sorry for all the issues in the beginning, but hoping it gets better from here! Harper is such a cutie! Can't wait to hear more about the trip!

thanks for following!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Following...

I almost freaked out when I first looked at this picture. It looks like a giraffe is coming through the window and has swallowed half of Harper's arm!!!

hahahah oh no! She had this hand puppet and she was talking to the giraffe!
Thanks for following!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

I hope your tummy troubles get better. I get the same kind of anxiety about getting sick (especially in the car), so I always take a Dramamine before travelling. Chewing gum also seems to help for some reason or another.
Definitely following along!

Thank you! I almost bought Dramamine, but I've never taken it, so I didn't really want to take something new. Luckily the tums and ginger ale really helped plus the driving gave me something to focus on!

 

[Gurt]

hahahah oh no! She had this hand puppet and she was talking to the giraffe!
Thanks for following!

@DisneyJeff I thought the exact same thing

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Travel Day 3 - Daytona Beach, FL - DISNEY!

As soon as Harper's eyes were open the next day, she wanted to go out on the balcony and see the beach. Admittedly, I was just as excited, so we quietly sneaked out. The view we were greeted with was stunning!

We sat out there for a while and just watched the sun rise ! Harper really wanted to go down to the beach.

Before we could go to the beach, we needed to eat. Today, I was hungry! I took advantage of the free meals in the Hampton and Harper also had a good variety of stuff to eat. I also think I drank like 3 cups of coffee this morning!

After she ate, we got into bathing suits and headed down to the beach/splash pad area. We weren't in any rush to check out since we couldn't check in at SSR until 3 or 4 pm. Harper ran all around the splash pad just having a blast. It was warm, sunny, and I had that nice, calm peace washing over me that you can only get at the beginning of a long vacation! Nothing but fun ahead, and I was so happy!

Harper and I swam in the pool there for about an hour before it was time to get changed and get on our way. We were stopped at a little diner on the way out that Mom had read had gluten free foods. I wasn't super hungry, but was pretty excited about some pancakes.

I put on my new shirt that I was super excited to find at Target right before we left!

The diner was right down the street, and it was little early so we went into one of those beachy Wings style stores to kill some time and then went over to the diner. We sat down and I started looking over the menu. There was nothing listed as gluten free on this menu, and the waitress smartly told us that they DO NOT sell anything gluten free. I opted out of a meal at that point and just got another cup of coffee while everyone ate.

Leaving Daytona beach we saw the Daytona Speedway. I had no idea it was so big!

Lots of rain and traffic once we were on I-4, just like always.

Once we started getting close, it was time to bust out the magic bands, but mine was HUGE and I had to make it child size to fit my wrist. In all this confusion, I didn't get any pictures of it in the car. Before we knew it, we were coming into Disney world THE BACK WAY and missed the giant sign, which I was oddly bummed about.

Next: Arriving at SSR, and LOTS of rain...

 

[ScarletBegonias]

9/8 Arriving at SSR!

I'm not sure of the exact time, but we pulled into SSR (THE BACK WAY!) probably at 2:45pm. Missing the resort sign, I was just going to accept that I wasn't getting that picture either. Before this trip, I wasn't really excited about SSR, but the first impression really was surprising! We found the 30 minute parking at the carriage house and got out to stretch our legs. As we're walking in, I finally had to stop so I could get a picture!

Walking into the lobby, like any other Disney resort, is really breathtaking! The giant open lobby was HUGE! The first thing that caught my eye was the huge rug in the middle. It was so pretty.

First thing first, We headed towards the bathrooms. After that we decided to wonder over to The Artist's Palate (SSR's quick service restaurant) just to check it out. Immediately I laid eyes on the new purple Halloween cup that I'd seen on IG a week or so before, and It was to be mine! I'd been in the resort for 4 minutes and already made a purchase!

After that was done, I was oogling over all the Halloween merch. Disney Halloween merchandise is my favorite EVER! I really had to restrain myself from buying ALL of it.

We decided to go check in. Our room was to be a 1 BR, and I was to sleep on the pull out couch. Not ideal but whatever. Mom and I had discussed and wondered if maybe we'd possibly get a free upgrade. All we wanted was a 2 BR. When we got to the lobby and checked in my mom asked if they had any free upgrades to the 2 BR. The lady sad something about no, and it wasn't marked in our requests. We kept our happy faces on and said "okay!" Then Mom asked if we could at least be in the Paddock section and the woman said, You got it! At that point, the check in was taking forever, so I stepped away. My mom said after that the lady said our room still wasn't' ready and that she'd try to see if anything else was available but we may have to wait a bit. Okay, that's fine.

