Jeff and I have been dreaming of the day we would be able to go to DisneyWorld with grandchildren. Our dreams finally came true this month with Andy and Carman, Laine, Ellie, and Shep!! We had hoped to plan a trip where all 3 of our children and their families would go together, but it just didn't work out this time. We do hope to be able to go in the future with the other grandchildren and their parents.
There was a lot of anxiety prior to the trip as Hurricane Irma threatened to do great damage to the state of Florida (Hurricane Harvey had done so much damage and devastation to Texas just a week or two prior). Irma did do much damage to the Caribbean and south Florida, but other than some wind damage, Orlando escaped the brunt of it. So on Friday, September 15th, we headed to XNA (Northwest Arkansas) to fly to Florida. We used Allegiant Airlines as we got a cheaper price and it's non-stop.
It was extra exciting as it was Laine, Ellie and Shepherd's first time to fly in an airplane 😍
Watching the airplanes land and take off
Riding the escalator - over and over and over 😊
Allegient only has one flight a day from NWA to Florida. Our flight left around 4:00 p.m.
(We walked outside on the tarmac to load onto the plane)
(We walked outside on the tarmac to load onto the plane)
We rented a mini van to take us the 45 minutes to our resort and use for the week. This one was brand new (had around 600 miles on it). Andy sure enjoyed driving it.
We reached our home away from home around 10:00 p.m. (had to stop and eat, etc.)
Carman used a travel agent to make all our arrangements. She got us a "Cars" Suite at the Art of Animation Disney Resort. It was great!
That sofa made out into a double bed and Andy and Carman slept there
This table made out into a double bed as well and where the girls slept.
This is the table bed pulled down (like a Murphy bed). Really cute.
The kids were gracious enough to give their old parents the bedroom with the queen size bed. Thanks, Andy & Carman! Shep slept in this room with us in a pack n' play.
We had two bathrooms which was so nice.
More pictures of the resort in the daylight
We stayed in Building 4. This was our entrance
Since TowMater got his start right here in Galena, Kansas and Route 66 runs through our little town, it was pretty cool that we stayed at this resort.
The Cars were so so very cute (as well as the kids in front of them) 💓
With our suite package, we got the quick service dining plan. This afforded us each two meals a day and 2 snacks each. It was truly a wonderful thing and we feel certain we saved a lot of money on food with this benefit. The hotel had a food court that offered several different options. We ate breakfast (which had many full breakfast options) there each morning and then used the other meal at whatever park we were at. We definitely recommend it. There is a more expensive option for the "fancier" sit down and be served meals but the quick service worked great for us: hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza, Mexican food, etc.
The Landscape of Flavor restaurant at our resort:
Our only "negative" thing was the Art or Animation bus stop at the parks was the very last area of all the resort bus lines. I think it was because it is one of their newest resorts, so it was added to the end of all the other areas. When you have already walked 6 to 10 miles a day, that last 1/2 to 3/4 mile to the bus stop seemed like a loooonnngg way!!
And when we left the park at closing time as we did several nights, we waited in a very long line for buses to arrive to take us home.
One day, we decided to ride a boat from Hollywood Studios to Epcot
And then at Epcot, we caught the Monorail and rode to Magic Kingdom
We wanted the kids and Carman to experience the monorail as it's pretty cool
To finish up this posting, I added some pictures about the huge pool at the resort.
The girls begged every day to go swimming. Finally on Tuesday, which was our day off from a park (although all morning was spent at Disney Springs...formerly Downtown Disney), Carman and I took the girls swimming, while the guys took naps.
They loved playing the poolside games
Laine was getting the hang of hula hooping
Laine won that game 😊
There will be several more postings about our trip. It is just easier for me to divide up the postings so they are not so overwhelming.
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