But you CAN’T swim in Bay Lake, can you?? (A surprise pic-heavy report) COMPLETE!

[lklasing]

Hi everyone! :wave2: Welcome to my fourth trip report! (If any of you need any bedtime reading, the first three TRs are linked in my signature below.) This time, as we did the past two times before this trip, we were back at Fort Wilderness, staying in a cabin. We used to be Poly Concierge people, and certainly loved it there, but once we found the cabins at FW, we knew that’s where we would be staying on all future trips. We just love :lovestruc the Fort!

Anyway, here’s the cast of characters for the trip:

Me: a 42 year old Disney nut. While I had fun on my childhood trips to the World, I never knew how much I would love it once I started taking my kids. Somehow, it’s a completely different kind of thing to get to have fun at WDW with your kids, and amazingly better than it was when I was their age. I love everything about it – the planning :surfweb:, the thinking, the ADR-ing, the thinking some more, the re-doing of ADRs…. All of you know the drill. Anyway, here’s me:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/DisneyLaborDay2009054.jpg

DH Ray: a 48 year old who tolerated WDW on the first couple of trips, but who has now really come to love it as much as me. That doesn’t mean he likes to plan the trips like I do, but he sure does love being there. Finding the cabins at FW was really the tipping point on Ray loving the trips – his ability to spread out in the cabin, not hear any kids running down the hall and just being out in nature (with a golf cart, of course!) increased his enjoyment of these trips tremendously. Ray (driving said golf cart):

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/DisneyLaborDay2009047.jpg

DD13 Danielle: Danielle is now officially a teenager and this was her first trip to the World with that designation. (She makes sure to remind me of her status frequently, in case I ever forget. :rolleyes: ) She is full of energy and life and definitely loves going to WDW as much as possible. Here’s Danielle:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/P1030376.jpg

DD11 Jodi: Jodi is by far my more laid back daughter, but she is equally enthusiastic about WDW. In her writing journal for school this year, she has already written about how much she loves going to the World, even though at the time she wrote it, she had no idea there even was going to be a trip. :cutie: Here’s Jodi:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/DisneyLaborDay2009059.jpg

Over the past few trips, we’ve waited as long as we could before telling the girls we were going. You’d think that the obsessive amount of time I spend on the Disboards planning would tip them off, but happily we managed to keep it a secret again. Since Danielle is now in 8th grade (and since I’m a terrible mom who pulled my girls out of school for a Disney trip AGAIN), I had to tell Danielle about the trip a little over a week in advance so she could have her teachers sign the form that is required by her school so she would get to make up the work. We told her on a Sunday evening, 10 days out from the trip. Her face turned bright red with shock (or, it could have been a little too much sun from a beautiful weekend, but I choose to think it was shock). She was definitely surprised. It was about as much fun as I’ve had in a long time.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/summer-1068.jpg

(Yes, that’s me in my pajamas – she didn’t get back from a friend’s lake house till late that evening – nothing like putting yourself out there on the web in your jammies! :rolleyes: )

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/summer-1069.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/summer-1067.jpg

Jodi, on the other hand, is only in 6th grade and therefore in her last year of elementary school. I knew that I would be able to handle her absence with her teachers directly, so we didn’t tell her until the morning that we left! By the night before the trip, it became apparent that Jodi had no idea what was coming. I was sure she had figured out that there would be a trip to WDW at some time, but she clearly had no idea as to when it would happen. So, on Tuesday night, Jodi went to dance class just like always, bickered with her sister, took a shower, bickered with her sister some more, and then went to bed. Not too much later, Danielle, Ray and I all followed suit, trying to get some sleep before our big day the next day.

Wednesday morning came bright and early. Ray, Danielle and I all got together for the big reveal. Danielle and I wore Mickey t-shirts and had Jody’s Tink shirt ready for her. When she finally woke up and figured out that we were seriously going to WDW instead of school, it was great.

Jodi wondering why the whole family has invaded her room before her alarm even went off:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/DisneyLaborDay2009008.jpg

And then the fun began when she figured it out:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/DisneyLaborDay2009014.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/DisneyLaborDay2009015.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/DisneyLaborDay2009016.jpg

We were at WDW from Wednesday, September 2 through Monday, September 7 (Labor Day). We hit all four main parks, plus Typhoon Lagoon and DTD. Happily, we were there for Free Dining, and even upgraded to Deluxe, so we got to go to some restaurants and shows we had always wanted to go to but never had before. More on all those later.

Anyway, thanks for joining in! More to come soon!

(PS – And for the record, this report DOES involve me swimming in Bay Lake! :scared1: And, I lived to tell the tale!)

Leslie

[OhMari]

Good intro, and I can't believe your oldest dd didn't tell your youngest. Good keeper of secrets.

My guess is if you were in Bay lake,
You fell off a Sea Racer.
Waiting to find out what happened.

[Raecheal]

Your family is adorable, I love the photos... I"m inpopcorn::

[Skyw]

My DH became a Disney lover too [I]after[I] we started to go to Fort Wilderness. It was definitely the golf cart and fishing. Oddly enough, It is relaxing for us to be at the fort.

Good trippie so far...

[Tri-circle-D]

Hello Leslie-

I followed you over here from your link on the camping boards!

You are off to a great start!

Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!popcorn::

TCD

[WDW Traveler]

Great start and GREAT pictures! I can't wait to read the rest. Your daughters are both beautiful and their reactions are priceless. Over the countless trips we have taken and surprised DD, I've never taken her picture. Your TR inspires me to get a picture the next time!!


Can't wait to read more and see more pictures.

[RocklandRVers]

Hello Leslie-

I followed you over here from your link on the camping boards!

You are off to a great start!

Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!popcorn::

TCD

I also followed you here. Glad you fell in love with Fort Wilderness like we did. I also like your candid camera type photos of you giving your DDs the good news. :laughing:

[Shan-man]

I love all the pics of y'all in jammies! I feel like part of the family! http://i523.photobucket.com/albums/w359/SLSettles/Web%20Graphics/sc_biggrin.gif
http://i523.photobucket.com/albums/w359/SLSettles/Web%20Graphics/ShantaClausSm.png

[bouncycat]

YAAAY!!! I just LOVE reading your TR's!! I can't wait, I"m there in 5 days!!! :cheer2: But, I can live thru your tr until then! :)

[guardwife66]

What a great TR. I love it. I will be there in 23 days. :cool1: I can't wait. Till then I will live on these boards and read all about everyone else's adventures. popcorn::

[Sarilas]

I love that you surprised your girls! I'm surprising our girls in November when we go for our second trip to the World. I can't wait to hear all about it!

[California Jenn]

What a fun start! And, I can't believe you were able to keep it a secret until the morning of for your younger daughter. That's so cool! Can't wait to hear about FW -- I've enjoyed visiting in the past, but can't wait to see pics and hear about the cabins.popcorn::

[MDMagicMom]

I followed you over here from the FW Cabins too. We're considering the cabins for our next trip. The five of us at POR didn't work out too well:confused3. Love that you surprised your girls - I'm so bad at keeping my excitement in check that I don't know if I could pull it off but I would so like to try! Can't wait to read more!

[OK GRUMPY]

Great start I love the picture! Can't wait to read morepopcorn::

[mickeystoontown]

I wanna sign on too! We surprised our son with a trip to Disney last year and while it was really hard to do, the reveal was great! We didn't tell him until we were about 30 miles away. Don't know how we were able to get over 750 miles under our belt without him catching on.

You are a super cute family and I can't wait to hear all about your Disney adventures!

Lisa

[lklasing]

Good intro, and I can't believe your oldest dd didn't tell your youngest. Good keeper of secrets.

My guess is if you were in Bay lake,
You fell off a Sea Racer.
Waiting to find out what happened.

Thanks! You'll have to keep waiting to find out about the swimming in the lake!

Your family is adorable, I love the photos... I"m inpopcorn::

Thanks! I think we're cute too! :rotfl:

My DH became a Disney lover too [I]after[I] we started to go to Fort Wilderness. It was definitely the golf cart and fishing. Oddly enough, It is relaxing for us to be at the fort.

Good trippie so far...

It really is so relaxing to be there. I'm the biggest Fort fan, and have been ever since our first trip there. It so fun to me that DH will enjoy being at WDW for much longer if we're at FW than anywhere else!

Hello Leslie-

I followed you over here from your link on the camping boards!

You are off to a great start!

Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!popcorn::

TCD

Thanks! I know that you know how I wound up swimming in Bay lake!:ssst:

Great start and GREAT pictures! I can't wait to read the rest. Your daughters are both beautiful and their reactions are priceless. Over the countless trips we have taken and surprised DD, I've never taken her picture. Your TR inspires me to get a picture the next time!!


Can't wait to read more and see more pictures.

Take the pictures next time! As much fun as it was telling them, it's almost as much fun looking back on the pictures. I've never pulled off the secret for as long as I did this time. It was so much fun!

I also followed you here. Glad you fell in love with Fort Wilderness like we did. I also like your candid camera type photos of you giving your DDs the good news. :laughing:

Thanks! It was so much fun, but happily the trip was even more fun than telling the girls about it! Thanks for reading!

Leslie

[dvc at last !]

What a nice family !!!

Swimming in Bay Lake ?

We NEED to hear more about this...

:cool1:

[lklasing]

I love all the pics of y'all in jammies! I feel like part of the family! http://i523.photobucket.com/albums/w359/SLSettles/Web%20Graphics/sc_biggrin.gif
http://i523.photobucket.com/albums/w359/SLSettles/Web%20Graphics/ShantaClausSm.png

Of course you're a part of the family! Just don't look at the messes in the rooms when we told the girls about the trip! :rotfl2:

YAAAY!!! I just LOVE reading your TR's!! I can't wait, I"m there in 5 days!!! :cheer2: But, I can live thru your tr until then! :)

Ohhhhh, I'm so jealous! Are you staying at FW? Regardless, you'll have a great time! No crowds this time of year!

What a great TR. I love it. I will be there in 23 days. :cool1: I can't wait. Till then I will live on these boards and read all about everyone else's adventures. popcorn::

I'm jealous of you too! Have a great time!

I love that you surprised your girls! I'm surprising our girls in November when we go for our second trip to the World. I can't wait to hear all about it!

How old are your girls? They'll have so much fun being surprised!

What a fun start! And, I can't believe you were able to keep it a secret until the morning of for your younger daughter. That's so cool! Can't wait to hear about FW -- I've enjoyed visiting in the past, but can't wait to see pics and hear about the cabins.popcorn::

As you'll see, I'm a big fan of FW. You should stay there sometime! Even if you don't need to be able to sleep 6 people, the cabins are so great with giving you the extra room, plus the Fort is such a neat place to be!

I followed you over here from the FW Cabins too. We're considering the cabins for our next trip. The five of us at POR didn't work out too well:confused3. Love that you surprised your girls - I'm so bad at keeping my excitement in check that I don't know if I could pull it off but I would so like to try! Can't wait to read more!

Go for the cabins next time. They'll be perfect for a family your size.

Great start I love the picture! Can't wait to read morepopcorn::

Thanks, and thanks for reading!

I wanna sign on too! We surprised our son with a trip to Disney last year and while it was really hard to do, the reveal was great! We didn't tell him until we were about 30 miles away. Don't know how we were able to get over 750 miles under our belt without him catching on.

You are a super cute family and I can't wait to hear all about your Disney adventures!

Lisa

Wow - 30 miles away is amazing! You must have had a great time getting there without him knowing!

