This Trip Report Is Under Refurbishment For Your Future Enjoyment (UPDATED 9/13 with final bonus chapter)

[piglet1979]

But was it worth it? It's all about extending the vacation.

The trip was just ok for me. Cocoa Beach was awesome. I was able to book the hotel that the 7 original astronauts stayed at when they were their and then owned for awhile. It was really cool. The cruise on the other will be our last unfortunately. The kids and DH have deemed it there favorite vacation but I on the other had was sea sick for most of the trip. Bonine and the sea bands helped but I just never felt great.

 

[glennbo123]

Sane people? (As if that is applicable here. ...)

Right, as you pointed out, this is definitely not the forum to all of a sudden add sanity as a requirement for decision-making! And obviously, that's one reason I'm here.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Voorhees! Home of the Flyers' practice facility. Sorry, I get carried away with my Philadelphia sports fandom.

Yup! We actually live just down the street from the old practice facility. It is basically our second home now, as they put a big 10 lane pool in the back and the girls swim on the team there.

I also have to say, I am amazed you made the drive! And basically in one shot like that! I don't think we would make it. And I think it is because of the adults not the kids!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hey, wait a minute. I love CBJ, I think I might be insulted here.

Well, the idea was that CBJ was the only attraction that he'd be able to see if he didn't plan ahead.

But I can't say I really make much of an effort to get there...

Totally understand this one! Which is why I'm a bit on the crazy side to run 5Ks. It's usually a competition to see which part hurts the worse during each race.

I can totally see the appeal of running a 5k.

Hmmmm. It's got to be true, I know it is for me. Maybe a completely scientific poll here on the DIS to prove this one?

So far, it's 100% agreed.

Yikes! Nothing like being placed in the furthest possible building from the main building.

I guess they thought we needed the exercise.

OK, that's really cool! And yes, you have trained Drew very well!

He had a lot of fun pointing them out!

I caught a glimpse of this tower from the bus in August and couldn't believe how massive it is!

I'm interested to see if it changes anything about the resort being a "moderate" or its price.

Off to a good start! When I was about 9 years old we drove from NY to Disney with another family - two cars, CB radios, station wagons, Cabbage Patch Kids - the whole 9 yards. We just HAD to stop at South of the Border after seeing all the signs, etc. I think at 9 in 1980 something we thought it was cool. Fast forward to many (many) years later at 41 years old, driving again from NY with my husband for our move to Florida. We stopped there as a joke just to show him - we were afraid at that point, LOL. It is something to see for sure!! Needless to say, we did not stop when we drove back a few months later

I can't imagine why! I honestly don't know how it stays in business. It usually looks deserted when I drive by.

You could always go to a Paul McCartney concert, come home, load up the van and start the drive at 3:00 a.m. People have been known to do that.

Oh, come on. Nobody's that crazy.

When I stayed there we were somewhere around building 2, far from the main pool, the front desk, and early in the bus loop.

So, exactly what you would want, then.

That's a great one!

Hadn't seen that one before. It was a pretty easy one to spot.

I'm confused, is there also a new one going up at Caribbean Beach? Which one will be DVC?

I think there's a new resort going up near Caribbean Beach--Disney's Riviera Resort. That was announced a couple of years ago. Not sure about the DVC component.

Maybe so, but at least they don't taste like it. Or at least that's what I'm told.

I don't enjoy the taste, either, so I feel like the comparison still works.

For some reason I just have the urge to go up those steps. But then I think of "Apocalypto" and I don't want to go anywhere near a Mayan (or Aztec?) temple.

Sane people? (As if that is applicable here. ...)

Definitely not my target audience.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Or your love for Disney outweighs your desire to tell them to pound sand.

Well, that too.

Uh, huh. That rumble coming from your tummy has nothing to do with it.

It's all about serving my beautiful wife.

No offense meant, but... I don't care for people like that.

Nobody likes people like that. It's annoying. People who are like that don't realize they're being annoying.

