08 Graduation Trip!

[jenakate]

It's taken me almost all summer to convince myself to write this. I came up with one excuse after another, including not having time. Well, I really don't have time...in fact I leave for college in about 3 weeks. Which brings me to my explanation of what this trip report will be. I'm going to do highlights of my trip since, when I leave for school, I'll be taking my Disney-pictureless lap top.

So....here I go!

This trip is in celebration of my high school graduation!

Dates: May 26-June 12
Resort: Fort Wilderness (We always camp at Ft. Wilderness to save money and stay longer!)

Cast of Characters...

Jena: Me! I've been to Disney World 5 times, including the trip when I was five (and I don't really remember it). My favorite park is EPCOT. I love to watch all the performances at Disney World. This fall, I'll be a freshman in college and double majoring in Vocal Performance and International Studies with a minor in Spanish.

Carole (Mom): Although she doesn't have much time for trip planning since she is the president of a credit union, my mom taught me how to travel and enjoy Disney. She is my best friend :)

John (Dad): My dad is definitely the time manager of our trips. He's all about maxmizing time. Unlike lots of Dad's I read about on the boards, my dad LOVES Disney World and isn't afraid to admit it.

Joelle (15): My little sister. She loves Disney as well...but not as much as me ;) Joelle really likes to take pictures at Disney World and, like the rest of the family, her favorite park is EPCOT.

Jordan (26): My big brother. Jordan lives in Colorado and flew to Orlando to meet us. He only got to stay for about four days...one of which was his birthday!

I have three other siblings (we are a blended family) who couldn't come along because of work etc. They're all in their twenties and one of them is Jordan's twin.

I guess I could put a paragraph here about how much I love Disney...but honestly, I don't think my words would do my feelings justice...so I'll just leave that part out and let you see for yourself through my pictures and experiences.

On the Road Again...Page 1 #8
And So It Begins...Page 1 #10
The Calm Before the Storm...Page 1 #11
Birthday...Disney Style...Page 1 #15
A Breakfast of Royal Proportions...Page 2 #20
Inside the Seas...Page 2 #25
Can I Have Your Autograph?...Page 2 #26
Wrapping Up...Page 3 #36
Still Wrapping Up...Page 3 #37 (Final Post)

[reyasmommy]

First of all CONGRATS on your HS graduation. My first trip to WDW was for my HS graduation ((which was a million years ago)) :(

Can't wait to hear more!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/Ambers25/Comp%20Sets/Comp1/Disney%20Comps/congrats_pooh-valentine_lavender.jpg

[OhMari]

My dd just graduated too.

Did you stay in the cabins at Fort Wilderness, or a tent or a travel trailer?

I'm just wondering, since we have a really big travel trailer 48 ft. My son moto-cross races, so the front half is living quarters and the back half is for his 4-wheeler race bikes. I so want to camp at WDW. My dh doesn't want to pull the trailer that far. I am really looking forward to your TR. We don't get to many people that report that stay at Fort Wilderness.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

all right i love FW, cant wait to read it,

and ohmari, i will do a TR when i got to FW in fall of 2010 for 2 weeks with my parents, i will have tons of pics for you..

[OhMari]

all right i love FW, cant wait to read it,

and ohmari, i will do a TR when i got to FW in fall of 2010 for 2 weeks with my parents, i will have tons of pics for you..:banana:

[jenakate]

reyasmommy: Thanks so much! It's good to finally be done with high school ;)

OhMari: We've camped at Ft. Wilderness 3 times. The first time, we had a pop up camper that we rented in Orlando. But, we decided that we didn't really like it. So the last two trips, we've used a tent. It can get hot but if you come prepared it's totally worth it. The activities are endless...we always bring our bikes and LOVE riding around the grounds.

FauntleroyFAN07: Thanks! I love Ft. Wilderness too..can't wait to read your trip report in '10!!

[irky416]

Congrats on graduating!

I can't wait to hear about your trip.

[jenakate]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08005.jpg

This is what I used to count down to our trip :)

My dad and I left the day after I graduated. Since I was a senior, I didn't have to make up snow days, but my little sister did. So my mom and sister flew down when my sister was done with school.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08006.jpg

This is our intense trailer. My dad is a master packer...and has to be since we camp and bring sooo much in order to be comfortable.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08009.jpg

I colored this on the way down...and then wrote "We're going to Disney World" on it and hung it in the window...lol

Like I said, this is going to be an abbreviated trip report, so things will come at you fast...


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After two days of driving, we got to Ft. Wilderness at 8:40 p.m.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08017.jpg
I thought this was cool...really, it's just my stupid camera having problems in the dark lol



We set up the tent and sleptttttt :)

[OhMari]

Thanks for telling me. I actually saw someone on here, that set a "air conditioner" into the tent. It was the funniest thing I ever saw.