Leslie

[lklasing]

Hey everyone - Before I get into the real good parts of this TR (the trip itself), I’ve got to let y’all see what Jodi wrote about finding out about the trip (she wanted to help me with the TR on our way home):

Ok, well it is a normal Wednesday …. or at least I thought it was… so I wake up at 5:30 and my mom and my sister are taking pictures of me. I had no idea what was going on. Finally I thought that Danielle was pulling a prank on me while testing her new camera. But why would my mom be in on it? Then I saw my dad video taping me. Finally I said

“What is going on?”

“Look at our t-shirts!” they said.

They had Mickey Mouse on them. I couldn’t bring myself to think that we were going to Disney World. It just wasn’t possible. I thought for a long second and finally I realized that the only possible thing that we could be doing, is that we were going to Disney World. Finally I said, “We’re going to Disney World?” with a little bit of excitement because I didn’t know if we were going or not. I looked at my mom and she had the biggest smile on her face and finally yelled “YES” and I screamed. I couldn’t believe it. My mom had already packed me up so just in 10 minutes we were already on our way to Disney World.

I just thought that was too cute not to share. It took her a whole day to get used to the idea that she was on vacation when she had no idea it was about to happen. Good times. :goodvibes

Leslie

Up next: Our day at the MK, and dinner at the GF!

[lklasing]

What a nice family !!!

Swimming in Bay Lake ?

We NEED to hear more about this...

:cool1:

Thanks! You'll hear about it (probably more than you care to!). BTW, I see you're a month off from a trip. LUCKY!

Leslie

[bouncycat]

OMG that's sweet what she wrote!! I surprised my mom with this trip, but we told her, so she could plan. We had alredy gotten the time off for her and everything. Yep, we're staying in a cabin....my sister wanted her own bed, but after staying there in May, I'm in love with the cabins, and don't want to stay anywhere else!! They're PERFECT!!! I can't wait to see your pictures, our first night is MNSSHP!! Hopefully this trip it won't rain so I can get lots of pictures!!!

[Sarilas]

How old are your girls? They'll have so much fun being surprised!


They're 2, 4 and will be 11 by the time we go! Our 14 year old son is staying behind with his Grandpa; he has "I'm a teenager and I'm so over this" syndrome.

That tune will change when we come home full of stories, having had a BLAST!

[lklasing]

OMG that's sweet what she wrote!! I surprised my mom with this trip, but we told her, so she could plan. We had alredy gotten the time off for her and everything. Yep, we're staying in a cabin....my sister wanted her own bed, but after staying there in May, I'm in love with the cabins, and don't want to stay anywhere else!! They're PERFECT!!! I can't wait to see your pictures, our first night is MNSSHP!! Hopefully this trip it won't rain so I can get lots of pictures!!!

I totally agree with your "Perfect" description of the cabins!

They're 2, 4 and will be 11 by the time we go! Our 14 year old son is staying behind with his Grandpa; he has "I'm a teenager and I'm so over this" syndrome.

That tune will change when we come home full of stories, having had a BLAST!

Yup, even if he never admits it, I bet your DS will be jealous of the fun time you're going to have. Have fun!

[Dillonmom]

I cannot wait to read more of your trip....I love that you suprised your girls...We are leaving in 28 hours for the Fort!! I tried to keep it a surprise from my kids, but I am such a big baby, I could not keep a secret!!!

[Rebecuberduber]

Wow, I'm surprised to see so mnay fellow Wilderness Cabins lovers! We love them, too! Unfortunately, our party has recently outgrown them, but I do hope to get back in there, someday. For now we're at least certain to spend some time over there and eat at the Trail's End Cafe each trip. I'm so looking forward to hearing more!!!:cool1:

[MouseKTeer]

What a great surprise!

I'll bet my DH would love to stay at FW--maybe using your strategy, we could visit the world more often...hehe...

[MeMom]

What a great way to start an ordinary day!

I'm looking forward to another one of your trip reports. We were there this summer for ten days, and I actually thought of your girls when we walked past Mexico, which is where I saw them on whatever trip that was. Maybe Thanksgiving? I can't remember, but I told you about it.

The girls and I are going back in October for some MNSSHP fun. I am at home recovering from knee surgery so that I can walk quite happily through Disney World in a few more weeks. It's given me a perfect excuse to hang out and Dis, so I will enjoy your report and many others as I sit here. :)

We'll probably go and check out all the awesome decorations at the Fort during our December trip. I love the way people decorate their campers and the area around them. So much fun!

[lklasing]

I cannot wait to read more of your trip....I love that you suprised your girls...We are leaving in 28 hours for the Fort!! I tried to keep it a surprise from my kids, but I am such a big baby, I could not keep a secret!!!

Well, I'm guessing you're already gone now, or almost gone, but you'll have to report back to us when you return! Have a great time at FW!

Wow, I'm surprised to see so mnay fellow Wilderness Cabins lovers! We love them, too! Unfortunately, our party has recently outgrown them, but I do hope to get back in there, someday. For now we're at least certain to spend some time over there and eat at the Trail's End Cafe each trip. I'm so looking forward to hearing more!!!:cool1:

Maybe 2 cabins would work for you? That's what we did when we traveled with my BIL and his family last year. The kids appeared to just randomly select which cabin to sleep in each night. It was lots of fun. Even if you don't get to stay at FW, definitely go to Trail's End - especially for breakfast. Yummmmm!

What a great surprise!

I'll bet my DH would love to stay at FW--maybe using your strategy, we could visit the world more often...hehe...

Go for it! Seriously, Ray could only handle a 3-4 night trip before we found the cabins, and now he's up to staying for as long as the finances will allow. :thumbsup2

What a great way to start an ordinary day!

I'm looking forward to another one of your trip reports. We were there this summer for ten days, and I actually thought of your girls when we walked past Mexico, which is where I saw them on whatever trip that was. Maybe Thanksgiving? I can't remember, but I told you about it.

The girls and I are going back in October for some MNSSHP fun. I am at home recovering from knee surgery so that I can walk quite happily through Disney World in a few more weeks. It's given me a perfect excuse to hang out and Dis, so I will enjoy your report and many others as I sit here. :)

We'll probably go and check out all the awesome decorations at the Fort during our December trip. I love the way people decorate their campers and the area around them. So much fun!

I can't believe you thought of us at Mexico, because I actually thought of you when we were there this time!! Yes, it was last Thanksgiving when we almost ran into each other.

Have a great time in October! Hopefully your knee will be perfectly healed and ready to go by then. :goodvibes

Leslie

[lklasing]

Wednesday, September 2

After the great fun of telling Jodi that instead of trudging off to school, she got to jump on a plane and go to WDW, we headed for the airport. The trip was blissfully uneventful – the flight was on time and smooth, we had a perfect pickup from the towncar service we always use.

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We then made a quick stop at Publix where I was amazed (as always) at how much money you can spend in such a quick visit. When we arrived at FW, I saw something I’ve never seen before:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/P1030166.jpg

No one was checking in! Even with such an empty reception, I didn’t realize how few people would be at the Fort, at least during the first part of our visit. I had requested loop 2100, but since it was closed, we were placed in 2200, which was absolutely fine. (The girl helping us did check for me to see if either of the two cabins in loop 100 was available but alas, we weren’t lucky enough for that.) We grabbed our golf cart and headed to the cabin.

The cabin was perfect, again. Jodi, upon entering, declared that we must have been assigned the same cabin as our last trip, since it looked just the same. :rolleyes1 (What’s really amazing about that is that she said virtually the same thing last trip!) The only snafu was that the deck lights that I toted all the way down didn’t work when Ray put them up. It took a day or so, but engineering got them fixed for us.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/P1030355.jpg

Here’s the family in the cabin, just a little out of focus:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/P1030167.jpg

After settling in just a tiny bit, we took off to the MK.

Golf cart fun:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/P1030168.jpg

Boat to MK – Ray and me:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/P1030171.jpg

Danielle and Ray:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/P1030173.jpg

Jodi and me:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/P1030175-1.jpg

We were all amazed by how low the crowds were. I kept waiting to round a corner and then come up on them, but it never happened. They just weren’t there. :thumbsup2 I guessed that lots of people who may have been there earlier in the day may have been kept away by the storms which apparently happened before we arrived, but it sure was perfect for us. We debated about whether to ride something or eat first, but eating won. We made our way to the Columbia Harbor House, which was great. (Note to self, though: while Jodi and Danielle may sometimes prefer the choices on the kid’s menu, they will definitely need more food than they get from ordering from it. They’re just going to have to order from the adult menu, or else I’ll end up having to go back and get another one for them like I did that meal…)

Here’s an off-topic funny comment I overheard – when we finished our lunch and were heading toward Frontierland, we overheard a little girl who was looking at the Riverboat ask her mom, “Is that the Disney Cruise?” :lmao: It was tough not to laugh too hard.

Finally, it was time to ride some rides. Now, on this trip I kept up with the wait times for most everything we rode, planning to include that info in this report so anyone planning to go over Labor Day next year would have a good idea what to expect. But, I’m not going to include that information after all. Suffice it to say that, with a very few exceptions, there were really no significant lines at all for the duration of our trip. In the MK, AK and HS, the waits were about 5-10 minutes for the biggies (TSM being one of those exceptions, of course). The only park that had much more significant waits was Epcot, which we visited on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. There, we saw 40 minute waits for Soarin’ and TT. Even at TL, the tip board showed 5-10 minutes for everything except for the family raft ride, which was 30 minutes. It really was a great time of year to go.

So anyway, we walked onto Splash Mountain, which felt great on a warm day.

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It was amazing to see logs going by with empty rows in the middle of the afternoon. Then, we rode BTMRR and the HM, both big family favorites. Next, we made our way to the Pirates and JC, both of which we just walked right onto. Then, it was definitely time for a break for dolewhips (mmmmmmmm) and hanging out with this guy:

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We then headed to Tomorrowland, for a trip to the Laugh Factory and two back-to-back rides on Buzz. Even though I was about ready to head on back to the Fort, it’s hard to say no to a plea for another ride on Buzz when there was literally no line at all.

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Finally, after a few more photopass pictures (coming soon! I’m still waiting on the CD to arrive), it was time to return to the Fort to unpack, clean ourselves up and enjoy being at FW.

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Around 6:30, we headed off to dinner (via the ferry to the Contemporary, then a ride on the monorail) at Narcoosees at the GF. Getting there was much easier than I feared – there was a boat waiting when we got to the dock, and the monorail was a quick ride over. Dinner was good, but not nearly as good as our favorite restaurant at the world, CG. We were using the deluxe dining plan, so no I had no regrets over the meal, but while the appetizers were good, entrees just weren’t good enough to plan to return. Jodi, however, did love the adult size Mickey pasta dish they made for her.

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Finally, after watching most of Wishes from the restaurant (which was very nice with them piping in the music and dimming the lights), we headed back home and poured ourselves into the bed.

Big day tomorrow – Breakfast at Donald’s, AK and DTD!

[Sarilas]

Your girls have such gorgeous smiles... and your dimples didn't skip that generation either!

We've thought about staying in the cabins; I love the lights strung along the deck!

[Bridora]

Hi! I just found you trip report & wanted to say hi. I'm loving your pictures...We've never stayed in the cabins before, but it looks nice! We surprised our kids (9 & 7) this past summer with a Disney trip. We didn't tell them until we were well into our 15 hour car trip! I must say they had mixed reactions (not getting to tell people/pets 'goodbye') but they were very excited! Can't wait to read more!!

[dvc at last !]

Leslie,

Loving your family and pics !

