Wanna Drive 811 miles to Disney? Tomorrow? Another Mickeystoontown Report (that will be finished!) *Updated 11/5

[mickeystoontown]

INTRODUCTIONS

HELLO THERE! IT'S MICKEYSTOONTOWN! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I'M BACK!

SOME OF YOU MAY ALREADY KNOW ME AND IF YOU DO, HOWDY PARTNER!


IF YOU DON'T KNOW ME YET, THEN WELCOME ABOARD THE MICKEYSTOONTOWN TRAIN, LET'S BE FRIENDS!


I'VE WRITTEN TRIP REPORTS FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND ALWAYS ENJOY SHARING OUR ADVENTURES HERE ON THE DIS. I'VE MADE SOOOOOO MANY FRIENDS ON THE DIS AND CHERISH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM. I HOPE THAT I MAKE MANY MORE.

I'LL BE HONEST WITH YOU, THE LAST TRIP REPORT I WROTE, I DIDN'T FINISH FOR SEVERAL REASONS. ONE WAS THAT I WAS A BIT FRUSTRATED WITH THINGS HERE ON THE DIS. ANOTHER WAS LIFE. LIFE GOT IN THE WAY AND I GOT SUPER BUSY WITH MY SISTER PASSING AWAY, MY MOTHER SUFFERING A FALL, TAKING CARE OF CLIENTS, AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER THINGS. BUT I'M BACK AND READY TO SHARE THE LATEST TRIP TO WALT DISNEY WORLD!

I'M KINDA SORTA GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF HERE. LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF. I'M LISA AND A DISNEY LOVER THROUGH AND THROUGH. I REMEMBER GOING TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY NIGHTS AND HOPING THAT SERVICE WOULDN'T RUN LATE BECAUSE THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY WAS COMING ON THAT NIGHT. I THINK MY LOVE FOR DISNEY STARTED WAY BACK THEN. THE LOVE WAS MUTLIPLIED A GAJILLION TIMES OVER WHEN WE VISITED WALT DISNEY WORLD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 1998. SINCE THAT FIRST TRIP, JOHN AND I (AND LOTS OF FAMILY MEMBERS, EXTENDED FAMILY, AND FRIENDS) HAVE RETURNED 29 TIMES! NOW, I'M AN ADVISOR WHO HELPS OTHERS PLAN THEIR TRIPS AND I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

IN MY REAL LIFE, I AM A PARALEGAL IN A LAW OFFICE SPECIALIZING IN NASTY, UGLY, RIP ROARIN' FIGHTING DIVORCES, AND CUSTODY. I'VE BEEN DOING IT ALMOST 40 YEARS NOW AND DISNEY IS AN ESCAPE FROM THAT WORLD FOR ME. I ALSO LIKE TO MAKE CUSTOM EARS FOR MY ETSY SHOP, DECORATE AND HELP OTHERS. I'VE BEEN MARRIED TO JOHN FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS. WE WERE BABES (18) WHEN WE GOT MARRIED. JOHN WORKS IN A COMMERCIAL CABINET SHOP AND WE OWN OUR OWN CABINET SHOP AS WELL. JOHN HAS EPILEPSY SO OUR PLANS CAN CHANGE ON A DIME WHICH CAN BE STRESSFUL SINCE I'M A PLANNER.



THIS TRIP WAS JUST A ME AND JOHN TRIP. IT WAS VERY SPUR OF THE MOMENT SO THERE WASN'T TIME FOR ANYONE ELSE TO COME ALONG.

THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS, THAT'S WHO WE ARE. I HOPE THAT YOU AND I WILL BECOME FAST FRIENDS BY THE TIME I'M DONE. I AM PINKY SWEARING RIGHT NOW THAT I'M FINISHING THIS ONE.

UP NEXT: OH MY GOSH, I'M GOING TO DO IT! I AM REALLY DOING IT!​

 

[mickeystoontown]

SAVED FOR LINKS​

 

[mickeystoontown]

OH MY GOSH, I'M GOING TO DO IT! I AM REALLY DOING IT!

So, I just realized that the first post was in all caps which feels like I am yelling but I'm too lazy to go back and retype it all so please ignore the yell-typing. I'd also like to warn anyone new and remind repeat readers, that I'm wordy. I go into detail about everything.

