For Spring Break this year, we all wanted to go somewhere. That was a given. The question was where would we go without spending an arm and a leg? That’s the part that was tough. Flying to the Caribbean and staying at a resort was out. So was flying to Hawaii or Europe. We also looked into flying to Austin or New Orleans, but the flights were looking to be $1200 round trip or more. We decided that we could drive to Orlando over the course of four days (two days there, two days back) and about four days of time in Orlando itself. Along the way, we could do some sightseeing. We had the Armada for road trips, so why not use it? Driving would be half the price of flying.
We started planning for the trip in the few weeks before Spring Break. We ordered tickets for Universal Studios and Disney World. Ordered Magic Bands. Arranged a pet sitter. Got the car serviced. Planned the route and made hotel reservations.
Our itinerary was:
- Saturday – 10 hour drive to Charleston.
- Sunday – Easter Sunday service in Charleston, Easter Brunch, drive to Orlando, dinner at Disney Springs
- Monday – Universal Studios Islands of Adventure
- Tuesday – EPCOT, lunch and dinner at the park, and watch the fireworks.
- Wednesday – Hollywood Studios, lunch and dinner at the park.
- Thursday – Kennedy Space Center
- Friday – Drive home, sleepover in Richmond Virginia
- Saturday – home
We slept in a little longer than planned in the morning, loaded up the car, left around 5:45 AM. We made some great headway down I-95 all the way down NJ, Delaware, Maryland, and only hit some minor volume in Virginia. It was pretty smooth all the way down. We took a breakfast break at a Panera in Virginia, and ate a packed lunch (sandwiches) at a picnic / rest area along the Virginia / North Carolina border. I forget exactly where.
We arrived in Charleston after 6 pm, and checked into the Charleston Marriott in the downtown area. We had a small snafu where we were surprised to find only a large king bed, but the front desk was able to sort it all out, and get us a new room with double queen beds. We freshened up, then drove 10 minutes to dinner in the more downtown area with shops and restaurants. We found garage parking, and walked to Sticky Fingers for BBQ.
After dinner, we walked around briefly, but everyone was tired and ready for pajamas and bed.
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