Disney Day 1 - Sunday
Since we opted to drive to Disney with an 18 month old, we decided to leave our house as early as possible. We wanted Melody to sleep as much of the drive as we possibly could. We opted to leave at 2 am. On a "normal" drive, it takes 10-11 hours. Plus there is an hour time difference. We usually only stop once for food and, at most, once for gas. I knew that was not going to be the case with this drive however.
The night before, we gassed up the car and stocked up on food. Brad loaded the car as much as he possibly could the night before as well. I made a list of the few things that still needed to be loaded the next morning. We set an alarm for 1 am. We both got up and ready. While Brad loaded the last few things, I got Melody situated and loaded as well. Emily and Justin met us at our house, and we pulled out around 2 am (central time) as planned.
Unfortunately Melody did not sleep right away as we expected her to. We turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to keep her entertained until she would eventually pass out. In the meantime, I snacked some (I was semi nauseated from being up so early), and Brad drove. We thought we were making decent time until we arrived in Birmingham. We started to see cop cars ahead, but it looked as if they were just blocking a few of the lanes. One lane looked open, so we got in that lane. However, as we got closer, the cop pulled into our lane to block us. Apparently they were doing road construction. We were the first in line at the stand still. The wait lasted about 20-30 minutes. I know we sat through at least one episode of Mickey Mouse, ha!
After we were given the go-ahead, we set back into driving. Melody fell asleep not long after thankfully. I was able to finally sleep some on this part of the trip. I slept about 2-3 hours on and off. Justin and Emily had to stop at one point, but we didn't see their text until we had already passed the point that we could not stop too. We all caught back up for breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Perry, GA around 8:15 am (eastern time). My goal was Adel, but we couldn't all make it that far. Brad was struggling to stay awake, and I think we were all getting kind of hungry.
We took quite a long break, about an hour or more. We gassed up, and headed back out on our drive. On this leg, I drove. Melody stayed awake most of this part of the drive too. Brad slept about 2-3 hours. I snacked and jammed to Hanson most of this portion of the drive to keep awake!
We stopped for lunch in Gainesville, FL as planned around 12:45 pm (eastern time). I had researched prior to our drive to find a place to let the girls run. We opted for The Oaks Mall.
We first took a peak at their food court to see what they had to offer. Nothing looked appealing for the girls, so we opted for Red Robin. The girls were able to walk a bit and play before our table was ready.
The food was great as usual, and when we finished, we headed inside of the mall to let the girls run. It wasn't too crowded, so we were able to let them run for quite a bit. We left and gassed up one last time around 3 pm (eastern). Brad drove the last leg of the trip.
We received our room information around 4:15 pm via text and email. We also received a link to the map of the Yacht Club.
We opted to just drive on to Brad's grandparents' house instead of going to the hotel first. Justin and Emily went straight to the Yacht Club, however. They had issues when arriving at the hotel. They never received notification of their room information, so they had to go to the front desk to formally check in. Then their magic bands would not work. Eventually all of this was straightened out, but it was still a bit of a pain to deal with for them.
We arrived at Brad's grandparents around 5 pm (eastern). It was really nice just getting to spend some time with them at their house. They rarely get to see us and Melody. They had a few toys that she was able to play with. It took her some time to unwind from being in the car for so long. She finally did break free though and enjoy herself. We had a really nice dinner, and they had an adorable setup for Melody too!
After dinner we took a few pictures, then we headed to the hotel.
It was about 8:15, and we wanted to stop by Publix and grab a few things to have in the room with us (milk and some cold snacks). We made it to the hotel around 8:45 or so. We did not want to pay for valet ($25/day), and Emily and Justin had problems with the bellhops (their luggage was delivered to the wrong room, and it took about 3 hours total to get it - Emily thinks it was because their room number didn't look correct on the ticket but we didn't want to risk it). So we parked in what appeared to be the smallest Disney parking lot ever, and we opted to carry our luggage ourselves. We grabbed a few things, and we rolled up to our room.
Our room was exceptionally nice from first appearance. I plan to write all about it in the future. I will say, there isn't much "Disney" theming going on. So if that is what you are looking for, you won't find it here. We were ok with that though. As soon as we got in the room, I called downstairs for a pack and play to be delivered. Brad continued to bring our luggage up. In the meantime I turned on Mickey Mouse and let Melody run!
The pack and play was delivered really quick. However, the mousekeeper wasn't the friendliest. She seemed irritated that I wanted her to set up the pack and play. I have stayed in quite a few hotels with Melody, and I have never had to set up the pack and play myself (Disney included). So I didn't feel like that was a rude request. Then I noticed that the refrigerator door would not close. This was a huge issue seeing that we had milk, a few other cold items, plus some of Melody's medication had to be kept cold. She messed with it a few times, then pulled it out of the cabinet. By pulling it out of the cabinet you could close it. This was far too much effort and also too much risk for us to forget and end up with spoiled milk and medication. I asked if it could be replaced. She said she preferred not to because they were too busy. In the end, Brad went to the front desk and complained. It was replaced within 30 minutes.
We went downstairs and redeemed our refillable mugs, then we headed back up to start getting ready for bed. I naturally had to unpack as much as possible. It is hard for me to live out of a suitcase, and it is nearly impossible to do with a toddler too! We managed to unpack, and get everyone in bed by 10:45 pm! However, I did have to make my own "Do Not Disturb" sign [we were given an official one the next day, ha!].
Overall, day one was a success. We had a few hiccups, and the 14 hour drive wasn't planned to take quite that long, but we didn't have any major meltdowns. To me that is a huge success. Next up...Epcot!!