But it started to rain. And rain. And rain. Then the thunder was crashing! We had seen everything there was to see in the carriage house, and were now just sitting in the restaurant waiting for 4pm to check back in. Harper was losing it so I decided to take her over to the arcade for a bit of running around.

We "played" in here for awhile until I decided to venture back to the main building. I found my mom and step dad in a rocking chair waiting it out. We could have used this time to check out the resort, but nope. I did manage to check out the pool for a moment.

It was now like 4:15 and we were DONE with waiting. We went back up and finally our room was ready! Even with the rain being a bit of a bummer, I was quite ready to get into our room and get unpacked. When the woman said we were on the 4th floor, I was starting to wonder if maybe HAD gotten an upgrade. I don't know why but my senses told me that the 4th floor might be a good sign!

Next: Will we get an upgrade??

 

[ScarletBegonias]

9/6 - Getting to our room!

We found our building in the Paddock, and I was starting to get excited. I just had a feeling we were going to get a bigger room and I wouldn't have to sleep on a pull out couch! Our room was 5821 on the 4th floor. We grabbed a few bags and headed towards the elevator. I think we were all walking towards the room with baited breath.

My mom walked in first and went to the right side of the door. After I second, I heard a gasp and then I heard her yell "We got the two bedroom!!!" We were all pretty excited to not have to share a bathroom! haha. We spend the next couple minutes taking in the room and we all started to unpack.

Balcony view!

Disney details..

After coming down from the high of the room, we realized we needed to leave SOON for Epcot as we had a FP and ADR tonight! I changed clothes and we got all of our stuff ready to go and got back in the van. We didn't use any Disney buses this trip unless we were going to MK. I actually preferred using our own vehicle much much more than I thought I would.

First thing we were headed toward was Soarin' ! Stay tuned..

 

[ScarletBegonias]

9/8 Evening In Epcot

We scan our bands for our Soarin' FP, and Harper is already seeming anxious. Then started the first of many "I'm scared!" proclamations. I assured her it was not scary and it was sort of like flying. We got seated and buckled in and my mom told her she didn't have to ride if she didn't want to. She started "I don't want to!" and off her and my Mom went while my step dad and I Soared over the world. This was my first time on the NEW soarin' and I liked it. I honestly don't even really remember the old one all that much! When we got off, Harper had decided that she now wanted to try it. Too late, Kid. Stand by line was a no go!

From there we went to see our favorite purple pal, Figment! Harper loves this one.

From there, it was time to go over to world showcase for dinner! We had an ADR at Rose and Crown for 7:45, I think it was.

Seated outside, we had a wonderful view. We looked at the menu and decided to try the cheese plate for appetizers. Harper colored while she waited.

There were a lot of empty tables tonight at Rose and Crown, but the world showcase was slammmmmed! The Food & Wine festival was in full bore and people were everywhere. The cheese plate came and it was not what I was expecting. One of them tasted like mold, and I couldn't even eat it, but the other two were pretty good. For dinner I got the baked cod and they made us some gluten free bubbles and squeak. I really liked that!

We ate slowly and were waiting for Illuminations when an announcement came on the intercom at 8:30 telling us that the fireworks would be starting at 10pm. wait, 10???? This was not what we were planning on! The park closed at 10 tonight and thus the later time. I told my mom that I was not going to be able to keep Harper occupied for another 90 minutes, so sadly, we decided to pack up and leave after they had some dessert.

On the way back through Epcot, I decided that I really needed to look for a pair of ears. I'd been in Disney for several hours now, and had no ears to wear so the search began at a little stand by the fountain. Music was thumping and there was some kind of dance party going on. The feeling in Epcot tonight was really upbeat! I didn't find the ears I wanted, but Harper found the ones she wanted!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Love the Halloween Mug!!

And I have to say, good job! Harper is so freakin cute!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

9/8 Epcot Cont'd..

Or so we thought! She ended up putting the Elsa ears back because in Mouse Gears, she found some that she liked better. Mouse Gears was a total nightmare. I was trying to find Halloween ears that I liked but didn't find what I was looking for, so I went back outside to purchase my second choice of ears. After that we jumped in the line for some photos.

