Day 1 - Driving to Orlando

We had not been to Disney World for seven years. The last time we went, the kids were 5 and 7 and David had just graduated with his doctorate. I have wanted to go back for awhile, but we were just never in a financial position to go. So we've been saving up and then my parents gave us some money at Christmas time and we had the trip budgeted. We questioned whether or not we should go after David lost his job, but since we had already made deposits and we had the money budgeted, we went for it.

It's about 6 1/2 hours from our house to Disney World. We left early in the morning so we could get there in time to pick up Grammy & Granddad. (They were with us on our previous visit as well.)

It was a long drive. Baylie watched some movies while the rest of us listened to Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians. There was also some snoozing for everyone but David - who drove the whole way.

We saw signs for Buc-ee's, which we had discovered back in June on our way to DC. We decided to hold on for bathroom and gas breaks until we could get there. It's worth the wait! 

Who knew they had such amazing drink flavors?!

We continued on and finally made it to Walt Disney World!

We stayed at Pop Century Resort. It's a budget Disney hotel. It is small, but it was just perfect for us. We got connecting rooms with two double beds each. One of the beds was a Murphy bed that folded up, giving us a lot more space. (Note the Rubik's cube and 8-track tape.) We got checked in, picked up Grammy's scooter, and then headed to the airport to pick them up, which took much longer than expected.

We were super excited to see them and they were patient to wait for us. We went to a Disney warehouse to shop, but were disappointed in the selection. We grabbed some dinner and headed back to the hotel. We were all together and super excited to start our Disney adventure.