[jenakate]

Alright...this is going to be a looonng post.

Wednesday

We woke up the next morning and ended up switching sites for a more private, shaded spot. Campsite 2042 was our home :)

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After getting everything set up, we went to DTD for lunch. I read about everyone’s love for Earl of Sandwich on the Dis and decided I had to try it. I SCARFED down my sandwich…it was very good. I can’t remember what I got but here’s a picture…


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08034.jpg


After lunch we went to Wal*Mart to load up on groceries and then came back and unloaded. After all of that, it was already time for dinner, so we grilled some hot dogs.

Later we took a boat to the MK and rode around on the monorail :) It was a good inaugural ride. We sat in front on the ride to EPCOT and right as we were going past, Illuminations was starting…suuuuuch a cool view. We then got off at the MK and watched Wishes from out front. This was so cool. We had a nice bench and good not only hear the music but see the fireworks.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08060.jpg


Thursday

On Thursday, we slept in and then went to Typhoon Lagoon.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08052.jpg

We have tons of water park days built up on our tickets so we only stayed for a few hours. We snorkeled with the sharks- one of our favorite things to do. If you’ve never done this, I definitely recommend it. Go slow, though, so that you can really see everything.

We came back and had beef stew for dinner. Check out the cute plating that my Dad did…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD002.jpg

(We saved that plate from the AK in like...'04)

We watched National Treasure on my Dad’s lap top later that night. It’s one of our favorite movies.


Friday

Dad and I woke up at 7:40ish and got showered. We took the bus down to the dock and got on a boat to the Contemporary. Our objective today was to walk around some of our favorite resorts :) And to use every form of transportation available…which we did. That wasn’t really our goal…I was kidding…

Let me share with you our day by transportation

Settlement bus to Contemporary boat launch
Monorail to Polynesian
Monorail to Floridian
Boat back to Polynesian
Straight to the Monorail for Contemporary
Boat back to Fort Wilderness
Bus back to Campsite

Holy cow. It was tiring. While at the Contemporary, we stopped for lunch at the Concourse Steakhouse. LITTLE DID I KNOW that in just a few short days, this restaurant would no longer be, well, a restaurant. So it was very cool to get to eat there before it was closed.


Before…
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After...
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Hahahahahaha

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Later that night on our way to the settlement, I saw this…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08036.jpg

I thought all you croc lovers would enjoy that.

We went to Chip and Dale’s Campfire that night and saw Enchanted.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08119.jpg

At about 11:30, Dad and I headed up to the outpost to wait for Mom and Joelle’s Magical Express arrival. They didn’t come til 12:00a.m.! Obviously, after riding a bus back to camp, we went right to sleep.

[jenakate]

Well, um, the title of this post is a little deceiving…because there really was no “storm” after Saturday…but it was the only title I could think of.

Saturday

Saturday was another day out of the parks. We were trying to wait for Jordan so we could all go in together.

I woke up at about 9:45a.m. and had breakfast. Dad had gone to get a golf cart earlier that morning. For years we’ve wanted to get a golf cart to ride around in and have fun at the Ft with. Here’s the cart…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08147.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08029.jpg
Here’s a picture of the pool…just for fun.

After swimming and dealing with some cart issues, we went to DTD and ate at Rainforest Café. I got my travel journal at WWoD…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08155.jpg

This is on the bus ride home…


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08159.jpg
Mom!!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08160.jpg
Dad!!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08157.jpg
And Joelle…being weird.

So there’s your introduction to the family.

After going home and hanging out around the Fort (and maximizing our day w/ a golf cart!), we got our traditional Trail’s End pizza and watched Wishes from the beach.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08168.jpg
Trail’s End

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08169.jpg

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No music, but still pretty cool ;)



Sunday, June 1

Reading back through my trip journal, this day was so fun. We were up by about 6:20a.m. and almost made rope drop…I could hear it from the boat.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08185.jpg

I have never been to a rope drop at the Magic Kingdom. I don’t really know why…I think we pretty much always miss it by about 10 minutes.

In computer class this year, one of our projects was to make a t-shirt using only Miscrosoft Word to create the template. I decided (obviously) to make something Disney inspired. I picked a bunch of Disney pictures from over the years and combined them to make this shirt for my Dad...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08182.jpg

He got compliments all day and one guy thought he was a CM!!! hahaha

That morning, there was a lot of smoke and ash in the air. A forest fire had broken out east of I-9. Here’s a picture of it from the day before at DTD.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08153.jpg

Anyway, after riding Space Mountain and a few others, we made our way to Tom Sawyer’s Island. Everyone else was tired, so they took a break over by Aunt Polly’s (by the way, what’s the deal with Aunt Polly’s?! Out of our four trips in the past 6 years, it has only been opened once!). Jordan and I decided to explore, though. We went up to, I guess it’s called, the Fort and played an intense game of checkers. We also shot at the Thunder Mountain riders as they shot (no pun intended) by. Later, when we rode Thunder, we used our “finger guns” and shot up towards the fort just in case anyone was up there ;)

Later, while Mom, Dad, and Joelle watched the parade, Jordan and I walked onto Haunted Mansion. I wasn’t too impressed by the renovations but the ride was fun like always. And yay for skipping parades and walking onto HM because when we walked by later, the line was back almost to the Riverboat cue.