Yes, we have a trip coming on October 10th.
Our Anniversary, Food and Wine Fest and our Son will be in the Race for the Taste (5th year in a row), but also the last Race for the Taste. Disney plans new Race to be announced.

We have never been to FW. May have to check it out.

We will be staying at BLT - If I take a dip in Bay Lake I will
let you know !

:cool1:

[Dillonmom]

We are leaving in 4 hours, but before getting some zzzzz's I had to check your trip report!!! Hopefully you will post more, so I have some good reading on our 10 hour drive! Will keep you posted on our trip!!

[lklasing]

Hey everyone! My photopass CD has not been shipped and should be here by Tuesday, so I'm holding off on the next installment so I can get my pics in order. (I'm a nerd like that...) Anyway, please hand in there - I'll have the next installment up by Tuesday night.

Your girls have such gorgeous smiles... and your dimples didn't skip that generation either!

We've thought about staying in the cabins; I love the lights strung along the deck!

Thanks! Yes, dimples run strong in our family (check out the second TR in my signature to see the serious dimples of my nephew Evan - his dimples put all of ours to shame!).

Hi! I just found you trip report & wanted to say hi. I'm loving your pictures...We've never stayed in the cabins before, but it looks nice! We surprised our kids (9 & 7) this past summer with a Disney trip. We didn't tell them until we were well into our 15 hour car trip! I must say they had mixed reactions (not getting to tell people/pets 'goodbye') but they were very excited! Can't wait to read more!!

Thankfully Jodi didn't have the reaction about our dog Lucy that your kids had, but I wouldn't have been surprised. You should think about the cabins for your next trip - they really are so great for families of 4 that might technically fit in a regular resort room but that want some more room!

Leslie,

Loving your family and pics !

Yes, we have a trip coming on October 10th.
Our Anniversary, Food and Wine Fest and our Son will be in the Race for the Taste (5th year in a row), but also the last Race for the Taste. Disney plans new Race to be announced.

We have never been to FW. May have to check it out.

We will be staying at BLT - If I take a dip in Bay Lake I will
let you know !

:cool1:

I highly recommend swimming in the lake - quite an experience! :rotfl: That's great that your son likes doing the Race for the Taste - I'd love to do that one but I'm afraid I won't get to. Maybe another race someday.

We are leaving in 4 hours, but before getting some zzzzz's I had to check your trip report!!! Hopefully you will post more, so I have some good reading on our 10 hour drive! Will keep you posted on our trip!!

Have a great trip and please let us know how it's going!

[Rebecuberduber]

I love the lights strung on your deck! What a fun idea! You daughter's looked so cute in their coordinating outfits dressed up for Narcoose's. Sounds like a fun trip, so far. Looking forward to more!b

[trickiwoo]

I love the pictures!!! Your family looks so happy to be at WDW!!!

I'd love to read more of your TR, but I'll be in WDW for the next few days! (I leave tomorrow!!!!) Hopefully I'll catch up when I get back!

[mickeystoontown]

You guys sure did luck up with the wait times. Your family looks like ya'll are having a great time together.

[TheFlame]

great TR as usual....

popcorn::

[lklasing]

Hey everyone - I'm back! My photopass CD came in, so I'll have an update up shortly. Thanks for waiting!

I love the lights strung on your deck! What a fun idea! You daughter's looked so cute in their coordinating outfits dressed up for Narcoose's. Sounds like a fun trip, so far. Looking forward to more!b

Thanks! WDW is the only place they'll wear either matching or coordinating clothes anymore. At home Danielle won't even wear the same type earrings as her sister, and they don't even go to the same school! :sad2: But somehow at WDW, everyone gets along so much better. Another reason to love being there!

I love the pictures!!! Your family looks so happy to be at WDW!!!

I'd love to read more of your TR, but I'll be in WDW for the next few days! (I leave tomorrow!!!!) Hopefully I'll catch up when I get back!

By the time you get this - you're there and we're not! Have a great time and let us know how your trip is when you can!

You guys sure did luck up with the wait times. Your family looks like ya'll are having a great time together.

We really do have that much fun. Thanks!

great TR as usual....

popcorn::

Thanks for reading! More shortly!

Leslie

[lklasing]

Here are some of the photopass pics from our first day:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%20photopass/Image002.jpg

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[OhMari]

You guys have great smiles.
Sometimes on my first day of any vacation,
I get such bad jet lag, I feel like crying.
It takes me a day and nite to recover.

I'm really looking forward to hearing about the campground.
I rarely see anyone ever post about staying there.
I'm seriously thinking about planning a campground trip to WDW.
I think my dh would enjoy it a whole lot more too.

[lklasing]

Thursday, September 3, 2009

As I usually do at home, I woke up too early today, but I sure was excited to realize where I was. I finally got my family up and moving, and we headed off to the Animal Kingdom.

Waiting on the bus:

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We had 8:00 reservations at Tusker House, a first time there for us. The food was very good but the restaurant itself was very loud and the characters were extremely slow making it around to all the tables. In fact, at 8:55, we hadn’t gotten a visit by even the first character. :sad1: I guess it’s because they’re not little girls anymore, but both DDs declared that they’d much rather get to riding rides while the crowds were light than keep waiting on the characters, so we went ahead and left without meeting any. :sad2: At first I resisted, as I love character meets and character meals are my favorite way of getting them without dealing with any lines, but it was definitely the right decision.

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After we left Tusker House, we headed to Safari and got there right as they dropped that rope. Safari was great with lots of animals out and about. (Danielle took lots of pictures of the animals, but I’m a people-picture-girl, so you’ll have to use your imagination.) Then, the girls were aching to ride KRR, so we were delighted when we saw that the standby wait was just 5 minutes. We walked right on, surprised that we saw several rafts go by without anyone on them. :confused: I’ve never seen that before. Anyway, when we rode, we got wet, but thankfully not soaked. When we got off, the girls and Ray walked off the ride but then were allowed to turn right around and get back on by just going almost to the bridge near the exit and just going right back – they didn’t have to walk the entrance again. :goodvibes This time Ray (who has always declared that he “doesn’t ever get wet” on those rides, wound up looking like this:

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Since they were already soaked to the bone, the girls turned around again and rode it for a third time. I couldn’t believe they were allowed to do it that way, but that’s how the cast members instructed them to be able to ride so quickly since there were so few people in line. :thumbsup2 After ride #3, here’s what they looked like:

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Next, we headed to one of my favorite rides in all the World: Expedition Everest. I was hoping that our luck would hold with short lines. This is what I saw when we arrived:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%20thursday/P1030222.jpg

(to be continued...)

[lklasing]

Amazingly, 5 minutes was a little longer than what it took for us to be sitting on our train. We had a blast, of course, so we rode again as soon as we got off. Then, the girls and I rode Primeval Whirl, which was the longest wait of the trip so far by far. By then, even though we had only finished breakfast not even a couple of hours earlier, it was time for an ice cream break.

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We’ve been at this Photopass thing pretty heavy for the past five or more trips, so we’re pretty old hand at it by now. That sometimes evidences itself in some silliness when taking the same picture for the fifth time in a row:

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Finally, we decided it was time to move on to… DTD!

We had planned to take a bus to DTD, but were dismayed when we determined that there was no such thing as a bus from AK to DTD. We thought for a moment about taking a bus to a resort, and then another to DTD, but decided that we would be much better served to just grab a cab. Sooooo much better than taking 2 buses. It was $20 with tip and worth every dime.

We all ate lunch at Earl of Sandwich, which was great. Then, Ray headed back to the Fort for a good nap :), while the girls and I shopped till we dropped. Their favorite stop was Goofy’s Candy Company, of course.

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I had read that Goofy’s had cut back on what you could get for snack credits, and that was true. But, we still all managed to find things that made us happy that you definitely can’t get at home.

I then bought some fun plates and coffee mugs at the kitchen store, and Danielle got a Goofy plush for a friend at World of Disney.

Finally, we headed back to the cabin. We made a quick change into swimsuits and headed to the new-and-improved pool with a GREAT slide. Ray and I even tackled the slide bunches of times. (Sorry – I forgot to take my camera. :guilty: But, suffice it to say that it looks just like the pictures of the new pool that have been posted all over the camping board. It’s really a great improvement to the Fort!)

After our swim, Ray and Danielle decided to head to the MK before dinner, while Jodi and I took it easy in the cabin for a while. Ray and Danielle had a great time and reported short lines again at Splash Mountain, BTMRR and HM.

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Meanwhile, back at the Fort, Jodi and I got ready to go exploring. (Those of you who were tuned into my live report from the Fort, please forgive the pictures you’ve already seen.)

First, we hopped a bus

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%20thursday/100_0786.jpg

and made our way to the TCD ranch to check out the ponies:

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We eventually made our way to the dock, where we found this crazy sign:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%20thursday/P1030240.jpg

:scared1:

(one more continuance to come...)

[lklasing]

As scary as that sign was, we were even more frightened by this group of thugs that accosted us on the beach:

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I think they were panhandling, as they seemed hungry. They even chased down Jodi, hoping to shake some food out of her:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%20thursday/100_0799.jpg

Happily, she escaped unscathed and was able to play some tetherball – one of her favorite Fort pastimes.

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The Fort is such a pretty place in so many ways, but the marina is one of my favorites:

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Finally, we made it to dinner at the Wave, where Ray and Danielle were waiting on us. We went to the Wave for lunch on our last day of our Thanksgiving trip last year and absolutely loved it. Happily, this trip there was every bit as good as before. Barbie was our server (yes, that’s really her name), and she was amazingly attentive. Special orders were not only allowed there, but encouraged. Since we were on day 2 of the deluxe dining plan, we were really starting to fill up by this meal, so we got our desserts to go and took them back to the cabin. The Wave is definitely second only to California Grill for us for WDW restaurants, and it’s a close call between the two of them. Granted, it doesn’t have any kind of view that CG has (given that there are no windows), but it’s still that good. (Sorry – off my Wave soapbox now! :flower3:)

Once we made it back to the cabin, we all poured into bed, ready for another big day tomorrow, this time at HS and the first MNSSHP of the season!

[Sarilas]

I'm so glad you like The Wave; we have a ressie there for (if memorey serves) the last night of our trip. It looks amazing!

[MeMom]

Looks like you guys picked a great time to go with all those short/walk-on lines.

I would have been the lady covered in the poncho on Kali. :)

It's cute that the girls have so much fun with the Photopass poses.

Sorry you got no characters at Tusker House. They came one right after the other for us this summer. We ate, took pictures, and were out the door just as the rope dropped. We were on the first safari jeep of the morning! I guess it's good that the girls were old enough to be okay with just going on and getting started, but it's sad that you paid for a character meal and got no characters.

Good pictures. Definitely makes me want to take a walk through Animal Kingdom this morning, but alas, I must go to work. :sad2:
Four weeks from Friday, though, we're going back, so I think I can hold out until then. Since I just came off knee surgery last week, I wouldn't be able to walk much this morning anyway, so that helps my patience a bit.

[Tri-circle-D]

Great job on the new posts!:thumbsup2

I love your photopass pictures. We generally don't take the time for this, but your photos are a good reminder that you can get some great family shots this way. My DD's like to ham it up on the trick shots, too. I have a great one of them with Baby Simba along the lines of yours.

I am glad that you experienced such short lines at AK. That is such a treat. When we were last at AK, we waited more than 45 minutes to ride KRR in a line that was crawling. We finally cut our losses and left. And, this was just a few weeks before your visit, so you really did luck out.

