[tonksky]

Ok, anybody wanna know about an off-site trip? 9I promise it was for a good reason.)
There may be pictures.... (once I get them off the camera and saved on my computer.)

[tonksky]

Here's quick peek at the cast of this trip:
me = Laura (age 32)
my friend Matt (age 32)
my friend Andy (age 27)

My DH didn't go on this trip with us (he's not a big fan of WDW, so he sent me off with friends.)

Matt is one of our best friends. My DH and I have known him since high school (yes, I'm married to my high school sweetheart - corny, I know) and he was even in our wedding. (I figured I'd explain why my DH didn't mind me traveling with 2 guys.) I usually go on 1 vacation a year with him and some other friends.

Andy is actually a friend of Matt's that I've become pretty close to. Oddly enough, he's the little brother of a guy I went to school with from k-12. Since he's 5 years younger, I never hung out with him while we were growing up. We've become friends in just the last couple of years.

Here's a picture of us from last year's trip to Montreal. Matt is on the left in the front, Andy is on the left in the back. I'm on the right in the front (in the brown shirt) with our friend Julie (the blonde) who didn't come on this little vacation.

[tonksky]

Our trip was Thursday 10/5 - Tuesday 10/10.

We stayed the Springhill Suites at the Marriott Villiage in Lake Buena Vista. It's right off I-4 at exit 68. It's really close to the Downtown Disney area. From this hotel we could jump on I-4 and go either 1 or 2 exits to get to all Disney parks. Downtown Disney didn't even need the interstate. Just go about 1/4 to 1/2 mile and you're there.

I agonized over where to stay. I really did! I wanted to stay somewhere with 3 separate beds. Niether of they guys wanted to share a bed , and my DH certainly wouldn't want me sharing with either of them!

We looked at many options -then my sister called me. She works for Marriott, and used to be able to get me really cheap rooms. Their policy had changed, and I didn't think I was going to be able to get a cheap room. Well, aftrer looking into it, she was able to get me this room for about $70/night. I couldn't pass that up! Even with renting a car, we came out WAY cheaper than staying on property and using Disney transport. This hotel is SO close to WDW, we were able to get to whatever park we wanted in about 15 minutes every morning. This way we were able to splurge on other parts of the trip (food, food, and more food!)

Here's a pic of the room. The guys got the 2 beds (and their own tv) while I took the fold-out couch. I had a little privacy (and my own tv!) The fold-out couch actually was pretty comfy. There was also a little kitchenette and a desk you can't see in the pic.

[Maria]

Great start, more please!

[alilmagical32]

yeaaa.. Your hotel is in my backyard!! Cant wait for the rest of your TR!

[jenbarnwell]

woohoo, sounds like you are having fun! Can't wait to see more pictures!

[Dopey]

Nice room Laura. I wish I could borrow your two friends for company to WDW, my family is less than enthusiastic about WDW

So, on with your report since I have to live vicariously through my Buzzer friends

[tonksky]

We arrived at MCO at 1pm on Thursday. We had a direct flight from LEX. It's great to start out a vacation where you leave your house at 10:30am, and are standing in Orlando at 1pm! Oddly enough, this was earlier than our planned arrival. We were supposed to land at 2:15 - then Delta changed our flight to earlier. I think, to save money, they combined two partially full flights to make 1 completely full flight.
Here's a pretty bad picture Matt took of me using his cell phone on the flight. I'm not sure how it'll come through (poor quality since it's a phone pic.)

[tinkerbelle24]

Cant wait to read the rest!! We wanna see pics!!!! Hope u had a great time!!

[tinkerbelle24]

Originally Posted by Dopey

Nice room Laura. I wish I could borrow your two friends for company to WDW, my family is less than enthusiastic about WDW

So, on with your report since I have to live vicariously through my Buzzer friends

I will go with u!! My DH can care less sometimes but when we get there he does get a little excited!

[unamadreditre]

Great start. Come back and add some more.

I'm enjoying the pics.

[Erin]

Great start - keep it up!

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by tinkerbelle24

I will go with u!! My DH can care less sometimes but when we get there he does get a little excited!

Ok babe, you and I.
My husband always talks about the fantastic trips afterwards, but getting him to commit to a trip is pure, unadulterated pain

[Pooh Fan]

Great start to your TR. I can't wait to read more!

[tonksky]

So, we get to MCO and go to get our rental. We rented a midsize from Thrifty. I thought Thrifty was 'in-terminal' but it turns out they're right outside the airport. But, they have a nice bus that takes you to them, so it wasn't a problem.

On the drive to the rental office, Matt and I were joking about PT Cruisers. My sister-in-law rented one 2 weeks ago and absolutely hated it. She told me never to get one. We joked about getting one, and how much Andy would hate it too (he was on a seperate flight coming later that night.) So, guess what we got stuck with - a PT cruiser, of course! That's what we get for making fun of them!

Next time you're at WDW, look around at the rental cars - there are tons of PT Cruisers! We decided that they must not sell well down there, so all the rental companies bought them. There were 4 parked in the same row at our hotel!
(and by the way, I hated it too! I know some people love them, but I found it bulky, hard to manuever, and generally annoying!)