After taking a break and swimming back at FW, we headed back to MK.

We watched Wishes from a very weird spot that night- the side/back of the castle. I don’t recommend it. Very weird.

By the way, I love Monter’s Inc Laugh Floor.

[MeMom]

Just wanted to drop in and say I am enjoying your report. It will be interesting to hear about someone who does the tent camping.

Thanks for sharing your pictures. Every trip we say we're going to try to go over and do the outdoor movie, but we haven't gotten around to it yet. We'll keep it on our list, and eventually we'll get there!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

wow lots of pics, and all the shots of FW are bringing back such good memories growing up there....can not wait till i am there again in a few years.


we hope to visit during our christmas trip this year

[jenakate]

MeMom: I'm so glad you're enjoying the report! And thanks for saying so :) You should definitely try the outdoor movie. You can make s'mores there too w/ the big fires that FW makes. I recommend bringing lawn chairs if you're looking for comfort!!

FauntleroyFan07: I just noticed that you're a cubs fan. ME TOO!!!! My brothers lived there for about 7 years while they were growing up so they passed the Cubby dedication on to my little sister and me. My dad is a die hard Cardinals fan so things at home are always interesting during baseball season :) Oh, and I'm glad I'm bringing back childhood memories for you.

[jenakate]

Monday, June 2

This was our MGM (Hollywood Studios) day. The most exciting thing that happened was riding the new Toy Story ride. Holy cow. If you haven’t ridden this, get pumped because when you do you will love it.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08220.jpg

Oh, and for those of you who are LOST fans, when we ate at the Commissary for lunch, the tv’s had on a little program that was attempting to sum up the last four seasons of LOST in about 15 minutes. It was pretty funny. For those of you who don’t watch LOST, it’s pretty difficult to sum this show up in any short period of time.


Tuesday, June 3

I know I skipped a lot of Monday, but that’s because Tuesday was very exciting. It was exciting because Tuesday, June 3rd, was Jordan’s birthday!!!!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08221-1.jpg

We started the day at AK with plans to head over to EPCOT. Jordan had never ridden Everest so we, of course, did that. We also watched the Lion King…this is my all-time, absolute, most favorite Disney show.

Joelle took this one...
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle058.jpg

While Jordan and Joelle rode Kali, Mom, Dad, and I went to Epcot to get FP’s for Soarin’. When the other two arrived we stopped and had lunch. We always pack sandwiches etc for lunch in the parks to save money. While we ate, Mom and Dad had Jordan decide where he wanted to eat his birthday dinner. He picked Morocco CS but Mom and Dad said that it was his birthday…he should have Marakesh! Oh em geeee. I was so stoked. But I was pretty sure that everyone in my family was going to hate the food…my mom and I are the only adventurous people when it comes to food. Anyway, we went to try and get reservations and, lucky us, there was a table available at 8pm. So after that we headed over to World Showcase. On the boat ride over to the American Pavilion (we were on our way to hear Voices of Liberty…my other favorite performing group), the entire boat sang Happy Birthday to Jordan at the prompting of a very nice cast member. I wasn’t on the boat, though. I decided I would walk…I ended up arriving before the rest of my family. My dad called and told me what the boat had done and said I should talk to a CM and see if VoL could sing to Jordan too. So I did. And they did. And it was SO cool.

After that, we headed back over to Future World to use our Soarin’ FP’s. However, earlier in the day Jordan had mentioned wanting to do the Behind the Seeds Tour, and Mom and Dad paid for the three of us kids to go. Jordan felt really bad because he didn’t know it cost anything…but it was totally worth it. It lasted about…an hour and a half I think? Here are some pictures from it…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08140.jpg
This is a picture of the boats...get it? Because I'm not in one...

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If you care at all about plants/gardening, you would love this tour. And it isn't bad for kids either! They have some cool interactive things to do...

After a few more hours of rides in Future World (including the new SE…which is fun…but I miss the old one:sad1: ), we dodged a few deluges (is that the plural of deluge?) of rain and made it to our Marakesh reservation at 8:05.We had a great waiter named Hoham. He took a really cute picture with Jordan in honor of his birthday…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD097.jpg
They switched hats :laughing:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08011.jpg
I had the beef cous cous and it was very, very good.