Ah. Well, I certainly appreciated it.

I'm glad it worked for you! It worked for us going northbound on the return trip.

Isn't that the same thing?

Pretty much.

You'll be underwhelmed. I promise.

The same probably goes for if/when you guys try Wawa.

Yeah. For me, the resort is just somewhere to sleep in between park time.

That's how we feel, too. I always say I'll try and enjoy the features of the resort, and I never spare the time to do so. I was glad we got some pool time in on the first night.

That boat ride to DTD is a really great perk.

The trip was just ok for me. Cocoa Beach was awesome. I was able to book the hotel that the 7 original astronauts stayed at when they were their and then owned for awhile. It was really cool. The cruise on the other will be our last unfortunately. The kids and DH have deemed it there favorite vacation but I on the other had was sea sick for most of the trip. Bonine and the sea bands helped but I just never felt great.

Aw, that stinks. I'm sorry you didn't feel so good. I remember bonine worked wonders for me, but it seems like once motion sickness starts, nothing will touch it.

Right, as you pointed out, this is definitely not the forum to all of a sudden add sanity as a requirement for decision-making! And obviously, that's one reason I'm here.

It would be a boring place otherwise! We're all here to enable everyone's Disney addiction.

Yup! We actually live just down the street from the old practice facility. It is basically our second home now, as they put a big 10 lane pool in the back and the girls swim on the team there.

I also have to say, I am amazed you made the drive! And basically in one shot like that! I don't think we would make it. And I think it is because of the adults not the kids!

If you get a chance, can you tell the Flyers to start playing some defense? Thanks.

We've trained ourselves for long drives over the years with our crazy road trips. The kids travel really well.

 

[ljcrochet]

Can't wait to read all about your trip. We are doing a mostly unplanned trip to get the stuff we missed on our last trip that was planned in 1 day.
We are doing a big family trip in December. I'm telling myself I'm jsut going to enjoy WDW with my 3 nephews (2 1/2 twins and a 4 1/2 year old). I did get them to buy their tickets before the prices went up, but now i need to get them to link it or we will just make fastpasses for 7 of the 9 of us that need fastpasses

Gotcha. I think you can use EZPass up and down most of the East Coast (except Florida, which has their own system)

Would you believe that EZpass now works in central florida? We just move to South Florida from New York. Was shocked when I got an EZPass statement last month since i didn't realize we used it since the drive from NY.

We've trained ourselves for long drives over the years with our crazy road trips. The kids travel really well.

I'm impressed that your kids travel so well. I think my girls would kill each other.

 

[pkondz]

It's all about serving my beautiful wife.

Nobody likes people like that. It's annoying. People who are like that don't realize they're being annoying.

correct

The same probably goes for if/when you guys try Wawa.

It's on my bucket list.
Visit Machu Picchu
Hike the Applachian Trail
Drive a Lamborghini
Visit a Wawa
Fire a flame thrower

That's how we feel, too. I always say I'll try and enjoy the features of the resort, and I never spare the time to do so. I was glad we got some pool time in on the first night.

I keep saying "I wanna try staying Deluxe".... and then I remember how much time I spend at the resort.

 

[Kelandsam]

Or your love for Disney outweighs your desire to tell them to pound sand.



Uh, huh. That rumble coming from your tummy has nothing to do with it.



Correct.



No offense meant, but... I don't care for people like that.



Ah. Well, I certainly appreciated it.



So. True.







Well.....



Isn't that the same thing?



Possibly?
I'm not really sure, though.



ohhhhh.... Wow.



Correct.







You'll be underwhelmed. I promise.



Gotcha



Yeah. For me, the resort is just somewhere to sleep in between park time.



That looks really nice! I like it.



That boat ride to DTD is a really great perk.

 

[Kelandsam]

So excited about this as I love your trip reports! My parents lived in Bear, DE for 11 years so I’m excited hearing trip reports from DE. My now 21 year old DD and I used to visit 3 times a year (DD age 3 to 13) until they moved back here to Michigan .