As I said above, I've been dealing with a whole lot in the last six months or so with the latest being that my 90 year old mother fell and broke her arm, literally, in two. Not like hanging off her body in two but the bone was completely in two parts and hanging limp. After we got her to the hospital, they found out that she had a bad UTI and had turned septic. It really did a number on her mentally and physically. She is now in skilled nursing and we have had to make some tough decisions. Annnnnywayyyy, who reads a trip report to find out about somebody's mother? Sorry about that.

Anyway, with all the stress, John and I had to get away for the Memorial Day holiday or we would go crazy. Well crazier. We were both physically and mentally exhausted so we thought about just making the three and a half hour drive to Hot Springs, Arkansas and do a little flea-marketing and dine in our favorite restaurants. Easy peasy! However, we aren't easy peasy kind of people. I looked at the rates to go to Walt Disney World which is a 14 hour drive from our house. How did I go from 3 1/2 hours to 14 hours? It didn't take much effort. I mean, come on, we'd be going to Disney.

I talked to John during our lunch hours and he said "do it". I had priced out all the value and moderate resorts. I don't really know why since we were both wanting Caribbean Beach. Even though it was going to be a fast trip, we still wanted the comfort of our home away from home. So I input all the information on the booking page and had my finger hovered over my mouse. Not Mickey Mouse, the computer mouse,


and was about to hit "book" when I got a text in our big family group text. Mama had coughed up blood. Oh my goodness. My sister and I spent the next four hours trying to get in touch with nurse practitioners, doctors, aids, etc. to figure out what was going on. Five hours later, we found out it was nothing. I won't go into the gross details but let's just say some of her fruit cocktail didn't go all the way down.

It was a little after 5:00 p.m. and I was leaving work when I called John. As far as he knew the trip had already been booked. We talked all the way home and decided that we were still going. We have a family member who visits Mama every single day and she would be well taken care of. It was our turn to take a few days to ourselves. Before going home, I had to stop and pick up John's meds. Couldn't forget those!



Once I got home, I logged in and booked the trip. This was Thursday, May 23rd. We were leaving for Disney in less than 24 hours! About 18 hours to be exact. We were driving 811 miles from our house to Walt Disney World...straight... no stopping overnight.

I posted this on facebook and said something like "I just did a thing":



Like I said, I'm a planner. This was unprecedented for us. The shortest planning time that I have ever had for a Disney trip was when we booked our July 4, 2023 trip and I booked that in April, 2023.

I had already purchased some shirts for our November trip and I had some ears made already. I grabbed those and some extras since it was supposed to be hot and possibly rainy. I threw those in bags along with an extra pair of shoes for each of us. Thankfully, we keep a suitcase packed with everything we may possibly need on any kind of trip. I'm talking makeup, razors, over the counter meds, liquid IV, well, everything. I rolled that out of the closet and we were ready. Despite my saying that I was going to bed early so I wouldn't be exhausted, it was almost 1 a.m. before I hit the sheets.

I had to work until 11:00 a.m. on Friday but John was off. He finished up a few things at the house, threw some snacks in a bag, drinks in the cooler, and gathered his pill minder full of epilepsy medication. By the time I got home, he was ready. I changed out of my work clothes and we were on the road at:



Man, did we need this trip!

Up next: John, you can close your eyes, I know where I am going. John, wake up! I don't know where I am going!​

 

[mickeystoontown]

John, you can close your eyes, I know where I am going. John, wake up! I don't know where I am going!

The way that I had it calculated, we should pull into Caribbean Beach Resort around 2:45 a.m. Florida time which would be 1:45 a.m. our time. As much as we do, it is sometimes Midnight or after before we go to bed so 1:45 a.m. was doable. We'd be fine.

We hit Interstate 20 and were on our way towards Mississippi. We had to travel across Louisiana, across part of the top of and down Mississippi, across part of the bottom of Alabama, along the Florida panhandle and then down Florida to Lake Buena Vista. We have made the drive so many times, it would be nothing for us.

For years now, there have been black bear signs along Interstate 20 about 40 miles from our town. There have been sightings over the years and there's even a group on Facebook that people post in to say where they've seen them.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/4282027298539773

I've never seen a single one! Not a single bear! Until today, when I'm going 70ish miles an hour down the interstate. I saw it lumbering across a field and towards the interstate. I started yelling "there's a bear, there's a bear, there's a bear" like a hundred million times. John had spotted it too. It came right up beside the interstate. I looked out the side window as it stood on it's hind legs, looked around and I saw it running back towards the field in my rearview mirror. I got goosebumps. I was so excited to see a real live bear not 40 miles from our home. I've seen bears in the wild before but not in Louisiana. It was so cool!