We finished eating at 9:11 and went outside and caught the end of Illuminations. We had EMH and didn’t get home ‘til 12:30am. I was POOPED!

[OhMari]

Does your mom know you posted that picture of her. My dd's are always taking crazy pictures of me too.

Really enjoying your TR. I didn't know you could get a golf cart at the camp site. Does Disney rent these or another company.

[jenakate]

I just told my mom...I just took off the picture...lol

Yeah-- you can rent them right through Disney! They have a little building where they rent out canoes, bikes, golf carts, sports equipt., etc etc. TONS of people at FW get the golf carts. They are [I]very[I] popular. But, just so you know, you have to be a licensed driver to drive one. Most people don't obey that rule, but we do...and just in case you wanted to too, I thought I'd tell you so your dd's aren't dissapointed :)

[irky416]

Great updates. I'm enjoying all your pictures.

[jenakate]

irky416: Glad you're enjoying it!!! Thanks for letting me know :)

[jenakate]

The 4th of June, Jordan went home. It was a sad day…but also very uneventful…so I’m skipping it.

Thursday, June 5th

This was the day I’d been waiting for my whole life. It was the day in which I would eat inside Cinderella’s Castle. When I found out at age 13 that this was possible, I knew my life would never be complete until I had experienced the Royal Table.

Hahaha. No but really. I had never had the chance to eat at Royal Table before and it was seriously one of the things I was most excited and interested in doing in all of Disney World for about six years. We’d made reservations before but things always got derailed for one reason or another. But now finally, my dream was coming true!

We made reservations for breakfast because, after hearing about it on the dis, I knew we could get in before the park opened and experience the empty streets while also snapping the coveted ‘castle with no people’ shot.

We woke up at 6 on Thursday morning and left the campsite at 7:22. We arrived at MK at about 7:50. Here’s a shot of me, Mom, and Joelle (from left to right :) )

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We checked in and were shortly escorted to a small and fast moving line to see Cinderella. We got a family picture with her :goodvibes She was a very good Cinderella. Joelle and I were given wands on our way up the stairs. I knew they gave wands to little girls but I didn’t know if they’d give them to teenagers…I was, needless to say, very ecstatic to see that they did. Looking back at my trip journal, my description of CRT took up two and a half pages…hahaha. I’ll directly quote my journal for the rest…

It was beautiful upstairs! The sun was shining through the stain glass windows, the dining room was nearly empty, and it was so beautiful and “castle-like.” We got a table near the middle (not by the window, but still nice).

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08131.jpg

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The food was great! There were only two choices but that was okay with me because it made deciding easier.

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All the food is all-you-can-eat; French toast stuffed with cream cheese, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and eggs.

The princesses came around and visited shortly after we got our food. Joelle and I already had their autographs but we had them resign just for fun. And also because I wanted to see if their signatures were the same as a few years ago. They weren’t. Here are some pictures of us w/ the princesses…

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Joelle and I thought this was HILARIOUS. It was just really funny to look over and see the little girl with her hand around Jasmine’s hair instead of her waist…

There was a wishing ceremony near the end of our meal. This is where the want comes in. The whole thing is cute…but pretty cheesy. You use your wand and the little rubber star they give you to make a wish while closing your eyes and saying the magic words. When you open your eyes there are lights flashing all over the room.

On our way out, there was a little girl (probably about 5 years old) coming up the stairs saying to her mom, “I have a wand! I have a wand! I have a wand!” And I thought, “Oh, that’s cute…she really likes the wand.” And then she says, “Why do I have a wand?” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Too funny. That’s exactly what I thought when I got mine! Oh man…priceless.

So after breakfast we started the rides. Remember a few posts ago when I said I loved the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor? Well…I loved it even more after today. For those of you who haven’t been to it yet, you can text in jokes while you wait and then they use a couple in the show. On the first day, they used one of Joelle’s and I was very jealous lol. But then this time, they used TWO of my jokes and said I was the funniest girl in Missouri!!! (That’s where I’m from…you text in your home state w/ the joke.)

We headed back to camp and took naps at about 4. We ate dinner and then got back to the park about 8 and went to our favorite fireworks spot- Tomorrowland Terrace. Mom waited with the seats while Dad and Joe went shopping. I went off on my own to ride TTA and Carousel of Progress. This was seriously one of the best times of the trip. As an 18 year old traveling with her family, I don’t get much time to myself to just enjoy my surroundings…so this was really special.

After Wishes, they had an extra Spectro showing. I guess everyone else in Magic Kingdom was tired…because we went over by LTT and sat on BENCHES to watch the parade. BENCHES!!! There was NO ONE in front of us!!!

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See?! Empty.