And, whenever I do ride KRR, I end up looking like Ray did. Only wetter. My DD's are the ones who want to get soaked, but they often don't get a drop, while I usually have a huge wave land right in my lap.

Can't wait to read the rest of your report.

You are doing great!

TCD

[Shan-man]

I'm loving your TR, as always. I'm sorry to hear such luke-warm reviews of Narcoossee's... I fear that Disney is letting another PRIME location flounder like Tony's. These should be a couple of premiere restaurants, and reviews are mixed at best. When we went to Narcoossee's last Christmastime two of the three meals were quite good and the third was merely passable. Now it sounds like the four of you had merely passable meals. When is Disney going to wake up and realize that a view, or a theme, or character interactions do not substitute for good food... it's a RESTAURANT by Jimney! Sorry, off my soapbox!

We had the same experience at Kali the last two trips, where we could just turn around and get right back on. What a blast!!

Chompin' at the bit for more!

http://i523.photobucket.com/albums/w359/SLSettles/Web%20Graphics/ShantaClausSm.png

[bluejasmine]

Loving the TR! Very cute pics of your girls! Tomorrow when the kids get off their bus we are doing a scavenger hunt to tell them SUPRISE we leave for WDW early tomorrow! We are so excited we are having a hard time sleeping! Cant wait to read more! Happy to see wait times are so low hope they stay that way for another 10 days!

[MouseKTeer]

Love the close-up of you and Jodi at FW! And all the pix are great--both Photopass and yours!

The girls look so funny after their 3 quick trips on KRR :)

Can you say more about the food at the Wave--do you remember what you ordered?

[Echo queen]

I am going to read your report tonight, this my be our time next year.:thumbsup2

[PrincessPaczki]

Hi!:) I am really enjoying your trip report. Thank you for sharing your photos with us. Your girls are adorable. I can't wait to read more. Thanks:goodvibes:)

[lklasing]

Hey everyone! Thanks for so many replies and for so many sweet comments about the report and pictures.

To respond to a couple of specific replies, yes, we were definitely disappointed in Narcoossees, but I'm always hesitant to pan something too strongly when it was our first time there. And again, the appetizers were great - Ray even said at first he thought it might replace CG as our favorite. But, the entrees failed to impress.

The Wave, on the other hand, may have now replaced CG as our must-go restaurant. Again, no view at all, but otherwise we absolutely love it. We actually went twice this trip (we went back for lunch on our last day). Between the two trips, we had their chili (great), lettuce wraps (yummy), the soup of the day (chicken and rice, I think, and Jodi loved it), the burger (on the lunch menu, but they let Ray have it for dinner, and it was great), chicken pot pie (unlike any pot pie I've had before, but very good), chicken sandwich (also great), plus lots and lots of desserts (all too good to describe). So, suffice it to say that we are big Wave recommenders! :thumbsup2

Thanks again for all the comments! Stay tuned!

Leslie

[lklasing]

Friday, September 4, 2009:
After a great day Thursday, we all slept really well that night and woke up feeling super. We had an easy breakfast in the cabin – cereal and pop tarts for girls (breakfast of champions); eggs, sausage, toast and coffee for Ray and me. That’s one of the greatest things about the cabins – the ability to make a nice easy meal every once in a while. I don’t cook at home, so I certainly am not going to spend my vacation cooking a lot, but it’s actually a very nice break to get to have a regular meal rather than eating every single meal out. Plus, housekeeping will clean up after you – something that definitely doesn’t happen at my house! ;)

After a good breakfast, we hopped in the GC and grabbed a bus to HS.

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Whereas yesterday we just missed the bus to the AK, this time there was one waiting. :cool1: A little silliness ensued on the way to HS that morning. It started out as just a regular picture taking moment on the bus, but quickly turned into a Disney Photopass opportunity, just without the Photopass photographer:

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Danielle and I were much more mature than Ray and Jodi:

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Of course, we wanted to get to HS early to hit TSM (novel idea, I know). They were still holding everyone at the gate when we arrived and while we were waiting, a “camera crew” was walking around chatting with and filming families in line. It was part of the promotion to try to get people to try out for American Idol. Because Ray laughed at one of the guy’s jokes, instead of seeming like he was still asleep like most of the rest of the crowd, we were selected to be a focus family for a few minutes. It was a lot of fun, and just another one of those little extras Disney does to try to keep things fun. It definitely made the wait for the gates to open go by more quickly. :goodvibes

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When we were finally let in the gates, and then past rope drop, we made our way to TSM. I thought about getting a FP, but had decided we’d go ahead and ride, which we did. The line only took about 10 minutes, notwithstanding the fact that we really weren’t at the front of the crowd. The posted wait said 40 minutes, so I was glad that wasn’t right. The ride was great, as always, but it still boggles my mind that it is an attraction that people are willing to stand in line for hours for. (When we were there over Thanksgiving, people were waiting over 2 hours for this. I could never wait over 2 hours for anything.)

[lklasing]

Anyway, after the ride, we headed down Sunset so Ray and Danielle could ride RNRC. Ray had missed it last time, so he definitely wanted to ride, and it’s one of Danielle’s favorites too. Jodi had never done it, as she really has an aversion to rides that take you upside down. She and I got a drink and just relaxed as they rode. When they got off, Danielle and I rode while Ray waited with Jodi. There was no line at all – we were able to walk straight into the room where you see the video clip of Aerosmith getting in the limo – so it was no difficulty at all to ride back to back with no FPs. When we got off, we found out that Jodi had decided to face her fear and ride. :yay: Apparently, she had lots of questions for Ray about the ride while Danielle and I were on it and the answers satisfied her worries. So then we all four rode together. I was a little concerned that she wouldn’t like it, but I shouldn’t have. She LOVED it! So much so that when we got off, she and Danielle immediately headed back in for one more ride. If you’re counting, note that this makes four rides in a row for Danielle. Ugh. I like this one a lot, but am certain that I would have lost my breakfast if I had ridden it 4 times in a row. :headache: But, she had a great time and we were all thrilled for Jodi to know that there’s yet another great ride that she loves.

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After overdosing on RNRC, we made our way to lunch at Sci-Fi. I had some apprehensions about eating there, figuring it may not be any good, but it really was fun. We all loved the décor, and the food was good too. It was a very different experience from all our other meals so far, in that our normally chatty girls hardly talked this time, instead watching the old movie clips.

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It was a fun little break from touring. We did manage to get our thoughts together for the rest of our stay at HS, though. I had big concerns about not staying too long, since we had tickets for MNSSHP that night, but Jodi still had her eyes on Star Tours and was also very interested in the Animation Academy. Danielle, on the other hand, wanted to shop for a stuffed animal, so she and I split. Danielle and I had fun checking out the stores on the way out of the park, and then got back to FW, hit the Meadow Trading Post and had a great swim together. The smaller cabin pool was fun in that it still has a real deep end, but I do like the themed pool better.

(Fun at the bus stop:)

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Whereas the Fort had been so empty for our first few days, things were definitely picking up with more and more of the sites getting customers. We spotted this site very near the Meadow. It was very neat.
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We stopped to chat with the guy who had set all this up, and he told us that this is one of the original FW Railroad cars. He said he goes to FW about once a month, so I’m betting some of you may have seen him around. Very nice guy.

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Meanwhile Ray and Jodi had a great time continuing to play at HS. After Star Tours, they went to the Animation Academy, which they LOVED. So much so that they want to try to go back and do it again while we’re at WDW. I told them that I didn’t know if we’ll be able to pull that off or not, but I sure hoped so, given the amount of fun they had. And, their pictures turned out great!

Finally, we all reunited at the cabin and before we knew it, it was time to go to dinner and then on to MNSSHP. As we waited on the boat to the CR (to then take the monorail to the Poly for dinner at Kona), another tetherball game broke out.

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At Kona, Ray and I both had the shrimp and scallops, which was nice and light, especially compared to everything else we’ve been eating this trip. The Poly brought back lots of memories, as that’s where we stayed the first couple of trips as a family. We love the Poly, especially the theming and the pool, but we just can’t get past the extra level of space you get in the cabins. Even staying on the club level at the Poly, where you can go to the concierge room most any time, doesn’t give us the same ability to relax that a cabin at FW does.

[lklasing]

Anyway, after yet another great meal, we made it to the MK for the party. They had put up lots of decorations in just a day or so. It looked great!

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We got there right at 7:00 so it was pretty crowded when we were on our way in, with all the people who were not staying for the party making their way out. But, of course, when they were gone, the park cleared nicely. It was a little more crowded than I had expected based on the light crowds we had encountered so far, but it was still nice and light and we were able to walk on to virtually all the rides we wanted. So, we did Astro Orbiter, Laugh Factory (where Ray was Mike – they liked his shirt), Buzz, the Indy Speedway, the teacups (twice, at least by the girls), HM, Splash, and BTMRR.

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This lady was telling stories outside the HM:

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I had always wanted to get the picture with the Haunted Mansion ghost, and we finally got it!

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We then caught the entire parade, starting with the Headless Horseman.

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(Sorry the picture isn’t any better – he’s hard to catch!)

We got a great spot to watch the parade from, even though we walked up only about 10 minutes before it started. In all our trips over the years, I haven’t seen any parades in their entirety (we’re usually too busy riding everything), so I really enjoyed it. After the parade, we rode Pirates, but upon exiting the ride, it became evident that Danielle might pass out right then and there, so we headed on toward the exit. It was a great party though. The decorations were great and it amazed me that they got them up so quickly when they hadn’t been there at all the day before.

The ride back to FW was, well, quiet. Everyone on the boat looked like they had had a great time at the party but like us, were officially dead meat. Jodi feel asleep on me, and Danielle looked like a zombie. But the party was a great success for us. It was our first Halloween party, having been previously to the (now-defunct) Pirate and Princess Party and the Christmas party. Of the three, I think we enjoyed the P&PP the best as no one was there, but beyond that, they are all great.

Coming up: Sleeping in for once, Epcot and HDDR!

Leslie

[WDW Traveler]

Still loving your TR! Love all the pictures. Keep it coming!!

[Upanova01]

I love your trip report! Great pics too! Your family looks so sweet and your girls are wonderful! I love this pic:

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How you got that shot is priceless! Also the photos of the ducks chasing your daughter is hilarious! We also were in Tomorrowland last year and a duck accosted us asking for our popcorn. He just would not leave us alone, so we snapped a few pics of me with him feeding him popcorn. Those ducks can be persistent.

Great report so far. Can't wait to read more!


Mlle Upanova

[California Jenn]

What a great update! Love all the pictures of FW -- and the ones of the ducks chasing DD were cute!

I'm surprised you couldn't get a bus to DTD from the parks, but I guess that's because they don't want people to park at DTD and travel to the parks? :confused3 But at least you got there quickly by the taxi and got to do lots of shopping! I always enjoy checking out all the things you can't get back home.

[Tri-circle-D]

Man, this is a good trip report!

The Ray and Jodi faux photopass photos are an absolute riot! Those are really funny. Great job!!!!

Looking forward to more.

TCD

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hi...:wave2:

Subbing on...

Enjoying your tr so far...popcorn::

I've always been curious about the cabins at Fort Wilderness-we've stayed at Wilderness Lodge and loved it and were curious about Fort Wilderness..they look cute inside in your photos...:thumbsup2

your girls are lovely-they look like they get along nicely too...:goodvibes

Sigh...the Halloween Party...I so want to do that-I think maybe next year...:cool1:

[MDMagicMom]

Enjoying your TR. I love that your girls are so up for any silliness. Mine are a bit younger and I hope that they don't lose that part as they get older as it makes the trip so much fun when you can just let loose:cool1:

[Hobbitmomma]

Thank you for your lovely trip report. I can't wait to read more. Your daughters are beautiful!!! I love how you surprised your younger daughter. We surprised our two in 2006, but they knew that we were going on vacation. They just didn't know where. We told them on the plane. (They were 5 and 7 at the time.) We went the last week of August into Labor Day weekend as well and we found the crowds to be very light. I think the longest wait that we had at that time was for the jungle cruise. We pretty much walked onto everything else.

