garymacd
05-21-2009, 11:47 PM
We just returned from a forcibly extended trip to WDW! Not all of the trip was a fiasco - we now have two more dyed-in-the-wool Disneyholics in the family: our niece and our oldest daughter's boyfriend.
Our niece has been to WDW twice, but never really enjoyed it - until this trip. When she heard we were going and taking the kids, she became adamant that she wanted to go. I wanted her to stay at our house and take care of our dog and cats. We don’t mind having her around, she is the same age as our eldest and they have been lifelong friends. We ended up getting one of my nephews to look after the house.
Daughter's DBF has never been anywhere, ever! Well, the two of them went to a concert in Albany once, and he went to Calgary to work with his father about two years ago. Not much of a vacation for the poor guy.
The trip down was something we have never tried before. There were six of us, my beloved wife and me, our two daughters, one boyfriend and one niece. We tried to save money on the trip. The boyfriend doesn't like to fly, and airfare is so expensive right now that we looked at train travel, but our oldest daughter doesn't get along well with motion. I, personally, am not spending two days on a bus, so the only alternative is driving.
Since neither of our cars is large enough for six adults and luggage, we looked at renting a van, but it was more expensive than the airfare! And getting a large enough van for six and all the luggage is pretty tough. In the end we decided to take our two cars; a 2004 Sebring and a 2004 300M. Let me preface this by saying that the 300M had just come out of the body shop after an accident and tune up. It looked great, but I felt there was something just not right. Maybe I was spoiled by the rental car - a brand new 2009 300C with all the toys!
I had both cars serviced just before the trip, so I assumed everything would be great for the trip down. Well, guess what happens when you assume something?
Our drive takes us from the cold, frozen tundra of the west end of Lake Ontario, through Windsor, Detroit (go Red Wings) and thence down the I-75 to Florida. We have done this drive many times and really enjoy it. We just love the stop at Mayfield Dairy for ice cream.
We usually stay in Hampton Inns on our trip down because of the quality of the hotels and rooms and the free Continental Breakfast. We wanted to save money since the kids were helping pay part of the cost. This time, we stayed in a Days Inn in Renfro Valley, Kentucky on our first night. Not a bad hotel for the price. With the included Continental Breakfast, how could we go wrong? We slept in and missed our free CB! We spent the money we saved on the hotel at Denny's having breakfast. I must say that "Moon over My Hammy" is incredible, but just a little heavy for me in the morning.
On our second day, we noticed a slight grinding sound coming from the front end of the 300. It didn't seem to affect drivability, so we just kept going. What are you going to do at 8 pm?
That night, we were booked to stay in another hotel in Clyattville, Georgia. I don't want to say the name of the hotel, but it had nothing to do with nights inn. We checked in around midnight and immediately had troubles. First the keys to one of the rooms wouldn't work. So, back to the front desk for new keys. Here is a quick synopsis of the conversation between my wife and our youngest daughter while they checked out the room and I got the keys straightened out.
BW: “This looks like a nice room!”
YD: “Yeah, it's bright and big. What's that on the wall?”
BW: “Oh my superior being!” (Or words to that effect)
YD: “Is that a scorpion?”
Needless to say, by the time I got back to the rooms, pandemonium had pretty much begun to rule the night. We obviously didn't stay there. We went across the street to a Hampton Inn and got better rooms and a better CB than we would have across the street. To the credit of the hotel clerk, he refunded our money for the night. He didn’t have to. We booked the room on line and knew there was no refund available. I would have fought that fight when I got home.
Next morning began beautifully. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and it was already warm enough to need the air conditioning on in the cars. We had our free CB and headed out on our last leg to WDW. Since it was warm, I turned the AC on in the 300. Well, the refrigerant had completely leaked out of the system and we had no AC. The grinding noise seemed worse. As it turned out, it was the front bearings. The last few hundred miles were driven in a hot, noisy environment with no AC, windows down, noise from the wind and the dried out bearings. The kids rode in air conditioned, quiet luxury of the Sebring. Darn kids!
Things got better now. We checked into Old Key West and the on to Fort Wilderness for Hoop de Doo Review. Let's leave the actual vacation review for another post. Suffice to say, we had a great time and a surprise visit from my wife's best friend, who came down to surprise her on her 50th birthday. We were all in on the joke.
After our last full day at the park, we already had the cars loaded and ready to leave OKW and go to our off-site hotel, again a Hampton Inn on Palm Parkway. Great hotel. We have stayed there many times. This is where the wheels really started falling off the wagon.
As we were travelling in two cars, I wanted an easy way of communicating between them, so I bought some two-way radios before our trip. They really made keeping in touch between the six of us simple, especially along the I-75 at 70 mph.
As we were leaving Hotel Plaza, my daughter called to us and said the Sebring was overheating badly. We pulled into the Crossroads plaza and checked things out. Luckily, my niece is a mechanic. Unfortunately, she didn't have her tools, a garage or parts store in her back pocket. As we were pulling up to them in, she informed us that the 300 had a burnt out headlamp. Great! I just had them replaced after the accident! Anyone have a 10mm socket wrench and 9002 bulb in their glove box?