Uh-May-Zing Day. Oh and sorry that this post has a GUH-JILLION pictures.

[tinkerbell*Xo]

Great Report!
Loving the pictures!!
Makes me want to be there right now!! The camping looks amazing Have never seen a nicer campground! I have only ever been there once to eat and explore! So awesome!!!
How long was your trip in total?

[FauntleroyFAN07]

FauntleroyFan07: I just noticed that you're a cubs fan. ME TOO!!!! My brothers lived there for about 7 years while they were growing up so they passed the Cubby dedication on to my little sister and me. My dad is a die hard Cardinals fan so things at home are always interesting during baseball season :) Oh, and I'm glad I'm bringing back childhood memories for you.

Glad you are a cubs fan, now i can keep reading your posts...i am going on the wrigley tour in about 3 weeks, i will take tons of pics and have them posted on my TR in case you want to check them out.


sorry to hear that your dad is cardinal fan.:headache:



great update..loved all the pics, really like the castle one with noone in front of you guys that was a great shot.

[jenakate]

tinkerbell*Xo: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the report :) I'm enjoying writing it!! I know--FW IS awesome ;) lol My trip, including drive time, was 18 days. But that's including travel time.

FauntleroyFAN07: I will DEFINITELY check out your tr! Thanks! I'll be excited to see those Wrigley pics. And yes, we love that picture in front of the castle too :)

[irky416]

I love your empty MK pictures!

[jenakate]

Friday, June 6th

After the excitement of yesterday, we used Friday to catch up on sleep and just relax.


Saturday, June 7th

Okay, I know I said something about Thursday (the day we ate at the castle) being the day to end all days…but really, Saturday takes that prize. Saturday, June 7th, my Dad and I, both certified scuba divers, would scuba dive in the Living Seas (er- The Seas With Nemo and Friends…).

We were through the turnstiles at 8:50ish. Like I said awhile back, I have never been to a rope drop. We always seem to get to the park right when it’s over. So, this was my first rope drop experience. Little did I know that rope drop at EPCOT takes place by the fountain. So my dad and I are walking quickly to get Fastpasses for Soarin’. Dad sees that Inoventions is open…so he tells me to go through. Well, I didn’t hear him right. I thought he wanted me to go through and get a head start on Soarin’. I don’t know why I thought that…because I didn’t even have the tickets…so there was no way I could’ve gotten fastpasses. Anyway, I went through Innoventions and come out on the other side and all I see are cast members. I start to question myself a little bit when suddenly an important-looking cast member comes up to me and asks how I got through. Apparently, Inno. wasn’t supposed to be opened…and I was the stupid person who thought I could go through…HA! Here I was thinking that everyone else was so stupid for taking the long way instead of noticing this handy shortcut. So this cast member sends me over by the rope drop where he tells me to chill until the ropes are dropped. I’m nicely and quietly waiting when ANOTHER cast member comes over and asks me what I’m doing on this side. And I tell him that I’ve already been caught. Lol jk. I tell him that the other cast member told me to wait here. But he says I need to come sit closer. So I do. And I’m embarrassed to death while everyone, cast members and park goers included, stares at me and wonders what in the world I’m doing. It was awful. I felt so bad. And it turns out, all my Dad wanted me to do was see if Innoventions was open on the other side. He didn’t want me to go through. And after I went through, he saw a security guard come and lock the door. Swell. They drop the rope. I rejoin my family. All of which are laughing at me. They’re so nice.

We rush to Soarin’! And the day begins. We do rides…blah blah blah…I really just want to get to the part about my dive…watch VoL again…Okay! That’s sufficient for the beginning of the day’s report…

Dad and I get to the front at 4:06, ready to dive. At 4:16 the CMs come out and start checking us in. Nancy was our guide. We started with a tour of behind the scenes of the LS. There was tons of cool info- -stuff I’d never heard! Then we watched an instructional movie. Nancy was soooo cool and nice and DEFinitely had the Disney spirit. I was the only girl in the group (there were 10 guys) so I had the locker room all to myself. The locker room was really nice. I got a big locker, with my name on it, for all of my stuff. While we took the tour, CMs had stocked the locker with our wetsuits and towels so everything was right there. After we got changed, we walked right through the main room of the LS, in front of everybody, and went up the stairs and into the blue tube in the main obs. room. Then we entered the room where the top of the pool is. Oh. My. Gosh. I can’t explain to you what it’s like to see the top of the pool you’ve only seen the middle of your whole life. It was weird. But very cool. We got a little instruction from the dive master and then went!

