When you save the Universe from an evil as powerful as Emperor Zurg, your life changes. We walked out of the Buzz Lightyear attraction to swarms of adoring fans and thousands of people that no longer have to live in fear of alien overlords invading their quiet, peaceful lives. But with this new fame comes a dark side. Namely, the paparazzi. People were everywhere trying to take our pictures! (Ok, we actually had to get in line for this one, but it's kind of like the same thing, right?)
We assumed the huge crowd of people in the background was a "welcome back" party thrown in our honor. Turns out it another showing of the Dream Along with Mickey show. So we walked on over and watched.
For those of you that haven't seen this show in a while, the characters have received a few upgrades. Their mouths (or beaks or bill or what have you) move when they talk and their eyes blink. In a way, it's really cool because it adds a lot of life-like features. However, you end up with a dozen pictures like this:
We watched as that mean ole' Maleficent tried to take over the Magic Kingdom. (As Madison so eloquently put it a few years ago "Oh Boy, She's Evil!") SPOILER WARNING! Don't read the next sentence if you don't want to know what happens.
We used the powers of our dreams to defeat her!
Well then, now that everyone has rejoined the TR and the show was over and Maleficent either was defeated or is now ruling all of the Magic Kingdom, it was time for us to head out to dinner. Hey Walt, which way do we go to get out of here?
Down that way? Thanks, buddy! I knew I could count on you.
When planning this trip, we wanted to add some new things that we've never done before, including some new restaurants. One of those was going to be the Trails End Buffet at the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds. We picked that as a Magic Kingdom day so we could take a nice relaxing boat ride to the campground and be basically dropped out right outside the restaurant. We made our way down Main Street, USA and out to the boat docks. Madison started her relaxing ride a little early.
(Here's a little math tip for you folks out there traveling to WDW during the hot months. $3 for a cute pink mister fan at your local Walgreens is cheaper than the $10 or so they charge for them at Disney.)
After a bit of a wait, our boat arrived and we set sail across the Seven Seas Lagoon to Bay Lake. Along the way, we had to go over a bridge. On a boat. Only at Disney!
If you were wondering, that's just south of the Contemporary. If you've ever taken a bus to the MK, you pass on that roadway that goes under the water.
(Here's a little fashion tip for you. Those cute little green $3 mister fans that you can get at your local Walgreens do not do a very good job cutting hair.)
After a stop at the Wilderness Lodge, we arrived at Fort Wilderness and started walking up the short path to the buffet. Campers at Fort Wilderness have the option to rent golf carts during their stay to make getting around the 700 acre complex a little easier. You also have the option of bringing your own. And some people go all out with their carts!
I am Soooo pimping out the van with some of those decals!
Whoa, must be Burt Reynolds or somethin'.
Dinner was really, really good. Down home cooking - Fried Chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, etc. Also looks like some salmon, roasted veggies, pasta and corn bread. They also have some typical child-friendly fare: pizza, chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, etc.
Oh, and an all you can eat dessert buffet and ice cream sundae station.
Fully satisfied, we made our way back to the dock to catch the boat back to the Magic Kingdom.
Unfortunately, it was getting late and we had a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so we didn't go back into the Magic Kingdom. We just switched boats (or maybe took the monorail, I don't remember) and got back to the Ticket & Transportation Center.
Back in October of 2005, we came to WDW when Madison turned 3 and Evan turned 1.
In June of 2011, Madison is 6 and Evan is 4. Times sure are a changin'
Now, to complete that trip down Memory Lane....
(Don't worry, the kids were fine. Madison fell off a cliff, remember? She can handle an 18" bench)
I'd like to say we then went home, but we didn't. As we were loading up to do that, we realized we had left some Mickey Mouse water bottle holders back at Trails End. We sent the kids back in Grandma & Grandpa's car, and we drove over to the Fort to retrieve them. Yes, they were only like $5 each, but the kids had grown quite attached to them. If it was 10:30 at night we would have left them, but it was only around 8 so we decided to go on the search and rescue mission.
We took the intra-resort bus back to the Outpost at the far end of the 700 acre campground and easily retrieved the bottles (yes, I realize this was the second time I've mentioned that the resort is 700 acres [3rd time], but it's kind of important to the rest of the story). As we walked back to the bus stop, Bambi nudged me and said "keep walking". Confused, I did exactly as I was told and kept walking past the bus stop. After clearing it by 20 or so feet, I asked what was up. Eagle Eyed Bambi told me that she had noticed two people in ECVs waiting at the bus stop. Not only would we have to sit and wait for the bus, but then wait some more while they got loaded.
Now, before anyone starts to judge me or this TR, let me say this: I don't care what your reason is for using an ECV. That's none of my business. If you need to use it, use it. But we've been stuck at bus stops enough while they were loaded to know that if we had the option of walking instead of waiting, we'd take it.
Since it was a beautiful night out, we started the hike back to the front of the resort. We came to a fork in the road, and following Yogi Berra's advice, we took it. We kept walking, enjoying the peaceful evening when we came to a bus stop. We checked the map, realized we took the long route around the campground, but decided to keep going anyway instead of backtracking. After about another 15 or 20 minutes strolling along the road, we were passed by a bus, that stopped at a bus stop a few hundred feet up the path. As much as we were enjoying the stroll, we also enjoyed sprinting up to the bus and riding the rest of the way in air conditioned comfort.
The rest of the evening was uneventful: drive home, get stuff packed up for the next day, and hit the sack.
Up Next: SeaWorld! And Waffle House!