So it begins...

Okay, I have delayed too long already. Thanks to those who followed my pretrip report and welcome to those who are just coming aboard. It’s way past time to do this trip report. We’ve been a bit busy since we got back with all the getting back in the swing of things (sadly). Life just seems to interfere sometimes when you just want to wallow in your memory of the last Disney trip.

Our day of departure finally arrived after a mostly sleepless night. Friday, May 20 was our day to drive down to the Kingdom and get checked into Shades of Green. We have never checked in the day before we do tickets, so this will be different for us. We have always stayed overnight at my mother’s house in Tampa and driven over very early in the morning, but this time we wanted to check in and have time to relax so we could start our Magic Kingdom day fresh.

The members of our party are myself and DW (50’s), DD (19), DS (21), and DS’s GF (23). GF has never been to a theme park before. She is a complete newbie to all things like this, so we are chomping at the bit to show her around and see it new through her eyes. We will have to be careful, because she is not good with large crowds, doesn’t like mascots or rides that go up off the ground or too fast. We will take it easy and not try to force her on anything she truly does not want to do.

While my DS goes to pick up GF, the rest of us drive a couple of exits down to our normal breakfast spot. With any road trip to Florida, our first stop is always Hardee’s for a biscuit, or as my DW calls them – sleeping pills. One biscuit with bacon, egg and cheese and she’s usually out until Tallahassee. We wait for DS and GF to arrive and get their breakfast.

We are getting an earlier start than I honestly thought we would, and the day is looking to be a great one. After eating, we drive across the street to gas up before hitting the road. This is where our first bit of magic happened.

We are driving two cars in case DS and GF have to leave early to return home. After gassing up my car, I walk to the other car to pay. He’s already pumping and is standing there with his legs spread apart about shoulder width. Something catches my eye on the ground and when I look down, directly halfway between his feet is a ticket. I asked him if he dropped it. He looked down and said he had never seen it.

I bent down and picked it up. It’s a one day pass to the Magic Kingdom with a picture of Donald Duck and the words, “Let The Memories Begin” on the side facing up. The ticket looks brand new even though it’s two days old and is at a gas station in Alabama about 40 miles from the Florida state line.

I get in the car and show it to DD and DW. “It’s fate, it's a sign,” I tell them. DD puts the ticket on the dash wedged between the AC knobs and the radio player. She loves it and it accompanies us on our trip (and more on this later, so don’t let me forget to tell you the rest).

Okay, that is enough for now. I’ll pick up with the story in a bit.