Yay!!
We finally made it here! Left NC at 6 am; all was going well until we went from I95 to I4. At about mile marker 128 everything came to a screeching halt!! Turns out a semi-truck jack-knifed at mile marker 120 and dumped his load all over the road. It took us 2 hours to go 7 miles...didn't get to our hotel until 7 pm 
But we made it, we're checked in, the front desk gave us a very nice room on the top floor of the hotel, we have a great view up Apopka-Vineland Rd. It's not Cinderella's Castle, but the lights are pretty and this is not really a "Disney" trip anyway. We have to be at the church at 10 am for the christening ceremony and then off to lunch with the friends and family.
Come Sunday the "Disney" portion of our mini-vacation begins. We're planning Animal Kingdom in the morning, then shooting over to Epcot for the rest of the day. Monday will be Magic Kingdom all day...probably no Studios this trip...unless we just can't resist.
We did go over to DTD to have dinner and walk around. Since this is kind of a budget trip we ate at the Earl...delicious as always...and wildly crowded. At 9 pm the line snaked back and forth a couple of times, curved around the order desk and headed towards the Kitchen shop. It went relatively quickly and as always the food was worth the wait. I had the Earl's Club and DH had the Original Roast Beef.
We chatted it up with a few of the cast members in the restaurant, a nice young lady originally from Russia, studying International Relations with a plan to transfer to SUNY Stonybrook...my BIL's alma mater. Good school, I wished her good luck. That's probably what I love most about WDW, it really has become the cross-roads of the world! We took the ferry to the Westside and sat with a lovely family from Japan, the children were adorable and entranced by all the sounds and lights. Delightful!
Did a little pin trading in the Pin Station and World of Disney...it always takes me a little while to decide what I'll work on collecting each trip. There are new Mystery Pins that look like black and white photos. I already have 4 of the 10 so it looks like they'll be my quest this trip.
It's nearly midnight here on the US East Coast and we have a busy day tomorrow. Will post more of my TR as our Disney activities unfold.
Goodnight All. 
Resorts
2017 AKL-Jambo House (May)
2017 Old Key West (Apr)
2016 Port Orleans Riverside (Oct)-Hurricane Matthew!!
2016 Old Key West (Aug)
2016 CBR (Jul)
2016 Art of Animation (May)
2015 Ft. Wilderness Campground (Oct)
2014 Sherwood Forest RV Park (Nov)
2013 Pop Century (Jul)
2012 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Jul)
2011 Radisson Lake Buena Vista (Aug)
2010 Pop Century (Nov)
2009 PO Riverside (Jul)
2008 Pop Century (Apr)
2006-2007 FL residents: Hunters Creek 8 miles from the parks!!
2005 All Star Sports (Jul)
2005 PO Riverside/CBR/CSR (Apr)