[aladdinsgirl]

What a great trip report! You have a very beautiful family (and a funny one too--those pictures on the bus are HYSTERICAL!) We were down there 9/5-9/13, I couldn't believe how light the crowds were, even lighter than January. Can't wait to read the rest of your report and can I make a guess on swimming in Bay Lake? Did it involve some body marking??? :thumbsup2

Krista

[MN Disneyfan]

I've enjoyed reading your trip report. Such a beautiful family you have.

[RocklandRVers]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Your report sure shows this to be true. It makes me feel like we are there with you guys. Keep going. :surfweb:

[lklasing]

Hey everyone. Thanks so much for your kind comments! Yes, we really do have a great time when we're together, especially somewhere like WDW. We're all able to let our guards down, relax and enjoy each other without the normal daily stresses of life. Speaking of normal daily stresses, since we've been back, I've had bronchitis (sp?), Jodi has had flu, and Ray had a surprise angiogram - thankfully everything on that turned out perfect! :thumbsup2. Nevertheless, it's been a wild ride since we got home, but everything seems to be settling down now. But, it just shows why we love WDW so much - you get all of the fun without any of the usual saga. :goodvibes

Krista, you may be on to something! You'll find out when Sunday gets posted. :upsidedow

Should have the next installment up by tomorrow. Thanks again!

Leslie

[lklasing]

Saturday, September 5, 2009

For once at Disney, I actually slept in, as did everyone else. It was very nice. We all woke up feeling pretty good, definitely better than I thought we might after our late night at the party. We eased into the day, had breakfast in the cabin and made it to Epcot by 11:00. On the way to the Outpost, though, we saw this guy at one of the bus stops. He was entertaining other Fort guests with his bagpipes!

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A little bus stop hug:

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When we got to Epcot, I grabbed FPs for Soarin’ and we slowly made our way to Germany for lunch.

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In preparing for this trip, I had planned for it to be excessively hot the whole time. It wasn’t till our day in Epcot that I realized that it hadn’t been too bad so far. However, that Saturday it got HOT. We even had to stop in Norway just to get some water on our way to lunch.

We had noon reservations for Biergarten and got there about 15 minutes early, only to discover that the restaurant doesn’t even open till noon. Nevertheless, once we got in we had a lot of fun. The girls found plenty to eat and Ray and I were very happy with both the food and the beer! Ray in particular could have stayed there all day. We really enjoyed the show too. Definitely worth a visit.

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After lunch, we got some more Photopass pictures, getting to do the “Up” picture for the first time!

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(Can you tell it’s a lot hotter that day? We’re all much more shiny than we had been.)

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Jodi and I then did a FP run for TT, while Ray and Danielle promptly plopped down on the nearest shady bench.

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We then all hooked up again for our ride on Soarin’, our family’s all-time favorite ride. It was wonderful as always, of course. We were lucky to get front row, center section, and we didn’t even ask for it! :goodvibes After Soarin’, we took Ray to Club Cool to try some cokes. Danielle, Jodi and I had all tried Beverly in Atlanta one day and they were dying to trick Ray into trying it. Much to their dismay, Ray tried it but really didn’t hate it at all. :eek: Jodi had a good time trying as many drinks as she could before we finally made her leave as we headed to M:S. Jodi usually will only ride the green (non-spinning) side of M:S, but since she had conquered her fears the day before on RNRC, she opted to join Danielle and I on the spinning side. (Ray, on the other hand, opted to sit this one out. The heat was really rising, and I think he figured he would be better off not spinning his already overheated body around like that.) Happily, Jodi enjoyed M:S, and is now a very confident thrill rider. :)

After M:S, we used our FPs for TT (how’s that for acronyms?). Somehow, we managed to cover each of our own faces in the picture. :sad2:

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Finally, we drug ourselves to the bus stop, but not before stopping for one last shot.

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After a brief rest in the cabin (not naps, mind you – my girls would never nap in WDW!), we left for HDDR. None of us had ever been before, so we were pretty excited about it. Interestingly, to go to this show, you have to stand in 4 different lines, although none of them took very long: one to get our ticket of sorts from the window to the left of Pioneer Hall, one to check in with the girl who would give us our table assignment, one to get our picture made by the photographer (which we declined, as I just figured I didn’t need to pay for a picture when I was taking so many and also getting the Photopass CD), and one to actually be let in the front door. Again, though, it didn’t take too long, other than the waiting for the doors to open. The supper was fine – not gourmet at all, but definitely good enough – and the show was lots of fun. The most surprising thing to me was how much Danielle enjoyed it. At 13, she occasionally doesn’t appreciate everything the rest of us do, but she really enjoyed this show. She thought it was hilarious! :thumbsup2

After the show, we headed on back to the cabin, where we once again saw our favorite frog, who waited on us to return home every night.

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He seemed harmless enough, and Jodi really liked saying hey to him each night, but my love for him faded tremendously Sunday night when he attacked me! (Well, maybe not attacked, but it was close enough!) Anyway, we watched a little football (it was opening day, after all) and went to bed after yet another wonderful day. The only negative was that we only had one more full day left. :sad1:

Coming up next: I take a serious dip in Bay Lake, plus the coolest pictures of FW I’ve ever taken!

[lillylynnb]

:) Love your pictures Cant wait to read more ! How did you guys enjoy the Cabins we are looking into staying there next October when we go!

[Rebecuberduber]

Oh no! Attacked by a frog?? That sounds slimy! Glad you made it out ok.

For some reason it seems that Epcot days always end up hot. At least, that's the way it's always been for us.

Biergarten looks fun. We hope to eat there this time. Our ADR window hasn't opened yet, though, so fingers are stll crossed for all our choice meals. We ate there once before but I was prety young and don't remember much.

Too funny about the TT pic with your faces covered. You can just pretend you planned that pose.

Ooh, the suspenseful Bay Lake story is coming up ... popcorn::

[Gabes_mommy]

What a great TR! The pictures of your DH and DD on the bus seriously cracked me up - too funny! :rotfl:

I can't wait for the stories of your swim in Bay Lake and the frog attack. :scared1:

[kshattuck]

So much fun to read your TR; I might be a bit biased, as we have 2 daughters as well :goodvibes Our girls are 4 and 16months so I enjoy reading about what the "big girls" like, so I can convince myself they will always love it as much as they do now. Glad to see the magic sticks!

LOVED how you surprised Jodi -- so great that big sis didn't spill the beans! Both of your daughters are beautiful and it sure does seem like you all enjoy each other's company tremendously. The pics on the bus "Faux-to Pass"??? were too cute.

Eager to hear about this dip in Bay Lake......

Thanks for including the info on the Deluxe Dining Plan; sounds like you had some great meals!

Looking forward to reading more....so sad your trip is about to come to an end!

Thanks again for posting!

[mickeystoontown]

Let's see.....what did I want to comment on? Too much to remember but here goes:

I just love your shirts! The photopass pictures are great!

We haven't given the Germany restaurant a try yet but are thinking about it for our 2010 trip. I'm glad to hear that you liked it.

You go Jodi! You are now an official thrill rider!

Love Soarin'. Even though I am afraid of heights, it's one of my favorites.

We've been to Hoop Dee Doo twice and liked it too. The show is corny but funny and, like you said, while the food isn't gormet, it's good and filling.

You should have had the girls name the "guest" frog.

I guess that's it.

Looking forward to the next installment.

[ennisb]

So I read the last update twice. Entertainment at the stop? So who was this chap? are there people who travel with their bag pipes?

[lklasing]

Thanks for the comments, everyone! A few answers to some of the questions: Yes, we love staying at the cabins, Lillylynnb. You'll love them if you stay there. Definitely consider getting a golf cart! And, Ennisb, I was very surprised to see the bagpipe guy. Definitely my first time to see him, although he apparently was traveling around FW that day as we saw, or more accurately heard him later in the day near the Settlement. Very odd, but odd things are fun sometimes!

I should have the update up tomorrow with Bay Lake and the killer frog incident! :eek: Thanks for staying tuned!

Leslie

[mickeysmyboy]

Hopping in!! Not like a frog though! ;)

Loving your TR so far!! We are suprising our kids with a trip in January!!

I love all your pictures! Can't wait to read more!

[RocklandRVers]

"After a brief rest in the cabin (not naps, mind you – my girls would never nap in WDW!), we left for HDDR. None of us had ever been before, so we were pretty excited about it. Interestingly, to go to this show, you have to stand in 4 different lines, although none of them took very long: one to get our ticket of sorts from the window to the left of Pioneer Hall, one to check in with the girl who would give us our table assignment, one to get our picture made by the photographer (which we declined, as I just figured I didn’t need to pay for a picture when I was taking so many and also getting the Photopass CD), and one to actually be let in the front door. Again, though, it didn’t take too long, other than the waiting for the doors to open."

We have been to HDDR a few times now and learned to totally avoid standing in any lines. Its just not necessary. ;) First off we get our tickets a day or more ahead either from the Outpost desk or at Pioneer Hall. That avoids one line the day of the show. Then when its our time for HDDR we usually get there a little early and hang out on the porch of Crockett's Tavern where we grab some nice cold beverages and sit in the rocking chairs and watch the others get in those 4 long lines. Once the porch of Pioneer Hall is just about empty, we head over and walk right in. :thumbsup2

[lklasing]

We have been to HDDR a few times now and learned to totally avoid standing in any lines. Its just not necessary. ;) First off we get our tickets a day or more ahead either from the Outpost desk or at Pioneer Hall. That avoids one line the day of the show. Then when its our time for HDDR we usually get there a little early and hang out on the porch of Crockett's Tavern where we grab some nice cold beverages and sit in the rocking chairs and watch the others get in those 4 long lines. Once the porch of Pioneer Hall is just about empty, we head over and walk right in. :thumbsup2


NOW you tell me! Where were you a couple of weeks ago? :sad2:

:lmao:

At least I'll know for next time!

[lklasing]

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Sunday morning came earlier than any morning thus far this trip (for me, at least), but for good reason: I was participating in the Trek Women’s Triathlon that morning, taking place no where other than FW! The funny part (to me, at least) is that I’ve always been a runner, but never thought about doing a triathlon until I found out that this race would be taking place at FW while we were going to be there anyway. (Thanks, TCD, for tipping me off! Without you, I never would have done this race!) I figured it must be fate that gave me a chance to do something like that in a place I love so much, so I spent the summer practicing all three parts of the race. The run wasn’t a problem given my history of running, but swimming and biking for anything other than leisure were totally new to me.

Fair warning: This post will contain lots of potentially mundane information if you’re not interested in the race, so feel free to skip ahead to Typhoon Lagoon if you want!

The race was a “sprint” triathlon, definitely meaning a beginner level race, which sounded perfect to a beginner triathlete like me. It also was a women-only race, also a plus. The swim was ½ mile, followed by 12 miles on the bike and ending with a 3.1 mile run. I figured these were doable distances, but was still worried about doing each one in succession, especially in the heat and humidity of WDW.

