Happily Adventures After | Home of HAA Disney

Hey Howdy Hey Everyone! Welcome to Happily Adventures After! 

It’s the first official blog post of Happily Adventures After! It is such an exciting moment for me to share on the blog. This is something that I have wanted to do for quite some time! Thank you for joining us. It’s going to be an absolutely amazing adventure!

I think it would be most fitting that the first post would be a Walt Disney World trip recap, or as we will know it on Happily Adventures After as “A Week in the World”Like Walt Disney World! 

As a reminder, we will also be providing a voiceover for the blog posts, with extra added notes and stories. Be sure to turn into this by clicking the link!

I am not only going to share the overall experience, but also break down the various components of our trip so you know what to plan for as you prep and plan your Walt Disney World/Universal Orlando trip. 

Pre-Trip Excitement: The Kind of Magical, but Oh So Adventurous Drive!

my family and I chose to drive from Southwestern Ontario to Orlando Florida. I know what you’re thinking… why!? Honestly, it’s not a far off question because it is quite the journey (2,074 km/1,288.72 miles and 19.25hours). 

At the time of year, is usually considered Spring Break for various parts of the USA and Canada; April 6-17/24. Flights from various airports where were astronomically expensive (either Canadian or United States airlines/airports); nearly triple the normal cost of a flight (ie. $1,200 CDN per person for economy class). Even if we had that cost per person, it does not seem worth it to spend for us. This pushed us to consider driving since the cost would be (it wasn’t in the end) much less than the flights.  

My family and I normally drive down to Orlando, Florida once to twice a year and do enjoy the drive. We have a fun time taking the road trip. April is a lovely time of year to do a road trip, so it was a no brainer! Hitting the road, we had quite the adventure ahead of us. Our trip, on April 6/24, down the 401 Highway (Ontario) to I-75 (USA) started out bright and early (4am to be exact). This was also the start of my mom being a driver trooper! She did amazing on this trip to make sure that my cousin and I had an amazing trip!We picked up my cousin along the way.This made it extra special as my cousin had not been with us to Orlando in quite some time. 

Even though we made a stop to pick her up for about an hour, we were all packed in the car, we crossed the USA/Canada Land Border at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, ON.As a reminder when you plan your trip to the USA as a Canadian, you do have to pay for the border crossing. 

The border prices are different between any Southwestern and other USA/Canada border crossings. This ranges from $4.50 USD/6 CDN – $10USD/$12 CDN for a passenger vehicle. It is purely the way you cross and where you go.

On the Road Again: Our Trip Down I-75 and a Stop at a Homewood Suites

During our road trip, we traveled all the way down 1-75. We stopped in some of our favourite places such as Panera, Cracker Barrel and Starbucks – Shout out to the Starbucks in Lexington, KY off I-75 who makes some of the best drinks and kind service through and through., We enjoyed our time in the car. We chatted, enjoyed some shows and listened to music and shows.

After a very long travel day we managed to pull into our stop for the night; The Homewood Suites Hamilton Place in Chattanooga TN. 

This is a lovely hotel. We have stayed here before as it was a pet friendly alternative to the hotel we sometimes stay in while on the way. 

Arriving at 9:10pm, after about 15 hours (about 11.5 hours in driving, and 3.5hr in stops), we promptly unpacked the SUV with everything we needed. I went to the front desk to check in. The front desk staff were amazing and went above and beyond to make sure that my family and I were taken care of during our stay. I will not, we are Hilton Honours Members.We however are not at the highest tier of membership, and we were still provided with excellent service and great extras such as waters, treats and kindness!

Keys in hand, we headed up to our 2 Bedroom 2 Bathroom Suite, booked well in advance online. Our total for the entire stay with taxes and fees was $682.21 USD/$951.14 CDN. 

The price for the hotel stay is a high for 2 nights. We originally had a 1 night stay which was about $400 USD of this cost originally however…due to car trouble we had to pay for 2 nights. In retrospect, I have usually paid or seen this hotel for the exact room be between $220 USD – $315 USD per night, taxes and fees included. The original $400 per night price was very high, for an unknown reason (note the solar eclipse was occurring during this time, but we were not in the path so I am not sure why it was this high).Everything was going great and we were ready to get some great rest. We had 1 king bed, and 2 double beds. My mom took the king bed, my cousins and I took the other. Each room had it’s own bathroom and then a central area with a mini kitchen, and family room (with pullout couch). This was lovely to have no only our own space, but also a full fridge/freezer as we were able to put things in the fridge and freezer for the night. This space turned out to be even better with our car issues coming up. 

My mom as the driver was absolutely excellent! She pushed through driving the entire time, without any issues! 

We went to bed, excited to spread out and get  a great night sleep. Our plan was to wake up and got ready to leave by 8am the next morning for a 9 hour drive. 

Well, we were for an unexpected surprise…

Car Battery Gone Wrong

The next morning, we were about to pack up the vehicle, after our complementary breakfast, we took our luggage to our SUV. My mom pulled it around to the front doors, parked the vehicle only to see a funny blinking light at the dash. She quickly looked it up to which the manual stated “Engine Battery”. The car battery was dead….

Funny enough, my dad had taken the vehicle to be inspected 2 days prior to the dealership for service. We have gone to this dealership for the duration of the vehicle (7+ years!). We received a “Battery is Good To Go!”, which turns out the battery was then, but it was not when we drove. A car battery is an easy fix, but turns out on a Sunday in Chattanooga, TN, it poses a bit of a problem as no dealership is open and CAA/AAA is on limited hours.