I cannot describe this experience. Not only did I see amazing wildlife, including groupers, sharks (yes, sharks! I was very nervous about them too!), manta rays, a sea turtle, and fish, fish, fish, I got to wave at tons of people and give them a piece of magic!! I would wave at little kids in the Coral Reef and they would FLIP OUT! They thought it was so cool! And I got to wave at my mom and sister and sit face to face with two hundred pound fish and, and, and…!!!!! Hahaha. It was just incredible. Here are some pictures…they aren’t very good but you get the idea…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle200.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle205.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle206.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle208.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle210.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle214.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle219.jpg

There was one time when I waved in the Coral Reef meaning only to wave at a little kid or something but there were seriously about 20 people who jumped up and started taking pictures and waving back!!! It was inSANE!

After the dive, we went “backstage” again and got a seriously up close view of the dolphins. You can’t dive with the dolphins…I don’t know why. After that we went back to the locker rooms and showered. Disney provides shampoo, conditioner, and body wash…AND hairdryers. Then we went back upstairs and filled out evals, got our t-shirts, buttons for supporting Disney’s Wildlife thing (I forgot what it’s called…but part of the cost of the dive goes to it so we got buttons for supporting it), and watched the video that they make of the dive. It was cool but not worth purchasing.

We left and met mom and Joelle…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08Joelle232.jpg

It was around 8 when we made it back to World Showcase. I got fish and chips for the first time. Oh em gee. I loved them. I sat and listened to British Invasion, while eating my fish and chips, and the people next to me were from England. Can it get any more authentic?? Then we all watched Illuminations from the perfect spot.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD105.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD108.jpg
My Dad took those

Oh! I forgot to say that I got lefse from Norway before our dive…
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08061.jpg
When you ask for one, do they always give two? Is that just how it’s served?

This was my favorite day of our entire trip. Sorry if I went on a bit about the dive…but I really wanted to share it with all of you!!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

very cool update, loved the stuff about the dive...and seeign that whole expierence you are the first person i have read about that has done it...

what were some of the different things that they told you guys about that you ahve never heard before, i love to hear new things about disney.
:surfweb:

[jenakate]

Sunday, June 8

This was the day of autographs. Oh my gosh. So many lines. I’ll just post a few pictures…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2117.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2123.jpg

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http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2128.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2108.jpg

After a long, hot day, we left MGM and got on a boat to go check out Boardwalk. After looking around, we decided we were all too hot and tired to go to EPCOT like we’d planned. So we went over to Beaches and Cream (I had REALLY wanted to go here!) and got a table almost immediately. We decided we would share dinner so that we all had room for dessert.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08176.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08199.jpg

I got the No Way Jose. There is NO WAY I’ll ever get it again. Hahahahaha. It was good…but I ate almost all of it…and I don’t think I’ve ever been so sick in my life.


Monday, May 9

This day was FULL of relaxing…we slept in, swam a lot, and rode some transportation for fun while visiting some resorts.


Tuesday, May 10

Our final day in the parks :guilty: I woke up at about 6:40ish and we left the site at 8:25. After hitting our final “must-do’s” at AK, we left for EPCOT. We love Epcot and usually spend most of our time there…if you haven’t noticed. We went straight back to World Showcase and stopped in France for one of my favorite traditions…getting pastries!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08222.jpg
The Napoleon…;)

We left and went to see the acrobat children in China. Since it was sprinkling, they had the show indoors. Well, the sprinkle turned into THE torrential downpour of the century so after the show we were stuck inside for at least 30 minutes.

For the rest of the day we moseyed around the countries and eventually went over to Future world and rode some rides. Home at 11:30 

Wednesday, June 11

The final day.

The whole trip, I’d wanted to go to Kona Café. I’d read and read and read about Tonga Toast and I knew I HAD to try it. My family knew this, so we planned to go on our last day. I woke up at 10:07…and FREAKED OUT. I knew that Kona stopped serving breakfast at 11:15. I crawled out of the tent looking for my parents and they were no where to be found. I called my Dad, freaking out, and he and I decided we would skip showers and rush to the Poly. We all got ready and went to the bus stop…only to see our bus pulling away. So we waited for another one. While on the bus, we discussed our plan of action. This plan was altered, however, we got to the boat dock. There was a resort launch ready to go, so we took it. We got off at the Contemporary, literally RAN up all of the stairs (well, I ran…the rest of the family kind of speed walked…) and slipped on the monorail just as it was about to leave. We got off at the Poly and I ran ahead of the others to get a table. I arrived at the counter, slightly panting, but trying to look sweet and needy, and asked if we could have a table for four for breakfast. They said yes.

Time? 11:09am. Six minutes to spare.

YES!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08193.jpg
Yay! We made it!