I woke up around 5:00, got ready as quietly as I could (although even Ray couldn’t sleep through me dropping a water bottle right by his bed :sad2: ) and made it to the bus stop around 5:20. I had been assured that the buses would be running by 5:00 and it was true. Within minutes of my arrival at the bus stop, a bus that was almost packed to capacity with other similarly-crazy women, along with a few brave men, pulled up. Though it was pretty quiet in the bus, the energy level was high – everyone was clearly excited about the race.

Saturday morning I had gone to the expo to pick up my race packet, chip and rented bike, so when we got to the Settlement area, there wasn’t too much to do. I went to the beach to get marked with my race number and hung out in the transition area (the field next to the pavilion where they have Mickey’s Backyard BBQ).

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(You can’t really tell, but there are about 1200 bikes and women in this area, waiting on start time.) I got all my transition stuff ready: laid out a towel from the cabin, and covered it with all the rest of my stuff – my socks and shoes, water to wash my feet with, hand towels to dry off with, Gatorade, energy gel, the works. (I learned that triathlons are much more stuff-intensive than regular running races). Finally, I made sure my helmet was waiting on my bike and declared myself as ready as I was ever going to be.

Eventually, I decided that I better run to the restroom one last time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one with that bright idea. Since it was a women-only race, the line into the women’s restroom was loooooong, and not looking to get any shorter anytime soon. However, a few brave women decided to invade the men’s restroom (after receiving confirmation from someone’s DH that it was momentarily empty), so I joined in that group and got to see something I had heard rumors about, and even seen pictures of before, but never thought I’d get to see myself:

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(For those of you who don’t know, this is the infamous picture on the wall in the men’s restroom next to Pioneer Hall. I think it speaks for itself. :confused: )

Here’s a picture of me before the race. Unfortunately, it is as close to a picture of me actually swimming in Bay Lake as I managed to get – the photographer somehow missed me exiting the water after a record-breaking swim (NOT!). Anyway, in this picture I’m at least wearing the shirt I swam in, so that’s pretty close:

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Finally, it was time to head to the start area on the beach. The swim left from the beach area to the right of the dock (facing the water), went out a good way, turned left, went another pretty good distance, and then turned left again to finish on the beach to the left of the dock. The sun was just starting to come up when the elite women started first at 7:00. After an inspirational speech by Sally Edwards (including the fact that everyone in my start time was “magnificent!”), my group was off at 7:13 a.m. Despite my strong belief that I would do fine on the swim (having swum 1 mile a day, at least 3 days a week leading up to the race), it was really tough. I never managed to get a rhythm, which kept me from ever getting comfortable. Each time I got several strokes in, I’d get kicked by someone or I’d kick them. I’d then stop, apologize (I finally gave up on that after a while), regroup, and then start back. I wound up doing the backstroke for a good bit of the swim as a result, and I hadn’t even practiced that stroke one time in all my training. :sad2: After only going off course one time, though, I finally made it to the finish, about 3 minutes slower than I usually did in training.

After running to the transition area, I changed shirts, put on my socks, shoes and helmet, grabbed my bike and walked it to the start area. This is where I saw my family for the first time.

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Once we got to mount the bikes, the real fun started. We rode on all the highways the buses usually go on, but happily the roads we were on were all closed to traffic. We also got to go to some behind the scenes areas of FW, which was fun too. Unlike my performance with the swim, I felt great notwithstanding the fact that I was biking in nerdy running shoes. (All the cool people had real bike shoes, but I’ve never been one of the cool people.)

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When we made it back to FW, there was the best reception I’ve ever seen. The entire finish area for the bike section was completely filled with people waiting on their loved ones, and even though I was the only one passing through at that moment, they all cheered for me. :goodvibes It was truly amazing – I felt like a movie star on the red carpet. I just wish I had my camera and could have taken a picture (of course, if I had, I probably would have fallen off the bike…) – it was really something I will always remember.

I looked for my family in all the cheering crowds, but sadly couldn’t find them. So, I just went ahead and racked my bike and took off running for the final leg. We ran down the path to the Wilderness Lodge, out that gate and then back again, and finally up toward the cabins and back.

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I knew I was almost done when I could finally hear cheering at the finish line. When someone told me I was 3 miles down, only 1/10 left, I knew I was going to achieve my goal. :) Crossing the finish line was great – I got my medal and lots of cheers from the crowd.

The only catch was that once again, I couldn’t find my family. :sad1: I knew for a fact that they had planned to be there, but it turns out that my race times (for the bike and run, at least) were so much better than I had planned, that they had missed my finish on the bike and therefore missed my finish on the run, since they were still waiting on me to finish the bike leg. But, happily, we hooked up eventually and they were all very excited for me.

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Here’s the really dry stuff: I finished the swim in 23:22, the bike in 41:43 and the run in 28:47, for a total time of 1:38:42 (including transition times). I was overall 153 of 938 finishers – much better than I ever expected, so I was darn proud. The great thing about this race, though, was the feeling of camaraderie – while it was a competition, it was more of an opportunity for everyone to do their best. There was more encouragement of athletes by the other athletes than I’ve seen in any other race I’ve ever been in. For that reason, it was an amazing experience.

I hooked up with Ray and the girls in front of Trail’s End. After lots of congratulations, Ray and Jodi headed out to HS to do the Animation Academy again. Jodi had enjoyed it so much that it warranted a special trip just for that purpose. Danielle and I, on the other hand, were ready for something much more important: BREAKFAST! Even though we were almost an hour early for the ADR I had made, we got right in to TE and had a great breakfast. Suffice it to say that it involved lots of Mickey waffles! Mmmmmmmmm.

[lklasing]

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Danielle and I headed to Typhoon Lagoon, to be joined later by Ray and Katie when they got done with the Animation Academy at HS. Last May we had been to Blizzard Beach and had a great time, so I was really looking forward to checking out TL and decide which we like better.

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We certainly didn’t get there at opening, but it was probably around 10:45 or so, so I was happy to see that there were vacant lounge chairs everywhere we looked. So, we shoved our stuff in a locker, dropped our towels on a chair and started playing. Unlike the theme parks, where I always have some kind of touring plan, I had no clue where to start here. Happily, we found ourselves at Crush ‘n’ Gusher, and the line was only about 10 minutes, so we headed on in.

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It was a BLAST! Unlike most of the rides at BB, you have to carry your tube up, but it wasn’t too bad. When we got done, we immediately had to jump right back in line and go again. Interestingly, when we went in line for the second time, we opted for the left-hand line, instead of the right side we choose the first time. All the rumors I had heard about the left line being shorter than the right proved very true for us that time – we actually walked onto the slide, while people were waiting for quite some time in the right-hand side. :thumbsup2

Anyway, after Crush ‘n’ Gusher, we did Storm Slides a couple of times, spending a great bit of time and effort trying to determine which one was best. (As best as I can recall, it was a 3 way tie.) We decided it was time to hit the wave pool, but decided to get there via Castaway Creek.

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We started getting hungry, so we split a pizza and then waited for Ray and Jodi to join us. While Danielle and I had been having so much fun, Ray and Jodi had been having a great time at HS. They did the Animation Academy twice, and Jodi’s picture of Mickey was so good that the instructor put it up on the overhead to show everyone, which pleased Jodi to no end.

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(Aren't they cute?? I LOVE this picture!

We had a great plan for Ray and Jodi getting to go to HS and then hook up with us at TL, except we forgot one thing – there were no busses that went straight from one park to the other. Therefore, since I was the keeper of all cash this trip (Ray loved not even worrying about a wallet the whole time we were there), taking a cab wasn’t an option. They wound up taking a bus to Pop, and then a second bus to TL. All in all, I think it took them about an hour to make the trip, and that took a pretty good bit out of Ray, but they finally made it. Once we were all reunited, we went straight to the wave pool.

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After the wild time Danielle and I had had in the wave, I knew to war Jodi about how seriously strong the waves are. However, notwithstanding my admonitions, both girls wound up with some serious scrapes on their knees and feet. We wound up taking them to the first aid station, where they had lots of bandages and ointments and a very sweet nurse who fixed them right up. Even with the scrapes and medical attention, I know they both had so much fun in that wave pool that they would do it again in a flash.

We were running out of time before I felt like we needed to get back to the cabin, and we’re bad to do things that we like over and over, so Danielle and I took Ray and Jodi to Crush ‘n’ Gusher, which they loved, of course. We then took the lazy river to the Shark Reef (a very neat attraction, but that water was COLD!), hit the Storm Slides again, and then grabbed a bus back to FW.

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Back at the cabins, we all cleaned up and, sadly, started putting our stuff together since we were leaving the next day. :sad2: But, before this trip was over, we got to have dinner at our favorite restaurant: California Grill! :) The only issue was that FW shows a movie each night and that night was the only movie my girls were interested in: “Hannah Montana: The Movie”. So, after great discussion about what they were allowed to do and not allowed to do, bus routes, how to tip enough at Trail’s End, what they could charge to the room and what they couldn’t, and finally a swearing by Jodi that she wouldn’t lose Ray’s cell phone (since she still doesn’t have her own, like Danielle), we decided to let them stay at FW while we went to CG. No flames, please – our girls have travelled a pretty good bit and we were comfortable that they would do fine on their own for a couple of hours.

And, that’s just what happened – they did fine. :) I got them checked in to dinner at TE, they took a bus to the Meadow Trading Post, shopped around for a little bit, and finally made their way to the campfire and movie, where their only excess charge was a s’mores kit (and who could blame them for that?).

Meanwhile, Ray and I went to catch the boat to the Contemporary. It was raining lightly, but not too bad. While we were waiting, I looked to the right and this is what I saw:

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It was beautiful! Look closely at these next two pictures:

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In the first, if you look closely enough, you can see that there are actually two rainbows. But even better, in the second, you can see where the rainbow actually ends! I’ve never seen the end of a rainbow before – it’s always behind the trees or something. But there it was – ending right there on Bay Lake.

But that’s not all! When we were on the boat heading to CR, I turned around to see this:

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If that’s not proof positive that FW is a very special place, I don’t know what is! :goodvibes

We had a great dinner at CG, as we always do whenever we’re lucky enough to be there. When we got back to FW, we found the girls at the movie, thoroughly engaged. They had had a great time, and I think it was a nice confidence boost for both of them to see that they can take care of themselves like that.

Finally, after a great day, came the killer frog incident:

When we got back to the cabin, the frog was sitting on the same post as it always was each night when we returned. Given that it was in the same place as it was every night so far, you would think I wouldn’t forget about that and casually put my hand on the post, but you’d be wrong. When I touched it without knowing I was about to, I (understandably) freaked. Just a little scream and hand flick, and then everything was fine.

Or so I thought.

When we got up to the door of the cabin and I was looking for the key, I touched my hair. Yup, you guessed it. The flick of the frog had landed him in my hair. :eek: If my first scream when I touched him on the post hadn’t awakened our neighbors, the second surely did. It took another glass of wine plus a long shower to get over that.

I lived through the encounter, of course, and surely hope Kermit did too. I hope that upon his second flick of the night, he wound up somewhere safe and happy for him. I guess I’ll never know… (Of course, if any of you wind up in loop 2200 and see our friend, you’ll have to tell him we said hey.)

We did a little more packing up, and then after enjoying some wonderful champagne that my sweet dad and step-mom sent to celebrate my finishing the triathlon, we hit the hay.

It was so sad to be faced with leaving again. This had definitely been one of best trips we’ve had to WDW, if not the very best trip, yet. We’ve been with extended family so many times recently that it was a totally different experience just having the four of us. If only we could stay forever.