So, here we are: a couple blocks away from our hotel. We have one car overheating badly, another with a burnt out headlight, no AC and a wonky front bearing, it's Friday night and we are tired. Nothing to do but limp the Sebring to our hotel and find a garage on Saturday morning.
Saturday morning arrived and I called Central Florida Chrysler since the car was still under warranty. They have limited mechanics and limited parts on Saturday. They managed to fix the headlamp, but the true problem was the wiring and they couldn't fix that without an electrical technician or look at the bearing or AC. I didn’t even bother with the bearings or AC. I didn’t want to spend the time or money. I was also thinking that the AC problem was related to the accident. In the end, I should have spent the time and money. By the time we got home, the warranty had expired on the 300.
They did manage to check the Sebring and found that the water pump was shot, the thermostat needed replacing and a frost plug had popped out. None of which they could do on a Saturday. The whole job would probably take about six hours on Monday. We were supposed to be home on Monday!
My niece had to be home on Monday to get back to work on Tuesday. We put her on a plane and sent her home. As luck would have it, we got her on the same flight as my wife's friend. She drove her home from Buffalo airport. Sometimes, synchronicity works in weird ways!
Now, what should we do with Sunday? Not much fun to sit around a hotel room looking at each other. So, into the very hot, very noisy 300 we get and off down the Bee Line to the Atlantic Coast. We spent a great day at Kennedy Space Port and then Cocoa Beach with a quick side trip into Ron Jon Surf Shop. It is nice to know that due to something bad, something good happened. Daughter’s boyfriend told us on the way back that with one day, we enabled him to cross at least three things off his to do list.
The staff members at the Hampton Inn were great. They allowed my family to camp out in the lobby with all our stuff on a cart awaiting my return with a repaired car. Then they found us room for the next two nights. What were they going to do, say, “No, you can’t stay here and we don’t want your money.”?
Once the Sebring was fixed on Monday at about noon, we loaded up the car just in time for it to start raining, and off we went home. Good thing it was raining as it kept the heat down.
The trip home went fairly well, no more major breakdowns, but it was stinking hot, and got hotter the farther north we went and us with no AC listening to the wind noise and crazy front bearing. Two more nights in Hampton Inns and about 2000 km saw us cross the Detroit/Windsor boarder about 7 pm last night, just in time for the "Check Engine" light to come on in the Sebring and the heating cooling fan start working only on high.
Needless to say, I spent today running back and forth to the garage getting both cars fixed in between going to work to complete a course. I had to get them fixed today since tomorrow I leave for a course in Toronto for the weekend and need a car I can trust.
It wasn't all bad. We also met many very nice people with links to home during the extended trip.
Tomorrow, I will let you know what fun we actually had on the vacation.
Our niece has been to WDW twice, but never really enjoyed it - until this trip. When she heard we were going and taking the kids, she became adamant that she wanted to go. I wanted her to stay at our house and take care of our dog and cats. We don’t mind having her around, she is the same age as our eldest and they have been lifelong friends. We ended up getting one of my nephews to look after the house.
Daughter's DBF has never been anywhere, ever! Well, the two of them went to a concert in Albany once, and he went to Calgary to work with his father about two years ago. Not much of a vacation for the poor guy.
The trip down was something we have never tried before. There were six of us, my beloved wife and me, our two daughters, one boyfriend and one niece. We tried to save money on the trip. The boyfriend doesn't like to fly, and airfare is so expensive right now that we looked at train travel, but our oldest daughter doesn't get along well with motion. I, personally, am not spending two days on a bus, so the only alternative is driving.
Since neither of our cars is large enough for six adults and luggage, we looked at renting a van, but it was more expensive than the airfare! And getting a large enough van for six and all the luggage is pretty tough. In the end we decided to take our two cars; a 2004 Sebring and a 2004 300M. Let me preface this by saying that the 300M had just come out of the body shop after an accident and tune up. It looked great, but I felt there was something just not right. Maybe I was spoiled by the rental car - a brand new 2009 300C with all the toys!
I had both cars serviced just before the trip, so I assumed everything would be great for the trip down. Well, guess what happens when you assume something?
Our drive takes us from the cold, frozen tundra of the west end of Lake Ontario, through Windsor, Detroit (go Red Wings) and thence down the I-75 to Florida. We have done this drive many times and really enjoy it. We just love the stop at Mayfield Dairy for ice cream.
We usually stay in Hampton Inns on our trip down because of the quality of the hotels and rooms and the free Continental Breakfast. We wanted to save money since the kids were helping pay part of the cost. This time, we stayed in a Days Inn in Renfro Valley, Kentucky on our first night. Not a bad hotel for the price. With the included Continental Breakfast, how could we go wrong? We slept in and missed our free CB! We spent the money we saved on the hotel at Denny's having breakfast. I must say that "Moon over My Hammy" is incredible, but just a little heavy for me in the morning.
On our second day, we noticed a slight grinding sound coming from the front end of the 300. It didn't seem to affect drivability, so we just kept going. What are you going to do at 8 pm?