I ordered my Tonga Toast…and it came. I have to say it was quite delicious- -not exactly what I’d expected, but very good.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08218.jpg

After breakfast, we went down to the beach and relaxed. I went a little crazy with my camera…

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08095.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08097.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08099.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08100.jpg

After breakfast we napped, packed, showered, and swam (not in that order…lol). Joelle went and got the Giddy Up and Go from Trails End for our lunch. If any of you ever stay at FW, I recommend this meal. It’s only $24.99 (I think…if not that, then less) and feeds 4-5 people. The four of us couldn’t begin to finish it…so I would say it feeds 5-6. It comes with fried chicken, coleslaw, biscuits, and fries.

We went to Downtown Disney for last minute shopping…home by 10:45ish.

The next day, I flew home (yes…I drove down and flew home…I had to leave for Las Vegas the next day for a forensics competition, so rather than cutting the trip short and all driving home, my Mom and I flew home while Dad and Joelle drove).

[jenakate]

FauntleroyFAN07: Thanks! It was an amazing time. On the tour, they started with talking about their filtration system (which filtrates water at some RIDICULOUS amount/hour…I can’t remember what the actual number is). They also showed us the room where they prepare the food for the animals. They have to clean it multiple times a day, top to bottom. They also can’t wear shoes w/o little booties in order to protect the food from all germs. They showed us the feeding schedule for all of the fish- -they have a giant white board where they write what each species eats. They feed the sharks three times a week- -wild sharks only eat 3 times a month I think they said. Next to the feeding room, they have a “mortuary”…if any animal dies, they take it here and do in depth analysis in order to prevent any other deaths. Nancy (our guide) also talked about the manatees. She gave a lot more information than you get from the little video they show to the public. After the dive, Nancy took us back to the dolphins where she talked about their training. I didn’t realize that they made the dolphins do any work or training, but they do! They do trainer identification and shape identification to study the dolphins and their reaction to the environment etc. I can’t remember anything else right now but I know there was more! :confused3 I’ll post again if I think of anything.


Irky416: Thank you so much! It was awesome to see- -you should DEFinitely make ressies for early a.m. if you ever get the chance.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

another great update, thanks for all the info on the tour...it was very interesting.

do you have any more pics of FW that you have not shown, i know that people on here would love to see hte pics, including me, i love that campground and cna not wait to go back, my parents took a lot of pics in disney, but did not hardly take any of the campground, so if yo uhave anymore, and want to post them, we would love to see them.

[irky416]

I think we had the same Prince Caspian as you. That dessert looks so good! What is it?

[distrekker]

When you ask for one, do they always give two? Is that just how it’s served?

It is confusing . . . isn't it? Last year I ordered three - and got six! We could hardly eat them all - and the line was too long, I didn't want to send it back - so we ate them - but it was confusing.

Great trippie. Fun to read! You are lucky your family loves Disney - my family can't figure out why we would want to go every year?! They just don't get it. Good luck at college.

[jenakate]

FauntleroyFAN07: Thank you thank you :) and yes, I have a few more pictures--I'll be sure to include them when I do my final post (it'll be up either today or tomorrow). By the way, which trip report of yours will have the wrigley pictures?

irky416: That Caspian was pretty good! He was a a little awkward though lol but he did look a lot like the guy from the movie. what did you think of him? I'm assuming that the dessert you're referring to is the Napoleon. (The ice cream is from B&C) The Napoleon is from the bakery in France. I seriously think it is THE best thing there. In that picture, I'd already taken the top layer off--it gets a little hard to eat bc they stack it so high...but it's SO worth it.

distrekker: yes, it was confusing! haha did you like the lefse when you got it? I thought it was okay...but it would've been better with more of the creamy stuff inside. Thanks--I'm so glad it's fun to read! I made it really short so that I wouldn't lose people if it got boring lol. And I'm sorry to hear that about your misunderstanding family!!! I totally get it though--that's how most of my friends are too. but maybe they'll all come around some day :goodvibes p.s. Thanks for the good luck!!

[bob6sims]

Thanks for sharing your trip report. :cool1:

Sounds like you all had such a great time. :banana:

[FauntleroyFAN07]

FauntleroyFAN07: Thank you thank you :) and yes, I have a few more pictures--I'll be sure to include them when I do my final post (it'll be up either today or tomorrow). By the way, which trip report of yours will have the wrigley pictures?


i will have that on the Pre TR it will be another warm up for our disney trip.

we are going in sepetember.