Up next: last trip to the MK and our final magical meal at the Wave.

[mickeystoontown]

Congrats on your finishing the triathlon. And coming in 153! Whoooo Hooo to you! Sorry that you were too fast for your family to see you at the end but that's a good thing.

Even without a plan, you guys still had a great time at Typhoon Lagoon. We've been twice, never had a plan and were still able to see and do everything.

I am definitely not going to flame you for letting the girls do something on their own. They did very good by themselves and I wouldn't have gotten on to their either for buying the smores kit.

The rainbow pictures are absolutely beautiful. I've only seen the end of a rainbow two times and it's a neat thing to see.

I'm sad that your trip is about to end.

[RocklandRVers]

Loved the segment about the triathlon! Congrats on finishing in the TOP 16%! Thats great. :worship:

We finally got the meaning behind the title of your trip report swimming in Bay Lake. It made me wonder how you would be allowed to swim there. Many fans of dear old River Country like myself have read that because it was fed by Bay Lake and the water was full of all kinds of micro-critters that it had to be closed. Something that dangerous doesn't seem a place for triathletes to swim in. Weren't you scared? Did they make you sign waivers about this alleged problem? How was the water really? Hope you didn't get sick from the water! :sick:

[RocklandRVers]

"NOW you tell me! Where were you a couple of weeks ago?"

Sorry about that. It took us twice standing in those lines at HDDR to learn that the tables are assigned in advance and that we sure didn't need to take ANOTHER photo. The third time it was raining cats and dogs and I refused to stand out in the rain like the others so I went onto the Crockett porch and waited under cover. DS was worried that we weren't going along with the other smart people but soon learned Dad knew best this time. :idea:

[MouseKTeer]

Wow--lots to catch up on!

Love, love, love Soarin' -- and Biergarten too. Glad your family did also.

And a big congratulations on your terrific finish in the triathalon :yay:

Not looking forward to the end of your TR :sad2: --have really enjoyed it and all your photos.

[aladdinsgirl]

Congrats on your tri!! My DH does tri's (actually just did a half Ironman in August), so I know how hard they are. Great job and you had a GREAT finish time! Don't you love Disney races? I've down the WDW half marathon twice and the full marathon once and the camaderie is great. I'm gearing up for the Goofy Challenge in January and your pix made me incredibly excited! Another great update!

Krista

[Gabrielsbigtrip]

What a great report!

Go on with your bad self doing that race:cool1:

We :love: the WL and we visited FW when we were there because my sister was staying there. The cabins are so nice and relaxing to come back to(well minus any over active frogs):rolleyes1.

Your family is great looking and I am glad to see other fellow water park lovers:woohoo:

We like BB over TL but like them both....which do you prefer?

Oh and don't all rainbows end in Disney World?;)

[lklasing]

Thanks, everyone, for still reading and for your comments! I'm also sad to almost be done with this TR - it's been fun re-living the trip! Next installment should be up shortly.

Leslie

PS - Krista - good luck with Goofy!!! My experience is a lot like yours - 1 full mary, about 7 halves, but I can't imagine doing both back to back like that! Have a great time!!!!

[lklasing]

Monday, September 7 (Labor Day)

Again, even though I was dead from yesterday, I woke up early again. I got everyone up around 7:00 to pack up. It’s the saddest part of every trip – the part I start dreading before we even arrive in Orlando. :sad1: It’s not nearly as much fun waking up kids (and even Ray) to say they need to wake up to pack, instead of them needing to wake up to go to a park. :sad2: But, up they got and we got everything packed. We determined that we bought waaaaaaay too much at the Publix when we arrived. We had 2 bottles of wine left :eek:, plus an unopened box of single serving snacks, plus some other unopened things. I can’t stand to waste that much stuff, so I put it all on the picnic table, hoping someone would come by and grab it. (Here’s hoping whoever wound up with the wine was at least 21…..)

We packed up the golf cart with all our bags, and Danielle and I drove them to the reception area for them to hold for us for the day. I was supposed to turn in the golf cart, but when I got there, I begged for them to let us keep it till we got back from the MK around 1:30 and they said yes! :yay: Boy, that made our last day so much easier. So, we grabbed Ray and Jodi and went to TE for breakfast. Yes, Danielle and I ate breakfast there the day before and the girls ate supper there last night, but we were back again. The breakfast there is by far their best meal, in my opinion. I usually don’t eat a bunch of bread stuff, but for the second day in a row, I enjoyed some serious Mickey waffles. Mmmmmmmmm. It was a super meal, plus we had Ken as our waiter and he was great.

Then, we were off to the MK one last time.

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(Gotta love the look on Jodi's face! Plus, check out the bandage on Danielle's knee - that's from her scrape at TL the day before!)

We had been several times before, so there was nothing anyone felt like they HAD to do, which was nice. We just wandered in, caught Peter Pan with only about a 10 or so minute wait (and this was after the park had been open for an hour), then walked in the HM without any wait at all. Danielle found this Hidden Mickey while in line at PP – I had never noticed it before:

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Danielle needed to shop for her new stuffed animal that she gets every trip (this time she choose a very cute Tigger), so she and Ray hit Main Street while Jodi and I went to Splash Mountain, where once again, lots of logs were going by with no one in them – always a fun (albeit rare) sight.

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(It says 5 minutes, but was obviously a walk on.)

Jodi and I did a little shopping and then we hooked up with Ray and Danielle and finally spent our last 11 snack credits on gifts for neighborhood kids. I had read so many times not to try to save up snack credits, especially on the deluxe dining plan, but I made the same mistake apparently so many other people had – for the first couple of days, I was worried about running out or using them on items that weren’t as expensive as others, and wound up with way too many left over. Granted, it was nice to be able to bring back things to the people who were getting our mail and papers and keeping the girls’ hermit crabs while were were gone, but still… Moral of the story: Use Those Snack Credits!

On our way out, we stopped to take a few pictures of the castle and the Halloween decorations.

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We finally and sadly left the MK and took the monorail to the Contemporary, where we played in the arcade for a few minutes before going to lunch at the Wave. Yup, that’s restaurant #2 for the day that we had already visited at least once this trip, but we have really determined that it’s one of our favorite restaurants anywhere in the World. Great food, great service, just a great place for us to go for our last meal. Then, we caught our last boat back to FW where we turned in the golf cart and left our favorite place behind.

Coming up: Final thoughts from this great trip

[guardwife66]

I have been loving this report. I love all the pictures. I feel like I was right there with you. Can't wait for the next "installment". popcorn::

We will be at the Fort next weekend and I can hardly wait. :cool1: Living through this board for my daily fix. :mickeyjum

[guardwife66]

"Removed due to double post" Sorry guys. :-(

[princess_momma]

Aw looks like you guys had so much fun! I would love to be in the triathalon!! Congrats on your time! Thats so awesome!! I got there a little after you did and loved MNSSHP!! The crowds (or lack thereof) this time of year are AWESOME!!

[jlearn]

I was wondering if you had the "Mike-I've been Booed" shirts made prior to your visit or if you purchased them while in WDW? I was looking for something easy for my family to wear when we are there at the end of October.

Loved the TR, BTW!

[ekball]

What a wonderful trip! I've read some of the your other TR's and always love the fun times your family have. My favorite though, is the fact that your 11 and 13 year olds look happy as can be to be at WDW with Mom and Dad. :lovestruc I sooooooo hope that is the case with my kiddos when they get to be that age!!!! Love it!

[lklasing]

Thanks, y'all! I'll have my last installment up probably tomorrow.

JLearn, I made the t-shirts at home from an image I found online. Really easy with dark transfer (iron on) paper. We had lots of people stop us to ask where we got them. I have the image on my computer at work, but I'll PM it to you tomorrow. If anyone else wants it, let me know and I'll be glad to share.

Leslie

[LONE-STAR]

Just found your report sounds like ya'll had a great time. You beat us back to the Fort but our trip is will be here soon enough.(well its never soon enough what am I typing)

[mouselovr]

Congrats on that great finish! I admire anyone who can do that let alone in that amount of time! Great job!! :thumbsup2 Love the pics especially the "photopass pics" on the bus, those are great! Wish I could get my DS to be so fun in them but he thinks he is too cool. :cool1: We are planning a surprise trip in Dec for our kids I hope they are as shocked as your were!

[OhMari]

Great job with the Triathalon.
I had no idea that WDW had this, that is why I thought you fell in Bay Lake on a Sea Racer.
Will WDW do this again? or was it a one time thing.
I can bike and swim, I just cannot run.
My dd's tell me all the time, I should run and it will help me loose weight. I can run on a treadmill for about 1 minute and then I am back to walking.
If they do another Triathalon, can you let me know, it is something I would love to do (in 2 years) for my 50th birthday. I know I want to spend it at WDW and this would make it all the more special. And, it would give me time, to learn how to run longer than one minute.

[RunningGirl]

What a great TR! Your family looks like they really enjoy each other's company. I'm jealous that you did the tri - I've done 2 half marathons and one full; I'm doing the full again this year.

[jdd]

Okay, you're officially my hero! I promised myself I'd write a trip report when we got back, and it's now been over a month!! I have all my notes from the trip, but just can't get my act together....

I also don't have nearly the pictures that you do - most of mine are on my "traditional" camera - and my DS12's camera. He'll have to show me how to post them ;)

You have inspired me, though, and I'm going to start writing....

[basketlacey]

Great trip report! Thanks so much for sharing it!

[lklasing]

Just found your report sounds like ya'll had a great time. You beat us back to the Fort but our trip is will be here soon enough.(well its never soon enough what am I typing)

Thanks! I hate to have missed you this time. Have a great trip!!

Congrats on that great finish! I admire anyone who can do that let alone in that amount of time! Great job!! :thumbsup2 Love the pics especially the "photopass pics" on the bus, those are great! Wish I could get my DS to be so fun in them but he thinks he is too cool. :cool1: We are planning a surprise trip in Dec for our kids I hope they are as shocked as your were!

Those bus photopass pics were very impromptu - we were just riding along playing with the camera, when all the sudden we started taking them. We got so tickled that the rest of the bus was staring. I don't think they recognized our tremendous humor! :confused: :laughing:

Great job with the Triathalon.
I had no idea that WDW had this, that is why I thought you fell in Bay Lake on a Sea Racer.
Will WDW do this again? or was it a one time thing.
I can bike and swim, I just cannot run.
My dd's tell me all the time, I should run and it will help me loose weight. I can run on a treadmill for about 1 minute and then I am back to walking.
If they do another Triathalon, can you let me know, it is something I would love to do (in 2 years) for my 50th birthday. I know I want to spend it at WDW and this would make it all the more special. And, it would give me time, to learn how to run longer than one minute.

Hey Mari - apparently they have several triathlons at FW every year. I would have never found out about this one but for a trip report TCD did from a trip he took to FW on a weekend when they had one. I was very intrigued. Then, TCD posted a schedule of when the next several races would be and I figured out that race would be happening while we were there. I had had no plan at all to ever do a triathlon until that point, but I sure had fun training for it and even more fun doing it.

I highly recommend that you try one, especially since you're already proficient at 2 of the 3 events. (That's one more than I could do when I started training!) Don't worry at all about the run. Lots, and I mean LOTS, of people walk the whole thing. It's the shortest distance available, all-women, and geared toward beginners, so it's the perfect race for you to try!!

I know that they had the Danskin race in May that was the same beginner-level distance, so I bet they may have it again. TCD seemed very tuned in to the schedule, so maybe he'll chime in if he knows whether there are going to be more races next year, and when.