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

A dose of humility would do us all a lot of good.

Humility is so 2012.

But it's the current Dark Age inspired penchant for dismissing out of hand anything that smacks of scientific research or scholarly analysis that troubles me.

I don't want to explain that one to them.

Nope...
Heck, it makes my head hurt.

Yes. How could we forget that ride?

I believe the "scientific" term for it would be Traumatic Amnesia.

It's all about the short term.

You'd make a fine politician.

Or a Hedge Fund manager.

But I don't want to!

Afraid ya' got's no choice in the matter.

Well, you do, but it's an unacceptable alternative.

I've never seen a 3-hour movie before where absolutely nothing happens.

A cinematic representation of The Belt Way during the Evening Rush.

I don't remember, honestly. We still had the SunPass from last year so we just used that to get through the tolls quickly and painlessly.

May need to consider one of those.
Although I see where E-Zpass works on FL-414 & FL-429 now and that one would also be useful if I were headed north at some point.

Question: do you need to have one of them their pass thingies preloaded, or could they bill you afterward.
(my suspicion is that it's the option-1 and option-2 would include charges and penalties)

How about an exploding helicopter?

Ya' know...
Those have been known to be quite soothing.
Lets give it a try...




Yep, feel better already.

Or they had our names on file!

That must be it...
I'm sure that your name is on file in a great many places.

We're really hitting Young Frankenstein hard, I see.

Can you give me a reason not to?

We had them hidden in Drew's stroller.

Good choice...
Putting them in a helicopter would likely have been problematic.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

That's how we feel, too. I always say I'll try and enjoy the features of the resort, and I never spare the time to do so. I was glad we got some pool time in on the first night.

I keep saying "I wanna try staying Deluxe".... and then I remember how much time I spend at the resort.

Very good points, gents. I have been so tempted to try a Deluxe resort because they look so fantastic. But I just haven't been able to justify in my mind the $$$$ compared to the amount of time we actually spend. I just had my first trip in a Value with a family of 4 in the same room. I was apprehensive about it, and it was a tad small, but you what? It was fine. I still got the spend 10 days at WDW, and that's the important part.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

But I prefer not to be falling asleep. So does the rest of my family.

I've always wanted to die in my sleep like grandpa. Not screaming like the 4 other people in the car.


My dad told me that joke. It still makes laugh every time I use it.

Water slides rock!

Eh. I'm not a strong swimmer, even now. It's better now that the water is not over my head, but at 5'2" it's not always guaranteed I'll be able to touch the bottom and still breathe.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Can't wait to read all about your trip. We are doing a mostly unplanned trip to get the stuff we missed on our last trip that was planned in 1 day.
We are doing a big family trip in December. I'm telling myself I'm jsut going to enjoy WDW with my 3 nephews (2 1/2 twins and a 4 1/2 year old). I did get them to buy their tickets before the prices went up, but now i need to get them to link it or we will just make fastpasses for 7 of the 9 of us that need fastpasses

to the TR! Sounds like you've got a planning mess of your own on your hands. Good luck!

Would you believe that EZpass now works in central florida? We just move to South Florida from New York. Was shocked when I got an EZPass statement last month since i didn't realize we used it since the drive from NY.

Really? That must be a new development. We drove through Florida in 2017 on a road trip and couldn't use EZPass at that time--or at least nothing I read indicated we could do so.

I'm impressed that your kids travel so well. I think my girls would kill each other.

They've had a lot of training. Electronic devices help, too.

It's on my bucket list.
Visit Machu Picchu
Hike the Applachian Trail
Drive a Lamborghini
Visit a Wawa
Fire a flame thrower

I keep saying "I wanna try staying Deluxe".... and then I remember how much time I spend at the resort.

We've been fortunate enough to stay at a couple of the deluxe resorts. It was always for shorter stays, like long weekends. One stay we didn't even go into the parks at all. It made more sense then.

