After an all-night drive, we arrived in Florida and promptly got lost. Well, not really. I kept saying, I’m pretty sure Orlando’s the other way. My brother kept saying, no this is the way I always go. When we got to Alamonte Springs, where my cousin—who my brother always visits—lives I knew we were definitely going the wrong way. So we had breakfast at McDonald’s and got back on the highway, headed toward Disney this time! Our hotel wasn’t quite ready, so after showering in the pool area we headed to Downtown Disney.

Day 1 Synopsis:

• went to Disney Quest—against my better judgement
• made a funny song called I Don’t Wanna Grow Up that fit hubby pefectly
• did not purchase said song because little one pushed a bunch of buttons and deleted it (well, that and the fact that it was $12.99 for a cd of one single song!)
• got bored at Disney Quest—as predicted
• left Disney Quest to eat lunch at House of Blues
• headed for Downtown Disney Marketplace
• stopped at Lego Imagination Center
• went to hotel to check-in
• went to MGM Studios to see Fantasmic
• FYI—Fantasmic is not so fantastic in the rain!
• went back to hotel soaking wet
• tucked little ones in bed to watch a bedtime story on tv (Toy Story 2)
• hung out in my parents’ hotel room to finish Disney Scrapbook for signature collection

My mom had the brilliant idea of driving overnight since there were 6 of us to take shifts in 2 cars. It worked out really well the first time. Then we spent 4 days at Disney World. The trip back wasn’t quite so smooth. Here are some note-worthy (or not) tidbits from our road trips:

• It’s called cruise control, Mom. Learn to use it!
• Note to self: McDonald’s milkshakes suck big time. (and, yes, I actually wrote a note to myself. Shutup. I was tired.)
• The word “FIREWORKS” looks exactly like “HOOTERS” when written in neon red lights. Or maybe driving all night was not such a wise idea.
• My brother “drives like a retarded mule’s butt.” I don’t know what that means. Ask my hubby.
• Combining Stackers and No-Doz on an empty stomach will cause you to heave—a lot—on the side of the interstate (just ask my dad!)
• 72 ounces is a lot of Mountain Dew!
• It is very hard to fall asleep after you’ve spent 5 hours guzzling Mountain Dew and popping handfuls of candy corn (but at least I wasn’t puking!)

Pictures (not of the puking episodes) coming after I’ve had some time to recover.

Off we go tomorrow morning for my parents’ house. Then, it’s on to the Happiest Place on Earth. I’ll be a tad sad though since I’ll be all cut off from technology. I need a laptop so bad. It’s a good thing I have sibs who like to waste money.

My bro has a laptop I’ll be snagging on occasion. My sis just got a cool new camera phone—I’m suffering from serious tech-envy! I set myself up a handy-dandy text america account so I could stay semi-in-touch with the blogosphere. I’ll be moblogging my heart out on her phone so stay tuned for uber-cool vacation pics.

because I procrastinated it all away! We leave tomorrow for the big family trip. My little sister’s high school band is marching in the Disney World Light Parade. The family add-on packages were so “cheap” my mom couldn’t resist and decided we were taking our first ever family vacation (well, since the addition of my family, anyway). We’ve never all been able to go at the same time. Since she’s paying we all readily agreed to this one!

We leave at 11 tomorrow morning for the 3 hour drive to my parents’ house. My littlest sister will ride the bus with her band. The bus pulls out at 4, so we’ll go help my sister load up and see her off. Then it is back to the house to transfer our luggage to the parentals’ vehicles. I managed to convince them that my car was too little for a 13 hour drive (what I meant to say was too new!) From there we load into two cars (well, a car and a—gasp—SUV) with my mom, dad, brother, and sister. Stop for dinner—probably before we even leave town—then head out on our voyage.

My mother had the brilliant idea of driving straight through since there are 6 drivers. I’m thinking “bad idea” because the two non-drivers are 2 and 7 (well, almost). We’re stuck with it now because I’m too cheap to pay for airline tickets or a hotel room on my “free” vacation.

We’ll arrive Wednesday morning for a breakfast buffet. Then it’s off to Typhoon Lagoon (did someone forget to tell them it is November?) or Disney Quest. I’m voting for “none of the above” and plan to spend the day wandering Downtown Disney which should be all decorated for the holidays!

Thanksgiving Day will be spend at MGM where little one will get to see her very favorite character, JoJo, and her pet lion, Goliath. She’s excited, but I think only because Stacia trained her to cheer when we say “Florida.” We’ll have our feast at the hotel banquet hall with Mickey and friends.

The next day, I’ll get up in the wee hours of the morning to squeeze in at least a bit of Black Friday shopping before heading to Magic Kingdom. My sister is in the night-time parade so we have the day to ourselves. She has promised to walk in with us for the obligatory entrance photo. I also made her promise to meet up with us in Tomorrow Land for the Buzz Lightyear ride. It won’t be near as satisfying to kick my geek hubby’s ass at the video game (again) unless my whole family is there to witness the blessed event.

Saturday we’ll fit in all the little parks that are too lame for a whole day— Animal Kingdom, Epcot (we’d skip this entirely if not for something about Robotech), and maybe a few hours of Disney Quest. Then after the light show we’ll load up for our return trip. I’m sure by Sunday we’ll all be exhausted, but we will still have to leave my parents’ and come home. All in all, I’m excited—just completely unprepared!

Now I’m off to pack!