[jenakate]

Bob6sims: I did have an INCREDIBLE time!! Thanks for reading :goodvibes

FauntleroyFAN07: Thanks—I’ll definitely check it out

[jenakate]

Another successful and amazing trip to Disney World. This trip definitely had some highlights and I’ll never forget it! Thank you all for reading this trip report. It’s been so much fun to revisit my amazing experiences. I’ll leave you with a few extra pictures from the trip…

Hopefully I don't post anything I've already shown...I'll try not to!!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2118.jpg
Me in my DiveQuest t-shirt

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2045.jpg
This is our campsite w/ the pine cone trail that my sister likes to make every time

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08212.jpg
This is the settlement store at Ft. Wilderness. There is another at the outpost. They cary about the same merchandise but the outpost store tends to have a little bit more food and less "fun stuff" and camping supplies.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08181.jpg
The beach at Ft. Wilderness

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08103.jpg
My dad on the computer. I put this picture about to show you that FW has wireless! You can pay to have it at your site, but we wanted it free...lol. So whenever we need to check email etc (w/ my parents, that's about every day), we go up to the outpost. They have a little room in between the drive-through check in places where you can go and plug in and get free internet! (just a warning, it isn't extremely fast, but it works!!)

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08074.jpg
Here's some more of that room...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08138.jpg
I took a quiz in MGM to see which character I was most like. The first time it said Cinderella or something but I didn't get a picture so I took it again. I answered the questions EXACTLY the same, and it said I was most like Lady from Lady in the tramp. Oh my gosh. I'm a dog.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08146.jpg
This is my FAVorite snack to have a WDW!! Haha it's cheesey, I know, but Mickey Mouse shaped cheese just tastes better when you're sitting on a bench in FW :goodvibes

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08083.jpg
The banana left right by our fridge...a little "friend" bothered us MANY nights...somehow, a squirrel kept getting inside our canopy. This banana was the worst he did. He took it right off the top shelf of our table! After this, we packed up everything VERY well so he wouldn't get any more food. We've never had a problem w/ animals getting into our food before though...so idk what the deal was this time.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08089.jpg
This is the lady at the campfire before the movie at FW. You can make s'mores during her show (and during the movie).

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08019.jpg
I think I already posted this pic, but this is where you check in for FW.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08020.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08021.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08023.jpg

[jenakate]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08037.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08041.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08043.jpg
Sign at the Outpost

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08044.jpg
Dock again

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08046.jpg
Disney uses energy efficient light bulbs ;)

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08048.jpg
From the monorail!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2098.jpg
This is our "set up"

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2099.jpg
And again

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08DAD2035.jpg
These two were AWESOME!! Very funny and very into their characters...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/jeenawiggit1/Disney%20World%202008/DisneyWorld08042.jpg
Sunset from the boat dock



So that's it...thank you all again for reading! Have fun on all of YOUR trips and be sure to share your tr :)

[hulagirl87]

I loved your trip report and all your pictures! It looks like you had a fantastic time. Thanks for sharing :goodvibes

[FauntleroyFAN07]

once again great, pics, glad you posted more on the FW ones, i am sure everyone will love to see those, that place is just so awesome and peaceful

[jessily]

Great trip report:thumbsup2 I loved your photos!

[jenakate]

hulagirl87: Thanks for reading! I did have a fantastic time :goodvibes I wish I could be back right nowww!

FauntleroyFAN07: Thank you!! I totally agree—very peaceful.

Jessily: Thank you so much! I tried so hard to get pictures of everything. I drove my family a little crazy...especially with the food pics lol

[MeMom]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. It was nice to see the tent camping aspect. That's something we might do when the grandkids are maybe 7 or older. I bet they'd love it!

Tell your sister the pinecone trail is great. What a neat touch! Let me know by PM whenever you do another TR, and I'll be glad to join in.

[jenakate]

MeMom: Thank you so much for reading and relpying!! I bet your grandkids would love it. Something I didn't mention in my tr is the horseback riding that FW has. We did it in '06 (I think) and had an AWESOME time. You should look into that for your grandkids :) I'll let you know if I have another tr...but it'll def. be awhile until we go back :sad1: I'll be checking out yours in the meantime though!

[MeMom]

MeMom: Thank you so much for reading and relpying!! I bet your grandkids would love it. Something I didn't mention in my tr is the horseback riding that FW has. We did it in '06 (I think) and had an AWESOME time. You should look into that for your grandkids :) I'll let you know if I have another tr...but it'll def. be awhile until we go back :sad1: I'll be checking out yours in the meantime though!

We have been to Fort Wilderness twice just to visit. This summer, we wanted to let Brooklynn do the pony ride, but she wasn't quite tall enough. The lady let her sit on the horse just to have her picture made, though. We'll try again in November, if we have time (short trip), but if not, then next summer she'll be able to ride for sure.

We also want to do the campfire and movie sometime, but have not yet gotten around to that.

Jill, Brooklynn, and I went over at Christmas to see all the decorated campers, and we really thought that was neat. I would like to try the cabins someday, but with a large group, one bathroom is a drawback. Maybe someday when just a few of us are going we'll try a cabin.

I hope you do check out our report. We have a lot of fun over there. I'm slow at posting, but when I do post, I try to put up tons of pictures. Hope to see you over there!