So excited about this as I love your trip reports! My parents lived in Bear, DE for 11 years so I’m excited hearing trip reports from DE. My now 21 year old DD and I used to visit 3 times a year (DD age 3 to 13) until they moved back here to Michigan .

Very cool! I used to live in Bear (for 2 years) and went to a church in Glasgow for several years. Still have a lot of friends up that way. It's a small--sorry, I won't do that to you.

 

[pkondz]

We've been fortunate enough to stay at a couple of the deluxe resorts. It was always for shorter stays, like long weekends. One stay we didn't even go into the parks at all. It made more sense then.

See, and I get that.
If I'm going to have some down time/resort time, then sure! Bring on a deluxe! (If I can afford it. )
Otherwise, if all I want is a bed and a shower... Values are just fine.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Humility is so 2012.

But it's the current Dark Age inspired penchant for dismissing out of hand anything that smacks of scientific research or scholarly analysis that troubles me.

Well, they're tied together. We dismiss science when it doesn't support our opinion. If we had the humility to accept that we might actually be wrong about something, it wouldn't be a problem.

This is also true for those in science and scholarly pursuits. They don't always get everything right, either.

Nope...
Heck, it makes my head hurt.

Remember that metal plate in my head, Clark?

I believe the "scientific" term for it would be Traumatic Amnesia.

I'm getting more and more of that.

You'd make a fine politician.

Or a Hedge Fund manager.

Hang on while I direct you to my GoFundMe page.

Afraid ya' got's no choice in the matter.

Well, you do, but it's an unacceptable alternative.

A cinematic representation of The Belt Way during the Evening Rush.

Good way to put it.

May need to consider one of those.
Although I see where E-Zpass works on FL-414 & FL-429 now and that one would also be useful if I were headed north at some point.

Question: do you need to have one of them their pass thingies preloaded, or could they bill you afterward.
(my suspicion is that it's the option-1 and option-2 would include charges and penalties)

I had no idea that it actually worked in Florida now. I wonder if I got billed twice?

If I recall, I had to pre-load both EZPass and the SunPass when I set up my accounts. Then I set up an auto-recharge level if my account got low.

Ya' know...
Those have been known to be quite soothing.
Lets give it a try...

Yep, feel better already.

It really does make everything better.

That must be it...
I'm sure that your name is on file in a great many places.

Including many I don't want to know about.

Can you give me a reason not to?

No. No, I can't.

Good choice...
Putting them in a helicopter would likely have been problematic.

A lot easier to get by the crowds, though.

Very good points, gents. I have been so tempted to try a Deluxe resort because they look so fantastic. But I just haven't been able to justify in my mind the $$$$ compared to the amount of time we actually spend. I just had my first trip in a Value with a family of 4 in the same room. I was apprehensive about it, and it was a tad small, but you what? It was fine. I still got the spend 10 days at WDW, and that's the important part.

I think it's very hard to justify the price of the deluxe. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for a long weekend (just Julie and me), no parks, just because we wanted to stay there. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge once by renting DVC points from friends on a really good deal--this was part of a short trip where we surprised the kids for a few days at Disney. And Julie and I stayed at the Poly again for a long weekend, just the two of us. So each one was a splurge for a special occasion.

I've always wanted to die in my sleep like grandpa. Not screaming like the 4 other people in the car.


My dad told me that joke. It still makes laugh every time I use it.

I've told that one many times over--because it's a good one!

Eh. I'm not a strong swimmer, even now. It's better now that the water is not over my head, but at 5'2" it's not always guaranteed I'll be able to touch the bottom and still breathe.

That's understandable.

See, and I get that.
If I'm going to have some down time/resort time, then sure! Bring on a deluxe! (If I can afford it. )
Otherwise, if all I want is a bed and a shower... Values are just fine.

I will say that I felt like seeing the animals off my balcony at AKL felt like it was totally worth the splurge.