That night, we were booked to stay in another hotel in Clyattville, Georgia. I don't want to say the name of the hotel, but it had nothing to do with nights inn. We checked in around midnight and immediately had troubles. First the keys to one of the rooms wouldn't work. So, back to the front desk for new keys. Here is a quick synopsis of the conversation between my wife and our youngest daughter while they checked out the room and I got the keys straightened out.
BW: “This looks like a nice room!”
YD: “Yeah, it's bright and big. What's that on the wall?”
BW: “Oh my superior being!” (Or words to that effect)
YD: “Is that a scorpion?”
Needless to say, by the time I got back to the rooms, pandemonium had pretty much begun to rule the night. We obviously didn't stay there. We went across the street to a Hampton Inn and got better rooms and a better CB than we would have across the street. To the credit of the hotel clerk, he refunded our money for the night. He didn’t have to. We booked the room on line and knew there was no refund available. I would have fought that fight when I got home.
Next morning began beautifully. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and it was already warm enough to need the air conditioning on in the cars. We had our free CB and headed out on our last leg to WDW. Since it was warm, I turned the AC on in the 300. Well, the refrigerant had completely leaked out of the system and we had no AC. The grinding noise seemed worse. As it turned out, it was the front bearings. The last few hundred miles were driven in a hot, noisy environment with no AC, windows down, noise from the wind and the dried out bearings. The kids rode in air conditioned, quiet luxury of the Sebring. Darn kids!
Things got better now. We checked into Old Key West and the on to Fort Wilderness for Hoop de Doo Review. Let's leave the actual vacation review for another post. Suffice to say, we had a great time and a surprise visit from my wife's best friend, who came down to surprise her on her 50th birthday. We were all in on the joke.
After our last full day at the park, we already had the cars loaded and ready to leave OKW and go to our off-site hotel, again a Hampton Inn on Palm Parkway. Great hotel. We have stayed there many times. This is where the wheels really started falling off the wagon.
As we were travelling in two cars, I wanted an easy way of communicating between them, so I bought some two-way radios before our trip. They really made keeping in touch between the six of us simple, especially along the I-75 at 70 mph.
As we were leaving Hotel Plaza, my daughter called to us and said the Sebring was overheating badly. We pulled into the Crossroads plaza and checked things out. Luckily, my niece is a mechanic. Unfortunately, she didn't have her tools, a garage or parts store in her back pocket. As we were pulling up to them in, she informed us that the 300 had a burnt out headlamp. Great! I just had them replaced after the accident! Anyone have a 10mm socket wrench and 9002 bulb in their glove box?
So, here we are: a couple blocks away from our hotel. We have one car overheating badly, another with a burnt out headlight, no AC and a wonky front bearing, it's Friday night and we are tired. Nothing to do but limp the Sebring to our hotel and find a garage on Saturday morning.
Saturday morning arrived and I called Central Florida Chrysler since the car was still under warranty. They have limited mechanics and limited parts on Saturday. They managed to fix the headlamp, but the true problem was the wiring and they couldn't fix that without an electrical technician or look at the bearing or AC. I didn’t even bother with the bearings or AC. I didn’t want to spend the time or money. I was also thinking that the AC problem was related to the accident. In the end, I should have spent the time and money. By the time we got home, the warranty had expired on the 300.
They did manage to check the Sebring and found that the water pump was shot, the thermostat needed replacing and a frost plug had popped out. None of which they could do on a Saturday. The whole job would probably take about six hours on Monday. We were supposed to be home on Monday!
My niece had to be home on Monday to get back to work on Tuesday. We put her on a plane and sent her home. As luck would have it, we got her on the same flight as my wife's friend. She drove her home from Buffalo airport. Sometimes, synchronicity works in weird ways!
Now, what should we do with Sunday? Not much fun to sit around a hotel room looking at each other. So, into the very hot, very noisy 300 we get and off down the Bee Line to the Atlantic Coast. We spent a great day at Kennedy Space Port and then Cocoa Beach with a quick side trip into Ron Jon Surf Shop. It is nice to know that due to something bad, something good happened. Daughter’s boyfriend told us on the way back that with one day, we enabled him to cross at least three things off his to do list.
The staff members at the Hampton Inn were great. They allowed my family to camp out in the lobby with all our stuff on a cart awaiting my return with a repaired car. Then they found us room for the next two nights. What were they going to do, say, “No, you can’t stay here and we don’t want your money.”?
Once the Sebring was fixed on Monday at about noon, we loaded up the car just in time for it to start raining, and off we went home. Good thing it was raining as it kept the heat down.
The trip home went fairly well, no more major breakdowns, but it was stinking hot, and got hotter the farther north we went and us with no AC listening to the wind noise and crazy front bearing. Two more nights in Hampton Inns and about 2000 km saw us cross the Detroit/Windsor boarder about 7 pm last night, just in time for the "Check Engine" light to come on in the Sebring and the heating cooling fan start working only on high.
Needless to say, I spent today running back and forth to the garage getting both cars fixed in between going to work to complete a course. I had to get them fixed today since tomorrow I leave for a course in Toronto for the weekend and need a car I can trust.
It wasn't all bad. We also met many very nice people with links to home during the extended trip.
Tomorrow, I will let you know what fun we actually had on the vacation.