Trip Report - March/April 2022

[Noreen411]

Friday 4/1/22 - Start the drive home:
We wanted to get a somewhat early start so I went to the gym at 4am. Scott skipped his workout today.

We did part of our normal routine with bath and shower and getting ready to go.

It’s pouring out today. Scott brought the luggage down and loaded up the car.

I took a video of the villa with my phone. We were pleasantly surprised how much we liked the smaller one bedroom villa. We usually stay in the premium (larger) one bedroom. After this stay, I would stay in this size villa again.

I was hoping to try to attach the little video but it won’t let me.

We left about 6:35 which was a little later than our original plan. We stopped at Starbucks to get Scott a cappuccino.

We were in Georgia by 10:40, South Carolina by 12:45, and North Carolina by 4:40.

We started looking for hotels when we near the top of South Carolina planning to stay somewhere in North Carolina.

We booked the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Dunn NC.

We checked into the hotel about 6:15.





We asked the employees at the front desk for a recommendation for a restaurant for dinner. We were hoping to walk somewhere but nothing was in walking distance. They recommended Little Caesar’s Pizza. They said there weren’t any good restaurants nearby and this was popular and good.

We don’t have a Little Caesar’s by us, we’ve never tried it, but we like pizza. So we drove over. It’s take out only. They were doing a booming business with most people ordering many pizzas.

Scott ordered a pizza with different toppings like sausage and hot cherry peppers, probably some other things too, but I don’t remember all the things he added. I went with a basic plain pizza. Scott also ordered the wings.

We took our food back to the hotel and ate watching Transylvania. We both had soda. The pizza was just OK. This was too much food. We should have just shared one pizza.







We fell asleep by 10ish.

 

[BellaBaby]

Many more fun pictures! I agree, they had a nice photo of you two, so why use the one with eyes closed with the Poly border?
Sounds like you had some nice meals/drinks and ofc the bread pudding!

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 4/2/22 - Arrive Home:
We were up a little after 3 and went to the hotel gym. It was small with 2 treadmills, 1 elliptical, some weights; but it was fine.





Scott took his shower first. When I was showering suddenly the water stopped. I had shampoo in my hair, suds on me, and no water. Scott tried to figure out what was wrong since the water thing was turning but nothing was coming out.

He called the front desk, someone came, but they couldn’t fix it. Turns out it was the whole hotel, not just our room. An issue with a pipe.

We had to improvise…we had several bottles of water so Scott helped me use those to rinse off and get the shampoo out of my hair. We laugh about it now, but at the time I wasn’t amused.

When we were checking out Scott was speaking with the manager about the issue. We should get a refund. The manager was worried that everyone will want a refund. Some sarcasm here but yes, others will want a refund and should receive it if the issue isn’t fixed.

We were on the road by 5:45. We were in Virginia by 7:15. It was freezing when we stopped, we’re still wearing shorts and the temperature was in the mid 30’s.

There was a decent amount of traffic in Maryland. When we stopped at one of the rest stops in Maryland we were pleasantly surprised to see an Earl of Sandwich. It was around 1:30 or so, a good time for lunch. They had a limited menu, not as extensive as the one at Disney Springs. I got a turkey club and Scott got a Cuban. We ate as we were driving. It wasn’t as good as the one in Disney Springs but it was OK.








We got to New Jersey just before 2 but we live near the top of New Jersey so still had maybe 2.5 hours to go until we were home.

We made it home approximately 4:15. The cats were happy to see us. Sometimes they give us the cold shoulder when we get home from vacation but not this time.

We started some of the after vacation chores like unpacking and going through mail.

We didn’t feel like going out for dinner so Scott picked up sushi from a local place that we like.



For dessert we shared one of the Gideon’s chocolate chip cookies. These are so good. I’m glad we brought a bunch home. They are all stored in the freezer for us to enjoy over time.

 

[Noreen411]

Many more fun pictures! I agree, they had a nice photo of you two, so why use the one with eyes closed with the Poly border?
Sounds like you had some nice meals/drinks and ofc the bread pudding!

My thoughts exactly - there were a bunch more similar pictures of us, but they used the one with the closed eyes.

That bread pudding - we practically are dreaming about it and can’t wait to go back

 

[Noreen411]

Final Thoughts:
This was another great trip. We really enjoy Disney. I know many people complain about some of the things they are changing but it’s still a magical place to us.

It was nice being there with cooler weather for most of the trip, but the crowds got to be a bit much.

Genie Plus was OK to use. It would be nice if you could choose your return times rather than having to constantly refresh but otherwise it’s fine.

We still enjoy driving down rather than flying.

We love having the timeshare which feels more like a little apartment than a hotel room. And it’s great having some of the comforts of home.

With our healthier lifestyle (even though you can’t tell by some of our meals) it’s nice to have the kitchen to be able to make healthy breakfasts before leaving for the day.

If you have any questions, please ask. I love talking about Disney and vacations.

Noreen

 

[BellaBaby]

Yes, Little Caesar's is not known for having great pizza, just inexpensive pizza.
We have it in Colorado and don't use them. Ofc, I'm originally from the Chicago area, so I'm kind of a pizza snob lol.
Anyway, sometimes DH and I have gone on adults only trips so I enjoyed that aspect and seeing where you ate.
We've also met up with friends there. Sounds like a very fun trip and we like staying offsite as well.
Thanks for the report!

 

[Noreen411]

Yes, Little Caesar's is not known for having great pizza, just inexpensive pizza.
We have it in Colorado and don't use them. Ofc, I'm originally from the Chicago area, so I'm kind of a pizza snob lol.
Anyway, sometimes DH and I have gone on adults only trips so I enjoyed that aspect and seeing where you ate.
We've also met up with friends there. Sounds like a very fun trip and we like staying offsite as well.
Thanks for the report!

Hi

We won’t be rushing back to Little Caesars.

I’m originally from Brooklyn NY so also a bit of a pizza snob. I miss Brooklyn pizza. Even in NYC (work) and Northern NJ (home) nothing compares to the pizza I grew up with.

It was a great way to travel. Just us, meeting up with some friends/family.

Many knock offsite but there are a lot of great places to stay.

 

[kevtlas]

Thanks for sharing. Great pics!

 

[Mary Pops In]

It was so enjoyable to read a TR where people are having fun and not complaining about how WDW has changed.

I am impressed with all of the photo pass pictures you had taken. Did you have to ask photographers to take Magic Shots? We've had to do that in the past. It was nice to see one smile of your friend, as I was beginning to wonder if he was having fun.

You had some impressive meals. Tomorrow I can make reservations for my January trip. I can't wait!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!