I talked about it over and over again. I still tell people I saw a bear. Hey ya'll, I saw a bear.

Soon, we were nearing the Mississippi River bridge and would be crossing it into Mississippi. I was proud of myself and skipped the Mississippi Welcome Center bathroom. My bladder always tells me to stop but it didn't do any hollering at me this time and I drove right past it.


Once we got to Jackson, Mississippi, I had John help me look for the Hattiesburg exit and, once I was off the Interstate, I told him to go ahead and take a nap because I knew where I was going. He always feels bad about napping while I drive but it doesn't bother me one bit. It wasn't until we got to Hattiesburg, took Hwy. 98 and had driven until 4:48 p.m. that I started stressing. Ummm, this was not our normal route. But, I never got off Hwy. 98. How the heck did I get on Hwy. 158?

Last November, we had to detour a lot because they were working on Hwy. 98 but there were no detour signs this time. I woke John up and told him that I didn't know where we were. Somehow, we were in Saraland and not the outskirts of Mobile like we were supposed to be. What the what? Turns out that they did away with that last section of Hwy. 98 and our route took us about 2 1/2 miles in the opposite direction that we usually went.

We were going the correct way, it was just a new correct way. Stressed me out because we always stop for gas and to pee. Now I had missed my gas and pee stop.


We got on the main highway and were on our way to Interstate 10. We took the big turn and boom, traffic. Heavy traffic. We sat in virtually non-moving bumper to bumper for not one, not two, not three...almost three hours before we were through the tunnel and out the other side of Mobile. I was stressed. One, I never let my gas get down less than 1/4 tank. I was at an 1/8 of a tank and I didn't get my tinkle break. Ever lovin' crapola. We creeped along at a snail's pace and towards Pensacola. The first exit had so many people at the gas stations that I turned around and got back on the interstate. The second exit was a little better but not by much so we drove down a little further to another gas station. We took turns in the bathroom and pumping gas so that we could get back on the road as quickly as possible. We had lost almost three hours in Mobile alone. UGH!

Back on the interstate, we were ready to put some miles behind us. Yeah, that didn't happen, we hit beach traffic. There were signs on the interstate saying that the toll roads were open and to expect congested traffic. That was an understatement. Although it wasn't stopped traffic, it was still bumper and bumper. Once we made it past all the beach exits, traffic was better.

I just wanted to get through this crap and start really driving again. It didn't help that somewhere in this mess, I received a text around 9:00 p.m. saying our room was ready. Our room was waiting on us and I was still 500 miles from Disney.

Thankfully, we were able to drive at 70 (ish) miles an hour once we got past the beach exits. I told John that we were going to have so many speeding tickets in our mailbox when we got home. I saw so many helicopters and I think some were police choppers. I don't know. I haven't gotten any yet.

We stopped for gas around 1:00 a.m. and to tinkle. We pulled into a decent looking gas station but soon decided to just grab some gas and find another potty. There were some 20 something in a car in front of us and they were acting strange and concerning. Some of the girls had no underclothes on and the guys were taking pictures and they were really loud and we just didn't feel comfortable. It was weird/odd/strange/icky.

Gas pumped, we left and stopped at the next rest area to tinkle and stretch our legs. We did the same along I75 which heads down Florida. John slept while I continued racking up what could possibly be some tickets. It was surprised at how many people were still on the road in the wee hours of the morning.

Right at 4 in the morning (Florida time), we saw this glorious site.



Oh my Lordy, I was so happy to see that sign! Soon after, we were at the entrance to Caribbean Beach Resort.



The security at the entrance welcomed us home, checked the id, asked if I knew where our building was and waved us on through. We were tired but the trip reporter and advisor in me remembered to take pictures of the room before we plopped onto the bed.











Continued in next post












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[mickeystoontown]

John, you can close your eyes, I know where I am going. John, wake up! I don't know where I am going! Continued







When I booked, I booked a standard view 5th sleeper because that was the cheapest room available. Clearly, this was not a fifth sleeper but I wouldn't have cared if it were a cardboard box at this point. Two beds would be fine!