So, after I panicked a little (not my best quality), we started calling around for CAA/AAA to assist us. My dad was able to assist from home, calling local AAA agencies. He was able to speak with an incredible service team at AAA who got us a repair person directly to our hotel within a few hours! This was extra incredible as my mom’s SUV takes a premium battery, therefore it is much harder to obtain on short notice. The AAA technician came and repaired the vehicle right away, with no issues, and was absolutely wonderful! 

While my mom handled that, my cousin and I enjoyed the hotel room, and had to quickly thing of something to eat as it was past lunch time. 

After much deliberation, my cousin and I ended up ordering from Pizza Bros in Chattanooga TN through DoorDash.

We ordered the following:

• Chessium for $22 USD/$31.02 CDN plus tax which has Alfredo Sauce, Mozzarella, Asiago, Parmesan, Ricotta, Basil, and Garlic Oil Drizzle
• Caesar Salad $7 USD/$9.97 CDN plus tax which has Romaine, Crouton, Parmesan
• Cinnaboiz for $7 USD/$9.87 CDN plus tax which is bite-sized doughnut pieces are tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with icing. 
• Cheesy Garlic Bread for $9/$12/69 CDN plus tax which is their specialty cheese bread made with roasted garlic spread and melty mozzarella. Served with marinara sauce for dipping. 

Our total with taxes, service fees, tip and delivery fees was $70.88 USD/$99.18 CDN. It again was expensive for the amount that we had, however, that was the fault of DoorDash not, Pizza Bro; that was pretty reasonably priced ($45 USD/$63.45 CDN pre tax) for what we purchased. 

The remaining fees and tip did increase our cost dramatically, which I think is a little problem with delivery fees on apps like DoorDash, but it was normal.

Let me just say, this food is INCREDIBLE! I love pizza so I am bias to that, however, this was nothing short of excellent! I would highly recommend this pizza to anyone in the area!We enjoyed our lunch together and decided to make a plan. Originally, the incredible staff at the Homewood Suites Hamilton Place let us have a late check out ($20 USD/ $28.20 CDN plus tax fee) until 1pm, which we booked through the front desk. In the end, our car and pizza situation, ending around 3pm, required to book the hotel another night. We were able to get it all sorted with the incredible help of the front desk who worked very hard to make sure we were taken care of for the next night, and ensured that housekeeping was aware we were still in the room.

After lunch we packed up the vehicle and made sure the battery was working.We had to make a choice; either stay another night or drive through the night into the morning. 

We like to chat so that decision took some time but we ultimately decided to drive onto Florida…at 6:30pm, requiring a night time drive; something we’ve never done before!

Away We Go!

We were off to Neverland (aka Orlando Florida!). I do not know how my family stayed up for the drive but my mom was just stupendous! She stayed awake the entire night, focused on getting us there. With the help of my cousin (who is a night owl over and above), those two made sure they each were awake and got us there safely. 

I can’t say I remember a ton about the drive as I was asleep for most! I do remember waking up around 11:30pm at a BUC-EES in Calhoun, Georgia. I love the atmosphere at BUC-EES so I had to get out of the car. I love that the company made such an experience out of going on a road trip, and using a gas station.We ran in the store for some snacks and to use the washroom, while we also got gas. I was so surprised at how busy it was at that hour! It was crazy busy; a little anxiety inducing I will say after waking up from a sleep! 

Hopping back into the car, the rest of the drive is a blur. That is until we entered the state of Florida. I woke up while my mom pulled us into the Florida Welcome Center at 2am. I felt her turned off the vehicle and get out. I had no clue what she was doing as we never stop here. 

I look up and she and my cousin are running laps around the car to keep them awake and their energy up! I stayed in the back of the vehicle but laughed at them while they did it, and got back into the vehicle. We had maybe 3 hours left. We could do this (well I could sleep, my mom and cousin could do this!) 

We’re Not Going to Make It….We Made It!

Once their marathon around the vehicle 5x was over, we headed back down the highway. We drove for 2.5 more hours until we reached our destination for the week and a half; Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida! 

We were here! We did it! I remember my faint “yay” as we pulled into the resort grounds and semi waking up to get ready to unpack the vehicle (then go back to sleep!). The 9.5 hour drive was done! Total for stops was 1.5hrs on the about 8hr drive which for my family is record timing. 

I don’t think we have ever done that; mind you I would have loved this at 8am -5:30pm haha. I am said I did miss out on Chick-Fil-A, Blaze Pizza, Target and/or Publix in Gainesville, FL. That is our usual last stop for dinner as we end our road trip and have a great treat for the remaining 2.5hrs (which at that hour wasn’t even open!).

The Reunion Resort check in staff at 4am was so lovely. They were prompt and ready to assist us, and were very kind. My mom said when she went in, they were very helpful and personable. The staff member and my mom chatted about being awake at 4am. 

Once checked in and assigned to our 3 bedroom villa, we made our way over. We got all settled in, bringing the luggage up and then took a 3 hour power nap, ready for the day ahead. 

Goodnight (Well, Good Morning!)

I’m tired just thinking about it! Well I am going to end this one here! Happily Adventures After will continue to provide you the Week in the World’s for the April 2024 Disney and Universal Orlando trip. 

We also review our hotel; Reunion Resort and provide you with things we like to do in the area. Thank you for hanging out along with us. It is very exciting. 

I can’t wait to share our time (and don’t worry, we run into another car issue on the way home…)!

See ya real soon folks!

London

Reminders

Note: Tax in the Walt Disney World area is an additional 7% on your bill

Note: The Canadian Exchange rate quoted above is 1.41 CDN on 1 USD. This is what we paid at the time, not including credit card fees added, if applicable.