It wasn't long after that that I looked down and saw this:

She was out cuddling her new ears! As we were walking out, I grabbed a few photos.

Harper was OUT. We got her in the van, and back to the room without her waking up. But once we were there, she just had to sleep with mom! So we got tucked into bed and out we went. We had a very important breakfast in the morning and it was EARLY!

Next: Princess Harper meets 4 princesses at the Royal Table!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Love the Halloween Mug!!

And I have to say, good job! Harper is so freakin cute!

I love that mug too! I used it the rest of the week religiously and even on the drive home! I use them to take my coffee to work

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Sunday 9/9 - Magic Kingdom!

We had to set an alarm this day, and it went off at 6am. Because we were taking a bus to the MK and our ADR was at 8:55, we had to be up with plenty of time to spare. It was really hard getting up this morning and Harper was not having it! However, at the mention of her new Elsa dress, she perked up and got moving a little bit quicker.

Heading out, I snapped this picture of Harper ready to take on the Magic Kingdom

We were a bit early so we decided to go over to the pool and check it out since we had not seen the Paddock pool yet an it's right there at the bus stop, so we stopped to scope it out. It was quiet and still, but I was happy with the pool and couldn't wait to use it later.

We waited for the bus... and waited. It was 10 minutes later than the TV said it would arrive, but soon we were on our way!

Finally we were off the bus and heading towards the park!

We breezed through security and got that first glimpse of Main Street all done up in Halloween garb! It made my heart so happy!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

9/9 - Magic Kingdom Cont'd...

First thing we did was jump into the hat shop right in the square. I was still on a hunt to find my Halloween ears! The ones I bought the night before were squeezing my head super tight! Luckily, I found the candy corn ears and I was even happier to find out that these were the new and improved headbands that are much thinner and do not squeeze your head! We also decided that Harper HAD to have the Elsa ears to match her dress. She wanted another set of ears in the store, and I had to tell her no as she already had 2 pair! "YOU'RE MEAN!!" was my answer back.

Don't be fooled by that cute face, she was already a bear this morning. Just keep swimming....

We stopped on Main Street to grab some pictures of us. These are probably some of my favorites from the whole trip.

From here we were going to try to get to the Purple wall but we couldn't get over there yet because the park was still closed off. We meandered a bit, and then walked up to CRT to get checked in.

While we were waiting, Harper checked out the big mural inside the castle.

After a few moments, soon we were inside the castle waiting on our turn to meet Cinderella!

Up Next: Cinderella, Breakfast, and Princesses!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

9/9- Magic Kingdom – CRT

Once inside the castle, they put you in a line for pictures with Cinderella! This year, for the first time, Harper also had an autograph book, so Cindy was the first one to grace the book with her signature!

Shortly after the picture, we were called. Up a very tight, twisty staircase, we were soon up high in the castle. I was here as a child once, but didn’t really remember it. It was so beautiful! I was very happy that we were seated at table by the window, so that we had good light for photos. The tables in the middle were kind of in the dark.

The waiter brought pastries and coffee which I was thankful for, and when he saw we had allergies, he brought my mom and I our own gluten free muffins. We each ate one, and boxed up the other two for a snack later in the day.

The three adults all got the standard breakfast of eggs, potatoes, sausage and bacon. It was all very good! Harper had a mini waffle, fruit, and eggs. She ate a good bit of her meal and had already filled up on pastries.

It didn’t take long before the princesses appeared, which I was also thankful for! Snow white, Aurora, Ariel and Jasmine! Harper loved getting her pictures taken with them, and getting their signatures. I found it a little stressful however, getting the book ready, and trying to get her picture! I jumped in with Ariel because she is one of my favorites.

After the breakfast was over, a little girl got a cute mickey shaped cake for her birthday and the entire restaurant sang to her. It made me tear up a little bit. I can’t imagine being a little girl in THE CASTLE and having everyone sing to me. Best day ever!



Next: A magical Day in the Kingdom!

 

[ELeigh]

Disney Halloween merchandise is my favorite EVER! I really had to restrain myself from buying ALL of it.

Same! Pumpkin+Mickey and I am sold.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Same! Pumpkin+Mickey and I am sold.

Right~!!! So cute!