As a matter of fact, I'd love to spread out on a bed all by myself. We kissed one another good night and promptly fell asleep.

Up next: How the heck did I do that when I was half asleep?

(I can't get this to edit to stop being underlined and italicized) ​

 

[Donald - my hero]

OH-EM-GEE! A new trip report from Lisa ?! I'm so glad to stumble across this, just what i needed today.

I've followed along with several of your trips but often drop out of sight before you're done. Here's my promise to you- I'll stick with you and John until the end of the trip, pinky swear

we had our own spontaneous trip for our birthdays last year, booked about 3 months out and didn't really pay attention to how poor my planning was until the week before - mine was on your actual Thanksgiving day

I love how honest and real you keep things!
We're heading back down to celebrate our 40th, I'm remembering now how much our lives mirror each other.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

Sorry to hear about your mom. We are about to move my mom from independent to assisted living so somewhat understand your stress there .

 

[Paulaparm]

You are a driving champ!

 

[Monoxide]

Woot another trip report. So looking forward to your adventures!

 

[Mouse Tracker]

Great so far, your point of view aligns with my era
Please get a few quotes in from John.

 

[cheryllarsen]

Thanks for posting! I enjoyed reading this...

 

[cheryllarsen]

I look forward to following your Disney journeys.

 

[happily single]

Fellow Paralegal here. Following along, wishing I was driving to Disney right now

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Wow, you guys are road trip champs! Love the last minute booking, can’t wait to read about the rest of your trip!

 

[jewels1916]

You made it! I've read some of your other trip reports and am so glad to see you've got a new one! Can't wait for y'all's adventures!

 

[mickeystoontown]

OH-EM-GEE! A new trip report from Lisa ?! I'm so glad to stumble across this, just what i needed today.

I'm so glad that you found me!

I've followed along with several of your trips but often drop out of sight before you're done. Here's my promise to you- I'll stick with you and John until the end of the trip, pinky swear

we had our own spontaneous trip for our birthdays last year, booked about 3 months out and didn't really pay attention to how poor my planning was until the week before - mine was on your actual Thanksgiving day

Fun!!!

I love how honest and real you keep things!

If I'm going to tell the story, I'm going to include all the bumps in the road as well.

We're heading back down to celebrate our 40th, I'm remembering now how much our lives mirror each other.

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

Sorry to hear about your mom. We are about to move my mom from independent to assisted living so somewhat understand your stress there .

Thank you for being here! I hope that things go well with your mom.

You are a driving champ!

Welcome! I don't mind driving and enjoy a good road trip.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Woot another trip report. So looking forward to your adventures!

Welcome! I'm glad that you are onboard for another report!

Great so far, your point of view aligns with my era
Please get a few quotes in from John.

Welcome! John has some of the best quotes!

Thanks for posting! I enjoyed reading this...

I'm glad that you are here! I'll be posting another update or two soon.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I look forward to following your Disney journeys.

Happy to have you here!

Fellow Paralegal here. Following along, wishing I was driving to Disney right now

Welcome! Being a paralegal, I am sure you know the need to get away from all the legal mumbo-jumbo.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Wow, you guys are road trip champs! Love the last minute booking, can’t wait to read about the rest of your trip!

Welcome! I love a good road trip.

You made it! I've read some of your other trip reports and am so glad to see you've got a new one! Can't wait for y'all's adventures!

Welcome back for another report!

 

[mickeystoontown]

How the heck did I do that when I was half asleep?

As the Disney Alexa showed in the above pictures, we were in the room around 4:12 a.m. Instead of setting an alarm, we chose to just sleep until whenever which is another crazy thing for us. Our trips are usually longer trips (16 days) so we do have days where we sleep in and have no plans for the day. On park days, we set an alarm and try to get to the parks semi-early. Not necessarily rope drop early but early.

I am a sucky sleeper. I wake up at least five or six times a night, roll things around in my mind, and fall back asleep 10-30 minutes later. I do this whether I am at home or on a trip. On this night or really morning, I slept for almost 2 1/2 hours before waking up. I looked at the Disney Alexa, saw that it was 6:50 something, and opened up the Walt Disney World app on my phone. If I was up, I may as well try to get a Guardians of the Galaxy virtual queue. I was so sleepy that my phone was tilting back and forth and my eyes were closing on an off. I'd somehow refresh the screen with my eyes virtually closed. I hit join queue and, can you believe it, I got in the virtual queue. I don't even think that I looked at the estimated time before I fell back asleep.