What a great TR! Your family looks like they really enjoy each other's company. I'm jealous that you did the tri - I've done 2 half marathons and one full; I'm doing the full again this year.

Are you doing the WDW full? If so, I'm so jealous! Have a great time!

Okay, you're officially my hero! I promised myself I'd write a trip report when we got back, and it's now been over a month!! I have all my notes from the trip, but just can't get my act together....

I also don't have nearly the pictures that you do - most of mine are on my "traditional" camera - and my DS12's camera. He'll have to show me how to post them ;)

You have inspired me, though, and I'm going to start writing....

Get going on that TR! :cheer2: And make sure to let us know when you get it started! :hippie:

Great trip report! Thanks so much for sharing it!


Thanks! It's been a fun report to do.

[MDMagicMom]

I can't believe they have a Sprint Tri at Disney. I do an all women sprint tri here in Maryland every summer and it's so great! I know exactly what you mean about stopping every few strokes to apologize for kicking someone:confused3. And sometimes you have to do some backstroke to get your bearings. Is the run flat? I'm more of a swimmer and biker than a runner so a flat run would be perfect! Do they do it every year! What a great place to do a Sprint! Congrats to you (and I'm jealous, can you tell?)

[lklasing]

I can't believe they have a Sprint Tri at Disney. I do an all women sprint tri here in Maryland every summer and it's so great! I know exactly what you mean about stopping every few strokes to apologize for kicking someone:confused3. And sometimes you have to do some backstroke to get your bearings. Is the run flat? I'm more of a swimmer and biker than a runner so a flat run would be perfect! Do they do it every year! What a great place to do a Sprint! Congrats to you (and I'm jealous, can you tell?)

I think we just posted at almost the same time! See my reply one post above yours - someone else asked just almost the same questions as you did! You should try to plan your next trip around one of these races since you're already old hat at them! And yes, the run course is very flat and very user friendly. :thumbsup2

[Gabrielsbigtrip]

Great job with the Triathalon.
I had no idea that WDW had this, that is why I thought you fell in Bay Lake on a Sea Racer.
Will WDW do this again? or was it a one time thing.
I can bike and swim, I just cannot run.
My dd's tell me all the time, I should run and it will help me loose weight. I can run on a treadmill for about 1 minute and then I am back to walking.
If they do another Triathalon, can you let me know, it is something I would love to do (in 2 years) for my 50th birthday. I know I want to spend it at WDW and this would make it all the more special. And, it would give me time, to learn how to run longer than one minute.

Just a quick hijack....

Have you ever heard of couch to 5k? It's a great program and I was in the same boat with running 1 minute then dying.

If you have an Ipod - you can download different programs. Just google couch to 5k. I love hip hop and dance so I use that one but there are other one out there and you can probably make you own playlists to go along with the program.

Good shoes are also a VERY important part of starting a running program.

Of course I fell off the wagon but I am starting again and I would LOVE to do the FW event too:thumbsup2

[lklasing]

Reflections on a trip that was almost more fun than one family should be allowed to have:

- The Disney "Magic" – Despite what I’ve read about in some threads, it was our experience that the CMs have definitely not lost their magic with guests. We had far too many special encounters with a variety of CMs to think that Disney is not working hard to ensure that their CMs give guests special times. From the extra funny CM that gave us our golf cart at FW to the MK CM who started pacing me while I was walking down Main Street one day, oblivious to him until I figured out something was odd, we had nothing but great, and often hysterical, encounters with CMs.

- Monorail ridesI didn’t know before this trip that they no longer allow guests to sit in the front of the monorail. I had noticed that the front compartment had been empty (but for the driver) when it passed us by a couple of times, but it wasn’t until we heard another family ask to sit up front that I figured it out. When the CM replied that guests were no longer allowed to sit up front, a little boy (around 6) asked “is it because of the crash?” The CM confirmed that that was the issue. Now seeing the empty compartment up front is another reminder of that very sad event. :sad1:

- Free Dining – We thought it was GREAT, and I’m glad we did it, but we won’t do deluxe again. As so many have said, it was far too much food. On the other hand, it sure was fun going to lots of places we haven’t been to before and possibly wouldn’t have done without the plan. We had never done either HDDR nor Narcoossees; plus we got to go to other places we knew we love without worrying about the cost: CG (okay, we always do that one), The Wave (now one of our serious favorites), Kona, plus multiple breakfasts and lunches at Sci fi , TE, Biergarten, etc. Despite it being free dining, we never encountered any crowds at any of the meals at all. The most we ever waited to be seated was 10 minutes max and that was obviously only to allow the wait staff to not get slammed with too many people at a time. We never even were at any restaurant that was full while we were there. Finally, one last tip about the dining plan – don’t save up those snack credits!

- Weather – It was fine. We actually liked it a lot better than when we were there last Thanksgiving, since we love to swim. We had prepared mentally for heat (at least all of us other than Jodi – who didn’t know we were going – had), so we were pleasantly surprised that it really wasn’t as bad as we thought. And when it did get too hot, we just bailed on whatever park we were in and went back for a swim or rest. :)

- Crowds – They were amazing. Really. It was the best we’ve ever seen, and I didn’t think anything could beat early May. Even once Labor Day weekend started and lots more people were at Fort Wilderness, the parks still didn’t get too crowded. I’ve never walked onto so many rides. :cool1:

- FW Cabins – They’re still great. There was lots of swamp area around our cabin, but most of the Fort looked great. Where they cleared out excess vegetation a year or so ago has started to fill in nicely. We still love having all the extra room, the full kitchen, the wonderful resort itself with so many activities, the laid back atmosphere, everything. I highly recommend you check out the cabins sometime if you’re curious.


Well, that’s it. So, with a final wave:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%20monday/DisneyLaborDay2009265.jpg

this trip report is done. Hope to see you all back in the World soon!

Leslie

[Tri-circle-D]

Bravo!

I appreciate a great trip report.

And, this was a great trip report.

Leslie suggested that I might chime in about triathlon information at Ft. Wilderness. Danskins sponsors a women's triathlon at Ft. Wilderness every year lately on Mother's Day weekend. Here's a link with some information. There is a link on that link to Disney Endurance Series, which lists other endurance events that take place at WDW every year:

2010 Danskins Women's Triathlon (http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/eventDetail/detail?name=DanskinOrlandoTriathlonDetailPage&bhcp=1)

There continue to be more and more endurance races at WDW each year.

TCD

p.s. We have not tried The Wave since it opened last year. Based on your glowing reviews, we will be giving it a try soon.

[OhMari]

I'm the moderator on the TR boards, and I am probably the worst hi-jacker of anyone. I don't have an IPod, but I called my dd this morning, because I am so excited about doing a tri-athalon at WDW. She actually heard about this and she thought of me right away. We both agreed we would like to do it and she knows I have a long way to go, to figure out the running part.

I have a question-after the swimming, do you change clothes? Because, I need super, double strength support-if ya know what I mean. There is no way I could run/walk without upper support.:rotfl:


Just a quick hijack....

Have you ever heard of couch to 5k? It's a great program and I was in the same boat with running 1 minute then dying.

If you have an Ipod - you can download different programs. Just google couch to 5k. I love hip hop and dance so I use that one but there are other one out there and you can probably make you own playlists to go along with the program.

Good shoes are also a VERY important part of starting a running program.

Of course I fell off the wagon but I am starting again and I would LOVE to do the FW event too:thumbsup2I think I am going to invest in one. My dd has a program too-and I also think I am going to talk with the trainer at my YMCA. We should form a group and maybe try to work our times out, that we will be doing one at WDW.


Leslie suggested that I might chime in about triathlon information at Ft. Wilderness. Danskins sponsors a women's triathlon at Ft. Wilderness every year lately on Mother's Day weekend. Here's a link with some information. There is a link on that link to Disney Endurance Series, which lists other endurance events that take place at WDW every year:

2010 Danskins Women's Triathlon (http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/eventDetail/detail?name=DanskinOrlandoTriathlonDetailPage&bhcp=1)

There continue to be more and more endurance races at WDW each year.

TCD

p.s. We have not tried The Wave since it opened last year. Based on your glowing reviews, we will be giving it a try soon.Thanks for this link-is there something for next Fall, I think I really need to swim in our outdoor pool for the summer. Our YMCA pool sucks donkey butt. Our town pool in the summer is more like a lake, sand bottom and 10 laps, equal 1/4 mile. I can do at least 15 laps in a half hour, but I know I have to get my endurance up again.

[lklasing]

Thanks, TCD! That's high praise coming from the all-time best trip reporter ever! :worship:

Mari - about clothes, I struggled forever trying to figure out what to wear. Since it's such a (relatively) short race, there are no changing facilities, so I swam in my bike shorts, running bra and tank. I had swum in that exact outfit before just to make sure it wouldn't give me any trouble. Then after the swim, I just changed shirts right there in the field by my bike. (Lots of women run just in their running bras, plus there were only women around anyway, so I wasn't worried about that.) I wanted to change shirts mainly to get one that wasn't soaked, but it also helped in that I had already put my race number on my dry one so I didn't have to worry about that in transition. So, as long as you find a bra you like to run in that you test out on a swim ahead of time, you'll be fine!

And, by the way:

Our YMCA pool sucks donkey butt.

:lmao:

[sinnika]

Awesome trip report! :thumbsup2 We check into the Cabins tomorrow! Can't wait! Its our first time to Ft Wilderness and we are really looking forward to the extra space! Were all those great photos from the water parks taken by photopass CM's? If so, I'll have to remember to look for them when we go to BB. We've been to TL a couple of times now and looking forward to trying out BB this time! :goodvibes

[lklasing]

Awesome trip report! :thumbsup2 We check into the Cabins tomorrow! Can't wait! Its our first time to Ft Wilderness and we are really looking forward to the extra space! Were all those great photos from the water parks taken by photopass CM's? If so, I'll have to remember to look for them when we go to BB. We've been to TL a couple of times now and looking forward to trying out BB this time! :goodvibes

I'm so JEALOUS! Have a great time! Yes, all our TL pics were taken by the photopass people. I was very pleased with them. I think we saw a much higher number of them at TL than we did at BB in May 2008, but I know I wasn't looking for them as hard at BB as I was on this trip.

Have a great trip and report back when you get home!!

Leslie

[WDW Traveler]

Awesome TR! :thumbsup2 Thanks so much for posting it. Your family is adorable and obviously loves to have fun together! Congrats to you on the triathalon! :yay: Good for you!

I have almost completed my TR in Word and will hopefully post it at some point - it's really long! LOL

Thanks again!

[funkenzie1]

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q255/lklasing/disney%20labor%20day%202009/DisneyLaborDay2009008.jpg

i have always wanted to be woken up like that but oh so sadly i have only gone to wdw 1 time:scared1:

ps i love jodis room:rolleyes1

[funkenzie1]

hey dvc at last! i see you go to hilton head island. me and my family go every year. if you could tell me where you stay that would be cool.

[bouncycat]

Yes, sounds like an awesome trip!! I'm always sad to see them go!! I may have to plan a trip for 13-16 people for next year in September....Lord help me now!! That's IF they still have the miltary deals! We will of course stay at the cabins. I don't think I'll ever stay anywhere else!!

[jdd]

Get going on that TR! :cheer2: And make sure to let us know when you get it started! :hippie:

Okay, I finally bit the bullet, and started it. Not very far yet, but if you're interested....http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2293517

[lklasing]

Okay, I finally bit the bullet, and started it. Not very far yet, but if you're interested....http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2293517

Awesome! I'm on my way over!