 

[pkondz]

I will say that I felt like seeing the animals off my balcony at AKL felt like it was totally worth the splurge.

Sure. Implies that you were there to see them.
If I'm up at 5:30 and out of the room by 6:00 for rope drop then back at midnight or later and crash without looking outside... then it wouldn't make sense.

 

[franandaj]

Sure. Implies that you were there to see them.
If I'm up at 5:30 and out of the room by 6:00 for rope drop then back at midnight or later and crash without looking outside... then it wouldn't make sense.

I don't know how you do it. You're older than me and I can't get up that early or stay up that late. I love my Deluxe DVC units for all the reasons you guys don't! I can cook up food if I want it, I spend time in the room using the Jacuzzi tub and relaxing on the balcony with a glass of wine, poured from the box in my refrigerator in the full kitchen.

 

[pkondz]

I don't know how you do it.

Frankly, sometimes neither do I.
I can get by for a day on 2 hours of sleep. I won't be happy, but I can do it.
I can get by for a couple or three days on 4 hours or so.
Six hours is fine for several days.
Might need to catch up after that, though.

You're older than me and I can't get up that early or stay up that late.

Must admit that night shifts especially are tougher now than when I started doing them almost 30 years ago.

I love my Deluxe DVC units for all the reasons you guys don't! I can cook up food if I want it, I spend time in the room using the Jacuzzi tub and relaxing on the balcony with a glass of wine, poured from the box in my refrigerator in the full kitchen.

And that sounds wonderful... and I'd love to do that. Except my Disney vacations are typically only 4-5 days. I need to maximize my park time. So I go go go and sleep when I get home.
Some day I'll feel I've been enough or book a longer trip that I won't have to do that.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Sure. Implies that you were there to see them.
If I'm up at 5:30 and out of the room by 6:00 for rope drop then back at midnight or later and crash without looking outside... then it wouldn't make sense.

Agreed. On that trip, we spend one day at a water park and left in the afternoon, spent time just hanging out in the room before heading to dinner. We got to see more of the resort that time.

Frankly, sometimes neither do I.
I can get by for a day on 2 hours of sleep. I won't be happy, but I can do it.
I can get by for a couple or three days on 4 hours or so.
Six hours is fine for several days.
Might need to catch up after that, though.

I can't go on little sleep for very long. Never once pulled an all-nighter in college. After about 2 a.m., I would just start to malfunction.

Must admit that night shifts especially are tougher now than when I started doing them almost 30 years ago.

I don't know how you do it, to be honest!

I don't know how you do it. You're older than me and I can't get up that early or stay up that late. I love my Deluxe DVC units for all the reasons you guys don't! I can cook up food if I want it, I spend time in the room using the Jacuzzi tub and relaxing on the balcony with a glass of wine, poured from the box in my refrigerator in the full kitchen.

And that sounds wonderful... and I'd love to do that. Except my Disney vacations are typically only 4-5 days. I need to maximize my park time. So I go go go and sleep when I get home.
Some day I'll feel I've been enough or book a longer trip that I won't have to do that.

I'm sure it would be much different if I owned DVC and went to Disney every year. I might not feel the need to go to the parks all the time if that were the case. Plus, DVC makes the deluxe resort more palatable in terms of price.

But when I only go once every few years, I'm trying to squeeze the value out of the money I paid and maximize park time like @pkondz . 'cause it ain't cheap!

 

[docsoliday1]

I'll likely be renting our DVC points now. Either that or go over to Vero Beach. More likely rent. Seeing the current prices per point for renting, it's not that expensive especially if you stick with Su-Th and non-peak times of the year. Considering what I just paid for Pop, DVC points rental wouldn't have been much more and in retrospect, would've been better. I also like to relax between park days, so having the option to cook something and just relax is nice. Having more than 1 bathroom and more than a foot or two of space to walk around the beds is nice as well. If you're there solo and just crashing and burning each night, then yeah, I get that.