The next time that I woke up, it was after 10:00 a.m. We both got up, took showers, and got ready for the day. I don't know exactly what time we left but I do know that I took this picture of the bounceback offer and it was taken at 11:05 a.m.


I forgot to mention that I had brought Magic Bands from a previous visit since I didn't have time to get new ones before we left. I had tried to open the door with both bands and only John's worked. We decided to walk to Old Port Royale and have them check the bands since it would be easier than having mine not work when we got to the park tapstile.

We were in Aruba Building 52 which was a good location for us. It wasn't a far walk from Old Port Royale and we could take the Skyliner from the Riviera. We walked towards Old Port Royale and took in the beautiful views around the resort. It was so good to be back and the resort is gorgeous. Do I have pictures to prove it? Nope. I was just taking it all in so you'll have to take my word for it.

Old Port Royale wasn't very busy which was good because it took just a few minutes for them to check the bands. Because the wait was so short, we walked into the resort store to see if they had the Mickey Coconut Patties that John's dad likes so much. They did have them so we got a box and were checking out when I saw a pair of opal earrings that matched the necklace John bought me from there in November. I told John that we could get them when we went back in November but he insisted that we go ahead and buy them now. I'm glad that we did because they were the only pair they had. Purchases made, we ducked into the grab n go and bought John a cup of coffee which he enjoyed as we leisurely strolled back to the room to drop off our purchases.

While getting ready and during our stroll to and from Old Port Royale, we talked about food. We originally said that we would just eat counter service foods the entire time but the more we thought about it, the more we wanted shrimp and grits from Coral Reef. I opened the app and checked availability. Yep, there was a reservation open for that evening and I promptly grabbed it up before it was gone.



We dropped off our bag in the room, took a quick tinkle break, and then walked over to the Riviera Resort to catch the Epcot Skyliner from there. I love the Skyliner! Even though I am deathly afraid of anything that takes me up higher than a ladder, I love the Skyliner. I am never afraid while riding it which is strange but true.

I got pulled to go through the whole wanding process at security at Epcot. I'm not sure what it ended up being but I suspect that it was my belt and possibly the metal tag designer thing on my backpack. It didn't take any time to get through though and I was snapping this picture at 12:29 p.m.





Oh and I forgot to mention that I purchased Genie+ and was able to get a lightning lane for Remi. Later in the day, I snagged Soarin', Spaceship Earth, and Journey into the Imagination.

Our Guardians of the Galaxy virtual queue would update throughout the day and I kept a close eye on it as it was ever changing.

Our first stop was going to be food. We hadn't eaten since we stopped at a crappy McDonald's somewhere along the way there and some crackers that were in our snack bag. We were hungry! We had originally said we were going to snack in World Showcase but it didn't sound good right then. We hadn't tried Connections Eatery yet and we were sure we could find something that we would both like there.

As we made our way towards the front of the park, I snapped pictures of the gorgeous flowers and topiaries. Our trips to Disney used to be in May/June but we changed it up the year that my boss died and I got a new job. My current employer is a big duck hunter so he is out most of November. It made sense to start going in November when we would be super slow anyway. I love the November temps and weather but do miss the Flower & Garden Festival.







We stopped under a shade tree and mobile ordered from Connections Eatery. The Jammitors were performing so we stopped to see them while waiting on the notification that our food was ready. I enjoy watching the Jammitors and any sort of entertainment like this. When traveling, you gotta stop and smell the roses and watch grown men play music on garbage cans.



Just as Jammitors were finishing up, I received the notice that our food was ready.



Y'all this place was busy! Every single table was full and we thought that we would have to stand around like vultures and stalk for a table. We found a cast member who had roped off a section and would only allow you in if you had your food already. We walked around a bit and there were no tables open in that section either. I turned and saw a family of three getting up and they offered their table to us. Yes, please!

I went and got our drinks, silverware and condiments and returned to the table. Just as I sat down, Lacey facetimed us. She was visiting Mama and they wanted to say hey. Mama asked Lacey what was on my head and Lacey laughed and told her that it was Mickey ears. She said "well my word". I guess she didn't like them. We talked for a little while before Lacey said she would let us go so we could eat. I normally take pictures of all of our food but this time I completely forgot to take a picture of John's burger. I did remember my pizza and the dessert though.

**Continued in next post





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